Finding a place to house Zofia where Celestea wouldn’t find her was a challenge. I didn’t want to take her to one of the villages in case she was up to something. The castle or the City Under the Mountain were the only two options.

The problem with the City Under the Mountain was that if Kalli and I left the Empire, the language barrier would be back. In the end, we came up with an idea.

“Do you intend to make me sleep in the bathtub?” Zofia asked, eyeing the swimming-pool-sized tub. “It is magnificent but it’s not exactly what I had in mind when you offered to accommodate me.”

“Don’t worry,” I replied, walking to the portal door to Lavender’s house. “You’ll get a room.”

Once open, the door looked like it led to just another room in the castle. I wondered if Zofia could tell she was back on Earth.

As usual, Lavender was there to greet us. She bowed slightly to Zofia. “Welcome, Zofia no last name, lady of many secrets. Your room has been prepared for you. Melvin and Kalli, I trust the two of you are making progress toward a cure. Sylvia has missed you two. Now that you’re back, it’s time to resume your training.”

“Training?” I asked impatiently. “We don’t have time for…”

“Nonsense.” She waved me off ushering Zofia over to the door. “Your life hangs in the balance. Trust me, this training is very important. Give me half an hour to get Zofia settled in and meet me for a late breakfast.”

I stared blankly after them as they left.

Now what?

Kalli shrugged. I don’t know about you but I’m taking a shower.

Want company?

She stuck her tongue out. Nope!

I plopped down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling.

I wonder why she’s so insistent on training. Doesn’t she know we need to sort this corruption out?

I felt the warm water against Kalli’s skin as she closed her eyes to enjoy the sensation. I don’t know but she always has a reason. She hasn’t steered us wrong yet.

Do you think Shiv and Eddie will join us again?

Kalli lathered up a loofa as she replied with a sing-song voice in my ears. Perhaps. One way or another we can use the training and leveling up never hurt. I’d like to practice some new spells. I can’t rely on beginner spells forever.

I yawned. My bed always felt the best. Whether it was in my old apartment or in the dorm over at The Academy. That, or any bed where Kalli was asleep beside me.

She was washing her hair when she sensed my train of thought had shifted to her. You are such a boy! Mind always in the gutter. Now, get ready because I’m almost done in here.

I wasn’t sure what she meant by get ready. It was obvious though when she emerged and shoved me into the bathroom. Now go clean up. You smell.

***

“Melvin! Kalli!” Sylvia cried when she caught sight of us.

We joined the group in a grand dining hall where Lavender had a feast prepared for breakfast. Sitting around the table were Lavender, Sylvia, Eddie, and Zofia.

Lavender, it seemed, had supplied Zofia with a teal dress to match her hair. She was not happy about it at all. She tugged at the ruffles that went up her neck and looked like she would rather be wearing anything else.

Noticing my gaze, Lavender chuckled and said, “I took the liberty of washing her field attire while she bathed. Don’t worry, child, you can have your gadgets and weapons back when you return home.”

Zofia replied with a wordless scowl. Kalli smiled at her and said, “I think you look very cute in that dress.”

“Weapons?” I asked, slightly alarmed that I failed to check if she was armed.

“It’s a personal defense system.” She muttered. The way she picked at her eggs made me think she might actually be twelve.

Sylvia insisted on sitting between Kalli and I. “Tell me about all of your adventures. Lavender tells me you visited a house built into a volcano.”

“Let them eat,” Lavender said, giving Sofia a loaded look. “You can ask them to tell you stories later.”

The meal was good and I probably ate too much. I couldn’t decide between the pancakes, ham, many different kinds of sausages, and more desserts than I could count.

Once we were finished, Lavender said, “Now, Melvin and Kalli are going to do some training. The rest of you have your lessons and I expect you to get to it. Zofia, if you would be a doll, please watch over Sylvia and Eddie while I’m gone.”

She stood and Kalli rose to follow. Then they both glared at me. I looked up with a mouth full of bread pudding. “One more bite.”

***

“Why can’t the others come?” Kalli asked as we marched through the door leading to Homestead.

Lavender flashed a smile over her shoulder that told me she was up to something. However, she didn’t say what that was.

We walked in silence to the portal room, and Kalli gave me a nervous glance. What do you think the training is going to be?

I shrugged.

It must be big if she’s this serious about it. Either that or she’s playing with us.

Stepping through the portal, we found ourselves in the Shadowlands once again. Kalli and I stood side by side, scanning the dark forest for monsters. There were no sounds like there was the previous time.

“Okay, you two,” Lavender said from behind us. “I’m going to let you have the first attack.”

“Where’s the monster?” Kalli asked, scanning the sky. “Is it invisible?”

I spun around to find Lavender leveling a staff at us. Kalli noticed the same moment I did and rounded on her as well. She flashed that same wicked smile and said, “Well? Have at thee.”

“But…” Kalli began.

Lavender laughed. “Come now, child. We cannot harm one another in here. You can go all out without fear.”

Kalli rolled up her sleeves and said, “Don’t forget, you asked for it.”

Lavender looked straight at me and said, “Melvin, this time your focus is offense. Show me some attacks.”

Kalli beat me to it. Her body burst into flames and she surged forward. A solid wave of flame crackled to life on her fingers and surged directly at Lavender.

Just when I thought the beam was going to hit her, she vanished only to reappear four feet to the left. Kalli flicked her wrist and the flame turned to follow.

I watched in awe as the two of them danced around for a while. Then Lavender stirred me from my trance, shouting, “Melvin, attack!”

My first plan of attack was to work on my manipulation skill. I dug in my fanny pack and fished out a handful of pebbles. Throwing them at Lavender, I selected one to edit. Using the same trick I used in the past on a group of treants, I edited one.

Item:

100-ton boulder (Edited)

Components

Stone

Item Rank:

B

Item Level:

1

Item Owner:

Murphy

The boulder flashed into existence and slammed into the ground, raising a giant cloud of dust. Kalli snuffed her fire out and we waited for the dust to clear. Do you think she died?

Lavender’s voice answered from behind. “Nope. Still alive.”

We spun around again to find Lavender standing there brandishing her staff. Kalli closed her eyes and held her palms out, producing brightly glowing balls of fire that proceeded to rotate around her.

Not wanting to resort to the artifact armor yet, I tried to come up with an offensive use for my healing laser. While I knew I could temporarily blind her, I had yet to come up with magical ways of attacking with the light.

I knew how to use Kalli’s fire spells and the wind magic that I’d learned at The Academy. I’d never sought to weaponize my own innate mana.

Thinking of lasers and phasers, I wondered how movies made laser guns so potent. The problem was, I knew they didn’t work like that in real life. Still, this was magic!

Picturing a phaser from Star Trek, I fired a test shot at the new Lavender.

It went right through her. Kalli unleashed a few fireballs and the illusion finally vanished. Standing behind us again, Lavender said, “Haven’t the two of you been learning new applications for your mana? Now try putting some oomph into it.”

Kalli got it before I did. The flames around her roared as I felt the raw emotion she fed to her mana. The remaining fireballs tripled in size causing me to take a step back to avoid getting hit by them.

Curiosity wasn’t going to cut it for what I had in mind. That was fine because it wasn’t about finding my affinity. It was about explosive emotions. I channeled my inner Hulk and went with rage.

The mana that came out was much more potent but also a hundred times more difficult to control. It exploded out of me in all directions. The force of it knocked Kalli to the ground. I stopped immediately and rushed to her side, only to watch her fade away into nothing.

KALLIPHAE MURPHY HAS BEEN SLAIN BY MELVIN MURPHY!

“Time out.” Lavender laughed. “Friendly fire. You just sent Kalliphae to respawn. Work on getting that under control while I go fetch her.”

I’m sorry!

Kalli sent me a mixed bag of emotions. She was annoyed yet slightly amused. You’re going to pay for that later!

So rage was off the table. It was a powerful emotion but impossible to control. I tried curiosity but it made the light want to shine more than burn. I needed another emotion that was me but aggressive.

Kalli had courage that seemed to lend itself perfectly to the fire that flowed through her veins. Thinking of light, things like divine might and righteousness came to mind. Was I any of those things?

Then it hit me. While Iolathar warned me not to use love, there was another emotion I felt for Kalli that could lend itself to my mana perfectly. Devotion.

Pouring the conviction of our bond into my mana, I let it swirl around me again. Something clicked and I was coated in what felt like liquid armor. It was somewhat like the artifact armor wrapped around my chest. Was emotional mana at play there too? Did the great and mighty M already have that technique mastered?

Experimenting with my new mana, I extended it out in different directions. I could control it. First I made a sword in my left hand then I tried shooting a beam like Kalli’s fireball. It exploded against the boulder, shattering the massive rock.

Just when I was getting confident with my new spell, I heard an appreciative whistle behind me. Kalli flashed a smile and spoke out loud. “Impressive. I guess I’m going to have to step my game up.”

I was wondering what she meant when the green fire sprang to life from the amulet and swirled around her in a perfect storm of what she dubbed Luna Fire.

She laughed and pointed the attack at me. “Try guarding against this.”

I focused my newly found armor into the path of the blast but was still blown back several feet. Her flames tried to spread around my shield, causing me to expand it by feeding it more mana.

I felt her passion and her mana flared, threatening to overwhelm me. Did she also tap into her feelings for me to make her mana more potent? No fair!

She stuck her tongue out. Two can play at that game. You killed me once. Now it’s my turn.

I saw Lavender out of the corner of my eye. She stood watching us with her arms crossed. However, she made no move to stop us. Was she enjoying this?

I tried to wrap my mana around the flame and snuff it out. The more I stretched it, the weaker it became. Kalli sensed that through our bond and focused her mana on a weak point in my shield.

The first sign it was failing was a series of green spiderweb cracks in my otherwise invisible shield. Suddenly, her flame burst through.

At that point, I had no choice but to rely on my artifact. The black armor surged and covered my entire body in an instant, moments before Kalli’s Luna Fire hit me.

Even though the armor protected me from the blast, I still felt the intense heat. Pain wasn’t a thing in the game but pressure and temperature certainly were. Kalli’s fire was hot. It was nothing like the times she used her fire to clean or tickle me.

“Enough!” Lavender barked.

We both froze, our respective attacks fizzling out as we turned to face the enchanter. She clapped and said, “The two of you have developed some nice mana. However, you’re pulling your punches with each other. Now, it’s my turn to attack.”