《Honey, I've Leveled the Kids [Family-Focus, LitRPG]》


 Chapter 1 - Launch day

    ¡°Don¡¯t play with your dinner like its play-dough.¡± I groaned at my child sitting next to me at the marble-top kitchen table with half of it covered with junk mail, toys, and kids¡¯ drawings.


    I was in the middle of raising two kids and still had no answer as to why a child enjoyed smearing blueberries across their face. This kind of behavior would deserve a lecture and some nagging to get the youngest to stop and just eat his food like a normal human being. But the old-fashioned clock ticked away on the kitchen wall as a constant reminder of how I was out of time.


    ¡°Eat.¡± I demanded, then rubbed my son¡¯s face clean with a washcloth. ¡°We have to go.¡±


    Tristan squirmed under the assault of the clean cloth, yanking at my wrist. ¡°Stop! I¡¯m not a baby.¡±


    ¡°You sure? Six-year-olds know how to eat their food.¡±


    A blueberry smacked my cheek, then landed in the waiting jaws of our four-legged vacuum, Ghost. Tristan giggled, even though his sister had thrown the fruit. I locked my jaw and counted to three. By two, my son had yanked the washcloth free and scrubbed my five-o¡¯clock shadow to clean it.


    ¡°You missed a spot,¡± he teased.


    His attempt at helping made me smile and made it easier to not glare at the blueberry archer. In these situations, you stick to basic gaming and parenting mechanics. Reward good behavior and ignore the bad.


    ¡°Thanks, Tristan. Elaine, save the shooting for the game tonight.¡±


    An exasperated sigh came from my daughter across the table, followed by the annoying tapping of her sending a message to her clique. It didn¡¯t matter what she sent, as long as I didn¡¯t become a meme on the internet about blueberry faces. Dads were frequently the butt of many jokes. It is the cost we pay for all our puns.


    I tossed the washcloth at the sink and missed. To think Elaine¡¯s accuracy was better than mine. It landed on the stack of dishes next to the sink filled with pots and pans.


    Close enough. I¡¯ll get to the dishes later when the kids go to bed.


    ¡°Did you finish your homework?¡± I asked her.


    She didn¡¯t answer me. I could barely see her eyes through her mop of brown hair.


    My mind wandered over to the hallway, where their backpacks hung on the wall. Tristan was only in first grade, too young for any real homework that I had to check in on. The game had a tighter deadline right now that forced me to do a bad parenting choice.


    ¡°Do your homework later.¡± I lectured because she didn¡¯t reply.


    Another small, wet fruit smashed into my chin, causing me to nearly bite my tongue. Tristan cackled and took off running toward the hallway where the office and bedroom were, shouting, ¡°Blueberry bomb!¡±


    ¡°Get to the bathroom!¡± I shouted after him. ¡°We¡¯re going to be gone for a while!¡±


    Lumbering over to the sink, I grabbed the dirty washcloth and rubbed my face clean, only to notice a new food stain on my NFC North Champion¡¯s shirt. I groaned. Everything in the house was a mess and the stress of the to-do list haunted me. Dinner needed to be cleaned before Beth got back. Another late-night work shift trapped her and coming home to anything but a pristine home would make her angry. She never had to battle cooking and the kids at once. She was more focused on her job as a lawyer these days.


    The clock¡¯s ticking drew my attention. It was twelve minutes until the top of the hour. We were in danger of arriving late at the docks.


    The battlefield of blueberries and unfinished chicken could wait.


    ¡°Chop, chop,¡± I told Elaine, clapping my hands with each word. ¡°If we don¡¯t get there soon, we¡¯ll miss the ship.¡±


    ¡°So what? Maybe it¡¯ll do Tristian some good. Make him grow up, be out there on his own.¡± She put the phone down and stretched in her chair, exaggerating that she was not rushing. ¡°It¡¯d be kinda nice to do some hunts without him.¡±


    ¡°Think of it as playing the game on hard mode. With an NPC escort mission,¡± I countered. ¡°Now, stop dawdling and go get ready.¡±


    Her point was not technically inaccurate, but it was not why we played. Especially with how fun the last hunt was taking down some giant rats and their boss. Father and daughter hunting was a lot more entertaining than the recreational center¡¯s father-and-daughter dance.


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    However, this was our thing: Tristan, Elaine, and I. Seeing Tristan¡¯s face light up as he caught a toad was the best.


    Jeez oh peats, another minute on the clock vanished away with the reminiscing. Fortunately, past-Blaine accounted for the extra time for nudging kids out the door. The whole family was making progress in the right direction.


    As long as we stick to the schedule, we should be fine.


    I am a master at getting them out on time at this point.


    With nimble steps, I avoided the highway setup that Tristan prepared in the hallway. From miniature cars, to tractors, to eighteen-wheelers, he created his own traffic jam. Or a real-life frog hopping course. I had three lives to get across this traffic jam. Elaine stood off to the side like the Statue of Liberty, her phone lighting up the dark hallway. If the Statue of Liberty wore baggy sweatpants and let her hair cover her face.


    I attempted to grab her elbow to refocus her, but she effortlessly evaded me and avoided being nudged down the hallway.


    ¡°Seriously, I¡¯ve grown up. Stop treating me like a kid,¡± she snapped. Finally, locking her brown eyes on my face.


    ¡°You became my kid fourteen years ago and you¡¯ll remain that way thanks to time,¡± I explained.


    Tristan shouted from inside the bathroom. ¡°Dad! There¡¯s no toilet paper.¡±


    Elaine groaned and pinched her nose as she passed by to avoid the smell. She jogged toward the gaming room at the end of the hallway. That¡¯s one kid in the capsule room. One more to go.


    I did not waste a second looking at my watch. They were going to need each precious moment to get in on time with the current disruption. ¡°There is a roll under the sink,¡± I explained.


    While waiting by the door, I pulled out a handy package of disinfectant wipes that sat ready in my cargo pants for moments like this. It came as no surprise that Tristan opened the door immediately after the sound of the toilet flushing. He still didn¡¯t wash his hands.


    ¡°Let me see your hands and let¡¯s go,¡± I nagged as I rubbed the disinfectant wipe all over the boy¡¯s hands and then the inside doorknob. On the tile of the bathroom floor rocked an empty toilet roll inches from the open trash bin.


    Tristan was definitely not going to be a basketball all-star if he couldn¡¯t even make that shot. Buckets filled the small tile room, one sitting under the sink to catch the leaking water line, and another on the counter with all my plumbing tools in it. Towels laid scattered about on the floor. Another item on the to-do later, not now.


    Hygiene and cleanliness didn¡¯t matter in this second-life situation. Since Tristan¡¯s birth, my gaming cred vanished. Yeah, newborn life and magical first moments with the child and all that. That snotty phase is a wet, slimy blast. Snot bubbles are still funny, though.


    Still, I wished I had more support from Beth. She did her share, even if she wasn¡¯t here because of work. Thanks to her, we could afford four VR gaming capsules. She even bought us early access to the new game Seconds-Over. The technology had jumped since the last time I played an augmented game. It also made character leveling a lot of fun. The first time Tristan hit level two, he was so excited and danced all around that he leveled up his dance skill as well.


    The actual gift of Seconds-Over was being able to share my favorite hobby with the kids.


    All of that would vanish if they didn¡¯t get online in time.


    I did a mental checklist as we hopped over cars to get to the gaming room:


    [Pre-requirements for Gaming]


    1. [X] Kids fed a healthy dinner (They at least ate the wheat bread rolls)


    2. [  ] Homework


    3. [X] Bathroom breaks


    4. [X] Clean kids


    5. [  ] Chores completed


    Sixty percent chance, in any shooting game, that was a nail biter or a no-go.


    I was going to take the risk. We could finish the rest later.


    I repeatedly nudged Tristan along, not watching my feet. Doing so, I stubbed my toe right into a semi-truck toy. Like a tank in the game, I was going to be covered with bruises. With a grimace, I walked carefully around the last of the toys into the gaming room. Mentally, I added highway cleanup to the to-do list for later.


    In the blue LED strip lighting of the gaming room, Elaine was helping Tristan climb in and strap up to the child-size capsule.


    I touched the fourth dusty gaming capsule. Papers from Elaine¡¯s school sat on top of it, along with a few cooking recipes and Tristan¡¯s artwork. One day, it would be all four of us. For now, we had to keep all three of us together.


    Everyone had to be on this ship before it left, or everyone had to get off it in time.


    We could not split up.


    ¡°Everyone ready to log in?¡± I asked.


    Tristan did not reply, already going through the menus based on the dim blue light in his capsule. Thank goodness he could finally read. It was the last requirement for all of us to play a game like this.


    ¡°No, obviously.¡± Elaine said to me as she shut her capsule and started logging in. The power lit up on the side, stating she completed the hook-up.


    The digital clock in this room showed that it was five minutes to the top of the hour. Eight minutes until the ship left. In the dim light, a spider web glistened from the burned-out lamp connecting to Beth¡¯s capsule.


    With the kids in, I focused on myself. As I sat down in the machine, feeling my muscles relax, I was ready to game after a long week. I rubbed my curly graying brown hair, adjusting my shoulders to fit in the ¡°standard adult size¡± capsule. It was a little too small.


    Everything was being thrown at our family, the Davidis, this week. From sickness, to detention, to leaking pipes, to now a toy truck, everything but rest and downtime hit us.


    We had to get online now to save Tristan in the game, or lose him - and his - levels in Seconds-Over. If that happened, that would probably be the end of this game, and all games with Elaine. Gaming didn¡¯t seem to hold her interest, she only played because Triangle asked her. If he left us, why would she stay? I had to find a way to keep us together and get her excited about the game.


    The terminal finished connecting, and I passed through the first gate to see a message pop-up.


    >>><<<


    [System update required]


    >>><<<


    ¡°You¡¯ve got to be flipping kidding me,¡± I moaned.

 Chapter 2 - Update Required

    ¡°Thank god¡± I mumbled as the required system update started quickly. The number grew exponentially from zero to twenty-five percent. It had been a week since I was last in this capsule thanks to all the household challenges.


    First Elaine was homesick, but she got her classwork done and, thanks to the capsule, visited her friends.


    Then it was Tristan¡¯s turn to get sick. We had to clean his poor hook-up system earlier and make sure it still worked. I trusted Tristan to get rid of the crud, and he tried stuffing it down the pipes in the bathroom. He proceeded to create a puddle with the running water and played in it, splashing about until I caught him. The carpet in the hallway survived the outcome.


    >>><<<


    [99% completed. Please leave your system on.]


    >>><<<


    I took a breath and tried to do a miniature meditation to calm my nerves down, the same ones my therapist gave me years ago. It was only a game. It was not my job or life. There was no point in getting riled up about a calm and relaxing event with Elaine and Tristan. Life held countless possibilities beyond this single game. We would find something else.


    Elaine was not big into gaming, but she showed some interest in Seconds-Over after Triangle talked to her. This could be my last chance to hang out with both kids at once. By gaming together, the children could build a stronger relationship than I ever got with my older brothers.


    I swore they would get a better relationship with a parent than I had with my mom.


    Any time my anxiety grew, my stupid brain constantly reminded me about the past.


    ¡°Take a deep breath.¡± I reminded myself. ¡°It was done and over.¡±


    The future I had now with my children was only beginning.


    Through blinking eyes, the update in front of me still hung out at the same percentage. Why was the last percentage always the longest one? Did the developers intentionally code this false bit of hope to keep the user on edge by making the bar fill up? My sitting here wanting to force a system shutdown and retry again gained the developers nothing.


    The system clock stated it was five minutes until the top of the hour.


    Crud.


    We needed a good two minutes to get to the terminal, plus whatever time was required to get on the ship. It was not enough time to restart the capsule over again.


    Being strapped in, I had to use the capsule system to send Elaine a message.


    [Family Chat]


    [Blaine: You didn¡¯t tell me there was an update.]


    [Elaine: You should¡¯ve hopped on.]


    [Blaine: Get Triangle off the ship]


    [Elaine: Don¡¯t you want to play it safe and have all of us on the ship?]


    [Blaine: Try it. But be ready to hop off if I can¡¯t get on.]


    >>><<<


    [Update complete]


    >>><<<


    About time the update finished. If mentally glaring at the Seconds-Over icon did anything to load it faster, I would¡¯ve forced my eyes wide open. Instead, it simply took my command. I leisurely loaded up all the loading menus for Seconds-Over as I tried to skip through them faster.


    Then it hit me, the jarring conversion of my senses adjusting to the augmented world.


    Seconds-Over advertised speed, how each second mattered in real life and in their game. They did not want slow hook-ups; it was honestly their worst-selling pitch.


    I was still warm from running around and chasing the kids into their capsules. When the chill sea air stuck to my skin suddenly, it brought on a minor wave of nausea. Switching from the dark lit gaming room to the sudden bright lights of augmentation. It would¡¯ve created spots in my vision if it wasn¡¯t for how the technology projected it into my mind.


    The whole height adjustment to my character, Boulder, always made my stomach lurch like a turn on the spinning teacups. Tristan never complained about the character change too much. Elaine kept her character the same build and height as her real self.


    I should¡¯ve done the same.


    I took a deep gulp of the air and knew the feeling would pass in seconds. There were other matters that required my attention. First was knowing who in our guild was online and messaging them.


    The Shrimp Guild listed four out of the nine players in the guild were online. Only three, counting me, were on the same continent.


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    For now.


    I messaged Elaine in the game.


    [Team Chat]


    [Boulder: Naiad, I¡¯m in the game. Where are you?]


    [Naiad: I¡¯m stuck at the terminal.]


    [Boulder: I¡¯m on my way.]


    I spawned in only a couple hundred meters away from the port and the main trading hub of the city of Fanamel. Right under the sign of Family Favorite Falafel of Fanamel: A 4F Class restaurant, I found myself at the same place where I had gotten sick during our last game before logging off.


    The 4F simply meant that there was a strong possibility of being poisoned if you ate there. It was also the cheapest place to get a permanent stat increase to fortitude. Players crowded around the non-player character, a NPC, buying their weekly chance to get the quarter stat boost from the brick building that had white painted wood trim all around it, but it was now stained yellow on the bottom. A sign that a lot of players get sick.


    The broad and tall build of my avatar Boulder was one of my proud moments of character design, as it perfectly put forth the idea of ¡®tank¡¯. The crowd of players was thick, a wall of elbows and shoulders, but my broad build let me force a path through. My heart was racing with anxiety, like I was back in a raid fight, not trying to get on a boat.


    Jeez, I¡¯m out of video game practice.


    Dancing around players, I hopped over the smaller ones, and avoided hip checking those who were looking for a duel fight in this busy area. Avoiding a duel request required the same skill, if not more, tack than avoiding traps in a dungeon.


    Less than two minutes until my family got divided.


    Naiad couldn''t enter the port because she had an unfinished class quest in this country. Tristan¡¯s character, Triangle, finished his class quest last week. I did not have any sort of quests like that and I was two levels behind Naiad. My goal was to stay up late after they went to bed and I would grind out some quests to catch up to them. But thanks to my current nemesis, a household plague and parenting problems, I¡¯ve been choosing sleep over gaming.


    [Team Chat]


    [Triangle: Dad! There are narwhals on the other continent!]


    [Boulder: Get off the ship.]


    [Naiad: I can¡¯t join you.]


    [Triangle: But I can gather new bones from other monsters!]


    [Naiad: Then do it.]


    [Boulder: No, get off the ship now. I won¡¯t be able to help you if you go over there.]


    Triangle didn¡¯t reply. His blue circle icon on the map showed him moving even further on the port toward a known good fishing spot on the boat. A six-year-old with all the free will to ignore his parents.


    ¡°Ugh!¡± I roared, drawing zero attention from any of the players.


    They were used to players acting and dancing randomly for the fun of it. Two people showed up wearing a single giant purple witch hat together. A clash of pure fantasy with the silliness of humanity¡¯s escapism.


    The silliness wasn¡¯t why I played.


    Finally free of dancing, singing, and witch hats from the crowd, I could see that the line onto the port was almost nonexistent. The last few stragglers yelled at the NPC guards, trying to get through the menus in time to board the ship. There were other people trying to get out of the terminal and into the city of Fanamel.


    The terminal was not only menus but also part of the port where incoming and outgoing ships flew. This was where the hunters, wizards, spies, dragon knights, and shamans ran in and out, waiting for a connection. They were all loiterers getting in my way. Especially the summoner and beast master classes with their darn pets everywhere. To finally reach the boat''s entrance, I pushed aside a donkey''s body with an ostrich''s head.


    [Team Chat]


    [Naiad: I¡¯m going to force my way onto the ship.]


    [Boulder: Wait!]


    [Boulder: Tristan, get off the ship!]


    [Triangle: :P]


    In an augmented reality game or reality, it did not matter; I had no control or authority over my kids.


    A minute remained, and I stared at the guards blocking the entrance to the port. The guards granted permission to the last few people, but I did not recognize the pink-hair half-elf and half-human rogue among any of them. The moment I came near one of the boat entrances, guards instantly blocked me.


    Last week, I could have walked up onto this ship and fished off it or the docks nearby without issues. This level of security appeared within the last few hours of a ship¡¯s departure. Seconds mattered right now, and I debated about gaining a wanted status and diving on the ship to nab the gnome character wearing a brilliant red hat.


    Triangle slowly spun his reel on his fishing pole, waiting for a bite, ignoring his family¡¯s requests.


    >>><<<


    [Warning: The ship is about to depart. You can only enter if you have no unfinished business.


    &


    If you accept, know you cannot come back for a month.


    Cost to board: 500 gold coins.]


    >>><<<


    ¡°I just want to grab my kid and go! Just let me on,¡± I yelled.


    I felt like an idiot saying it to an NPC guard. My speed wasn¡¯t the best, and already the guard pulled a weapon out. A warning sign appeared in my vision about the dangers of attacking an NPC and breaking the law.


    >>><<<


    [Warning: Provoking the guards and breaking the law will give you a WANTED status.


    WANTED: A Bounty will be on your head, all security NPC and even players can capture you for a reward.]


    >>><<<


    More information popped up and got in my way of getting to Triangle. I didn¡¯t have time to read every term in this game. In the bottom corner was a ¡°Don¡¯t show me this again,¡± option to turn off all the tutorials and explanations. A month in the game and I still was learning new things.


    Turning off the explanations allowed me to see the gold transaction menu to buy a ticket for the ship without the guards stabbing me. A family vacation in this game would be out of the question. I only had five hundred twenty-three gold coins. With Tristan lingering on the ship, that meant he also paid that hefty fee. What a waste of gold.


    Just as I prepared to hit ¡°Accept¡±, the guard in front of me took off running.


    >>><<<


    [Guild notification: Player Naiad status has changed to WANTED]


    >>><<<


    [Guild Chat]


    [Naiad: Crap.]


    [Boulder: What did you do!?]


    Naiad remained silent. She was too busy running from the entire city of guards and hungry players. She was going to be in deep trouble when caught - and that included when they all logged out later.


    Rules existed for a reason.


    Right now, I wanted to hug and kiss her for this opportunity. She saved me five hundred gold. I seized the opportunity and sprinted forward onto the ship freely. No NPC witnessed my crime, allowing me to keep my player status as peaceful.


    The ship¡¯s anchor creaked as it was being pulled up out of the waters, the sails magically filling with air. I had only seconds left before being teleported out of Fanamel and into Temitsu. I lunged down to pick up Triangle, mimicking the form I had back in my high school football days.


    A football was easier to control.


    I yanked Triangle and his giant fish away. The wet, scaly thing was larger than Triangle¡¯s character.


    ¡°I caught it!¡± cheered Triangle.


    I pivoted around and sprinted to the blue line that blinked on the ship¡¯s edge, counting down until departure. After this, I really needed to focus more on agility training.


    No other foolish player stood near the blinking line¨Cbeside a rose-haired rogue who tried diving onto the boat. As the timer hit two seconds, four guards pinned her down as I crossed the finish line back into Fanamel¡¯s port.


    I got knocked down to the ground.

 Chapter 3 - Fished Out

    A football did not wiggle after being picked up, but a six-year-old and his catch of the day did. The fish hopped about on my back before flopping on the ground. The fish was a fin longer than Tristan¡¯s half-gnome and human character, Triangle. His catch was an archerfish based on the black stripes on the silver body and the shapes of the dorsal fin.


    But for an archerfish, the fish was far too large, a giant compared to the small ones I remembered catching with Uncle Rick. This large monstrosity, a forty-pound fish, would have covered my back with bruises and knocked the air out of me if it wasn¡¯t for my constitution.


    I stood up and helped Triangle up in his little blue robes. The purse tied to his belt resembling a fanny pack had a big red ¡®T¡¯ embroidered into it. His young age, even with the beardless, half-gnomish features, stuck out just like his nose. The kid smiled and laughed at seeing the fish flop around, unphased by the trouble he caused to our family.


    This was all a fun adventure for him.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to name it Goldy!¡± Triangle flicked the tip of his tall, red hat out of his gray eyes and to make it fall over his back instead. The hat could easily fit my character¡¯s size, not Triangle, who didn¡¯t even come up to my hip.


    Triangle grabbed the fish by the hook line, removed it, and put both away into his inventory. I picked him up and put him on my shoulders. We¡¯d been playing this game for a month and we still hadn¡¯t had the chance to do a photo pose of me holding both kids once again on my shoulders. If we cleaned up this mess, we should try for it. Elaine grew too big in reality, but in this game, it would be a great photo with our characters and my character was strong enough to do it.


    I called up to Triangle, ¡°I¡¯m going to give you a guild title of T.T. for Trouble Triangle. We need to go help your sister.¡±


    Triangle replied in a light voice, ¡°I like Terribly Terrific Triangle more.¡±


    The crowd from earlier hadn¡¯t dispersed. If anything, it was denser around the port and guards. One player stood out the most, a human man with a trim goatee dressed in tight black leather garb and holding out a thin sword, pointing it at Naiad. The player made it obvious he wanted to catch her if she broke free from the guards. He was a player hunter, and likely an overall enthusiast of the player-versus-player, PvP, gaming style. I was just as annoyingly cocky when I was younger, but I was actually good.


    Seeing Naiad threatened caused guilt to settle into my stomach. From years of gaming experience, I picked a PvP server instead of a casual one, thinking about how fun the fights would be. Playing with kids made the game a lot more nerve wrecking.


    Naiad squirmed against the chains that held her. A guard shoved her shoulder as a retaliation, pinning her down on the docks, muddying up his knightly metal armor. A guard, wearing a red feather in his helmet and a red armband displaying the city''s sigil¡ªa sheep and a wolf divided by a fence¡ªapproached. The armband denoted his rank as captain.


    He pointed at Naiad and spoke in a rough voice, ¡°Take her to the cell to serve out her time.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s a cell?¡± Triangle asked, tapping my forehead with his fingers. Within moments, he was twirling my reddish shoulder length hair.


    ¡°The NPCs of the game decided that Naiad has to go to timeout, with no toys, or the fun of the game. It¡¯s because you stayed on the ship and fished.¡± I explained, hoping he learned his lesson, or at least listened.


    ¡°She should¡¯ve gone fishing, too.¡±


    ¡°You were about to teleport to Temistu!¡±


    ¡°Yeah! They have narwhals there! We should go.¡± Triangle placed his elbow on my forehead and pointed his hand out. ¡°Now you have a tooth like one!¡±


    ¡°Your sister couldn¡¯t get on because of her class quest. And if she did, she would lose the quest chain to it. You almost ended up somewhere very far away. Alone.¡±


    ¡°Like a camp?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I answered. It was a close enough representation. Summer camps went on during the day for hours, which for a kid felt like days or minutes, depending on how much fun they had.


    The guards were moving, but the Goatee-player-hunter still kept his sword out, following the group around in the back. The guy couldn¡¯t be more obnoxious. At one point, a guard told the player to back up and put the sword away.


    Naiad could outsmart that player. I walked along the side of the street, ready to react to whatever Naiad would do, passing the restaurant from earlier and other tents of the market. Most were crafting and armor shops. An herbalist would make a killing next to that restaurant selling nausea relief potions. The crowds of people stopped and stared at the rare player capture.


    [Team Chat]


    [Boulder: Do you think you can break free? Don¡¯t yet, there¡¯s a Player Hunter on you. He¡¯s tail wagging his sword out.]


    [Naiad: Ew! I can see he¡¯s ready to swing his blade. Say that next time.]


    [Boulder: I meant his grip is loose and you can knock the sword free.]


    [Naiad: Any advice on what to do about the six guards dragging me through town and the chains? They¡¯re ¡°only¡± twenty levels above me.]


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    ¡°Well, if it¡¯s camp, you just come back and get me at the end.¡± Triangle said, ignoring the team chat going on.


    He could read, but not fast enough to keep up with our conversation, and it frustrated me at times because it felt like we were alienating him from the game. That would be a future problem, not one for right now.


    ¡°It would be a long time, a month, and you would be on your own every time we got into the game,¡± I replied, looking for a solution for Naiad.


    Some players could teleport from nation to nation, but it cost a lot of mana and gold, with a week long cool down and it only allowed two people through it. Thankfully, our family was still together, and I didn¡¯t need a solution about how to reunite across different countries, only within the city.


    Triangle pouted. ¡°I was fine fishing on my own!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re a family and need to stay together. Your mom would be furious if she learned I sent you off on your own in this game.¡± I explained, my voice stayed level thanks to years of practice through three-nager years.


    The kid did not understand a word I said, or didn¡¯t listen with how he started wriggling around, wanting to be put down to chase after something else. I tightened my hold on his legs, preventing another family member from running off and getting into trouble.


    The guards escorted Naiad into the prison, a white stone building that forbad natural sunlight from entering it. A few player hunters loitered outside, nodding toward the goatee player that followed the escort. He swung his sword and pointed it at Triangle and me before putting it away.


    ¡°Oh, so menacing,¡± I joked with Triangle, who giggled.


    I didn¡¯t build this character for stealth. I wanted to be a tank and made it obvious, with bright leather armor and solid boots that tapped on the cobblestone path. It would be insulting if the player hunter didn¡¯t notice me.


    Waiting outside of a prison was not on the docket for the game today. The first two items on the list were to grab some falafel and start my daily quest of collecting broken pottery parts for Mrs. Crockery of Earthenware. Slowly, I was building a reputation with that NPC so I could unlock my own class quest.


    Our slow pace in the game was frustrating. A month of on and off gaming and we were still unequipped to handle threats like Goatee player chasing Naiad. I wasn¡¯t strong enough to tank all these player hunters and needed a better passive skill. Like the one that was unlocked by having good relations at the Earthenware store.


    [Guild Chat]


    [CheezWiz: What¡¯s up everyone? What happened?]


    [Naiad: Great, now it looks like I am going to be stuck in the hold cell for four hours. Thanks Triangle.]


    [Triangle: :P]


    Triangle lived for that face, and every time he typed it out he would do it in the game, too. I could hear the hum as he stuck his tongue out right above my head.


    CheezWiz, was one of the random gamers that joined our guild when we first started out in Seconds-Over early access. The guy was a legend of information and would know what to do.


    [Guild Chat]


    [Boulder: Naiad just started her class quest and tried sneaking past the guards on a ship.]


    [Naiad: It¡¯s because Triangle didn¡¯t want to stop fishing and see penguins.]


    [Triangle: Narwhals.]


    [CheezWiz: ¡­]


    [CheezWiz: Wow, that¡¯s the most excitement you¡¯ve had outside of dailies. I¡¯ll help ya out as an exchange for all the keys you guys keep getting at the stronghold. Hold on.]


    I put Triangle down, who immediately took off to pet a nearby tabby cat. Hearts popped into the air, showing the plus reputation happening. Triangle had the easiest time becoming friends with any NPC, like the game knew he was a kid and he was on easy mode. It wanted to keep him in the city doing safe courier quests.


    The game couldn¡¯t code for child chaos. His class quest was done by the time I recovered from the plague that hit the house, and it was the exact opposite of safe.


    A soft metal bell chimed. It startled me and I grabbed my small wooden shield on my back, putting it near my chest and put my back up against the wall. I glared at Triangle, waiting. The sound emitted again from the small silver bell on the collar of the cat he petted. Neither Triangle nor his fanny pack made the sound.


    I sighed with relief and put my shield away, ignoring the looks the player hunters gave me. They were a mix of level eight and nine.


    The whole gaming day had me on edge. I still wanted to punch Mr. Goatee for threatening Naiad, but looking at his stats and gear, he wore piercing armor, had a thin blade, with throwing knives ready on his legs, a crossbow across his back, and he was three levels above me. If Triangle tossed his snappers as a distraction, I had enough health to take a hit and still punch the level eight Goatee Player Hunter.


    Doing that would open up the gate for PVP fighting¨Calong with the guards joining in the brawl. A thrill I loved to do before Elaine was even born.


    In the multiplayer games like Globe of Battlecraft, unexpected battles would break out as players vied to steal each other''s gold and potions. Even any items that weren¡¯t bound to the player. Gaming became thrilling because I could simply revive and come back with no concern. I could easily hunt for revenge.


    In Seconds-Over, when a player died, they got teleported elsewhere, to a whole new continent. If a player was in the middle of a class quest, they lost it and the reputation they had with the associated NPC. Player-killers could ruin a guild, and the general community looked down upon them. The only player-killers with any respect stuck to bounties for the city. It was also a safe way to avoid having powerful guilds seek revenge, even if they put bounties out for themselves.


    Completing daily quests gave us the keys CheezWiz had mentioned, and because we did things as a family a lot, we acquired a bunch of them. The dailies were finally paying off.


    >>><<<


    [System Notification: You Got Mail!]


    >>><<<


    A mailbox next to the prison glowed in my vision. The notification in my interface vanished when I rotated my head away from the mailbox. It was time to cross the street.


    ¡°Are you ready to go?¡± I asked Triangle.


    Triangle patted the cat one last time and picked up some flowers that bloomed nearby into his inventory before following me to the mailbox. The player hunters moved aside as Triangle ran up to the prison. One player even nodded his head at me, like we were two parents passing each other at the grocery store in a supporting nod.


    Once I opened up the mailbox, I instantly received four thousand gold coins from CheezWiz with a note saying, ¡°This should be enough to free Naiad. Do something besides dailies.¡±


    I nodded, even though CheezWiz couldn¡¯t see it. The same old dailies bored me and there was still a lot to see on the Fanamel continent.


    I glanced at my stats; I had the lowest ones in the guild.


    >>><<<


    Player Name: Boulder


    Level: 4


    Race: Human


    Class: N/A


    Affiliations: None


    Status Buffs: None


    Expanded Details: Skill stats:


    Strength 3 | Dexterity 2 | Constitution 6


    Fortitude: 1.25 | Reflex 1 | Will 1


    >>><<<


    I wasn¡¯t ready for grand adventures and neither was the family. We were too under-leveled.


    [Guild Chat]


    [Boulder: Thanks, CheezWhiz.]


    I never got a reply. The man was likely concentrating on a real altercation. I wanted to do a battle today, one that wouldn¡¯t scare Triangle too much, but at least get rid of today¡¯s tension by swinging my axe around.

 Chapter 4 - Something New

    ¡°Can we get out of the city?¡± Naiad begged while rubbing her wrists where the chains were a moment ago.


    The red markings on her wrists brought the guilt in my mind for getting annoyed at her misbehavior earlier. She took a huge risk trying to stay with the family when she saw me on the boat. Risking her class to be with us¡­ maybe she cared more about gaming than I thought. Her actions gave us a chance to get Triangle off the boat.


    ¡°Itching to go do your quest?¡± I casually asked while focusing on sending CheezWhiz one last final thank-you message.


    I promised to help and pay back whenever I could. He mentioned keys. We got those from certain dailies and magistrate quests. Triangle¡¯s random gathering helped produce some of them, too. Certain items would occasionally drop keys, and with all the gathering he did, it was easy for Triangle to share them with the guild. He held onto the flowers in his hands a little longer, tickling my ear one last time with the stem before moving them into his inventory.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Naiad answered, ¡°to get to the woods and-¡±


    I pointed in a direction. ¡°Hold on, I want to grab some falafel before we head out.¡±


    She sighed and pointed toward the woods. ¡°I¡¯ll head to the forest and start on the small quests.¡±


    ¡°I want to go with her. I don¡¯t want to get sick again.¡± Triangle said before making a gagging sound. ¡°It tastes like kale chips.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s their extra crispy version of falafel. I¡¯m telling you, the real-world version tastes better than what¡¯s here.¡±


    ¡°You never take us to go get it,¡± Naiad pointed out.


    Triangle shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not going unless they have fries.¡±


    I looked them over and their level to debate if they could even go out on their own into the forest without me. Naiad was getting close to age. She was twice Triangle¡¯s height. A short bow sat on her back along with a full quiver, perfect for a single hunt without me, but it would be better if I were there. She had a throwing knife and could be stealthy through the shadows of a forest to stalk prey if she kept her hood up to hide the pink hair. The surrounding forest was on her level and she was smart at knowing when to bail. I was worried about her going alone.


    >>><<<


    Player Name: Naiad


    Level: 5


    Race: Half-breed (elf + human)


    Class: Scout


    Affiliations: None


    Status Buffs: None


    >>><<<


    I wanted the kids to have some fun with designing their characters and choose an adventuring and fighting class. Naiad listened and picked a bow and arrow, focusing on wild animals. She could end up as a druid, or beastmaster, likely any of the advanced classes based on her current scout one.


    Triangle, though, in the few days I was out sick, ended up as a tinker. Tinkers are normally shopkeepers, but in the hands of a child, things became a bit explosive.


    >>><<<


    Player Name: Triangle


    Level: 6


    Race: Half-breed (gnome + human)


    Class: Tinker


    Affiliations: Goblin¡¯s Apprentice


    Status Buffs: None


    >>><<<


    He had a fanny pack where he could easily access his bombs and snappers. Everyone in the guild prayed he would pull out the smoke bombs during fights, instead of the explosive bombs.


    Friendly fire was a real thing in Seconds-Over, and it was the reason CheezWiz was on another continent.


    The dude just laughed it off and begged for keys for his own guild hall entrance - a place for player housing and business that connected to our main hall here with three of his friends. CheezWiz could¡¯ve started his own guild, but stayed with the Shrimp Guild because he liked shrimp.


    It worried me that the kids wanted to go to the woods alone. Naiad did not have the equipment to withstand a hit from Triangle¡¯s more powerful bombs. Also, Triangle was still a six-year-old that lacked impulse control or focus. Even with his older sister, he could easily get into trouble.


    I told them my decisions. ¡°Triangle, you stay with me. Naiad, stick to only the plant-gathering parts of your class quest. If there are mobs above level three, don¡¯t engage. We shouldn¡¯t be too long.¡±


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    ¡°No!¡± Triangle ran over and grabbed Naiad¡¯s hand. ¡°I don¡¯t want to. There are flowers out there and plants to season my smoke bomb smell.¡±


    ¡°Perfumes,¡± Naiad whispered to him as she weaved her fingers into his to stand united against their dad.


    ¡°Perfumes to make smoke bombs.¡± Triangle corrected.


    ¡°No,¡± I remained determined. ¡°I can¡¯t risk you throwing a bomb.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t unless the monsters show up!¡± Triangle patted his pack.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t do that. I can handle them.¡± Naiad pleaded.


    ¡°We already wasted enough time and gold because of a fishing trip and jail. Listen to me and let¡¯s go to the falafel and Mrs. Crockery.¡± I only had so much time to play with them before their bedtime. It frustrated me that Naiad didn¡¯t want to stick together. Her class quest held our group back today.


    My low level wasn¡¯t helping either.


    Naiad clicked her tongue, something that her mom always did before a lecture. ¡°How do you like food poisoning? I¡¯m certain we can gamble on some restaurants downtown.¡±


    ¡°That is no way to talk to me when I¡¯m worried about you.¡± My throat felt tight, saying the words as calmly as possible. The real-world time ticked on as we stood here debating. The kids were anxious too, and we had already lost time dealing with the port incident.


    Once the kids went to bed, I could hop on and grab the falafel for the fortitude stat. But I still needed to get my reputation up with Mrs. Crockery. I had to unlock a quest or two to catch up to my kids.


    ¡°I want to do something different from dailies. Can we just get out of the city?¡± Naiad pushed the subject.


    ¡°Please! I need¡­ stuff,¡± followed up Triangle. Even he got bored with the city of Fanamel. They had camped here for over a month on basic leveling. I was still only level four. Back in my college days with Globe of Battlecraft, I would be level four before my first break from the game.


    ¡°Prison life changed you?¡± I joked.


    Naiad shook her head, eyebrows crossed in annoyance. ¡°Please?¡±


    I scratched at my short beard. ¡°I like it when we are together. Let me get my pottery shards collected, then we can go. I¡¯m a level behind you and need the experience award. I¡¯ll speed run it.¡±


    Naiad sighed and looked up at the birds flying overhead. Triangle let go of her hand and used his fingers to do math, counting some unknowable six-year-old brain countable thing.


    ¡°You¡¯re only two levels behind me!¡± He declared victoriously.


    ¡°Good job,¡± I said, keeping my voice flat. Did first graders start arithmetic already? That was not on the last take-home worksheet from school.


    He continued to count the amount of horse hooves that passed us as we walked, showing how he could do it by four. Listening closely, I could hear him mumble the numbers in between and talking about points to various plants. We passed a community bulletin board where players put calls for help.


    ¡°Tank wanted for guild. Blacksmith in the guild. DM Moogie.¡±


    ¡°Looking for adventure escort into the mountain caves. DM Rangaera.¡±


    ¡°Information on Alchemist class quest wanted. PotHolder.¡±


    The papers covered the board, and a lot of the requests were still the same ones as last week. None of them were interesting to me.


    We stopped where an old lady swept the street outside her shop.


    The shop displayed multiple colorful pots, statues, and various parts for tools. The smoke billowed out of the roof from the kiln inside. Shards of broken pottery were being swept to into piles. She hummed to herself as she pushed the broom, and more shards spawned beneath her to sweep. An endless spawn until a player engaged with her.


    I patted Triangle''s head and said, ¡°Time me. Let¡¯s see how fast I can get all the pieces!¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Triangle. A stopwatch appeared and instantly started above his head with no warning.


    I rushed forward. The old NPC began to apologize, but I cut her off. ¡°Hello Mrs. Crockery, I see you ran into those hooligans again.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes¡­¡± Mrs. Crockery¡¯s cracked voice filled the air. Heavy smoking or the kiln fumes caused her raspy voice.


    I zoned out the rest as I quickly picked up the various pieces and put them in a bucket nearby with care. If I prevented the pieces from chipping further, I would gain a better reputation with Mrs. Crockery. This quest was only available once a day, as long as no other player took part in the quest event.


    It was rare for that to happen.


    Only a few players became tanks. It meant dealing the least damage, moving the least, not being flashy, and taking all the hits. In a game that was about feeling real, getting hit did not appeal to anyone. As a tank, you want a shielding ability. Through the shop¡¯s glass window, I could see a shield with an intricate carved pattern on display in the back wall, but Mrs. Crockery wouldn¡¯t let me in until I proved I wasn¡¯t a hooligan.


    ¡°Then they threw rocks and almost broke the display window!¡± the woman cried, dropping the broom on the ground next to me just as I put the last shard in the bucket.


    The mix of her crying, but the animated hearts above her head indicating I improved my reputation, sent all sorts of mixed signals to my brain. I was happy, but had to remember her tears weren¡¯t from a real person. At least I was done with the gathering of shards.


    I glanced at Triangle to see what my time was.


    Both kids hadn''t seen me finish. They gave up waiting.


    Naiad stood on patrol above Triangle, who was now digging up something out of the planted pot nearby. The timer was still going above his head, already past two minutes. Triangle couldn¡¯t pay attention for two whole minutes. He pulled out a centipede and wiggled it at Naiad, who laughed and gathered it in her hand.


    The archerfish that Triangle caught earlier appeared in his hands. The large fish inhaled the bug up instantly. With a pat on his head, he sent the fish back to his inventory. I needed to ask how the fish stayed alive in his inventory.


    Before I could go over and ask, a new message blasted my interface.


    >>><<<


    [A Quest! Mrs. Crockery wants you to put a stop to the hooligans who are throwing rocks at her store.


    Accept: Yes or No?]


    >>><<<


    ¡°Yes!¡± I jumped and shouted, startling poor Mrs. Crockery.


    She grabbed the bucket from my arms, smiling nervously at me. I noticed Naiad had noticed and I waved her over, but she ignored me and continued her older sibling¡¯s duty of keeping an eye on Triangle.


    The woman took a deep breath and said with a polite smile, ¡°If you could stop them from destroying my shop display, it would mean a lot to me, and save me from losing products, too.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Any clue who did it?¡± I inquired.


    The woman crossed her eyebrows. ¡°I already told you that Mr. Crockery found pieces outside of the eastern wall.¡±


    ¡°Any clue on what they looked like?¡±


    ¡°Hooligans!¡± she puffed and rattled the bucket of pottery, annoyed at having to repeat her words. ¡°They wore their hoods and came from the shadows, purposely making it difficult to determine who they were. They were shorter and narrower than me but ran quick like young-ins do when causing trouble.¡±


    People shorter than Naiad, but taller than Triangle. Hoods and eastern wall. It was a start. Seconds-Over did not throw quest markers over an NPC¡¯s head or a location about any quest information. I was going to have to investigate on my own. At least I finally earned an enough reputation with her to work towards a class quest. I had to do this today. ¡°Thanks for explaining it again. You¡¯ll be hearing from me shortly!¡±

 Chapter 5 - Cracked Pot

    I left the earthenware shop to walk over to the other side of the street to see Naiad feed another bug to Goldy, this time hanging it above the fish''s head. The archerfish squirted water out to knock it from her fingertips and then sucked it up as it fell in the air. The kids giggled and Triangle patted the side of the fish, avoiding the tender fins on top.


    ¡°Dad! Dad! I have a question.¡± Triangle said. Before I could reply, the gnome angled the gaping mouth of the archerfish up at me. ¡°He¡¯s leveling up [Vacuum] every time we feed him bugs. Dad! The bugs fed to him in his tank don¡¯t count.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the question?¡± I was used to this method of grabbing an adult¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Um,¡± Triangle pushed the fish closer to me, ignoring my hand, saying stop. ¡°Do you want to grab a bug?¡±


    Naiad had two worms in her hands and offered me one. I took it and watched as the giant fish gulped it up, flopping about happily and smacking Triangle down on the ground. His health bar appeared, but only a smidgen percentage was missing.


    Jeez. If a fish on dry land could lower his health that easily, then we really needed to look for better gear for Triangle. The fish vanished back into Triangle¡¯s inventory and he continued to lie on the ground to watch the clouds.


    We had lost too much time doing other things and could not delay by resting. I sighed and called for their attention. ¡°Alright, shrimplets, it¡¯s time for our daily meeting. It¡¯s been a week since we had one, so listen up. We don¡¯t have time to get sick from eating today. You clearly avoided that option with my dinner earlier.¡± I noticed as Naiad held back a laugh; a dig at my poor cooking. ¡°We need to avoid this situation of class quests holding us back. Both Naiad and I have quests to finish in the area. I have one that is hinting along the eastern wall, which is near the forest. Where¡¯s your quest information?¡±


    ¡°I have to look around a glade and find tracks of a unique creature.¡± Naiad replied, locking eyes with me to brag about how she knew that information off the top of her head. With how her eyes never twitched or glazed over, she never pulled up her system menu to look at the quest for information or her notes. She was always sharp at keeping track of everything. That was a trait from Beth and one I was proud she knew how to use.


    ¡°Great! Triangle, you alright coming along with us?¡± I included everyone in our local guild meeting. It was also a trick to confirm if he was paying attention.


    ¡°I¡¯m cozy here.¡± He mumbled while watching the blue and white sky with the single moon up high.


    A player riding a unicorn mount cantered by until he saw Triangle. She paused her mount and looked up at the sky, wondering what was going on. After a moment, she moved on to do her own gaming.


    Naiad nudged Triangle¡¯s side with her toe. ¡°I¡¯m taking your mattress when we get home, and you can sleep on the cozy carpet floor. Also, I¡¯m nabbing all your stuffies if this is sooooo comfy. Especially Duala. I know she¡¯s your favorite one.¡±


    Triangle leaped up and pointed a finger threatening, ¡°You can¡¯t go in my room! It¡¯s mine.¡±


    ¡°Then don¡¯t be a wimp!¡± She pulled out her bow and drew a pretend string back, leaving the main one alone, and pointed at Triangle. ¡°Show me your valor! Race me to the outside of the eastern wall, or else Daula is mine.¡±


    She jogged lightly to give the shorter legs of Triangle a chance to compete. Her method of engaging guild members was more effective than what I did. It was great to see Naiad excited about doing her class quest.


    I didn¡¯t know how she felt about this game, but this was a pleasant change. Seeing the two kids getting along and having fun was a win for the day and life. My older brothers were more distant than my cousin three times removed.


    ¡°Wait for your tank!¡± I shouted after them, easily catching and passing the pair. As the tank and dad, I should always lead the way.


    Naiad continued in a silly voice. ¡°I shall showcase my valor by facing the unknown and finding the mysterious tracks.¡±


    Triangle ate it all up. ¡°My valor will smash your valor!¡±


    The Shrimp Guild continued through the city. Triangle demanded to ride on top of my shoulders so he could beat Naiad. I jogged to get us there faster. She could easily beat me even if I wasn¡¯t holding her brother. She lost horribly, pretending to be blocked by a group of NPCs or tripping her way out of the city.


    ¡°Hold up. I want to make sure we buy camping gear before we leave the city.¡± I went to the common supply shop, where everything was cheap compared to the player market. The price matched the quality.


    >>><<<


    [(Item, common, discounted) Standard Camping Set!: This camping gear is perfect for those small team players of four or less, especially if you sleep standing upright and hug each other. This provides protection while the zone persists from monsters and players, not from environmental hazards. One time use for signing in and out of the game among all those in the zone.]


    >>><<<


    With the camping gear in hand, the thought of grabbing other food became tempting. I eyed the 4F restaurant that was only a few feet away from the Player General store. With how slowly we were moving, I probably had time to grab the food, get sick from it, and get the stat boost. But if I got sick, we would lose even more time than what happened with the jail incident. It wasn¡¯t urgent. Although rarely employed by the game, fortitude assisted in your survival if you came across poison. Not that I ate poison often outside of the gaming restaurant.


    By the time we passed through the final security gate, we were already down ten more minutes for the night. Once past the guards and all incoming traffic, we stood off to the side and put Triangle down on the ground by the edge of the woods. This close to the road there were smaller birch trees, but further in were a mix of ash, oak, and a sprinkling of evergreens. An older forest with the trees casting shadows on the ground. The ground was dry, as if it hadn¡¯t rained in a while, and the leaves crunched in the forest.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Or there was a monster waiting to pounce an unsuspecting rogue who was looking at animal tracks.


    I clapped my hands together to get the kids¡¯ attention and stop my anxiety. ¡°We¡¯re going to do my quest first. I¡¯m about to level, and maybe the first part of my quest will unlock some actual tanking skills.¡± I told them.


    Naiad did not complain, but looked at the woods. I really had to finish this quest fast before her quest. We both had entry-level class quests. Her damage increase would prove useful, but our team did not have a tank, and that was the first line of defense. If I did not get my class quest done first, I wouldn¡¯t be able to protect my two kids.


    ¡°Ugh, we just did what you wanted. Shouldn¡¯t we be sharing?¡± complained Triangle.


    The timer from Mrs. Crockery¡¯s place still floated above his red hat. Triangle had yet to notice it. I didn¡¯t point it out for fear of Triangle using it against him as an argument about how long they spent on my part of the game versus anyone else¡¯s.


    ¡°We finished your class quest the last time we were on. It was why you were on the docks. The forest will have some good flowers for you and your bombs. Make sure to equip your gloves, too. They¡¯ll help you with gathering.¡±


    The gloves boosted his chance of collecting uncommon goods and gave him plus one to his overall armor.


    Worn garden gloves covered Triangle¡¯s small hands. He glanced up and noticed the timer, frowning as it disappeared. ¡°Why did I have a timer?¡±


    Naiad answered, ¡°We were supposed to time Dad. Stick with me and let¡¯s see what smells we can find you.¡±


    Triangle shrugged and joined her as we walked into the shadows of the forest. All three of us got the notifications of entering the Clingeo Grove. Both Naiad and Triangle took off into the darkest shadows right away, as if to make me lose sight of them. They stepped on all the sticks to notify every monster in the area.


    At least it felt like that to me. Triangle took the lead with no awareness of the danger.


    ¡°Wait for you sister and stay near where I can see you!¡± I shouted at them. ¡°Hey!¡± I cried as the little red hat barely stuck out above the undergrowth bushes. ¡°That¡¯s far enough.¡±


    Their blue guild icon markers were fading into my fog of war on the map. We barely explored the forest, and in this game, your map only filled out as you explored. Last week, we came here solely to unlock Naiad''s quest and then returned to hand in Triangle''s on the other side of the city.


    I had filled in my map of Fanamel with details and notes. There were secret rat nests in the city we could level up at, places where I could unlock more tanking classes. Safer places where I would feel better than here.


    I turned my back on where the kids were, and their dots faded away slowly. I had to keep glancing between the wall, the ground, and the forest to make sure I had a sight of the kids. After a bit, I couldn¡¯t see them anymore. But I could hear the giggles and fun, happy screams of Triangle. They were fine for now. I used the peace and chance of looking for broken pottery along the wall.


    ¡°Come on, where is it?¡± I pulled up the quest looking for more notes, but I wrote only ¡°Eastern wall.¡± This game needed more clues.


    The Eastern wall was extremely descriptive. It was a brick, outdated, wall that got a lot of the rising sun in the morning; tall, vined plants gathered in places. The city patrol recently burned some of it off, leaving scorch marks in places and burned ash on the ground. The ash gathered on my level one leather boots.


    ¡°Ow!¡± I hissed out.


    My weak boots gave up protecting my toe against a shard of broken pottery hiding in the ash. Thanks to my improved health, the pain was negligible compared to a plastic tiny toy truck I¡¯d stepped on earlier that day.


    Using my hands to dig around, I found a few more pieces and placed them into my inventory. This game was still new to me and I had no clue what I would need or could sell later. Right in this area and up against the wall, the trees turned black, burned to a crisp a few days ago based on the sprouting seedlings growing out of the black ground.


    Glancing back at the way I came, the forest was healthy and thriving. I traced my hand along the burned area on the wall, looking for further clues and pottery.


    As I bent down to pick up another piece of pottery, I noticed my map didn¡¯t have any blue dots and I couldn¡¯t hear the kids in the forest.


    [Guild Chat]


    [Boulder: Hey! Come back to the wall. I think I found something.]


    [Naiad: I did too. Triangle¡¯s helping collect giant rat pelts from a nest.]


    [Triangle: I used a bomb!]


    [Boulder: What did I say about bombs?]


    [Naiad: It was a smoke one. It worked great in chasing them out so I could finish them.]


    [Boulder: Watch out for the tail end of the nest. Sometimes there¡¯s a bigger rat.]


    [Naiad: I know.]


    [Boulder: How far are you from the wall?]


    [Naiad: 40 meters.]


    Rat nests in the city had a hoard and sometimes a mini-boss defending the trove near the back. The forest was a higher level than anything we had fought in the city; I didn¡¯t like the idea they were out there alone without their tank. I needed to get to them quickly. This was a game about being a family together, not off and doing our own things.


    I changed up my method and tossed any found pottery pieces into the woods, hoping to stir something up for the quest. I kicked the ashen ground. That method stopped quickly as my toe got sliced again and I dropped two points of health.


    ¡°Vile human! Leave before you know what¡¯s best for you!¡± A gurgled voice screeched at me from the shadows of the wood.


    I pointed to the shield on my back, keeping my other hand far away from the fighting axe on my hip. The voice sounded close in the burned tree area, but I couldn¡¯t see them. ¡°Hey now, look, all I have is a shield. I like to be defensive, I¡¯m not here to attack.¡±


    [Guild Chat]


    [Boulder: I might need help. How long on your stuff?]


    [Naiad: Busy!]


    [Triangle: DAD!]


    Someone stepped out of the woods, holding a small flame of fire in its palm. It¡¯s three dark claws reflecting in the light. Even with the black hood hiding its face, this was not a creature of the city. At least, not one I had seen.


    It was about as tall as Naiad and lean. From the sound of it, something dragged behind it. I didn¡¯t have time to investigate this quest or person. The children were in trouble with how they were ignoring my cry for help.


    I went straight to the root of the problem that the quest giver had. ¡°Can you tell me why you are stealing pottery? Mrs. Crockery would prefer it if you paid and stopped destroying her shop.¡±


    ¡°No one ever talks to us.¡± The fire in its claws lowered down, but its central flame remained a bright blue.


    ¡°I am!¡± Right then, I wished I could pause the quest and go help the kids, but that wasn¡¯t a choice.


    Talking right now frustrated me. In most games, it was spam click through the conversations and go off and fight something. Not chit chat.


    This was the neighboring forest of the city. I was almost on level with the area and its monsters. I could dive and attack this low-level mage, take him on before he cast another fire spell. There were two health potions in my inventory. This was not the time to talk. I had to fight and wrap this up to get to Naiad and Triangle.


    My hand slowly lowered down to my axe handle. New shadows moved behind the creature, and I stopped.


    Two more hooded creatures popped out of the woods and one of them failed to hide their long, thick tail. They stood about a head shorter than me. The game declared them level-five shrouded beings. Three on one, with only my level one axe and shield to fight.


    I was really hoping for a bomb right now.

 Chapter 6 - Playing With Fire

    When outnumbered in a fight, I need either superior fighting skill or a technological advantage. Right then, I had neither. My equipment was basic, just like a starting player, with only a punch and kick ability. My outfit was still the new character creation set. What little mana I had, which was two points of it, was not enough to summon a firelight like the spell caster in front of me. The rough texture of my shield against my back was a comfort as I raced toward the wall, preparing for a defensive stand the moment I turned around. I got my shield out preparing for the fire blast and noticed the creatures didn¡¯t chase me.


    The three hooded foes glanced at each other. The wizard with the flame waved it back and forth as he prepared for another spell.


    ¡°Hello then,¡± said the one with fire between his claws. I named him Fireclaw. Its voice hissed lowly. ¡°If you¡¯re willing to listen, we¡¯ll show you our plans.¡±


    One hooded creature pulled out a round pottery from a bag to show the intricate carving design that Mrs. Crockery put on all her pots. They opened the lid up and I braced for more magic to come firing out at me. They could have snakes ready to leap out, flying rats¨Cwhich are just bats with odd tails, or even a poisonous gas.


    The third took off his hood, bearing a toothless smile, a tongue popping out of the mouth, blinking vertically, with eyes that had an eerie honey yellow color. His skin was a greenish-yellow with pink scratched scars across his face.


    >>><<<


    [Level 7 Creature: Lizard-folk (uncommon)


    Description: Creatures of the sun and all things heat, these Lizard-folk are common to see around sandy area and bathing. Northern one, like this one before you, must create their own heat, and protect their homes from constant threats like rats and people.]


    >>><<<


    There was no information on a weak point. I only knew one useless fact about lizards, something Elaine shared. In danger, a lizard will lose its tail to survive and grow it back another day. It would be pointless to smash my shield down on that part of their bodies. I psyched myself up to defeat the growing nerves and told myself that to do any actual damage, all attacks had to be focused on the rest of the body.


    If I could even hurt three level seven creatures. Their markers were still white, meaning they wouldn¡¯t hurt me yet.


    ¡°You see, human,¡± hissed the lizard holding the pot, tilting the opening toward me. They struggled to make the t sound of words without teeth. ¡°We¡¯re trying to create a device to defend our home from invasions. A way we can do without risking more of our people and still cause harm.¡±


    Fireclaw, with his non-flaming claw, dipped it into the pot and clapped his hands together. The lizard-folk next to him jumped at the sound. Both clawed hands were on fire. No health bar was above his head.


    ¡°Careful!¡± shouted the third lizard, in a higher pitch. She pulled out a small vial filled with a white powder, ready to toss it at Fireclaw.


    Fireclaw now had all his claws on fire. His claws danced in and out of the blue flame. ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt us. Our attackers scream in pain, but continue attacking. It doesn¡¯t stop them. It¡¯s only slightly better than a magical illusion.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s worse.¡± The lizard-woman complained. She took her hood off, revealing a deeper green skin, and lacking any injuries on her face. She pointed a claw at the pot. I mentally named her Vial and the one holding the pot Potholder.


    Vial continued her rant. ¡°This costs money to make. We need to wrap up this folly and declare it a loss.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± I said, halting Potholder from speaking. ¡°Use illusion magic and stop breaking and stealing from Mrs. Crockery.¡±


    I had to get to Naiad and Triangle. We never should¡¯ve separated.


    Potholder, Fireclaw, and the third one I named Vial, huddled up and whispered. It was my chance to go. I lowered my shield and jogged back to the south to go around the lizard-folk and the burned forest.


    ¡°But you could help us!¡± Fireclaw called to me. ¡°You can explain to the shopkeeper what we¡¯re after. We need a defense.¡±


    My jaw clenched, and I gritted my teeth, a habit the dentist had warned me about. ¡°I¡¯ll come back to this. I need to destroy a rat''s nest.¡±


    With a goodbye wave to the lizard-folk, I ran off faster to find the kids. I carefully marked my location on the map, determined to return to this spot later. I left their white NPC markers behind.


    [Guild Chat]


    [Triangle: Help!]


    [Naiad: Uhhh, we¡¯re heading back to the wall looking for the guards.]


    [Boulder: I¡¯m coming. Make a lot of noise so I can find you.]


    A few seconds later, an explosion went off in the woods east of me. I knew where Triangle was.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    [Boulder: Stop using bombs!]


    [Triangle: :P]


    As I turned to go further into the woods, away from the burned zone, the Potholder ran out in front of me and I sidestepped around their long tail. His hind legs swung about, making them faster than me. The liquid splashed on the ground. The smell was burning my eyes.


    Alcohol. They were playing with a high grade, too. Everything burned easily.


    ¡°Woah.¡± I backed up to put some space between me and the pot, but it only gave a chance for a flammable Fireclaw to catch up. ¡°Hold it. I¡¯ll talk to Mrs. Crockery for you, but you need to move. Now.¡±


    ¡°You mentioned rats'' nests?¡± Potholder slowed down to keep pace with me. ¡°We¡¯re trying to stop these vile creatures!¡±


    The alcohol splashed on my shield from his flaying.


    ¡°Yes! Let¡¯s join you.¡± Chanted Vial. She shook the powder vial on the alcohol in the woods. The smell of incense followed her.


    ** ¡°We can show you the power of the pot!¡± screeched Fireclaw.


    ¡°Do you have some sort of lid for it?¡± I sidestepped away. Fireclaw''s claws still blazed, and I wanted more room to avoid getting burned or my wooden shield going up in flames.


    Fireclaw didn¡¯t care and stepped closer. ¡°Tell us human, where these fur-covered monsters are hiding.¡±


    I hated how I had no clue where the threat to my kids was. In the city, there were markers or buildings the Shrimp Guild referenced whenever we got separated. Here there was a tree, another tree, an evergreen with pinecones, and a smoking tree.


    Smoke creeped up behind me. The dry undergrowth floated up in the hot air and transformed into ash. As the lizard-folk sloshed through the woods, they left a blazing path in their wake and causing worry to creep over me. The kids were in this blazing forest.


    [Guild Chat]


    [Triangle: I didn¡¯t start this fire!]


    [Naiad: We¡¯re changing course. There¡¯s a fire.]


    [Boulder: Run to it, it¡¯s me.]


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you have a lid!?¡± I shouted back at the lizard-folk. "Your alcohol is spilling everywhere and you''re tossing fire about like it''s hot." The saying sounded better in my head.


    Fireclaw went to reach for the pot, but Potholder stopped just in time. ¡°We broke it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re burning the forest down. Do you have a way out?¡± It was obvious we were screwed.


    ¡°Excellent, we can get rid of all the rats then.¡± Potholder replied.


    Vial cackled and her tongue swished about. She was no longer pouring her powder. No one answered my question on how to get out.


    Jeez. The list of problems of the day grew. I had no clue if destroying the rats¡¯ nest counted to finishing my quest. The original quest was to stop the hooligans. It felt like I was enabling the lizard-folk by bringing them with me to destroy the rats. This would only prove their idea of the pottery fire worked. They would continue stealing from Mrs. Crockery unless I thought of something.


    ¡°Why did it have to be pottery for carrying your alcohol?¡± I questioned.


    ¡°Dad!¡± shouted Triangle, interrupting my question.


    He sat on top of Naiad¡¯s shoulders. Her bow was out as she shot at the rats that nipped at her cloak. Blue hazy smoke dissipated behind them.


    Triangle waved. ¡°I listened. Can I throw another bomb now?¡±


    "Not yet!" I snapped in response. His bomb would be the death of us.


    The lizards yelled out, their tongues shaking out to create a vibrating sound as they ran at the rats. Fireclaw and Potholder chased after them. Vial put her powder away to replace it with a dagger and charged at the four-foot-tall rats. This was more than a typical nest. There had to be fifteen of the buggers. They were all the same large size, too. In the city, these would have been the boss of the rat¡¯s nest.


    ¡°Did you get the boss?¡± I asked as they got close.


    Glancing at their stats, their health was lower but still above yellow and rising fast. They used health potions to get out of a dangerous situation. They shouldn¡¯t have ever left their tank. I drew my shield and stood between them and the oncoming swarm.


    ¡°Never saw it. At first, only a few level one and twos showed up, then it was all these level three rats and ran,¡± Naiad replied.


    Birds squawked and flew into the sky. Small critters ran past them and the rats ignored them. The vermin had bigger prey to eat, us and the lizard-folk.


    Potholder pulled out a ladle and began tossing the alcohol on the rats. It looked like someone preparing to clean the street, not a forest of rats. Fireclaw waved his flame around and instantly the fur on the rats went up in flames.


    Along with more forest undergrowth.


    The flames were small, but it would not take long for the flames to travel up the trees soon. Trapping us in the forest.


    That wasn¡¯t illusionary fire magic, it was very real.


    My kids and I needed to get out. We''ll come back later with better equipment, and together as a guild.


    Naiad stood next to me and shot arrows at the rats. Each rat took at least two hits. Her quiver had twelve arrows left.


    ¡°Don¡¯t waste your arrows. Use your dagger, but stay behind me. Triangle, save your bombs,¡± I ordered.


    ¡°That¡¯s the same as saying do nothing.¡± Naiad complained. ¡°My daggers aren¡¯t long enough.¡± She shot another arrow at the rat that bit Vial¡¯s arm.


    She saved an ally, but openly ignored my command. It was hard to distinguish which child was the worst at listening to me, their father.


    The lizard was shaking the powder in a circle around the lizard-folk and my family. For now, the lizard-folks'' icons were still white. One hit from the Shrimp Guild and they could turn into enemies. We had to be careful.


    A chittering sound echoed above the rat swarm and they parted as a larger rat approached. Annoying trumpet music started.


    >>><<<


    [Level 7 Boss: Rat King! Type: Rat (common)


    Description: The nuttiest of all rats and determined to bust your skull with one bite.]


    >>><<<


    "Oh, this was out of our level," I whispered, not wanting to scare the kids.


    They were not ready for this. My hands got sweaty from the heat of the fire, and I adjusted my grip on the shield. I wish I had a better weapon to fight with. In the past, I favored a double axe fighting style. Shields didn¡¯t fight, they smashed and held the line.


    Holding a wood shield against rats worked fine. It failed against an encroaching fire.


    ¡°Stay in this circle and you will be safe from the fire!¡± Vial explained. ¡°Today we slay the Rat King!¡±


    Fireclaw and Potholder screamed. ¡°For Lavaia!!!¡±


    I grunted a thanks as I kicked a rat back into the fire. The circle was no bigger than ten feet wide, the tails of the lizard whacked into my legs. Naiad stumbled, threatening to fall out of the circle, but I caught her and Triangle on her back. I pushed both of them to be more behind me.


    ¡°Stay back!¡± I shouted, grabbing a hairless rat tail and swinging it into another batch.


    The attack was effective as they crashed and stumbled into the fire. But still not enough to kill them. Slowly, the fire ticked away the rodents¡¯ health.


    On the Rat King, it was dropping too slow.


    In between the screaming of the lizard-folk, the hissing of the rats, and panics of nature as a forest fire broke out, one horrifying sound stood out the most.


    Jingle bells.


    Three small silver bells flew in the air past my shoulder to the Rat King.


    ¡°Jingle Bell Bombs!¡± Giggled Triangle.


    Triangle was the worst at listening to his parents.

 Chapter 7 - Will Get You Burned

    Having a dedicated shield casting ability would easily save the entire Shrimp Guild right now from the free-falling bomb. The next best thing was a little wooden buckler shield.


    ¡°Get behind me!¡± I shouted.


    I yanked Naiad behind me. She crashed into Triangle and together they tumbled onto the ground. Slamming my small, round shield on the ground, I kneeled behind it. The move left my shoulder completely exposed as I ducked my head under.


    The Jingle Bell Bombs chimed away as they flew.


    This is how CheezWiz died. He failed to catch the jingle bell bombs and poof, his entire character vanished. He messaged later to say he spawned on the continent of Pavlova. Death meant spawning on a random continent.


    This was that time as the bombs landed next to the Rat King. The Shrimp Guild was done for in Seconds-Over.


    Explosions boomed in rapid succession, followed by a series of cracking sounds. The force of the bombs broke the nearby trees. Both dirt and rats flew up into the air. Fireclaw slammed into my back with a grunt. The poor lizard-folk became a shield for me and Naiad as pieces of the forest went flying at them. Fireclaw¡¯s health dropped to twenty percent.


    The shield shook and cracked as rats pelted into it. It couldn¡¯t withstand an artillery attack. Neither was my shoulder. I grunted as my health lowered with each impact. The shield¡¯s durability dropped.


    I couldn¡¯t believe the level one shield survived the damage. Lucky piece of wood.


    >>><<<


    [You¡¯ve Leveled Up! New stat points are available.]


    >>><<<


    At long last, the result of the bomb stopped. The fight continued in the chaotic playing field. The annoying trumpet music still played, letting us know the Rat King boss was still alive, just like us and at least ten more little rats that must¡¯ve survived by hiding behind their large shaggy king.


    I instantly threw a stat point into constitution and the other into strength. The health bar grew larger, but it wasn¡¯t immediately full. I was at fifty percent health. Standing up, I moved Fireclaw off Naiad and Triangle to assess the damage done to them.


    I failed to cover Naiad from the explosion enough with my dinky shield. She sat at thirty percent health and groaned in pain. Triangle only lost ten percent. From my inventory, I summoned a healing scroll. I tore it in half to get a good portion of our health back now.


    That little piece of paper cost hundred-seventy-five gold. Every coin was worth it when it saved my family.


    The magic rune of the healing scroll settled on all those in the Shrimp Guild. The lizard-folk had to fend for themselves.


    Before I could aid our new allies, the Rat King let out a roar. Rats should not roar. If one was to be a large and intimidating beast, a squeak wouldn¡¯t strike fear into the enemy. The roar made Triangle flinch behind me and cover his ears.


    It didn¡¯t work on me.


    It made me excited. This was the boss fight I wanted, music and all. No more daily quests or pointless mob hunting. As I hacked my axe down on the rats, the satisfying thud of steel on bone echoed, far more thrilling than the repetitive swing of a pickaxe mining material for Triangle¡¯s bomb. In the mines I gathered ore, here I collected fighting experience.


    I issued a challenge back at the Rat King with a roar and tossing one of his few remaining tiny minions at his clawed paws.


    It was only a weak Rat King. Its health trickled down below twenty-five percent.


    This was my battle. I called out to the others, ¡°Naiad and Triangle. Get your daggers and finish off the remaining rats.¡±


    Vial shook out the last of her white powder to reform the ring. The fire avoided the powder, protecting us safe as long as we stayed in it. I tightened my grip on my shield, glad to still have it even if it didn¡¯t save us. It was Via¡¯s powder that saved us from the heat blast of the Jingle Bell Bombs.


    With its low durability, the buckle shield still had one more good use left in it.


    I ran forward, out of the safety of the circle and toward the Rat King. The monster cried again, and the last few rat buggers tried to stop me with their pitiful bites. I punted one rat into another and, thanks to my increased strength; it granted me two instant kills and an achievement.


    The Rat King swatted his tail at me, forcing me to use my shield to block. A loud crack resonated through the air as the level one shield shattered on impact with the pink, hairless tail. The force of the tail didn¡¯t stop. It smacked into my chest and sent me flying across the burning forest. I tumbled right next to a burning bush.


    My health was down to sixty-five percent. Enough to keep fighting. If I hadn¡¯t just used a healing scroll earlier after the bomb, I would have been dead.


    Burns bloomed on my naked arms. One of these days, I would go shopping for armor. I reached for my shield, but only had the handle. The rest of it became kindling. I dropped the pointless piece of gear and reached over to the burning bush and found two thick burning branches sitting on top.


    My health dropped another tick, threatening to get back below fifty percent with my arsonist foolishness.


    With weapons in hand and adrenaline pumping through my system, I charged at the Rat King. I swung the two flaming branches as if I held my battle axes from Globe of Battlecraft again. This character¡¯s dexterity was nowhere near my old ones. With sluggish swings, I barely completed two rotations before the sickening thud of my impact into the Rat King.


    Fire hurt the monsters as much as it hurt me. I smashed down between the giant pink ears. The Rat King twisted around to defend its face. It gave me the opportunity to attack its back again and again.


    Sparks flew off the branches, and they evolved into jagged ends with each hit. Both the creature''s fur and my gear were completely on fire. The branches had less durability than the shield.


    They snapped and crumbled to the ground.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    With only one mark of health left, the Rat King was on the verge of defeat. The air was heavy with the mixed aroma of cooked trash, wood, and venison.


    My health was down to twenty-five percent. I could keep going.


    Fists clenched, I rushed at the monster, preparing to hit it hard.


    The strong, fleshy tail swung at me, smacking into my shoulder and forcing me down on the ground.


    >>><<<


    [WARNING! YOU ARE AT CRITICALLY LOW HEALTH: EIGHT PERCENT]


    >>><<<


    I dug for a potion from an unorganized inventory. The Rat King turned around to face me, crisped claws at the ready.


    Thwack!


    One arrow staggered the Rat King in the side.


    Thwack!


    Then a second shot hit the shoulder, killing the boss.


    >>><<<


    [YOU¡¯VE SLAIN THE RAT KING!


    YOUR QUEST HAS UPDATED.]


    >>><<<


    Multiple achievements came in along with leveling. I pushed all of it aside as I chugged the health potion.


    With the boss and their minions gone, the threat was over. I lacked enough health potions to survive sitting in a forest fire.


    ¡°Over here!¡± Vial shouted out and waving at me.


    With shaking legs and burned arms, I forced myself up and back to the white powder circle on the ground. Rat bodies littered the path to the ring. I did not waste any time collecting from them, focused on getting to safety and my health back up. If there were anything valuable, it would be in the Rat King¡¯s nest. If it survived the fire.


    Vial and Naiad helped me step over the circle, making sure I didn¡¯t break it by dragging my feet. Vial tore her cloak into rags and poured water on them. She handed one to each of us. ¡°Cover your mouth with this and we¡¯ll survive with only a cough. This isn¡¯t our first time in a forest fire.¡±


    Her last words were more concerning than comforting.


    She put a potion into Fireclaw¡¯s and Potholder¡¯s mouth and their health slowly returned. All three lizard-folk had leveled up to eight, as if they had joined in on the fight. I didn¡¯t realize that even NPCs could level. Could a starter town, like Fanamel, become filled with high level NPC shopkeepers in a few months? I couldn¡¯t recall what level Mrs. Crockery was when I first met her.


    We sat there, surrounded by hell, but sitting in the ring, there was no heat burning at us. Ash drifted in and out of the ring. Hearing the crackling sound reminded me of the camping trips Uncle Rick used to take me and my brothers on. Three boys in the woods, there were no forest fires like this, but we always made a bonfire and built a hideout from branches, logs, and whatever trash we found.


    It was the only time I ever got close to my older brothers. A ten-year difference created relationship gaps.


    I hated camping. It always meant burned out dinner, warm drinking water, and blacked marshmallows between graham crackers because my brothers ate all the chocolate. Uncle Rick never stopped my brothers, but he would always slip candy coated chocolates to me later.


    I didn''t have candies to offer to Naiad or Triangle. There were some experience food bars I got from a quest. I was saving them for when I figured out my class. Naiad knew about her class and was actively pursuing it. It was the whole reason we got separated.


    I cleared my throat to get her attention. ¡°Naiad, what happened at the rats'' nest?¡±


    She explained, ¡°We thought it was like the city ones. Only slightly higher level. Things went smooth with Triangle¡¯s smoke bombs. Then they started pouring out.¡±


    ¡°Was it part of your quest?¡± I asked.


    She crossed her arms. ¡°No. We were hunting for parts and experience like normal.¡±


    Her answer wasn¡¯t a good one and agitated me with how reckless it was. ¡°This is why you can''t leave my side. You didn¡¯t think to check the level of the zone,¡± I said.


    ¡°Then why did you go away?¡± Triangle spoke up from next to Naiad. ¡°You¡¯re the youngest character.¡±


    ¡°Leveled. Dad¡¯s ancient compared to us,¡± Naiad educated him. ¡°He¡¯s a little under-leveled and weak compared to my damage.¡±


    ¡°And my bombs,¡± teamed up Triangle.


    I bit my cheek and resisted defending my pride. Naiad was at the age where teenagers said things they didn¡¯t know would hurt. We did the kids'' quests first to keep them sturdy and above the level of the zone. To keep them safe.


    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for him,¡± Fireclaw joined in on our family matters and put a hand on my shoulder like we were buds. ¡°We wouldn¡¯t have ever stopped the scourge that threatened our land.¡±


    ¡°The research was pointless.¡± Potholder mumbled. Vial patted his back.


    I nodded at the lizard-folk, grateful for the shift of conversation. ¡°If you guys wanted to kill the rats, why didn¡¯t you just burn their home?¡±


    ¡°We wanted to avoid burning the home of other creatures.¡± Vial pointed to the surrounding area. ¡°We should¡¯ve stopped running when you found the rats'' nest and put out-¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I get it, skip to the next part about Mrs. Crockery¡¯s pots.¡± I interrupted. I didn¡¯t need their back story. ¡°Are you going to leave her place alone now that the rats are gone?¡±


    ¡°The rats are never gone. But yes, we will. We¡¯ll try your advice and talk to her.¡± Fireclaw answered. He swished his tongue around and lips stretched them out in a way to imitate a sneer.


    >>><<<


    [QUEST UPDATE: YOU CAN RETURN TO MRS. CROCKERY WITH THE NEWS OF HER HOOLIGANS.]


    >>><<<


    With the update, the surrounding fire diminished down faster than a real forest fire could. The path behind us calmed down. We could return to Fanamel.


    Fireclaw continued talking. ¡°Her lids are too fragile. If only we could find a way¡­¡±


    ¡°Good luck with that.¡± I replied. I didn¡¯t want to deal with fire attacks with the lizard-folk. The lizard-folk guild and alignment wouldn¡¯t help me become a better tank to the Shrimp Guild.


    ¡°Can I see that?¡± Triangle wandered over to Potholder.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have time to do every quest,¡± I grumbled at him. ¡°Also, don¡¯t forget that if we pick up any quest, we have to wrap it up if we ever leave. To avoid what happened earlier near the terminals.¡±


    Triangle ignored me and inspected the open lid pot.


    Naiad walked over with her brother and talk to the lizard-folk.


    [Guild Chat]


    [Boulder: Don¡¯t take on any more quests. We need to get moving.]


    [Naiad: The fire is still going on. We can chat.]


    [Triangle: :P]


    Triangle made the face at the pot while placing a broad leaf across the top. Naiad gave pointers on how to tie it. Then Vial added the white powder around it as a protection. To top it off, they drilled a tiny hole into the surface. Naiad rolled up some bandages and stuck it through the hole.


    ¡°There!¡± Triangle cheered. ¡°That will work. Talk to Mrs. Croak¡­¡±


    ¡°Crockery¡± Naiad corrected.


    ¡°About adding hooks for lids,¡± Triangle made a mimic of his fingers chaining, ¡°and attach to the handles. Then the lid stays on and you can use this stick to burn it safely from a distance.¡±


    Triangle was reaching across the powder when Naiad swatted his arm to not risk fire and the container. I swear the kid sounded too smart there and too knowledgeable about this.


    All the lizard-folk talked and bickered about how to improve on the makeshift bomb. During the time, Triangle leveled up. A six-year-old should not be learning or know any of this.


    I needed Triangle to learn a healing class. Having spells or potions instead of us buying them from the shop.


    Finally, the fire was small embers and we could avoid the patches that smoked nearby. I clapped my hands to get their attention and said, ¡°The fire¡¯s done. Let¡¯s go gather your loot and finish up my quest. Then we can get to the fun stuff.¡±


    Naiad held her tongue while Triangle grumbled. Neither budged from the lizard-folk. I reached over and took the container out of Triangle¡¯s hands and lifted him up onto my shoulders. The properties of the pot had changed.


    >>><<<


    [(Item, uncommon) Leafy Fresh Fires: Burn an area to a crisp when this pot goes clattering. The tanamere oil in this fire burns hot, hot, hot. Seriously hot, and keeps burning for a period. Because of the leaf lid, it will have an initial smell of sweet summer breeze¨Cbefore the ash smell sinks in.


    Immediate area of effect: 4 meters.


    Has a potential chance for fire to grow because of the nature of fire, and the oil is hot.


    Water will not work in putting this oil fire out.]


    >>><<<


    The area of effect was bigger than the Jingle Bell Bombs. I passed the oil filled pottery back to Potholder.


    It was time for us to go find more adrenaline filled adventures.


    ¡°Thank you for what you have done for us,¡± Fireclaw called out, waving next to the group. ¡°We won¡¯t forget this.¡±


    Hearts floated above all three lizard-folk heads.


    I stepped over the powder ring and headed south, following the trail of rats. I stopped at the Rat King¡¯s body and looted it. In the ash, I could see tiny shiny metal sparkling fragments from Triangle¡¯s Jingle Bell Bombs.


    Triangle had to become a healer, not a damage dealer. It would balance out our group better for the late game. It was time we started putting stat points with that goal in mind.

 Chapter 8 - Achievements for Everything

    ¡°Let¡¯s go through our achievements while we collect from the nearby rats.¡± I instructed the Naiad and Triangle.


    I had to only touch the slain monster with my finger for four seconds, instead of holding it, before I could loot it into my inventory. The game at least didn¡¯t make us carve the pieces ourselves.


    >>><<<


    [New Achievement: You¡¯ve spoken their fiery language. You¡¯ve friended the lizard-folk who like to keep things hot. That¡¯s only because they''re cold-blooded killers, as you have now learned. Reward: You will have an easier time friending lizard-folk thanks to the crispy burned rat fat smell on your body.]


    [New Achievement: Double-run! You¡¯ve instantly slain two foes with one hit. Reward: The desire to hit that home-run achievement. Keep trying, bud.]


    [New Achievement: Just punch it. Most fighters unlocked this achievement a while ago. Unless you¡¯re some poetic person defending your recent literary work, you¡¯ve got some catching up to do. Reward: You¡¯re not a fighter.]


    >>><<<


    ¡°Lazy game for crossing out the reward,¡± I grumbled. Not everything is a participation trophy in this world.


    I continued clicking through my achievements for fighting, excited to see if I unlocked a new title to showcase.


    >>><<<


    [New Achievement: Knocking Death¡¯s Door. You got below 10% health. Wow, living life on the dangerous end there. Don¡¯t push it too much, it will be the end. Reward: You are still alive! Keep this up and people might wonder if it¡¯s your fighting style.]


    >>><<<


    Most of the achievements had pointless rewards. Not one achievement gave me a new title. I wanted one to help unlock more of a barbarian tanking style. That last reward made me wonder if I was on the right path. To be cautious, I put both stat points into my constitution.


    After collecting from all the nearby dead rats. I had over eighteen rat skins and tails and thirty-three more gold coins. Not every rat dropped a tail, a few lost them in the fight. I even located my axe during the search. Its burned wooden handle and wrappings screamed it needed to be replaced soon.


    By the time we finished, an hour of our gaming time already passed. There was only a half hour left. We spent too much time waiting and gathering resources. Naiad¡¯s quest still needed to be wrapped up, and so did mine. To speed things up, I picked up the short-legged half-gnome and put him on my shoulders.


    Later today, once the kids went to bed, I could hop on to progress my quest. I wanted to avoid the same situation as a free-will child fishing off a ship as it¡¯s about to depart.


    I patted Naiad¡¯s head to get her attention. ¡°You know where the rats¡¯ nest is. Take the lead.¡±


    Naiad shoved my hand off and replied, ¡°The lizard-folk mentioned it, if you had listened to them.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re talking like Mom there.¡± I complimented her.


    Naiad smiled at that. ¡°She told me she had another late day in the office today. Probably the next few days.¡±


    ¡°I want to show her what I made,¡± Triangle said from my shoulders.


    This wasn¡¯t the first time these late days had happened. Still, trying to comfort a kid that their parent had different priorities over them wasn¡¯t easy. Sometimes those priorities helped the family, but how to explain that to a six-year-old was hard. ¡°She loves you both, and she is nagging me constantly to make sure you get your homework done.¡±


    ¡°It is.¡± Naiad answered, the only one with homework. ¡°I wish she could join us. We could do something together.¡±


    ¡°We are as a family, supporting each other,¡± I stated. I wanted to dodge the subject and focus on the game. ¡°Speaking of support, let¡¯s go over our stats. Triangle, I want to talk about your build. I know you¡¯re having fun with building stuff, but I was wondering if you want to switch it up and try something new.¡±


    Triangle wanted none of it. He tapped the top of my head from my shoulders. ¡°But we already finished my quest. I want to be a boom ark-tech.¡±


    ¡°Architect¡± Naiad chimed in.


    A boom architect was an explosive specialist. Triangle had no impulse control. It¡¯s why my ginger snap cookies hid in a desk drawer at home. I tried to convince him, ¡°We can still keep things big. Area of effect healing spells, strength buffs, or fogs of illusions.¡±


    ¡°Frog summoning would be cool.¡± Triangle croaked and hopped on my shoulders.


    He twisted my words. The summoning path could be viable for Triangle. It required control of the pet and forced the summoner to train with it. The gnome wiggled on my shoulders, indicating he was done with being carried around. Triangle ran to catch up to his sister.


    ¡°Three, two, one to the nest!¡± Triangle screamed as he ran past her.


    Too bad there wasn¡¯t a focus stat point to help Triangle out. He couldn¡¯t summon a beast. Burst magic would be easiest for Triangle. The ground cracked under my steps, a sound similar to a pile of snow. Snow wasn¡¯t black, burned, and dried out like this forest. The Clingeo Grove needed a new name. The greenery of the forest was completely gone. No more grasses, undergrowth, leaves, or pine needles.


    I jogged to catch up and brought back the subject of class by saying, ¡°Why don¡¯t you put your two most recent points into intelligence? That will slowly increase your mana points to unlock some cool spells.¡±


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°Like what spells?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Massive glowing ones, fireworks, snow.¡± I enchanted him, trying to think of more spells like fireworks.


    ¡°Done!¡± Triangle didn¡¯t even listen. ¡°Can we go now and loot the nest?¡±


    ¡°Hold on, we need to work as a guild. We need to figure out what works best for Naiad. You should add points to¡ª¡±


    ¡°I can figure out my character myself.¡± Naiad said. Her eyes darted about as she looked for the nest. She turned around and pointed to a large, fallen blackened tree we recently passed. Behind me, a giant hole, a size of a rat king, hid beneath the recently turned over tree. Its roots snapped and ruined from all the fire.


    ¡°There¡¯s the entrance.¡± Naiad said, proud of being able to find it again.


    The entire forest looked different now, dead and destroyed. She must¡¯ve had it marked on her map with how fast she found that hidden entrance. I studied my game map. We were over fifty meters away from the wall, meaning she had annoyingly lied to me earlier. Instead of lecturing again, I let it slide for now.


    Naiad ducked her head slightly to go into the entrance. With a grunt of displeasure, I dropped into a squat, the damp earth cold against my knees, and began shuffling after the kids, their distant conversation echoing around in the dirt tunnel. It felt like we were playing around the kitchen table again when they were toddlers. At least I kept the floor cleaner than this den.


    The ash from the fire was the cleanest part. The rest of the gooey gunk I pretended was some sort of spit up¡­ that the rats¡­


    Nope, playing pretend was not making it easier. It was gross and nasty and why did the game bother coding this level of detail?


    I stopped thinking about the gunk and focused on keeping up with the others. The kids left rat tails behind for me to collect. Triangle gathered any metal or twine scraps to put in his inventory. He did not care for the guts or body parts. Naiad only took what she needed. I gathered whatever was leftover and allowed, intending to sell it later if I didn¡¯t need it after a while.


    The rat¡¯s den opened up into a chamber. I stood up and shook out my legs. The damp, musty smell of the earth filled my nostrils as roots, rough and cool to the touch, tickled my neck while I twisted his head.


    This part of the den got a special title on my map.


    >>><<<


    [You¡¯ve entered the Rat¡¯s Throne]


    >>><<<


    The rat furs and tails of the room were the lowest tier item in the room. Rats were hoarders, this was a dragon of hoarders'' level compared to the nests in the city. None of the nests we attacked before had this much. This Throne had a wooden, chewed and scratched up chest instead of a pile of gold coins on the ground. Triangle swung the lid open immediately, without looking for traps or mimics.


    ¡°Look out for traps or monsters before opening chests right away.¡± I explained while running over. Nothing happened this time.


    ¡°We killed the boss. You really think the game would hide another monster?¡± Naiad asked.


    ¡°Just be careful of all loot.¡± I didn¡¯t know the answer because this was our first adventure out.


    I made a note in the game to train Naiad and Triangle about traps later.


    Opening the chest was like a stack of birthday presents. There were two healing potions distributed to Naiad and I. A mana potion for Triangle. The Ring of Stash went to Triangle as well. It gave him a 1% boost to gathering resources. It would be helpful for his harvesting of herbs and ingredients if we wanted him to become a healer as an alchemist. Naiad got a leather armor shirt because it would only fit her. The last gear item in the box was a thing of rope. I grumbled as I took it.


    ¡°Naiad, show me how your division is and split the gold among us.¡± I smiled. Loot was a great place to practice learning and math.


    ¡°Simple, there¡¯s thirty-three gold pieces. That¡¯s fifteen for Triangle and I who did all the work. And three pieces for you if you don¡¯t complain.¡±


    ¡°I saved you from the Rat King!¡± I did not complain, I kept my voice very even.


    Naiad shrugged. Half the coins had already vanished into Triangle¡¯s hand.


    She held three more in her other hand. ¡°You make a good argument point. But¡­¡±


    I gritted his teeth at hearing Beth¡¯s saying. Naiad clearly wanted the gold for something and wasn¡¯t talking.


    I played the role of the parent and took the sacrifice. ¡°Fine. Have it. Just let me get all the furs and other loot in here so I can buy us horses. We¡¯re going to need them the further we explore outside of the city.¡±


    ¡°What does this map mean?¡± Triangle already moved on to the next part of the chest and was done with the gold conversation. He ran over to me, shoving a parchment paper into my hands.


    The paper was rough, stained, and crumbled even before Triangle touched it. It held an intricate detail of Fanamel city. Someone had drawn out the sewage lines even. There were a few red dots scattered throughout the city, and a few marked by an X. One lined up with the spot where the Shrimp Guild destroyed a rats'' nest before. Naiad came over to study the map with me.


    I tapped a few spots on the map to prove my point. ¡°Looks like the location of a bunch of rat¡¯s nests.¡±


    I put the paper into my inventory, causing Triangle to scream at me, ¡°I wasn¡¯t done with that!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need it. We are going to quest outside of the city once I get my shield. I need a new one after what happened in the last fight.¡±


    ¡°But I like tossing bombs at the rats.¡± Triangle whined.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have time for that anymore. You¡¯ve leveled up and are bigger.¡± I lied on the last part. His character size hadn¡¯t changed. It was a saying I used to use a lot more when Tristan and Elaine were younger.


    ¡°We always had time for your delicious falafel every day.¡± Naiad handed a pile of junk over to me. ¡°This pile should be worth fifteen gold. Buy me a pony.¡±


    I laughed, hoping the last line was joking. Naiad didn¡¯t smile. I cleared my throat and said, ¡°You never asked for one as a kid.¡±


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯d rather have a lizard mount. But Fanamel doesn¡¯t have any of those yet. We need to go to another country.¡±


    ¡°So, what did you spend your points on?¡± I wanted to stay focused on our levels and forget about the map.


    ¡°Dexterity and constitution.¡± She replied.


    ¡°The first point works, but if we are going to be traveling together, we need you as our damage dealer. You should¡¯ve put more points into strength.¡±


    ¡°I''d rather have enough health after that boss fight.¡±


    ¡°Fine. Triangle you ready?¡± I remembered he already spent his points on who knows what.


    ¡°No. I want the map.¡± Triangle pointed at my hand.


    ¡°Do you promise to not go off and chase after these nests?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No.¡± He answered quickly and honestly. ¡°The lizard people mentioned a reward.¡±


    ¡°Then I am going to hold on to this. When we have time, then you can ask about it.¡± I put the map away. ¡°This stuff we¡¯re doing is small fry. Like those nests. We want to get to the endgame. That¡¯s where the game is a challenge and there are incredible fights.¡±


    ¡°I liked the last fight. Hated the fire.¡± Triangle said.


    ¡°Same.¡± Naiad answered.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not real.¡± I pointed to the exit. ¡°Let¡¯s get going on Naiad''s quest.¡±


    Naiad and Triangle shared a look, and Naiad kicked the ground and moved forward. Triangle followed like a puppy. That was the look kids had when hiding something from their parents, one with a coded language only they knew. It hurt that my son and daughter trusted each other more than me.


    But that¡¯s what I wanted. The siblings to have a relationship, one that can withstand anything the world throws at them. A look my older brothers shared, and left me out of whenever Uncle Rick came over to watch us. I only knew the look meant they didn¡¯t agree and didn¡¯t like what the adult did. It meant my kids were closing me off from something, and that fact hurt. I had to try and get them to open up.


    I dug into my inventory and pulled out three experience bars that were labeled as Hard Tacked Exp.


    ¡°You know what¡¯s great to have when you go into the woods? Snacks. You want some experience bars?¡±

 Chapter 9 - The Nest

    The forest fire from the lizard-folk did not progress any further past the Rat King¡¯s nest because of the Gamstable River blocked the path. Looking at my game map, we traveled pretty far from the city. This was a new area with new monsters that we could prepare for. With higher-level monsters and loot, the money would start rolling in. After today¡¯s quests, we could finally afford mounts and start exploring further out. Triangle was level seven, with Naiad at six, and I was finally five after the last fight. We would be fine at the edge of this new zone.


    Naiad made her way up the river stony edge to where a small beaver dam blocked the river. Water barely moved around their home, creating a lake on the other side. The creatures, six of them, patted the fire down with their tails and squirted water from their mouths.


    Their water filled puffed-up cheeks reminded me of hamsters. The animal properties corrected me on their species.


    >>><<<


    [Level 6 Dam Rodents (common)


    Description: The first line of defense against forest fires. The shaggy rodents are normally fine taking a beating, but if rubbed the wrong way, they are known to squirt water at their aggressors.


    Natural Predator: Lizard-folk


    Food Source: Any vegetation it can chomp and chop with its teeth.]


    >>><<<


    The dam rodents grunted at Naiad as she approached. She summoned a bucket from her inventory and came over to help with the last remaining flames near their den. Triangle giggled and did the same thing. Within his first bucket of tossing water, it missed the fire and hit me.


    I laughed at feeling the bitter cold, muddy water splash on me. It¡¯s less annoying in a video game than in real life. Laundry isn¡¯t a pain here. In fact, it''s simple.


    ¡°Splash attack!¡± I grabbed Triangle and jumped into the lake with him in my arms.


    Triangle protested through giggles and splashed back at me. His vicious attack weighed my hair down. The water dripped from my eyebrows and onto my cheeks as I tried to counter with my water slapping abilities. The hat fell into the water. He rushed to grab it before my second attack hit, but it was too late. With a large wave, his red hair, designed to match mine, got drenched.


    ¡°Victory!¡± I cheered and raised my hands up.


    An odd grunting sound called out to us. I paused my next attack, and Triangle took advantage of my weakened defense. Naiad waved her hands to block the dam rodents from seeing us.


    [Guild Chat]


    [Naiad: They got mad the moment you got in the lake. Get out.]


    I didn¡¯t ask questions and waded out of the water to the shore, while carrying a soaking wet Triangle in my arms. He finished reading the guild chat message as I stepped on muddy land and put him down.


    ¡°Aw,¡± He whispered, before running over to the dam rodents. ¡°Sorry for your lake.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ yeah. Sorry for jumping in without asking.¡± I followed Triangle¡¯s lead.


    The dam rodents spat out water at both of us. They smacked their tails in the muddy and rocky ground before going back to fire patrol duty near their home. One rodent stayed to talk with Naiad near the beaver dam that made a bridge across the lake. I counted to three to give her a chance to wrap up whatever it was, waiting before sending her a message.


    [Guild Chat]


    [Boulder: Do they deal with your quest?]


    [Naiad: ¡­]


    [Naiad: No.]


    The game clock stated it was fifteen minutes before bedtime routine. They only had time to finish her one class quest. Not whatever this new quest with the dam rodents would be. These tempting side quests caused us to stay in a low-level town for so many weeks. Any player with actual skills would level up and move on to the next better town. Only my family dragged their feet on doing grinding quests while the rest of the Shrimp Guild, CheezWiz and his friends, leveled up.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I grabbed Naiad¡¯s hand, dragging her away from the beavers. I carefully crossed the beaver dam while Naiad squirmed with my hold.


    "Hey, I was talking with them," she complained, a sharp edge to her tone.


    ¡°I really want us to get your quest done tonight. Maybe later you can grab their quest.¡± I explained. ¡°Triangle, let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Always later.¡± Mumbled Naiad, but loud enough that I heard her.


    ¡°But I wanted to know how we could save the dam,¡± Triangle whined. ¡°They¡¯re cute. Do you think I can have one as a pet?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I replied. The question reminded me of the acherfish he caught earlier. ¡°How are you keeping Goldy alive in your inventory?¡±


    ¡°I bought a pet tank!¡±


    ¡°Aquarium.¡± Naiad taught. ¡°I showed him how he could purchase a portable pet carrier, one specific for fish.¡±


    My eyebrows crossed with confusion. When did they do that? A player couldn¡¯t just buy anything on the go, they had to do it at a shop.


    We finally crossed the river and loosened my hold on Naiad. She sighed and looked back at the rodents running around on the other side.


    The ash from the forest fire had stretched all the way over to this side of the river across the breeze. It blended in with the grass and flowers of the field. There were fewer trees here. It is likely because of the efforts of the dam rodents. They forced a prairie on this side of the river, the game named Peaceful Prairie. Multiple stumps still stuck out in the tall grass. The wind created wave effects on the green field dotted with blues, whites, and yellows of the wild flowers, forcing the ash to settle below the life. Even with trickles of the fire still happening, it stalled on the other side of the river. With how intense the wind was, the fire could¡¯ve hopped over.


    But Seconds-Over coded it in to stop there.


    All powerful engine, but limiting when it wanted to. Unless the dam rodents were better than I thought at their jobs. I doubt the rodents were at every salamander or dragon location in the game to stop all the fires they created.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    A safeguard in the game stopped the world from being destroyed by forest fires. The long willow trees were easy pickings of the area. A tall evergreen, its needles casting a dark shadow on the dry, brittle grass below, stood out starkly, a small cairn of stones marking its base. Trees, and more trees. There had to be something important enough here or nearby to make the game stop the fire, but nothing stood out to me.


    Triangle took off running and chased bugs around with his bare hands. He only stopped for a moment to collect flowers before running off a surprised pollinator bug.


    Naiad took a deep breath and stretched a hand out over the tops of the grass. She called out to her brother. ¡°Triangle! Let¡¯s see who can find the oldest stump!¡±


    The kids took off checking out each stump. Distracted again from our main purpose. It frustrated me how often I had to keep them focused.


    ¡°Hold up!¡± I shouted. ¡°Naiad, is this where your quest is?¡±


    She grumbled as her eyes darted around. The frown on her face grew for a moment before her tight up fists let go. She looked off at the evergreen tree and pointed. ¡°Yes. I have to scout and observe for a bit.¡±


    ¡°A bit? No exact time? What are you looking for?¡± I grilled her for the truth. She had said something else earlier.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she snipped. ¡°I¡¯m on the quest to gather and hunt. Maybe I¡¯m supposed to gather or hunt a monster here.¡±


    "Nothing in your notes at all?" I said, agitation building in my throat.


    Elaine was the master note taker. It¡¯s how she excelled in school and never needed my help with homework. I only had to do the typical parent job of nagging to make sure she got it done. Here I was in a video game, nagging she did her work again.


    Naiad crossed her arms and turned away. ¡°Would you believe me if I said no?¡±


    I bit my cheek to stop myself. I once said those words to my mom. A saying to cover up my lies. Naiad was hiding something. ¡°Sorry for pushing so much. Want to look around together?¡± I apologized.


    She said nothing as she pulled out a bug catcher net and swept the tall grass.


    I changed the subject. ¡°How¡¯s school going? Still hanging out with Amy?¡±


    ¡°Fine and yeah.¡±


    ¡°Are you being bullied? Or is something wrong?¡± I dove straight for the dangerous subjects. I didn¡¯t want a monster to show up and interrupt our conversation.


    ¡°No.¡± she said as she swatted and picked through her net and stored a few bugs.


    ¡°Learn anything cool?¡± I continued.


    ¡°I learned x can be in math!¡± Triangle chimed.


    I gave him the thumbs up. He wasn¡¯t the one I was trying to get to talk right now. Naiad did not want this conversation. I had to push if I wanted to keep a relationship with my kids. She didn¡¯t seem to lie about bullying, but there was something wrong. The silence grew as I thought of a better question to ask.


    Naiad broke the silence. ¡°I was reading about how there are various plants and mushrooms that you can eat in the wild. It¡¯s interesting that we can find food outside of the grocery store.¡±


    I hated mushrooms, but if it meant she would talk to me, I would gobble them up. ¡°Do you want to look for mushrooms now?¡±


    ¡°Not sure what this game has to offer. Or what¡¯s safe.¡± She explained, still avoiding eye contact.


    ¡°Can ask the locals or look for a book in town. Or we can try eating some and find out.¡± I joked.


    She laughed, ¡°I know you like eating food poisoning every day, but I don¡¯t.¡±


    I chuckled back, glad I pushed past the awkward lying moment. She wasn¡¯t ready to open up to me and I didn¡¯t get why. What did a parent do when your child lied and it wasn¡¯t about taking the last cookie out of a cookie jar?


    I kept the conversation going. ¡°Yeah. I would rather us not die either in this game. But we can scavenge the area for berries.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I need to pick a mushroom¡­¡±


    Triangle ran over with long stemmed, white and yellow flowers tucked into his arms. He dropped them the moment he saw Naiad¡¯s net and peeked in. ¡°Can Goldy eat that one?¡±


    ¡°He must eat all of them if he wants a dessert later.¡± Naiad said in a serious, lower, adult tone.


    It only made Triangle laugh more. They both snorted as Goldy appeared and sucked up the bugs. The fish¡¯s properties had changed.


    >>><<<


    [Level 2 Goldy, the Acherfish (common)


    Description: Known for a never-ending appetite. It will try to eat anything living that will fit in its mouth.


    Natural Predator: Most bigger fish.]


    >>><<<


    I smiled at seeing the kids, but I wished I had hushed Triangle. Naiad mentioned a mushroom. I should start helping her look.


    I snatched a small cricket nearby and gently pinched it in my palm, holding it out to the acherfish. The suction was strong, and it ripped the cricket from my hand. I shook my hand clean, looking for dead logs hiding in the grass.


    Triangle shoved Goldy into my arms suddenly. The fish was still wet, like my clothes. Triangle took the bug net, ran off, and yelled. ¡°I¡¯m going to get more! Get him to level three!¡±


    He ran to the other side of the glade, humming loudly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go any further in case there are mobs in the woods! And don¡¯t grab another quest!¡± I shouted. We had to finish Naiad¡¯s quest.


    Naiad picked up the flowers Triangle had dropped and weaved them into a circlet. A flower broke off and she put it behind her ear, looking like a novice druid. Not their damage dealer rogue.


    ¡°Do you have a timer going or any hint of what to look for after the bugs, or what was it? A mushroom?¡± I asked.


    Standing on top of a stump, with a gulping fish in hand, I could see that none of the stumps here had mushrooms on top. This was a wide-open area with a bunch of stumps to hop on. If a boss appeared here, it would be a fun fight.


    ¡°Just a bit longer.¡± She said.


    ¡°What is it you need? Give me more information? Didn¡¯t you need mushrooms?¡± I repeated the words again, pointing Goldy at her, just a nibble to drag the truth from her.


    Naiad flopped down on her back, the tall grass burying her. ¡°I¡¯m looking for my connection. Taking it slow and enjoying the world.¡±


    I rolled my eyes, annoyed at how she wouldn¡¯t answer. ¡°How poetic. Did it say anything else?¡±


    She started on another flower crown, this one with more grass.


    My patience was done. In a stern voice I said, ¡°We need to be open in order-¡°


    Triangle came giggling in and cut me off. He dumped a bug net full of mushrooms on her lap.


    ¡°Trade! I want this!¡± He grabbed the completed floral crown and took off with it.


    ¡°Hey! That¡¯s mine!¡± Naiad complained. She got up to chase after him, ditching the mushrooms.


    Guess she didn¡¯t need them for the quest. I grumbled and dug through the bag to see three different mushrooms. The bulbous one puffed out spores in my direction just as I touched it.


    >>><<<


    [New Achievement! Lucky you! You¡¯ve inhaled the spores of the Helitical Shroom and received a buff of luck. What strength will it hold? 5% boost to your luck engagements and rolls everywhere.]


    >>><<<


    Luck buff? I didn¡¯t realize that there was a stat for that. I looked at my fortitude, reflex, and will. They were still the same numbers. I stashed the mushrooms into my inventory and wanted to look out for more of them to see if the buff could stack. Triangle¡¯s gloves had increased gathered resources, so maybe this helped with that.


    Triangle giggles came from further away. I looked and saw him toss a bomb by the giant evergreen tree.


    ¡°Triangle!¡± I barked at him.


    I didn¡¯t have any red mobs on my map. Just as my first sprinting step hit the ground, the smoke bomb bloomed. Triangle¡¯s laugh continued as he rushed into the cloud.


    ¡°You can¡¯t catch me!¡± He taunted back.


    His harmless fun scared me, but doing it would be perfect while we waited for Naiad to finally complete her quest.


    I called out to him, ¡°Oh, when I get you, I¡¯m going to throw you in the river.¡±


    Triangle screamed. I couldn¡¯t see him in the smoke. It was his fun scream, not the scared one. When the smoke bomb disappeared, all that remained was a tower of stones topped with the floral crown.


    ¡°Triangle!¡± Naiad and I shouted.


    She yanked the crown off the stones, tipping the top two over as she ran behind the tree looking for him. I went the other way and met her eyes immediately. Looking into the forest, it felt darker than the Clingeo Grove did. This was further from home, across a river, with mobs at Naiad¡¯s level. The shadows of the trees made me dart around looking for that blasted red hat of Triangle¡¯s. Any mobs we met would be at least above my level, and he didn¡¯t have a weapon.


    ¡°Stop hiding!¡± I shouted. Triangle¡¯s blue dot vanished off the map. ¡°Goldy needs back in her tank.¡± I was trying any form of manipulation to come back, and I squeezed his pet fish tighter.


    Nothing.


    That¡¯s it. I was going to force Naiad to reveal her quest and get us to move on. No more games. I couldn¡¯t sit around and wait any more than Triangle could.


    A loud rumbling came from the evergreen, and the roots rose out of the ground next to the glade. An organ played and the first words came through were Latin. My interface flashed yellow and white stripes around the edges of my vision in a beat to the song. My heart raced at realizing what it all meant.


    A boss battle started.

 Chapter 10 - Who Started It

    ¡°We just had a boss fight!¡± I shouted at the kids. ¡°Who triggered it?¡±


    Neither of the kids answered as the ground shook so hard pine needles fell on top of my head. Naiad covered her hair, the flower crown broken and dangling. I grabbed it, remembering the stones stacked by the large tree.


    ¡°Put it back!¡± I ordered. She had to undo whatever she did to trigger this fight.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything.¡± She countered.


    ¡°Is this part of your quest?¡± My raised voice cracked under the adrenaline pumping through me.


    Before she answered, antlers crackled and formed out of the bark of the evergreen right by us. A crooked nose chiseled its way out of the tree¡¯s trunk. The nose grew into the angular head where the antlers connected. Bloody red moss draped down from the four arms as the creature pushed its bipedal body out of the tree. Jagged and sharp points, like pasted-on bark, covered its body while claws stuck off each limb. The angular face opened its pitch-black eyes that did not even reflect the daylight.


    >>><<<


    [Level 12 Boss: Lady Branchelot! Type: Ent (mythical)


    Description: The guardian of this forest, protector of all plants.


    It accepts all souls and bodies to feed its allies.]


    >>><<<


    I yanked Naiad¡¯s arm as the boss gave chase. The Shrimp Guild did not have a proper tank.


    I didn¡¯t have a shield. I had a fish in my arms.


    ¡°We need to go back and restock to fight!¡± I called out, hoping Triangle heard me.


    We should¡¯ve done it instead of diving further in. The thrill of exploring a new zone and battling unfamiliar monsters had distracted me completely.


    I stumbled and let go of Naiad and Goldy to catch myself. My hand skidded on the ground, and roots lashed out at me to ensnare my hand. It forced me to a stop with a twisting pain in my wrist.


    A level twelve boss had my pitifully small level six arm by its mere roots. I hacked at the ground with my axe and the creepy white tendrils reached up at my arm and my legs. I got up as fast as I could and rubbed off any roots that crawled along my clothes as if they were millipedes.


    My veteran gaming experience shouted at me to turn and run away, across the dam rodent¡¯s bridge, and get the heck out of the boss zone as fast as possible.


    Easy, if it was only me.


    One kid stood near me, the other was missing.


    We had to stick together to find Triangle.


    Lady Branchelot transformed out of the shadow of the evergreen tree. All four of her limbs smashed down on the ground, shaking it. Behind the boss in the woods, a little gnome stumbled to the ground with a cry, squeezing tight the fish I dropped earlier.


    Naiad pulled her bow out and aimed at the arm of Lady Branchelot¡¯s that reached for Triangle. This close, it was a solid, powerful hit as the arrow imbedded into the bark covered limb.


    The ent didn¡¯t even flinch at the damage. It snatched up Triangle, its claws stretching long and tightening around the gnome. Triangle squirmed to get out of its grasp and cried, but only Goldy dropped to the ground.


    ¡°Dad!¡± He cried.


    It was not the scream of joy playing a game, but of pure fear.


    ¡°Here!¡± I shouted back. But I needed to be there by him, destroying the guardian of the forest.


    A torch appeared in my hand from my inventory. Running forward, I swung at the roots reaching with the fire, and hacked at branches that reached for me. Controlled by the ent or not, they were in the way of me and my child.


    A five-minute timer counted down on the torch until it would extinguish.


    Jeez, I need a fire spell.


    An arrow zipped by my ear and hit the head of ent. A speck of health lowered, but it wasn¡¯t enough. Naiad needed better arrows and more strength.


    One branchy limb of the boss held Triangle, tightening its claws around his small character.


    ¡°Let go!¡± I ordered, hitting the arm, but keeping a distance from hitting Triangle.


    Triangle¡¯s health lowered with each passing second the monster held him. His screams scared me so much, I had to remind myself it was game; he wasn¡¯t getting truly hurt. But they were still real screams.


    Another dagger hacked at the beast¡¯s back. Naiad gripped the handle with one hand and held the monster¡¯s stomach with another.


    ¡°No!¡± I screamed at her as I hacked again at the arm. ¡°Stay back and use fire!¡±


    Lady Branchelot kicked at my feet. Claws reached to scratch at my chest. Each swipe taking a chunk of my health. I danced further back while looking up at Triangle and trying to watch for roots underfoot.


    Left, right, and straight at my face, the three clawed arms came. The small level seven gnome didn''t hinder Lady Branchelot''s assault.


    Naiad didn¡¯t argue or listen to me. I was too busy dancing into the glade to stop her. She leaped onto the limb that was wrapped around her brother and stabbed over and over into the ent. I couldn¡¯t attack with Naiad there on the arm.


    My movement slowed as I entered the grass of the glade. It felt like running through water. The clawed attacks switched between me and Naiad. She clambered around, failing to avoid the oncoming hits. Only determined to free Triangle.


    The sound of branches snapping filled the air. With a sinister cackle, the creature observed the minor damage to its arm while continuing to hurt Triangle. A bit of bark fell off the arm, exposing the cream fresh raw wood exposed underneath.


    My heel kicked into the back of a stump. I stepped up on it, and jumped off to get onto the ent, swinging the torch at the monster.


    Everyone screamed.


    Naiad in frustration as it took three stabs on the monster to lower its health. Triangle in fear and panic as his own health lowered below a third.


    ¡°Fight me!¡± I grunted as I swung the torch at its head.


    Lady Branchelot noticed the flames of the torches as they slammed into her face.


    The monster was a good meter taller than me and my jumping momentum continued as I slammed into its lean body to knock it over. The smell of dirt and crushed pine surrounded me. My arms tangled with Lady Branchelot¡¯s and we fought against each other. I had the upper ground. While kneeling on it, I smashed the torch at its body again. Each hit lowering its health more than my axe did.


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    It''s weak to fire.


    Three of its limbs reached up at me, trapping me into a birdcage. Leaving only one open area, the limb lying on the ground where Triangle was. I tumbled toward him, finally having him in my reach. His health turned yellow, and he didn¡¯t move as I sat on the elbow of the boss.


    Lady Branchelot didn¡¯t care that I was there. The evil cackle escaped from a jagged part on its face that could only be a mouth.


    ¡°Let go!¡± My words fell on dull ears.


    My attacks lacked any sharpness or damage. The monster still had eighty-five percent of its health. Naiad stabbed at any part of the body she could hit. The ent ignored her.


    I gave her instructions. ¡°Use a healing scroll on Triang-oof¡±


    The monster¡¯s claws pierced into my shoulder and knocked me down next to Triangle.


    The distraction cost me my health.


    The ground shook again as I heaved to stay on top of the arm, getting sliced by its claws, and slowing the damage done to my son. Out of the ground sprouted thin, white, young roots. They latched onto the ent instead of me.


    With only two minutes left on my torch, I aimed at its head again.


    The ent hissed, ¡°You smell of death and ash.¡±


    I heard and felt the horrifying voice as the words vibrated off its chest. Leaves sprouted off its shoulders and covered the area on the ent¡¯s face that I burned earlier. Its health is rising back to ninety percent.


    The trees nearby rustled and its voice came again.


    ¡°You shall pay for what you¡¯ve done,¡± it told me.


    Triangle¡¯s health turned red as it entered the last five percent.


    Naiad finally listened and stopped using her dagger. A healing scroll appeared in her hands, and she tore it to restore all of Triangle¡¯s hit points, her own, and half of mine.


    Because of her attacks, and tearing the spell, she became rooted in the spot by the living roots. The white roots, cold and clammy, snaked around her body, constricting her with a muddy grip. She screamed, scrambling to find her knife.


    I had to get them both out of here. We had never trained for fights like this.


    ¡°No! No! No!¡± I screamed as I waved the torch over toward Naiad, chasing the roots away from her.


    A clawed hand stabbed again at my distracted self. My body doubled over and rolled off as it tried to catch its breath from the shock of pain.


    Naiad was free and yanked the axe out of my hand to hack at the arm holding Triangle. He had full health.


    The monster turned to look at her and I coughed out, ¡°You¡¯re mine.¡±


    Naiad sliced down again on the arm.


    It broke with a crack. Triangle and the arm flopped on the ground. Lady Branchelot¡¯s health dropped.


    The ent let out a wail that sounded as if wood was going through a saw machine. It shoved me off and backed up, twisting its head in jerking, creaking motions as it check out its surroundings.


    I really wish I had a chainsaw right now instead of a torch and nothing. Naiad still held onto my axe. I dragged another torch from the inventory as my second weapon.


    Claws of the ent filled my sight as it launched back at me with level twelve speed.


    ¡°Crap!¡± I cried in surprise, but fear didn''t take me. I put my hands up to block, planning to grab its antlers.


    Before I reacted, a fire arrow landed on the moss of the ent¡¯s hand and crackled up along the beast, saving me.


    Naiad stood a few feet back, face hard set as she pulled back another shot.


    I was afraid for my daughter. As a ranger, she was too close to her target.


    The ent chased after her, and she ran through the woods. She had more hit points than Triangle and acted as bait. I squatted next to the half-gnome and yanked the roots and limb that wrapped around his small frame, relieved to see he was alive and safe.


    Triangle reached out for a hug, but I pushed back, pointing to the evergreen tree. ¡°Place a timed bomb there and get further into the glade.¡±


    The gnome froze on the spot, head shaking.


    I reached into Triangle¡¯s fanny pack, searching for one. I wanted to kill this boss. ¡°Then give it to me and run.¡±


    A bomb appeared with a thirty-second timer from his inventory into my hands. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to start it now!¡±


    ¡°Sorry!¡± Triangle cried, red in the face, but his health was still full.


    ¡°Just go!¡± I shouted, hoping the ent heard me.


    I threw the bomb directly under the evergreen. It bounced off the naked trunk of the tree. Its flesh exposed from where Lady Branchelot pulled herself from it.


    [Guild Chat]


    [Boulder: Lead it back to the evergreen. There¡¯s a bomb under it.]


    ¡°Seriously! Just shout!¡± Naiad cried. Her pink hair and shouting were too obvious in the woods, making it easy for me to spot her.


    Lady Branchelot found her, too. ¡°You must die. To pay the debt that is due: your life force.¡±


    The ent created an echo cry that made even the trees wave to the sound. Its antlers moved in and out with the spell.


    ¡°It¡¯s calling reinforcements! Group up!¡± I explained.


    I rather we use the bomb to hurt the guardian. But we had to prepare for what was coming. I had an endless inventory, and he couldn¡¯t find anything useful to defend us. Triangle ran out to the field and let out a scream as the dam rodents attacked him with water. Naiad ran under the evergreen tree and toward me.


    Twelve seconds remained on the bomb. She was moving too fast for the plan to work.


    But not fast enough to get away from the new enemies. All sorts of small critters ran down and out of the forest, hunting her. Rabbits, foxes, and even a few deer chased after her.


    A few curse words ran through my mind as I charged toward Naiad and a counting down bomb with no shield or weapon to help.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a game!¡± I said, trying to comfort her.


    The words for me too as I rushed forward with only one working torch. If only I wasn¡¯t a tank and had real sharp weapons. ¡°Run past me and help your brother.¡±


    She finally listened to me.


    Two meters away from the tree, I stopped, seeing the timer on the bomb. The deer changed direction to come at me as the closer target now. Chipmunks climbed over Naiad as she yanked them and threw them away as she passed by me. I braced myself and grabbed the antlers of a buck. The force shoved me backward, my heels dug into the ground. My flaming torch fell to the grasses. Now I finally had a meat shield.


    Two seconds left, and the ent ran under the shade of the evergreen.


    ¡°Over here Woody!¡± I called for its attention to delay it.


    The timer hit zero.


    The shouts and explosions all blurred together. Pine needles and dirt shards flew up as the ground shook. Bark flew and my ears rattled.


    The boss¡¯s health dropped below half and the deer in front of me kicked to get away, but it was too weak compared to me after the bomb explosion. I still had more than half my health. I punched to kill the deer and get the experience.


    ¡°Everyone okay?¡± I called out, but didn¡¯t turn around to check on the Shrimp Guild.


    A quick glance at the nearby guild stat information showed the kids still lived. They should be able to handle a few forest critters while I took care of the bigger prey.


    Lady Branchelot scraped at the evergreen tree, its claws merged and wrapped around the trunk, absorbing it. Tick by tick, her health returned.


    ¡°No, you don¡¯t!¡± I charged and tackled her like a defensive lineman.


    My ears were still ringing, but I felt the vibrating scream the ent made as I hit it with my fists. The ent hardly moved, still attached to the evergreen, trying to recover. A second arm snapped, weakened by the bomb, but Lady Branchelot still held on with its remaining two limbs. The boss¡¯s health recovery slowed.


    Hit over hit, I smashed at Lady Branchelot for what it did to my family. Its jaw splintered, making the health drop and stop regenerating, but still not at zero. I grabbed a nearby rock, and smashed down on the antlers of the ent, to disarm her from impaling me as it thrashed about.


    A limb broke free of the evergreen, its claws reached for my neck.


    In its last percentage of health, it summoned the roots again. Only a few popped out of the ground, smaller and younger than the ones before. They tickled at my ankles, trying to make me stop.


    A fire arrow smashed into the skull, but wasn¡¯t enough to kill it. It took one last hit from my stone to finish it and grant those nearby a new achievement. The music for the boss crescendo and faded out as the monster fighting in the background still continued. It was too distracting and went into my features to turn off the music effects of the game.


    Everyone ignored the achievements to focus on the remaining monsters fighting. The dam rodents drenched both Naiad and Triangle. Triangle countered with holding Goldy in his hands and squirting them back. I had no clue how both the small gnome and the fish survived, but because they did, it made the glory and excitement of this battle so much more. I laughed as I hit the next woodland mob with my bare hands while I searched for my axe and monitored the kids'' fighting.


    Naiad did the actual damage to the remaining monsters. She was down to three arrows fighting the last few dam rodents, but she would be fine with her knife. She had leveled twice since coming here. Triangle only leveled once. I leveled three times.


    I wanted to do this again. Have more of these epic fights. It was like back in Globe of Battlecraft all over again with epic raids and boss fights. I could easily train Naiad and Triangle to up our support and damage output.


    This was the most leveling we¡¯ve ever done in a single day. We should¡¯ve left Fanamel sooner. We had to go back now to restock, and I would grab myself some axes to increase our damage output.


    ¡°Great job everyone. We did it. Let¡¯s regroup in town. Skip your announcements until then.¡± I instructed. ¡°We can¡¯t afford any more one off distractions. We were lucky to survive this.¡±


    >>><<<


    [You have Unlocked a Legendary Quest


    Root and Seeds of the Problem


    Description: You¡¯ve slain a guardian of a god, causing a disruption in the balance of their worlds. Not that the gods are known for their balanced number of blessings and curses.


    Reward: Title and abilities for Jaguar of Chiliam


    Time remaining: 9 days 23 hours 54 minutes]


    >>><<<