Chapter 6 -It's a Deal.

Both impressed at the amount they earned for the day, Gordan and his father looked at each other in satisfaction. At this point, the moment of tension had passed. All that remained for Gordan was to execute his plan. He felt as though something was missing. Looking over at his father, who was inserting the daily profits into his inventory at the time, Gordan's heart felt heavy.

"Hey, dad, I want to impart my bartering skill onto you." Gordan's eyes looked serious, and his father replied with a moment of silence. The room felt uncomfortable at this moment.

"Look son, I just don't have the time to man the counter." His father groaned. "I understand what you're thinking, but it's not possible." His father continued with a furrowed brow. "Right now we need you to do this." The moment intensified. Gordan pursed his lips and looked down.

"Fine. I get it." Gordan gave a curt response and avoided eye contact. "I'm going to close up the shop." He left, walking sluggishly in thought to do his nightly routine.

Gordan's father sighed and crossed his arms, leaving the shop through the side door. He stopped at the doorway and put his hand on the frame. Looking up, it seemed like he was thinking or even praying. "Son, we love you very much. So don't go getting upset with us for thinking about you." He walked slowly off toward the house, leaving Gordan to his closing duties.

"Don't worry, Dad. I'm going to make you rich one day. Then, you won't have to worry about a thing!' Gordan found himself more perturbed than he expected. First, he thought his father would be ecstatic at him entering the labyrinth. After all, if he could gather more supplies and help make more money, what's the issue?

But, Gordan knew his father was right at heart. No matter how mad it made him, Gordan still had a few problems to sort out before enacting his plan. First was the shop. He needed a replacement that could be as effective as him. Next, he needed to learn how to use a weapon. "No sense in heading to the labyrinth if I can't protect myself." Gordan thought. Lastly, he needed a real business plan. One that practically guaranteed he and his parents would be taken care of.

"Ah! This class is just too hard!" Gordan grabbed his head, looking annoyed. "What's the point of a cheat class if you can't do what you want?!" He sat at the counter and slumped forward, lost in thought.

"Hey you alright, man?" Lee sheepishly peeked into the shop through the side door. "Your dad looked pretty bummed going to the house." He strolled into the shop and sat down next to Gordan. Everything was okay yesterday, but now Gordan and his father seemed to have disagreed, leading to a tense air between the two. Lee had concern written on his face.

Gordan explained the conversation they'd had. Lee listened patiently, although he punched Gordan in the arm after explaining everything. "You idiot." Lee sighed and thought for a moment. "Your dad wants YOU to be successful, not him." He threw his hands in the air while making a furrowed face. "Why else would he refuse the skill?" Lee added. "And my mom thinks you're the smart one," Lee mumbled, crossing his arms.

"Lee's right. God damn! I probably made him feel terrible." Gordan gazed off past Lee as if he could see something behind him. "Earth to Gordan, you're floating off again." Lee pointed to Gordan's chest, poking him gently. Gordan snapped back, and Lee gave a soft expression. "It's fine, don't worry too much. We have work to do, don't we?" Lee chuckled. "We do."

The two finished closing the shop. Lee would often come by at the end of the shift and, as a result, had learned what needed to be done to help Gordan close the shop. After the lights were out, only the streetlamps and the porch light lit the way. The two passed some jokes back and forth about their adventures so far, and both were getting excited. But Gordan seemed to be holding something back. Unbeknownst to Lee, Gordan feared he'd get Lee hurt or, worse, killed.

"I'm going to get stronger. It's the only way to make sure that doesn't happen," Gordan assured himself.

Upon entering the house, both Gordan's parents greeted the pair sweetly. His father seems to have let go of the previous conversation. The group chatted briefly about Gordan's new class and their life-or-death adventures so far. His parents were concerned, but it was not as if they could do anything. His father decided to change the subject.

"Lee, how's your parents? I haven't heard from them in sometime." His father uncomfortably changed the topic.

"Ah, well dad still in his office as per usual. Apparently, his team found something. In the labyrinth." Lee smiled back proudly.

"That's good to hear. He deserves a win for all his efforts recently." Gordan's father replied.

"Mom is just the same devil as usual. Hellish training and all." Lee scratched the side of his head and smiled a bit nervously. Lee thought if his mom heard that, she'd put him through even worse hell.

Gordan's mom chimed in. "She's looking out for you! Don't be too upset with her, she would never push you too far."

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Lee seemed to be experiencing flashbacks from Gordan's perspective. He wanted to leave the situation before it became more uncomfortable. The boys made eye contact and knew they had the same thought.

"Thanks, Mrs. Felt, I know. But I think I want to head upstairs for now." Lee then gave some thanks for the refreshments Gordan's mom had brought in earlier and headed upstairs. Gordan followed. Before totally leaving the sight of his parents, his father reminded them to be careful and to make sure they didn't risk too much.

Upon closing the bedroom door, the two sighed and slumped their shoulders forward. Meeting eyes, Gordan broke the silence.

"Sorry about my parents, they can be a bit nosy." Gordan laughed.

"No worries, I don't really mind it." Lee was being polite; he minded a little. But not because of Gordan's parents but because he wasn't sure if his comments would get back to his mom.

"You ready?" Gordan asked.

"You bet, I'm going straight to that graveyard to find myself a new companion!" Lee did a fist pump and smiled.

Gordan then selected his skill.

*Please select a skill and difficulty*

*Easy*

*Moderate*

*Difficult*

Gordan chose difficult. His reasoning was simple. So far, the system hadn't given a quest he couldn't handle, and it gave the most benefit. Plus, he knew asking Lee would only result in him boasting again.

*Please choose a skill to Skill up*

"Hmm, I'll go accounting again." Gordan thought, "I can work on swordsmanship manually, I guess."

A bright light lifted the two away. When their sight recovered, something unexpected occurred. Rather than being near the sword graveyard like they assumed. They went right back to the beginning location. The pair of footsteps in the sand were still clearly visible.

"NOOOO! Now we have to walk all that way again." Lee had dramatically fallen to his knees and shouted at the sky.

"Get up. We've got company Lee." Gordan said seriously while readying his machete.

*A new quest has arrived*

*Quest: Slay the two giant rats. *

*Reward: Class skill (Insight)

Flanking, the two boys were identical giant white rats. Simultaneously, the rats let out a terrifyingly loud screech. It shook Gordan and gave him flashbacks of being dragged in the sand and seeing his friend hurt. Lee immediately began slashing. This time, the rats seemed more agile and predicted where Lee would try to attack. Gordan, on the other hand, ran off in a random direction. As a result, the second rat followed. Each of them had their part to play.

Lee seemed evenly matched with his rat, whereas Gordan was overwhelmed and panicked. His fight or flight response kicked in, and he chose flight. The giant white rat swung at Lee with his claws, missing narrowly. In a rage, it stood on its hind legs to appear bigger, but Lee took the change and stabbed his sword into the beast's center, wounding it. The rat squealed in pain and began to fall forward, landing on top of Lee.

Meanwhile, Gordan was done running.

"I must face it! I'm not going to get stronger like this!" Gordan tried to convince himself. He turned around, and the giant rat slid in front of him with both claws baring. The rat jumped as if to overpower its prey. Gordan ran forward, hoping to run under and behind the rat. He stuck his machete in the air while running, slicing open the rat's guts. Another deathly squeal filled the air, and the rat pounded the sand as Gordan appeared behind it. The rat was still alive but was more concerned with containing its guts rather than chasing Gordan.

Lee's muffled screams could be heard. "Help, it's pinned me. GORDAN!" Lee screamed. It sounded as if he was talking through a bunch of pillows. Gordan looked over to see Lee's wooden sword on the ground and Lee nowhere to be seen. The giant rat on top of him was equally confused. But, looking around, he spotted his next target. The rat started to sprint toward Gordan, revealing Lee starfish lying in the sand.

Gordan readied his blade. He struck down as the rat approached with a swipe, parrying the first blow.

*Swordsmanship has reached lvl 1*

Gordan disregarded it and went in to counter. The rat brought down its right paw, recovering from the parry, only swiping its left, catching Gordan in his counter and creating a deep gash on his right shoulder leading down to his collarbone. Gordan let out a ghastly scream and held the wound. He then switched hands with his machete and tried to strike again, only to be caught by another scrape across the face, pushing him down.

Meanwhile, Lee had somewhat recovered. He felt a piercing pain in his ribcage as he tried to push through to stand up. He tried to run over to his sword, only for the pain to worsen. He started walking at that point, picked up the blade, and hobbled over to the rat holding his side. He struck a blow on the side of the rat's face, distracting it momentarily from his bleeding friend.

"GET UP!" Lee screamed.

"Oh fuck this hurts." Gordan complained in his mind. "Is this what Lee went through. Man, that guy really is nuts."

Gordan struggled to a standing position but took too long. The rat turned quickly to swipe again. As the rat swiped, Lee struck its neck, causing a spray of blood. The rat fell. The second rat was still squealing and struggling to stand. Lee offered a hand to Gordan to help him stand up. The two walked over to the second rat, struggling to keep standing. Simultaneously, they struck the rat in its head.

*Quest completion detected*

*Quest: Slay the two giant rats – completed*

*Reward: Class skill (Insight)*

The white light blinded the two. The boys found themselves standing in Gordan's bedroom. Neither injured nor exhausted.

*Insight has reached lvl 1*

*Accounting has reached lvl 11*

The system message appeared to Gordan as he plopped down on the floor.

"Holy shit, Lee. We did it." Gordan said this with disbelief and amazement. As he looked at Lee, he could see tears start to form.

"MY SWORD!" Lee cried and fell to his knees with the wooden sword across his palms. The blade seems to have developed a split down the center from constant battle abuse.

"I'm sorry, man, we'll get you a new one, I promise. Just wait ten minutes. We'll go to the sword graveyard." Gordan pleaded a bit with Lee to get him to stop crying. He didn't want to explain what had happened to his parents. He wanted to avoid making them worry even more.

"My mom is going to have my head Gordan. Do you understand? I'm going to DIE Gordan" Lee pleaded, grabbing onto Goardan's shirt. "DIE." Lee cried.

"This guy." Gordan sighed. "It's going to be fine, I think she'll understand." Gordan brushed Lee off and sat down on the bed.

"Besides, I have a new skill to try," Gordan grinned.