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

We started today by making significant progress on the Root and Seeds quest. Then we lost an hour of just making carbs for a fantasy world. Ones we couldn't even enjoy at home or in the game. All the smells and not a single bite, it was torture and a perfect example of how side quests and distractions wasted time and energy.

One good thing came from the quest, I leveled up my strength during kneading bread. My aching muscles made the price of the artisan bread at the farmer's market seem entirely reasonable. We left the bakery with a few free cookies because of Naiad's dexterous work on flipping pancakes and multitasking to even help with fillings of a few cakes.

She munched happily on the sugary biscuit. "I need to change my class. I want to work there. Ma'am Buttercee said I was welcome to."

"How confident are you that you weren't being fooled like I did with Leith?"

"I wasn't marching in and I munched my way out," she answered with another bite of the cookie.

I laughed and patted her head. "Fine. You win. I still have little information about my Root and Seeds quest. It didn't even gain any new notes."

"You should listen more to what people are telling you. Like that frog." She stuffed the rest of the cookie in her mouth, content and pleased with herself.

"Thanks for saving us from Leith's priests. You did great there with the cinnamon. How did you know that worked?" I asked.

She pointed to her full cheeks, crumbs threatening to come out through a smirk.

I smiled back and thought about what Naiad and everyone else had said. We ran away from Leith's conduit and her annoying mind controlling drums. Then got kicked out of an undervalued bakery store. The Leaves of the Fallen from Nitia's temple were in my inventory. I lost the seed bag she gave me, but that didn't cause the repenting quest to fail. A lot of random stuff and no experience or hint of anything. I pulled a leaf out, stretching it, sniffing it, then licked it. The taste of lemon but the cooling of mint and umami lingered after.

"How peculiar. Most mortals would brew the leaves to get its benefits." A voice below my feet talked.

I glanced down and the silveriest of rabbits with blue eyes looked up at me. It sat on his hinds legs and spoke in a southern London accent. "If you have extra to munch on, I wouldn't mind a taste."

To add to the furball's cuteness, his ear drooped.

Naiad giggled and then coughed as she choked on her over stuffed mouth. It didn't stop her from picking up the small rabbit. She tried to mumble through the crumbs.

The rabbit sighed and turned his head to look at me, pleading, "I simply desired one cookie bite, please."

I put away the leaf I had in my hand, confused. "I'm sorry, you said cookie?"

"Yes. Ma'am Buttercee has the best bakery around the world. Or at least the closest one to my temple."

I tore off a piece of a cookie and gave it to the rabbit. I feared nothing, as rabbits have flat teeth.

This one had two fangs.

Before he could take a bite, Naiad put him down on the ground, still coughing so hard, and pulled out a flask to drink. She guzzled the liquid down. Her face was red from the lack of air and embarrassment.

"What animal are you?" I asked the rabbit creature. Putting myself between Naiad and it. If it had fangs, it could hop and bite. With the sun still being out, it couldn't be a were-rabbit. Unless one of the two moons in the sky affected that. I didn't even know if there were were-rabbits in the game.

"This body is a holy silver moon rabbit that works in my gardens." The creature thumped his foot.

Naiad gasped, finally having fresh air. "You're a deity of the heavens!"

"He's a rabbit, Naiad," I stated.

"No, the young woman is right. I am the god Chiliam, out for a stroll because I noticed Ma'am Buttercee was late with my delivery and I wanted to make sure all was well. I didn't expect to find a smell about you." His ears pointed to both Naiad and I. "What a peculiar scent you have. If I'm not mistaken, I believe you have something of mine, because you destroyed it. Hand me the seed."

That's what the frog mentioned before. Was I carrying a bunch of sulfur yellow seeds in my pocket? I searched through my inventory and came up short. "Uh, what seed?"

The rabbit scratched at his ear. "The ones you stole by the cairn in the woods. I need them back."

"What do we get in return?" I asked.

I had no clue what seed it was talking about. The moment we got out of here, I was running back to the street to pick up that bag of seeds, even if it meant running into Leith's apostles again.

"You're not getting them for free." Naiad spoke.

It was nice being a team with her. Chiliam jumped around in a circle. It was then I noticed that no one, not even a single NPC, was on the business street. The shops transformed into trees and undergrowth bushes, with a river flowing around us. The street became a grassy path dotted with flowers that hung in the air. I gripped unto the cookies tighter, squishing them, to inhale the sugary scent to wake up from this.

"Oh, don't you worry, you aren't in Fanamel. You've come to my personal little temple. This is what the land used to be."

"That's worrisome. I rather be back there." I said.

Naiad smacked her face.

[Team Chat]

[Naiad: Are you trying to say all your problems so he gets the rock for free?]

[Boulder: There's no way he's that smart. It's an NPC this early on in the game. They are trying to keep things simple.]

[Naiad: It's for the legendary quest! I can't even see his level.]

I didn't believe her and looked at his properties.

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[Level ??? God: Chiliam Type: Conduit (Divine)

Description: Its super cute and fluffy. You know nothing about his graces, his anger, or his abilities. He likes cookies. You should really go to the temple to learn more and get some faith.]

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

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The stream viewer numbers were high with everything happening. Two conduits in one day. This had to be rare, even in the holy area. I was keeping people excited about my choices and decisions. They even enjoyed a bread making class.

The rabbit munched on some grass. "Well, now that I know what you want, and you know what I want. Why don't we wrap this up and hop along? Hand me the seed and you get to go home."

Naiad took the lead, putting a hand in front of me. "And how are we supposed to trust you that you'll send us back?"

"Or that this isn't an illusion?" I said, supporting her claim.

"Try to walk into the shops." Chiliam pointed to the woods.

"Why don't you." I glanced at the stream for their advice. Again, I remembered that Seconds-Over prohibited stream chatting. "We need proof of who you are. Not some rabbit scamming us on an illusion."

The rabbit hopped over to a tree and jumped right off it with its hind legs. The wood splintered, an extremely loud crack echoed, followed by the thump of the tree. With ease, he tore off the limb with his little fangs and yanked some leaves. He hopped on over and dropped the thick branch my feet.

"Taste them, but I can assure it tastes worse than that cookie you have," he challenged.

"Gardens of the temples surrounded us. You could've grabbed from any of those." Naiad crossed her arms. "We aren't giving you any seeds just to go back home. Tell us why you want them."

The rabbit thumped his foot, his ears flopped comically, but the sudden flash of fangs, and a snarl twisted his cute face. He was ready for a fight. His ears twitched, a low growl rumbling in his chest, as he anticipated the boxing match against Naiad's infuriatingly youthful, but mortal, attitude.

"It's not multiple seeds, it's one. It belonged to MY guardian. Not to your mortal realm. Lady Branchelot did something that wasn't up to… oh how do you say it, my taste? Preference? Her death won't go unnoticed."

I teamed up with Naiad and said. "We noticed it. Our team defeated your weak guardian. We were baby adventurers. What does that say about you and your power?"

The rabbit spat the leaves out, stomping on the ground. "You mortals.. for how short you live, you can cause so much trouble. I don't know why your pitiful self could defeat my guardian. She shouldn't have been that weak. Hand me the body over so I can learn why."

"Can't." I answered.

"Can't?!" the rabbit hissed, "or won't?"

"My pitiful level 9 self broke it into pieces and gave a lot of it away."

Chiliam sighed and put a silver paw out. "Then give me the seed so that I-"

"Just give us a quest already." I cut his speech off. This was part of our quest and I wanted to progress it along, not get some back story. The gods are finicky, but a powerful class quest was still enticing. Plus, I didn't have a seed to give. I didn't want to get caught up in the lie against a god. "Where do you want us to go? What do we pick up?"

The two cute ears straightened up, and Chiliam's pink note twitched as hearts appeared over him. "You don't have her seed? Hmmm… I do like a follower who is straight to the point."

"We aren't followers." I clarified. Even Naiad nodded in agreement.

"For now." The rabbit smiled, showing off its two fangs. "If you do this, you might change your mind and want my protection. Anyway, as I was saying, Lady Branchelot was digging her roots past the earthly realm. I didn't give her permission to attack, she also didn't tell me her plans. Go back to her area and find anything out of the ordinary. Look for something that siphoned her strength and why her roots reached into the swamp, Lasis. Find out what was over there within three days."

Gods and their sermons. He could've only said the last two sentences.

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[The Root and Seeds of the Problem has updated

Description: You've only peeked at the mis-balanced caused by Lady Branchelot's and your deeds. You've agreed to help the holy Chiliam in finding his seed in the swamp Lasis.

Side quest: You must bring information about Lady Branchelot's actions to the god Chiliam in three-days.

Reward: Title and abilities for Jaguar of Chiliam

Time Remaining: 7 days, 22 hours, 14 minutes]

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"Sounds good! Let's go, Naiad."

"Hold it," Naiad held the same pose as earlier, arms crossed, but with more of a frowning face. "What do you mean by domains?"

The rabbit sighed, "Mortal, I'm of the heaven domain, and being here takes some faith. Which you are both lacking."

"Then why do you need Lady Branchelot?" she pestered.

I grabbed Naiad's arm and even sent her a message saying we had enough information and could leave. We didn't need to listen to all of this.

"Lady Branchelot can be here for me, handing out my blessing more regularly than I can. Since I'm of the heaven's realm, I can't remain in the earth domain for long. To get to hell, I have to go through Earth to get there, only causing further problems for you people if my true form visited. Which is why I need that seed and my guardian - at full strength." He explained steadily. It was the closest a god would beg.

I answered before Naiad could. "If you let us go, we will start investigating immediately."

Naiad wasn't done. "We need a guide or hint of some sort to hit your deadline."

The rabbit pointed an ear at me. "He has the leaves and body parts that will help."

"You aren't the only one who wanted this seed. Someone else did. They sensed it too." I informed the god. "We'll need something to give us security."

The rabbit harrumphed. "Yes, all gods can sense the guardian's body. Hand it over to me and you will be safe."

Lady Branchelot's head and the rest of the body I hadn't given out yet sat in my inventory still. Leith took one part earlier.

"That's not a protection," Naiad complained.

She was right. We could use these parts as a bargaining chip or for protection. It was like how the Leaves of the Fallen could become a tea. I bet the parts of Lady Branchelot could create a potion for protection. We were already using parts to create bow for Naiad.

"We need it for our own protection. Please, can we just get going?" I raised my voice. "We'll find more answers when we get there."

"Agreed, though Ma'am Buttercee's cookies smelled heavenly around you, you also have a hellish dirt smell lingering about you... I suggest you remove it to stay safe. Swear your loyalty to me and-"

"Nope." I cut him off.

Even Naiad raised a hand to say stop and shook her head. "Nah."

"Finicky mortals. I've stayed here long enough. Seek me out at my temple."

The surrounding scenery changed back to the city and my stomach felt nauseous. The god Chiliam's voice called out to us from far away as the city settled around us once again.

"Find my answers by the end of three days! Don't get eaten." The rabbit demanded.

Time resumed in the city as someone walked off the nearby store, startled by our presence. Also, by me emptying my stomach out into the nearest bush. Naiad followed my lead. I wiped my mouth with my sleeve and noticed her hand stretched out before me.

"Give me the body," she ordered, with unexpected anger in her voice.

"It's mine. You didn't want the head earlier. Also, the limbs are being used for your new bow, remember?"

"You'll toss them to the next god that asks you for it like those seeds." Naiad raised her voice.

I kept my tone level. This was important to her, and I was missing what it was. I had to listen to her closely right now, and give her tone grace. I tried making light of the situation and chuckled. "You're the one who hit the apostle directly in the face with the seeds. That was a great shot."

My charisma check failed. She crossed her arms, gave me a glare and said, "I want the body! You just told the god Chiliam everything! The fact we didn't have the seed and how you wanted to go home." She listed my crimes with rage.

I hated how she was attacking me and trying to determent my quest and her buff. I wanted her to respect my choices and we get along. Calmy, I moved to show I didn't want to fight as I brought out Lady Branchelot's creepy smashed head. The leaves rotted in my inventory, leaving the fleshy looking bark and stained hard wood underneath to form the skull. "Do you want to hold it?"

She flinched, scared by the face. Her cheeks turned red in embarrassment. "Keep that creepy thing. I did fine with Chiliam just now and his questions, and better against Leith than you, and now I'm doing great against you." She turned and called out to her unicorn. It trotted from around a corner to her. "I'm going to find my own parts of Lady Branchelot and get some actual information for the god."

I summoned my horse and put the skull away. The horse came out from the next alley corner. I got on and caught up to her with an above city speed limit trot. Again, I tried to talk to Naiad and calm her down. "You don't need to listen to a lore dump from a god. We'll learn as we go and avoid all this chitchat. Remember, there's better loot and gear once we get outside of this city where we can fight the monsters. This is a simple investigation quest."

She replied with rolling her eyes and took off to out of the city.

[Team Chat]

[Boulder: Don't ignore me!]

[Naiad: Just quest, questing quests. I have no time to have a chit chat. I'll meet you in the woods with my own protection tomorrow, I'm done for tonight.]

This back talking made me grind my teeth. She was a teenager, controlled by emotions. It was up to me as her dad to help her through it. I couldn't have selective hearing with her like I was with the NPCs of the game. I couldn't let the game control me and ruin my relationship with her by rushing it.

I paused in the road, seeing that she logged out suddenly. "It's not my game. It's only a game," I whispered.