The sky was a deep indigo when Derek finally arrived home. If it wasn’t for his enhanced eyes, it would have been pitch black. Derek parked the urethane spray foam van in front of the building. Then checked the road to see if anything followed him. Nothing had. Well, they tried, but he stopped and took care of it. Familiar sounds of children’s laughter and the aroma of dinner greeted him as he climbed out of the van. The house was active as the kids ran around the house. Derek smiled softly as he saw the chaos through the windows. The kitchen was busy as Jenny and Linda prepared dinner. Quite a bit of work had been done on the building. John had the project moving forward at an amazing rate.

Taking a moment to look at the day’s reward for his work, he checked his status sheet. “Huh, not bad.”

Congratulations:

Over the course of eight battles: You have killed 52 goblins, 21 orcs, and 7 trolls.

Rewards:

1089 experience

1013 credits

Derek Irisson

Level:

27

Titles:

Goblin Slayer (rank 5)

Hobgoblin Slayer (rank 1)

Orc Slayer (rank 4)

Troll Slayer (rank 2)

Minotaur Slayer (rank 1)

Ogre Slayer (rank 1)

Race:

Echo of the Divine Dragons

Classes:

Elemental Berserker

Physical Ability:

67

Mental Ability:

18

Emotional Capacity:

12

Magical Capacity:

47

Passive Abilities:

Elemental Awareness

Abilities:

Ravager’s Fury

Divine Dragon’s Celestial Mantle

Draconic Reflex

Elemental Rage

Aura: Bloodlust

Elemental Infusion

Elemental Impact

Experience:

15,425 / 30,933 XP

Stat Points

0

Milestone Points

0

Active Quests

Path of Evolution (Divine Dragon)

Prodigal Child of Legend

Derek stripped the tattered, blood-soaked scraps of his armor and clothes. Using the outdoor faucet, he washed a majority of the grime and blood from his body before heading inside, leaving the destroyed equipment on the garage floor for later. He grabbed a black towel from the stack and dried some of the blood and water from his body, before wrapping it around him and heading inside.

If hadn’t cleaned himself up before entering the house, he would have to listen to both Marie and Linda give him an earful on how he tracked dirt and blood into the house. He hung the keys for the van on the key hook and ascended the stairs.

Kids bounced off him as they ran up and down the stairs, their playful screams filling the air. Leroy, much larger than the others, followed at a slower pace, maintaining the game. It was an odd sight to see someone almost as large as Leroy, but only 9 years old, chasing a bunch of kids around the house. Marie and Janet quietly talking on the sofa. The guys must be downstairs. The kids ran out of the bedroom by a grumpy sounding James with a flash of a spell that held no power. Jenny and Linda were in the middle of chatting while tending to a large pot and drinking wine.

Marie smiled up at him, her eyes reflecting a warmth that momentarily eased Derek’s weary heart. He showered quickly, feeling the weight of the day’s battles wash away with the grime. After a shower, Derek headed back downstairs looking for the guys, who he found sitting in recliners in the addition drinking beer while a football game rerun played on the TV. When Derek entered, they all turned to look at him. Carson paused the TV and for the first time, he felt out of place in his own home. There wasn’t a place for him in the camaraderie.

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“How did it go?” Phil asked.

“Fine, got a bunch of stuff off the list.” Derek said. “Hit level 27. The building looks good.”

“Woah, that is a lot of killing.” Phil commented.

“Yeah, it’s been an interesting day.” Derek said, with a false smile, while backing away from the room.

He sat on his mechanic’s stool with a beer in hand, feeling a growing sense of disconnection. The football game had resumed, leaving him to his own thoughts and a creeping sense of not belonging. He sipped his beer and let his mind slowly spin further into the darkness. He could feel his sadness turning to frustration turning to apathy. He drained the beer he had been sipping, tossed it into the already full trash can, and walked out into the yard.

The rain was back, and he apathetically stepped out into the rain and walked around the house, listening to the sounds of the kids shouting as they played. Derek almost fell into the basement hole where the new construction was starting. The foundation had been finished, and it was ready for walls, but there was a big step where they would have to open up the house for construction. Derek didn’t concern himself with it. He walked around the extension and imagined what it would look like when it was finished.

He wasn’t terribly worried about being gone. Between Leroy and James, the house would be well defended. It was kind of ironic that the kids were more oriented toward combat classes and the adults were more support classes.

The random, intermittent thoughts helped lighten the mood slightly. He felt a gnawing sense of displacement, wondering if the family really needed him beyond his ability to kill monsters. All he was muscle and a monster killer, everything else someone else covered. His mind for construction and building was covered by John. His gardening and preserving mind was covered by Marie and Linda. Protection was covered by most everyone. He wasn’t needed and he was the cold, aloof, loner that protected him from the years of isolation. He could feel his mind equipping his emotional armor, the same armor that Marie and their therapist spent so long slowly removing.

The outside door shut with a muted thud, having been muffled by the rainwater. Derek turned to see Marie coming out of the garage wearing a rain jacket. He rearranged his face to flat and emotionless as he focused intensely on their decrepit fence.

She placed a hand on his arm, her touch gentle. “What are you thinking about?” she asked softly, her eyes searching his.

“I don’t know, a lot of things.” He said, not elaborating.

“You know, when you’re like this, I know what kind of thoughts are in your head.” She said, looking up at him. “It’s your ironman face. You’re feeling negative emotions and probably feeling isolated or lonely. Come on, let’s go inside and get out of this cold rain.” She pulled on his arm with both hands, giving him a solid tug.

Derek just grunted in response and let her pull him back into the house.

“I’m here and you’re my family.” She said, taking a moment to look him in the eye and hold her hand to his cheek.

“Your place is here with me. This is our home, and no matter what, I love you. No matter what you look like and who you become. You can be my own personal monster slayer.” She smiled and pulled him into a soft kiss. “I see bits and pieces of the future and nothing happens that will cause you to be isolated except your own mind.”

“I love you too,” Derek mumbled as his pants clanged to the floor.

“Now, my love. Tell me about your day.”

Derek sent her his kill log and an abbreviated version of his character sheet.

“You’ve gotten a lot stronger if you were able to kill that thing from the power plant.”

Derek nodded. “Yeah. There was plenty of killing today and I haven’t even covered a quarter of the city.”

“Your not going to be able to finish sweeping the city before you need to leave, but do what you can. I’ve been looking into our future, but as far as I can see forward, our home remains safe.”

“What can you see?” Derek asked.

“Quite a bit, actually, but I can’t say anything without affecting the future. I’ve been testing the limits of what I can do with small things, but it’s a hard problem to balance when trying to influence the future without sending it in an unexpected direction. The butterfly effect is real, and it’s a pain to handle. All I can really say is that when you return, everyone will still be alive.”

“At least I don’t have to worry about that.”

Marie’s face showed a lot of internal conflict. “Big events are easy to see and predict, but small personal interactions are a pain. Impulsive decisions heavily influence the future. I should stop talking about this now, else I risk altering the future. Oh! Most of us got our classes today and received the independent training.”

SCENE 3

After dessert, the family gathered around the table, and Marie began the after-dinner meeting.

“John, how are the projects coming along?” Marie asked.

“We finished the setting the verticals for the garage and started framing the addition. Tomorrow, we’re going to focus on the addition and hopefully get the roof integrated. Derek, if you’re going to be around tomorrow, then the projects should move quite a bit faster.”

“I believe Derek will be out in town tomorrow, but thank you for the update.” Marie said, then looked at Derek.

“I reached level 27. It seems like there is greater benefit to killing groups of monsters versus killing individuals. Killing large groups of monsters seems to yield more experience than killing them individually.” Derek announced. “Killing 1 troll versus 10 goblins is still going to reward more for the troll, but killing 10 trolls one at a time won’t net as much as 10 trolls at the same time.”

“How many monsters have you killed to gain six levels?” Phil asked.

“Around two thousand.” Derek answered. “And not for lack of monsters to kill, I was trying to focus on finding trolls or minotaur, but they are more uncommon than the hordes of goblins. I also ran into two new types of monsters today: hobgoblins and ogres.” He explained the difference and their fighting styles. “Like Marie said, I’ll be going into town tomorrow. I’ll be working through the midtown and downtown areas.”

“With that, I would like to announce that Michele will be handling inventory, supplies, and acting as our strategist. She has already made an inventory list and will be leading supply runs in the future.”

“I’ve collected a lot of supplies for you,” Derek handed Michele a ziplock bag filled with storage devices and sent her the list of items he had acquired.

“Wow, this is… a lot.” She said, her eyes out of focus as she looked at the list on her interface.

“Anyone else have anything?”

James raised his hand, then spoke. “I think I have devised a couple of inventions that might help. I have a prototype for a mana circle that will emit electricity so that we aren’t running on generator power. It hasn’t been tested on a large scale, but should be able to provide electricity if you can give me some time to work on it. Candace should be able to handle anything you need as far as magical support, right, sister?”

Candace nodded.

“I probably won’t need you tomorrow.” John commented.

The family meeting ended after a few more discussions, but Derek wasn’t directly involved, so he didn’t really pay attention. Afterward, Derek got another plate of the leftovers and worked his way through three more plates, before pausing to get some tea, then the process started all over again. When he finished, there wasn’t a single scrap of food left from dinner. Linda handed him a peanut butter protein shake, followed by several more milkshakes until he was fully satisfied.

Linda glanced at Derek, seeing the weariness in his eyes as she cleaned the kitchen. Derek felt the weight of the day’s battles lifting slightly, replaced by the comforting hum of domestic life around him. The house was alive with the laughter of children and the chatter of conversations. The simple acts of preparing food, cleaning up, and the children’s innocent play was a dose of normalcy that was both soothing and grounding for Derek.

He sat there sipping on his drink as the household wound down or the evening. Linda and Marie cleaned the kitchen, while the kids were corralled into brushing their teeth and heading to bed. The bedding was drug out and the household settled into a warm sleepy atmosphere.

“Thanks Linda.” He said, sitting at the island while she cleaned the kitchen.

“Your welcome, Derek. Thanks for keeping my family safe.” She smiled at him.

“Simply doing my part.” He replied.

“I’ll cook something extra special in the morning for you in the morning.” She said with a smile.

“Thanks, Linda. I appreciate you helping take a load of work off Marie. I’m heading to bed.” Derek said, standing.

“Of course, good night.” She replied with a warm smile.

He saw Marie already in bed when he entered the bedroom. She was seemingly engrossed in one of her romance books, but her eyes were frozen as she stared blankly at it, lost in thought. The soft light from the bedside lamp cast a warm glow, adding to the room’s tranquility. He sat on the edge of the bed, taking a deep breath and letting the day’s tension fade as he relaxed. His thoughts wandered to the day’s violence, but here, in this room, surrounded by the love and warmth of his family, he found a sense of peace.

Lying down, Derek felt the soft embrace of the bed and the comforting presence of Marie beside him. She put her book away and turned off the lamp, then scooted close to him and cuddled into his side. His mind drifted toward his own feelings. The violence and bloodlust from earlier was faded, but its impact on his psyche lingered. He wondered if he was becoming a monster, driven by a lust for blood and combat.

As Marie’s embrace tightened, Derek felt a glimmer of hope. Despite the challenges, there was a positive future ahead. Marie’s warmth and the thought of their growing family showed him that there was something worth fighting for beyond the battles and bloodshed. The laughter of his children, the love of his wife—these were the things that truly mattered. She gave him hope for a future where his family could live without fear and violence, where the laughter of his children wouldn’t be overshadowed by the threat of danger.