Legendary Traveler: By Earning Progress Points I will Become Supreme!

"And that's everything that I've done so far. Basically, all that's left before I can officially form my village is summoning more subjects." Sitting ramrod straight and sporting not only a huge knot atop his head but double swollen ears, Aoni informed his parents of what he'd been working on over the last Week (Terra)- Month (Genovia).

"Ohhh, my sweet baby boy, that's fantastic to hear; I'm so happy for you." Lea, who you'd never believe spent over an hour wailing on her son before dragging his soulless corpse to the kitchen table, said cheerfully while clasping her hands together above her chest.

Beside her, Jason, seeing the state of his poor son, broke out in a cold sweat because, on more than one occasion, it had been HIM sitting in that very same position, yet all he could do was cast a pitying gaze of understanding toward his son.

"Indeed, I agree with your Mom; however, it is fairly concerning, to say the least, how many monsters have been attacking your territory at regular intervals." Pushing his thoughts aside, Jason crossed his arms and ignored the fact his son had been beaten within an inch of his life (not really, she's a mundane, but it's the thought that counts).

Hearing this, an authentic look of fear spread across Lea's face while she asked further. "Is it darling? I always heard that for the first half year, there will be regular attacks on a new territory after the Newbie Barrier collapses."

"From experience, the largest monster tide I faced was maybe a hundred or so monsters in the beginning, with larger ones never being more than a thousand bodies; however, Aoni seems to be up against infinitely more and in an extremely short time frame."

"This can only indicate one of three things: he's in an extremely isolated land, untouched by civilization, the population density is astronomically high, or…there are far more powerful beings at play than we could imagine." Scratching his cheek and leaning back into his chair, Jason honestly believed it to be all three; however, without further evidence, it was difficult to pin down the reason.

"If I had to guess, it's a combination of the first two. Sure, there are some strong monsters here and there, but apart from the Colossus, I haven't seen anything stronger than maybe 4-Stars, and even those don't come close to my Fort. That being said, it's more plausible that there isn't any secret puppet master working in the background."

"Don't forget there is such a wide variety of different monsters roaming around, and apart from a certain recent incident, none have been groups created of the same species apart from those stupid bugs." Chewing on his lip for a second because he knew he would probably get beaten again for revealing he'd fought trolls, Aoni went ahead and took out a jar filled with bright blue liquid and placed it on the table before pushing it over to his Dad.

"Hm? What's this?" Stretching out his arm and snatching the peanut butter sized jar off the table, Jason held it to the light and even opened it to give a sniff, only to stare back at his son with a questioning raised eyebrow.

"It's 2-Star Ice Troll blood."

CRACK

"Honey, calm down; please don't break the furniture." Panicked because he could already see cracks running along the armrest of the expensive oak dining chair, Jason urged while being extra careful not to drop the valuable jar of blood.

"Who are you to tell me what to do in MY house, Aoni, sweety, care to run that by mommy again?" Shooting her son a Smile that DEFINITELY wasn't a smile, Lea asked with a slight tilt of the head.

"I uh…um…uh…mama, please hear me out," releasing an audible gulp sound, Aoni's eyes frantically darted around the room, looking for any means of escape only to find his Mom magically appearing right beside him and crushing his head between her dainty fists.

"YOU LITTLE! WHY WOULD YOU PUT YOURSELF AND YOUR SWEET BABY SUMMONS IN SUCH DANGER!"

"AHHh hhHH AHHAhAHHHH MOMMM AHHHH!"

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"Eight Ice Trolls, Four Hobgoblins, and almost a thousand Goblins…that's…"

"Yeah, an invasion force, and honestly, something I never expected to begin with, considering up until now, it's been wild beasts attacking my Fort. Luckily, I've trained several combat strategies with Nyria, so it was within our reach to take them out, but if I hadn't been prepared…" Aoni's words trailed off as he trembled like a frightened rabbit.

Not because of the battles, no, those were actually pretty fun, but instead, because his head was being cradled against Lea's chest as she tenderly petted him like a puppy.

Honestly, THIS was more frightening than facing down some freaky trolls because, at any given moment, the Woman could go back to crushing his skull.

"I don't think we can rule out some type of powerful outside force just yet, Son. In fact, I think that may very well be the best excuse for what's happening. Sure, it may seem like you've been facing one meaningless monster horde after another, but that Goblin force proves that there are powers at play trying to claim your mountain top." Refusing to look at his wife, Jason's eyes were solely looking directly into Aoni's.

"Natives? I mean, I won't rule it out, but I have yet to find any signs of intelligent life., not around my Territory, at least. And even Nyria hasn't seen any settlements or ruins nearby."

For a moment, the two fell into silent thought, leaving Lea to continue calming her heart by using her poor son like some kind of emotional support animal.

"Honey, why don't we send Anthony to assess the situation?" As her son and husband were silent for a bit too long for her liking, Lea finally broke the tension by tossing in an idea of her own.

"Could work; his Territory is self-sustaining and stable, so that means he could spend some time away without repercussions. Is that okay with you, Aoni?"

"I wouldn't be opposed, but is brother strong enough? I don't mean to sound pessimistic, but I've already seen monsters who are at least 4-Stars in the area, and brother…"

Holding up a hand, Jason cut off his Son mid-sentence.

"Your brother is far stronger than I think you understand; he is just VERY good at hiding it. I will talk to him when he returns home."