A fairy a quest. Aiden, I'm not so sure about this. I mean not to point out the obvious, but you haven't even leveled up yet. What if you get into a battle with a giant beast or something? Buddy, I don't need to remind you that it's not going to go well for you.
Remember the slimes, Okay, digested my slimes? Please help me? Yeah, Dad, I know. It just means that I've got to be more careful than the others. Plus safety numbers, you know. I'll have Pork here. He looks like he's been in a few fights, haven't you, big guy?
Call me big guy again and I'll toss you into that lake over there.
Well, he seems pleasant anyways, Aiden, As your dad, I just have some hesitations about this. Run it by me again. What exactly is going on?
I'm still a little fuzzy on the details myself. At Pork, you want to tell.
Him buckle up, pops, this one's a doozy. Once there were five heroes known all over the land for their bravery, their abilities, and their desire to help everyone they met. They fought dragons, trolls, rock, monsters, you name it, and I was their quest giver in charge of finding and giving them quests to help them level up. But one
day on their own, Glitch started acting weird. You see, Glitch's ability was that he could skip forward and backwards in time, but the more he used his power, the more he started to see things, things that haven't happened yet but could still come to pass. One day, and we're not exactly sure what happened, Glitch went crazy, started ranting and raving, kicked us all out of our headquarters. Nothing made sense, and no amount of trying to talk
to him helped. Over time, a dark cloud started to form over the base and a weird energy started crackling around him. One day it got really bad. Me and the other heroes went inside to try and stop whatever was happening, but before we could stop him, he sealed all of the heroes away into the crystals and sent them all over the world. As for me, he stuffed me inside a puzzle box that your son found. And
that's about all I know. We gotta stop whatever Glitch is doing, and we've got to rescue the four heroes.
Nice story, Beef, Hey it's Park. Well, I'm not a big fan of my son leaving the ghost. Stop some maniac who can glitch through time. Call me over, protective.
Dad, you're not listening. I'm not trying to beat Glitch. I'm just wanting to help Pork rescue the four heroes. Once we do that, I'm sure they'll have a plan to take on Glitch again.
I don't know, Aiden, maybe if you were a level five or ten, but certainly not as a level one. I haven't even taught you proper sword holding for them yet. You see, it's all about thumb placement and.
Goblins.
Goblins are attacking goblins.
Aiden, Pork, get inside quick, lock the door and don't come out. Got it? No, Dad, I want to help Aiden. This is too dangerous. Listen to me. You can't fight these things. They're too fast and too mean. Go inside, close the door.
Uh fine, come on, Pork.
Whatever you say, Boss, Grab my armor, my hammer, my helmets. Do I need two helmets? No, that'd be dumb. I only have one head, jeez.
So I guess we just sit here until the goblins go away.
Listen, the last thing I want to do is get on your dad's bad side. He's the local blacksmith. He's probably got a giant club the size of a cow. He'd bring down on my head if I got you into trouble.
He's just protective, is all, you know. He was a great adventurer himself until Mom, well Mom left us. They called him the stone Prince because while all the other fighters used weapons made of steel and iron, he always chiseled and made his hammers out of the sturdiest and strongest rocks from the deepest caves. He's kind of a legend in these parts. You know.
That's amazing, kid. I can see why not leveling up like your dad has been tough on you. You want to be like him, don't you?
Sort of? I don't really know. I mean, I don't think I'm ever going to swing a huge hammer like him. But what I think i'd most is his ability to protect the people around him. If I could do anything he does, it's that, you know. Same with my mom. She was always willing to use her shield to protect the people she loves most. Actually, Pork, that gives me an idea. What do you say we get rid of these goblins?
Uh? Didn't your dad say we had to stay in the house.
Who said we were leaving the house?
Come here, you tiny little bogger creatures.
You're not getting all my cheese today, not like last time.
Oh no, it seems I can't get my chunky, needy and tender friend unstuck from this treasure chest. Oh no, oh, my barrel chested friend. It'd be a shame if a bunch of big, strong goblins came to eat you.
Aiden.
What are you doing?
Trust me, dad? Oh no, my scrumptious little fairy friend is stuck. I hope no goblins come to eat him.
Okay, kid, you're really selling it a bit too much here, Aiden.
You left the door to the house open. They're gonna get inside.
Trust me. You goblins up here, cat's this They're covered up by a huge blanket. Now, cork, Now, everyone barricade the doors.
Aiden, I told you to stay in the house.
Technically I'm in the house. I've just barricaded the upstairs and laid a trap for the goblins downstairs, so that the entire rating party traps themselves inside the house, thinking they can come in and get an easy meal by eating my stout fairy friend, when they're actually being trapped in our house by all of our neighbors who have now blocked on the exits, so we can keep them in there until we can tie them up and send them back to the Goblin King, who's going to be
pretty mad about an unauthorized rating party coming to human territory.
Aiden, that's incredible. You thought of this plan all by yourself.
Well, I mean yeah, but I wouldn't have been able to pull it off if it weren't for the help of all the townspeople pitching in.
That's right, Pops. This kid's got the chops to be a leader. I can tell.
Okay, Aiden, come on down from there. I think we've got some stuff to talk about. So if you're sure you want to do this, I'm not going to stop you. If you feel like you've got a quest in your heart, then I want to support you.
Dad. It's like I was telling Pork earlier, it's not that I want to be a fighter. It's not that I want to go and be a mighty warrior like you. I just want to help people like Mom helped people like you help people by protecting the village and by being an amazing blacksmith. And right now there are four heroes who need help, and I'm not sure they're going to get that help. Unless I help them.
You're right. I think I've just been hesitant to see you go out on adventures since your mom. Well, you know, I get.
That, Dad, But I think this is my time, my quest, my chance to make my mark.
Okay, Son, I get it. Just promise me one thing.
What is it, Dad? Take this.
It was your mom's mom's shield. That's right. She always wanted to protect people, and she knew that if she was using this shield, then nothing in this world could hurt the people she loved.
Thanks Dad, I love you, son.
Okay, I'm brushing my chance hand going to bed. You two have fun.
I love you so much.
So about what happens with your mom. She sounded like a nice lady. I'm sure she's proud of you.
Oh she is.
She'll always be in your memory.
Okay, I mean she's still around.
That's right, kid, She'll always live in your heart.
No, I mean she's like a bird person. Now, I'm sorry what she's a bird person dual citizenship. She lives with the bird. She's a diplomat helping negotiate human bird relationships and politics. So she lives in the aviary at the top of that mountain with the bird. People. Me and my dad can't go up there because we're allergic to birds, So she works remotely.
You guys made it sound like she.
Oh yeah, she comes back like once or twice a month. She's doing well, very healthy.
When you guys are talking about making all these loving tributes to you are crying when hugging each other. It was the saddest thing I ever thought.
You telling me that she's alive. What I'm I mean? Yeah, because my family means a lot to me.
Your people are crazy. Seriously, I can't believe I'm trusting a quest this important to a crazy person.
Oh yeah, man, it's super cool. They pick her up and fly her back and forth. It's pretty gnarly.