When Dream woke up, he saw that it was dark outside.

'Is it night?'

[It's actually morning. You slept through the rest of that day and night.]

'...Oh.'

Dream laid there and stared at the ceiling as his brain slowly boot up.

"...How are they?"

[They's had one more small skirmish, but otherwise nothing. I've tasked 5 drones in total to monitor them and their surroundings.]

"...Ok"

As he laid there, his mind went through everything that happened yesterday. Like, where did they go wrong? When were they spotted? And how the hell did those foxes lie in wait for 20 years? That's an absurd amount of time. At least, from Dream's perspective it was.

But there's no chance for a do-over. Now, he's by himself. Other than worry, there's nothing he can do for the family. Anything he did personally would only burden them. So keeping his distance was the best answer.

"...I need to level up, huh."

[I already have targets. Bears, birds, wolves, reptiles, bulls. I'm just not sure what level they are. You should check it out.]

"..."

Dream silently pulled himself out of bed. Athletic clothes that were optimal for hunting appeared on his body as he walked out of the house.

As he walked through the door, he felt a breeze brush past his face. The sun was coming over the horizon, he could hear birds chirping, and the temperature felt the best. It seemed like a perfect day.

Instead of walking to the forest though, Dream walked over to the edge of the lake. Small waves came up and down the rocky shore. The water was almost crystal clear except for the beautiful blue tint. The soothing sounds of flowing water calmed him.

After observing and calming his mind, he walked up to the water. As the waves came up to wet his feet, they were pushed aside as if being blocked by an invisible barrier. The water flowed around his legs, and back out into the lake. Up and down, up and down.

Finally, Dream took another step. Not into the water, but on top of it. The water stopped flowing under his foot as if to receive it. He took another step, and another, until he was several meters away from the shore.

"...Oh don't mind me. I'm just walking on fucking water."

His lips rose into a smirk. He was seriously walking on water. Had it always been this easy?

For a few minutes he stood there, just feeling the breeze around him. Eventually, Sophia spoke up.

[Let's go fight monsters.]

"...Alright."

He walked back over to the shore and headed into the forest.

..............

........

*Dsh*

"..."

Dream lowered his gun, watching the second bear that was paired with the dead one. Once it saw its dead partner it began freaking out.

'It's level isn't high enough.'

[Maybe you should practice using your magic instead of your gun. We can find higher leveled monsters later.]

'Alright.'

Dream stood up and walked towards the bear, coming out of stealth in the process. He wanted to get the attention of the second bear.

*Grrr*

The bear found him and lowered to a growl. Dream put away his gun and began using his magic. Very suddenly, the dirt and rocks began shifting around the bear. And before it could react, its limbs had sunk into the ground.

At the same time, a collar of rock came up and shackled itself around the bear's neck, holding it in place. Although it was only rock, Dream had reinforced it with his mana and a bit of enchanting. The enchantment was very simple since it was on the fly, but it still helped quite a bit.

The bear wasn't able to react fast enough to prevent the shackles from binding it. It was silent, out of nowhere, and it's opponent didn't do anything to signify the casting. Now all it could do was struggle against its shackles without winning.

*Roar!*

Dream watched the bear roar and thrash around. Or at least try. He could feel the bear's panic and fear as it understood the situation it was in.

"So I can chain up a level 70-something bear like it's nothing. With merely dirt and rocks no less. Imagine If I had used metal. Not to mention..."

Dream walked up to the bear as it thrashed and grabbed its snout. His hand shut the bear's mouth and held it in place.

"It can't even resist my strength. I've come a long way. Didn't one of these bears almost kill me?"

[Yup.]

"Hmph. Alright."

Dream snorted and let the bear's snout go. He turned and walked a few feet away. Then, he removed the shackles.

The collar on the bear disappeared and its feet were no longer sunk into the ground. It stood there surprised for a second before looking at Dream.

"Come on then. Let's fight."

*...*

The bear, reminded of the situation it was just in, didn't charge at Dream. Instead, it turned and began running.

"....Seriously? *sigh* Whatever."

Dream just looked on with a baffled face. Regular animals really were a far cry from dungeon beasts who only knew how to fight to the death.

"Are there any other monsters around?"

[I actually have an eye on a community of wolves. There's a hundred or so, so the chances of there being a class 2 is high.]

"Alright. Lead the way."

Dream followed Sophia's direction and began jogging over.

.................

After 15 minutes of jogging, Dream had come across the first sign of the wolves. He had actually smelled their scent.

"My nose really is more sensitive."

[You've entered their territory, which they mark with their scent. They aren't far from you. Expect to encounter them soon.]

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

"Ok."

He kept walking while unstealthed to attract attention. And soon enough, he encountered a small party of 4 wolves.

*Growl*

The 4 wolves also saw Dream and moved to surround him.

*pui*

Before the wolves could fully surround him though, they saw a spike go through one of their comrade's head, killing him instantly.

"Hmm, well these are the scouts. So the leader is probably pretty powerful."

*Oouuuwwww!*

After regaining itself, one of the wolves howled into the sky. After that, all three turned and ran off into the forest.

[They're heading straight towards the concentrated areas. Likely to warn the other wolves.]

"Good. Now I don't have to do the work of alerting them. We should follow them."

Dream walked in the direction of where the wolves ran. And soon enough, he was greeted with a pack.

18 wolves came and surrounded him. These ones were obviously more powerful than those scouts. Dream smiled.

"Fun. Saves me the time."

*Pui*

At the sudden sound, all the wolves turned their heads to find one of the pack members with a spike through its head.

"That's more like it."

Dream smiled when he saw the high level. This meant the leader was at least a class 2.

*Ooouuwwww*

With a loud, ear-piercing howl, the other 17 wolves, who were now positively pissed, began forming up and closing in on Dream.

All of them snarled, bared their teeth, or growled and narrowed their eyes. Dream could feel the atmosphere turn quietly violent.

'Silent but deadly. They're wolves alright. Like my hot farts after fast food, they creep up and strike before disappearing with the wind.'

[I'm detecting more wolves coming from the den. That howl must've been an alarm. There's at least double what we initially saw.]

'Wow. I guess we kicked up a hornet's nest. Let's get started then.'

After getting information from Sophia, Dream turned to a wolf several meters away in front of him. Seeing this, two wolves behind him lunged at his legs, while the one in front lunged at his neck head on.

'Damn, they're fast.'

Dream quickly activated his mana and formed spikes in front of the three wolves, catching them in their paths.

*Pui*

*Pui*

*Arf!*

Two wolves were killed instantly, but one was able to move its head out of the way just in time, impaling itself in the shoulder.

*Ooouuwwww!*

Another howl was let out.

'Another alert?'

[Yup. The sound carried mana. I can also see another pack of about 20 coming to us.]

'Fun. And the mana that's flowing among them?'

[It's probably a form of communication. Wolves are pack animals, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's telepathy.]

'Great.'

Dream put the thought aside and just accepted it.

Moments after the howl, more wolves began lunging at him. This time, it was 6. 3 in front, 3 behind. They went for his limbs, neck, and even crotch.

"That's dirty! I need these balls!"

6 spikes came up in the paths of the wolves. Turns out, they learn, and only one wolf was killed. The others dodged and continued their charge.

Dream also didn't expect the same thing to keep working. So he brought out some weapons. Or, bullets would be more proper.

10 bullets came out and surrounded their controller. They were small, about the size of a .556. They were pointed with a sharp tip and made entirely out of titanium.

Right as the wolves were about to clamp down on their targets, the bullets around Dream whizzed over and planted themselves in their brains. Dream added a little spin to blend up the brain matter before pulling them back out.

5 kills, 5 notifications. And a level up.

"These work quite well..."

Dream smiled as the bullets came back and spun around him. The other 9 wolves who were about to continue their attack stopped in their tracks.

For a moment, everything was quiet as the wolves tried to figure out how Dream did it. The person in question didn't feel like waiting though.

*Zip* *Zip* *Zip* *Zip*

9 bullets whizzed through the air and found their targets.

*Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud*

9 bodies collapsed to the floor as their brian matter was spun up. The 9 bullets came right back to their owner when the experience was earned.

"Hmm... Ya I definitely need to fight some class 2's if I'm going to level up."

[The reinforcements are here.]

Dream looked up after Sophia alerted him and found another 20 wolves galloping their way towards him. These ones though were bigger, faster, and gnarlier.

"Oh? Could these be class 2's?"

[Looks like it. They have higher mana levels and are activating their mana right now.]

Dream could indeed see the wolves using magic. As they ran towards him, spikes of rock were formed in bulk around their bodies. He could count 50 spikes already formed.

"Let's see, 200 meters out?"

Dream took out his EM Rifle and took aim.

*Dsh* *Dsh* *Dsh*

One by one, wolves dropped along with their spikes. 1 wolf, 5 wolfs. By the time they were within 50 meters of Dream, he had killed 9 wolves, leaving only 11 left.

*Oouuwww!!*

A wolf howled and launched its spikes towards its opponent. The rest followed suit and launched their spikes. And although there was much less, the number of spikes that flew towards Dream counted almost 30.

"Hmph."

With a flick of his finger, all the spikes that were about to barrage him diverted off their path and flew past his sides. This didn't deter the wolves from continuing, however. Following right behind their spikes, they proceeded to lunge at Dream together.

As they came at him from the front and sides, the bullets hovering around Dream moved to their targets. This time's results were different though.

*Pui* *Arf!* *Pui* *Pui* *Arf!* *Pui*

Out of the 11, 4 wolves died instantly from the bullet stirring their brains. The 6 others were only injured as the bullets entered their chest or shoulders. Though this only served to delay their death.

Thinking that they had successfully evaded death the other wolves with bullets in them continued to charge, only to drop in agonizing pain moments after.

*ARRRR!!*

The wolves howled in terror as the bullets that had only entered their bodies began to move again. The bullets spun and darted all around their insides. Their organs were liquified, their bones shattered, and their flesh shredded.

Not wishing to unreasonably torture them though, Dream quickly shot the bullet up their spinal cord and destroyed their brains. A flurry of notifications appeared. But Dream wasn't done.

'...Ten bullets, 11 wolves. There's one more. Right.... There.'

*Shing*

*Pui*

Dream threw his arm behind him while ejecting a blade. At the business end of that blade was an invisible wolf, who now had its head split in two.

"*Sigh* That wolf almost got me. Using the deaths of its pack to get close while I was too concentrated on the others. Not a bad plan, but shouldn't have hesitated."

*Shing*

The blade retracted and the wolf fell to the floor.

"Now, what about all the others?"

[From what I can see, all the other wolves at the den have stayed put.]

"Really? They aren't sending more?"

[Well for one, you just killed 20 of their class 2's. I doubt they can afford such a loss. Second, what I'm seeing is what's showing up in the cameras of the drones. There could be more of those 'unseen' wolves that wouldn't show up.]

"Hmm, well I'd rather not fight an uphill battle since they've probably hunkered down. Let's just come back tomorrow. Although... Maybe I could do something with these corpses."

Dream looked to the class 2 wolf corpses on the ground and put them into his inventory. He didn't know for what, but they could come in handy.

After that, he turned on his heel and started going home.

..................

...........

Meanwhile, Riddick, Luna, and Iris were hiding out in a hillside. This was the place Sophia had led them to after the fight.

When they got there, Riddick and Luna had dug out a cave and set up shop. Luckily, among the three's inventories were all the items Dream had given them. That, combined with a bit of magic, was more than enough to make the place comfortable.

Though the comfortable beds and clothes weren't nearly enough to lighten the moods of the family. The most depressed and angry ones were definitely the girls, and nobody had hardly spoken to each other after they got there. Until now.

"Hey dad."

After more than a couple hours of silence, Iris had finally mustered the courage to speak.

"Yes?"

"W-Why?"

"..."

Riddick, who had been reading his book, closed it and looked at his daughter.

"The Boy?"

"Yes. Why did you push him away? He wanted to stay with us."

"Because it's not his battle to fight."

"Bu-"

"Let me explain before you start. I understand how you guys feel about each other. But you need to remember who he is. 7 months ago he was dropped into this world. And by some miracle, we found each other. Had it been anyone else, or had he been dropped anywhere else, we would never have met and he would have lived some other life in a city somewhere on the planet. But no, we found him and he stayed with us. And now, my past has caught up to me, placing him in a bad situation.

Now, why would I ever have a kid who hasn't been in this world for even a year, and who isn't even 20 years old no less, become an enemy to the world's biggest Empire? It's bad enough that I have to put you two in danger like this, my own daughters. So no, I didn't want to put him, a boy who has nothing to do with this, in the same situation."

"..."

After listening, Iris' anger dissipated. She wouldn't want to do that either, she just hadn't thought of it that way. All she saw was her dad rejecting Dream. But now it made sense. Although, the reality wasn't any easier.

"So...We're not going to see him again?"

Teary-eyed, she looked to her dad. She didn't want that. They had been alone for long enough, and right when they get a taste of freedom, right when they taste the sweet bliss of love, it gets ripped from under them. And they have no control over it. It was cruel, messed up. And realizing that, despair began washing over her.

Seeing the tears in her eyes well up and realizing what was getting in her head, Riddick quickly answered.

"That's not necessarily true."

"R-Really?"

"*sigh* Look, if I can reach the power I need, then this'll all be over and we'll all be able to live normal lives. Otherwise, it'll take a miracle to get us out of this mess. So it's not an impossibility, but don't expect anything to happen for a while. That's all I can tell you."

"O-okay."

Hearing that, Iris began feeling much better. She had thought that they would be stuck like this forever. But hearing that there was a chance for them to be normal again, she regained hope.