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

When I logged into the game the next day, I was still left alone in the in the city on the side of the road with Naiad in the woods. All day she stayed quiet, avoiding talking to me, and I gave her space as best as I could while still appearing available for her. As Uncle Rick said, being a teenager is hard. Instead, I focused on Triangle the moment we logged into the game. I needed him with us to make Naiad and I laugh, and so he stopped being alone. I sent Triangle a message to give him a heads up.

[Team Chat]

[Boulder: Want to join us? We're going out of the city. I can buy you a horse.]

[Triangle: Can I have an unicorn?]

[Boulder: Later, I can't afford one now.]

[Triangle: You promise?]

[Boulder: Only if you join us now.]

Triangle stopped responding. I arrived at the guildhall to look for him. I found the place covered in bubbles. There was a bubble-man made of 3 large stacked bubbles wobbling in the middle of the training field. A palm tree built from bubbles sprouted out of one of pots. Laughter ensued from CheezeWiz and his friends as they ran around, their hair and beards full of bubbles. The cleaning fairy giggled while darting about, popping the bubbles instead of cleaning the place.

I called out to the guys. "Hey, have any of you seen Triangle anywhere? I want him to join us."

A mountain of bubbles ran at me, roaring. The noise made my heart jump and pull out my axe. I stopped when I saw in the bubbles Triangle's face. With a big grin, I said, "There you-"

A spray of water landed right in my mouth, choking me.

"Great aim, Triangle!" CheezeWiz called out before losing it to laughter.

"It was Goldy!" The bubbles around Triangle dispersed, but some stuck to his hat and clothes. "I figured out how to clean up the Sticky-Nicky!"

Once I caught my breath, I looked around and could only smell flowers. The stink and gooey mess of the bombs was gone completely.

"Great job!" I praised him. "Are you ready to join us, then?"

He shook his head. "I want to play with potion creation more. CheezeWiz helped me sell a bunch in the city! He explained to me how to access the market to trade goods. Do you have anything to make potions taste better?"

I already knew that because I saw it happening in the guild chat during bread making and tried convincing Triangle to sell the potions for more, but was ignored.

"I do. Here's some cinnamon and leaves. If you get good at alchemy, figure out how to use these parts." I gave him one Bark of Resilience and some Leaves of the Fallen and Leaves of Life. We needed the protection, I saved the others for myself and Naiad. I only needed a few items to help me find this seed for Chiliam, and I wanted to support Triangle being independent on his learning. "As a treat, here are the last cookies we got, some divine baking."

He took the cookies with the most excitement. He studied a leaf for a bit. "I'm going to see how this catches fire or when it gets wet. CheezeWiz said you can learn skills of items by studying them."

My gut turned with guilt. I felt bad someone else was watching my kid. I tried talking in the conversation during baking, but I was useless compared to CheezeWiz. "That's great of him. Don't hold him up too long, he also wants to go out and quest. I'm sure you'll want to one day too."

"Once you have my unicorn," he rambled through a full mouth of sweets. "The cookies are yummy. Thanks, bye."

Triangle returned to his now built alchemy shop. Bubbles parted for him as he moved through.

He ran away from me too fast, like his sister. Right now, no one wanted to hang out, even the view numbers were dropping while I was in the guild. The viewers wanted the same thing as me, progressing the legendary quest and not housekeeping.

I paused, looking at Triangle's alchemy hut. He didn't come back out, focused on what he wanted in the game, on his work. I had to do the same, but I didn't want to be like my mom and leave a child completely alone.

"I'll swing by later to check on you!" I called out before leaving.

We were together, at home at least, enjoying the same hobby.

"Right?" I whispered to myself, saying it out loud to solidify the thought as I left town looking for Naiad. I had to be with one kid at least, and not off on my own.

—

Seeking Naiad, I left the city for the woods. I found footprints that were about her size leaving the road and entering the forest toward where we saw the Carrion of Life before.

[Team Chat]

[Boulder: Where are you?]

She didn't reply.

Up in the sky, I saw the giant vulture fly away. By the time I spotted her, she was squatting down in the dirt, ignoring my presence.

I got off my horse and noticed her unicorn was still out, so I left mine at the ready. Naiad moved further away from me, following something on the ground.

I cleared my throat and pulled out the Antlers of Eight Points from Lady Branchelot's body. "You want this instead? I gave your brother a Bark of Resilience."

She snatched it from my hand, mumbling something I couldn't hear. Then silence grew between us. At least she had her protection piece.

[Guild Chat]

[Triangle: Yeah he gave me some bark.]

[Naiad: Wrong chat!]

[Triangle: :P]

This is why we needed Triangle. I pretended to not see the chat, but my smirk gave it away as I said, "Scouting anything fun?"

"A small pack is moving around." She answered shortly.

"If it's not for your class quest, then let's hold off hunting it and-"

"Quest, quest, quest," she cut me off. "I got it. Just waste your precious time with this one question: what can grow in all this ash?"

I took a breath to stay calm and be an anchor for her emotional storm. She was reminding me of me of my younger self. I had been pushing her hard, and she would appreciate it when she came out stronger from our leveling. I answered, "Lots of things. The forest burning away gives a chance for a new life with all the high nutrients and sunlight. Water will be a problem. So something must be helping water out here."

"The river nearby?" she asked.

"Brilliant observation," I praised her, hoping it open her up again.

She got back on her unicorn and asked, "Do you not like plants?"

"I do... Hey, that's not why the forest burned down!" I glanced at my stream, afraid that people would try lighting fires around the world again with what I just said. "Where's this coming from?"

"You know a lot about nature, but we don't have any plants in the house- "

"Ghost would eat them." I defended myself.

"You don't garden."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"You spend hundreds of dollars for to grow like fifteen pickles."

[Private Message]

[Kryz: Boulder, a second group of people have come in looking for you. They wanted to know if you knocked over some altar stones?]

[Boulder: Why would.. oh jeez the stream. I'm sorry about this. No, I didn't destroy any altar. I don't know how I started the quest.]

[Kryz: I'll make something up and force them to buy bread. People want answers.]

[Boulder: Thanks. I'll keep an eye out for ingredients.]

Players were already following us from the stream, and we were there yesterday. I needed to clarify this fast in case any player hunters showed up.

Looking up, I shouted at the stream, "Y'all need to calm down. I didn't ruin the altar!"

Naiad jumped at my outburst.

She took a breath. "That's not what I said. I wasn't asking about an altar."

"Not you. I'm talking to the stream," I explained. "We were sitting the area looking at the scenery instead of questing, and then we got attacked. Dead honest truth. I wish I knew the answer to share it with you."

It was a complete lie. I didn't want anyone getting access to my Root and Seeds of the Problem quest. I would become a fighter blessed by the gods. A paladin of sort?

Except, I didn't really want to pray for my abilities. I had to watch out for clues about what abilities the quest would grant. The class relying on the gods could limit its power. I was being so wishy washy on this, I never had this good of luck in other games. But to get a leg up like this, and catch up to the later game players already, it would be worth depending on the gods.

"Like even now, you aren't listening." Naiad's voiced echoed through me.

And through my words in the past.

She galloped further ahead to the dam near the Peaceful Prairie, pulling out her arrows and attacking the Dam Rodents of the area. They chittered and charged at us immediately, squirting water as we got close. We didn't arrive on friendly terms. Why would they welcome us like last time? We dismounted and began our battle. Naiad stayed near the horses to keep them safe.

Naiad silently launched arrow after arrow at the creatures, barely giving me a chance to hit one of them before it died.

Her previous words, sharp and clear, still rang in my head. I hated how my mother ignored me before. I had to say something to Naiad now. "Naiad, hold up. I'm sorry I wasn't talking to you. I got distracted."

"You had other things. Like always. Let's get this quest done, and then maybe you'll talk to me instead of your stream. Or when we get to the end game?"

"You'll have my full attention. I won't look at the stream at all."

It wasn't the right words for her, it only fueled her anger. Quickly, she looted the rodents and stomped across the dam bridge to the green grasses on the other side. Not once looking at me as she guided her unicorn across the dam.

My horse leapt onto the solid ground and pranced about as he ate some of the taller river grass. I let go of the reins to enter the open glade, letting my fingers sweep over the flowers and grasses.

What was it we did when we first arrived here? I didn't want to say anything aloud. The views of the stream were climbing, but Naiad's pain from me ignoring her was more important.

I watched her walk near the pine tree where Lady Branchelot first appeared. With each step Naiad took, a small cloud bloomed from the mushrooms by her feet.

I picked a mushroom for the first time we were here. It was how I got the Helitical Shroom luck buff. Kryz mentioned he picked a mushroom for the goddess Leith.

"Hey," I called out to Naiad, "Did you collect mushrooms last time you were here?"

"Nope. I read you should avoid touching any mushrooms you don't know for certain." Naiad answered.

"That explains why you won't eat them when I cook them." I jested, hoping to loosen the tensions between us.

"Nothing should be slimy!"

"Escargot is a popular, and that's snails."

She picked up a snail, shell and all, and tossed it at me. I backed up, but the gastropod latched on to me, its two eyes blinking up at me.

"Slurp it up," Naiad dared.

"Ew no."

"And why not?" Naiad rested her hands on her hips.

"Uhh, it needs salt," I lied.

A pouch of salt appeared in her hand. "Don't use all of it."

"Why do you have salt?" I picked up the snail and gently put it on a stump.

"You're the one dodging now." She grabbed a pinch and prepared to put it on the poor creature.

I blocked it with my hand. "Okay, I don't because they're chewy and slimy. Uncle Rick tricked me into eating them once and I'll never inflict that pain on you," I gagged at the memory.

Naiad laughed. "It's because it's slimy."

I nodded in agreement. "Mushrooms are better. Next time, I'll avoid the canned version. Did you get any mushroom buff last time you were here?"

"Yeah, a Helitical Shroom buff. It doesn't seem to do much. Unless that's why we met two conduits yesterday?"

I bit my lip, thinking on what we know. "They are odd. Let's look to see if they are elsewhere in this glade or only here."

Naiad bent down and smelled the mushroom. "Hey, these smell like dirt. Chiliam mentioned something about that smell being around us."

I pointed to the roots, they were white and multiple tiny little limbs like millipedes. "It could be because they are surrounded by dirt. But you might be right. What's that over there?"

A gray cloud swirled in the wind in the small woods by Lady Branchelot's large tree, right near where Naiad stood before. Underneath it sat the stones from the knocked over cairn. The branches of the trees nearby causing shadows to lurk about and dance in it. The sound of frogs chirping in the area made me pause, waiting for the drums and her voice to appear.

The crisp sound of breaking branches punctuated the air, interwoven with the melodic chirping of the frogs.

"Naiad, get your weapon ready. Or to bolt to our mounts."

She pulled our bow, checking the string tautness. "We should've left them on the other side of the river. Oh, that's not good."

Her fear was valid. The shadows weaved together in front of the cloud, like the vines and roots did for Lady Branchelot. Deep greys and browns blended together, whispering toward us. The ent was reviving back.

[Team Chat]

[Naiad: I thought Chiliam said his guardian was dead.]

[Boulder: Stay focused, I think this ent went rogue on him.]

Nothing was scarier than nature, and this fantasy part creeped me out.

I pulled out my two axes, standing off to the side of Naiad. This would be a risky fight, but that meant high reward. We just had to survive it and not be stupid and charge into the cloud.

The shadow of the giant tree grew forward to us, as if the sun shot into position. Darkness engulfed the ent and reached out to us, its antlers getting closer and blurrier with each movement. I put an axe away in time to pull out a torch as we became shrouded by darkness and the cloud.

Lady Branchelot's spoke in its bark rubbing sound that clawed at my eardrums with its painful speech. "Thank you for freeing me of my body."

I swung at the monster with the torch. The grey cloud engulfing my arm, and the flames of the torch became barely visible. A fire arrow followed where my torch went, aiming at the head of the ent.

Both of our attacks passed through Lady Branchelot. The fire parted the smoke for a moment, before swirling shut again and lurking closer. The air hurt to breathe, and I coughed as I stepped back, trying to avoid being in the cloud. Naiad did the same with a torch, swinging around trying to see with me. Step by step, we crept backward to the Peaceful Prairie.

Ten steps, and not a single blade of grass was by me, only endless gray. We should've walked into it by now.

Looking back, our path was slowly closing shut like slime engulfing us.

>>><<<

[System: Lucky you! You've inhaled the spores of the Helitical Shroom and received a buff of luck. The gods light your path. A 5% boost to your luck engagements and rolls everywhere. Status: x 2]

>>><<<

Naiad coughed even more. The taste of the cloud left an earthy, metallic taste on my tongue.

I brought my axe near my face, ready to lash out. On the edge of the blade, strange white threads branched out and clasped together forming a chain.

Mushroom spores.

"Keep moving." I instructed, my lungs burning with each word.

"We should've hit the forest by now." Naiad said. She shuffled her feet on the ground, looking.

"The grass of the prairie is completely gone. No needles of the evergreens, no leaves…" My voice dropped with concern. "My map is gone."

"Mine too. Should we turn back?" Her torch swung from side to side. It's light bouncing off the dense cloud around.

>>><<<

[System: You have received a double blessing of luck! The gods know of you.]

>>><<<

"What are with these luck notifications?" Naiad asked.

I grunted, finally feeling the air was less metallic. "I see why. Head to that light and stay behind me."

In the sea of gray, we found a lucky break. Patches of bright yellow and lively green offered a welcome respite. I couldn't feel happy about it. All of it felt like a trap set by an anglerfish, an illusion.

I gripped my axe handle tighter, leading with my torch in front of me. Naiad lost her patience and took off, sprinting to the light.

"Slow down," I warned. "We don't know what's up ahead!"

"I'm tired of breathing this crap!" Naiad said, pushing further and puffing her cheeks as she ran.

"Language!" I called out to her.

This cloud was giving us a blessing, three times the luck, and it helped the gods notice us. However, the gods had already noticed us in Fanamel when we saw them twice. Suspicion of the buff was making me feel uneasy.

The light ahead of us grew until it became blinding and our steps slowed down as the ground suctioned to our feet. Oddly shaped creatures flew off into the overcast air, void of any clouds. Not one monster or person was on the ground by us.

Reeds were all around us as the wind stirred and swished and whistled a song as we moved among them.

My boots squished as I regained my balance with the next step. Reeds grew all around us and as the wind stirred, they swished and whistle a song in return.

I reached out to Naiad with my axe hand, to steady myself and confirm she was real. I only had our two blue dots in a small area of a map.

"I got my map back, but it's blank besides you and me." Naiad stated.

"This is the smallest I've ever seen it." I informed. "Mine's covered with fog of war. When we first joined the game, we at least got some markers. Where are we? We didn't get the normal game notification of entering a new zone."

Bold gold text message blocked over the messaging interface. I tried clicking a message to Triangle. It didn't let me. Even clicking on Naiad's name resulted in the same message.

>>><<<

[Message from the Gods:

You can't commune with the living.]

>>><<<

"Dad, where are we?" She gripped her bow tighter, and held her torch out, eyes wide and searching for hope in the new land before us. "Where's the cloud we walked through?"

Behind us stood reeds and sodden ground. She pushed back the way we had walked and stood above where our footprints first appeared. The portal was gone.

"Naiad…" I stopped my fear from making a fool of myself. I was the parent and couldn't make her panic, but guilt hit me at the thoughts I had earlier. We aimed to never leave Triangle alone, yet we had completely isolated ourselves from him.