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 while in my inventory 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?”

  “You know I love fish, and I don’t want to miss out on feeding this giant one.”

  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 smidge of the percentage was missing.

  Jeez. If a fish on dry land could lower Triangle’s health that easily, then we really needed to look for better gear for him soon. Until then, we would protect him as we traveled in the woods. The fish vanished back into Triangle’s inventory, and he continued to lie on the ground to watch the clouds.

  “Hey, I thought you were excited to get out and play in the woods? What’s with the lying around?”

  “It’s cozy,” he uttered back.

  Kids can flop about anywhere but at bedtime when they’re six. It was time to remind the kids of the goal we all wanted. Squatting down to Naiad’s height and putting a hand on her shoulder and pointing to Triangle, I spoke in a coach’s voice. “Alright, shrimplets, it’s time for our daily meeting. It’s been a week since we had one, so listen up. We all now have class quests holding us back from exploring other continents. But that won’t stop us from exploring this one. Naiad needs to do some tracking, and I've got an investigation to check out by the eastern wall of the city. So let’s get out there and have some fun, maybe even do a few fights.”

  Triangle perked up. “Why can’t we explore other continents? I want to see some slithers and narwhals.”

  “Slithers?” I looked to Naiad for an answer, who rubbed her hands together but said nothing else. “Maybe there are some in the woods.”

  “Yay!” Naiad chimed in with me.

  “What are the specifics of your quest?” I asked her.

  “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. Her eyes never twitched or glazed over to pull up the system menu or her notes. She was always sharp in keeping track of everything. That was a trait from Beth and one I was proud she knew how to use.

  “The woods are along the wall, so we can do your quest and mine in one go,” I pulled up our shared map and marked the nearest gate out of the eastern wall and circled the forest.

  Triangle pointed at himself. “What about my quest?”

  I shrugged. “If you want to keep doing the bombs, maybe we can find some mobs out there, but keep it to the snappers or smoke bombs!”

  “Or Goldy!” he added.

  With smiles on all our faces, I put my hand out and both kids stacked theirs on top of mine. “Shrimplets after three. One. Two. Three. Shrimplets!”

  “Shrimps!” Triangle cheered.

  “Are yummy!” Naiad rebelled against the chant.

  We weren’t in perfect unison, but we were still a family.

  “Let’s go find you a lizard,” Naiad nudged her brother before dashing down the street to the marker I left. “And if I win to the gate, I’m taking Duala for the week.”

  Her words put fire under Triangle’s legs as he sprinted after her. No one, not even Beth, could take his stuffed crocodile from his room.

  Triangle 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 Duala is mine.”

  She jogged lightly to give the shorter legs of Triangle a chance to compete. Her way of interacting with guild members proved more successful than mine. We should’ve left the city sooner with how excited they were for their class quests. 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 third cousin.

  “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 weren’t holding her brother. She lost horribly, pretending to be blocked by a group of NPCs and 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 teams 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. Onetime 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. The stat boost 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.

  “Stop looking at the time,” I mumbled to myself. “It’s a game, not a race to the end.”

  “But we did race,” Triangle responded above my shoulders.

  Hearing his childish response calmed my nerves. “You’re right. But we don’t always need to rush into things.”

  I looked at the goal in front of me and gave myself another personal quest.

  ***

  Quest: Play with the kids, not for the endgame content.

  ***

  Triangle tapped away at an invisible screen in front of him, poking at my head instead. “Um, Dad, can I be here with you?”

  >>><<<

  [System: You are the guardian of this child. Do you grant permission for them to leave or require an escort?]

  >>><<<

  It hurt my pride to have a game offer an escort. “I grant him permission to come with me. No escort is required.” I announced. The guards that protected the city shifted with my choice and moved out of the way for us.

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

  “Thanks! Put me down.”

  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.

  Or there was a monster waiting to pounce on an unsuspecting rogue and gnome who were looking for animal tracks.

  I clapped my hands together to get the kids’ attention and to 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.”

  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 me as an argument about how long they spent on my part of the game versus anyone else’s.

  “You finished your class quest the last time you were on. It was why you were on the docks. Search the forest for items you can make with your bombs. Equip your gloves, too. They’ll help you with gathering.”

  The gloves boosted his chances 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.”

  A weird bird cawed out in the distance, and far away bushes rustled. “Wait, I need you both to stay near me. We don’t know what level the monsters are around here. We should find something low-level to practice on too.”

  Triangle patted his fanny pack. “I’m ready.”

  “No bombs,” Naiad told him. “Keep it snapper or smaller.”

  Through a disgruntled mumble, he agreed and followed us. I didn’t want us going too deep into the woods yet until we actually fought something. Were I alone, I’d flee the city, testing how far I’d go before meeting a one-shot mob. Here, I was afraid of even the birds snatching my kids.

  The threat didn’t appear above us, but at our ankles. Five rats with beady red eyes hissed at us. The game must’ve sensed our fighting spirit.

  >>><<<

  [Level 2 Rat minion. Type: Rat (common)

  Description: This simple rat is just one grade above a standard mouse. Both are looking for a crumb of food, and your toes look delicious.]

  >>><<<

  “Everyone focus on one, and help the others as you can,” I instructed the kids. “Woot! Let’s go.”

  It was a tiny pack of rodents and the start of this new monster-fighting adventure. The creatures were pitiful enough that we wouldn’t need my shield, so I pulled out my axe to fight.

  Naiad pulled out her bow to practice shooting at the small mobile targets. The arrow hit the tail, pinning the rat.

  “Missed,” she hissed.

  “I got it!” Triangle chimed and jingled a silver bell in his hands.

  I was close enough I could smack the jingle bomb down, and cause us to explode, or let him finish his throw and pray my shield on my back would hold.

  “Triangle!” screamed Naiad and I together.

  ***

  New personal quest: Level up Triangle’s Impulse Control

  Failure will cause a lot of problems.

  ***

  “Oh, right,” Triangle defeated his impulse and swapped out for snappers.

  The snappers landed on the gray creatures, popping instantly and sending a few flying in the air right in front of my face. Instinctively, I swung my axe at the easy targets, slicing them in half. Naiad shot at the few that remained alive on the ground. We finished with no one in the Shrimp Guild getting hurt.

  “Great job, everyone,” I told them. “We definitely can handle stronger mobs.”

  “I didn’t even need to use my big bombs.” Triangle held one out for us to see the silver gleam.

  Naiad backed away faster than I did. “Good, put it away,” she told him.

  Triangle was right that if we needed a lot of damage suddenly, he would be a superb source. His throwing arm needed to be strengthened because his snappers barely landed past my reach earlier.

  “Ready to head to the wall?” I asked the kids while pointing toward it.

  “Yup!” they agreed, both of them skipping with energy from the rat fight.

  We were going to hunt more, larger monsters later once I got that shield. I wanted our group to ride this high and have it happen with larger, riskier monsters. The greater the risk, the greater the reward.

  All three of us got the notification of entering the Clingeo Grove as we got further into the thicker part of the forest. Both Naiad and Triangle took off into the darkest shadows right away, as if to make me lose sight of them. Again, I had to remind them to stay near. They stepped on all the sticks to notify every monster in the area, but nothing fell for the bait, even as Triangle started using a stick to whack at every bush. If a bug popped out, he let Goldy gobble it up with [Vacuum].

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

  “Wait for your 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. Help me look for clues.”

  They were going to help as much as they did with chores. Their blue guild icon markers were fading into my fog of war on the map as they moved along the wall. We barely explored the forest, and in this game, your map only filled out as you explored. Which meant we had nothing about this area.

  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 about the kids than here.

  “They’re okay. We dealt with two monsters easily.” I told myself out loud, but still struggled to believe it as my pace picked up and I couldn’t move the underbrush aside fast enough.

  Naiad took off to catch up with her brother, both heading further east. I ran to catch up, hearing their giggles fade away into the rest of the forest noise, and shortly after, their dots on the map did too.

  All that greeted me through the trees was a giant gray wall covered with growing vines.

  I inhaled sharply and prevented myself from calling out their names. I didn’t need to alert every monster of two free kid meals. “Let the kids play the game and explore it on their own,” I reminded myself.

  [Team Chat]

  [Boulder: You two alright?]

  [Naiad: Yup.]

  [Triangle: :P]

  I did my parental duty, and now it was time for my gaming fun and to finish my quest. Being next to the eastern wall of the city did not instantly spawn clues or glowing arrows. The quest information wasn’t helpful either.

  >>><<<

  [Quest: Stop those Hooligans! (Common)

  Description: Mrs. Crockery wants you to put a stop to the hooligans who are throwing rocks at her store.]

  >>><<<

  I tugged on the green vines on the wall hoping for hidden handholds that thieves would take, but revealed nothing.

  “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. “I need to take better notes,” I spoke out loud as if I was streaming the game online.

  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 the 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 had come, 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. At least they weren’t screaming.

  [Team 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 at a higher skill 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.

  Beth would remind me that this was a game about being a family together, not off and doing our own things.

  “Change things up and look faster,” I said as I 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.”

  [Team 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 must have had their own trouble if 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 its 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.