8 5. How to Train Your Parents

Next morning, everyone was called out to meet at the lobby by a messenger. When everyone was gathered, a tall, buff man in some kind of combat armor made an announcement.

"Everyone, I'm sure you all got a message last night at midnight. It says that unless you reach Level 10 by the end of today, you will be 'eliminated from the game.' Now, I'm not sure what this means either, but it doesn't sound good - don't you agree? Therefore, we have decided to have everyone form parties to go out to take down some monsters and level up. Everyone, please get yourselves together with your desired groups, and I will instruct you on how to make a party. Parties can have 8 players at maximum. Anyone who's left out, come up here and we'll find you a group."

Ah, this. I remember this from school. I hated it so much.

Everyone get into groups, the teacher would say. As if everyone had friends. And I'd be sitting alone in the corner, forced to go up to the teacher who'd plop me in a random group full of kids who didn't want me there. The humiliation, the helplessness, the self-loathing.

But right now... I think I have someone I could group with, someone who'd want me in the group. I looked over at Est, who looked back and said, "what're you looking at, creep?" Yeah, nevermind.

I grabbed my parents and brought them outside. Others in the motel were going out as well, led by players who seemed to also know what was going on.

Both my parents got the message about the Main Quest, too, but they probably still have no idea what's going on.

"Alright, mom, dad, you guys will have to go and kill some monsters if you want to live."

They both gave me a weird look. Est, who was looking from the side, was trying to hold in her laughter.

"Alright, so what you want us to do is to go out and fight those... things that have been destroying our house and our town?"

"Yes. Er, actually, we'll be carrying you for the most part, but you have to be prepared to fight back if something unexpected comes up."

I opened up my inventory and handed them two Moonblades that I bought from the Cash Shop earlier. These are the best Level-Based weapons available in the Cash Shop, and I needed to gear my parents up as well as possible so they could face the monsters. Ideally, they wouldn't have to fight at all, but I needed them to at least be able to protect themselves.

My mom looked at me, understandably confused.

"You're serious?"

"I am."

My dad, fortunately, seemed to respond a little differently.

"Well, if you insist, I don't suppose it'd hurt to get some revenge on them. You know, for our house and our town all that... no big deal."

I don't know how anyone could make a sarcastic remark in this situation, but to be fair, that's just how my dad is.

"It's alright, Mrs. Card," said Est, "we'll be protecting you. You need to do this to survive. I'm sure you understand, tons of people have been dying and suffering already. We can't let you both die as well."

My mom looked at both of us with widened eyes, then eventually agreed to at least give it a try.

I invited both my parents and Est into my party. This way, we'll all be getting an even amount of EXP no matter who gets the kill.

We led them out and walked around town, slashing occasional Slimes squirming about. Eventually, we encountered a rogue Ettin - a two-headed giant.

Est and I snuck behind it and readied our weapons while my parents stayed further back.

Ettins, even with two heads, aren't exactly very bright. They have thick skins, though, so we'll need to debuff them before going in...

"Alright, Est, let's get the jump on 'em. I'll debuff, and you hit them with your best Skill."

"Roger Dodger."

Who even says "Roger Dodger" these days?

Anyway, I stood up and dashed towards the monster.

[] Skill: [DEF Breaker] activated! []

My spear struck the Ettin in the spine, leading it to stumble forwards.

"Now!"

Est flew up with her gunblade, then plunged downward towards the beast.

[] Skill: [Rough Divide] activated by Player Kentaros! []

[] Critical Hit! []

Est's blade struck the nape of the Ettin, and blood started spewing out of the sliced wound.

The Ettin collapsed immediately.

[]

You defeated an Ettin! Gained 7500 EXP!

You reached Level 26!

Drops: Ettin Eye (x6), Ettin Leather (x3), Giant Club (x2)

[]

"Nice! Mom, dad, is the screen showing up for you?"

I turned around to where my parents were at to see a Peryton approaching them.

"Mom! Dad! Get away!"

I began to run towards them when Est flashed by me and instantly struck the Peryton with her blade, knocking it down.

How fast IS she? I invested everything into Speed and Stamina but she's still way faster!

Unfortunately, the Peryton was not as weak as the Ettin. It rose up and smashed Est with its antlers, then started beating its wings, blowing her and my parents away.

I dashed towards the monster and started twirling my spear.

[] Skill: [Pinwheel Strike] activated! []

The Peryton cocked its head quickly so that my attack only grazed against its cheek.

The devilish creature then struck me with its talons, and I fell to the ground.

It seems like I've overestimated myself. Now that I think about it, I never really defeated that Peryton from before, I only tricked it to defeat itself. Perytons are quite resistant to physical attacks, which was part of why I was struggling with it in the first place - I had no Spells at the time.

But now... I've come further than before. It's finally my opportunity to be the one to protect my parents after taking advantage of their generosity for so long. I wasn't about to let something like this get in the way, I wouldn't let it beat me again.

I stood up, leaning against Ascalon.

"I can't fall now. Not yet."

[] Skill: [Omni Boost] activated! []

[] Spell: [Solo Flare] activated! []

The Peryton flew up and began to shoot down towards me while my spell was charging. However, unlike the [Triple Flare] used by the three mages in the WcDonald's fight, [Solo Flare] casts a lot quicker. I pointed Ascalon towards the diving Peryton.

"Gigantic chicken..."

A beam of energy exploded out from my spear, annihilating the Peryton a split second before its attack would strike.

[]

You defeated a Peryton! Gained 10000 EXP!

You reached Level 31!

Drops: Peryton Feather (x5), Peryton Antler (x4), Shadow Disguise Lv. 3.

[]

I turned towards the others. My parents were helping each other get up, and both seemed to be fine. Est was getting up as well, but seemed to be badly injured.

"Not bad, Soren. Makes sense that you're the best player in Orpheon," she muttered, but collapsed again.

"Est!"

—

We brought Est back to the motel. We went into the room and laid her on the bed. I checked the party screen, and she was at critically low health and sustaining an Intermediate Body Injury. I gave her a Potion of Healing for her HP, but the Injury will take a while to recover, since it's not just a matter of health. She needs to rest.

I checked the Cash Shop to see if there was anything that could help. Unfortunately, there was nothing. Injuries in this game are simply things that you need to wait out, and it's sort of a way they balanced Potion spamming in Orpheon without ever restricting Potion use outside of PvP Arena. She should be fine with 4 hours of sleep.

Normally, Perytons shouldn't be able to inflict Intermediate Body Injuries, but it seems Est invested everything into Speed and none into her defensive stats - kinda like me.

Speaking of which, I need to do that now.

I invested a bit into Strength, upgraded [Omni Boost] by one level, then pooled the rest of my SP evenly into Defense and Vitality. I should be more balanced out now. It seemed like Est was going for a Speed build, so I'd have to take the tank role if we were to go out like this again. Maybe I'll have one of my parents try to be a healer...

But hopefully, this wouldn't have to happen again. Est was sleeping on the bed, and my parents were collapsed on the floor. They hit Level 12, so they would be good for today. The other people in the room who were done leveling were also just sitting around, talking or playing cards. It seemed oddly peaceful. Everything's been pretty crazy up until this point, but you know, being out here and interacting with others hasn't been that bad. I'm starting to realize that through all this time in the past that I've spent sitting in the basement, maybe I never was just a miserable misanthrope who couldn't ever go out and meet people. Maybe I wasn't actually made to be that way from the start. Maybe I wasn't so different from everyone else as I thought I was. Maybe, if it weren't for those guys... I could've been a normal person, too.