《My Stupid Giant Dad [Cozy Isekai Litrpg]》


 1: Running Away

    A coffin slowly sank into the ground. The cold wind cut through a man and his daughter as they watched with tear filled eyes. Their family would be forever missing a dear loved one.


    The car ride was silent. No music on the radio. The pair stared wordlessly as they swallowed back tears and sobs. Somber eyes deep in their sadness looked forever onward as they step into a beautiful house that now seemed hollow and lifeless. There was no one to greet them as the man helped take off the seven year old girl¡¯s coat. He paused while putting it away on the coat rack. A petticoat. Auburn brown with large buttons hung there. The man¡¯s throat tightened.


    ¡°I just need to use the bathroom honey. Then I¡¯ll make dinner.¡± There was no acknowledgement. A heavy silence hung in the air as he stepped into the bathroom. As he stared into the mirror the pounding of shoes and the familiar creaking of the back door being shoved open filled the air. Terror filled the man¡¯s heart as he bolted at the sound.


    The young girl was racing through the woods behind the house. Her small legs let her fly through the familiar grounds she had explored ever since she could walk. Everything zipped by her as she heard her dad yelling her name through the trees.


    ¡°CINDY! CINDY WAIT COME BACK!¡± Echoed her dads voice as he got caught in the bushes she had avoided so easily.


    The evening sky was blood red and darkening quickly as the sun went to sleep for the day. The moon was already up in the sky, the canopy hiding it from sight. She needed to get away. She couldn¡¯t be there anymore, not after today. Cindy headed to her secret den she had dug out with her father last year and set up as her ¡®badger home¡¯ that her dad would camp outside of while she pretended to be a wild animal for the night. The thoughts of such happy memories warred in her heart and hot tears stung her eyes as she brushed them away furiously. Finally with blurred vision she started to stumble and slowed down.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    ¡°CINDY!¡± Her father¡¯s voice came once more, ¡°BADGER COME BACK!¡±


    His nickname for her pulled at her heart. Those same words echoed in her mind and brought back a thousand memories she would rather forget. She steeled herself and charged back into the night. She could find this place in the dark. She just hoped her dad wouldn¡¯t find her there. She hoped he forgot.


    She came to the gorge worn down by the small creek she had spent many evenings splashing in. The sun set behind the horizon and the forest grew dark. A light started to emanate from the water down below and a voice sang through the air. A goddess of a woman stood below with her arms held out to her.


    The woman was the most beautiful person she had ever seen, like the Wondrous Woman from those movies. She even had a tall crown of shimmering stars on her head. Her eyes were like golden suns blazing in the night. A face that was perfect with a smile radiant and beautiful. She was so beautiful Cindy could hardly breathe. She was just a few feet below her. A feeling of warmth she hadn¡¯t felt in months radiated into her chest.


    ¡°Come child, my world needs a hero and you have been chosen. Leap into my arms and I will carry you away. You¡¯ll be a hero in my world. You will save it.¡±


    ¡°You promise?¡± Asked Cindy with the meekest voice she had ever squeaked out.


    ¡°I have a fantastic gift for you child. Come with me and hear my plight. If you think it is not worth your time I will return you here.¡±


    So she leapt into the arms of the woman and was caught in them like she weighed less than a feather. Warm light engulfed the two and in a flash they were gone leaving nothing but darkness and empty air behind.


    Cindy¡¯s father saw the flash of light in the distance and ran towards it hoping she had a stash of flashlights somewhere in these woods just so she could hide away. Stumbling as he ran through the dark woods he tripped and fell down into the creek and splashed into cold water. Pain ran through his leg as he fell awkwardly. He could swear this was where the flash of light was from so he called out one more time, ¡°CINDY! WHERE ARE YOU?!¡± Tears streamed down his face as he clutched at his twisted ankle.

 2: The Goddess

    Cindy found herself in a glorious pavilion in the skies. Beautiful marble floors laid beneath her feet leading into a grand circle lined with pillars reaching up to a mural of heroes and beasts fighting one another on a domed ceiling. She looked around in wonder as she drank in the view. Clouds ran around an endless landscape in all directions. Skies the perfect shade of blue she had only seen far into the woods that her father would bring her to for their camping trips away from the hustle of the city.


    Several steps up led to a throne of crystal diamonds. The woman sat there high above her and was just as beautiful and glamorous. She looked so benevolent and kind as she stood up and walked down the steps with grace beyond measure. Cindy couldn¡¯t help but fall to her knees as the woman approached.


    Her voice came like the song from the most wondrous singers in the world, ¡°Thank you child for coming to my call. I cannot thank you enough for being here. If you find my request unreasonable I will send you home without anything else coming of today. However I must warn you. If you take my offer you will be a lauded hero of all the realms I control.¡±


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Cindy asked in a whisper.


    ¡°I have no real name, most of my subjects call me ¡®Goddess¡¯. You can call me Gaia, that is the name of the world that needs your help.¡± Gaia kneeled down and sat in front of Cindy lowering herself to be close to one another.


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    ¡°What could I even do for this world? I¡¯m just a girl,¡± Cindy looked at Gaia with eyes wide and hopeful.


    ¡°Your world has something that resembles my world and I looked through all the lands for someone that would fit in the best. You among all others showed enough wits and guile to surpass that which threatens this world¡± Gaia stroked Cindy¡¯s face kindly.


    ¡°Me? I¡¯m the best choice you have?¡± Cindy¡¯s voice filled with hope. Finally something she would be perfect for. Something she could do that no one else could.


    ¡°Yes child, you are the chosen hero that will save that which I cherish most. I have two gifts for you, boons that will help you through this trial. Will you help me?¡±


    ¡°Of course I will!¡± Cindy yelled excitedly.


    ¡°Wonderful, you will have three wishes. With some stipulation. You may not wish for more wishes, you may not ask for me to hurt someone or something, and you may not ask for me to save a life, even your own.¡± Gaia looked concerned while she was talking to Cindy.


    ¡°I can wish for anything besides that? Even if I wanted someone here? Someone that could help me?¡± Cindy looked so hopeful as she clutched Gaia¡¯s robes without thinking.


    ¡°Yes, if you desire someone to help you, then you can summon them with a wish. Anyone you desire.¡± Gaia stroked Cindy¡¯s hair affectionately and the girl leaned into it, feeling safe. ¡°You among all others will have another gift. You will be able to absorb skills and runes permanently where all others won¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Skills? Runes?¡± Cindy looked up into the Goddess¡¯s eyes and smiled with hope in her eyes, ¡°Is this an isekai? Is the world like a game?¡± Her voice was so energetic and bubbly at the thought of it all. Her heart raced away from tragedy. She had read so many books and watched so many anime like this. She had always wished for something like this to happen.


    ¡°Well, then you know it is time to make your character. Are you ready?¡±


    ¡°YES!¡± Cindy popped up to her feet and clapped excitedly. ¡°LET''S DO THIS!¡±

 3: Searching

    ¡°Mr. Banderford, I¡¯m sorry but it''s been a week and we have found no trace of your daughter. We can¡¯t keep searching but you will be in my prayers. I''m so sorry.¡± The forest ranger that had taken the time to sweep through the woods behind the quaint one story ranch house stood on the wrap-around deck staying out of the sunshine that was streaming from above and heating up the air.


    ¡°We¡¯ve spent the last week with one another. You can call me Daryl. I won¡¯t give up yet. I¡¯ll search on my own but thank you for covering what ground you could.¡± The officer pat Daryl on the shoulder before turning and walking away.


    Daryl turned and limped back into the house. The boot on his ankle didn¡¯t help at all in moving around and he winced everytime he put weight on the blasted thing. A torn ligament from the fall. The floor thumped each time he stepped while his heart sank at the news. Without the help of the troopers he couldn¡¯t have covered a tenth of the ground they had searched for Cindy. He wouldn¡¯t let himself give up though. He knew Cindy was out there somewhere, that she was safe and he hoped that he would find her soon. That was all he could think about, hoping she paid attention during their camping trips and she could at least survive halfway decently on her own.


    Daryl grabbed his coat and a walking stick. Tucked his sports bottle full of water onto his backpack and checked it for emergency rations and things that Cindy might need if he found her. Putting on his gear he limped to his backyard and started off back into the woods where Cindy had run to. He understood why she had done it. It just wasn¡¯t like her to be gone for so long. His heart ached so immensely with what had happened in his life and he pushed through it. Keeping some hope alive in his heart as he limped into the forest.


    The day slipped by as Daryl walked endlessly into the woods. Heading to the first place he always checked each day to see if she might have returned to it. The badger den. When he got there he sighed to see it missing his little girl and pulled out the vacuum sealed bag he had prepared. It had a change of warm clothes and some dried ready to eat foods. The water bottles he had left there before lay undisturbed and Daryl sighed, leaning against the tree to catch his breath.


    Walking with the boot was no easy task, especially through the woods which seemed to grow more and more wild each time he trekked out here. He rubbed at his face with calloused hands, work would have to wait for now. Thankfully he was self employed and owned a small business that could survive without him while he looked for Cindy.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    A whisper floated through the air, ¡°dad¡­¡±


    Daryl looked up and around suddenly alert like his body was struck by lightning. Like he had chugged a dozen Blue Cows in a row. ¡°Cindy?¡± He called into the wind.


    ¡°Dad,¡± Came the voice from what felt like far away. Barely more than a whisper. ¡°Dad help me.¡±


    Was his mind playing tricks on him? In an instant he was to his feet ignoring the walking stick as he cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, ¡°CINDY! WHERE ARE YOU? I''LL COME TO YOU!¡±


    ¡°DAD! HELP!¡± Her distressed voice rang out, he could tell it was coming from the creek. Maybe she had followed it and had come back now that she had come to her senses. He bolted, ignoring the jolting pain roaring through his leg as he ran through the woods towards the creek.


    ¡°I¡¯M COMING BADGER! DADDY¡¯S COMING TO HELP!¡± He screamed into the air as he ran. His boot caught and he tripped. Just as his face was about to slam into the ground before him the world flashed into light and he stood in an endless void of white.


    A blue box popped up in his vision, ¡°Welcome to Character Creation. Choose a name.¡±


    Confused, he looked around everywhere for Cindy. Had he brained himself on a root or something. Who would look for Cindy if he was knocked out somewhere in the woods?


    ¡°ERROR! NAME ALREADY SELECTED: You are designated as ¡®Dad¡¯.¡± The box flashed and new words and a list of stats popped up on the screen.


    ¡°Choose your race. ERROR race already selected. Giant. Distribute 100 stat points. ERROR stats already assigned.


    Body: 90 assigned.


    Strength: 40


    Swiftness: 25


    Toughness: 25


    Spirit: 10 assigned.


    Focus: 5


    Channeling: 0


    Concentration: 5


    Giant Racial Trait gained. Unending Stamina. Giants cannot feel the weave of magic and are generally resistant to all magical attacks. In return their bodies are refined to have excessive stamina and recovery. They do not have a Mana stat and instead all Mana is converted to Stamina. All Mana regen is converted to Stamina regen.


    Stamina: 200/200


    Regen: 20/per 5 seconds


    Mana: 0/0


    Regen: 0/per 5 seconds¡±


    ¡°What? What is going on. CINDY WHERE ARE YOU?!¡± He called into the void.


    ¡°Hit points generated. Hit points equal to 20x Toughness stat.


    Final stats calculated.


    Hit points: 500/500


    Stamina: 200/200


    Mana: 0/0.¡±


    ¡°Character generated. Spawning into the world. Welcome to Gaia.¡±


    ¡°Wha!¡± The world fell out from under his feet.

 4: Mischief

    Cindy was glad she used her wish to bring her dad to Gaia. Of course she had to make it seem like she was in trouble to get him ready for her plans. When he woke up he would see her in danger that was for sure. She had purposely come near the Boroclops spawning place in order for him to have something to fight against. Nothing could immerse you in a game more than a fight. She didn¡¯t want to explain skills and abilities to him in some long winded prologue like a boring game does.


    Cindy was burning with curiosity. She had made her dad into the polar opposite of herself. She specialized in the magics that this world had and was building herself into a ¡®Jill of all Spells¡¯. Cindy giggled at the turn of words.


    No, she was building a tutorial for him. She had planned for days on how to teach him all the different ways he could act while in this world. When she was making her dad¡¯s character sheet she made sure to make it as easy for him as possible and built it out for him. She was amazed that he did have access to the monstrous races she hadn¡¯t been given when she decided to summon him to this world with one of her wishes.


    What was the tutorial''s job? To teach you how something worked. The system of the world had prompted her easily enough when she first got here on how to use skills. Magic was far harder to learn and had taken her several minutes before she landed a hit. Though instead of level ups like she had expected this world worked much differently. Cindy wondered how it would work for Dad. What skill would he start with? She looked up to the sky and said a silent prayer to the goddess Gaia and waited.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    The body she chose started to materialize in front of her eyes. Light gathered and filled in the silhouette that was there at first. Motes flitted together and slowly turned the color of flesh and cloth. A tunic appeared, shorts and some ropes wrapped around his ankles. She was disappointed that he didn¡¯t start off with boots and a helmet as well. Maybe that was the trade off for being a monstrous race? Oh well.


    Dad was huge, maybe two stories tall easily. Cindy was barely taller than she had been in real life. His muscles bulged and were much larger here. His short sandy brown hair was messy and his eyes were closed. She had inherited her green eyes from her father and she wondered if he had them here like she did. Hair lined his arms and legs. Some on his chest as well and she frowned. He wasn¡¯t supposed to be hairy.


    Familiar features started to fill in his face so she knew he would wake up quickly. She started to run towards the Boroclops. When she was in range Cindy stopped and raised her hands bringing up the words of her runes that she would weave into the spell she was about to use. ¡°Flaming Bolt Pulse!¡± Cindy yelled and sent the most meager of spells at the Boroclops. It hit next to it and brought its full attention to her.


    The Boroclops was a medium sized monster. Maybe ten feet tall. A true starter enemy, small monsters didn¡¯t really count. It had long shaggy fur the color of dirt that seemed to flow with every movement it made as it whirled on her. Sharp curving tusks jutted from its mouth as it chomped the air in front of its face. A single bloodshot eye focused on her and with a squeal of immense fury it began to scrape one hoof along the ground. The charge was about to begin.


    Dad¡¯s voice echoed through the air, ¡°Wha?¡±


    ¡°DAD HELP!¡± Cindy screamed with as much fake panic in her voice as she could manage. She worked her face into as much fear as possible as she made herself stand still as if she was paralyzed by terror.


    The Boroclops charged.

 5: Danger

    Daryl ¡®Dad¡¯ Banderford shook his head groggily as he came to his senses. Words slipped from his mouth, ¡°Wha?¡± Wasn¡¯t he just falling? How was he laying on the ground already? Why didn¡¯t he get hurt? Even his leg felt better. Shouldn¡¯t it still be twisted and in pain. His boot had tripped him and with the torn ligament it should be stabbing him with embers of agony.


    ¡°DAD HELP!¡± Came the panicked scream of Cindy and instantly his eyes shot open, his face swiveled to look at the young girl. A monstrous beast started to charge at her across the ground. Her face was plastered with fear and panic. Her knees shook in terror as if she was rooted to the spot.


    Daryl was to his feet in an instant and charged across the distance to put himself between the Boar and his daughter. He had to protect her with everything he had. The ground felt like it shook beneath his feet as he ran. That text box popped up into his view as the corner of his vision filled in with stat bars and information. He shook his head and got rid of the notifications.


    Nothing mattered more than saving his daughter in this moment as the world melted away from his focus as none of it mattered more than the beast and Cindy. His heart started to pound like a taiko drum being hammered to a beat only known to Daryl.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Thousands of questions raced through his mind as he ignored them all and put himself in place. He would hold there and keep Cindy safe no matter what. Thousands of hours of karate flowed through his muscles as he assumed Fudo dachi. His arms preparing for a simple Gyaku-zuki, a reverse punch. It was basic but Daryl had never thought that he would fight a wild animal ever in his life. The world slowed to a crawl as a blue text box flashed into his vision.


    ¡°It seems you would like to use a skill. Would you like to use ¡®Titanic Blow lvl 2¡¯?¡± A strange voice echoed in his mind.


    Daryl shook his head and tried to clear out the words as he tried to focus his mind. There was no time to read now. Danger was at hand and even though his mind had sped up like when he was in a pivotal moment of his sparring it was still a waste of focus.


    The box popped back up in the center of his vision obscuring the charging boar. ¡°It seems you would like to use a skill. Would you like to use ¡®Titanic Blow lvl 2¡¯?¡±


    ¡®FINE!¡¯ He screamed in his head trying to disperse the message.


    ¡®Titanic Blow: Spend any amount of stamina to add to the damage of a strike, either with a weapon or with a bare handed punch. For every level of this skill, multiply the damage by another amount. Current level is 2, increase damage by a multiple of 2.¡¯


    ¡°How much stamina would you like to spend?¡±


    ¡®ALL OF IT! NOW GO AWAY!¡¯ Daryl mentally yelled again.


    Then he felt power flow through his body. His body stretched to its limit.

 6: The Punch

    Cindy stared in awe as her giant of a dad stepped in front of her while the Boroclops charged at them both. The beast''s shaggy fur rippled in the wind from the sheer speed of its movements. The ground trembled with every clopping hoof as its bloodshot single eye bored into the both of them. The ground had shaken even worse when her dad was running across the ground to get between her and the monster.


    Everything was going to plan, now to watch the long fight that would take place between the two of them. She would analyze every moment so she could tell her dad how to fix it like a coach does at little league.


    Her father assumed one of the many martial stances she had seen him use during his silly karate competitions and she smiled as he pulled back a fist. Cindy couldn¡¯t wait to watch and see how well her father would work in this new world and how he would adapt his skills in ways that were going to be tweaked and fine tuned so that he would understand that the world here worked on game logic. Not anything that he was used to. She wondered if he would even be able to use a skill. The most basic of actions here in this world.


    That''s when her breath was taken away. She watched as the muscles on her fathers body grew and tightened to the point she could see each individual strand of them as he swelled in strength. The veins on his body crawled across his skin like in her anime when the main character would power up for a final confrontation. His pulled back fist had vapors of greenish gold energy wafting from it as she heard his teeth creaking from his clenched mouth. Energy crackled beneath his skin as it rushed to his hands. She could feel the air vibrate as stamina was spent. The ground cracked beneath his feet like when Rice powered up in Drake Orb X.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    If her eyes weren¡¯t massive stars spinning in amazement she would¡¯ve been surprised. Cindy clasped her hands in front of her chest and took in a deep breath, her smile was so wide it hurt her mouth as she fought off the desire to clap in delight. ¡°This is so cool,¡± She whispered to herself.


    The boroclops lowered its head to line up its tusks aiming to gore into her fathers legs and chest. Its squeal was full of anger and hate as it approached Dad. The dirt it was running across churned and shot out behind it as it sped up all of a sudden. It used its own skill, ¡®Boroclops Charge.¡± Its next attack would deal an increase of ten damage. Her dad had plenty of hit points and it would only do about thirty in total. This was the most powerful attack of the boroclops and it was so easy to dodge out of the way. Her father didn¡¯t have that option because Cindy was there. Just as planned. He would learn there was no pain here and that it was all just numbers.


    With a yell that shook the air she watched her father¡¯s fist descend like a smiting meteor straight down into the Boroclops¡¯s head. His hips twisted, adding power to the blow as he lunged forward a step. She didn¡¯t expect the very ground to buck underneath her feet as the sheer power of the blow shattered the earth in black lines like a cratering impact. The sound of his fist smashing into the boroclops was like a clap of thunder. Instinct caused her to shut her eyes tight while she floated in mid air for just a moment before falling to her butt. She opened her eyes slowly and peeked out of them.


    Her jaw dropped. The Boroclops lay motionless on the ground, great golden cracks of light spiderwebbed across its forehead and body as motes of golden energy trailed into the sky. The black lines of broken earth faded into nothing as the world corrected itself like it always did when she messed with stuff.


    Words fell out of her mouth as she looked at the scene, ¡°One Strike Guy¡­¡±


    Then her dad collapsed.

 7: Status

    Daryl lay there face in the dirt as he ached all across his body. Pain flooded him everywhere as if he had just done a full body workout and not just chest or leg day. Nothing in his mind worked well as everything seemed to spin in his vision like he was dizzy or had one of those strange inner ear stones that gave people vertigo. With massive effort he looked forward at the boar and hoped that it was at least knocked out. That punch had felt more powerful than anything he could ever imagine happening in real life.


    A message popped up in his vision, ¡°You have dealt 410 points of damage to Boroclops. Boroclops has been defeated. You have gained the following items for defeating your opponent. 2 Boroclops hides, Boroclops tusk, Boroclops eye, Beast Gem token, and Mighty hoof have been sent to your storage unit in town. Several Raw Meat have been deposited into your inventory. Congratulations on defeating your first opponent, you have been gifted, Giant¡¯s BBQ Spit and Grill. Minigame unlocked, ¡®Cooking Challenge!¡¯ You defeated your opponent in a single blow! You have been awarded a special Title by another member of the world, ¡®One Strike Guy!¡¯ Any attacks done without a weapon now have the special trait, Serious Strikes. This adds 10 points of damage to all unarmed attacks. For slaying a monster you¡¯ve made 100 tennies.¡±


    Confusion flooded Daryl¡¯s mind as he tried to process everything that was going on. These texts floating in front of him had done so much for him and it was almost as if he barely had to read them to truly get everything it was trying to say.


    Another box popped up, ¡°You are in Stamina Crash. You have hit 0 Stamina, truly something trying at the best of times. All stamina regeneration has been paused for the next minute to show you how precious stamina is. Make sure when you are fighting multiple opponents that you do not hit Stamina Crash.¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    His arms were lead as he moved them underneath himself and started to push himself back to standing. ¡°Cindy, where are you? Are you okay?¡±


    Cindy ran in front of her and was clapping and jumping around, ¡°Oh my god dad that was awesome! You ended it in a single blow! Even my most powerful spell takes several attempts to bring down a Boroclops. I¡¯m sooo teaching you everything! The tutorial isn¡¯t over yet!¡±


    Daryl looked down at his tiny daughter. She was barely the size of a half forearm. She was wearing a ridiculous floppy witch hat and baggy gray robes that swished about her as she swung her arms and started to skip around in a circle around Daryl. ¡°Why are you so small? What happened to you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not small dad!¡± Cindy stopped in front of her and stomped a single foot, ¡°I made you a giant! Look around you¡¯re bigger than a house!¡±


    ¡°How could you make me a giant? You can¡¯t just make someone a giant. You¡¯re not making any sense.¡± Daryl couldn¡¯t bring himself to stand up as the weight of the world settled on his shoulders.


    ¡°Dad, we got Isekai¡¯d. We are in another world! A world that looks like a video game. I was able to make you a character and summon you here. So I made you something I didn¡¯t want to be. A physical powerhouse min-maxed monster!¡± She assumed a mock martial stance and started to make fake punches, ¡°Whatchaaaa!¡±


    ¡°What are you even talking about? I must have hit my head too hard on a root or something and this is some sort of coma dream.¡±


    ¡°See I made myself a supreme mage and with my cheat skill I can defeat the demon king!¡± Cindy started to windmill her arms and sparks and circles of energy sparked from them. ¡°Now with you I don¡¯t have to run so much, you can just smack things and make them stay still so that I can pelt them with spells. Together we will save the world!!!¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­ you said save the world?¡±

 8: Tutorial Time!

    ¡°Yes dad! Now get up! We have more of the tutorial to do.¡± Cindy started to skip away with as little care in the world as he had ever seen here.


    ¡°I can¡¯t move, I¡¯m in something called Stamina Crash.¡± Dad was huffing and could barely get to his knees.


    Cindy looked at her father with a shocked look on his face, ¡°How the heck did you get into Stamina Crash. You only threw a single punch. Hold still, I''ll do something.¡± Cindy got close to her dad and looked at him, ¡°Identify!¡± She yelled. Everything about her dad flashed into her mind and she found out how he had spent all his stamina in a single attack. What a fool! If it didn¡¯t work or he missed he would have been so screwed.


    ¡°You can¡¯t just spend all your stamina on a single attack dad! What were you thinking?!¡± Cindy was furious that he had been so careless. Sure she could have pulled aggro from him and ran around until she defeated the Boroclops on her own but then her father wouldn¡¯t have gotten the loot. He had to make some gear next in the tutorial she had spent so much time working on the past few days. Ever since¡­ no, no, no. Cindy shook her head as she thought. No time to dwell.


    ¡°I was just trying to keep you safe, Badger.¡± Her dad¡¯s voice was so low it rumbled like falling stones.


    ¡°Oh here I am Cinderfire the Badger Queen, I got to name myself you know. I think it¡¯s a pretty cool name!¡± Cindy put her hands behind her back and puffed out her chest real big as she looked around. Waiting for the praise her father would rightfully shower her with.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t the system tell me my name was just Dad¡­¡± Dad looked off at his status screen no doubt.


    ¡°Well I mean that is who you are. I¡¯m never calling you by your name, here and forever more you are Dad. Hmph, you should be grateful I even made the character for you. If you did it you would probably be like some ooze or something because it was more interesting.¡± Cindy raised her head up so high it was comical so she could look down her nose at her father.


    ¡°Cindy, you are walking a fine line young lady. Now come on, we have to find a way home.¡± Dad tried to stand up again and slumped over.


    ¡°Recovery Beam Channel!¡± Shouted Cindy as she moved her hands about to select the healing runes she had available. It would restore some stamina for him. She shot the yellow gold beam at her father and even though he flinched it started to envelop his chest. She knew it would restore five stamina per ten she spent so she spent twenty so her dad would be able to move. ¡°Praise me for my benevolence!¡±


    She eeped as her dad scooped her up with one mighty arm as he stood up and she wiggled her feet and legs mightily as he cupped her in his palms. Dad brought her right to his face and started to inspect her, ¡°Are you alright? Are you hurt at all?¡±


    ¡°Dad I¡¯m fine, I said you should praise me though. Come on, where is the praise?¡±


    ¡°You were very kind. Just like we raised you to be.¡± Dad put Cinder on his shoulder and looked around. ¡°Now, home, you know anything about that?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t go home until we defeat the demon king or show her that it''s better to be a good person.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean we can¡¯t go?¡±


    ¡°I mean that the world needs us and it is our sacred duty to save it. Then Gaia will reveal herself and send us home. It is what I agreed to you know. We are going to be heroes!¡± She wobbled and almost fell before grabbing onto his ear with her hands. This elicited a hiss from Dad but she ignored it.


    ¡°Well, how does this whole thing work? Where is the demon king? Wait you said she, wouldn¡¯t it be demon queen?¡±


    ¡°Nevermind that! To town! You have a tutorial to do!¡± She smiled as she yelled, ¡°HYAH!¡±

 9: Trails

    The ground rushed under Daryl¡¯s feet as he followed the directions his daughter was giving him. There was a wide trail trampled through the forest. Cindy started to talk, ¡°Dad this place is so cool. It''s like virtual reality, but even cooler! There are people everywhere and they feel so real, they talk and live their lives just like everyone else. See I once called them NPCs but man did Gaia really not like that.¡±


    ¡°So, you spoke to this Gaia. Tell me about that.¡± Daryl wasn¡¯t too interested as he stepped around a cart being driven down the road. The driver didn¡¯t even seem phased by a giant walking around with a witch on his shoulder.


    ¡°So she came and I found her in the creek and she told me she needed me and since she needed me I jumped in her arms and POW! I was in this like gazebo in the sky but bigger. What is a giant gazebo called?¡±


    Daryl closed his eyes, his daughter''s ADHD was really on show right now and he never got her on medication since she didn¡¯t want that. ¡°It''s called a pavilion, Badger.¡±


    ¡°Ok, so she is soooo beautiful dad. Like how you gape at Wondrous Woman in those movies. She wears a crown of stars and like her eyes are like golden suns. Well we were in the pavilion and clouds lay out in all directions to the horizon and the sky was blue, like super blue right.¡± Cindy started speaking even faster as she lost what she was talking about again.


    ¡°Honey, I need you to focus. What did you talk to this Gaia about?¡± Daryl¡¯s foot got snagged by a bush and he just ripped it out without stopping like it was just a tumbleweed of hair on the floor.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. Well anyway she tells me this world needs a hero and out of everyone in the world I was the perfect person for it. Since I said yes she gave me three wishes. I can¡¯t use them for some things but I wished for you to come with me. After a few days I started to feel a little lonely.¡± Cindy snuggled up closer to Daryl¡¯s neck and wrapped arms around it while wiggling herself to be a little more comfortable. ¡°Then I decided that if I was going to summon you, I would have to teach you about how this world works. Since you didn¡¯t really game with me I thought you would be lost.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    ¡°I used to game you know. Before I graduated I would play Special Marimbo all the time.¡±


    ¡°That is such an old platformer dad. This isn¡¯t a platformer. Its close to that Beast Slayer game where you go fight giant animals and you make gear and that gear gives you stuff. Well anyways I got a cheat skill as well as the wishes. Most good Isekais have super cool cheat skills.¡±


    Daryl stopped and closed his eyes. He was used to his daughter really losing herself in jabbering and just going everywhere. The stress of it all was getting to him but Daryl promised himself he wouldn¡¯t snap at his daughter. ¡°Ok, you keep bringing this up. What is an isekai?¡±


    ¡°Oh that is easy, so Japanese anime and books have this. A person is sucked to another world or reincarnated and it is always something different than earth. A lot of them work on game system logic where people level up and get stats and stuff. This isn¡¯t fully like that since it is more about what you wear and some of them have magic. Some have both.¡±


    ¡°Cindy, hold on. So, you willingly came to this other world, this Gaia. Why?¡± Daryl had to know.


    Cindy grew very quiet and her hug on the side of his neck grew tighter, ¡°She said I would be a hero. That I was needed.¡±


    ¡°I need you, I needed you when we were home.¡± Daryl¡¯s voice was deathly serious.


    ¡°I¡¯m not talking about that.¡± Cindy hopped off and as she fell she spoke a spell, ¡°Flying Aura Channel,¡± like a fairy she started to fly ahead her back to her father.


    ¡°Honey,¡± Daryl started.


    ¡°No Dad! This is my place! I know this world! I¡¯ve been here for a month ok?¡±


    ¡°A month? You¡¯ve been gone a week. You spent all that time alone?¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t alone,¡± Cindy¡¯s voice was quiet, ¡°I had people around. While I learned everything.¡±


    ¡°Badger come back over here,¡± Daryl blocked her from flying further with a hand cupped in front of her.


    Cindy was very still for a moment before she looked forward. ¡°There is the town. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Cindy darted forward and around his hand.

 10: Town and Gear

    The town was surrounded by a wall made of bones and wood lashed together. It seemed all the buildings were made with animal parts and skins for walls and ceilings. Instead of wood beams they were lashed bones in the shape of yurts and tents. Men and women all walked around carefully as Dad walked into the town. Cindy flew down to the ground and everyone greeted her warmly.


    All the homes were almost to the chest of Dad and she smiled that he was going to be so powerful. The curious feeling of wonder filled her as she expected it was all going to be different. It only took a few materials for Cindy to craft the three sets of gear she had grinded for that let her absorb all the spell runes she had so far. The fact that you built a spell by effect, shape, and cost had been super easy to learn.


    Everyone nodded at Cindy before looking up at the giant with her. Their eyes flashing as they identified him and the mumbling of everyone talking made Cindy¡¯s ears burn. ¡°His name is Dad? Who names someone like that?¡± and ¡°What¡¯s with that name. What if I want to call my pa?¡±


    Cindy led Dad through the town to the smith that made all the gear. It didn¡¯t matter if it was cloth or steel or bone. This world made crafting super easy and so many people in this world had the skills to make anything.


    Cindy called out, ¡°Dark Smith! I¡¯m back!¡±


    ¡°Oh if it isn¡¯t my favorite customer. I don¡¯t see many Beast Slayers coming through town. All the tennies I get from your pockets keep me well fed. What can I help you with today?¡± Mr. Dark stood up and wiped his hands on his apron. The always burning piece of metal sat on his anvil perfectly balanced with his hammer ready to keep shaping the metal forever. When she asked about it he said it fought the boredom away and made the skill never degrade. Her skill never did but maybe it was different for natives.


    ¡°This is Dad, he just beat a Boroclops and we need to see what he can make with the materials.¡± Cindy gestured up towards her dad.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    ¡°Dad, that is a strange name. Who knows about these Giants.¡± Mr. Dark looked up at Dad and whistled. ¡°I hope things work the same for them.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you know?¡± Dad asked, his voice almost shaking the dirt.


    ¡°I ain¡¯t never made anything for a Giant. Why don¡¯t you take a seat and I¡¯ll bring up the menu by looking at your inventory.¡± Mr. Dark felt the ground shake as the giant sat down. He walked up and leaned forward, his eyes flashing. Then he walked back to the anvil stroking his chin. ¡°Looks like I can make a helmet for you with the hides and tusk. The eye is good for a chest piece but you need the skull and a few more hides. Gives the Boroclops Charge lvl 1 skill.¡± Mr. Dark sat behind his anvil and started striking the metal again. ¡°Fifty tennies and I¡¯ll whip it up. Want to make the deal?¡±


    Before Dad could respond Cindy spoke up, ¡°What is the Boroclops charge skill. My choice didn¡¯t have that.¡±


    ¡°Looks like giants get a different set of skills. The skill costs 10 stamina. Strength versus toughness, whoever has it higher is stunned for one second. Ten extra damage as well as a dash involved.¡± Every sentence was punctuated by the clanging of metal.


    ¡°We will take it! Dad, confirm the purchase,¡± Cindy demanded.


    Dad looked down at it all with a look of confusion on his face, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t I save it? What if the chest piece is better? Do you have the materials for me to make both?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t give people materials like that. It¡¯s not how it works. Everyone earns things for themselves, you have to have special gear in order to become a smith and then you can be given materials temporarily to craft them. It is just how the world works now get it going, we have so much to cover today.¡± Cindy was tapping one of her feet and staring at her dad.


    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll take the boar helmet.¡± Motes of light flew out of him into Dark¡¯s hands and instantly he started to mix them together and smash them with a hammer. ¡°That¡¯s not going to make a helmet. He is hitting metal with a hammer not¡­¡±


    ¡°All done here you go!¡± A glowing orb started spinning in the air between them. It was about the size of Dad¡¯s head already.


    Inside the orb was a helmet. Two ear flaps hung down and looked like the shaggiest part of the Boclops, along the brow were one single tusk protruded from the center like a curled horn of an oni. There was no top to the helmet and it looked more like a circlet with the ears and horn. She watched as her dad reached out and touched the orb. Light materialized around his head and the helmet was equipped. ¡°That is making and putting on a helmet. All other armor does that too. You can change armor at the armory box near the town gate. I have to swap my equipment so I¡¯ll show you.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t just change in the middle of the street!¡± Yelped her dad.


    ¡°No one will see anything, it''s instant and you get coated in light. You can¡¯t be naked unless you¡¯re in bed. It''s part of the world. Now come on, it''s time to look at the farm!¡±


    Cindy felt her heart clench.

 11: Heartbreak

    Name: Cinderflame the Badger Queen


    Body: 30 assigned.


    Strength: 5


    Swiftness: 15


    Toughness: 10


    Spirit: 70 assigned.


    Focus: 25


    Channeling: 20


    Concentration: 25


    Elven Racial Trait: Mana Tidebinder. You have exceptional ability to feel the flow of mana and that increases your regen rate and the max mana you have at your fingertips.


    Stamina: 100/100


    Regen: 10/per 5 seconds


    Mana: 150/150


    Regen: 15/per 5 seconds¡±


    ¡°Hit points generated. Hit points equal to 20x Toughness stat.


    Final stats calculated.


    Hit points: 200/200


    Stamina: 100/100


    Mana: 150/150.¡±


    ¡°Character generated. Spawning into the world. Welcome to Gaia.¡±


    Cindy felt herself coalesce from light and stood in a field. A town with no walls lay in the distance. She looked down at herself and touched what she was wearing. A light tunic made of rough material lay under her fingertips. Her legs were covered with some shorts cinched to her waist by a rope. Her feet had intricate sandals that wrapped around her ankles to secure themselves and a small straw hat on her head. She felt her pointed ears with her fingers and smiled wide.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    ¡°I¡¯m an elf, I¡¯m in a new world! And I have a wish!¡± Cindy clapped and danced in place wiggling about in a happy moment.


    Her mind raced as she opened her mouth. She needed to learn quickly, ¡°Menu.¡± Nothing, ¡°Uhhhh Status?¡± Again nothing. ¡°Help?¡±


    ¡®Hello, welcome to Gaia. How may I help you today?¡¯ A voice echoed in her mind as a blue pop up window filled the corner of her vision.


    ¡°How do I see my skills and abilities?¡±


    ¡°To see your current abilities say ¡®Abilities¡¯, to see spells, say ¡®Runes¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Abilities.¡±


    ¡®You have the following abilities thanks to your Commoners Tunic: Meditation lvl 1. Meditation allows the user to rest and double mana recovery while staying still. Commoners Shorts: Bounding Step lvl 1: Spend 20 Stamina to increase speed by 10%. Commoners Hat and sandals share the same skill. Skill level combined. Skill: Resistance lvl 2 Stats count as 20% higher to resist skills.¡¯ The voice cut out now that it was done.


    Spells huh, Gaia had explained it a little to her. ¡°Runes.¡±


    ¡®You have access to the following runes thanks to your gear, Effects: Recovery, Force. Projection: Bolt. Expenditure: Pulse.¡¯


    So she could fire bolts of force a single time. How much mana would it cost? ¡°Force Bolt Pulse!¡± A ball of blue mana formed in her palm and she pointed it at the ground. It blasted out and the ground puffed up and made a fist sized hole in the ground. Her mana drained by ten points. With fascination she watched as the ground seemed to shift and glimmer as it returned to its usual shape.


    ¡®Damage dealt to an inanimate object: 15 points of force damage.¡¯


    Cindy smiled, she knew her cheat skill would let her keep all the runes. The menu system showed that it was gear that gave access to runes and skills. So if she was going to be able to learn more she would just need to get more gear.


    Now for her first of three wishes, ¡°I wish my mom was here with me! I want her to be right here with me!¡± She wouldn¡¯t have to miss her mom anymore.


    It took a few moments and then the light started to fill in a new figure. She was a short woman, with long black hair and brown eyes. The figure was just as Cindy remembered. She was wearing much the same clothes as Cindy and looked around, not with the warm eyes that Cindy had missed so much the last few weeks. Instead they were cold and calculating. She looked down at Cindy.


    ¡°Momma?¡± Cindy looked up at her with hope surging in her heart.


    Her smile sent shivers down her spine but filled her hopeful mind with warmth. ¡°Cindy, where are we?¡±


    It was so hard to talk, with a meekness Cindy wouldn¡¯t have expected she spoke ¡°We are in a new world Momma, we are going to save it. Together.¡± Cindy reached up a hand to her mother hoping beyond hope to hold her hand once more. To feel it be warm and not cold. To see her vibrant with life and not wasting away in her final days. The beeping of machines filled her mind for a moment until her mother¡¯s hand wrapped around hers.


    It was warm, soft and full of life. Cindy felt tears well in her eyes as she gripped her mother as tightly as her little hand could. Momma looked around the horizon and spotted the town. ¡°Let¡¯s go to town. I¡¯m sure we can learn more about what is going on over there. Are you ready Cindy?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you gonna call me by my nickname Momma?¡± Hopeful and happy tears rolled down her cheeks. The wish had worked, she wouldn¡¯t have to save this world alone. She wouldn¡¯t have to be without her mom again.


    The woman looked away, hiding a frown and a dark glower on her face, ¡°Come on Badger. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    They walked towards the town. Cindy looked with wonder upon the mother she had missed so much. This new world was already great. However, some part of her knew something was wrong.

 12: The Farm

    Daryl stood up fully adjusting the new hat that reminded him of Bronan the Caveman. Cindy was already half running along the streets, her exuberant energy nothing like what the last few weeks of her life had been and his heart ached a little at the sight of it. Carefully Daryl walked through the streets of the town, being careful not to kick or step on anyone as he worked his way along.


    There were dozens of shops with vendors yelling out about their goods. Men and women in outlandish armor walked between the stalls and there were glowing exchanges of light that floated between them. Daryl could tell that this world was more like virtual reality than what he was used to. His eyes were stuck on his daughter¡¯s back as she flitted through the crowd with ease.


    He was so used to looking down at his feet so that he wouldn¡¯t hurt anyone that he was surprised when they arrived at a building just around his height in size. Daryl¡¯s gaze drifted up and looked at the cottage. It was two stories tall with a sharp pointed roof of thatched hay. Small shuttered windows sat near the top of the peak and a door lay in the center of the first floor. The smell of fresh baked pie floated through the air.


    Behind the house were rows and rows of greenery and flowers. How it all seemed to fit inside these walls was kind of disorienting. A fence about as tall as Cindy surrounded all the greenery. Small pink skinned creatures with pig snouts and curly tails poking out of pants walked around mindlessly with watering cans and tools. Whenever they stopped to do something the whole world would shift and return back to the same state it was in moments before. Something was plucked, ground was watered. Each herb replaced itself by growing in mere moments, ground soaked up water and was dry in a flash. Daryl¡¯s head swam with the implications of this world.


    An ancient withered woman sat on a rocking chair next to the door to the house. Her hands were held together at the top of a cane of gnarled wood. Her hair was thin and wispy, rolling down her shoulders and falling out of a messy bun on the top of her head. The woman¡¯s eyes were just slits and barely cracked open. Her smile was goofy and had plenty of missing teeth in that cartoonish way.


    CIndy skipped up to her and came to a stop, ¡°Grenda! I have returned with a guest. Were you able to grow some of the herbs I ordered?¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Grenada cackled softly, ¡°Oh to be young. Don¡¯t skip introductions, young lady. Who did you bring with you? I don¡¯t see anyone¡­¡± Her eyes finally landed on Daryl¡¯s legs and then started to move slowly up his body and the chair tilted back as she gazed up. ¡°Gods, a giant in this day and age.¡±


    ¡°This is Dad! He is going to be a new adventurer that will help the town. I¡¯m sure he will want to set up a farm order, I¡¯m teaching him how.¡± Cindy turned to Daryl as the old woman kept silent. ¡°This is Grenda, she is this town¡¯s farmer. Her and her Piglins grow all the crops that sustain this place. You can order certain things from her. I asked for healing herbs and every day you can pick up a batch from what you¡¯ve requested. She only keeps on orders for five days and you can only request one thing at a time. Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°Why five days? What about all the food she is supposed to be making in the town? How can she do both? How are the plants replacing themselves as soon as they¡¯re plucked? What is going on with this place?¡±


    ¡°Wow, that is a lot of questions. Ummmm, that''s just how it is.¡± Cindy shrugged as she spoke as if the questions really didn¡¯t matter as they were questioning this new place. ¡°This is the new world and that''s just how things work. You have to learn to accept that.¡±


    Daryl wiped his face with both his hands and sighed into them. ¡°Ok, what should I place an order for?¡±


    ¡°Grenda, will you charge him 10 tennies a day for herbs?¡±


    The ancient woman nodded slowly before shaking her head and bringing herself back to the moment. ¡°That is what I charge everyone. Oh and dear, for finishing another mission the guild has allowed me to open a second slot of my farm for your use. Whenever you are ready feel free to tell me what you would like to grow.¡±


    Cindy pumped her fist a single time before smiling at her dad, ¡°Go ahead dad. Healing herbs give 20 hit points each. You just pop them in your mouth and chew.¡±


    Daryl knelt down to the ground. ¡°I¡¯ll take healing herbs for three days.¡±


    The old woman nodded, ¡°Deal.¡± The motes of light filled with images of coins floated from Daryl¡¯s chest and into the old woman. She smiled, ¡°Dad sure is handsome.¡±


    ¡°You can call me Daryl, Dad isn¡¯t my name.¡±


    ¡°That''s not what your status says,¡± Grenda cackled once more.


    ¡°Well Dad, she has a point,¡± Cindy covered her mouth and giggled. ¡°Now let''s go, the guild has missions and we need one. Come on!¡±


    Cindy sprinted through the crowds suddenly. Hollering into the air with excitement. In Daryl¡¯s ears, it sounded forced.

 13: Guilds and Missions

    Cindy was skipping through the crowd as the ground shook behind her with everyone of Dad¡¯s steps. He was listening so well now that they were here. He was lecturing at home trying to teach her so much about what was coming even though she had years before she had to worry about it. A warmth spread in her chest as she skipped now that her Dad was going to join her. Now he just needed to learn about the guild and how to take missions.


    She had already done most of the missions that post on the board but he didn¡¯t need to know that. She had grinded through the Boroclops gear in the first week and worked her way up to Elizards and Shademonkeys. She was almost ready to take on her first true large monsters. She had done plenty of the medium monsters pretty easily and was feeling much more confident now that she had someone she could rely on.


    Dark thoughts clouded her mind about the first week she was in Gaia and she shook her head vigorously and felt her hat almost fly off her head. The guild building stood slightly taller than Dad¡¯s new form and was made of huge curving bones and hides stretched under them. A massive board filled with pages and pages of requests for Boroclops meat that always was posted every day. The request for Elizard hide, a waterproof material that made good beginner armor that the blacksmith sold for starting adventurers.


    Her Shademonkey Witch outfit swirled around her as she looked at her impressive collection of runes. She needed only to use a rune once for her to keep it thanks to Gaia and she had used plenty of things on her adventure. She was almost ready to go to the next town but wanted to make sure her dad had some skills that would be useful.


    She felt the last step of Dad behind her and out of the corner of her eye saw him kneel next to her and she turned her head and looked up at him with a smile. ¡°This is the request board. People ask the guild for jobs to be filled and adventurers go out into the world and finalize the requests. Once its fulfilled you get some tennies and other rewards.¡±


    A muscular man rippling with strength strode out of the building covered in scars and potent Ragenky armor that looked like Arabian dancer clothes but offered amazing skills in return. It scintillated in dozens of colors like a swirling rainbow. On his back was a pair of truly massive cleavers made out of sharpened bones. Chains dangled from their handles with rings of gems forming each link.


    ¡°Guild Master! Let me introduce the newest member of the Adventurers Guild! Dad!¡± She flared out her hands and shook them about presenting her giant dad.


    ¡°Oh, Dad huh. Silly name. A giant though, haven¡¯t seen one of them in ages.¡± His voice was surprisingly light and she had seen him dance circles with his amazing swiftness stat around monsters when he hunted the second day she had been here. The very massive Regenky had come and registered as an Elder Beast but he handled it like it was a stray puppy.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    ¡°Not a silly name,¡± Cindy pouted and stomped her foot.


    ¡°You can call me Daryl,¡± Said Dad. Cindy rolled her eyes at this. He was supposed to be Dad here. ¡°Now before my daughter starts overexplaining everything why don¡¯t you tell me what this building is supposed to stand for.¡±


    Cindy fumed that she had been cut off and stomped over to him and kicked Dad¡¯s shin with all her 5 strength. It did nothing, not even a single point of damage. ¡°Dad, I''m the one showing you everything.¡± She pouted and crossed her arms.


    ¡°Badger, I can¡¯t hear you while you mumble. Guild Master¡­ what¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Bondertrout, Cinderflame here has been an amazing adventurer. To be shown around the town by someone that has been so helpful is great.¡± He pointed to the board, ¡°Simple, take the job, do the job, turn in the job. Get money and items. That is all.¡±


    ¡°See Badger was that so hard,¡± Dad said with smugness in his voice.


    ¡°Dad,¡± Cindy stared daggers at him. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have gone on and on like you said I would. You can trust me Dad, I know what I am doing.¡±


    The sighing breath almost knocked her as he exhaled, ¡°Badger, you ramble. You know you ramble and this is a new place and I¡¯m doing my best not to freak out. Bondertrout was kind enough to help explain things pretty simply. Now why don¡¯t we go and take the Demon King contract and go take care of it right away.¡± Cindy watched as Dad leaned forward and squinted really hard trying ot read everything on the board.


    She walked forward and grabbed onto his arm and tugged to get his attention, ¡°Dad, we aren¡¯t ready for us to fight the Demon King. We have to get gear, spells, and skills. We have to have potions and herbs. Buffing inventory stones and talons. We aren¡¯t ready yet. We won¡¯t win without being ready. You taught me that, you have to be prepared.¡±


    Dad scooped his massive hand around her as he carefully sat with his legs crossed taking up most of the intersection in the road. ¡°I¡¯m not comfortable with you handling something this dangerous. Show me the basics and Dad will take care of things.¡±


    Cindy hugged his thumb and leaned into the warmth of it all, ¡°Dad, I¡¯m the hero too. I¡¯m pretty sure neither of us could do this alone. Trust me, we should be together.¡± There was a deep sadness and hurt in her voice.


    ¡°Badger, is there something you need to tell me?¡± Concern laced Dad¡¯s voice.


    She shook her head violently and took a deep steadying breath, ¡°I just got lonely when you weren¡¯t around. I don¡¯t want to be alone again.¡±


    ¡°Ok Badger, you will never be alone while I¡¯m here. We will stick together.¡± A massive finger stroked her head knocking her hat off and running down her back rubbing it gently back and forth. ¡°What gear do you think I should get, you¡¯re the one that knows what''s going on right?¡±


    Cindy snatched her hat and put it back on. ¡°You should get he same gear I¡¯ve gotten. Elizard and Shademonkey. They¡¯re the small and medium monsters around here. When you¡¯re ready we will head for our first large monster.¡±


    ¡°Of course there are categories.¡±


    ¡°Of course Dad,¡± She tightened her arms and closed her eyes. Basking in the warmth of Dad¡¯s hand.

 14: Sleeping Giants

    The sun was setting on the first day I had been summoned to this world. Daryl looked down at his daughter and watched as she rubbed one eye sleepily as she had finally finished on explaining a ton of what the world had shown her since she had spent a month here. There seemed to be gaps in the beginning but she spoke so fast it was hard to keep track of. His heart ached at the thought of her being alone during all that time. She was running away from a problem she would have to face once this was all over.


    He looked around the town and didn¡¯t see anywhere he would be able to sleep while surrounded by all these buildings that could be crushed while rolling around. Daryl knelt down and scooped up Cindy without her fighting or giving a peep when he brought her up to his chest. With a voice that rumbled through her own chest Cindy listened, ¡°Where can we get some sleep? It has been a long day and you have to bring me hunting tomorrow for this gear you say is so important.


    Cindy looked up at her father and nodded, ¡°There is actually a game field not too far to the east behind some of those buildings. It would be plenty big enough for you to lay down in. I used it to camp out recently when I spent all my tennies on gear and forgot to keep some for an inn. I¡¯ll sleep with you just to make sure you are ok. The nights can be a little weird around here.¡±


    Daryl walked through the streets that slowly emptied as everyone got ready for bed in their homes. Stores closed down as the sun set and the night sky lit up with thousands of stars and a moon so much larger than earth¡¯s. Slipping around the final buildings a field with simple goals set up in it lay about half again as large as a basketball court. The ground had overgrown grass that tickled Daryl¡¯s feet as he walked into the field.


    He set down Cindy and began to lay down on the hard ground. It was far more comfortable than he thought it should be. Maybe it was some part of being a giant. After a moment of wiggling the ground seemed to embrace him as exhaustion was taking him further closer to sleep. He became vaguely aware of Cindy climbing his tunic.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°What¡¯re you doing Cindy?¡± Questioned Daryl.


    She crested onto his chest and lay down. Her head cushioned by her dad instead of the ground below. Warmth radiated from him and it was more comforting for them both to be so close. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you in so long Dad. Even if it is only tonight, let me snuggle.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to sleep in a warm house?¡± Daryl put a hand over her and wrapped her in the warmth of his body. His heart thudded slowly but steadily in his chest below her. She tucked herself in with her robes and laid on her belly to place her head down against him so her ear could listen to that reassuring beat.


    ¡°I missed you Dad. I was so excited to be here for a bit but¡­ thank you for coming.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve no idea how much I¡¯ve worried about you. In our world you were gone for a week. I searched the forest for you and even set a care package together at the Badger Den. Don¡¯t run away from me again honey. We need to stick together.¡± His chest rumbled beneath her like a massage bed as he spoke and she fought off a giggle.


    ¡°I won''t, Dad. As long as you stay with me we''ll be together. Unlike¡­¡± Cindy¡¯s voice got quiet as a whisper.


    Daryl hadn¡¯t heard the last part, ¡°What was that sweetie?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. We have each other.¡±


    The moon glowed in the sky above them as they lay together. Each of them relishing the reunion that they didn¡¯t know they needed. Their lives had been chaotic and sad only for it all to be turned upside down and brought to another world. Cindy fell asleep on Daryl, her soft breaths becoming deep and slow.


    Daryl looked at the unfamiliar stars and moon. He could swear they danced with one another in a galactic swirl of energy. He was happy to be reunited with his daughter and his worry for her grew every moment. A fear that this was all a figment of his imagination when he hit his head on a root tripping. The only thing poking holes in that idea is he didn¡¯t think he was clever enough to create a world like this.


    As he drifted off he didn¡¯t feel the tears soaking his shirt.

 15: Motherly Indifference

    Cindy looked up at her mother as they walked towards the town in the distance. She kept up a quick pace in order to keep from being pulled by her mother constantly. Her mother looked ever onward, never glancing back as she almost rushed to the city in the distance. The sun was rising quickly into the sky.


    A monster came into the road though, causing them to both freeze in place. It was a dog sized reptile with black scales along its sides. A smattering of yellow scales mixed in with them all. Its head had a massive unhinging jaw as it swiveled its face towards the two of them. Great claws dug into the earth as it gazed at them with cold, hungry malice.


    Cindy raised her arms, hands cupped together and called out her spell. The hope to impress her mother flaring in her chest, ¡°Force Bolt Pulse!¡± Energy collected in her outstretched palms. She took a moment to aim it and¡­ sneezed. The sudden movement pointed her hands down into the earth and kicked up a mighty dust blast into her face.


    Coughing she watched as it charged at them both and her heart sank. Her mother might not know what to do. What if she was too scared to act? Cindy struggled to try and control herself and recover so she could fight to save them both.


    Her mother stepped forward and brought one hand back as the lizard leapt at her with claws extended. In a flash and a clap of sound she watched as the beast was swatted out of the air and sent back tumbling through the dirt. The creature whined and scrabbled at its face as some of it seemed to melt away at the simple contact with her mother.


    With a voice like thunder her mother roared, ¡°Bad! Sit!¡± The creature''s eyes glazed over as it stilled and sat down like a chastised dog. It looked with so much fear at her mother as she stalked closer to it. ¡°Lay down!¡± Her mother growled at the back of her throat.


    The beast laid down and closed its eyes letting out a hissing whimper. Cindy was still coughing as she watched her mom lift one foot and bring it down so hard it crumpled the creature''s head with black lines of energy spreading through its body before it burst into dark black motes. Cindy struggled to recover as she watched her mom stand there.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    She was so strong now, stronger than she had ever been in life. She saved Cindy, and with ease. Cindy struggled to her feet and looked at her mother, ¡°Wow, how did you do that?¡± Her eyes were watering and full of tears as she fought off another coughing fit.


    Her mother¡¯s face was in a manic grin showing far too many teeth for just a flash before it melted into something much softer as she looked at Cindy. ¡°I¡­ I have the command skill. If my concentration is stronger than their focus they have to listen.¡± It must have had low hit points for me to beat it in two strikes.¡±


    ¡°What are your stats? We can figure out what hit points it had.¡± Cindy burned with curiosity at the build that her mother had. It must be much more balanced than her own magic skewed one.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter Cindy. Come on, I got some loot but let''s go.¡± Her mother brushed her off as she snatched Cindy¡¯s hand and started to march once more. Her grip was almost too tight for Cindy to stand.


    As she watched she coughed and stumbled scraping her knee hard on the ground.


    You¡¯ve taken 1 point of fall damage


    Motes of light filtered off her knee as pain flared in her leg. ¡°Ouch! Mom, you''re going too fast.¡±


    The mother¡¯s voice was so cold as she spoke back, ¡°Don¡¯t blame me for your failure. Get up I don¡¯t want to fight another monster because you¡¯re too slow to let us get to safety.¡±


    ¡°Mom! What¡¯s wrong with you? You¡¯re never like this!¡± Cindy looked hurt and tears formed in her eyes as she gazed at her mother.


    Her mom sighed and stepped closer to Cindy kneeling down and brushing hair from her face, ¡°You have to understand what it is like to be me right now. I¡¯m in a new world, not of my own choice and am out in the open where it is dangerous. What would have happened if I wasn¡¯t able to take care of that monster? Would you have wanted to watch it attack and hurt me?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Cindy¡¯s voice was so meek as she looked at the ground ashamed she had snapped at her mother. She hadn¡¯t fully considered what it would be like for her mom. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± She whispered to the ground.


    ¡°Now come on, I want to get to town and find out what is going on.¡± This time Cindy didn¡¯t take her mom¡¯s hand as she followed behind her ashamed.


    Cindy watched her feet as she half ran and sniffed back her tears.

 16: A New Day

    As the sun rose it pierced Daryl¡¯s eyes and he fluttered them open. Cindy was still sleeping peacefully on his chest still covered by his hand to keep her warm and safe. Using a single finger he shook her gently until she woke up. ¡°Good morning Badger. Come on, it is time to get up.¡±


    Cindy rubbed her eyes heavily with both hands as she yawned in the dawn light. ¡°Ok Dad. We have some quests to do today. We got to slay twenty Elizards and hopefully get enough gear for you to get a weapon and fill the rest of your slots of equipment. It might not give any skills but it will help prevent damage done to you. Every point of armor prevents a single point of damage from enemy attacks until it hits half damage. Though Elizards only do ten damage a piece. I tested it.¡±


    ¡°You tested it? Why did you put yourself in danger?¡± Daryl looked at the small wet stain where Cindy had slept and sighed. She must have drooled on him. He set her down on the ground and stretched his new body. The tight cords of muscles that now were heavily defined like a strongman ready for competition. A mighty pop rang out as his back popped between his shoulders. A flood of relief from an unfelt tension flooded him. Probably wasn¡¯t the best idea to sleep against the ground.


    ¡°I¡­ I was told to by my¡­ trainer.¡± Cindy seemed hesitant and unsure on how she should word it. Daryl frowned at her back.


    ¡°Sounds like a pretty dumb trainer. Well I won¡¯t let you ¡®experiment¡¯ and find out damage values with your own body. I¡¯ll take hits from now on.¡± He stood up and brushed off his backside as great clods of dirt fell off of him instantly mending the ground back into its untouched state.


    ¡°Thanks Dad, it is pretty scary to be attacked in order to figure these things out.¡± Cindy straightened her hat and moved her robes around until they fit properly. With purpose she lifted a hand and resummoned her staff. ¡°Ok, we can leave town and do the hunt now. When you get hungry I¡¯ll teach you the mini game of cooking. You should have gotten raw meat from the Boroclops yesterday. They always drop one to three of them.¡± Instead of heading deeper through the town Cindy instead went to the nearest wall.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we head to a gate? It¡¯s not like we can phase through the wall and head back out there.¡± Daryl half turned before he heard Cindy clear her throat.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°We can just head over it. I¡¯m sure with your new body you can scale it and I can just fly over it. Float, Self, Channel!¡± She began to hover and just slipped over the wall without any worries in life. Daryl went on tip toes and watched as she slowly floated to the ground on the other side.


    With a small leap he scaled the wall and swung himself over with more agility then he would have ever managed while he was in the real world. He did take the time to make sure that he didn¡¯t bump his daughter with his swinging legs. Soon though he was standing outside the town and looked off into the distance. There was a large plain with grass that was half as tall as his daughter and barely above the tops of his feet.


    Several dark lizard looking creatures wandered through the tall grass eating at the grass and chasing small rodents that flitted back and forth in the cover. They seemed to ignore one another and didn¡¯t seem to fight over territory with one another. Daryl took a knee and spoke to his daughter, ¡°Are those Elizards?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, a fairly common small monster. We want to get twenty of them and they always drop a tooth as proof. Then we can go fight five Boroclops and see if we can farm you the rest of the set and maybe a weapon. You can¡¯t just go around punching everything.¡± Cindy started walking towards one of the lizards and set her feet. Stuck out her tongue and screwed up her face as she aimed. ¡°Force, Bolt, Rapid Pulse!¡±


    A stream of blue bolts of energy shot out of her hand. They were about the size of her fist clenched and soared through the air straight and true. They impacted and riddled the side of the beast as it tumbled to its side and started to run. After five bolts the chain stopped and she looked at Daryl, ¡°I weakened it for you. I don¡¯t think you need it but it¡¯s your turn.¡±


    Daryl shook his head and slapped his hand down on the running lizard as it turned and was heading right for Cindy¡¯s turned back. The ground bucked under his blow and Cindy staggered a little.


    ¡®You have done 40 points of damage. You have killed an Elizard, you have earned 1 Elizard tooth, 1 Elizard Scale, 1 Small Raw Meat. You¡¯ve earned 1 tennie.¡¯ Came the strange voice that kept telling him about the world.


    ¡°See easy, you wouldn¡¯t have had to hit it so hard next time but it is simple enough. I¡¯m going to watch and see if you need help as you fight the beasts. I have healing spells on standby if you get swarmed I¡¯ll heal you while you smash away. Easy Peasy!¡± Cindy smiled wide as she looked up at her father, her emerald eyes gleaming in the sunlight.


    Daryl walked forward and as soon as he was close enough to the creatures they would always turn on him in an instant and leap at him. One swat wasn¡¯t enough to kill the creatures. So he started to use his skill, Titanic Blow and spent 5 stamina on it. This seemed to do the fifty points of damage that the creatures had and within minutes he had slain enough creatures to finish the first quest.


    His stomach rumbled mightily as he stood up one more time.

 17: Cooking Papa

    Cindy heard her Dad¡¯s stomach rumble. It was like the thunder rolling in from a thunderstorm and she let out a loud laugh as he clutched his stomach. She skipped up to his ankle and tapped it gently, ¡°Let¡¯s get closer to the city and I¡¯ll teach you how the cooking skill works in Gaia. It is pretty simple.¡±


    Dad turned around and walked behind her slowly as she walked to the city walls. Daryl sat down and looked at Cindy as she rubbed her hands. ¡°Ok Badger, how do we go about cooking food if we aren¡¯t buying it from someone with the skill. It seemed to me that you needed skills to do anything around here.¡±


    Cindy pushed her hat back and touched the side of her nose looking up at her dad. ¡°That is right! You do need skills for almost anything. But there are certain universal skills that everyone has. Cooking is one of them. So you just have to think about a barbecue spit and say in your mind, ¡®Time to Cook!¡¯


    Dad closed his eyes and instantly the spit popped in his massive hand and like she suspected it was as large as he needed and wasn¡¯t the same small version she had. The magic of the world doing its job. His voice came out as he looked at the spit confused. ¡°What do I do now?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I forgot about the fire. You also need to make a fire, that is another universal skill. It costs a single tennie and then it gets summoned from nowhere. It is awesome. So much easier than when you taught me how to make a fire back home.¡± Cindy crouched and moved her hands while thinking about a fire. Instantly the warmth spread from her hands and manifested itself as a pile of wood. A single mote of light floated from her chest into the heart of the wood and it caught fire in a moment.


    ¡°What the heck, that doesn¡¯t make any sense.¡± Daryl was scratching his head with the handle of the spit as he watched the tiny fire come to life. ¡°Plus something that small won¡¯t cook this hunk of meat.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t you just trust the world Dad. Now you just hold it over the fire and you are gonna start hearing a jingle. Once it reaches the end the meat turns a different color and you pull it away from the fire. If you don¡¯t act in time it burns and tastes yucky.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Cindy could see that her dad wasn¡¯t convinced so she put her own stick to the fire after summoning one of her many raw meats and started to cook it. She watched her dad to see if he heard the jingle like she did but his blank expression told her he couldn¡¯t. Keeping her focus on the meat it turned like magic on the spit and as the tune hit the end the meat turned. She pulled it away just in time and held it above her head, ¡°So Yummy!¡± She called out to the world.


    Rolling his eyes Cindy watched as Dad brought his giant hunk of meat over the fire and as his eyes glazed over he jerked his hand back and looked around the area. ¡°What the¡­ who is playing that music?¡±


    ¡°Dad, aren¡¯t you paying attention? That is the cooking jingle. Once it ends you pull it away and you have perfectly cooked meat. Now since you stopped you have ¡®undercooked meat¡¯. It tastes awful and debuffs your stamina regeneration. You can sell it for a tennie some people can reuse it in skills for other stuff.¡± Cindy sat down and watched her dad.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I just put it over the fire again?¡± He tried and looked confused as he turned it this way and that nothing happened at all. After a solid minute he looked at it and touched it with his hand. ¡°It¡¯s not hot like it should be.¡±


    ¡°I told you Dad. That is how things work in this world. You can¡¯t fight the new reality. Now pull out your other meat and try again.¡± Cindy kicked back as she bit into her perfectly cooked meat and the juices dripped down her chin as she chewed happily.


    Dad put the next one over the fire and she could see the focus in his eyes as he listened to the jingle. Just as she was singing it to herself in her mind it ended and he pulled it from the fire. He lifted it above his head, just as everyone did and yelled out, ¡°So Yummy! What? Why did I do that?¡±


    ¡°Everyone does it when they do a perfect job. You don¡¯t do it when you burn it or undercook it. It is part of how you know it is good to eat. So scarf it down and we can go. Proud of you Dad, you did it on your second try.¡± Cindy finished off her large hunk of meat and patted her belly surprised it wasn¡¯t distended from the amount of food she just ate.


    ¡°Well, I guess I just eat it like normal and then we can go.¡± He shoved a bite into his mouth and chewed at it. The looked of being impressed flitted over his face.


    ¡°Well one day I¡¯ll show you the meal shop! That is for advanced quests, it gives buffs!¡± Cindy stood and lifted her hands up into the air.


    Dad sighed behind her, ¡°Why didn¡¯t we do that before this quest?¡±


    Cindy laughed. ¡°Onward!¡±

 18: Boroclops Round 2

    Daryl returned to the road with Cindy leading the way once again. The slow pace was starting to grate on him but Cindy had been good and kept herself out of danger like he had hoped. Tired of walking slowly he scooped up his daughter once more and put her up on his shoulder. She seemed content to but up there and sat herself down. One hand holding onto his ear for stability.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to carry me Dad.¡± She said into his ear without having to speak up.


    ¡°What if I want to? Do you ever think about that? Gotta support you in any way I can.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not mad about me bringing you here? You¡¯re not scared?¡± She seemed meek when she was talking. The fear of a child.


    ¡°I¡¯m happy that you brought me and that you¡¯re not alone. The only thing I am scared of is that you aren¡¯t safe.¡± Daryl pushed some branches out of the way when they entered the forest and just like last time all the branches were then just barely above his head. Just enough for him to want to duck down but didn¡¯t need to.


    ¡°That¡¯s all?¡± Cindy¡¯s voice was full of hope.


    ¡°Well, I want to return home as soon as possible. We have some very important things to take care of that you running away didn¡¯t help with, young lady.¡± The stern voice he used when he was serious crept back in his voice.


    ¡°Sorry dad, I just¡­ I¡¯m not ready for that stuff right now. Can we not talk about it right now? Please?¡± There was pain in her voice, raw new pain that would take a lifetime to heal.


    ¡°Well, for now I¡¯ll stop but we have to talk about it soon. These things have to be talked about, remember what the councilor said.¡± Daryl reminded his daughter as he spotted the first opening in the forest. One of the blasted boroclops beasts was standing in the center of the clearing eating at the tall grass.


    ¡°Oh, there is the first Boroclops spawning point. So this time we need to form a party so we both get credit for the kill. You¡¯ll fight it up close and then I¡¯ll support you at range.¡± Cindry stood down and started to climb down on her own before she was scooped up by her Dad.


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t I just do the one hit thing again? The full Titanic Blow level 2?¡± Daryl asked as he took a knee and set her down on the ground gently. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be faster?¡±


    ¡°Unless I do something it won¡¯t give me credit. Since we both took the quest then we both need to contribute. I¡¯ll be safe, I promise. I¡¯m really good at dodging out of the way of a charge.¡± Cindy said as she brushed off her pants.


    ¡°Wait, if you''re good at dodging, why didn¡¯t you yesterday?¡± He asked his daughter with a hint of a dangerous, you¡¯re in trouble, tone.


    ¡°Uhhhh, because I needed you to be motivated. I didn¡¯t want you to just sit there confused and me to explain everything.¡± Cindy purposely kept her eyes looking far away from her father as he stared daggers into her back.


    ¡°You are gonna be grounded when we get home at this rate young lady.¡± He stood up and took a deep breath. Daryl looked forward at the Boroclops and rubbed the balls of his extremely calloused feet into the dirt. ¡°We have more important things to do than ground you though. Let¡¯s get this fight over with.¡±


    ¡°Ok Dad, I have to be close enough to hit with my spells and then you just need to keep it distracted. I have several spells so I¡¯ll figure out which ones are best. I usually do a specific combo in these fights but I want to try some things with us as a team.¡± Cindy started to run before Daryl could stop her as she got into the clearing.


    Daryl charged forward and easily kept up with his daughter. When she took maybe a dozen steps into the clearing she stopped and raised her staff. ¡°Lightning, Beam, Channel!¡± The tip of her staff glowed electric blue as it became supercharged and she leveled it at the beast and let loose a thundercrack of power. An unerring beam slammed into the side of the Boroclops and it screamed in protest as it turned into the blow. The attack seemed to have no pushing power as the beast started charging down the electric beam. ¡°I did fifty points of damage dad, take the lead!¡±


    Daryl started to run at the beast, a prompt came into mind, ¡®Would you like to use Boroclops Charge Level 1?¡¯


    ¡®Yes,¡¯ Daryl called in his mind. His front foot dug powerfully into the dirt and sent him rocketing forward. He cocked back a fist and called out in his mind, ¡°Titanic Blow 50 stamina!¡±


    His backfoot finally landed as he swung his fist like another bolt of lightning into the Boroclops¡¯s side. His mind lighting up with a damage number well over one hundred. The beast staggered and tripped in the dirt, tumbling unbalanced.


    Cindy¡¯s voice called out, ¡°Flaming Rain Channel!¡± With that called dozens of balls of fire started to rain down on the beast from above burning it and the ground around the creature. ¡°Over halfway there Dad! I¡¯m going to use a spell to hold it in place while you recover stamina then hit it again just like before!¡±


    The Boroclops was covered with cracks of light as motes of energy flowed off of it and into the air. It still rounded on Daryl instead of Cindy as he was closer and it started to dig its feet into the ground. ¡°Earth Binding Channel! This is my last spell for the fight! I¡¯m using too much!¡± The earth around its feet sank down like quicksand before hardening and kept the beast in place.


    Daryl stepped forward and raised his hand in a mighty hammer blow, ¡°Titanic Blow 50 Stamina!¡± His body shimmered with energy as he brought the mighty chop down and crushed the skull of the boroclops into the dirt. It grew still and didn¡¯t move as more light flooded out from it. The winning announcement filled the air as Cindy whooped and danced in victory.


    ¡°You gotta do a victory dance Dad! It''s awesome!¡±


    Then the second Boroclops squealed.

 19: One Eyed Revenge

    The beast slammed into Dad¡¯s side, launching him sideways and skidding across the ground as the Boroclops plowed him forward. Motes of light flew from the new gash as the tusks dug into her father. Cindy¡¯s mana was too low to help with much. She had to recover faster. ¡°Dad, try to hold on!¡±


    Cindy quickly sat crossing her legs and activated her Meditation skill, she had it at level two. This would triple her regeneration rate every five seconds. This would bring her back to full in twenty seconds. Her heart hammered in her chest as she watched the boar run over her father¡¯s chest. The hooves of the boroclops left cracks against the armor as light spread through it all. She had no way to know the damage her dad had just taken and worry burned in her heart. This wasn¡¯t how this was supposed to go.


    She watched as her dad rolled to his feet and took a fighting stance. His martial stance was strong and low, he moved his feet from years of karate practice. She knew he had used a lot of his stamina in the previous fight. They had kind of blown all of their skills and her spells while she was being reckless and wanting to know just how well she could do. They shouldn¡¯t have been close enough to attract the second boroclops in the clearing.


    That is when she noticed something. Black motes of antilight slowly drifted from the beast¡¯s back. They looked familiar and Cindy¡¯s heart sank. She began to hope that what she was thinking was not true. It would mean something horrible and it would expose her shame to her father. Something she was not ready for in the least.


    Dad sidestepped a charge and leapt forward as it skidded to a stop. A great arcing ax kick crashed down on the monster sending it smashing down against the ground. Cracks spread over the back of the boroclops and more black motes flew up into the air. The beast flailed and slashed into the leg. Cindy was surprised by her Dad¡¯s reaction speed as he backed up. The boroclos charged again this time though it caught Dad¡¯s attempt to sidestep and sideswiped him knocking him back to the ground as the tusks raked at the skin of his arms. Gouging light out of him.


    Her mana had recovered enough that she shot to her feet and ran to get into range to help. ¡°RECOVERING! BEAM! CHANNEL!¡± She slammed her wrists together pointing at her father as a beam of green and gold power shot forward wrapping around her dad as the cracks started to close and the motes of light slowed down. The spell would heal him and bring back a trickle of stamina to help her father avoid dying. The boroclops whirled on her; its large bloodshot eye had black lines through it as it started the movements to charge. Just as it launched her Dad¡¯s hand snapped out and snagged one of the legs keeping it from approaching her.


    However it wrenched itself loose and charged at her. She stayed still and kept her eyes piercing the beast. She whispered to herself, ¡°Rushing, Self, Pulse.¡± Just as it was about to ram into her and tear her apart when she suddenly flashed to the side and was out of the way. Current Mana 75/150. As she began running sideways hand extended, ¡°Flame, Bold, Rapid Pulse!¡± A stream of bolts of flame shot from her hand slamming into the rear of the boroclops as each slamming attack put cracks into its body as more of that awful black smoke erupted from the wounds.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    It took a large arcing turn as she aimed ahead of its movements so that she could keep hitting it as her mana dropped slowly, five mana for every bolt. Eight bolts later she was down to thirty five mana before it jumped back up with the tick of recovery. Then she was next to her father as he got to his feet. Cindy called out to him, ¡°Something is wrong with the beast. It should be nearly down to the last bit of health but it isn¡¯t limping yet.¡±


    ¡°The last one didn¡¯t limp,¡± Dad huffed as he looked down at Cindy. ¡°What is the difference?¡±


    ¡°When they hit twenty percent health they slow down and limp. Plus it should be hitting zero stamina soon. But it isn¡¯t showing signs of that. We should capture it! We can bring it back to the village and have someone look at it.¡± Cindy started running sideways as it charged one more. Dad followed behind her, ¡°Keep it distracted for about ten seconds dad. That is all I need to get behind it. Then shove it into the trap!¡±


    ¡°Trap, how are you going to make a trap in ten seconds?¡± Dad yelled out.


    ¡°Trust me!¡± Cindy watched as Dad turned and rushed at the boroclops, his stance low as he crashed into it with a titanic boom. She could see cracks of light explode down his arms from where he caught the tusks of the beast as they struggled against each other with all their impressive might.


    ¡°Rushing, Self, Pulse!¡± Cindy aimed for behind the beast as she reached into her bag and brought out the easy trap rank one. She slammed the single puck into the ground and it began to do its magic. First it shot out a net that fell down as Cindy rushed away from the thing so she wouldn¡¯t be caught in the trap with the beast. With a finally jumping roll she was free as the net settled onto the ground.


    With a sudden pop stakes outlined the net and the ground gave way to the pitfall, ¡°NOW DAD GET IT INTO THE PIT!¡± Cindy screamed as she prepared the sleeping bombs. She hoped it had its health low enough that this would work.


    Dad turned twisting and giving way to the pushing of the beast but then with a mighty shout twisted bringing it around into the most powerful over the shoulder throw she had ever seen him do as he handled the boroclops by the tusks. BOOM! The ground shook underneath her feet as the boroclops slid through the ground into the trap and it gave way. The ground seemed to swallow the beast only leaving its head above the dirt.


    Cindy pounced, throwing the five bomb cluster into its face and praying with all her might that it would be enough to subdue the beast. Her item supply was a little limited and she hated using what she had. However, hoarding onto stuff and never using them was the same thing as never having them in the first place.


    With explosions of white powder that coated the boroclops¡¯s nose the beast inhaled them before shuddering still and slumping down limply. After a few seconds the telltale sign of bubbles popping up from its nose into the air signaled that the fight was over. She could hear Dad breathing heavily and looked at him as he lay against the ground. Great cracks of light shot down from his arms and legs. Gouges of chunks leaked motes of light into the air from around his torso.


    ¡°Dad what¡¯s your health at?¡± Cindy was filled with worry. She had never been this hurt before.


    ¡°100 Hit points left. I¡¯m good.¡± Dad started to stand up, ¡°5 Stamina left.¡±


    ¡°That was too close Dad.¡± Cindy stared at the boroclops as it slowly disintegrated.

 20: Recovery

    Daryl laid on the ground breathing hard as he stamina recovered from the sudden and difficult fight. Thankfully his hit points were good now that Cindy had healed him but his stamina was taking its time ticking up. Remembering that eating helped stamina recovery Daryl closed his eyes, surrendered to the game logic of the world and thought of the giant slab of cooked meat on a bone.


    Appearing in his hand as he sat up was the giant meat on the bone, still steaming as if he had just cooked it minutes ago. Feeling absolutely ravenous he gave into instinct and tore into the meat. What felt like seconds passed and suddenly he was chewing straight through the bone that was left behind. It shattered under his teeth like it was skittles and with one big suck all the marrow came out of the bone and went right down Daryl¡¯s throat.


    ¡°Stamina Recovery 30%.¡± Came the little pop up window that told him of things that were happening in the game¡¯s logic.


    Soon enough it looked like he was totally topped off with stamina as Cindy continued to channel her healing magic to refill his hit points. Daryl watched in fascination as the golden cracks of light slowly closed as her golden green magic wrapped around his body and seemed to push more energy into him than before.


    Cindy looked absolutely exhausted so he scooped her up and held her to his chest as he walked from the clearing that the boroclopsi spawned in. Watching with fascination Daryl leaned against a tree as they recovered together. No doubt Cindy had mana to recover while Daryl had been nearly topped off completely. His eyes though locked on as the bushes near the side of the clearing began to wave about and a new boroclops entered into the clearing. It snuffled around and started to move around slowly and methodically sniffing the ground.


    With focus Daryl watched as it moved, dug up mushrooms, scarfed them down and then the world would magically heal the dirt that had been moved as the creature wandered off to do more things. ¡°How does the world just return back to normal so easily?¡± Daryl wondered out loud.


    ¡°You ask too many questions dad. Back home we don¡¯t ask, ¡®Why is water wet?¡¯ we just accept that it is. You kinda have to let go of our way of thinking and embrace this new world if you¡¯re going to help me get this demon king out of the way.¡± Cindy leaned against his chest and felt his heartbeat thudding along slowly.


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    ¡°Maybe you¡¯re right, but there has to be someone out there that questions everything. Even the greatest scientists on earth always wondered about who gravity was a thing and how we could manipulate the world so that we can do wonderful things. Like flying in planes.¡± Daryl let his hands rest in his lap as he waited for Cindy to tell him she was good to go. They had three more monsters to slay before they could turn in the quest. ¡°What are the quest rewards?¡±


    Cindy looked up at him, her hat flattening strangely, ¡°Well we get the Mega Mushroom, which I can use to make a weapon so you might be able to use it as well. I also will have some mushrooms to cook that boost my magic point recovery rate during battle. I ran out of them before I summoned you. It is a lot easier to do all this when you are prepared. Then you can plan to use things like the trap I had. Those are hard to craft though. The ingredients cost a lot of tennies.¡±


    Daryl thought about all this and wished he had some sort of sheet he could keep in front of himself so that he could look at all the options for equipment when they were recovering between fights. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be able to have a spell or something that we could use to peruse what gear we can have would you?¡±


    ¡°Nope, only craftsmen have access to those lists. Even then it seemed like he was surprised at what he could make you. I think you¡¯re the only giant around here but maybe there is a giant village we can find later. Man I couldn¡¯t imagine what it would be like to lay on a giant bed. I would have to be careful you wouldn¡¯t roll over and squish me.¡± Cindy giggled lightly as she stood up, ¡°You know, you don¡¯t snore here. So, that is just one reason we should be happy we are here.¡±


    Daryl set down his daughter and they both looked at the two boroclops that were in the clearing now. ¡°So this time, we pull one far away from the other and do our best not to make both aggressive at the same time? Is there anything else we should be wary about? Will they keep coming if we kill these two?¡±


    Cindy stretched her arms and snatched up a staff from thin air. ¡°I don¡¯t know the respawn timer in this clearing. Usually you can find only three per day but it seems that it can do four sometimes.¡±


    ¡°How do you know it can only do four a day?¡± Daryl asked calmly.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t just been sitting around while I waited to bring you here with me. I¡¯ve been busy, I just need one more Mega Mushroom so that I can make the ¡®Staff of the Swamp Witch¡¯. That will give me the haste, poison, and cyclone runes. I¡¯ll have so many more ways to mix runes and spells. There is just an endless amount of things I can do with spell runes that I need to make sure to get as many different equipment sets as possible.¡± Cindy started walking forward and working up a spell in her mind.


    ¡°So, what if I need several Mega Mushrooms for my own item? You think we both will get some sort of swamp based item?¡± He walked forward and tried to step ahead of his daughter to make sure that he was the biggest threat to a monster as soon as it was drawn to fight them.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I am only familiar with the spellcasting stuff. It seems there are three types of styles here in the world, Melee, Ranged, Magic. I think each kind has their own equipment sets. For example I was offered a great boomerang as an equipment option but it required a higher strength stat than I had. Maybe we can look into getting you a ranged weapon so that we can get some early hits in.¡± Cindy waved her hands as she chanted a spell.


    Daryl cracked his knuckles and it sounded like trees snapping. ¡°Let¡¯s do this!¡±

 21: Dark Powers

    ¡°Wake up Cindy,¡± Came a shake on her shoulder. The sun barely streamed through the windows as Cindy was roughly woken up by her mother.


    ¡°Mom? What time is it?¡± Cindy groggily asked as she looked around the small quaint room they were given to sleep in for the night. Though Cindy had begged to sleep in the same bed as her mother she could tell that as soon as she was asleep Mother had slipped from the bed to lay down on her own.


    ¡°We have to get a move on things Cindy, we have a lot to do and I don¡¯t want to waste all of our time lazing about. Get up and get ready, I¡¯ve spent all morning learning more about how this world works and if we want to eat you gotta slay monsters. Now get out of bed.¡± Mother stood and walked towards the door. She was still in her garb when she arrived in this world.


    Cindy looked down. She had been so tired she hadn¡¯t changed either. The clothes were like a second skin with how comfortable they were. She slid out of bed and walked after her mother as the woman stormed out of the room impatiently leading her daughter away from the safety of the inn.


    Soon enough they were both standing at the quest board and her mother snatched three flyers. ¡°Look, we have a few quests we can do. While you were still asleep I walked around the town and learned a few things. We need some Tennies and materials so we can get out of this trash they call clothes.¡±


    Cindy hugged herself, mom abandoned me in the room alone? Came the unbidden thought. She must¡¯ve known I was going to be safe. Yeah, that¡¯s it.


    Mother looked around and pointed to a gate. I looked out the gate and could see a collection of monsters that we can start the day with. It is the same kind of monster that tried to fight us yesterday. She grabbed Cindy¡¯s wrist and half dragged her towards the gate.


    ¡°Mom, why are we rushing? Can¡¯t we just enjoy the morning?¡± Cindy just wanted to spend some quality time with her mom and not have to be dragged around the town all morning.


    ¡°How do you expect me to relax?¡± Mother pointed a finger in Cindy¡¯s face, ¡°You brought me here to help fight this demon king. Every moment we waste and aren¡¯t working towards that goal is time we won¡¯t get back. I need you to focus and listen to me okay? You need to listen.¡± Mother¡¯s tone was solid as stone and felt suffocating.


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Cindy could only nod, her throat tightening with her shame that she hadn¡¯t been more considerate of her mother. Of course she was right? She¡¯s just stressed, thats why she¡¯s being this way. Dad gets snippy too when he is stressed. Cindy walked quickly after her mother as they headed outside of the town and looked upon the fields that stretched out before the two of them standing there.


    The ground was nice and flat with grass nearly as tall as Cindy¡¯s shoulders. Even from her angle she could see the tops of black creatures moving through the grass stalking around in silence as the wind made things sway. The sun was just now peaking over the horizon and everything was bathed in blood red light. Cindy shivered at the imagery.


    ¡°Ok, come with me Cindy.¡± Mother walked straight towards one of the creatures that Cindy could barely see in the grass. As soon as they were maybe a dozen paces from the creature it whirled at the two of them and started to walk to them both. Her mother spoke, it was in a voice so commanding that Cindy froze in her tracks, ¡°STOP!¡± Cindy would swear that the light around her mother dimmed when she spoke.


    ¡°Mom?¡± Cindy asked as the monster froze in its tracks. She showed this power yesterday too.


    She paid Cindy no attention, ¡°Come.¡± The creature crawled to her. Its eyes smoked with black fumes as it was forced to move against its will. ¡°Lay down,¡± The Elizard laid down in plain view, completely unprotected.


    Cindy stood there flabbergasted. The thought that they could use one of these creatures as like a pet or something filled her mind and she smiled. She had never been able to have a dog or anything before. Maybe since it was a lizard her mom wouldn¡¯t be allergic to it. ¡°Wow we can take this and go play.¡±


    ¡°Kill it,¡± Mother said, looking at her.


    ¡°What? But look it''s not attacking we could¡­¡±


    ¡°I said kill it. It¡¯s a monster, it deserves to die.¡± Mother¡¯s eyes bored into Cindy¡¯s chest and stared at her judging her every move.


    ¡°It might not have attacked, it was walking towards us. We don¡¯t have to kill it. Maybe we can keep it as a pet.¡± Cindy began to sweat down her back as she stared at her mother pleading not to have to do this. The one before was obviously attacking but with her mom¡¯s power they didn¡¯t have to go around slaughtering things.


    ¡°Either you kill it or I¡¯m going to go without you and take the demon king on myself,¡± Mother¡¯s voice was cold as ice and unyielding as a mountain.


    Cindy¡¯s hands shook as she raised them up palms pointing at the Elizard. She felt her sweat bead on her forehead as it looked at her with questioning eyes that were slowly clearing of smoke. A sense of curiosity filling them with a docileness that might just be able to fight against its nature.


    ¡°Cindy¡­¡± Her mother¡¯s voice cut through her like a knife.


    With a quavering voice she squeaked out, ¡°Flame, Bolt, Pulse.¡± An arrow of pure fire slammed into the creature and knocked it on its side as it cried out in pain. Golden cracks of light spread where the bolt had hit the creature as it writhed on the ground.


    ¡°Again,¡± Came her mom¡¯s voice.


    Cindy felt tears run down her cheek, It¡¯s just a game world. It¡¯s a monster. It¡¯s a monster. She kept repeating that mantra as she fired bolt after bolt into the creature until it shattered into a thousand motes of light.


    Mother stroked Cindy¡¯s head gently, ¡°Good job Cindy. Remember to listen to momma. We have a long day ahead of us.¡±


    Cindy wept and shook as her mom kissed her forehead. But it was a cold empty gesture, it didn¡¯t feel like the love she knew.

 22: Finishing the Quest

    Daryl finished off the fifth Boroclops as he had learned the usual pattern that they fought in. Their movements slowly seemed more and more robotic and programmed. Easier to predict and watch for their next attack. Thankfully Cindy had never been sucked into the fight thank god. He really didn¡¯t want to test her ability to dodge.


    The haul of monster parts was plentiful. Daryl sighed as he bent over hands on his knees. His stamina was really low as Cindy clutched her head like she did when she was empty on mana. She looked up at her dad with a smile. Though they had to hunt through the forest for the last of their five boroclops to slay for the mission it wasn¡¯t that hard to find monsters like them with their size. Still the fact that these were medium monsters baffled Daryl.


    ¡°So, we go back to town and turn in the elizard and boroclops quests?¡± He asked as he scooped up his daughter and put her on his shoulder


    As she clutched the lobe of his ear for balance she spoke much softer now that she was so close to his face. ¡°Yeah, we should get enough tennies for you to get some gear, I¡¯ll get my new staff, and finally we can think about going to the next town over.¡±


    ¡°Have you been to the next town? What about the farm that you are paying to produce your goods?¡± Daryl grew worried at the flippant nature of his daughter. Throwing away resources would be a terrible waste.


    ¡°Oh, the people here explained that there is a special magical chest in every town that you can put things in and withdraw at other chests. They use them to move all their homes between places safely. That is why there are no bandits in this world.¡± Cindy idly kicked her feet as her headache subsided and became more bearable.


    ¡°Man, this Gaia place is crazy. Are you sure we can trust these people? What if they just go into the chest when we are gone and take everything. I don¡¯t know if we should just trust everything they say.¡± Daryl felt skeptical at the revelation of these chests.


    ¡°Trust me Dad, this world is filled to the top with magic. I heard the next town is closer to the giant¡¯s lands. Maybe we will be able to fight our first Large Type monster. They are nomadic beasts and drop so many materials. At least that is what I¡¯ve heard.¡± Cindy leaned against her dad¡¯s neck and closed her eyes contentedly.


    Daryl nuzzled his head into his daughter as gently as he could. A fear of knocking her off to fall to a terrible injury flashed in his mind. ¡°So is there anything else besides, small, medium, and large?¡±


    Cindy tapped her chin in thought just like her mother used to do when deep in thought. ¡°There is an elder beast, however it can¡¯t die. At least no hunting party has ever succeeded. The villages talk about it in hushed voices all the time as a bedtime story for children.¡±


    ¡°How would you know the bedtime stories of this place? Have you stayed in a stranger¡¯s home?¡± Daryl felt a surge of protectiveness filling him at the thought of his daughter exposed in such a way without someone watching over her. At least if she was in some Inn she would be able to lock a door for safety.


    ¡°I spent dinner with the farm lady. She had some children over to teach them about the monsters that surround the village and how best to handle them. Then afterwards she told the story of the Elder Beast.¡± Cindy turned and straddled her dad¡¯s shoulder and looked out across the forest. ¡°They were very nice, I don¡¯t have the special skills that let me cook anything besides the three things the campfire can cook. Makes it boring to eat anything in this world.¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Well, what can we do while we are still in the forest? There has to be more in this world then hunting monsters and making armor. Maybe there is something we can do for fun or something when we have time to relax. I don¡¯t want you working yourself into being stressed.¡± Daryl looked around for anything to do while they were in the forest.


    Cindy was quiet for a few extra moments as she processed what her dad had said. ¡°We¡­ we could go bug hunting? Or gather herbs? There is a pond nearby where we can fish for things!¡± Cindy¡¯s voice got higher and more excited every word as she began to vibrate with energy.


    ¡°That sounds wonderful to me, Badger. How do we go about it? I don¡¯t have a net or anything.¡± Daryl patted his non-existent pockets and tried to remember how he just summoned a fire.


    ¡°Yeah! Let¡¯s go get some supplies! We will need a fishing pole, net, and herb bag!¡± Cindy started to climb down her dad¡¯s shirt in excitement and with a sudden energy she had been somewhat lacking after fighting the giant boars.


    Daryl caught her before she fell and set her down as they exited the forest. She was sprinting with excitement towards the town. No monsters came near the path thankfully and Daryl had to make a minor jog that shook the ground with his tremendous weight.


    ¡°Ok Dad! Let¡¯s turn in the quest and gear up first! Then we will get our gathering gear and have a day of fun!¡± Cindy was unstoppable as she sprinted to the quest board.


    As they stopped at the board Cindy pulled out a glowing orb that had a sheaf of paper inside it that glowed and slowly rotated. She pressed it into the board and something popped up in Daryl¡¯s vision.


    Congratulations! You have completed your first quest!


    Everyday Elizards!


    Slay 20 Elizards outside on the plains of Trudoe.


    Rewards: 50 Tennies, 4 Elizard hides, 4 Elizard teeth, 1 Elizard Head!


    Bashing Boroclops!


    Slay 5 Boroclops in the Trudoe Forest.


    Rewards: 100 Tennies, 1 Mega Mushroom, 2 Trap tools, 4 Sleep bombs!


    A stream of golden orbs flew from the board and channeled into Daryl and Cindy¡¯s chests as the rewards flooded in. The two looked at each other with smiles as Daryl marveled at the sudden flood of wealth. A sense of excitement filled him as he celebrated with Cindy and went to the blacksmith for some gear.


    Much to his surprise Daryl could make a set of boots, a weapon, and the Boroclops Chest piece.


    You have new equipment!


    Elizard Moccasins


    May those lizards never shock you again!


    Lightning Resistance Lvl 1: Grants a 10% resistance to lightning elemental attacks.


    Bog Bash Knuckles


    This fist weapon is perfect for melee fighters!


    +15 damage, +20% Poison Status.


    Once poison status hits 100% Target will lose 20% of their health over five seconds.


    Boroclops Chest


    Thanks to your helmet you have a stacking skill!


    Boroclops Charge lvl2: Once activated this skill boosts you across a small distance for a single blow. This adds a +20 damage to your first attack in 5 seconds.


    You are now fully geared!


    Head: Boroclops Band


    Torso: Boroclops Brigadere


    Pants: Titanic Trousers


    Feet: Elizard Moccasins


    Weapon: Bog Bash Knuckles


    Daryl thought about his gear. He had to unequip the Titanic Tunic he started off with in order to get Boroclops Charge lvl 2. But wouldn¡¯t it be smarter to have Titanic Blow lvl 2? The times two bonus to the stamina he spent for the attack would make ending an ambush from a Boroclops end in a moment. Though he would be in stamina crash. Long term fighting? Or short term burst?


    ¡°Cindy, can I change gear mid combat?¡± Daryl asked innocently.


    ¡°Nope, you can only change equipment in towns. It would be so OP to change equipment in the middle of combat. I mean sure I have a cheat skill so I don¡¯t need to worry about keeping equipment but I don¡¯t think you have anything like that.


    ¡°Well, lets go get the bug hunting stuff. Then enjoy the rest of our day.¡± Daryl felt that his daughter and him had accomplished their first step today.


    ¡°LET¡¯S GO!¡± Cindy shouted as she ran off.

 23: Relaxation

    Cindy was so excited. This was the first time she even thought she could do any real gathering. She was relying on just using the farms for everything that she needed. Sure it had slowed her down while she focused on hunting monsters and grinding for gear. Doing anything not to remember what had happened before Dad came.


    Jubilantly she bought a bug net, fishing pole, and harvesting hoe. One thing caught her eye as she looked at the merchant. ¡°Do you know how we can easily find bugs, fish, and herbs?¡± This was something she hadn¡¯t ever taken the time to look into.


    ¡°Oh, here. Eyeglass of the Gatherer. Gives you Gatherer¡¯s Sense level one skill. It makes low level gathering spots glitter to your eyes.¡± The merchant smiled at Cindy warmly.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take them!¡± She squealed as she clapped her hands vibrating with excitement. As soon as the golden orbs hit her chest Cindy used her mind to equip the new goggles and switched her weapon to a big net for bugs.


    ¡°Wait, do you know how giants gather items?¡± Cindy looked at the merchant who just shrugged, shaking her wizened head. Cindy turned to her father and yelled up at him as he finally was kneeling to be close enough to the shop to use it. ¡°DAD! THEY DON¡¯T HAVE GIANT EQUIPMENT! DO YOU STILL WANT TO GO?¡±


    Dad just smiled and nodded at Cindy and just as she was going to sprint off her caught her by the scruff of her clothes and picked her up with ease as she thrashed. ¡°Slow down Badger. Where are we going?¡±


    Giving up Cindy slumped in her dad¡¯s fingers as he rotated her to look each other in the face. ¡°There is a lake in the forest. It¡¯s nearby the boroclops glade we hunted at this morning. It¡¯s still noon and they won¡¯t spawn. I got this neat item!¡± Cindy pointed to her new goggles and wriggled some more. ¡°Lets go! What did you use to say, ¡®Daylight''s Burning¡¯?¡±


    With a heavy sigh Dad set her down and let her lead the way back into nature. The elizards seemed to have become docile as the sun rose. They slowly basked in the sunlight, their eyes closing as they absorbed the heat of the sun.


    Cindy soon ran out of steam as she ran to the forest. Her feet slowed as she grew tired. Even at her fastest it was nothing to Dad¡¯s massive gait. She bent holding onto her knees, her breathing was harsh as she looked at her stamina bar. The forgetfulness that sprinting drained the resource plagued her still. All the soccer practice had made her a much better sprinter and runner in the normal world. This magic inclined body wasn¡¯t as robust.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Dad stopped next to her and looked down. His smile was smug and met with a scowl from his daughter. ¡°Are you willing to slow down now?¡± The deep thrumming of his voice vibrated the air as he fought off his own chuckle.


    Cindy crossed her arms silently, stewing before she nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll slow down. Please set me down.¡± The sullen tone in her voice was amusing to Dad but he kept it from being in his voice.


    They walked together into the forest and Cindy¡¯s knowledge of the area soon showed itself as they approached a large pond. Dad stopped and took in the sight as the glimmering water shone from the sunlight through the dense trees. Wildlife like toads could be seen on the lily pads floating near the shore. Fish could be seen jumping for bugs flitting through the air, a tapestry of life.


    Cindy gasped as she took it all in. Dozens of spots glimmered with ethereal golden light now that she had the new goggles and instantly she looked for bugs first. She burst with energy as she ran towards a large beetle on a tree. With one swipe the bug was in the net. In a flash it turned into a golden ball of energy and zipped into her chest. Bouncing from place to place she swiped bugs from the ground, air, and tree trunks as she vibrated with energy.


    Dad instead looked at the water and curiosity. He approached the water and knelt. He put his hands in the water and looked on in wonder. ¡°It is way warmer than most water back home. Do you think we could even swim? Would our clothes stay wet?¡±


    Cindy stopped and looked at her dad. ¡°I don¡¯t know, it hasn¡¯t rained since I got here. I never got to try and swim as I didn¡¯t want to get my robes dirty and I don¡¯t have a swimsuit I could equip in town and run out here with it. None of the villagers talk about swimming either.¡±


    Dad dipped his hands in the water and kept it still until a fish was swimming in his palm. He raised it, closing his fist to catch the small creature in an attempt to get in on the gathering while Cindy was distracted.


    Seemingly impossibly the fish wriggled out between his clenched fingers like it was just open to be free as it shot out into the water. The rules of this world reinserting itself and preventing him from going around it.


    No longer caring that his clothes and armor would get wet Dad stood up and started to wade into the water. Fish scattered, frogs hopped away, The water rose slightly from the sheer volume of her dad walking into it. Then when he got to waist height he was at the deepest part of the water. Cindy watched as he dunked himself and stayed there for a moment.


    What is Dad doing? Cindy asked herself.


    A minute passed and her dad slowly stood back up. ¡°My stamina drains while I¡¯m holding my breath. And I can¡¯t catch any fish. Can you?¡± He looked at her as the water quickly ran down his face and torso dripping as he dried far more quickly than he should.


    Cindy swiftly switched to her fishing rod and ran up to the water scanning it for the glimmering area thanks to her skill. Dad¡¯s eyes tracked her as she stalked around the lake in all seriousness now as she approached an area that had a bundle of fish in it.


    Pulling back she inexpertly whipped the fishing pole out sailing the lure about halfway out to the glimmering spot. The water rumbled with her father¡¯s laughter and soon enough she was sticking her tongue out at him. ¡°I got it, just you wait!¡±


    Two more casts and she finally landed it into the spot. She whooped and hollered in excitement as the pole jiggled in her hand. Then suddenly and without warning it yanked.

 24: Big Fish

    Cindy was almost pulled off her feet into the water. With a great amount of effort Daryl watched as she planted her feet and hauled back on the rod. A sense of pride filled him as he watched his daughter start catching her first fish. He called over to his daughter. ¡°Give it some line, you¡¯ll break it if you don¡¯t let it run.¡±


    Cindy called out, ¡°How do I do that? There is no line thingy!¡±


    Daryl squinted his eyes taking a closer look at the rod his daughter was using it it was just a rod with a long line attached to the end of it. A primitive collection of tools. ¡°Ok, take a few steps towards the water and when it starts to come back to you pull back. You¡¯ll have to dance with the fish. Tire it out.¡±


    Cindy started to shuffle forward as the line was pulled so tight. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped it hard. She leaned and twisted going back and forth following the fish around the pond. Daryl didn¡¯t dare move and spook the fish even more as she fought and struggled. His eyes gleamed with pride as Cindy did her best.


    ¡°Stamina, self, channel!¡± Called Cindy as her stamina was draining towards the bottom. Quickly she changed her mana to stamina so that she could fight on. Her feet were getting wet as she stepped into the water trying not to slip on the mud that was under it. She pulled and struggled to walk backwards and get the creature closer to the shore.


    The fish seemed to get weaker as Cindy took her first step backwards. Daryl silently cheered her on as one slow step after another as she retreated onto solid ground. Then they both got to see the first sign of the fish. It was huge, silver scales on its back gleamed in the sunshine with red stripes of color down its sides. It flailed and splashed as it got closer to its own doom.


    Cindy fell back onto her butt with one final pull. The fish flew out of the water as it shimmered in the light. It hovered there. Perfectly still as it shined and twirled slowly turning into a golden orb of light. It slowly fell to the ground at Cindy¡¯s feet before being absorbed. Cindy¡¯s smile melted any thoughts from Daryl¡¯s mind. The sheer happiness of his daughter washed any doubts about this world away for the moment. Even as his torso became dry he watched as she skipped and threw her arms around.


    Daryl made his way to the edge of the water and sat on the ground looking at his happy daughter. ¡°So what did you catch?¡± The sheer joy radiating off of Cindy literally brightened the world around her.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    She stopped and looked into the distance, her eyes glazing over, ¡°It¡¯s called a ¡®Red Striped Lake Bass¡¯. It says I can cook it, but it also has the symbol for building materials. Maybe I can catch more?!¡± Cindy looked around at the lake seeing something that Daryl couldn¡¯t. ¡°Over here!¡± Cindy sprinted along the shore to another spot.


    As Daryl stood up he could see the shimmering of fish in the water and wondered how his daughter could have seen it from so low to the ground. Walking over slowly the ground squished beneath his rapidly drying boots. This time he sat nearby as Cindy perfected her cast out into the water. The worry that this would have been the first time that she could have had some sort of relief.


    Cindy caught yet another fish and soon was going onto the next spot. Daryl watched in amazement as her focus on the water was sharp, her ADHD turning more into a hyperfocus. Soon though she was exhausted and walking back to her father. She smiled at him and put her hands up like she used to as a toddler asking to be picked up.


    Daryl¡¯s large hand scooped her up with an easy movement that is getting easier by the day. He held her up to his shoulder while she rested and looked at the sun shining through the canopy. Cindy sighed as she leaned against her father¡¯s neck and looked out in a sudden moment of peace.


    ¡°Thanks Dad,¡± She whispered. Though her stamina was full she felt tired from all the fun she had for the last few hours of gathering. Several fish, dozens of bugs, and a bunch of new exotic herbs she could grow at the farm.


    ¡°What have you been doing since you got here?¡± Daryl tried to broach the topic once more. Her feelings about it seemed to be touchy and tender. Some worry that she had suffered something horrific flashed in his mind.


    ¡°Learning, mostly learning and grinding for new gear. My special ability to keep spell runes makes it a lot smarter for me to get every type of equipment possible. Though hunting monsters every day has gotten boring. Like playing the same game over and over without trying anything new.¡± Cindy yawned as the summer heat started making her sleepy. Thoughts of a nice nap flitted through her mind.


    ¡°All alone?¡± Daryl probed as his daughter relaxed.


    ¡°No, I had someone with me for a small time before they left. They¡­ didn¡¯t want to wait for me to grind for all my gear. Said I was wasting my time. I¡­ miss them a lot.¡± Cindy sounded so small as she spoke and she began to climb down to lay in her dad¡¯s lap. ¡°I need a nap dad. Would you watch over me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll always watch over you Badger. As long as I¡¯m here I¡¯ll make sure that you¡¯re taken care of. You can take as much time as you think is needed to grind for gear.¡± As Cindy laid down along her father¡¯s thigh he placed one hand over her as a makeshift blanket to keep her safe from any wind that might come through the glade.


    As she slept Daryl watched for anything that might come. Images of his daughter struggling and repeatedly doing the same thing filled his mind. It wasn¡¯t like her to be able to focus on one repeated task for so long. She said she had been here for a month? Who else had been here with her? Another person summoned by Gaia?


    Frowning, Daryl wondered when the secrets would end.

 25: Geared Up

    Cindy woke up and headed back to town. No more resources could have been gathered according to her new goggles and the skill it came with. She was all smiles as she led her dad back to town. She was so curious about what kind of gear the fish would make. It was almost too hard for her not to skip along the way.


    Heading to the blacksmith the last few steps were too much for her to wait for so she ran up and clapped her hands excitedly. ¡°I¡¯m back!¡±


    ¡°Oh if it isn¡¯t our favorite hunter! What can I do for you today?¡± Dark Smith responded


    ¡°I caught some Red Striped Lake Bass. It says it can be made into something! What does it make? Show me please?¡± Cindy waited impatiently as the smith smiled at her with a nod.


    As the man¡¯s eyes glazed over and flashed a little his face grew into a smile. ¡°It makes a staff of the lake gods. Gives you water, and trap runes. Takes four bass and some bugs, seems like a gatherer weapon for people that have more time on their hands. My skills say you have the correct materials for it. Would you like to have me make it? It¡¯ll be 40 tennies.¡±


    Cindy nodded and the golden orbs flew from her chest into the smith¡¯s hands and soon he was hammering away on the orbs shaping them into whatever he was making. Slowly the staff slowly grew into a massive thin fish shaped staff. The head of the staff was carved into the shape of a bass leaping out of water with a bug in its mouth. Cindy held it up above her head and giggled looking at it. The knowledge of the runes slowly filtered into her mind as her cheat skill kicked in.


    Trap runes let her place elemental spell traps that if stepped on by a monster would explode. Since it was so limited it seemed to do a lot more base damage than the projectile ones. She twirled it around her head and aimed it at Dad. Pew pew! Cindy¡¯s mind raced with all the sorts of things she could do while Dad was keeping a monster busy. Lay a bunch of traps he could push them into? That would be cool!


    Smiling up at her dad she raised her voice, ¡°I think this is the last of the gear I¡¯m going to need for a while. I have a lot of spell runes that I¡¯ve learned and I¡¯m pretty sure we¡¯re ready to head on to the next town. Your gear seems pretty limited since the elizards would need to be farmed for a few days for you to just gain some lightning resistance and the boroclops gear didn¡¯t seem too interesting either.¡±


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    Dad took a knee to be closer to his daughter and nodded as she spoke. ¡°If you think that is a good course of action I support it. We can head out in the morning. I don¡¯t want to be caught traveling at night. We don¡¯t even know how long it will take us to reach there and what we might have to fight in order to be safe when we arrive. Does that sound reasonable?¡±


    Cindy nodded and tapped her chin in thought. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think there is anything like tents that I have seen. So we just have to hope that we can get there in one day. I¡¯m so excited to see if there are giant places for you to sleep. Imagine cuddling on such a huge bed. That sounds so nice, you aren¡¯t as comfy as I thought you would be.¡±


    Dad hummed in thought as well, ¡°We will see tomorrow I guess. I¡¯ll sleep back in the field again. It was warm enough last night so I will be fine. I would prefer it if you sleep in a locked room to be safe. Who knows what might happen if I roll on top of you.¡±


    Cindy frowned at this, ¡°I would really prefer if we were in the same place to sleep. You didn¡¯t roll over last night so I think it will be safe. So let¡¯s do my plan and you can hold me all night again.¡±


    Dad and her devolved into an argument as the villagers looked on with smiles and giggles that the two would bicker about such a silly thing. The thoughts of them being a true father daughter combo was truly solidified in everyone¡¯s minds. Eventually though Dad had to give up on the fight and sigh.


    The fight ended with one sentence, ¡°You said you would look after me.¡± It was only a whisper that shattered her dad¡¯s resolve. A close look at her showed that her eyes were filled with tears as she sniffed for the first time. Her cheeks grew red as she fought back whatever was tearing her up inside.


    Worry boiled in his gut that she would be so emotional over the thought of being on her own in a safe room. As she wiped her eyes recovering from her emotions Cindy kept the sobs at bay memories of her first week here in Gaia and what had happened plaguing her. She prayed that tonight she wouldn¡¯t dream of what had happened. As she quietly tried to recover her dad wrapped a hand around her back rubbing the entire surface knocking her hat around every time he went up her back.


    It took a few minutes for Cindy to wipe away the thoughts of being alone again. She kept telling herself that she was going to be the hero. That nothing was going to stop her from saving this world. Taking deep breaths she remembered the grief counselor, what things she could see, hear, feel, smell, and taste slowly focusing on the world around her. Shuddering went away first and her eyes dried.


    Dad used his thumb to rub the top of her head and soon Cindy was leaning into the touch. One final breath and Cindy stepped away brushing off her witch¡¯s robes. ¡°Well, that is settled and I have another fish. I want to go cook it. You can also make a meal. Then we will call it a day. Cuddle, and you can sing to me like you used to. Is that ok?¡±


    Dad nodded and stood up letting his daughter lead the way to the field they had rested in before. She whipped up a fire once more like magic and materialized the fish on a stick in her hands. Carefully the fish was put in the fire, whatever music played in her head seemed to entertain her as she stopped thinking about not being with her dad.


    She pulled a steaming golden fish that looked like it should have been too heavy for her to lift. The scent of it filled the air as she began to munch on it quickly. The sounds of her satisfaction caused Dad¡¯s belly to rumble so he summoned his own hunk of meat and had his own meal.


    ¡°Ok Dad, what¡¯s next?¡± Cindy looked up at her father.

 26: Second Night

    Daryl looked up at the night sky as his daughter rested on his chest. The soft snoring a soothing tone that he had missed for the week that she was missing. He hoped that his hand and body¡¯s warmth was going to keep her warm overnight. Thoughts of his recently dead wife filled his mind. What would she think about this adventure he was unwittingly sucked into? That was if he didn¡¯t just knock himself into a coma and wasn¡¯t dying in the woods without anyone there to help him.


    Daryl hoped this was real and he wasn¡¯t just having some dying dream. That he had found his daughter and she wasn¡¯t just lost in the woods. Deep breaths made his chest rise and fall the weight of his daughter nothing more than a feather on his chest. He let his mind drift to his equipment and wondered if there was any way for him to learn more about the rules of the world. The strange built in modesty and so far the complete lack of needing to use any bathroom flooded his mind with questions.


    Did people in this world just pop up out of nowhere like the monsters? There was no way that he could find out without asking some of the locals and he sure didn¡¯t want to do that with Cindy in tow. His mind was running too fast for him to find sleep just yet. Going over the fights against the boroclops. How natural it was starting to get with activating skills. Unlike Cindy¡¯s spells Daryl just had to activate the abilities in his head.


    Letting his analytical mind take over Daryl broke down his gear and what if offered. The set bonus he could get from maxing out the boroclops charge ability and if the poisoning knuckle was going to be easy to trigger. Without using skills he could use a lot of his martial arts training. Though using that against animals was a lot harder than facing a human opponent. The Jiu jitsu training was practically useless against the animals. There was no leg locking a giant boar. Though at least the kicks and punches had come in some use. That with the super strength given to him by being this big was the biggest factor in it all.


    Cindy stirred in his hand, ¡°No mom, please, I¡¯ll be good. Don¡¯t go¡­¡± She shuddered and Daryl looked down at his daughter, a sudden worry about everything going on filling him. The councilor¡¯s words on how grief worked filled him. It was obvious Cindy was ignoring her thoughts and feelings about her mother¡¯s recent death. Slowly he stroked her back with his thumb setting her down as she pressed her face into his chest.


    Daryl looked up at the sky and started playing the last year in his mind. The cancer diagnosis. Chemo, radiation, being told that it was terminal and there was nothing left to do but prolong her suffering. The sadness that crushed his chest, having to power through it all in order to support Cindy. The week of weeping of the two while he made sure to take care of everything else. Holding them both while sleep finally took the exhausted pair.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Having to bring his wife to the hospital when her pain became too unmanageable. The desperate need to balance pain medication with keeping her lucid enough to enjoy spending the last month with her family. Then the final moments. Grasping cold hands with Cindy crying. The stillness that came with death. Cindy begging to keep the nurses away to keep them from saying the final words.


    The only thing that truly mattered was their last words with each other. The final ¡®I love you'' was exchanged between the family before it was broken. Tears welled in his eyes. Cindy had seemed fine until the funeral. The words of the priest, the missing family members that were estranged. Images of Cindy sprinting into the woods in her black dress. Sobbing and tear streaked Daryl had just taken a moment of extra time in the bathroom to compose himself when he heard the back door slam closed.


    Hopeless days of walking until he couldn¡¯t anymore yelling himself hoarse for his daughter. Those large tears began to run down his face. Crushing sadness over it all had been able to be set aside when he was looking for Cindy, then saving her from monsters. Daryl kept his chest from shuddering so he wouldn¡¯t wake Cindy up. He filled his mind pushing aside the grief and sadness with the new reality of his situation.


    There was some Demon King somewhere, they wouldn¡¯t be able to go home without defeating him. Who was this person? Where were they going to get more information about what needed to be done in order to defeat him? Would there be a need for them to stay around to help the world stabilize?


    If this was a game he was in the starter zone. Where the fights were supposed to be easy before they slowly ramped up into more and more danger. Each with greater rewards to be sought. In the next town they would learn about new monsters while they geared up for this final confrontation. The fact that these people in this village seemed care free for a world plagued by a great evil. However small villages in medieval times isolated from the world would truly know of the power struggles in the upper echelons of society.


    Daryl¡¯s mind started to wind down. The exhaustion of the day was settling in. Though his stamina bar was full, the mental load of having to deal with everything all the time finally was kicking in. His breathing was getting deeper and longer as sleep encroached on him. The heavy feeling of his eyes closing as he listened to his daughter sleeping soundly now that she was soothed. Warm memories of holding a baby, his wife sleeping in the rocking chair near a crib. Cindy¡¯s green eyes staring up widely at him as they stared at one another. The giggling of her childlike glee filled his mind with peace.


    The sadness faded away as he sunk into a dream of his family happy and together once more. Raising a daughter with the love of his life at his side. Healthy, happy, and full of life. All of it playing in his mind for a pleasant dream.


    Tomorrow they will make their way to this new town. Hopefully Cindy wouldn¡¯t want to spend a whole month grinding for gear. Hopefully most of that was already done. Though with her recent day of gathering bugs and fish did speak that there were other ways to get gear besides fighting monsters.


    They woke up refreshed, gathered the last of the materials they could before stepping out of the town to head to new grounds. ¡°Let¡¯s go Badger. Adventure awaits.¡±

 27: Growing Distance

    ¡°It is time we fight something more than these small lizards. We have new gear and I¡¯m still able to keep my ability to somewhat control the beasts. The quests seem to have a greater amount of rewards that we should utilize before we leave tomorrow.¡± Mom pulled her own grilled meat away from the fire, perfectly cooked like she always managed.


    Cindy ended up burning her meat once more as she did her best to listen to her mother. A worry filled her voice, ¡°Mom, I¡¯ll only get more powerful if we take our time and farm up all the gear I can get my hands on. I told you, I get a lot of benefits from going broader in my abilities. Maybe we wait and farm up some gear.¡±


    ¡°Are you questioning me Cindy?¡± The tone was harsh, just like when she commanded Cindy to start murdering the creatures she was able to pacify.


    Cindy froze curling in on herself as she grew quiet. None of her ideas seemed good enough for Mom to take seriously. The seemingly unstoppable ability for her to command the monsters around her probably made her overconfident. Cindy hoped that this next monster could resist her, show her that it was smarter for them to take the time to be fully prepared. ¡°No, I just want to be careful. I don¡¯t want either of us to get hurt.¡±


    Mom ate silently tearing through the meal as Cindy forced herself to eat all the burnt meat. Mom had chastised her heavily when she refused to eat the meat she hadn¡¯t done correctly. Even if her mom gave her time to just get cooking right, let her learn more about this world without being forced to push past everything and focus on the mission. Why couldn¡¯t they just enjoy their time together?


    ¡°I understand that but don¡¯t you want to go home? That is why we¡¯re here right? To save this world and go home together. Once this is all over we can do this grinding for gear. I would rather be done with this so that we can look upon this world from above.¡± There was a dark gleam in Mom¡¯s eyes that sent shivers down Cindy¡¯s spine.


    ¡°Look at it from above? You were just talking about going home. Don¡¯t you want to see Dad again?¡± Cindy hoped that she could get her to slow down, ¡°I could always ask Gaia to bring him to us? Maybe then we can all adventure together.¡±


    Mom was silent for a few moments that became uncomfortable, ¡°Your father is a good man. But he would keep us from accomplishing anything. He would make us stand to the side while he took care of it all. That won¡¯t let us be strong. We need to be strong. You understand that right? You want to be a hero, you have to be powerful.¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Cindy¡¯s heart sank. She didn¡¯t know why but she had kept the fact that she had wishes left from Mom. Something deep inside her told her it should just be a secret. The images of them adventuring as a family and saving the world together was dashed against the rocks of her mom¡¯s words. ¡°I have to be strong.¡± There could only be placating mom now.


    ¡°That¡¯s my girl. Now come on. It¡¯s time we fight one of these Boroclops.¡± Mom pulled out a map she bought with some of the tennies she had earned with the elizards. It highlighted where different monsters could be. ¡°There are a couple glades in the forest we can take the road to. The map says there are boroclops there. Let¡¯s head out and take it one at a time.¡±


    Mom didn¡¯t bother to try and hold Cindy¡¯s hand anymore. The distance between them slowly grew each time Cindy disagreed with her mom. This just made Cindy not want to argue or talk anymore. Fear of displeasing her mom enough to drive her away stilled her tongue. Cindy filled herself with as much bravery as possible and brushed her hand against her mother¡¯s. A silent plea for attention and affection.


    The hand opened and took her hand. The warmth of it soothed Cindy deep down. Making the memories of a cold still hand grasped so tightly in her own fade away. Taking deep breaths as her mind warred against herself she was so lost in thought that she didn¡¯t even notice when they stopped at the first glade.


    Cindy looked up and her heart froze, the boroclops were huge monsters. Their shaggy hair hung as they tower at least twice as tall as a man and four times as long. A single bloodshot eye lay on its forehead. The massive tusks made Cindy shiver a little. Thinking how she could possibly take on something so large filled her.


    ¡°Ok Cindy, you¡¯re going to draw its attention and if you start getting to be in too much danger I¡¯ll step in with my commanding ability.¡± Mom let go of her hand and gently pushed between her shoulders pushing her closer to the monsters.


    ¡°You want me to try and fight them alone?¡± Cindy felt her confidence draining looking at the sheer size of the beasts.


    ¡°I believe in you,¡± Came the honeyed words of her mom.


    Cindy had fire and electric spells. Plus the dash ability from the elizard cloak. She started to go through her head on how she would fight the monster. This was the first big step towards saving this world. She just had to take it.


    Cindy¡¯s feet were rooted in place as she stared, she took a deep breath before stepping forward. She just needed to be safe, dance around the enemy. Something that big couldn¡¯t be that agile right.


    ¡°Go on Cindy. Show momma what you can do.¡± Cindy looked back at the judging eyes of her mother. Screwed up her bravery and confidence as high as she could and stepped forward finally freeing her feet from the fear.


    Cindy lay exhausted staring up at the sky. Her health was half full, stamina was nearly empty, her mana gone, she hurt all over. A stream of items filtered into her chest as the boroclops slowly disintegrated into motes of light. The massive cracks from the hundred or so spell attacks spread throughout its body.


    Slowly mom loomed over her, ¡°Was that so hard?¡±

 28: New Town

    Daryl and Cindy walked into the new town heads held high. Thanks to the safety that the road seemed to magically supply, which Daryl that might be the case. The new town came onto the horizon. A much larger wall encompassed the village with guards standing on it walking around on patrol. Still it seemed to be made of monster parts and he guessed that since monsters dropped items and it was harder to harvest supplies it would make sense to make things out of monster parts.


    Wondering what equipment you would have to wear in order for it to be possible to build such a magnificent place obviously pointed out that there were some sort of castes that unlocked different gear. Perhaps Daryl could sit down and talk to people besides Cindy who seemed driven to accomplish a goal now. She must have shown extreme patience so far to stop and grind for equipment.


    Approaching the walls the guards seemed to pay them no mind. The great doors opened as they got close and some people in regular garb ushered them inside. A scan of the horizon showed a new type of small monster infesting the hilly plains. They appeared to be medium sized birds. Like mini Emus. No doubt they were whatever dropped raw meat around here. That seemed to be the main drop of the elizards. The ecosystem slowly making more sense to Daryl.


    People were mulling about town talking animatedly with one another. Glowing orbs exchanging between people. A few fellows were in eccentric gear carrying oversized weapons on their backs and hips. One person carried only a massive shield that covered his entire back. Head pieces of flamboyant feathers and spikes. None of which looked remotely useful. One guy even looked like he had mariachi style armor made of monster leathers. They must be fellow monster hunters.


    Two buildings stood out amongst it all. One seemed big enough for Daryl to stand up in fully without being uncomfortable. Another couple of giants stood nearby, each of them wearing plain clothes. A surge of excitement filled him about sleeping in an actual bed. Though the ground wasn¡¯t as uncomfortable as the real world there was an appeal to any sort of bedding. The other seemed to be an open air area filled with several counters and quest boards. All of which were being perused by the other hunters.


    Other places of interest were some gardens and more than one smith. All of which had lines of people turning in items and getting supplies and equipment. It was amazing the colors and movements of everyone else in town. The feeling of a thriving city filled to the brim with living people permeated the air.


    ¡°Well kiddo, where do we go first?¡± Daryl asked.


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    ¡°It is getting kinda late to do any quests today but we can go and find out what kind of monsters we can go hunt for more equipment. I could see some bird monsters but I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to get much of a benefit from slaying small monsters and I have plenty of raw meat to last.¡± Cindy hopped down using her levitation spell to glide easily to the ground. Without the giant¡¯s eye view though she suddenly couldn¡¯t remember where to go. ¡°Want to lead our way to that open building with all the boards?¡±


    Daryl took his time gently going through the town. No one seemed as amazed by the fact that a giant was standing amongst them. Cindy kept on his heels easily enough not having to worry about her dad¡¯s ponderous and careful gait. The smells of a restaurant pumping out actual meals to adventurers hit her nose. She wasn¡¯t hungry but having subsisted on the same meals for a month was getting tiresome.


    Soon enough they were at the pavilion, a big sign hanging above them both. ¡°HUNTING GUILD¡± Glad that at least they could understand what was written the two walked under it. It was a bustling hub of people talking to one another about various monsters and how best to hunt them. Some people were sitting and celebrating with foaming mugs the size of their heads. Some had their heads hung low, a feeling of somber acceptance in their eyes.


    A few women with a rather ornate set of sailor uniforms stood behind several of the desks. Immediately they drew Cindy¡¯s attention and she sprinted up to the nearest one.


    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m a hunter from the nearby village. I was wondering if I needed to register or something?¡±


    ¡°Oh darling, there is no sign up or anything. We have several boards involving the nearby areas. Guarding gathering expeditions, gathering quests, hunting quests, capturing quests, all sorts of things. You just need to tell us which one you¡¯re taking so that we can coordinate and make sure no other hunters are going on the same ones.¡± She had a thick western accent as she spoke and was all smiles and warmth.


    ¡°Ok, well Dad and I are going to come back and start doing quests tomorrow. I¡¯m so excited to be in a new place. Oh, was that a Giant¡¯s Inn I saw out there?¡±


    ¡°Why yes it is sugar. They have reasonable rates and a lot of adventuring parties just share one bed for the whole part for a discount. Though it appears that you have someone that would need the whole bed.¡± The woman looked Daryl up and down, ¡°Strong fella too. I¡¯m sure you two will be just fine hunting as a pair. Though some monsters you may want to team up with a couple more people. Less rewards but better safety. Think about it.¡±


    ¡°Well Dad, let¡¯s go get some food and head to this inn. I¡¯m so excited to see how big their beds are!¡± Cindy ran off towards the nearest food place that even had one chair for a giant. Daryl scooped her up and set her down on the table with ease. A tiny round pig person with a warm smile hopped on the table. The sheer shock of a non-human left the two speechless as they smiled at the pair.


    With a feminine voice they spoke, ¡°Welcome to the Curly Queue, we have a special today. Horned Turkey Stew! Gives you a stamina buff of 30 for a whole day! We have other meals to raise attack, health, and all sorts of stats. What¡¯ll it be?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take anything that boosts mana,¡± Cindy¡¯s eyes were as big as saucers while she stared at the pig woman.


    ¡°I¡¯ll uhhhh take the special.¡± Daryl was flabbergasted as he looked at the strange person.


    ¡°Well you two, it¡¯s time for some grub! Hey Harry! We need a special, and a witch¡¯s wastebasket!¡±


    ¡°Wastebasket?¡± Squeaked Cindy.

 29: No Cuddles?

    Cindy was lying in her back staring up at the darkening sky. Her tummy grumbled in a questioning way as she had finished her dinner like a good girl. It might have been a bad idea as she placed her hands on her stomach in discomfort. She had tried healing magic but it was to no avail.


    The extreme taste of garlic, vegetables, and boiled meat filled her mouth as Cindy moaned in discomfort. ¡°I don¡¯t think that food is sitting so good Dad.¡±


    Dad¡¯s smirk was almost devilish as he looked down at Cindy in her suffering. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to eat the whole thing if you didn¡¯t like it.¡± The empty plate smeared with sauce in front of him spoke of someone that enjoyed the whole meal without thought.


    ¡°I literally couldn''t stop if I tried. As soon as I started eating it was like I was possessed.¡± Cindy rolled over and her stomach was so loud other members of the restaurant could hear its displeasure. ¡°I don¡¯t think I will order it again. Unless¡­¡± Cindy checked her mana stat and her eyes went wide. Fifty extra mana points, ¡°Ok, maybe I will. That is a lot of mana.¡±


    Dad patted her on the head with the tip of his finger gently. ¡°What we do to make sure we succeed. Though with the sounds of your stomach I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be wise for us to sleep together. I have a feeling you¡¯re going to be tossing and turning. Don¡¯t want you to roll off me. Plus you¡¯re going to be gassy.¡±


    ¡°Dad! Girls don¡¯t get gassy!¡± Cindy flushed her cheeks turning cherry red as some other members of the restaurant chuckled softly. Her hands covered her face in extreme embarrassment, hiding it from view.


    Dad wrapped a hand around her and pulled her up, ¡°I wish you told that to yourself when you were a baby.¡± His laughter was deep and happy.


    ¡°DAD! YOU¡¯RE EMBARRASSING ME!¡± Cindy curled up hiding from the world as she wrapped herself in the huge sleeves of her robes.


    ¡°Ok, ok I¡¯ll stop.¡± Dad¡¯s chest shined with tennies as they flowed from him into the woman that took their order. ¡°It is getting dark and we have to go hunting tomorrow.¡±


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    As he walked the sound of Cindy¡¯s stomach filled the air and she continued to hide in her robes away from the embarrassment of the situation. ¡°Quiet stomach¡­¡± Whispered Cindy as she curled up holding in the gas her dad had predicted. She had to at least hold it until Dad was asleep. That way no one would know.


    The traveling seemed to be taking longer than it should as she looked out from the robes and noticed they were walking around the edge of the city on a street that seemed to be circling everywhere inside the wall.


    ¡°Dad¡­ why aren¡¯t we laying down?¡± There was a small urgency in her voice. ¡°Aren¡¯t you tired?¡±


    ¡°I think walking around is a good thing to do after dinner. Helps get things going and digesting. Smart thing to do. Would you like to walk as well?¡± Dad was up to something, but Cindy couldn¡¯t care.


    ¡°Yeah, just walk ahead of me.¡± Dad set her down and she fell back for some privacy. The scolding grandma had gave her a few years ago filling her mind and driving her to be ¡®ladylike¡¯. She whispered to herself, ¡°Heroes don¡¯t fart. I¡¯m just walking, nothing going on.¡± While inside her head she complained, I haven¡¯t needed the bathroom but suddenly I need to pass wind? What the heck Gaia! SO NOT COOL!


    A few quiet minutes passed as Cindy continued to blush during her slow paced walk as her dad stayed just within ear shot if she called for help. Once comfortable Cindy ran up to her dad, ¡°I¡¯m feeling much better. Why don¡¯t we go lay down?¡±


    ¡°Ok, I guess we can cuddle tonight if you¡¯re feeling better.¡± There was mirth and amusement in his voice as they went slowly together.


    Cindy fidgeted with her dress, ¡°You weren¡¯t really going to keep me from cuddling were you?¡±


    ¡°Of course not Badger, never over something so silly.¡± A comfortable quiet settled over them both. ¡°Do you want to be carried?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ I can walk for a little longer.¡± Cindy wasn¡¯t familiar enough with the city and relied on her dad to guide them to the Giant Inn. ¡°I¡¯ll pay, you should be low on tennies.¡±


    ¡°Thank you honey,¡± Dad let her lead the way into the room as they got a room and soon she was walking around the massive place. Two giant beds sat against either side of the room. A ladder led up to both of them for the non giants to lay on.


    Cindy waited for Dad to lay down before she whispered a spell, ¡°Floating, Self, Channel.¡± Flying magic was about the coolest thing she had learned so far. Cindy explored the room as her dad settled down into a bed for the first time in the days they had been here. Sure it only had been three but it felt like a lifetime already. Cindy was doing her best not to think about Mom. The memories of the first week were coming back and she could do nothing to stop them.


    Maybe Dad would help. She floated over to his chest and set herself down and walked to the center of his chest. The warmth and comfort of his smell filled her senses. The slow steady heartbeat under her head was so soothing. The beat washed away against the shore of unpleasant memories.


    Cindy closed her eyes and tried to lose herself again in the comfort of Dad¡¯s embrace. His hand settled on top of her. Don¡¯t think of mom, don¡¯t think of mom, don¡¯t think of mom. Cindy did her best to snuggle down into Dad¡¯s chest focusing instead on her new memories of Dad and her adventuring.


    Sleep took her. Don¡¯t think about her leaving me again.

 30: Going Ape

    Daryl looked at the monster that was as big as he was. It was an ape like creature with great slabs of stone lining its arms like armor. The back of the creature was covered in moss and flowers. Though, any signs of it being a docile creature were crushed as it grabbed the nearest small monster and started violently bashing it against the ground until it turned into golden motes of light.


    The Stone Ape pounded its chest as it roared like stones grinding against one another. Daryl and Cindy had been watching the beast to see if they could get any idea on what it could do in combat. However only small monsters were around and they stood no chance in a confrontation between the two.


    Cindy whispered, ¡°Ok dad, I think since we have poison weapons and spells lets stack some poison on it. I hear it also drains stamina as well so lets get it exhausted and take the fight slow. Focus on making sure you don¡¯t get hit as I think this thing will hit pretty hard.¡±


    Cindy¡¯s eyes went far away as she looked at her spell runes. Daryl stretched his neck and back. ¡°Ok Badger, I¡¯ll take the lead and make sure that we stack poison first.¡± Daryl laced his fingers through the knuckle duster and bounced on the balls of his feet. The ground shook underneath him.


    ¡°Ok sounds good, I¡¯ll open up with a poison rain if you can keep it in place while it stacks up.¡± Cindy stepped into the stony arena that the beast was staying in as Daryl circled clockwise to bring its attention away from Cindy walking counter clockwise.


    The Stone Ape stopped and watched Daryl closely. It huffed leaning on its front arms and its heavy stone hands. Great plumes of pollen puffed out of its nose as it focused on Daryl. The beast growled and postured, thrusting its chest up as he stood on its hind legs beating its chest again.


    Daryl couldn¡¯t help but be a little afraid. Facing a creature like this in real life was a death sentence. Their sheer power and agility would far outstrip that of any human. Still he bolted forward activating Boroclops Charge and reared back his poison coated fist.


    The Stone Ape charged back. Maybe two body lengths away it went to leap into the air and over Daryl before they collided but the sudden magical burst of speed thanks to the boroclops charge slammed into its legs sending it sprawling. Daryl¡¯s fist slamming home into the stomach of the monster as a plume of purple motes flew into the air with the blow.


    Cindy¡¯s voice rang out, ¡°Poison, Rain, Channel!¡± A cloud of purple smoke hung over the ape as Daryl locked arms with the creature and held it in place. The thick purple drops of poison fell from the sky all over the back of the creature as each drop caused a small plume of purple motes.


    The monster roared and pushed against Daryl. Their arms shook against one another as strength challenged strength. He pulled his weapon free and started to pummel the stone brow of the ape, each connecting hit sending plumes of poison into the air. Three hits in it broke free with a roar sending Daryl staggering back into one of the many stone pillars. Its free arm backhanded Daryl across the face causing him to stumble.


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    Great purple ropes of drool escaped the ape¡¯s mouth as it huffed air. Golden cracks from where Daryl had hit it started to grow with every second as the purple rain stopped. The beast charged at Daryl who prepared himself to dodge and sway through the blows. Hopefully Cindy¡¯s mana was going to recharge quickly enough as more words filled the air. ¡°Fire, Bolt, Rapid Pulse!¡±


    Dozens of fire arrows streaked through the air and started hammering into the Ape¡¯s side. Much to Daryl¡¯s despair the beast whirled to charge at Cindy. He activated his charge once more and slammed into the side of the beast just as it started its path towards the small girl.


    A fist like a meteor smashed into Daryl¡¯s face knocking his head sideways as golden cracks shot across his face. You have suffered 50 points of damage! The beast followed up with a kick that shoved Daryl into another pillar as the beast closed the distance between them in a flash.


    Daryl had just enough time to duck under the next blow that shattered the pillar behind him. The stone blasting all over the grounds with a yelp from Cindy. A stone had pelted her side and knocked her aiming off target. A bolt of lightning streaked through the sky fizzling out at the end of its length. She looked as the beast locked eyes on her and bolted past her dad towards her.


    The Ape leapt up into the air and slammed its fists down into the ground shaking it violently and knocking Cindy off balance robbing her of the ability to dodge as it closed in on her. She looked on with wide eyes as the massive fist of the beast was descending towards her. She had the bit points to withstand the blow but who knew what kind of disorienting hit it would cause. If it kept on her she wouldn''t be able to last long.


    The Ape roared but just before the fist was going to connect with Cindy the beast was knocked sideways causing the blow to skid across the ground. Taking her queue Cindy called out, ¡°Dash, Self, Channel!¡± She turned into a blur as she got some distance between her and the combat. The titanic punches traded between the two giants was intense as it shook the earth. Her dad expertly blocked and slid the blows off his torso dissipating the hits. Cracks soon lined his arm and cheek where he was struck though as the damage piled up.


    ¡°DAD! I¡¯m gonna charge a large spell. See if you can hold it still!¡± Cindy stood on top of one of the pillars and held her staff level with the ground. ¡°Fire, Ball, Charge!¡± A swirling ball of fire starting no bigger than a peanut started forming at the end of her staff as she focused on channeling a large chunk of her mana into the attack. She hadn¡¯t been able to use this spell on her own since she had to focus on dodging so much.


    Daryl traded blows with the Stone Ape. The glaring light of the growing fire silhouetted the beast¡¯s body. He stepped into the next blow letting it slide past him as he was in the creature¡¯s guard. Daryl wished he had some sort of skill as the beast trapped his arms in place. The creature reared back and threw Daryl to the ground with a titanic shake of the earth as he took more damage to his hit points.


    The Ape reached down, digging its hands into the ground before it began lifting a giant boulder seemingly out of nowhere from the ground. It raised it above its head and just before it was going to be hurled into Daryl a huge fireball crashed into its back causing the boulder to drop from its hands and crash upon its head knocking it silly.


    With it being stunned Daryl leapt to his feet and began pounding on the creature as a fresh spout of purple drool started dripping from its mouth as a beam of lightning started raking it along the side of its body as it was assaulted on two fronts. The beast seemed torn between focusing on either of them as the two whittled down its hit points with poison and attacks.


    The beast seemed to run out of stamina as it grew sluggish. Great golden cracks spread through its body as it struggled to fight on. As it was slower the two took a more careful approach to fighting the beast staying just out of attack range as their stamina and mana refilled enough for them to take it on even safer. The cracks on Daryl were pretty apparent and though he still had a hundred hit points left that was two serious blows from the Ape.


    Then the Ape slumped to the ground defeated. Its body disappeared into motes of light as Cindy and her father recovered. A stream of golden orbs flowing from the body into the two.


    Daryl, with his hands on his knees, looked at his daughter who was relatively unharmed beside the cracks from the stone that hit her. ¡°Good job Badger. I think this mob isn¡¯t too hard. I wonder what skills we will get from it.¡±


    Cindy smiled at her dad as she stood with her chest out and proud. ¡°I¡¯ll probably get some stone or nature magic. It¡¯ll be fun. I¡¯m more interested in what skills you get!¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s find out.¡±

 31: Skills are Bananas

    ¡°Well it looks like this gear can give several skills,¡± Said the blacksmith as he perused his own menu. Mary grew bored waiting in line with Dad. The blacksmith here was super busy while surrounded by more hunters than she knew existed.


    ¡°Well tell me about them so I know if it is worth farming.¡± Dad was kneeling down so that he could hear and talk to the smith.


    ¡°There is Quake Stomp on the boots, a skill that pits your strength against a target''s swiftness that can cause the creature to fall down. The big ticket for the whole set is an Unending Stamina Skill. Says for five seconds you have no limit on the amount of stamina you can spend. Pretty handy if you¡¯re already low on Stamina.¡± The smith was all smiles as they looked at Dad. The sight of a giant not so foreign to these people. Thankfully though Dad seemed to be the only hunter that was a giant.


    ¡°That is amazing. Hey Cindy, I think it would be wise for me to get the whole set. Unending stamina seems like it would be a great skill to have.¡± Dad had excitement in his eyes for the first time at the prospect of hunting monsters for something.


    Cindy nodded, the spell runes the clothes were offering were pretty useful. ¡°The stone element is pretty strong against fire and flying monsters. I think it would be helpful if I had that and I can use the secondary rune to coat you in stone armor while channeling some mana. I think that would make me feel a lot better about you taking damage.¡±


    The two of them had a plan. The Stone Ape had some special quests to hunt it down and they appeared to be a pretty big menace to ill equipped hunters. It was going to be a long day of fighting them though. Thankfully Dad was able to get the boots that gave him the stomp ability. Any form of disruption and crowd control would be great.


    As they geared up and prepared to head out a single hunter approached them. Cindy was excited to meet some people that also hunted monsters. She was half sure that she was going to be the only monster hunter in the world but it seemed that she was going to be proven wrong.


    The youngest of them had a fur headdress shaped like a mohawk. He had a giant crossbow slung on his back, his clothes looked easy to move in. Cindy stepped forward with a smile, ¡°Hello!¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ¡°Hi, I heard you two were going out hunting Stone Apes. I have a couple quests involving them and the resources they guard. I¡¯ll share the quest with you if you will let me join the hunt. I¡¯m Orin.¡± He reached out a hand to Cindy who shook it enthusiastically.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you could share quests, that is awesome. It looks like you are a ranged hunter. Are you also looking for gear from the apes?¡± Cindy was bubbly and wanted nothing more than to just say yes and run out into a three manhunt.


    ¡°No, my Boroclops gear is good for ranged attacks. It gives me a dodging dash skill that is invaluable for me to stay safe. Well, which one of you is in charge?¡± Orin looked between the two as he waited to be accepted or rejected.


    Cindy and Dad both responded at the same time, ¡°I¡¯m in charge.¡±


    The two looked at each other and squinted their eyes at one another. ¡°Dad, I¡¯m the one that taught you how hunting worked. I¡¯m in charge.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m your father, I¡¯m in charge.¡± Dad stared at her with serious eyes as the two challenged one another. ¡°We can rock paper scissors over it. Since you have a point. But no arguing if I win.¡±


    ¡°Dad,¡± Cindy floated up to his ear with a spell and whispered into Dad¡¯s ear. ¡°I¡¯m the Hero. Let me be in charge ok. It¡¯s important to me.¡±


    Dad sighed heavily, his breath nearly sending Cindy spiraling through the air. ¡°Fine, but if this goes sideways, then I¡¯m in charge. You don¡¯t know how to handle emergencies like I do.¡±


    Cindy nodded before flying back down to the ground with a huge smile, ¡°Welcome aboard. Dad takes the frontline of combat. He has plenty of hit points but we need to whittle down the enemy as fast as possible. I do have a healing spell but we don¡¯t have potions yet. We haven¡¯t gotten our harvest of herbs and mushrooms to make them. Are you all set, did you eat your pre-hunt meal? Got all your ammo?¡±


    Orin nodded and smiled at the pair of them. ¡°I¡¯m all set, swiftness is my big stat so it isn¡¯t that big of a deal for me to be in the backline. I¡¯m pretty fragile so I¡¯ll be avoiding drawing the monster¡¯s attention. I¡¯ll do my best though. So whenever you are ready we can head out and start hunting.¡±


    They were maybe a mile away from the city once more before Orin stopped and started to share the quests he had stored up. A couple were about gathering a rare drop from Stone Apes. There was also another couple of capture quests that would give special rewards that both of them needed. Orin was very friendly and looked to be in his teens.


    A strange sense of maturity filled the young man. Cindy looked at him with wide eyes at what she could be in just a few years. If aging in this world was the same as home. She looked at Dad from the corner of her eyes. Doubt that he would accept being here for that long filled her. Unlike her he had friends at home, all hers had moved away. Maybe Orin could be her first real friend here. A third member of their hunting party.


    ¡°Well,¡± Dad said, ¡°Let¡¯s get farming Stone Apes.¡±

 32: Ranged Superiority

    The three of them walked out into the wild lands around the second city. Daryl kept his eye on the new guy Orin. He hoped that this was more than just someone that would follow and do little. It was time to hunt some Stone Ape. After looking at the gear that he would be able to get, some flutter of excitement filled him. At a tier five skill he would have infinite stamina for five seconds. It also came with some massive attacks that were stamina heavy but that would matter little with infinite stamina.


    Slowly they approached the first clearing that housed a Stone Ape. These creatures were highly solitary and territorial. Daryl knelt down on one knee in order to talk to his companions. ¡°Ok Orin. What kind of abilities do you have available?¡±


    ¡°Well, I have some power shots and mobility skills. I have a slow attack rate that does a lot of damage each hit. My strongest ability is a rooting shot that will pin a monster in place for three seconds.¡± Orin nodded at Cindy and Daryl, ¡°What about you two?¡±


    Cindy smiled, ¡°If you root him in place I can use my rain runes to do some serious damage. That could let Dad move in and lock it into place. That way we can pile on the damage.¡±


    Orin looked dubiously at Daryl and frowned slightly, ¡°What skill lets you lock it into place? What about aggro management?¡±


    Cindy spoke before Daryl, ¡°He has been able to keep aggro just by attacking creatures normally and staying in their face. Last time I pulled aggro Dad was able to get between me and the monster.¡±


    Orin shook his head, ¡°I¡¯d feel more comfortable if he had an aggro ability. I have a potion that I usually give my tanks that naturally increases the aggro they make. I can shoot it at you with a special shot. That will be the best we can do to make us safer. If we keep staying together I would like us to build some gear for Dad to help him tank.¡±


    Daryl piped up, ¡°The Stone Ape line has some aggro abilities. It is much stronger than the few pieces of Boroclops I have. Once we finish hunting today I¡¯ll spend my tennies and materials on making these pieces of armor.¡±


    Orin nodded and held his hand out in the center of the three. ¡°Let¡¯s do this!¡±


    Cindy put her hand in excitedly, Daryl wondered how he would fit in there when he placed a single finger on top and did his best not to pin their hands in place. Cindy shouted, ¡°Go Team Awesome Smashers!¡±


    Orin shook his head, ¡°I didn¡¯t agree to that name. If we continue to party we will have to work on that.¡± He unhooked his crossbow and strapped it into place. He loaded a massive bolt seemingly out of nowhere and half crouched under the weight now that it was slung. ¡°I¡¯ll root the Stone Ape to let Dad close. You two do your thing.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    All of them stood together and looked out at the monster and Daryl started to run at the creature. It instant whipped around and looked at the first of the trio. A bolt whizzed by his thigh and slammed into the Ape. Instantly a net wrapped all around the creature and seemed staked into the ground pinning it in place.


    A rain of poison started to fall on its back as the purple smoke started from each drop. Daryl wound back his arm and smashed it into the monster¡¯s face. A spiderweb of cracks appeared as a giant puff of poison came from the blow. Daryl swung a quick combo of snapping punches into the Ape¡¯s face trying to build its anger to direct it towards him.


    Another bolt slammed into the monster and massive cracks sprouted from the hit. Orin wasn¡¯t lying that it did a lot of damage each strike. The poison rain stopped as in moments the Ape began to drool purple showing that he was under the effects of poison status. All the cracks on it started to get bigger each second as it finally broke free.


    It went ape. Swinging and slamming fists into Daryl¡¯s guard. He tried to roll with the punches and absorb the damage. He could feel the cracks form on his forearms as Daryl did his best to keep up. Daryl had no time to attack back and as another bolt slammed into the beast it immediately turned and lept into the air at Orin. Daryl¡¯s heart sank as he watched both of his team members.


    Daryl¡¯s mind raced as he realized he still had Boroclops'' charge still. Timing it right he activated the ability with his mind and blurred across the distance. Ending the charge with the biggest rabbit punch a dirty fighter ever used into the back of the Stone Ape¡¯s skull. It stumbled as the aggro potion slammed into Daryl¡¯s chest surrounding him in a red aura that wisped around his body.


    The Ape spun backfisting Daryl across the face that made him stumble back and take a minute to keep his feet in place. The monster stomped so hard the ground cracked under Daryl¡¯s feet keeping him off balance as the Ape slammed into him knocking him back a dozen feet. As Daryl fell back he tucked into a backwards roll. Hours and hours of practice had him back on his feet in an instant. The monster was on top of him.


    Daryl felt a healing aura fill him as the panicked call of Cindy filled his ear as she called out the spell. Another half dozen bolts hit the Ape in the back as Orin kept his assault going. ¡°Cindy! I have plenty of hit points, focus on damage!¡± Daryl could feel his hit point bar at half and climbing rapidly. With his defensive training he would have been able to keep himself alive for longer.


    Cindy didn¡¯t listen and kept the healing beam on his back as she focused her magic on him. Orin¡¯s bolt slammed into the monster, rooting it in place. Daryl jumped back so the healing could top him off and let Cindy focus on damage. ¡°Be careful Dad!¡± Cindy¡¯s voice quivered as she stopped her beam now that he was fully healed.


    Orin called out, ¡°He should be mostly dead, focus on damage as much as possible! Let''s end this fight!¡±


    Cindy yelled out a spell as a massive ball of fire started to build in her hands as she built a strong hit. Orin seemed to lay down on his stomach and stamina aura started to float above his body and swirl into the bolt¡¯s tip. Daryl stepped forward and slammed an axe kick straight down on the beast and knocked it down onto his hands and knees. The other two attacks slammed into him once more. An explosion of golden motes flew from all three strikes as they received the notification of their victory.


    In an instant Cindy was locked on his ankle. ¡°That one seemed so much stronger than before!¡± Daryl could feel her shake as she gripped onto him hard. Daryl kneeled and stroked her back softly with a single finger.


    Orin jogged up, ¡°It must have been an older monster. They get stronger the longer they are in Gaia. We probably should have had another two hunters with us for that battle. We should head closer to town though, they are weaker the closer to town we are.¡± Orin ran a hand through his hair. ¡°Less drops, easier fights.¡±

 33: Tough Conversations

    Cindy was glad the fights got easier the closer they got to town. Her heart hammered in her chest at the thought of Dad getting that low on hit points. Watching the golden motes fly off him so quickly made her quiver in fear. She was so glad Orin was there to help. Without him they would have surely had to retreat. Cindy had to be more careful, maybe with traps laid out ahead of time they could surely make the fights easier. She just needed to get over not using all her tools.


    Every fight had to be important. Every fight needed to be treated seriously. She took deep calming breaths as she walked next to the other two in her party as they got back to town. Orin waved goodbye to them and promised that he would join them again tomorrow for more Stone Apes. Apparently he was also looking to get geared out in the full set. Cindy hoped beyond anything that if she got the abilities that it would have some sort of crowd control so they could run away if necessary. She looked at the broad back of Dad and whispered to herself, ¡°We will keep each other safe. Not just him protecting me.¡±


    Cindy swallowed heavily as they headed to the blacksmith to get gear upgrades. They had plenty of daylight to go to the farm after this and she could walk Dad through crafting their own items to be used in combat. This wasn¡¯t how things were supposed to be though, Dad was supposed to be invincible. She had never seen him be hurt before. Even though this world didn¡¯t have the massive gushing wounds she saw when she secretly watched scary movies behind her parents'' back, the light motes seemed worse somehow.


    Did you know how low your hit points were getting? Why didn¡¯t you use all your skills? She desperately wanted to ask him. He hit a third of his hit points left before she switched to healing him. Why wasn¡¯t he paying attention to that? He was so focused on fighting and defending himself. She knew he had potions, he just didn¡¯t know to use them yet. She had to speak to him later.


    Orin had talked to her in private on the walk back as Dad ranged ahead. ¡°That first fight was rough. Why didn¡¯t Dad use potions? That and his stamina was almost full the entire fight. I know you guys have brand new gear but does he know what he is doing? Didn¡¯t he go to Hunter School?¡±


    Cindy looked at Orin, ¡°No, we kinda just threw ourselves into this. I thought we had a good idea of how to fight. We were handling Boroclops just fine before we left the village.¡± Cindy clenched her hands to keep them from shaking. This world was supposed to be different.


    Orin shook his head, ¡°Look, you two are being reckless. He needs potions, and we need to work together. Get him skills that he could use more often in a fight like my rooting and your spells. I admit his abilities to fight with his hands and body is great but that doesn¡¯t mean much until your gear helps you with that.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Cindy looked at the large back of her dad. It was as big as she ever remembered back on earth. He always seemed larger than life. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure he gets some skills. Any idea where we should start off?¡±


    Orin nodded, ¡°Get a skill book. One that will activate his natural abilities to fight. Its called the Hand to Hand Master book. It costs a lot of Tennies but if you sell some of your materials you should be able to help him afford it. That will let him use stamina and that will decrease damage and let him pour stamina into attacks to do real damage. But that¡¯s just my opinion.¡±


    Cindy nodded to herself, ¡°I¡¯ll make sure he is upgraded. He won¡¯t just be a one trick pony.¡±


    ¡°Good, I¡¯ll look forward to what he will be able to do tomorrow.¡± Orin lapsed into silence as they continued to walk towards town.


    Orin had veered off as they entered town and now she was looking at skill books. The price was indeed high, she headed towards Dad. ¡°Dad, can we talk?¡± Cindy watched him take a knee and she stepped into his hand so he would lift her to his shoulder. ¡°You need to be more careful.¡± She was almost whispering as she forced the words out.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± His turned his head so his eye can stare down at her.


    ¡°You should have used potions in order to keep your health up. I had to stop and heal you, you were below half hit points.¡± She stepped towards his cheek and hid her face from the eyes of her father.


    ¡°I had plenty of hit points. Around two hundred more. It was only doing ten damage when I blocked hits right. Do you know I have five hundred hit points when I¡¯m full.¡± The massive hand wrapped around her back and pressed her further into him, filling Cindy with comforting worth.


    She shook her head rubbing her face against him. ¡°I want you above two fifty at all times Dad. When you didn¡¯t block right it took big chunks out of your health. Just¡­ please.¡± Cindy placed her hands gently on him as she took a deep breath calming herself.


    ¡°I¡¯ll try, just remember, you made me really tough.¡± Dad¡¯s voice vibrated through her. He was right, she did forget he had more hit points than anyone else.


    ¡°Above two fifty. Now, Orin made a good point. We gotta get you a skill book. It¡¯ll make sure all your karate will actually help.¡± She pushed away from Dad and blinked away the beginning of her tears. ¡°You¡¯ll have to sell some monster materials but I think that is more important than equipment for now.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that going to do for me?¡± Dad asked.


    ¡°Well you have so little ways to spend your stamina right now. It is like fighting with a hand tied behind your back. You¡¯ll be able to be more effective this way. I asked the help menu when we were heading back to town. We all can have one skill book. I¡¯ll get one and you get one. We need to catch up to everyone else in this world.¡± Cindy hopped down floating to the ground safely.


    ¡°Okay, let''s get our upgrades.¡±

 34: Status Update

    Name: Dad


    Body: 90 assigned.


    Strength: 40


    Swiftness: 25


    Toughness: 25


    Spirit: 10 assigned.


    Focus: 5


    Channeling: 0


    Concentration: 5


    Giant Racial Trait gained. Unending Stamina. Giants cannot feel the weave of magic and are generally resistant to all magical attacks. In return their bodies are refined to have excessive stamina and recovery. They do not have a Mana stat and instead all Mana is converted to Stamina. All Mana regen is converted to Stamina regen.


    Stamina: 200/200


    Regen: 20/per 5 seconds


    Mana: 0/0


    Regen: 0/per 5 seconds¡±


    Hit points: 500/500


    Stamina: 200/200


    Mana: 0/0.


    EquipmentThis text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Head: Boroclops Band (Boroclops Charge +1 lvl)


    Torso: Boroclops Brigadere (Boroclops Charge +1 lvl)


    Pants: Stone Kilt (Unending Stamina +1 lvl, Ape Leap +1 lvl)


    Feet: Stone Sandals (Unending Stamina +1 lvl, Quake Stomp +1 lvl)


    Weapon: Bog Bash Knuckles


    Skills:


    Boroclops Charge lvl 2


    Unending Stamina lvl 2


    Ape Leap lvl 1


    Quaking Stomp lvl 1


    Hand to Hand Master


    Name: Cinderflame the Badger Queen


    Body: 30 assigned.


    Strength: 5


    Swiftness: 15


    Toughness: 10


    Spirit: 70 assigned.


    Focus: 25


    Channeling: 20


    Concentration: 25


    Elven Racial Trait: Mana Tidebinder. You have exceptional ability to feel the flow of mana and that increases your regen rate and the max mana you have at your fingertips.


    Stamina: 100/100


    Regen: 10/per 5 seconds


    Mana: 150/150


    Regen: 15/per 5 seconds¡±


    Hit points: 200/200


    Stamina: 100/100


    Mana: 150/150.¡±


    Equipment


    Head: Lizard Lined Witch Hat (Meditation +1 lvl)


    Torso: Boroclops Tunic (Recovery Rune)


    Pants: Stone Plated Pants (Earth Rune)


    Feet: Fish Scale Boots (Slippery Dash +1 lvl)


    Weapon: Staff of the Lake Gods (Trap Rune, Water Rune)


    Skills:


    Meditation lvl 1


    Slippery Dash lvl 1


    Damage Runes:


    Fire


    Water


    Earth


    Electric


    Poison


    Recovery


    Stone


    Attack Rune:


    Bolt


    Beam


    Rain


    Trap


    Aura


    Armor


    Casting Rune


    Pulse


    Channel


    Instant


    Rapid Pulse


    Cheat Skill: Permanent Runes, all runes learned will be kept at a level one variant of the rune. Level two variants still require additional equipment and will not be stored.

 35: Building Confidence

    Now that Daryl had some Stone Ape gear he was ready to go forward and utilize more abilities. The fact that the skill book also enabled him to more readily use his martial arts skills was also a plus. Orin and Cindy were walking behind him as they headed towards the next type of monster they were facing.


    Daryl still thought it was going to be smart to finish farming Stone Apes, that unlimited stamina skill would be great. He would be able to really blow through a lot or use it as a last resort at the end of a fight. Daryl also thought it would be smart to combine a lower level of Unending Stamina with the Titanic Punch level 2 could be a huge asset for burst damage. Maybe that would appease Cindy.


    ¡°So what kind of monster are we fighting anyways. I know they are called Sand Serpents but I couldn¡¯t find much information on what they do. Do you know Orin?¡± Daryl looked over his shoulder at the slight man and his new crossbow from the Stone Apes. He still wore his Boroclops armor for the dash he could use to keep safe. An obvious vote of no confidence in Daryl.


    ¡°Well they have a burrow attack and a binding attack. They will be immune to poison damage though so put that weapon away. Your new skill book will make up for the loss in weapon damage.¡± Orin adjusted his crossbow as his head was on a swivel. The beach area seemed riddled with dozens of crab-like monsters that would occasionally charge the little group they were in. A single spell from Cindy seemed to do the trick easily.


    That''s when the trio saw it. A giant serpent with tan scales and a flare of stone like cobra hood. It was wrapped around another monster slowly trying to ingest the creature. Its jaw was completely unhinged as it worked its meal into its gaping maw. Its green eyes were dilated and wide as the three prepared.


    Orin lined up his net shot as Cindy charged a potent spell. Both of them showed absolute focus as Daryl warmed up his body. Hopping from foot to foot in the deep sand. His sandals slapping hard against his soles. He was ready with Ape Leap to close the gap. It also allowed for a great amount of aggro. At least that is what the help menu told him.


    Waiting for the signal Daryl felt the instinctual activation of the leap skill. His body coiled and tensed as they all exploded with their combined first attack. The net arrow slammed into the beast¡¯s head as Cindy¡¯s massive fireball exploded over its coiled body. Instantly Daryl found himself flying through the air. His hands laced their fingers together above his head as he fell like a comet. With a massive hammer blow the serpents meal was knocked free of its mouth. It looked minorly stunned as Daryl unloaded with a combination of attacks.


    Arrows whizzed by his ear as the serpent finally came to its senses. It hissed and snapped at Daryl, fangs dripping with dark purple poison as it attempted to wrap its mouth around his forearm. Dancing backwards as quick as he could he swiped his arms away quickly to stay safe. As soon as it was over extended he landed a sweeping kick dropping his stamina by a chunk as he knocked the beast sideways. A bolt of sustained lightning pumped into the creature making it spasm slightly before it sunk below the ground in one swift burrowing movement.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°Watch out! It¡¯s going into its grappling phase!¡± Orin cried out. It was too late.


    The beast emerged wrapping around Daryl so swiftly he couldn¡¯t do much but have his one hand free of the coiling enemy. The crushing force of its muscles started to drain his health slowly. Daryl wrapped his one free hand over the beasts muzzle clamping it shut as it writhed to get itself free. He could feel the impact of attacks against the outside of the serpent but there was no sign of spells connecting.


    ¡°Cindy! We have to damage it to free Dad!¡± Orin yelled, ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there!¡±


    ¡°Water Beam Channel!¡± Cindy screamed out her voice cracking. The thick torrent of water burst from her hands and started to slam into the serpent like a super powerful fireman¡¯s hose. Daryl could feel the water misting around his head but it seemed the coils were so tight he stayed dry.


    The beast relaxed just enough before it slithered free pulling its head so hard it knocked Daryl onto his side, his legs swept aside by the tail. It tilted its head back and let out a new attack. It bellowed out a hissing cry that shook all three of the hunters to their cores causing each of them to free and clamp hands over their ears. In that moment of respite it charged the two back liners. Slowly burrowing under ground.


    Daryl kipped up, his body digging furrows in the sand from the explosive movement. He lifted one powerful leg and felt his mouth open up with a yell of the next attack, ¡°QUAKE THE EARTH!¡± His foot came down with such an unnatural weight that sand exploded in all directions. A crack in the ground opened up and shot towards the serpent. The ground seemed to reject the beast in an explosion of power.


    Erupting from the sand the serpent flew into the air at least ten feet up and slammed down on its back. It wriggled lost in a stun effect as Daryl activated his third skill dropping his stamina dangerously low as he charged like a boroclops at the fallen creature. Daryl twirled, lifting his leg in an arching axe kick into the center of his enemy. He could feel the fatigue of his nearly empty stamina fill his body. Daryl mentally unclicked his stamina spending for his martial arts.


    Net shot came off cooldown and instantly the serpent was wrapped up. A flood of more water sloshed against the skull of the creature. Cindy yelled out something as soon as the creature broke free and rolled onto its stomach. The giant glowing blue rune on the ground exploded in a geyser of power from a trap that Cindy must have cast. ¡°I¡¯m nearly out of mana! Keep him off me.¡±


    Daryl watched as his daughter assumed a lotus position and seemed to space out in an instant. Orin dashed sideways sending a spread of bolts into the side of the serpent to keep its attention on either Daryl or himself. The movements of the creature was sluggish as a torrent of drool dripped from its mouth, evaporating before it connected with the sand below. In an explosion of movement it snapped its mouth around Daryl¡¯s arm and he felt a flood of poison fill his veins in a moment. His stamina stopped refilling instantly as his health began to tick down.


    Daryl stumbled back away from the thing as it coiled to strike again. His mind reeled in and he activated the antidote potion, his health was below half so he popped a health potion just as he promised to Cindy. Shooting him up another hundred hit points and curing the poison. Just in time for the serpent to snap forward. A bolt pierced through the beast¡¯s eye shattering the side of the head in a killing spread of glowing light.


    Orin yelled in joy as the creature stilled and those motes of light signalling loot started to fly into all three of their chests. ¡°Wow, we did so much better now that you two are upgraded. I think we can take another two or three of the creatures before we head back to town. Let''s do this!¡±

 36: Missing Mom

    Cindy was sitting with her mother on the porch of the house. Mom asked Cindy to sit in Mom¡¯s lap. Warm arms wrapped around Cindy¡¯s shoulders and held her as the sun poured down on the lawn. Mom sighed as the two held a quiet beautiful moment.


    ¡°Is the medicine working Momma?¡± Cindy asked quietly as she rested her ear on her mom and listened to the heartbeat there.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that darling.¡± Mom said, stroking Cindy¡¯s hair for a moment. ¡°Tell me about school honey. What¡¯s been your favorite thing to do?¡±


    Cindy smiled despite the sadness. Mom¡¯s words meant no and she knew it. ¡°Well, I made a few friends that also like video games. We were thinking about starting a gaming group for whenever we are done with homework. It¡¯ll be nice not playing on my own. School has been ok. I¡¯m really enjoying math and science. It all makes sense to me. The strict rules of everything, if you follow the rules you¡¯re never wrong.¡±


    ¡°That does sound nice,¡± Mom started to slowly rock them both as the warm wind started to blow past the two. Cindy looked up at her mom, the scarf wrapped around her head fluttered in the wind. It was tie dye. Cindy had made it for her mom when she decided to start shaving her head. The medicine seemed to make her miserable but Cindy knew she went through it because she wanted to be around for Dad and herself.


    ¡°What do you dream about Mom?¡± Cindy asked as she snuggled down into the warm arms.


    ¡°Oh, I dream about you a lot, badger. Watching you grow up, meeting your first boyfriend and how your father will feel about it. Seeing you graduate every class and throwing you a party each time. The first time you drive, and feeling proud you could do it. I also dream about being old with your father. Sitting in this very chair and watching you as an adult with your own children playing in the yard. That is my favorite dream.¡± Mom looked far away from the world as she talked. Seeing her dreams in her own mind and reveling in them.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know if I want kids mom. Maybe I can babysit first? That would be great.¡± Cindy looked out in the yard to see Dad toiling away in the flower garden he was growing for Mom. She loved flowers of all kind. Cindy planned to go pluck a bunch of them. She closed her eyes and listened to that heartbeat. ¡°Kids might be nice. With you and Dad to help me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good honey.¡± Cindy felt an arm reach out and watched the shaky strength of her mother pick up the glass of iced tea and bring it to her lips. The strong scent of lemon wedges filling the air. She watched as the cold sweating glass was sipped from and her mom sighing at the taste. It was her favorite drink. ¡°Do you want something to drink honey?¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Cindy closed her eyes, she was thirsty. But she wanted to sit with mom for longer. ¡°Dad will bring me something. I¡¯m sure he knows that we will both be thirsty soon. He always knows when to help us.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I married him. Did I ever tell you how we met?¡± Mom looked confused for a moment. Her memories were not as strong as before. The forgetfulness wasn¡¯t helping anything.


    ¡°Yes, but I want to hear it again. Tell me please.¡± Cindy looked at her dad as he worked. She did her best to imagine them both younger but that was impossible without a picture. They were always who they are now.


    ¡°We were in college,¡± Mom began as she looked at the love of her life. ¡°I was really stuck in my Calculus class and I posted a little flyer asking for a tutor.¡± Mom sipped the iced tea as she squeezed Cindy gently. ¡°I got the call from your father. He promised that he had passed the class the year before and would enjoy helping me. Told me to meet him at a cafe a few blocks away from campus.¡±


    The wind blew by as Mom went on. ¡°I was on my way there when my tire went flat suddenly, completely exploded. I pulled to the side of the road and stepped out to look at what had happened. I knew then that I would miss the meeting and we didn¡¯t have cell phones then so I couldn¡¯t call him.¡± Mom sighed, ¡°That is when he was there. Walking along the road, we were maybe a block away from the cafe. He approached me with his wonderful eyes staring into mine. I felt butterflies in my stomach and all thoughts of school and meetings fell out of my head.¡± Cindy closed her eyes, picturing her mom¡¯s classic car. It was handed down two generations. A beautiful cream color with winged back lights.


    ¡°His smile was brilliant, I remember the words, ¡®You seem to be in a spot of trouble. Let me help you with that tire.¡¯ I opened my trunk and he pulled out a spare and all the equipment I didn¡¯t know I had. I watched as he kneeled into the dirty road and went about changing my tire with practiced ease.¡± The warm arms wrapped around Cindy pulling her closer as her mom¡¯s cheek rested on the top of Cindy¡¯s head.


    ¡°His hands got so dirty and his knee¡¯s pants were filthy. I couldn¡¯t help but offer to buy him lunch. I didn¡¯t even remember why I was looking for a cafe. He told me he was busy meeting up with someone to help teach them some calculus. That is when I remembered,¡± Mom started to sound tired as she talked, her voice getting distant. ¡°I told him I was who he was looking for. That I had to treat him to lunch now that he was saving me twice. Of course he agreed.¡±


    Mom grew quiet and her breaths grew deep. She was asleep. Cindy nuzzled closer as she closed her eyes. Remembering all the times that Mom would take the time to sit and hold her since as long as she could remember. Cindy was growing tired as well. The world was the perfect nap temperature. Plus the comfort of her mom¡¯s heartbeat in her ear. The gentle rocking of them both soothing the soul. Cindy closed her eyes as she felt sleep coming onto her.


    The last thing she heard before falling asleep was the soft chuckle of Dad. A light blanket being tucked around them both, and the gentle sound of the other rocking chair being sat in. Cindy knew her parents were there. Time seemed to stretch into an eternity as she fell asleep. ¡°Love you mom,¡± She whispered to no one.


    Cindy woke up in bed later. Dad must have carried her up when Mom woke up. Cindy was tucked in just the way she liked. Mom¡¯s favorite song was coming softly from the other rooms. The smell of dinner was starting to fill the air. The lovely scent of Mom¡¯s favorite spices flooded her nose. Mom always made the best food. Cindy wasn¡¯t ready though, she snuggled down, the tie dye scarf lay under her cheek. The smell of mom was there.


    Cindy knew, as long as Mom was around Cindy would have moments like this. When she could feel the pure love of her parents. The feeling of absolute safety as well. She sighed, ¡°Five more minutes.¡±

 37: Kitted Out

    Daryl sat on his backside as he looked down at the blacksmith. ¡°So, we have some new equipment to go over. I¡¯d like to finish off the set of Stone Ape armor. We farmed some parts so I should have enough for the rest of the set. That will give me a few new abilities. But tell me more about the sand serpent armor. Cindy loves to collect full sets so we might need to talk about that.¡¯


    Cindy was off at the farm collecting and setting up her next harvest. Daryl had done that pretty quickly as he was somewhat prepared for it. One thing caught his attention though. They could find a rare stone ape drop that acted as fertilizer for the crops that would speed up their growth and yield more of the rare herbs for potions and traps. That and a quest to help the farmer upgrade his abilities. It would open up to four separate crop options so they could double the production they had now. Orin already completed the quest but Cindy was open to taking the quest.


    ¡°Well there isn¡¯t much about the armor that is noteworthy. It comes with a poison immunity skill as well as a grappling skill for melee people to hold monsters in place at the cost of stamina per second. If your strength is higher than the monster it costs less stamina per tick. With your stats it might be wise just to farm that piece. Good thing unending stamina is capped at time otherwise you would be able to permanently lock down a monster.¡± The blacksmith brought up an option menu and seemed to look over it some more. ¡°The skill is on its weapon,¡± He stroked his chin in thought.


    Daryl weighed the options. It wouldn¡¯t do well for him to sacrifice unlimited stamina just for a different set of gloves. With how draining the martial art skills were becoming it would be wise to have a burst of time where he could go all out and unload his damage. The stone ape armor offered a great amount of damage resistance as well. The vulnerability to water damage though would lock Cindy out of that school of spell. ¡°Well, let¡¯s make the rest of the stone ape armor and weapon, and I¡¯ll take the weapon for sand serpents. It wouldn¡¯t hurt to have that option.¡±


    The blacksmith nodded and the globes of golden energy transferred to the man as the hammering began. Within moments more motes returned to him and the armor filled his inventory. The glowing light encompassed him. His helmet was like that of a sallet, his hands were wrapped in stone gauntlets and his chest armor reminded him of the roman cuirass you¡¯d see in films. The straps on the armor were made out of vines keeping it locked together. Giving him a very nature¡¯s avatar look.


    ¡°Thanks, I¡¯ll see you in a few days most likely.¡± Cindy had bought her own armor as well. She had insisted that they stay until she got her full sand serpent armor. Orin didn¡¯t plan on waiting around that long though. He was feeling confident with his new set up and wanted to party with a larger group for the next set of monsters.


    Cindy wasn¡¯t too fond of the idea of taking more people into the party. Daryl insisted they should try sooner or later just to be safe. It would have to be decided soon. Fleeing the monster would be a little harder unless Daryl kept ape leap in his back pocket as a means to escape.


    Cindy ran up to him. It was pretty early in the morning and with them spending the last few days farming apes and serpents it was time to do the farm quest together. Daryl knelt and picked up his daughter bringing her to his shoulder. She clung onto his ear as she sat on his shoulder.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°So, time for the farm quest. It¡¯ll be more like how we relaxed a few days ago. It would be great if we manage to finish this by the end of the day. We need some rare herbs, eggs for some reason, and some dung beetle drops.¡± Cindy was kicking her legs back and forth lightly as they strolled out of town.


    ¡°Where do we find all these materials then kiddo?¡± Daryl asked as he paused and looked at the expanse of wilderness around them. Pulling up the quest log he looked at it.


    ¡°The farms need compost! Doing so will open up more options for all the people using them will be a great boon to the community. Farmer Jerth says, ¡®Compost is a great addition in making more of our fields grow dense mixes of your favorite herbs. I¡¯ll even be able to supply some rare resources if it grows in your crops!¡¯ You heard him hunters, time to help make his dream a reality. Requires; 5 Small Monster Eggs, 5 Rip Roaring Peppers, 10 Dung Balls.¡±


    Cindy¡¯s eyes flashed as she searched her maps for the different areas they would have to visit that day. ¡°Well, the dung beetles and small monsters are in the southern woods. We will have to be on the lookout for Boroclops but we can handle them just fine. We will have to head to the plains to the east for the peppers. I even heard that eating them will give you a flame aura that damages monsters for a short time.¡±


    ¡°South first then. We can knock out two birds with one stone. Plus it will take us longer to collect that full set of items.¡± Daryl started to walk through the brush of the southern woods and kept his eyes out. Cindy¡¯s eyes flashed as she used her harvester goggles to highlight collection spots.


    Daryl let Cindy take the wheel in all this as she pulled out her net and collectors bag snagging beetles that Daryl couldn¡¯t even see. That was the thing about being so big, it made things seem so insignificant that it was hard to spot the small things. Instead he kept his eyes out for signs of boroclops that could threaten the two of them.


    They found a large nest that Cindy could fully stand in without any problems. She seemed to be looking at a prompt and Cindy stopped in her tracks. ¡°Dad, eggs don¡¯t drop from monsters. We have to find nests and carry the eggs it seems for thirty seconds. Any damage we take drops the eggs and any small monsters around will instantly aggro.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well only one of us needs to collect the eggs. You grab them and I¡¯ll lift you out of the way. Can you cast spells while you¡¯re holding the egg?¡± Daryl looked down at Cindy waiting for her answer.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, let''s try this and find out.¡± Cindy knelt and grabbed the one huge egg. It took her using both of her hands and leaning back to hold onto it properly. She looked up at him. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to be picked up. I¡¯ll drop it for sure.¡±


    Daryl stepped over his daughter and got in a fighting stance as the sounds of a bunch of wild monsters started to run through the brush at them both. Snapping feet and fists sent the small beasts flying around as he did his level best to defend Cindy. A bird swooped down from the canopy impossible fast heading straight for his daughter.


    Cindy hopped the best she could sideways at the last moment barely avoiding the creature as she screamed in surprise. She was yelling out spell names and nothing was happening while she called for more and more help. She was hopping out of the way of others with the narrowest of margins as Daryl continued to swipe, punch and kick the beasts away.


    ¡°I hope this doesn¡¯t knock you down!¡± Daryl leapt into the air activating ape leap and quake stomp at the same time. Suddenly he fell like a rock and smashed two hands into the ground sending a shock wave in one direction clearing out a swatch of monsters in front of him like a stream of destruction.


    With a whoop of joy the egg disappeared from Cindy¡¯s arms and she called out in success. ¡°Stone Rain Pulse!¡± A rain of boulders fell suddenly from the sky hammering a dozen other monsters killing them.


    Both of them grinned wickedly at their success.

 38: Plain as Day

    Cindy looked out over the plains. She was floored though. It was flooded with medium sized monsters. They were great grass covered turtles that mosied around. Small blazing red peppers were spotted all over the grounds and the turtles seemed to be seeking them out to eat. Each time they did they would glow red for about a minute and be a little aggressive with the small passive monsters.


    ¡°Well that is not good Dad.¡± Cindy looked over at her father as she sat perched on his shoulder. ¡°I think we can either be sneaky or we can try and farm these turtles.¡±


    Dad looked over at her and arched an eyebrow. ¡°Well, that doesn¡¯t sound like much of a choice. I mean, I can¡¯t really be sneaky. Though they don¡¯t attack anything unless they eat one of the peppers we need. I can be ready with an attack while you get the peppers. I don¡¯t like the idea but with Ape Leap you can get out of the way quickly. Any skills for that?¡±


    Cindy shook her head, ¡°I¡¯ll have to just run and dodge myself, the monsters look slow enough for me to outpace them.¡±


    Dad bent and set her down on the ground as he looked focused, she always admired the way that Dad could sharpen his mind to such a point. It was something she only did rarely and only for a very short amount of time. She started the slow move to the first pepper. It wasn¡¯t that close to any monster but she still was careful. One of the turtles spotted the brilliant red plant and started to slowly move to it. Thankfully Cindy was faster and plucked it while the monster was a half dozen feet away. It immediately lost interest and moved away.


    Cindy pumped a fist and gave Dad a thumbs up as she scanned the area for other peppers. She spotted one that a few turtles were getting close to so she scurried away from the fight that would happen as soon as one ate the prized pepper.


    Dad looked nervous everytime Cindy got close to a turtle though they all seemed to passively chew at grass and look for the peppers they seemed to be craving so badly. That is when she made a mistake. She didn¡¯t see the turtle eating the pepper on its other side. The beast let out a thunderous roar that shook Cindy knocking her on her backside as it turned much faster than its other counterparts and looked down at her.


    Cindy watched as Dad soared through the air above her. His hands coming down and smashing the turtle against the ground in a crash of power. The ground bucked underneath Cindy and she scrambled back. ¡°Flame beam channel!¡± She called as a gout of flame erupted from her cupped hands pouring across the turtles face and causing deep burns into the flailing creature.


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    As soon as the beast got to its feet Dad stomped, shattering the ground and knocking it on its chest in an instant. Dad¡¯s fury was intense as he hammered on the shell, however it seemed to be doing nothing to the monster. ¡°I can¡¯t seem to hurt it!¡±


    ¡°Its physical defense must be high! My magic is working so just keep it in place.¡± Cindy leaned into the attack as the flames burned away at the creature causing the telltale cracks of light to flood its face. ¡°Fire is working, just keep it in place Dad!¡±


    Dad hopped on the beast and pressed it down with his weight, but he slid right off in a moment. ¡°Why does it have to be a skill!¡± Dad yelled as he snapped a kick out and knocked one of the stabilizing legs free and caused the beast to stay on its belly. In a moment its head shattered into light and the beast went still.


    ¡°Thank God, medium beasts don¡¯t have that many hit points. I¡¯m sure you could hit hard enough to do it as well. That shell is insane though.¡± Cindy fell back on her backside and through her arms back leaning down and breathing hard. ¡°Took almost all my mana. I¡¯m going to sit in meditate mode, just keep me safe ok Dad?¡±


    ¡°Always Badger,¡± Dad kept his head on a swivel as Cindy slipped into meditation. It took about half a minute for it to work and Cindy was all topped up.


    ¡°Ok, same plan Dad. That leap and stomp keeping it locked down really helped.¡± Cindy moved quickly and became impatient. She rushed a pepper as two turtles moved towards it and as she snatched it from the stem the turtle snapped down sending a jolt of damage into her body. The cracks from the snap spread as a whopping fifteen damage went through to her hit points.


    Cindy stumbled back as Dad called out to her. ¡°Recovery aura channel,¡± She whispered to herself as the cracks began to disappear topping her hit points up. ¡°These things hit pretty hard Dad, I think¡­ I think you should collect the peppers and I¡¯ll be nearby to do damage.¡±


    CIndy felt fear fill her chest as she cradled the healing arm. She hadn¡¯t been hurt since Dad was here. It was almost like she felt invincible. Dad knelt next to her, setting a hand over her back. ¡°Are you ok Badger?¡± His voice was filled with concern.


    ¡°I¡¯m all healed up. I¡¯ll be fine,¡± Cindy hid the quivering in her voice.


    Dad scooped her up gently and pulled her up to his shoulder, where she was safe. ¡°I won¡¯t leap or use my potent abilities. Still hold on if it gets rough.¡±


    Cindy scooted close enough to his collar and held onto it. She hid the tears in her eyes from her father. Memories of Mom pushing Cindy to the limit until her hit points were low when she could have just used that broken command power on the monsters. Don¡¯t think about her! She screamed inside her head. She hoped Dad would never find out. But she was out there.


    Dad moved quickly through the turtles bending down and snagging peppers. He was much more careful only going for ones that were being ignored. Cindy grew worried and had to ask, ¡°Dad, what label do the peppers have?¡±


    ¡°One minute,¡± Dad¡¯s eyes glazed over as he entered his menu, ¡°Uhhh, Rot Ripping Pepper, they aren¡¯t the right kind.¡±


    Cindy felt disheartened. ¡°Ok, we have to go after the ones that the turtles actively want. Otherwise we are wasting our time.¡± She stood up and grabbed Dad¡¯s ear with both hands, ¡°Try to dart in and out.¡±


    Dad frowned as he looked down at the next cluster of monsters that were going to be a problem. Four of them were moving towards the same pepper so he leapt using ape leap and smashed into the center choosing not to attack anything and instead snatched the pepper in a moment of inspiration. ¡°That was the right one!,¡± Dad smiled at her, ¡°I¡¯ll just use that to get in and out, it¡¯ll keep us from being overwhelmed.¡±


    Cindy sighed in relief.

 39: Gaining Quests

    ¡°You two are such good people,¡± Came the withered voice of the farmer. Daryl smiled down at her as she stood up slowly. She pulled out a long whistle and blew inside it letting out a squeal that was like that of a pig.


    The piglike balls of farmers ran up to the gate and hopped up and down talking in some language neither Cindy or Daryl could understand. She pulled out the massive eggs, peppers, and dung handing it out like candy to all the workers one at a time. It took awhile with her slow movements. ¡°Here you go dearies,¡± Came the musical tones of the head farmer.


    Watching in fascination the pig people approached a corner of the lot and started with the first step. They threw down a pile of dung packing it in. Then the peppers came and they all squealed as they pulped the peppers mixing it in. Lastly they took the eggs and cracked them into the pile of compost.


    They danced once more and pulled out pitchforks and began tossing the mess around the farm as it splat wetly on the ground. Plops filled the air as the compost pile slowly shrank into nothing. Cindy and Daryl looked on in fascination as the ground rumbled and changed. Plants sprouted higher, furrows grew deeper, and it even seemed like more sunshine poured down on the whole farm.


    Soon enough it was all over and the whole group of pig men danced in celebration. Their twirling square dance didn¡¯t even seem practiced as much as it seemed natural. Cindy clapped her hands to the invisible beat and hopped from foot to foot, obviously wanting to dance with them all.


    The farmer turned back to them and smiled, ¡°With this help I can shave a whole day off of growing your supplies and even grow another type of crop for you at the same time. There are some other upgrades I am looking to do if you¡¯re interested?¡±


    Daryl took a knee and looked at the woman. ¡°What kind of upgrades?¡±


    ¡°Well, I can build a honey farm, a bug nursery, and a chicken egg farm. It would all help you make more potions of all kinds, traps, poisoned meat, and special ammo. I even hear some gear can be made from a whole spread of things. Very useful for hunters like you two.¡± She moved back to her wicker rocking chair and took her time sitting down gently.


    Cindy looked on with wide happy eyes, ¡°We could really help these people. Do you think the other people in the village could use help like this? What if the blacksmith needs some help?¡±


    Daryl stroked his chin, ¡°How about we split up and see what kind of village upgrades we can manage. I know you want to be as prepared as possible before we go and fight more monsters on our own. Where do you want to cover?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll head to the restaurant and guild hall. Why don¡¯t you hit the blacksmith and inn. Those seem to be the most important parts of town.¡± Cindy mirrored her father with touching her chin, mimicking to seem more mature.


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    ¡°Ok Badger, sounds like a good spread of people. All of them provide us bonuses. I¡¯m surprised this wasn¡¯t all posted at the hunter¡¯s guild or quest boards though.¡± Daryl was a little confused that this was done differently.


    ¡°It takes some tennies and special papers to use those two resources that is hard to come by. Something about guild bylaws and the importance of keeping things uniform. I find it silly,¡± Said the old farmer.


    Everyone nodded and spread out heading different directions through the city.


    Daryl watched Cindy disappear in the crowds, her small stature making her vanish into thin air. He headed to the blacksmith that was coming to be the person he visited most in the town. The smith waved at him from afar and Daryl took his customary seat in front of the shop.


    ¡°What can I do for you Dad,¡± Said the smith.


    ¡°I asked you to call me Daryl¡­¡± He said dejectedly. ¡°Anyways, ¡®Cinderflame¡¯ and I are looking around town for people that need help outside the guild for upgrades to their places of business.¡±


    ¡°Well, Daryl.¡± The smith stretched his arms and sighed, ¡°I¡¯m looking for some rare metals and coals. However they aren¡¯t near us at all. You¡¯d have to take a two day trip to gather it all. It would be a pretty dangerous thing to do.¡±


    ¡°What would that help you do?¡± Daryl asked propping his own chin up with a fist.


    ¡°It could make me a new anvil and I¡¯ll be able to make another tier of equipment. That and use less materials in the future.¡± The smith smiled up at Daryl, ¡°I¡¯ll also throw in some tennies as well if you can do it. Since it would cost a bit for camp equipment.¡±


    Daryl nodded as his mind was filled with a prompt for the quest. It required heading to a quarry a day away to gather coals and metals. Twenty pieces of each. ¡°I¡¯ll have to get a mining pick I guess.¡±


    Standing up he brushed off his backside and headed towards the giant¡¯s inn. The large building was looming in the distance. Daryl did find it slightly annoying to walk through the crowds as dragging his feet wasn¡¯t something that he would usually do. More than one apology was muttered as he brushed against a couple people with the side of his foot by accident.


    ¡­


    Cindy was standing at the restaurant looking around and wondering who she should talk to. All the workers were those adorable pig people with their spade noses and little hoofed feet. ¡°I guess, I¡¯ll ask the server?¡± Cindy wasn¡¯t sure but screwed up her confidence and marched forward.


    The same lady that made her that strange concoction of food noticed Cindy and walked forward crossing her hands over her apron and smiling, her tusks protruding. ¡°Hello, are you eating here today? Where is that giant fella?¡±


    ¡°W-we were looking around town,¡± Stuttered Cindy before she cleared her throat, ¡°We want to offer help to everyone that might not be able to use the guild to help update their places of business.¡±


    ¡°Well that sure is sweet dear,¡± She closed her eyes and snuffled her nose in thought. ¡°We can do with some new ingredients to make some new fresh dishes. If you could capture us a Grand Chickeedo. Not slay, capture and send it to us. I would appreciate it.¡±


    Cindy smiled up at the woman and nodded furiously. ¡°We can do that. But what is a Grand Chickeedo?¡±


    ¡­


    Daryl waited for Cindy near the entrance of the guild hall. The assumption that Cindy was inside asking around was definitely in his mind as he leaned against the great bone walls. His daughter skipped out and looked up and held her arms up just like she did as a much younger child. He scooped her up.


    Once she was sitting in his palm and they were as close to face to face as possible they shared a warm smile between them. ¡°So, what do we have to do?¡± Daryl asked.


    Cindy nodded and began, ¡°Well the guild is ok with us doing this. We are supposed to be helping the community anyways. They don¡¯t need anything as they can use the quest boards. The restaurant does need a captured Grand Chickeedo.¡±


    ¡°The blacksmith needs coals and metal from a quarry a day away. We will have to travel for a few days.¡±


    They nodded to one another. ¡°Dad, I think we should do these. We are here to make the world a better place.¡±


    Daryl rubbed her side with his thumb gently. ¡°I¡¯m so proud of you Badger.¡±

 40: Preparation

    Cindy was looking at the special item shop. Dad had bought a pick axe, they would both have time to harvest all the ores and coal. Now they had to figure out how they would safely sleep in the wilds. There were a variety of options for the two of them. From wake up juice to special incense you could burn that would ward off any monsters from getting too close throughout the night.


    ¡°It is still smart to have someone awake through half the night at a time. So be careful about how you use these items.¡± The old proprietor said as his eyes stared at Cindy who was doing most of the talking and shopping.


    ¡°We will take four incense please. Just in case we take a couple extra days out there.¡± Cindy paid the tennies and received the requested items. Looking up at Dad she smiled, ¡°Are you getting anything else Dad?¡±


    The rumbling ¡®hmmmm¡¯ filled the air as Dad pondered whatever was on his mind. He was half paying attention as he stared at the massive pickaxe in his hands. It was truly an overly large piece of equipment.


    Cindy shook his sandal strap until he paid attention and called up to him, ¡°What else do you think we need?¡±


    Dad came to his senses and looked down, ¡°Well I¡¯m going to get the full set of gathering tools and those fancy goggles so that I can help with those kinds of things in the future. I might need the goggles to see the ore and stuff. I¡¯ve never mined you know.¡±


    Cindy nodded, ¡°I can¡¯t think of anything else we should do while we are out and about.¡±


    ¡°Check with the restaurant while I shop to see if they do anything to go. That way we can have buffs throughout the trip and not have to worry about not being less than our best.¡± Dad knelt and started to talk about all the different gathering equipment giants could have. Cindy wondered what it might look like and how silly it might be to see. Images of a super long stick with a tiny net at the tip was making her giggle.


    Cindy moved through the town getting used to weaving in and out of the crowds of people. Arriving soon at the restaurant once more she waved down the server that had continually helped her. Cindy¡¯s bright smile lit up the area as she began her monologue. ¡°Hey, so Dad and I are going out on an adventure, we need to see if we can have some things so that we can get buffs throughout the trip so that we aren¡¯t going to be caught off guard. Do you have anything that would be good for gathering? How about walking? Oh and even though it makes my tummy hurt some Witch¡¯s Wastebaskets. Those made me super good at keeping with magic. We need four days worth of them if you have them. So do you have them?¡±


    Cindy could practically see the swirls of her eyes as she took in all the words before she nodded. ¡°We do provide some things that help with buffs while out of town but they aren¡¯t as strong. It isn¡¯t too wise to stay outside a town so you better be careful.¡±


    Cindy smiled and rocked onto the balls of her feet as she meshed her hands together, ¡°Please help us? Dad always loves your food.¡±


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    ¡°Of course, little lady! I¡¯ll be right back for one bunch of food for both you and your father. I can¡¯t believe even though his name is Dad he wants to be called Daryl. What a silly adventurer.¡± The pig woman walked back into the restaurant and hustled yelling at the cooks once more. Their almost hypnotic work of whipping up dishes and serving the bustling combination of hunters.


    Soon enough the woman was walking towards her holding several balls of energy each with fantastic looking meals inside them still steaming and good enough to make Cindy drool a little out of the corner of her mouth. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you are so good at cooking. The food is always so good here. You all are amazing.¡±


    ¡°You are so kind Cinderflame. One of our favorite customers of all time.¡± The woman reached out and pinched Cindy¡¯s cheek with one of her thick fingered hands and wiggled it a little. Cindy squirmed being reminded of her godmother and the woman¡¯s insistent need to pinch at any little thing that was slightly chubby. Much to Cindy¡¯s consternation.


    ¡°Thank you, we will see you in a few days. With that Great Chickeedo in tow.¡± The orbs disappeared into inventory as Cindy went to the guild. Trap boxes and throwing bottles were going to be needed to catch the overgrown chicken. Memories of catching the Boroclops with Dad filled her mind. It wasn¡¯t all that easier to catch a monster against just slaying it. Also she hoped that this had some special drop or something because she had never seen a monster be transported into town.


    Walking through town she was stopped by a couple hunters that were looking down at her. ¡°Hey there little lady. Rumor is that you are partied with some sort of clumsy warrior. We were hoping to recruit a mage like yourself. Orin said that for some reason you had many more spells than you should have been able to do on your own. Why don¡¯t you either join us. Or give us that special equipment that is making you able to do so many spells.¡±


    Cindy froze and looked up at them, ¡°I¡¯m chosen by Gaia, it isn¡¯t a piece of equipment or skill. I¡¯m blessed by the goddess.¡±


    The group laughed heartily at that all of them looking to one another. ¡°How sweet. The Goddess doesn¡¯t exist little girl so stop lying to us and fork over the gear. We can do so much more with it than a silly little pair of people.¡±


    Cindy squared her shoulders and tilted her chin up with pride, ¡°She does exist, she gave me the ability and I am proud to carry such a power. I¡¯m going to save the world!¡±


    Again the mocking laughter filled the air. Slowly they began to surround her. ¡°You know another lady came through town. Wearing all black. So many people seemed to want to offer her help and she only demanded that she would save the world and all others should leave her alone.¡±


    Cindy¡¯s eyes went wide. Mom?


    ¡°Eventually she did take one group of people into her party and they went to hunt a stone ape together. Only she returned, didn¡¯t talk about what happened, didn¡¯t go for new equipment. Merely turned in a quest, bought plain food and walked out of town. In and out like a breeze of misfortune.¡± Suddenly a hand was placed on Cindy¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to know about her. We lost some friends in that group.¡±


    Cindy shrugged and stepped away. ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about that.¡± She lied. She had seen Mom in action. Seen that skill she had. Maybe it wasn¡¯t strong enough anymore, maybe she was in danger?! Cindy¡¯s heart began to race as she swallowed.


    A shadow fell over the group. ¡°Can I help you gentlemen?¡± Came the rumbling voice of Dad so far above them. His eyes were full of suspicion and worry for his daughter. Without preamble he scooped her out of the group and looked at the rest with a stern unwavering gaze.


    ¡°We were just asking the little Witch if she wants to join a real group. We have a nearly full team, instead of just a duo.¡± The leader opened his arms in peace. ¡°Nothing more.¡±


    Dad squinted at them all and let out a huff. ¡°Well next time don¡¯t surround a little girl and seem like you''re pressing her for something. Otherwise, you and I will have words.¡± Cindy hit herself behind Dad¡¯s ear. Thoughts of Mom flooding her mind. Is she ok?


    ¡°Well little Witch, if you ever want a real party that can help you ¡®save the world¡¯ you can find us at the guild.¡± The group let out their mocking laugh once more before they turned and left the road.


    The silence filled the air as Dad turned. ¡°Are you ok Badger?¡± His tone was full of worry.


    ¡°I¡¯m ok dad. Just, you know. You always told me to be aware of strangers.¡± Cindy lied, she needed to know what happened with that group. Needed to know if Mom lost her strange powers.


    ¡°If you¡¯re sure. Come on, I think we are ready to go.¡± Dad walked towards the gate.

 41: Worries

    Daryl kept thinking about the face Cindy was making when he scooped her off the ground. Those three seemed to be really pushing her for something. And that mocking laughter filled his mind, boiling his blood. Deep breaths like the billows of a furnace beat a rhythm. Cindy¡¯s silence was noticed as they two walked.


    Daryl knew the look on Cindy¡¯s face was when she was thinking about something. To the exclusion of everything else. He had once been able to hand her a dozen things last time she looked like this without her noticing a single thing. Right now he could guess there was no world around Cindy, just her thoughts.


    Marilyn always said not to disturb Cindy when she was like this. Instead Daryl scanned around them as they made their way down the path to the quarry. Off in the distance he could see groups of hunters take on the turtles of the plain slowly pulling them out and fighting them four on one.


    The sky was that perfect blue it always seemed to be. With the fluffiest of clouds in wild shapes that hinted of the very monsters of the world around them. This Gaia place was strange in how it functioned. Like someone was trying to make something stay exactly the same, fighting against everything that worked to change it. That didn¡¯t sit very well in Daryl¡¯s gut. Things were too ordered, too controlled. Like something had an iron grip on everything and wasn¡¯t going to let go.


    The way the ground stitched together, no blood flew to stain the ground. Things regrew nearly instantly. If not for the people here it would be unchanging. It seemed the only thing that could be changed was limited like the farm. Skills, abilities, all of it was sternly forced to be one way. It was so strict. Almost like a prison of reality.


    Daryl wouldn¡¯t talk to Cindy about this though. She was too young to understand. The order of it all probably appealed to her mind greatly. Especially against all the changes that had been happening at home. All of this roiled in Daryl¡¯s mind like a storm.


    Silver linings my love. That¡¯s what Marilyn had always said. Stay calm. Instincts though, they could not be helped. Spending a lifetime honing them in martial arts built someone that was ready for danger at every turn. This world felt dangerous, and not just the monsters. He wanted to meet Gaia, who had only presented herself to Cindy. A desperate little girl full of grief. His teeth creaked as he clenched unconsciously.


    The ground was eaten up with every step as Daryl kept on guard, letting his daughter be lost in her mind until he could not stand it anymore. The words of his wife kept flooding his mind no matter what he did to push it aside. It was almost insidious. Calm down.


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    Daryl stopped and kneeled. This was getting to be too much. Cindy seemed to snap out of her reverie and looked at her father with worry. ¡°Dad?¡±


    Closing his eyes he focused his mind, ¡°Hold on Badger. I just need a moment.¡± Years of meditation and practice came to him. Clearing his mind, emptying his worries and pulling out only the facts around him. Distraction was going to get them hurt. Something around the world seemed to be pushing against his mind as he pulled himself together. Pushing away everything that didn¡¯t matter in the moment.


    Something is trying to change me. Daryl thought. I must be the rock for Cindy. She was lost in the hurricane of her circumstances. Focus on her, nothing else. He opened his eyes and looked over at his worried daughter and smiled. ¡°See, just needed a moment. Now, which way do we need to go?¡±


    Cindy sighed and pointed down the trail, ¡°There is a fork in the road a little ways away. We will head north from there towards the mountains. That is where we will find the quarry.¡± She clung to him as he stood.


    ¡°Are there monsters we have to worry about while we are there?¡± Daryl asked, locking his mind in place with the walls he had built. A focus coming to him.


    ¡°Well, a lot of the monsters we have been fighting are earth based. Think about it, stone apes, sand serpents, I¡¯m assuming that the mines will be more of the same. I couldn¡¯t find a guide to the area that would update our help menu.¡± Cindy didn¡¯t seem to be pulled into her thoughts again as she stroked her chin. ¡°Now, I think we have to worry about more statuses. Things seem to be getting more abilities, like the burrowing and leaping. I¡¯m worried we might actually need more party members. Orin seemed to help a lot.¡±


    Daryl did think that was a good idea. ¡°Another ranged and melee person would be good if we could manage it. But I¡¯m just not sure about how long we will be able to take anyone into our group without having a revolving door of team mates.¡±


    Cindy nodded, ¡°I guess not everyone will believe we are trying to save the world. I don¡¯t even think they know they¡¯re in danger.¡±


    Sighing Daryl looked at the sides of the path. There were no signs of there ever being carts or heavy travel through these roads. Still though, they were clean, well maintained and easy on the feet.


    Cindy grew bored as they walked and started to climb up the side of Daryl¡¯s head to perch on top. The helmet provided good foot and handholds. The vine keeping it together seemed to still pulse with life. She sat cross legged on the very tip of her Dad¡¯s helmet. She was able to drape her legs into the slot for him to see through, the visor being pushed up but she was able to balance without it.


    ¡°Dad, you said it had been a week since I disappeared right?¡± Cindy asked.


    ¡°Yeah, about that long. But you said it had been longer here.¡± Daryl was careful to keep his head still as he walked, not wanting Cindy to take a tumble and hurt herself.


    ¡°In Isekai there is often a lot of time difference stuff. I guess that is happening here. Aren¡¯t you worried we are missing something at home?¡± Cindy went on.


    With a heavy sigh, which seemed to be common that day, ¡°I was mostly worried about you Cindy. The rest of the world can wait. We will get back home, it might just take a bit.¡±


    Cindy felt sleepy with the rocking of Daryl¡¯s movement. The sun was warm, and the wind was soft keeping her the perfect temperature. ¡°Too bad we can¡¯t nap. I¡¯d fall right off. Plus the stone armor isn¡¯t too comfortable.¡±


    ¡°Sorry Badger, we need to make sure and get there before dark. See what is going on there. Then we can rest for the night and start early in the morning. We will be set soon enough.¡± Daryl promised before they lapsed into a comfortable silence.

 42: Mom’s True Power

    Cindy burned with frustration as she downed her third Boroclops with Mom standing there watching. She didn¡¯t help, she just got a trickle of the loot and made Cindy do it all.


    ¡°MOM! WHY AREN¡¯T YOU HELPING!¡± Cindy finally yelled stomping her foot in indignation. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to help me save the world! You can¡¯t do that standing there!¡± Tears welled in Cindy¡¯s eyes as she stared down her mother.


    Those cold eyes turned to her, ¡°I don¡¯t need to get stronger. This is like your chore. Be a good girl and do your chores like I tell you.¡± Mom crossed her arms.


    ¡°I am strong! We don¡¯t even know if you are!¡± Cindy kept stomping to accentuate every word.


    ¡°You¡¯re disappointing me,¡± Mom said her gaze unwavering. It sucked the wind from Cindy¡¯s sails as she drooped her arms and felt the tears start to flow out of her eyes.


    ¡°You¡¯re not supposed to be like this¡­¡± Cindy whispered.


    ¡°Fine, you want my help, watch. I¡¯ll show you why I don¡¯t need the practice.¡± Mom stepped towards the new Boroclops that came into the clearing. As soon as it laid eyes on Mom it started to charge.


    Mom didn¡¯t flinch, didn¡¯t move to dodge. Just stared and stood there. Cindy couldn¡¯t help but yell, ¡°MOM! MOVE!¡±


    Mom took a deep breath and screamed in a way that shook the air. Cindy could see reality shudder at her call, rippling like water against her voice. ¡°STOP!¡± The wave of power slammed into the Boroclops and a spider web of cracks, black as a starless night sky spread over the monster. It froze in place, its one eye filling with black smoky energy.


    Cindy stared dumbfounded as she looked from her mother to the monster. ¡°Wha¡­¡± As if she was moving in sludge she stepped forward. She could have stopped them from getting to me just like that? Confusion filled Cindy as her heart clenched.


    Mom walked to the Boroclops and gently laid a hand on its snout. Dark tendrils of energy started to spiral out from her hand like bulging veins. The monster shook heavily as this strange energy swallowed its head. The hair on its body started to move in a phantom wind as Mom pulled her hand away.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Another Boroclops broke into the clearing as if summoned by the world. It squealed in rage as it laid eyes on Mom and the changed beast. ¡°Kill that one,¡± Mom commanded and the Boroclops she had touched turned. It moved like smoke over water as it charged.


    The two beasts clashed heavily but the normal Boroclops stood no chance. As soon as it was attacked it glided out of the way like oil avoiding soap before it struck back raking its tusks across the other creature. Every strike left black cracks that swallowed the light. Something in the air felt¡­ wrong.


    Cindy stood there frozen as the two monsters tore at each other until the normal one fell into motes of pure darkness that flowed into Mom¡¯s chest. The sun seemed to not touch her for a moment before it all faded away and she was back to normal. A simple wave of her hand dissipated the smoke. The Boroclops she controlled crumbled away, dropping nothing.


    Mom walked up the Cindy who looked up with large wide eyes. ¡°See, when I beat monsters they don¡¯t drop anything. That is why I¡¯m making you do it. How else do you think I can help you get stronger?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ What was that? What are those skills called?¡± Cindy asked.


    Mom bent down kneeling in front of Cindy so they were eye to eye. Cold hands brushed her cheeks as Mom held her face for a moment. Like she used to when she was saying something very important. Grounding her away from her ADHD. ¡°Listen to my words,¡± Mom¡¯s voice was so captivating. The world dimmed around her eyes until there was only mom there. ¡°You do not need to know my skills. This world will be saved. Trust me.¡± The last words reverberated inside Cindy¡¯s mind like a thousand echoes.


    Cindy swayed on her feet as she sat enraptured by her Mom¡¯s eyes. ¡°Mom¡­ Something is wrong.¡± It was a whimper, a quiet plea. ¡°Your power is wrong.¡±


    Mom frowned deeply and spoke once more, ¡°If you don¡¯t accept my power I will go without you. I cannot have you question me.¡±


    Cindy felt a pang of desperation as her hands shot and grasped onto her mother¡¯s sleeves once more. ¡°No, please. I can¡¯t lose you again.¡± Tears flowed down her cheeks like rivers. Her heart burned with pain as her throat clenched. ¡°I¡¯ll be quiet, I¡¯ll listen. I¡¯ll do whatever you say.¡±


    Mom pulled Cindy in and kissed her forehead. The world dimmed more. ¡°Good girl. Listen to Mommy.¡± Mom pulled Cindy in as she went slack with all the strength of her body leaving her. Smoke drifted up into the air from the both of them.


    Mom picked her up and held her against her chest as the darkness flowed around them. More monsters approached, their eyes black and smoking. ¡°While you sleep I¡¯m going to get stronger. Don¡¯t worry, if you can¡¯t do it I can.¡±


    ¡°Momma,¡± Whispered Cindy as her body went limp. Her eyes were too heavy to keep open. It was cold, there was no warmth coming. It was like holding her hand for the last time. ¡°Don¡¯t go,¡± Pleaded Cindy.


    Mom¡¯s voice was deep, echoing. It was in Cindy¡¯s head more than it was in her ears. ¡°The world will be saved. From the true threat.¡±


    Cindy¡¯s head slipped, dropping as the dark sleep took over.


    Mom looked around at the monsters she had been enthralling. She could feel the strength they gave her whenever they slayed other beasts. The black motes filled her with unimaginable power. Her arms wrapped tightly around the little girl.


    ¡°I hate being cold to you. But it won¡¯t last much longer.¡± The world shuddered under her feet. Cracks formed for a moment before it all fixed itself. Mom closed her eyes and set her cheek down on her daughter¡¯s head. Black lines formed on Cindy¡¯s face wherever she was touched before Mom gently set her down. Light filled those black marks and began to heal, closing over and letting her daughter be perfect again. ¡°Once this is over. You¡¯ll be mine forever. No more distractions. Just us. The rest will be¡­ dust.¡±

 43: Quarry

    Daryl looked down at the quarry and the few monsters that stood within it. Large bat-like creatures that walked on their feet and wings prowled around. They were slightly shorter than Boroclops. Each one seemed to be made of coal and wreathed in fire. ¡°I don¡¯t think these are as earth based as you thought they would be Badger?¡±


    ¡°Uhhhhh,¡± Cindy waffled. The monsters were plentiful and seemed aggressive to others as several were fighting over territory. ¡°Well at least I have water damage?¡±


    Daryl sighed as he looked at Cindy dubiously. ¡°Yeah, and my Stone Ape armor doesn¡¯t protect me much from water damage so you¡¯re going to have to be pretty careful while you are aiming your water spells. Can you do that?¡±


    Cindy nodded and held her staff tightly. ¡°I can, trust me.¡±


    The ramp leading down into the great empty square area didn¡¯t have monsters blocking the way. Relieved they wouldn¡¯t have to fight with a drop off at their side and the risk of plummeting like a rock the two started down the ramp and approached the first of the monsters. ¡°Ok, you hit them from afar, I¡¯ll throw a boulder at the same time and when it gets close.¡±


    ¡°When it¡¯s close let you build aggro before I start with my spells. I know.¡± Cindy started circling her staff in the air. A massive ball of water churning with angry foam formed above her head. The spell took some time to shape before she thrust her staff forward and a jet of extremely tight powerful water shot from it and carved into the side of the first fire bat.


    The creature let out a shriek that made both their ears ring and just like before they were momentarily stunned as the creature took to the air. Daryl launched his powerful boulder, smiting it out of the sky. The creature twirled and slammed into the earth. Another lance of pressurized water sliced through its wing leaving cracks of golden light bursting through the burning coal color.


    This time the beast charged along the ground and was met by Daryl in a titanic clash of noise that shook the very earth beneath their feet. The sharp vicious fangs of the beast sliced into the armor but the very high defense it provided left the smallest of cracks behind from the attack. Three quick punches later Cindy came back in with a half dozen bolts of water pounding into the side of the beast.


    More and more cracks spread through the beast but thankfully Daryl was able to keep the attention off his daughter thanks to his training. Something though triggered a new phase of the creature¡¯s abilities.


    It roared in an intense burst of flame that licked and shot from its skin cloaking it in a burning aura of searing damage. Cracks burst around Daryl¡¯s front from the sudden flood of damage as his health bar started to dip down by the second. The chest of the beast started to inflate with a great breath getting ready to let loose a stream of fire.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Daryl raised a foot and let out a quake stomp disrupting the attack. Leaping to the side he opened up the channel of attack he was blocking from Cindy as a large stream of water started to burst into the side of the beast dowsing its flames. Daryl thrust himself in slamming into the side of the monster with a series of punches disorienting the beast further before it slumped to the ground and started to disperse into motes of golden light flowing up into the sky.


    Daryl nodded towards Cindy oblivious of the half step he took too close to another of the monsters catching its attention. Before he knew it the second fire bat flew down onto Daryl¡¯s shoulders biting viciously into the side of Daryl¡¯s neck. He let out a roar of surprise as the beast¡¯s claws and teeth tore into his back opening up rents of golden light dropping his health bar another quarter.


    Cindy cried out in alarm and started a stream of healing magic to help stabilize her dad¡¯s health bar from dropping any faster. She watched in awe though as Daryl reached back grabbing the beast by the scruff of the neck and did a twisting throw. The ground shattered beneath the slam as the fire bat scrambled to get to its feet and wings.


    ¡°Cindy focus on damaging it.¡± Daryl¡¯s body pulsed with a sudden flash of green energy as his stamina bar blanked out showing an infinite sign. Daryl let loose with a mighty combo of attacks that would burn through his stamina normally but thanks to the unending stamina ability of his new armor made it so much easier for him to unload his frustrations on the monster.


    Downing a mana potion to refill her bar enough for more spells Cindy cut loose with another lance of water slicing into the fire bat. Even though she wanted to channel more healing into her father he was right and his health was climbing from a potion.


    They unleashed their startled fury together onto the fire bat pinned on its back. The chest of the beast caved in from a blow unleashing a massive burst of golden motes flying into the air around them like a burst of pollen into the air.


    The unlimited stamina ran out showing Daryl near a stamina crash that would have crippled him in the middle of a fight. The use of the skill must have saved him from such a moment. ¡°My skills are so stamina hungry. I thought having double stamina would keep me from worrying about all that.¡±


    Cindy huffed as her heart started to slow down from its hammering. ¡°Yeah, I haven¡¯t seen what other melee people can do. I¡¯m sure they¡¯re a lot less able to unload with all their abilities.¡± Keeping an eye out for another ambush both of them stepped back and let their stamina and mana crawl back up to full.


    ¡°Ok dad I think I see what they need us to mine from. We maybe have another two monsters to fight and then we can hit the first vein.¡± Cindy pointed out at a large discolored streak of stone that was glimmering with metallic shimmers. ¡°I¡¯ll pull and then we can unload. Good job Dad.¡±


    Daryl nodded to his daughter and rolled his shoulders and bounced on his feet. ¡°Being ambushed like that was quite the scare. I¡¯m worried that I won¡¯t feel any pain. It almost made it too easy to forget a potion. There should be like some sort of warning that pops up.¡±


    ¡°Well, next time I talk to the Goddess I¡¯ll bring it up,¡± Joked Cindy. She would have to use her last wish if she wanted to do something like that and she was saving it for a special occasion. ¡°Ok Dad, let¡¯s do this!¡±


    Two more monsters later the two of them were standing next to the massive vein of metal in the wall. Daryl pulled out his huge pickaxe and took his first mighty swing. Something seemed to take over his muscles as he swung three times before a huge glowing orb flowed into his chest.


    ¡°Well that was just a single piece of metal that we need. Do you think it can be used again? It is still glittering.¡± Daryl motioned towards the wall before just going with it and activating the mining once more. It was three more swings and then like a mirage the vein in the wall faded away. ¡°Oh, looks like two uses per vein. Is it still there for you Badger?¡±


    She shook her head and looked around at the wall for the next piece of wall they could mine at. ¡°Looks like we are going to have plenty of fire bat materials when we are done with this. I wonder if it¡¯ll have any new runes or skills for me.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s focus Badger. Then it¡¯s time to catch a chicken.¡±

 44: Chickens are chicken

    ¡°That is no chicken¡­¡± Cindy whispered as she looked at the monster before them.


    Turns out the Chickeedo was a large monster and not a medium one. It towered a little taller than the stone ape. Its neck was sheathed in thick heavy scales the color of the red sky. Its beak was hooked and lined with razor sharp peaks reaching down. Feathers the color of brown mud lined its body. The legs though, they were truly monstrous. From the bottom of its body it looked like it was lined with barbed wire thorns. Great large talons stretched from each of its toes that carved into the ground it walked on.


    ¡°Yeah, do we know anything about this monster?¡± Dad asked as they looked on in obvious trepidation.


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t bother asking around. I thought that it was going to be some medium sized monster. That thing looks terrifying. Let¡¯s just do what we normally do and pull it with a ranged attack. Just be careful of what kind of things it might do afterwards.¡± Cindy stood and took a stance to channel a large attack. Dad prepared a boulder toss as well.


    I grand fireball rushed out towards the Chickeedo and when it slammed home the mighty rooster let out a call flapping its wings hard enough to put out the flames still licking its body. Its beady eyes landed out the two and then it screamed.


    And promptly ran away.


    The thing tore away from the pair like a rabbit being chased by a dog. The ground flew up behind it like a fantail. Both Cindy and Dad stood there stunned as the monster ran around a half dozen turtles. It was easily on the edge of their vision before it stopped and calmed down. Slowly pecking at the ground once more.


    Cindy looked at her father and quirked an eyebrow. ¡°I think this is going to be harder than we thought it would be.¡± She stood with her staff tapping the ground. ¡°Lets try this but I¡¯ll lay traps this time and when it runs them over you can close the distance and hold on to it.¡±


    They walked around the plains until they were nearby the giant chicken once more. It stood there pecking and pulling out giant grubs and worms before swallowing them down with hardy gulps. Cindy started sneaking around the area laying her trap spells for all sorts of energy types and even down a couple of potions in order to have the entire thing be a minefield.


    Standing next to her Dad both of them glared daggers at the giant overgrown bird. ¡°Ok, let¡¯s do this.¡± Cindy and Dad whipped out their ranged attacks nailing the bird once more sending spiraling cracks throughout its body. Again it screamed and hopped up and down like eat had too much sugar and quickly turned around and started sprinting away. It moved so erratically and quickly that the trap spells. They exploded behind it as the darn bird flapped its wings shedding feathers like it was a husky in the spring. The madness in its eyes was almost comedic as the two stared at the creature run away.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Both of them stood stunned as the ground fixed itself as the Chickeedo snaked through the turtles and the cracks on its body healed, disappearing and resetting the beast. Cindy started to stomp and grunt in frustration as her temper flared high. ¡°Gosh darn! Stupid bird!¡± Then she let out a scream into the air causing the turtles around them to look passively at the pair.


    Dad and her stood there looking across the plains at the now calm placid bird picking away at the ground as if nothing had ever happened. The complete scene of an empty headed creature standing there.


    Cindy fumed, keeping her shoulders hunched as she huffed. ¡°What do we try next!?¡±


    Dad looked like he was trying not to laugh causing Cindy to narrow her eyes. ¡°Urggh ummm,¡± Clearing his throat he took a deep breath and looked down. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll try ape leap and close the distance. See if I can get a hold of the creature before it freaks out and runs off. How does that sound?¡±


    Cindy threw up her hands, ¡°I wasted potions! Let¡¯s try again!¡±


    The turtles seemed to crowd around the Chickeedo this time. Making the plan even harder to accomplish than they first desired. Cindy screwed up her face in focus and a tinge of anger as she began to prepare a spell.


    After a moment of preparation. Dad got ready and activated ape leap and soared through the air towards the giant chicken monster and slammed into it hard knocking it silly for a moment as another spell slammed into the beast. Once more it began to call, scream, and hop in place real quick. Just as it turned to flee Dad unleashed quake stomp making the monster stumble as he unleashed a combo of attacks on the monster trying to keep it stunned.


    Spells unleashed themselves trying to damage the bird enough for it to be ready for capture. After a few moments of it being unable to run away it whirled on Dad and started to unleash a flurry of attacks. Its talons raked lightning fast carving rents of light into his forearms. The pecks were intense and as soon as Dad relented in his assault and the spells couldn¡¯t find their mark the beast turned and started to run away for all of its worth.


    ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t!¡± Called Cindy as she threw some sort of item out. It was a ruse. The Chickeedo swerved out of the way of the item and straight into the pit trap she had laid ahead of time. The ground gave out under it in a sudden whoosh and the chicken screamed out loud in a squawk of fear.


    Cindy sprinted at the beast and threw several sleep bombs into the face of the monster. Its head lolled and flailed as the medicine started to take effect. Before the sleep bombs took full effect the trap gave way and the monster sprang forth from the pit.


    It must have realized that running was not an option and turned to unleash its attacks onto Cindy. The beak flew like a bolt of lightning at Cindy¡¯s head and she tried to dodge. It crashed into her leg, nearly shattering it into a thousand motes of light. She called out in sudden fear as her health points dipped thirty points in an instant. Rolling out of the way of the follow up attack she downed a potion.


    Dad was on top of the monster before the third strike and he rained blows down on it with the fury of a hurricane. His stamina bar was showing the infinite symbol as he unleashed himself on the chicken monster. Trying to get to her feet she opened up with a torrent of spells and after six seconds the hit points of the monster must have dropped enough because it swirled and collapsed into a deep sleep. An anime style snot bubble started to pour out of its nose as Cindy grabbed her knees and huffed. Her heart was hammering like a rabbit¡¯s.


    The great monster turned into a giant mote of light with the image of the full monster inside it. Slowly it made its way into Dad¡¯s chest and his eyes glazed over. ¡°Finally. I don¡¯t want to fight a monster like that ever again.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m totally checking its gear. It might be worth farming?¡± Cindy smiled up at her dad with a grin that fooled no one.


    ¡°Yeah, right.¡±