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

Naiad fired her arrow at the stun bomb flying in the air. Before it struck the target, she already pulled back another arrow, right as a giant splash of mud came over her.

"What the-" her curses stopped because of the mud in her mouth.

"Protect the ozo and get the Pantheon guild." I gave instructions while I put Triangle back down on the ground. "Triangle, get your bubble bomb ready and aim it at-"

"Car wash," He corrected me on the ability's name.

"Aim the Car Wash at the other players."

"Crap, you led them right to the bear." Clarence blamed his partner right away. "I told you to check the areas."

"Shut up!" Michael countered.

We weren't in the best position, yards away from the Michael, easily within stabbing range of his sword. Clarence, the wizard, was further away. In the other direction was the ozo. I had to stay between the kids and the Pantheon players. I needed Naiad's damage to wrap this up fast. The ozo was on its own to defend itself. I prayed my theory was correct about the mud and that we were on the front line and not in a flanking position against the ozo. The stun bomb didn't hit the ozo, it was very much wide awake and angry. The gold on its body shimmered even more.

A throwing knife landed in Naiad's shoulder, and I saw her rock from the pain. I had to focus on what was in front of me.

"Get behind me." I reminded her as I pulled out my shield. Again, I was too slow with it being drawn.

"You get in front." She complained as she jerked the knife out, but side stepped behind me and dragged Triangle with her. "What about the ozo?"

"I'm worried about them." I nodded at the wizard and the buccaneer.

The storm that tracked the ozo grew larger and reached our location. Large hail stones the size of peaches pelted down on our location.

Each one ticking away our health. With my free hand, I yanked Triangle to stand under me as I hunched over. In the moment of distraction, Michael closed the gap between us and stabbed his sword low below my shield.

I grimaced in the pain as it hit my leg. I couldn't slam the shield fast enough to catch his blade, but it blocked his next attack. The sword slammed into my heater shield hard enough to make my feet slide on the muddy floor. I grunted and shoved back at him.

This was our mud hole.

Another hit came, the man had built for speed and burst damage. My favorite build, and now as a tank, he looked so squishy in his black leather gear. If only I had the proper weapon to hurt Michael back.

If only I had an axe instead of a half-gnome and a shield in my hands.

"Go Car Wash!" Triangle jumped up, and pulled himself over my shield with one hand, using my hand as a ledge to stand on and point Goldy at Michael.

It was a point blank dead shot and bubbles exploded in all directions. Michael's grin vanished as he foamed at the mouth from the bubble attack. I didn't want any of the cleaning solution on us. Again, I coward us behind my shield.

[Team Chat]

[Boulder: Keep the mud on you!]

I puffed out a breath of air like I was cooling hot food to keep the dangerous bubbles away. Triangle laughed until the hail hit his head and he jumped back down between my legs. Michael stumbled back, slipping on the mud and bubble mixture at his feet.

When his back hit the ground, a large set of long black claws scrapped across his body. The charging ozo wasn't targeting Michael, only using him as a rug while continuing after its true target. The gold fur created lines around its body that tightened together to create runes that danced up and down its limbs.

A wizard, all magic and power, no defense. As long as they kill the prey before it gets to them, they do great. Cloth armor was the only defense Clarence had against the angry monster. His glass cannon build was about to shatter with the ozo hunting him.

"Throw a bomb!" The old wizard begged us as it turned to run into the woods.

"Which one?" Triangle giggled next to me.

"No!" Naiad and I said in unison.

She had stepped out of the raining hail attack and shot two quick arrows into Michael, keeping him pinned down in the slippery mud and bubbles.

"Put Goldy away, and get into the trees now," I instructed my family

"What about them?" Naiad asked.

"Keep taking pot shots at them when you can. Protect the ozo." I grabbed Triangle and shoved him up the tree. His sister effortlessly climbed up. "Can you try to lock down the wizard dude with a sticky bomb?"

"Yup!" He reached into his fanny pack, forgetting that he was climbing a tree, and flopped down into the mud pile.

Crap.

Michael finally stood up, a mix of bubbles and mud. I didn't know if it was enough to keep him marked with the Sticky-Nicky. The hail storm stopped on our spot and the buccaneer looked at me. Naiad got revenge for earlier and shot an arrow directly into his shoulder. Michael flinched and hiccuped out a bubble instead of crying out in pain.

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"No," I panicked.

Naiad couldn't be killing a player yet. I couldn't stop her as she was up in the tree sitting on a branch, preparing another arrow.

The arrow fired, and I couldn't block it in time. It dug into Michael's chest. A critical hit.

"Stop!" I begged her.

I ran forward, putting my shield between me and Naiad. It stopped her next attack.

"Meet by the demonic seed!" Michael shouted out as he threw a smoke bomb down and went invisible.

"Dad!" Naiad screamed. "I had him. You can't tell me to take shots and then not to finish them." She changed targets for the wizard.

She was right, and I had to figure out this problem soon. How do I keep my kids safe in a player versus player server? She has to stop those trying to hurt them and the Pantheon guild drew blood first.

I grumbled in frustration.

Clarence didn't answer Michael's call. The ozo had sliced and cracked him open, eating his body. The damage destroyed his entire avatar. Pixel by pixel, it vanished away. His inventory and gear damaged too much to be looted.

"Ugh!" Naiad complained.

"I'm sorry Naiad." I struggled over my words as I processed what happened. "This time, you reacted correctly in defending us. Just… just never draw first blood or attack first. Try to use your words like it's the real world."

"This is a fantasy," she grumbled.

"It's practice. Please promise me.," I begged.

"How many demonic seeds are here?" Triangle interrupted.

"Oh, no," I whispered as more problems piled on.

"If they attack our seed, is that the first blood?" Naiad sarcastically said. "Or just hand over my quest reward for them and take the curse?"

"Defend your quest," I kept my even tone to her sarcasm.

I had to stay level-headed as I thought of the problems. Michael knew of the demonic seed, which means the Pantheon guild had found it. I ran the calculations in my head. The seed had 4 days and less than 6 hours left. It wouldn't grow before the deadline of the Root and Seeds of the Problem quest. But their guild could still take it and cause us to fail. Everyone knew about my quest because I advertised it for my ego on my stream for days.

My past selfish mistakes got me, and I still had to clean up that mess.

"Let's go stop Michael." I told them. "The ozo just ate and we won't be able to come to its friend with any food tricks. It's going to defend its territory, so let's get away from the fog for now."

Naiad jumped down from the tree. "Can I shoot Michael?"

Her excitement worried me, but he multiple times had threatened and harassed her. She still had to learn control. "Only if he goes first. Let him run like a coward, get stronger than him so he can't touch us. Let's get that Legendary Root and Seeds of the Problem quest done."

"Shrimp Guild!" Triangle cheered. "I still want the bear friend."

"Later, I promise."

Triangle kicked at the mud. "Fine."

His hands reached out, and I picked him up on my shoulders. I glanced at the ozo. It was sitting and cleaning its paws with a long blue tongue, its fur glowing brighter and thinning the fog out.

"Naiad, can Kerry take a look at our seed and see if Michael is there?"

"He can try those hiccuping bubbles will help him stand out," Naiad's eyes glazed over as she communicated with her pet bird.

"I got him in the mouth." Triangle giggled from on top of my shoulder. "He hiccupped, and the bubbles came out."

"It's a good mute spell. Use it on mages in the future." I advised him.

"Hmm, it will need a better name than Car Wash to quiet them." Naiad said, as she pointed to the bubbles floating in the air.

Michael didn't teleport far at all. He was closer to the seed than we were.

"Silencer?" I suggested, trying to remain calm and in control of my emotions. We couldn't run forward, we had to stay together. It wasn't easy to destroy the seed... but could he destroy the sapling or steal it? Did the Lizard-folk stand a chance against Michael?

"Bubble hiccups." Triangle skipped next to me.

"Speech Bubbles." Naiad added in. "How come the ozo isn't going after us?"

I tapped her shoulder where the mud had dried and some flaked off. "Triangle was right about the mud. We got covered by it, which removed the mark. The ozo didn't care about us during the earlier fight, only focused on the Pantheon guild."

"The ozo likes mud because it likes my bear we made." Triangle explained.

I smiled. Who knows, he could be right. "I bet it does."

"Up ahead, hush." Naiad pointed toward the valley where we planted our seed.

The valley was empty of trees, making it easy to spot Michael standing next to our sapling.

"It grew!" Triangle squealed.

The sound in the open field carried easily down to where our nemesis was. Instead of running again, Michael turned, glanced in our direction, and laughed. He pointed at the plant with his sword and spoke in a loud voice. "Players! It is I from the Pantheon Guild. Remember that legendary quest that started because an idiot burned the forest down?"

He wasn't talking to us. He was streaming this entire location out to the entire world. We were too late.

Naiad prepared a shot, but kept her bow down, hesitating to attack. "Dad, what do I do?"

"I'm going to fix this. Shoot if he threatens the seed," I instructed.

I jumped off the cliff, tumbled, and popped up to run the rest of the distance toward Michael. I pulled out my shield, ready to block any attack from him, and yelled to draw his attention.

"But you didn't need to do the whole legendary quest to get the reward!" Michael talked faster and moved to the other side of the sapling from me. "You just have to be here in the forest of`-"

Naiad's arrow hit his lower abdomen. Not a fatal shot, but enough to make him shut up. It made my stomach turn with guilt at how I was going to do the same thing.

"This is our tree!" I told Michael and anyone watching the stream. "But we aren't pricks like the Pantheon Guild taking over cities."

With a swing, I smashed down my shield, hitting Micheal's sword. He was chugging a health potion, a smirk across his face before he shouted out, "Brightstone Woods in the valley!"

I was too slow to shut him up. My rage powered me forward to slam my shield into his body and force him on the ground.

I growled at him and his stream, "Yeah, come and celebrate with us! If the Pantheon gave you potions to leave Fanamel city. But they didn't. It was my son who did! He doesn't charge you their insane prices."

I continued telling the full truth. "They're the ones attacking anyone, craftsmen or adventurers who won't get in line with their plan. Want to receive a blessing from the quest? Then help us."

Michael grunted under my next attack, but that annoying smile didn't vanish. He even waxed his mustache again for the big screen. It didn't change that he was a rat. Everyone in that guild was.

"Cya. My job is done," he mocked back.

Rage boiled in me for this mess. I wanted to chop up everyone in the Pantheon guild the moment I saw them for this hell they gave us. But I couldn't attack them randomly for that pitiful reason. I was Naiad's and Triangle's role model. I had to show them that keeping communication open was important.

With a shaky hand, barely restrained by my logic, I reached out to help Michael up and repeated my words. "Everyone's welcome. Just don't steal our hard work."

The sword of his sliced at my hand and a chunk of my health. The prick rolled down the hill toward the stream, laughing at me. He pulled out yellow DÓNDE scroll and tore it. Another arrow pelted at the ground, pinning his ankle to the ground.

Through a scream, he looked up at her on the cliff. "You won't stop us from conquering and getting on top. Other players will stop you for us, or you will die to that stupid bear."

He tore the scroll and vanished immediately.

My grip tightened on the axe I held. Naiad had plenty of time to charge a vining spell to stop Michael or hit him in the stomach again. It meant she chose the better option of scaring him away instead of killing.

I turned to smile at her and Triangle, waving up at them. "This is a win for Shrimp Guild." I shouted out.

Even if we lost the demonic plant.