POV Fred

  The family meeting room, otherwise known as the theater, was currently packed with all the adults in the family.

  Usually a couple of us would be on watch duty, but the dogs were currently roaming the property. We’ve been extremely hesitant to let them out, especially since we already lost one, but being cooped up in the house this long wasn’t good for them.

  We fed them of course, but it wasn’t until recently that it was agreed that we could start letting them out of the house, and today was one where we were alright with letting them out unsupervised.

  They knew to stay in the yard, so we weren’t worried about them running away.

  Though what was interesting was the suggestion that we should bring them into the Dungeon too. Of course, it was a suggestion from none other than Uncle Mack, but it wasn’t one that I disagreed with. At least not after actually thinking about it.

  Why couldn’t they “level up” too?

  Or at least do something similar.

  I didn’t think they could actually level up in the same way that humans did, otherwise they probably would’ve gotten an XP orb like we did, but there had to be something else they could do. How else would I explain all the different beasts we’ve fought against in the Dungeons?

  So… just like my younger cousins, why not take them in the Dungeon too to kill some snakes.

  Well, I suppose that’s a conversation for another day.

  For now, we needed to finalize our plans.

  “The overall plan is good, but it’s a simple one, which is why Freddy and his team will handle the north. Attacking from two fronts is something I’m going to assume they’ll be able to respond fairly quickly to, so we need to do something to make sure we can catch them off guard.

  “So Freddy, remember to wait until you hear the fighting start in other places to begin your move. While they are focused on the rest of us, it will be your job to play the reaper. Obviously, they might leave some people to watch against a late flank, but that’s where all that water comes in. Use it to your advantage, Freddy.”

  “Will do, Grandpa.”

  “Good. Now remember, a cornered rat is a dangerous rat, so don’t go out there trying to play hero. This goes for everyone. If you got to run, then run. We can always figure out a way to fix the situation as long as we’re alive.

  “Dying will make that whole fixing thing a little hard.”

  At some point the meeting ended, and I left with the members of my squad to go discuss our plan of attack. It was still weird referring to my Aunt and Uncles as my squad, but it worked I guess.

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  …

  “What’s the plan this time, Freddy?”

  “Well Uncle Terrance, this time it’s pretty simple. All of you will be playing support. Y’all can all swim, but I’m the only one who can do more than just swim in water. I don’t expect y’all to do the same thing.

  “Just focus on being near me. When it’s time to get wet, I’ll be going on ahead to do my own thing while y’all will follow slowly. Stay as close as possible, let me handle the water works, and get busy when it’s time to get busy. That’s pretty much it.”

  “So, we’re the Supremes to your Diana Ross. Okay, got it.”

  That got a little chuckle out of everyone, but I wasn’t about to tell my Aunt she was showing her age a little bit by referencing The Supremes.

  We spent a few more minutes discussing the plan, and by the end of it all I was once again a little shocked at the ease with which we just discussed playing the role of a reaper like Grandpa dubbed it.

  Of course, I was included in that too. After all, I would be doing most of the actual reaping. My squad of family members would really just be there to help me clean up battles or help me run away or something.

  But the fact is, I was more than a decent fighter with no water around me. In fact, apart from Grandpa, I’d like to argue I was probably the second-best fighter in the family. That changed significantly if it was raining or I had a large water source nearby.

  It would be quite literally like fighting a humanoid fish that could hold a spear. I think I just described a mermaid or something, but the point still stands. If the fights were in the ocean, there wasn’t a single human in this town who would last a very long time against me.

  That wasn’t just blind arrogance either. It was the simple truth when all my Abilities were taken into account.

  Heh.

  And to think it wasn’t that long ago that I was bawling my eyes out in my Grandpa’s arms after taking the life of one man.

  I still remember his eyes. The way they seemed to look through me as the life they contained slowly slipped away into wherever it came from.

  There are nights when I dream about them. Where I’m placed right back on that ocean and face to face with the eyes and the decision I made to take someone’s life on repeat until I wake up.

  Now I’ve taken the lives of more people than I remember, and I’m about to take more without a single ripple in my heart.

  Funny how life works.

  Anyway.

  The battle was in three days, so there was a lot of prep to be had and small decisions to be made.

  Like who would be staying back at the house to watch all the kids. After some discussion, the position eventually fell to my mother. While she had consistently done what she had to do when she needed to do it, I think she’s still been struggling with the whole mental aspect of things even now.

  So leaving her here wasn’t too hard of a decision, especially when she wanted to stay as well. I had no doubt in my mind she would fight with everything she had if it came to it, but hopefully it wouldn’t be needed.

  Plus Grandpa warned her not to be a hero too. Run away if needed and possible, or lock everyone up in the theater and hope help arrives quickly.

  With that being said, we made sure to stock up on food, weapons, medical supplies, and extra armor.

  These are things we already had, but just like everyone in the family who carried before this new reality of ours took hold, it was better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

  Anyway, the time passed quickly. Supplies were gathered, and everyone was well rested after canceling all Dungeon runs for now and spending the time training on the compound itself instead.

  We sparred against each other, beat up on the training dummies, and spent plenty of time trying to do the mana movement thing.

  Now we all didn’t improve by leaps and bounds in just that small window of time, but we were sharp, prepared, and ready to do what needed to be done.

  I doubt we can kick them off the planet with this battle, but I know for a fact we can kick them out of Lagia.

  And it was time to make it happen.