Theo

  “Trina, Taemi!” I called. “You alright in there? It’s me! You can come on out!”

  “Daddy!” came a joyous cry that sounded as relieved as I felt.

  “W-we heard a roar,” Taemi called. She sounded scared. “And a gunshot! Was that you?”

  She’d heard me from down in the valley? I knew I could get loud in bear form, but it had been years since I’d had much cause to spend any time shapeshifted. I didn’t think I’d ever been so terrified as I had upon realizing the demons had returned with Trina only a quarter mile up the mountain. I had probably scared the whole mountainside.

  Fortunately, that was for the best. There had been a lot of the little fuckers down there, though something about the whole thing felt strange to me.

  “It was him,” Narae called. “Come on out. It’s safe for now.”

  Narae was a short woman in her mid-forties with her jet-black hair tied back in a ponytail. Her and her Husband’s first language was Korean, but I’d known them long enough that I barely even registered their accent anymore.

  “Mom!” Taemi shouted, and the door opened instantly.

  Taemi rushed out and grappled her mother, who hugged her back no less fiercely. Just behind her, little Trina came dashing out, and I hesitated, backing away.

  Trina was momentarily confused, but then she noticed how I looked and cringed, holding her nose.

  “Ewww! Take a bath, Daddy!” the little girl screeched.

  I sighed as I knelt at her eye level. “I plan to little one. Are you okay?”

  “There was a big roar and a bang like a firework! It was even loud in there!” she exclaimed, pointing towards the safe room.

  I chuckled. Trina was five years old, and she was an angel. She had all of her mother's best characteristics and even a few of mine. I didn’t know if I could say that with any certainty when she was only five years old, but she did seem to be easier to handle than all of our family said a baby would be.

  She’d mostly slept through the nights without waking us, she’d mostly not been a brat during the so-called terrible twos, and we hadn’t gotten any calls about problems in school since she’d started attending last year.

  That was good because after the dungeon, we’d both been wrecks.

  It was only after we’d found out Rio was pregnant that we realized neither of us were the same people we’d been a month before the breaches. Hell, Rio had returned to the dungeon out of an awful sense of survivor’s guilt, and if not for her, I probably wouldn’t have gone back at all.

  I’d seen people die down there. Yeah, it had been in the heat of a fight, but all the crazy shit that happened… It was a wonder we’d managed to raise a kid at all, let alone that she’d turn out to be a good one.

  We’d seen therapists. Gruesome horrors had happened right in front of us. I’d seen my wife thrown across a room. I’d been sliced open with a sword. I’d been stabbed with multiple daggers, and I’d just… rolled with it. I’d gotten used to it. The blood, the deaths… the instant healing with no repercussions that made it all seem safe, somehow.

  We did our best to let none of that fall on Trina, but sometimes, I thought she knew neither of us was quite… normal anymore. How, I had no idea. Maybe unexpected maturity was the power she got from being born by two classers.

  So… Trina was an angel. Even if she had been an absolute brat she still would be to me.

  Her dirty blonde hair was surprising, considering Rio’s dark hair, but her striking grey eyes were almost a mirror of her mother’s. She was the picture of a perfectly normal little girl, even though her parents were both basket cases of issues and repressed trauma.

  “We’ll keep watch, Theodore. Go wash that gunk off,” Narae said.

  Now that the crisis had passed, I felt a little guilty. I’d showed up in front of my daughter while covered with matted blood. It was only luck that she didn’t quite understand just what that smell was.

  “Narae!” came a sudden bark from outside. The glass door muffled it, but I recognized Seok’s sharp tone easily.

  Instantly on alert, both of us rose. I made eye contact with the woman, who nodded toward me and picked up Trina while guiding Taemi to the living room. I returned to the deck outside.

  The deck overlooked a cleared yard that sloped downward. That turned into a cliff somewhere beyond the treeline. It was steep enough to be unclimbable in some areas, though the various trees provided enough handholds to make it possible.

  Near the edge of the treeline I saw a man holding his hands straight up. There was a whispy blue haze around him that looked like frost. I immediately recognized Dane, and cursed that I hadn’t warned Seok and Narae about him following.

  “It’s okay, Seok. That’s just Dane. He came with me but couldn’t quite keep my pace up the mountain,” I said.

  I sighed in relief as Seok slowly turned the end of his rifle away from my best friend.

  Dane didn’t seem to have any more trouble getting out of the cave than I had, and he hadn’t run into any more demons. He was, however, significantly less enhanced than I was.

  I didn’t… look like I used to. I was shocked at the difference when I looked at old photos of myself. The boosts to strength had an impact the moment I’d placed points into the attribute, but what that meant didn’t become apparent the system was given time to work on my body.

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  I’d always been big, but that lingering body fat had been changed to reflect the increased stats. Where before I had the look of a burgeoning walrus, I now had nothing to be ashamed of. Body fat had sloughed off me, skin tightened, and muscle replaced.

  Dane, however, had only gotten one level up from the breach six years ago. As a wizard, he’d placed his points into intelligence and gotten an electricity spell. Unsurprisingly, he’d had much more trouble with the climb than I had. Even with his hands held up, he was still panting. I sympathized with him, remembering how difficult that climb had been before my levels had changed me into a mobile tank.

  Physical attributes rocked.

  “Sorry, Dane!” I called.

  “Theo! Everything okay!?” he called through heavy breaths, letting his arms sag in relief.

  “We’re fine. Get up here. It doesn’t look like they left the cave,” I called. “The girls are safe.”

  “That’s a relief!” He exclaimed before stretching out and cracking his back. “Faaaackk, I haven’t run like that in years! But guess what, man!? I got a fucking level!”

  “Good. Hope we don’t need it, but get something to shield yourself. Mana Shield or maybe that ice armor skill. Teleport could be good, too,” I said.

  “We’ve talked this to death, man. I already got Ice Veil. Teleport next, though, so I can keep up with your fatass!” he shouted.

  I barked a laugh. I wouldn’t have found that amusing years ago. I was a wall of muscle now, only edged out in size by weightlifters and the few classers who’d chosen Barbarian. Almost any hint of roundness in my middle had been converted to taut muscle.

  He slowly entered the yard and up the steps to the deck.

  “Mr. Min,” He acknowledged, and Seok nodded to him before turning his attention back toward the woods. They’d met occasionally but weren’t very close.

  “Sorry about aiming at you. I didn’t recognize you for a moment,” Seok said. He wasn’t looking at the Hispanic man, and his cheeks were slightly flushed with embarrassment. “I should have.”

  Dane shrugged. “No worries. I’m sure you’re both on edge right now. There were a lot of demons down there, man. You sure everything’s alright up here?”

  I nodded at the question. “As best I can tell. I couldn’t smell demons anywhere up here, even in bearform, and you know how good my nose is when I’m shifted.”

  “Well… shit. So what were they doing down there?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “Beats me. Best idea I can come up with is that they were setting up ambushes for anyone dumb enough to teleport into the dungeon. If that was their plan, though, where were the Booyaghs?”

  “I hate when you use that word. Can’t you just call them shamans like everyone else?”

  “Fine, the shamans then. Where were they?” I asked.

  “No idea,” he said before setting something metal on the patio table.

  I glanced at it, quirking an eyebrow.

  Leather Battlegloves

  Common

  Medium

  Armor: 2

  A strength of at least 9 is recommended to equip this weapon.

  Not metal, after all. Just some gloves that had metal spikes on the knuckles. A monk weapon, but not a very special one.

  “I grabbed up the loot you left behind. Only found two items, and this doesn’t seem all that great. I did manage to pick up this little beauty, though,” he said as he lifted his hand.

  On his first finger, I saw a shining golden ring. It looked a little tacky, but I’d never seen a ring drop before, and I’d also never seen a rare item. It glowed a pleasant yellow.

  Ring

  Rare

  Enchantments Unknown

  An intelligence of at least 13 is recommended to wear this jewelry.

  A wisdom of at least 9 is recommended to wear this jewelry.

  “Heh. No identifiers?”

  “Not that I saw,” he grumbled.

  That made five different types of items I’d seen so far. Common, Magic, Rare, Unique, and Set. Every item type except common gave off a glow of some sort, though unique ones seemed to shine like the sun.

  After I washed off all of this gunk, I was going to need to pull out my gear. I’d used bear form down in the tunnels, but if I’d been wearing my Nature’s Brow circlet, I’d have been able to use Living Woods instead. That might’ve been even better in the confined tunnel.

  It wasn’t like I could wear a wooden circlet in day to day life, though. Also, Trina had a habit of stealing the thing. Rio too, now that I thought about it.

  I sighed. “Well, I guess we’ll find one sooner or later. You’ve still got that orb somewhere, right? Might be good for you to have that.”

  He nodded. “Sitting at work on my desk. The thing is stupid cool. It just hovers in midair!”

  I’d found an orb that seemed tailored to Wizards. They could hold it in one hand and channel spells through it. I could do that too, but a bit more intelligence wasn’t nearly as useful to me as my mace or better yet, a gun.

  The mace did have the added benefit of glowing, which would light up the dank tunnels of the dungeon, but I’d still rather be as far away from my enemies as I could be. So, a mace in my right hand and a gun in my left… if only I were ambidextrous.

  “I’m torn between identifying this and that staff you found. It was a Set item. I’d rather have that than this gaudy thing,” he said.

  “If the demons are back, there should be loads of identifiers,” I shrugged before examining the gloves. “As for these… I guess they just go in the junk stack. I keep feeling like there will be a use for all these trash items someday, but I haven’t found one yet. I guess we could sell them at a pawn shop?”

  Dane shrugged.

  I sighed and turned back toward the house. “Mind watching things with Seok while I go get cleaned up? I’m sure the cops or feds or someone will be here soon, and we can relax when they do. That’s Rio’s job. Till then, we’ve gotta get ready.”

  He nodded, and I was about to turn back toward the house when Seok held out his hand.

  “Please, allow me? I have rarely had the chance to use this skill,” he said.

  I nodded. “I don’t think I’m injured enough for it to have much effect. Thanks, though.”

  He held out his hand, and a glowing white light enveloped me. It invigorated me, but I didn’t notice any significant wounds healing. No… wait. A paper cut I’d gotten before all of this had started between my knuckles was gone.

  And… most of the blood that I’d been covered in had evaporated as a side effect. I still needed to shower, but I didn’t think I’d have to worry about clogging the drain now.

  “I might’ve underestimated that skill,” I said.

  Seok grinned. “It can be used to clean as well as heal. I hold up my hand, and boom! Clean toilet. Clean table. Clean dishes. Marvelous.”

  My eyes widened. Every time I was sure I’d picked the right class, I found out about something like this. That seemed so incredibly convenient. Then again…

  “Yeah, well, I haven’t been bitten by a mosquito or tick in years,” I said.

  “No need to be petty,” he chuckled.

  I waved. “I’ll be back out in just a few.”

  “We’ll be here,” Dane replied. “Crap… we’re going to have to do shifts or something, aren’t we?”

  “Are you kidding?” I chuckled. “We’ve got kids here, man. We’re not staying within a hundred miles of this place. The second we can get on the road, we’re heading back into town.”

  He blinked.

  A/N: Hiya all! Sorry for delays! I could pretty much just write that for the start of every chapter author's note, couldn't I?

  Amazon! If you don't mind, and you enjoyed this story so far, please give me a review over there? They help immensely. In more amusing news, the darn story accidentally got categorized as Erotica for a few days there. Super irritating.

  MB