“Trust me. You do not want to stay in my house.” Rundell said with a smirk. “I have a large family. Tell you what though, why don’t you two stay in the RV.”

“RV?” Kalli asked, looking to me for an explanation.

I turned my head to see a forty-foot recreational vehicle sitting in the space along the side of the house. Eyeing it suspiciously, I made my way over.

Kalli poked me as she followed along. This looks a lot like the mecharriage Joe made. Did he make this too?

I smiled back at her, taking her hand in mind.

No. This is what he modeled it after. That or a bus. People make big vehicles they can live in while they travel. The problem is most of the ones I’ve seen are pretty dirty on the inside.

What we found was not dirty at all. In fact, Rundell and his family were a bit OCD with how they kept the camper organized and clean. Run grinned at us and asked, “Will this do?”

We both nodded enthusiastically and he added, “Look, please take the sheets off the bed and put them in the laundry when you’re done. Also, come over to the house after you’ve settled in. We’re going to have dinner in the backyard and you’re both invited.”

We explored the RV once Run left us alone. Neither of us brought a change of clothes so we resorted to Kalli’s patented method of cleaning them.

“Pvruzth”

Kalli and I were so used to our unique form of cleaning that neither of us so much batted an eye as we thoroughly cleaned each other. We agreed it was funner to do each other rather than ourselves.

Once she was satisfied she was clean, Kalli plopped down on the bed, frowning at me. “I think I’m spoiled. This bed’s kind of stiff. I remember sleeping on a bed made of straw back at the monastery and now this is uncomfortable.”

I grinned, getting an idea. “I know! I have just the thing for that.”

The Cradle

Apply this magical spray to any bed or other surface to get the best sleep you’ve ever had. The magic will make even the hardest surface as soft as you want. It will also conform to your body for perfect lumbar support. A single bottle contains 100 sprays that last over a year.

It took me a while to dig the can out of my fanny pack. Kalli looked up at me from the bed, recognizing the can. “Wait, let me get up first.”

Grinning at her, I held out the can menacingly. “Do you think this will make you softer as well?”

“I’m soft enough, thank you very much!” She protested as she tried to climb off the bed before I could spray her.

In the end, a healthy coat of Cradle made the bed much more comfortable. We lay next to each other for a few minutes before deciding to go see what was for dinner.

The family meal turned out to be a lot bigger than we could have imagined. Run’s family was huge. Thirty people crammed into the tiny well-landscaped yard. Children played around on a jungle gym and a treehouse in the back while the adults, which somehow included us, sat around a fire pit. Run and his father prepared dinner while we introduced ourselves to everyone.

Stripe of marinated meat and vegetables lay on platters next to the grill as Run waited for it to heat up. On top of the grill was a griddle which Run’s dad sprayed down with cooking oil before placing strips of beef with a satisfying sizzling sound.

I watched in silence for a while as the succulent smells of marinated beef assaulted my nose. Another girl in a floral patterned dress dragged Kalli away.

Run nodded and said, “That’s my fiancé, Randalia. She’ll take good care of Kalli. Don’t worry.”

“You’re engaged?” I gasped, forgetting about the food but only for a second.

He chortled and had to back away from the grill for a moment. “Serious, bro? Out of everyone, I thought you’d understand. When you know, you know, right? I’ve known Ran since forever and we’ve been in love since high school. I’d have married her already if not for our adventure on Gaia. She’s still a little upset that I didn’t tell her we were going.”

“Yeah, we should have planned better,” I admitted reluctantly. “My mom was also mad that I didn’t call. I was just so worried about Kalli at the time.”

“I get it, bro.” He sighed, flipping the meat and adding a row of vegetables to a rack situated on a raised grill. “I’d have done the same thing for Ran. Ultimately, I think that’s why she forgave me. Speaking of which, you two should totally come to the wedding. Joe’s the best man and all, but you can be one of the groomsmen. There’s only like thirteen of them so far.”

I laughed nervously, imagining myself at the end of a long line of Run’s brothers and cousins. “That sounds like fun. We will try to be there. When is it happening?”

Run rubbed his chin. “Hmm, maybe in a year or two. A lot of family members have to make accommodations so they can attend. Maybe by that time you and Joe will be getting married too.”

Marriage was one thing I hadn’t thought about yet. The idea both excited and terrified me. Being mated, intertwined, and even bound by an oath seemed like nothing in comparison to marching down the aisle in front of…wait, I didn’t have any family besides my mom.

While it was true there were plenty of friends we could invite and Kalli’s family that could go, I didn’t exactly have anyone in my corner anymore. Were Maya and Kiki family now? Would the whole empire turn up? For that matter, was our marriage going to be some kind of royal affair on Gaia like Meghan and Harry? The thought terrified me. I wondered how Kalli felt about the whole thing.

Hey Kalli, what do you think about marriage?

She gasped in my head. A-a-are you proposing to me?

I felt the blood drain from my head as I realized what I’d asked. Did I want to propose to her? On the one hand, deep down, I knew that she was the only girl I would ever love. Why was it so hard to make that official?

Still, I stammered my thoughts.

D-d-do you w-w-want to?

Kalli was silent for a while. Being shy didn’t do her any good because we were connected. She had the opposite reaction as me. All of the blood rose to her face, making her blush in the mirror where Randalia was currently applying her makeup. In my eyes, she couldn’t get any more beautiful. That thought only made her blush even more.

She then made me feel like the king of the universe. Yes. I’ll marry you.

We both stood there in stunned silence for a few minutes, each in different parts of the house but feeling like we were standing right next to each other, our souls bared completely. After considering the implications of what she just said, Kalli added. Eventually! We don’t have to do the actual ceremony right now. We’re still young after all.

Right! Eventually. I don’t mind waiting.

Food never tasted so good. People were talking to me, and I think I even replied to some of them but I couldn’t take my eyes off Kalli. She was stunning. Randalia did her hair up in a bun and gave her a little eye shadow which made her look a whole lot more grown up.

That combined with the fact that we somehow got engaged and I was burning with a fire that a thousand cold showers couldn’t put out. I had no clue how I was going to sleep next to Kalli without burning the whole RV down.

The rest of the meal flew by in a flash. Before we knew it, we were back in the squishy comfy bed. Neither of us was tired. Neither of us could sleep. We lay side by side, looking into each other’s eyes.

Kalli whispered. “Did we really just do that? Am I your fiancé?”

I flashed her a wicked grin. “Do you want to be my fiancé?”

She beamed. “I already said yes, silly.”

“Then it’s settled.” I started to laugh but she quickly shut me up with a kiss.

Then another, and another, and another. After a while, I rolled over on top of her and she stopped me. “Melvin, we can’t. You remember the prophecy.”

So I rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling and trying to catch my breath. Kalli climbed on top of me with a smile that matched mine. “That doesn’t mean we can’t fool around.”

I’d like to say we dreamed or entered our private dream world but neither of us slept. We climbed out of bed when the sun rose and decided to head to Little Tokyo to see if we could find Chogu.

Before we left, we packed up the bedding into the laundry and took showers. I wanted to take one together considering our new engaged status but the tiny RV shower only admitted one person at a time.

Even though Kalli used up all the hot water, the shower still invigorated me enough to feel ready for the day. It took us twenty minutes to get from Run’s place to Little Tokyo. We landed just outside of the forge and were happy to hear clanking sounds coming from inside. The blacksmith was in the building.

When we approached, Chogu was just finishing a project. I raised my voice so he could hear me over the sound. “Master, I’ve returned.”

He turned, surprise evident in his eyes. “Well well well. My wayward disciple has returned. Do you care to explain yourself?”

Kalli and I looked at each other in panic for a moment. I was way too tired to come up with excuses. Fortunately, Kalli bailed me out. “I was in another world and Melvin had to come help me out. We came back as soon as we could.”

“I see.” He said with a smile. “So you’ve come to resume your training then?”

“Um.” I stammered, worried we’d backed ourselves into a corner. “Not exactly. Master, we need your help.”

He set the hammer down and folded his arms. “Let me see if I understand this correctly. You disappear without notice. Mind you, this is an apprenticeship you begged me for so you could learn my trade. Now you return only to ask for more favors.”

I got down on my knees, hoping to show that I was genuinely sorry. “I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important, master. You see, due to corruption that found its way into my mana, a few innocent people got hurt. If we don’t fix this, there’s a very real chance they might die.”

Chogu twirled his beard around his fingers and sat on a bench next to the forge. “I see. Corruption of the chakra isn’t unheard of. There are stories of it happening in the past. If my memory serves correctly, you are going to have to purge your core completely. This is a dangerous process that I am not qualified to teach. To do so would mean draining yourself of all mana and, as you know, mana is needed to sustain life. In other words, you will cease to exist for those few moments after the purge while your core reforms with fresh mana. In return, you will come back anew, reborn and stronger than before.”

Kalli’s eyes widened as we both realized the repercussions of what Chogu was telling us. That means I have to do it too.

Suddenly another problem dawned on me. “Hey, what about the other two people who are corrupted? One of them is only newly awakened. She couldn’t possibly purge her mana.”

Chogu frowned. “Then she will likely die. I don’t know what to tell you, kid. Corruption in the ki isn’t something an amateur can typically deal with. Consider it nature’s way of weeding out the weak. On the bright side, she will be reborn. This is the way of all things.”

That doesn’t work at all.

Kalli frowned, still trying to work out a solution. It doesn’t but we should still learn what Chogu knows. That way we can at least be one step closer to fixing this.

I took a deep breath and asked, “How do we purge our cores?”

Chogu groaned and stood, placing a soot-covered hand on my shoulder. “Look, kid. I want to tell you it isn’t easy, and that may be true, but the reality is I don’t know enough myself to teach you. I just know that it’s possible. You could go back east and maybe try to seek out some monks but the odds of you finding someone both skilled enough and willing to teach you is very slim. I hate to say this but saving them is probably a lost cause.”

“No!” I shouted, looking around for something to slam my fist on. When I found nothing, I continued. “I refuse to acknowledge I’ve killed them. I’ll find a way to do it whether you help me or not.”

“Hold on just a second,” Chogu said softly, holding his hands up to calm me. “Tell me how you killed someone. I take it that you exposed them to the same thing that corrupted you, right?”

“Well, no,” I admitted reluctantly. “My mana got corrupted and when I pushed my mana inside of them, it corrupted theirs as well.”

“How?” He stammered, gaping at me. “How are you able to exert dominance over another person’s ki? Should not their very essence expel you from their body?”

“Only when I touch their core,” I replied, getting into the explanation.

“Their c-c-c-core?” He stammered, eyes growing wide. “You mean to tell me you’ve touched the soul of another human being?”

I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. “Well, I’ve awakened several hundred people as well as countless trolls, goblins, dwarves, elves, and other creatures.”

Chogu froze as he took in what I had to say. Then he burst out into laughter. “Boy! You had me for a minute there. Were that true, you would have broken the laws of nature itself. Now, answer me honestly. How did you corrupt the others?”

I sighed. That didn’t go as planned. “I’m not lying. I did exactly what I said I did.”

Even though Chogu kicked us out, I wasn’t too worried.

It’s not like he knew what to do. Also, there’s someone else we haven’t talked to.

Who? Kalli asked, turning to give me a curious look.

The ancients. They invented emotional mana in the first place, so they should know how to fix it.