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

I grabbed a pot by my foot and threw it at the ceiling above Alcender. It shattered and rained dirt down on him. His magical ring didn't stop it because it wasn't enough actual damage to trigger it. The attack bought me time to charge out of the shop, into the square, and shove the thief fighting against Naiad.

Both of them fell down, and the seed rolled away, shaking off demonic dirt. While helped Naiad up, I asked, "Where's Triangle?"

"I'll get him. We need time." She sprinted over and grabbed the seed, taking off back in the direction we came.

I heard movement behind me and dove in front of Naiad with my shield to stop the electrical glow attack.

"See, that's the problem with having family instead of a guild," Alcender continued monologuing. "This is a pastime for you. For me, it's my livelihood, something you'll never understand with your soft gentle ways. You're messing with the Pantheon's power. Take your hobby and kids elsewhere. Like a farming simulator."

A half-elf and half-human who fought Naiad for the seed earlier was by my feet, glaring at me with their gold eyes. I swung my shield at her, forcing her to crawl back. With this shield, I could easily give my kids time to get out of here. For now, I had to trust Naiad that she knew where Triangle was.

"Where is the seed?" Alcender demanded.

I smashed my shield down, dodging an attack from his wand, and smashing the woman's ankle. She snarled at the pain. With a glare, she said, "Give it to us and we'll let you live."

"No!" Alcender whined. "He ruined my plans here, forcing me to kill Ma'am Q."

"Back off!" Naiad shouted.

I obeyed and backed away from the enemy just as an arrow zipped in front of me pierced the Pantheon woman. Vines grew out of the arrow and slithered around on the bricks in the square. I backpedaled as fast as I could to avoid getting caught.

Alcender copied me and avoided the growing plants on the ground. He was too far away now for me to hit. Not for my archer teammate.

Another arrow zipped past, bouncing off his magical ring shield.

"Fire again!" I ordered, running to Naiad. "His ring's broken."

Naiad listened. The arrow flew across and hit him on the shoulder. All three charges of the ring burned up. "Next one, I'll get him," she called her shot.

Alcender ripped the arrow out, unphased by its damage and walked over to help up his ally by using a spell to unravel all the plants. "Give me the seed now, and we'll let your guild live. Just a seed and you're left alone for today. We can easily hunt you down back to your base."

That was a different sale pitch than he gave us earlier, which meant he was getting desperate.

Naiad fired another arrow. "That's my family's quest item!"

This time it hit Alcender in the stomach, and he grimaced from the pain. He was levels above us, but still a squishy wizard.

I stood next to her at the corner of the street and nodded. "We worked too hard to lose it to you."

Triangle was still missing. I opened my mouth to say ask but a screech above us interrupted me. A giant carrion bird dived into the square where the Pantheon members stood.

Both rolled away to avoid the sharp talons of the newcomer. Alcender's voice pitch matched a young kid's as he said, "Get the bird! Get it! Stop it's flapping!"

The giant vulture attacked at them both. Naiad fired shots at their feet, forcing them back into Ma'am Q's shop.

"You're incredible at this," I told Naiad. She was working with the Carrion of Life and firing shot at the same time. "Where's your brother?"

She furrowed her forehead. "He was back there."

Jingle, jingle, jingle.

"Yes, Triangle!" I cheered.

That sound brought a fear and joy to me. Triangle's damage is what we needed to win this fight.

"I cast Jingle Bell Bombs!" Triangle ran out from behind a bush, finishing his throw right at the Pantheon guild standing by the alchemist's shop. Just a kid joining in on the fun and not concerned about the shop where he leveled up his class.

I ran and picked up the tiny half-gnome in my arms, wrapping my shield around him as soon as I did. "Let's go!" I shouted to Naiad as we run.

The explosion went off, alerting everyone in the city, guards included, that we were fighting here. My family had to get far away to avoid a single NPC witnessing us. Dirt, pottery, plants, and cloth from the awning rained down on us. The sound of all of it landing quiet compared to the explosion.

Triangle climbed up to my shoulders and shouted, "Wohoo!"

Naiad and I hushed him as we ran through the street. I did it behind a smile. The chaos of my kids making this player fighting fun, even if it was extremely dangerous. I couldn't stop Alcender on alone, but with my family, we could. As we climbed through the fake fence, I glanced back, and doubt crept into my thoughts that we didn't stop or kill Alcender. That even if we did, he and the Pantheon guild would be back again.

We raced around the market, walking fast on our feet until we saw the guards.

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[Warning! The King of Fanamel never likes his subjects running in the street. It's too mischievous, like kids. You must slow down unless want to say hello to a law enforcer.]

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Even though we were near the guards, I still didn't feel safe. Alcender was friends with the guards in Purge and could easily hurt me then, and they didn't care. Ajeesh said Pantheon was setting up in Fanamel too. With how quickly Alcender found me, I didn't think he was a simple mage, and his friend earlier was an unknown variable.

As we walked the streets, I told the kids of my adventure in hell with Alcender. "Don't trust any of the city guards."

"Is Alcender following you?" Naiad inquired.

"Yeah, and he brought a friend too from his guild by the look of it. Guys, I'm sorry for this trouble, but thanks for helping."

High above us, a giant bird covered us in its shadow while it circled us like we were road kill. It was the Carrion of Life again.

Naiad tripped over her own feet in the middle of the street. Through a curse, she stood up. "I need to practice more."

"More what?"

"Naiad got a pet bird!" Triangle pointed up in the sky. "Carry-on of Lies."

"The Carion of Life," she corrected him. "I call him Kerry. I'm trying to look through his eyes to see if the Pantheon members survived, but I can't see it through the smoke."

"Yeah, they'll remember Kerry, too. Send it away from us for now and ask it to alert you if it sees them again."

"Okay." She shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "Ugh, that's hard to switch back and forth from."

We walked as fast as we could, hoods up like the rest of the players through the market and back to our guild. The clock on my system read past midnight, but thankfully it was a weekend night.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"You know, it is late," I told them. "I want to hear about what you two did over breakfast. What do you two want?"

"Waffles with sprinkles!" Triangle shouted.

Naiad laughed. "With strawberries for me."

"I don't have any strawberries. Can I do cookies?" I offered as we rounded the bend and safely entered our guild hall.

"You threw your axe again today, didn't you?" Naiad teased.

I put my hand over my heart and confessed, "I owe you both the full cookie jar."

The kids laughed and Triangle patted my head.

"I still have the seed, by the way. It's in my inventory." Naiad said.

"Yay!" Cheered Triangle as I put him on the ground.

I clapped, "Wow, you carried the team. We would've lost that quest."

It would've been my fault too with how selfish I was these previous days. I watched the kids cheer and dance in excitement for the game because they got to play their way.

I noticed shadows passing above us and looked up and noticed Kerry coming down to land on an archery target. Its claws pierced into the stretched cloth with no concern and puffed out its white and black feathers.

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[The Carrion of Life: This animal has bound to Player Naiad, of the Shrimp Guild.

Description: The Carrion of Life is an epic…]

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I skimmed the repeating information and said, "Great job getting the bird as your pet."

"I'm not her pet." Kerry cracked toward me. "We have an agreement."

Instantly I studied Naiad's properties.

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Player Name: Naiad

Level: 13 (+2)

Race: Half-elf and half-human

Class: Ranger

Affiliations: Grower of the Forest, Goddess Leith

Status Buffs: Grower of a Life

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She had changed from scout to a ranger, leveled multiple times, and even gained a status buff associated with her class. All in one day in the game we were playing together.

But we weren't together. She leveled twice without me. Triangle worked hard to create potions and hadn't leveled up yet since we played earlier today.

"I wanted somewhere to plant the seed to keep it safe. He's a boss mob, and it was really cool to befriend him, actually. He really liked that liquid in the bogs it turns out and there were those grasses too! The cinnamon root, he explained, and we talked about keeping a bubble of undead plants in the forest growing." Naiad's excitement spilled out as she talked about what she did.

I loved every moment, even if it stung because I missed it. I learned my lesson.

Triangle fed off her energy. "Then you can share those with me. After you took me to see a Bunny God! He was so soft and warm to hold."

"You held Chiliam? He didn't get mad?" I exclaimed.

"He leaned into my hand all happily. Loved the smell of plants on me," Triangle explained.

"How did it go with the god?" I asked them both.

"I think he would've struck me down me if it wasn't for Triangle," Naiad said. "He grumbled in my direction on the holy street, but the moment Triangle bounded around the corner, both were happy. Chiliam said that Lady Branchelot wanted to die to feed off its last energy, for elsewhere. He is still looking for the seed."

"I want to give it to the silver god and make it my friend," Triangle added.

"No." Naiad and I said in unison.

"I'm stuck with Leith if we do that," she explained gently. "I want to stick together. Let's plant this seed, grow it, and get the quest done."

"When we dropped it earlier, do you think Chiliam noticed?" I asked. Both kids shrugged. "Let's pray he didn't."

"I still don't like we growing that scary boss again." Triangle crossed his arms. "I want to grow the seed, but not her."

I put a hand on his shoulder. "If you don't want to do this, you don't have to. But if you do, both Naiad and I are here to help you."

He stayed quiet, and I gave him space.

"Let's worry about that tomorrow. It's late, and I need to rest after all this excitement. Gosh, I'm so happy to be with you both." I told them.

"Do you know if we have time to grow the seed?" Naiad asked, worried creeping in her voice. She wanted the reward, and I had to help her get it.

"We still have over 5 days on the quest. We'll figure it out tomorrow." I had to get these kids to bed before Beth was home.

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[External System Notification: Home message from Beth: What are you doing with the kids on so late? Get off that game now and get them to bed.]

[External System Notification: The system is set to turn off in five minutes.]

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"Ma'am Q says the best time to plant a tree was last year." Triangle shared his wisdom. "Oh! I'm hoping off because Mom's home!"

"Me too!" Naiad said, with more fear than excitement in her voice. "It's really late."

I agreed and logged off. Tomorrow, I needed to go shopping to see if I could buy a better weapon to bind the Chains of the Past. But I didn't have those funds for now. The item was going to have to wait in my inventory for a bit. I logged off for the game, ready to welcome Beth home with my joyful mood.

It was closer to one in the morning at this time and Beth had her arms on her hips, like she was ready to draw her guns in a showdown with me. I put my hands up. "We lost track of time. I'm sorry."

"Children, get straight to bed now." She gently bent over to hug Tristan and give Elaine a kiss on her cheek.

Then her glare returned to me, freezing me into place. Her voice came out icy as she spoke. "What is going on?"

With my hands on my side to appear open, I answered truthfully, again. "I didn't realize how late it got. We became engrossed. We barely got away from a player."

"We got away from a fight? You better be using the royal we," she snipped back. "Triangle is too young to be doing these PvP…" She paused, talking, and took a calm breath to hold her temper down. "You put them in a Player versus Player fighting other people! Not monsters?"

The guilt of my dumb mistake from weeks ago reappeared. "I messed up."

"Then restart and," the rage on her face softened slightly, concern briefly appearing. "You're slipping again. You need to talk to your therapist tomorrow about your recent gaming addictions before you ruin the children's lives further."

"I am their dad and I am not addicted. I have control."

"If I look into your play time, your browsing history, will it say anything different?" Beth countered.

Tristan's door squeaked as he and Elaine leaned on it to watch us fight.

Beth's bitter voice directed at them, "I said, brush your teeth and get straight to bed. Now!"

All motherly kindness from before was gone, the only fear that chased them into the bathroom to brush their teeth.

"Beth!" My frustration raising back at her because of the accusation she gave me and to save the kids. I pulled out my phone to prove my point, first thing I saw were the recipes to prove that… they were for meal planning to get into the game sooner. My other recent views were on the forums or the stream, about watching videos on how to do various things in the game.

I felt sick with myself and put my phone away, hating that I missed the obvious all this time. Everything was about the game.

"You're right," I admitted. "I'll go back to my meditation exercises. But please don't take your anger out on the kids. You're hardly around them, as is. You're just like my mother right now with that temper."

Beth took a deep breath, a flash of emotions going across her face. She knew how I felt about my mom, how it hurt me.

The sound of rushing water filled the silence between us, and it wasn't a metaphor. I paused, realizing the intense feeling wasn't anger flowing from our unspoken words during her absence.

Two kids screamed from down the hallway, cutting our conversation short. Elaine and Tristan ran out of the bathroom in wet pajama clothes. They paused and looked at Beth and me with large, horrified eyes.

"He did it." Elaine threw her brother under the bus.

"She pushed me." Tristan followed up like it would save him.

I didn't care and ran to get under the sink. The geyser was going off completely from the cold-water handle. The bucket was already full as I pulled it out of my way to lie under the sink. Twisting the shut-off valve for the cold water over and over, completing four circles, and the water finally slowed down.

I could hear Beth lecturing the kids as the water finally slowed down. By the time I crawled out, the kids were gone and Beth was furious in the face. In the dark hallway, only the bathroom light illuminated her face and the bags that were under her face that contrasted again the redness of anger. "You were supposed to fix this by now when I asked days ago! What happened to your uncle?"

"I said I could fix it," I annunciated my words. "To prove I was fine, but I've been watching the kids."

"And you're not. You took Triangle out of school saying nothing to the school today, or me for that matter. And–don't you dare cut me off." She snipped at me as I opened my mouth to refute. "Once you are done with this water mess, you need to clean up the musty smelling laundry you left in the washer. And…Arrgh!" She took a deep breath. "I'm going to bed. I have work tomorrow early to fix other people's problems. Seems like the only thing I can do."

I hated those words that my mother would say. That she fixed the problems, even though she was never home, off and busy doing her job. Running away from the hard fact that we were kids and offloading us to Uncle Rick. Beth just ran out on this conversation, talked down to me like a child, and wanted nothing to do with me. The pain of the past came back.

Someone cracked open Tristan's door, and the dim light revealed a small figure standing in the opening, peering out. Worried about his parents.

We had to talk; we were a family and today escalated. It wasn't about me; it was about us. Beth made the same mistake I did. She obsessed over work and saying it was for the kids and family when she wasn't with us. We both needed to cool down before I said that. I also had to prove to her I had my priorities straight now.

"Beth, one thing," I called to her softly.

She turned and crossed her arms in a defensive state, lips tight, holding back more words of anger.

"I'll keep it quiet and sleep on the couch so you get a good night's sleep. I'll fix the sink tomorrow." It was hard to keep my voice even. But I needed her as a team player to raise the kids. I needed her emotional support and these mircro-doses of her being at home weren't cutting it. Even if it wasn't her fault.

Once she left down the hallway, I walked over to Tristan's room. I heard his little feet pad on the hardwood floor as he dove into his bed. I walked in, pretending like I didn't notice it, shuffling across the mess of his toys, afraid to lift my foot up higher than an inch for a matchbox car to get underneath. He failed to get under the blankets, but his face was the other way, toes wiggling and lying on his side. I pulled up his blankets and gave him a hug and kiss, then whispered. "I love you, your sister, and your mom. Good night, my little alchemist."

He turned around and smiled. "Can I skip school again on Monday?"

The kid's hope was contagious. It brought me a bit of joy. "No, school is more important than a game. Good night."

After that, I went about drying up the bathroom. By the time I was done, I moved it all to the washing machine, where there was a strong damp clothes smell. I tossed in the towels, and more laundry detergent, setting it up for it to be tomorrow's problem.

It was late, and everything fell on me to fix it, even before I gamed tomorrow. I had to defeat my addiction so I could take care of my family first always.