[What the hell is an Enlightened tier monster? And why the hell didn't you answer my questions earlier Sherlock?! I thought you were supposed to help me?!]

{While it is true that I am here to assist you, it is also your responsibility to grow and survive.

From the moment that I discovered the monster I realized that it was a good opportunity for you to experience what a monster who has started on its Path would be capable of.

To answer your first question though, an Enlightened tier monster is a monster that has started on its Path. Enlightened Tier is the first tier of The Path. The records show a total of five tiers for The Path.}

[Five tiers?! How high does your level be to reach the fifth tier?!]

{Level 500 is the beginning of the fifth tier. However, your level will continue to grow even after entering the fifth tier.}

[That just seems unreachable at this point...

Well whatever, that's for future me to worry about. I just need to survive and eventually I will reach that point.]

{You are correct. Nevertheless you got lucky today. That Shadow Walker was one of the weakest Enlightened Tier monsters I have seen in a long time. It seemed almost artificial.

That being said, you did well in dealing with its skill.}

[Well it was annoying, that's for sure. Thank god spiders are susceptible to vinegar or things would have gotten hairy.]

After going back and forth with Sherlock about the fight with the spider, Grant decided it was probably time to take the kids back to the house.

They had already accomplished their initial goal of allowing the kids to level up and since everyone was tired from the stress of everything that had happened, they decided it was best to call it a day.

Grant was also concerned about Ally. While she should be relatively safe in the house, it didn't mean that it impenetrable.

After packing up their stuff, the three got up to leave. Before they left the store though, Grant had the kids grab a few bags themselves.

He had them walk around and restock on food and water for themselves and their mother. Grant had no qualms sharing his food and water with them for now, but he wanted to save as much of his stock as he could for when he ventured out on his own.

Plus, if they brought enough extra food back, they would be able to eat as much as they wanted for dinner to celebrate a successful first hunt.

While the walk back to the house was rather uneventful aside from the occasional group of zombies and a couple of mutated cats and dogs. Grant remained on alert the entire time in case another overly strong monster appeared.

He was starting to get used to constantly being on edge, but it took a toll on him mentally.

Richard thankfully decided to make use of the sparce monsters as a way to test out his newfound strength and gain a little bit more combat experience which Grant could avoid fighting the weaker monsters.

As the group of three approached the house however, Grant suddenly started to get a sense of dread. At first it was subtle but it started to build more and more as they moved closer to the house.

That feeling grew even greater as they rounded the corner and saw the house. The first sign that something was wrong was the fact that the garage door was wide open.

Without waiting for the kids to catch on to the fact that something was wrong, Grant flashed into the open garage and noticed a body laying on the ground.

While Grant was standing over the body, Richard and Robin finally realized that something was wrong as well and ran into the garage and stood next to Grant. Seeing the man on the floor, the two kids looked very confused.

Richard seemed to be thinking through the scenarios of why the man would be there, but Robin instantly asked Grant what was going on.

"Mr. Carrot, who is this guy? Why is he in the garage?! Where is Mom?!"

Before Grant had a chance to reply, he had to quickly block Richards path because he had begun moving towards the door leading inside the house.

"Stay here Richard. I will handle this. Stay with your sister and protect her. Close the garage to keep monsters from outside being able to threaten you."

Richard turned and glared at Grant for a few seconds making it clear that he was not happy that Grant blocked his path. However, he was suddenly beset by a scared little girl which caused him to look away.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Richie, what is going on?!"

Richard retreated next to Robin and tried to calm her down. He told her that he didn't know what was going on, but Grant was going to go to check on their Mom so all she had to do was stay there and wait.

Before Grant could move towards the door, a scream from inside of the house.

Richard and Robin both looked in the direction of the house and stood up to run inside but they were both grabbed by Grant and held in place.

Feeling Grant holding them in place they both turned to look at him to ask why he stopped them but the words got caught in there throats when they saw the look on Grants face.

The most terrifying thing about the look on Grants face was that his face was devoid of any emotion, it was a blank slate. But there was a fire so fierce burning in his eyes that they were afraid to look even look at him.

Grant had always maintained a cheerful demeanor when he was around the two of them and made sure not to show any negative emotions, so the way he was now, was a massive shift in their eyes.

"I told you two stay here. I will handle this myself. Do not come inside until I come get you."

{Congratulations, Passive Skill: Terrorize has reached level 2}

{Congratulations...}

{Congratulations...}

{Congratulations, Passive Skill: Terrorize has reached level 5

Skill Type: Vocal

Skill Tier: Normal

Skill Description: Imbuing your words with anger will motivate the target of your words to execute your commands. The skill only effects those who are weak willed or those who are terrified of you. Will not work on anyone above level 25.}

The skill didn't take full effect on the two kids because they were neither weak willed nor terrified of Grant since they had spent so much time with him and had gotten to know him so well over the past day.

But the sheer amount of anger oozing from his words was enough for the skill to influence them in a subtle way. They did not question him or move another inch forward.

Seeing that the two of them weren't going to move from their spots, Grant started to walk towards the door leading inside.

He had already sensed the people inside the house with Overclocked Perception but he didn't want to scare the kids so he kept his mouth shut.

Grant walked through the door and down the hallway until he rounded the corner and saw the situation inside.

In the living room were four men scattered around the room. One was rummaging through the cabinets, one was sitting at the table and the other two were sitting on the couches.

Grant didn't say anything at first but when he saw one of the people sitting on the couches, the rage he was feeling, increased exponentially.

"What the fuck are you doing here Matt?"

Hearing the voice, all four of the men in the room turned and looked at Grant. Realizing that he was an unknown, they all withdrew their weapons and squared towards Grant ready for a fight.

When Matt saw Grant, he instantly turned whiter than a sheet of paper.

"He-Hey Grant, how have you been? I'm glad to see you alive! Is Tres with you?"

When the men realized that Matt seemed to know the newcomer, they all relaxed their weapons and dropped their hostility.

Grant didn't answer and just stood there staring at Matt for a few seconds before he asked the question he already knew the answer too but wanted to confirm anyways.

"Where's Jeff?"

Matt seemed to squirm in place for a few seconds. Since he didn't answer fast enough, some of the other men started to chime in.

"Matt, who is this guy? Is he a friend of yours?"

"If he's a friend, you should give him a turn as well. But I still get to go before him!"

"Don't even think about letting him have a go before us!"

While the three guys continued to prattle on and on, Grant never said a word and just stared straight into Matt's eyes.

With the commotion created by the three men going on and on, a voice rang out from one of the bedrooms in the house.

"Will you guys shut the hell up! Its hard to concentrate with you guys making so much noise! I haven't even gotten a chance to start yet!"

Hearing the voice, Grant got the answer to his question.

Not only was Matt here but Jeff was as well.

"Boss their is a guy out here! He seems to know Matt! Matt looks like he has seen a ghost though!"

A brief moment later, the sound of footsteps were heard coming down the hallway and Jeff rounded the corner a moment later and walked into the living room.

Upon seeing Grant, rather than looking terrified, he looked at Grant with a smug yet excited look on his face.

"Well look who we have here. I thought you were dead for sure Grant. It appears that I was mistaken though. I see you still have my sword with you. Have you come to give it to me instead of me taking it from your cold dead hands?"

Hearing Jeff's questions, Grant turned in his direction.

"Hello Jeff. Nice to know you're just as much of a piece of shit as I thought you were.

I thought that maybe you were just a coward, but it appears you are much worse than that.

I guess I need to discard my compassion in this new world if people like you are roaming free."

"Fuck you man! You want to die here?! I would have let you join my crew if you just listened obediently. But since you've chosen to ignore me and insult me, I'll cut off your balls, feed them to you, and then cut your head off afterwards!

Before we get to that though, where is Tres? Did you run away when he came to help you? While he died in your place?"

Hearing Jeff say Tres' name brought Grant's rage to yet another level. Losing control of his thoughts, Grant flashed towards Jeff and stood mere centimeters away from his face.

"You do not say that name. Tres sacrificed himself so that I could live. He is worth a million of you."

The arrogance Jeff was showing just seconds ago had gone without a trace, replaced by a fear so great, he instantly wet his pants. He was visibly shaking under the weight of the pressure that Grant was exerting on him.

"I I I'm sorry for what we did man. It wasn't anything personal! I just didn't want to die!"

"And yet, here you are, trying to take advantage of someone's mother.

I hope you have made your peace with your life because I will kill all of you here and now."

Hearing Grant's words, Jeff's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he passed out from the sheer terror.

The other three didn't know what was going on, but they certainly weren't going to let some random young man kill them without putting up a fight.

All three of them grabbed the weapons that they had just recently set down and charged towards Grant, screaming and yelling.

"Fuck you kid! You think you can kill us?!"

"Exactly! We're all level 10 or higher! Their is no way you can take all of us on at the same time!"

"And how dare you talk to our boss that way! Lets get him boys!"