“You’re doing too much again, Glorp! Dave’s going to be mad!” Orglina yelled as Glorp shut the door to the room he had asked his family to meet them in.

  He ignored her complaints, much like he ignored the fact that he said this was a family-only meeting and that she had brought along Red anyway. In truth, he was somewhat happy she had. It added another person to his plans, and he was grateful to bear for everything she had done during the attack. It was likely that he and his sister would have both been killed without her help.

  He took one last quick glance over his class before closing out the menu. He had been studying in detail before his family arrived. He had plans that directly involved class choices that he wanted to discuss with them, and using his own as a reference point seemed like the right idea.

  Glord, Gorpila, and Lorgela soon joined their youngest sister in the room. Glorp smiled, still always happy to see them all together like this. And that was a big part of why it was time for this talk.

  Dave needed help. He would never ask for it. That just wasn’t who he was, but he needed it nonetheless, and Glorp had just the family to start working on that. There were too many things the man was trying to do on his own, things that he needed to start delegating. So Glorp had had the idea to take the first part of it off the man’s hands, even if he suspected he wouldn’t let them do it alone just yet.

  “So, what’s the family meeting about? Are we about to fight more jesters?” Glord asked as he grabbed a seat at the table.

  “No. At least I hope not. I actually want to talk to all of you about the future,” Glorp replied. He looked over each of them as he did.

  Orglina, being the youngest, had naturally grown the most since they had arrived on Earth. A lot of her old fears had finally started to subside, and she had been coming out of her shell before the attack. He hoped that hadn’t changed. She was smarter than any of them and likely to go far given the chance. That was part of why he wanted her involved here.

  Glord was nearly the complete opposite of Orglina. He had found a spot more inside himself than before. He didn’t act out or get into fights, as had been an old problem of his. No, instead, Glorp had found his brother trying to learn about the local plants and animals. He especially seemed interested in all the different trees. Something about the nature he was now surrounded by had helped him find a sense of calm he had always been lacking.

  Lorgela looked so much like their mother, and she had the same fierce attitude. If she had been older, she’d have easily been the one to take care of them all. But now, hopefully, that burden would never pass to her. She would be free to find her own purpose.

  His oldest sister hadn’t surprised him at all. She had just continued being herself, and he was just as happy for her as he was for all his other siblings. She was free to learn and follow her passions. All that had changed was how much access she had to follow them. While currently she was training under Rabyn, he knew that would only be the start. Much like himself, she would want to learn it all if possible.

  “Did you find Uncle Glarppp?” Lorgela asked, looking hopeful.

  “Not yet, but Pryte is trying,” Glorp answered with a reassuring smile. He wasn’t sure if the man was alive or not, but if he was, he would find him. “No the reason I asked everyone here is we need to start planning for the future.”

  “Wait, is something happening? We don’t need to leave, do we?” Orglina asked with fear in her voice.

  “No, no, nothing like that. Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. What I mean is that we need to be able to help Dave more. I want you all to start thinking about what kind of classes and training you want to start working on. It’s time for Glord and Orglina to form their cores, I think as well. I want us all to start working on dungeon delves together. That way, we can take some of the pressure off the others,” Glorp answered.

  “Oh my god! You want us to form a dungeon delving team! That’s amazing! Wait, can Red come? She could be our muscle!” Orglina shouted, her tone that of pure child-like excitement at the news.

  “Yes, she can. Well, assuming she wants to, I guess. Do you want to Red?” Glorp asked, looking at the large bear.

  “I do wish to protect my new friends. If you would have me, I will learn what I can to help,” Red answered, giving them all a grin that showed off just how sharp her teeth were. “Plus, I suppose I should not let the moose show me up.”

  “Okay, good. Then I guess that’s settled. So onto the harder parts. Without Mel here to whip us into shape, we are going to have to do it ourselves. That means no more slacking. Every single day, we are going to train for this. And if you two don’t have your cores formed by the time we leave for the delve at the end of the week, you can’t come,” Glorp said seriously.

  He also intended to find them their own classes. At least, other than Gorpila, she was set. Whatever Rabyn had given her, he would trust that it was what was best for her. Some ideas floated around his head, though finding them might be difficult. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t try.

  “Um, is Orglina old enough for a core?” Lorgela asked, interrupting his train of thought.

  “From what I understand, it shouldn’t be that big of a problem. Now to do this best, both she and Glord will need to spend a lot of time around the cloud tree, as that’s where our mana flow is the strongest,” Glorp explained.

  Truthfully, the answer was she probably wasn’t, at least not conventionally, but they were well past conventionally, and he already talked to Karlinovo and Quarilyn about this. There was no real reason she couldn’t form her core. It was just usually held off on to give people more time to grow.

  This was because most people only had the Arena as an option to get any kind of start in life these days, and kids just didn’t do well there. Glorp knew he’d never have survived that first floor if he hadn’t run into Connie and Dave, and he had zero intention of sending his family down that path anytime soon, either. No, he had a different direction in mind.

  The Spiral had a massive shortage of those willing to take on dungeons. This was the perfect opportunity for him and his family to find their spot within the empire. What they really needed to do, though, was find a way to add a dungeon core to their group. It wasn’t that he wanted to be like Dave and Corey. It was more, that he wanted the extra insights that could be gleaned by adding one. Plus, it would help him know when they were in over their head and needed to call in Dave for backup.

  “I wanna be a battle druid!” Glord shouted out, joining his younger sister in her excitement.

  Glorp wasn’t remotely surprised by his choice. “We will figure out all your classes as soon as we can, but keep in mind some may be harder than others to find.” This was easier said than done, but he had access to at least two former librarians who he had a feeling could help.

  “Can we get a class for Red? Can primal mana beasts have classes?” Orglina blurted out as she leaned against the bear.

  “I don’t actually know,” Red replied.

  “Neither do I. I didn’t even think about that. Actually, no, I think I read about it once. There was a dog named Daisy, I think. We should talk to Elody, I’m sure she’d know,” Glorp added. It was a topic he knew very little about.

  “Well, I think it’s decided, big brother. We are about to form our little dungeoneering team,” Gorpila said with a giant smile.

  What he hadn’t told them yet was the pile of dungeon delving books he had been grabbing from the recovered archive’s collection every chance he got. There was going to be far more to this training than just the physical aspects. They were going to learn every tiny detail they could about dungeons, monsters, and whatever else was needed to make sure they stayed safe while they did this.

  He wondered briefly that since Red wanted to join them, perhaps the other primal mana beast would as well. Was it even able to speak yet? That was something to look into later.

  There is this strange shock that often runs across the faces of your friends and family once you start to question any sort of blind obedience. I was warned that by accepting this calling, it was something I’d experience far more than I thought possible. And while I’m not sure that is exactly how I’d phrase it. It is a truth, one of the few universal ones, I think.

  It seems that the more I examine the framework that governs our lives, the more I uncover rules, laws, or even just routines that so many people go about in their daily existences, never questioning. It isn’t so much that this upsets me. I understand that examining the actions you take on that level requires a mental labor that most people have neither the time nor the desire to do.

  I just wish I weren’t forced into the role of pariah every time I dared to do it myself. It is not a sin to demand explanations before actions. I will not do something solely because that is the way it has always been done.

  The Diaries of Xxlptr Paladin of Anarchy

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