His parents entered, followed by Jimmy. Both of them looked younger than he remembered. His dad used to walk with shorter steps from a chronically sore back. His mom had lost a lot of weight and she stood straighter. But their eyes — Their eyes were full of water. Why were they crying?

“Hi Rick,” his dad’s voice called out. “Don’t hurt yourself trying to talk to us. Jimmy told us everything we needed to know, so he can translate.”

“Why are they sad?” Rick asked. The tears didn’t look like tears of happiness to him.

Jimmy translated as Rick spoke, making the conversation go smoothly.

“We know that you’re in here, Ricky. But… We lost our boy. You’re not here with us,” his mom began.

Rick’s dad put a hand on her shoulder, “Honey… It's alright. He can hear us. He’s here.”

“I’m fine, guys. In fact, I feel more alive than I’ve ever felt. I have a purpose,” Rick said, Jimmy translated.

“I understand you feel that way. But… I can’t hug you. Or make you a plate of food to cheer you up. Or even hear your voice. I miss you, baby,” Rick’s mom said, holding back from a full on sob.

“I’m sorry. This is all my fault. Everything. I’m — I’m sorry,” Rick said. He could never bear to see his parents in pain. Mad? Sure. Hurt? No chance.

Rick’s Dad shook his head, “No, Jimmy told us what happened. You couldn’t have possibly known and all of this would have happened sooner or later.”

“Will you stay here? This is a safe place. I’ll build whatever you want. Your old house. Anything,” Rick pleaded.

His parents looked at each other and Rick’s dad responded, “No, Rick. When this is all over, we’re leaving and never coming back. Think of it as our ‘retirement’.”

The words stung Rick’s core, but he let his father continue.

“There’s something else you should know,” Rick’s mom said. “We didn’t escape Gus. He let us go.”

“What?” Rick said incredulously. Jimmy’s translation didn’t do his reaction justice, but they knew he was disappointed.

“He’s more dangerous than you know. He offered us a deal, and we took it,” His dad said plainly. “There are other things going on that you don’t understand yet. There are other people out there worse than Gus. He’s our only hope. But — if you stand in his way, he will kill you and we won’t be able to stop it.”

“What makes him so dangerous?” Rick asked. He truly didn’t know what Gus could do to him with the defensive array in place. Everyday Challengers could pose more of a problem.

“For one, he’s now gained control of Luke Airforce Base. He could level this place in moments,” Rick’s dad explained. “Not to mention all of the people outside. Though, I wouldn’t call them innocent.”

“Well, fuck. That is a problem,” Rick said. “What kind of deal did you take?”

“There are reports of another dungeon. It’s in South Mountain, but there is a group of people defending it. He wants us to infiltrate it and bring back whatever is so valuable inside. When we’ve done that, we’re free to go.”

“That sounds like suicide. Why doesn’t he just send his men or bomb it?” Rick asked.

“Multiple reasons,” his dad explained. “The first one being that he doesn’t want to destroy it. If it’s valuable, it might help him. The other reason is that he’s hoping we can persuade the group to join him. Honestly, I think it’s a good plan and tend to agree with him.”

“And you trust him?” Rick asked. “When you leave, why wouldn’t you just disappear? You should all go. Don’t get under this guy’s thumb more than you have to. You too, Jimmy.”

Jimmy stopped translating for a moment, “I’m not going anywhere, dude. No point trying that bullshit with me.”

Rick’s mom smiled for the first time as she looked at Jimmy supporting her son.

“We knew you wouldn’t like it, but this could be important. Plus, your mom and I could use a little adventure,” His dad said with a smile.

Rick wanted to argue further, but he knew that he’d never change his dad’s mind. Gus would never honor his word of letting them go after this. They had to know that. Or would he? How much did I really know about the man? Rick pondered.

“Do you know what it could be? What’s inside the other dungeon?”

His mom shook her head, “No, but reports are that both people and animals are much stronger in that area and that it has something to do with the dungeon.”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“Damnit. Promise me that when this is all over and you’ve done what you need to do, that you’ll leave. Don’t do anything more for that guy,” Rick pleaded.

Rick’s dad listened as Jimmy translated, “Like I said, we look forward to our retirement.”

He didn’t like it, but Rick couldn’t do anything about it. Once his parents decided on something, they’d see it through.

“There’s something else we wanted to talk about, Rick,” his dad said in a voice that signaled a lecture was about to happen.

His parents exchanged another concerned look.

“Baby, we’ve watched the broadcasts,” his mom started. “How can you allow such senseless killing? These people have families. We didn’t raise you like this. Where is your empathy?”

Rick struggled to respond for a moment. How could he explain that some of his human emotions just weren’t the same anymore? That the sacrifices excited him and fed him to become stronger. It was a basic need for him now. The needs he had as a human were all gone now and replaced. He no longer needed to eat, breathe, drink. Now, he needed the souls of the Challengers.

“Don’t watch the broadcasts. I can’t stop and I need people to keep coming in here. Just don’t watch. Please,” he said.

“We’ll… Try,” his mom sniffed.

Penny wandered over and brushed her body against his parents. Rick could sense her scarf going to work, easing the tension in the room.

“So what’s your plan with this other dungeon?” Rick deflected, trying to change the subject.

“We’ll see when we get there,” his dad said. “In the meantime, can we challenge yours?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely not. Jimmy – bar them from entering any of the other floors, please.”

Jimmy quickly translated, then added a comment of his own, “Way ahead of you, Rick. Sorry Mr. and Mrs. G.”

His parents glared at Jimmy, “You have to let us. It’s as important for us to grow stronger as it is for you and everyone else.”

“Yeah, not going to be responsible for my parent’s death,” Rick said. “By the way, why all of the sneaking around if you work for that prick?”

“We didn’t want them knowing for sure that we’re connected to this place,” his dad explained.

“Fair enough,” Rick said. Still, he didn’t feel good about his parents leaving without any help. Then, he had an idea. “Jimmy, do you think we can send Kara? She could probably use the levels too and is a total badass from what I’ve seen. I’d feel more comfortable if she went with them.”

Jimmy hesitated for a moment. “Yeah… Sure. Let me ask her first. Is it alright with you two if my friend Kara tags along? She needs the combat experience too,” Jimmy asked.

Rick’s mom smiled, “Of course. We’ll protect her, honey.”

Kara had obviously been eavesdropping as she walked down the staircase from her high-rise hobbit house. Rick noticed she had purchased some of those Healing Huffs and strapped them to her belt. “Hi, Rick’s parents. I can’t call you that the whole time. What are your names?”

Rick’s mom giggled and her arms swung out wide for a hug even though she was ten feet away, “Hi honey, I’m Elena and my husband is Angelo.” She closed the distance and embraced a smiling Kara.

While Kara and Elena were talking, Angelo turned to Jimmy, “I do have one suggestion, if you want it.”

Jimmy raised an eyebrow, “Of course, Mr. G. What is it?”

“I’ve been thinking about everything you told me about the defensive array. How many people can it zap at once?”

“I assume it can handle any number of people. It uses their own mana against them,” Jimmy said, scratching the back of his head.

“You don’t sound too sure. While we are working with Gus, I still don’t trust him with my boy. Try to keep him safe, will you?” Angelo asked

“Of course, I’ll do my best, Mr. G.”

Angelo clapped Jimmy on the shoulder, “Thank you, Jimmy.”

“Yeah. I’m planning on fortifying this place better as the Credits start to roll in more. Gus has a head start but there is plenty of shit in the Shop that can counter whatever he throws at us — even jets. It’s just so goddamn expensive.”

“If this dungeon has anything else of value, I’ll give it to you boys. Gus doesn’t need to know,” Angelo said with a wink.

“I like your thinking, Mr. G,” Jimmy laughed.

“So, you know how when we sell something to the shop, it just disappears?” Angelo asked.

Jimmy arched an eyebrow, “Yes, like how Rick just absorbs shit. The System does the same thing, but anywhere.”

“Yeah, so if you guys are right about Gus, you would need someone to sneak in and sell off all of their big guns,” Angelo said.

Jimmy started laughing, “Shit, would that work? I’ve never tried to sell anything that wasn’t in my direct possession.”

“Let’s give it a shot,” Angelo said and grabbed Jimmy’s wrist. Nothing happened from Rick’s point of view.

“I just got a notification warning me that someone was attempting to steal my watch,” Jimmy said.

“And I got one asking me to confirm that I’d like to steal your watch,” Angelo grinned. Suddenly, Jimmy’s watch disappeared.

“What the fuck, Mr. G? I loved that goddamn watch,” Jimmy seethed.

Rick cackled in Jimmy’s ear, “Don’t kill my dad, dude.” Rick knew that if there was one thing you never did to Jimmy, it was to mess with his jewelry.

Jimmy took a deep breath, “You’re an even bigger ass hat than Rick. I’m assuming it worked. What did you get for it?”

Angelo was red in the face from his wheezing laughter, “Eight hundred Credits. Must have been a good watch.”

“It. Was,” Jimmy said through a clenched jaw. “But that presents a bigger problem. People are going to steal everything they can and sell it. It’ll be hard to gather resources.”

“And whoever goes to steal from Gus will notify the owner,” Angelo confirmed.

“Damn, that’s risky,” Jimmy grumbled. “I wish Adam were here. He could have gotten in there and done that.”

“What about Deandre? That dude was fast as fuck,” Rick suggested.