Scarlet's PoV

As the final rock giant fell Scarlet took her chance to hop down and look into the caves. Not too surprised she saw two corpses. That was annoying, she was totally going to do that herself. Still the rest of the party would probably object to her searching through their belongings, so she took the opportunity now.

Off the man there wasn't much, but off the woman she found a parcel of papers. She quickly disappeared the letters to read later and stepped out to help with the clean up.

Once the final rat had died she looked to her new dagger and equipment. Not a scratch. The armor and dagger combined worked wonders. Generally she was awesome at avoiding hits. The power of her leather armor set seemed to increase perception by just a hair. It made her dodges more economical and she could save her strength for stabby time. Not only that but the few times where strikes were bound to hit her, she could feel an almost magnetic pull from her new dagger to parry the blow.

Scarlet wondered what would have happened if she had more offensive gear? She probably would have been forced to flee. Increasing her attack power on these creatures would have fared poorly, after all it only took one or two strikes to dispatch them.

When she glanced back outside she found to her surprise that Davis had gone down. She felt at her empty belt. Scarlet had used both of her elixirs to recharge her mana for Sharpen Blade Lv3. How many times had she casted the spell?

Still a second later she saw the little girl jump down. Jogging out she ended a couple of the rats that tried to dart towards the girl.

Davis said something but she couldn't make it out. Then Maria said in a panic "Uncle Davis! Wake up!"

Looking at the man she could see he was still breathing. Scarlet said to the girl "He is fine, just needs some rest."

She said confused "But I just used my stamina restore spell. He should be up!"

Scarlet shook her head and said "That only works so many times. Thanks by the way, that really helped me out."

Once she had been assured that her uncle was going to be fine Maria ran up to both of the wolf pups. Not long later the wolves were healed up and the trio were all curled up in a ball.

Hearing footsteps she glanced behind her. Gwen was looking down at Davis and said "Thank you Scarlet. You saved my life today, as well as the life of my daughter and brother."

Gwen then laughed and said "It seems I've been saying that a lot lately. But still all the same, thank you. I will take first watch if you want to go to sleep."

Maybe this would be a good time to ask for praise for killing her husband? Nah, she would wait and spread it out a little. Scarlot nodded at Gwen and she looked at her cot. Did she really want to roll in her cot with all this blood and gore on her? She could wait. Sitting down with her back to the stonewall Scarlet started to drowse off, but not before she saw Gwen looking at her fingertips. Scarlet watched the flow of lightning that weaved through Gwens fingers.

Charlotte's PoV

Charlotte was getting sick and tired of the endless requests from Mr. Montgomery's lawyers. She had already told them several times that the deal was over, she had other more promising clients to deal with. The idea of hiring someone to break into someone else's house just because you didn't like the deal they were offering was beyond offensive to her. It was threatening. Reassuringly she patted the firearm at her waist. It was her grandfathers, she use to shoot with him when she was just a girl. Her grandfather was a gun enthusiast, so he had quite the collection. When he passed on he willed over the little pistol to her. Taking it out she glanced at the firearm in her hands. Why did she feel that she needed to carry this?

Her house had always been her sanctuary. But she understood more than most that when rich people with money wanted something, they got it. Laws seemed to matter less the more money you had. So far nothing had happened though, but too many times when she had been walking around she felt eyes on her. Stepping outside she drove her car to her brother's house.

Charlotte knocked on the door and a few seconds later Adam opened the door. She beamed at him. He was such a happy kid now! But with her over cautious mood lately she had to ask him "Did you know who was on the other side of the door when you opened it?"

The little boy rolled his now healthy eyes and then said "Aunty I have been blind for my entire life. I know sounds, I know what your car sounds like."

A small tension released when he said that. She didn't like the idea of her nephew just opening the door for anyone who knocked. A few seconds later she saw her brother come from the living room and said "Hi sis! You sure you're okay with watching Adam? I know you're busy."

Charlotte laughed and said "My new job gives me a good bit more freedom. If anything it's all about phone calls. It's actually kind of nice, I can even sleep in occasionally. Well, so long as I don't get a call at 4am in the morning. That happens sometimes."

Her brother shook his head and said "I couldn't do that. Waking up just to take a phone call? Still, I am glad you're happy with it."

Then he shouted "Honey Charlotte is here, are you ready to go yet? Seriously how long does it take for you to do your makeup?"

Adam whispered to her "It takes mommy a long time! A whole cartoon has started and finished. And she is still in there!"

The fact that he could actually watch cartoons now made her so happy. Of course he had listened to them before, but she remembered those couple nights when he had first gotten his vision back. He had listened to all of the classic cartoons before, but watching him actually see the animations was priceless.

After a few more rounds of shouting her brother got his wife downstairs, He said "Thanks for watching him sis! We really needed a date night."

Charlotte nodded and watched them leave. Turning to Adam she asked "So what do you want to do?"

Adam said excitedly "More cartoons!"

To any other kid she would have admonished them to go outside, but Adam had a lot of cartoons to catch up on.

As they sat down Adam picked up the control and said "Oh yea! We had a substitute teacher today and he said he knew you! He said to give you this."

Adam pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to her,

Why would Adam's teacher be sending anything to her? This was weird.

Opening the piece of paper up the note said "Greetings, From Mr. Montgomery."

She felt sick. Her vision blurred as she tried to suppress the panic. Then her phone chirped. Trying to compose herself she saw Adam look at her curiously.

Charlotte asked "Is this teacher going to be in tomorrow?"

"No, it was only for today."

Anxiously he asked "Was it a good note?"

Ruffling his hair she said "Yea, it's fine. Let's watch a movie! How about you go pick one out."

Adam smiled and ran off to the little spinny rack that held all the movies.

Taking out her phone she glanced at it and saw a text message.

From a number she had never seen before the text read "Glad you got the note. He hopes to meet you again soon."

Charlotte got to her feet and put a hand on her gun while looking out of the window. A man was across the street holding a phone up. Right after they made eye contact a car that was parked moved towards the man and picked him up.

Jim's PoV

Jim almost wanted to run back and leave Forrest in the dust, but he was responsible for him. Bored Jim wondered how fast he could run if it came to it. This endless walking didn't wind him in the least. Even fatigue seemed to affect him less when he was here. Still after another hill they should at least be able to see the alcove, he was starting to recognize the area.

As Jim crossed over the rise he could only look in confusion at where the alcove was. Something was definitely different. Why was everything all black? And was that smoke?

It took him a few seconds to process. There was a fire. Fire was made by people. They had a party member who could use fire as a spell. Fire had spread all over the place. Finally the light bulb decided to do its job and Jim realized that the party had been under attack. He gulped. Or were dead.

Looking over to Forrest he said "Going to run ahead. Stay safe."

Forrest looked as white as a sheet but he nodded.

Then Jim let loose his legs like he never had before. He unleashed all of his power and his strides would have put olympic long jumpers to shame. The terrain flashed by in a blur of color. Finally he made it to the gap in the alcove, where there was a literal mountain of bodies, Ignoring them Jim put even more force into the ground and jumped over the wall. And then he realized once he was in the air he didn't have anything crazy like double jump. Passing cleanly over the wall Jim cannon straight into the cliff behind it.

Another stupid thing off the to do list. Glancing behind him he saw the human shaped hole he made. After some forceful wiggling he got out. He felt like a certain coyote. All he needed was a wooden sign with a handle and a large flightless bird to taunt him. After a few more wiggles he got out of the rubble.

When he got out he was glad to see a group formed around his temporary prison.

Scarlet raised a questioning eyebrow and said "You know there is still room to fit through the front."

Jim was about to speak but then coughed due to all the dust flying around. Clearing his throat he said "Saw the smoke, is everyone okay?"

Scarlet shrugged and said "Kind of."

Davis made his way over to him with a sad expression and said "We lost our two former prisoners. We couldn't protect them."

A pang hit Jim's heart. He didn't know the older couple at all but they should have been safe. Finally he looked over to the pass that was formerly an orderly exit but was now clogged with bodies. He could easily make out the scores of dead carcuses of imps and clawed rats. Then he was confused when he saw some rubble.

Seeing his confusion Scarlet helpfully said "Rock Giant. Two actually."

Gesturing she pointed out the two now obvious mounds. Jim didn't know what to think. How powerful were they? The "heroes" of the tale never had to face these before, but judging by everyone's grim expression it was not an easy fight.

Then Scarlet looked towards the entrance and saw Forrest who was still a good bit away. Then she scowled at Jim and said "How could you just leave him out there all alone! Shoo, shoo, we are fine. Go make sure he gets here in one piece."

Like a scolded puppy Jim walked out of the perfectly large enough gap in the corpses and jogged back to Forrest.

When he got into his ear's reach Forrest said "Is everyone okay? Is Scarlet okay?"

Little light bulb was doing some work today. With a mischievous grin he asked "Anyone in particular? Or just Scarlet?:

Bashfully Forrest rubbed the back of his head with one hand and said "I kind of like her."

Putting his arm over Forrest shoulder he held him in like a vice and said sweetly "Oh there sounds like there is a story here, do tell!"

After a bit of blushing and fumbling Forrest got out the story of what happened after the party. Or at least what he could remember of it, and then finally concluded with that morning.

Jim listened attentively and said "Just be careful man. She is a wild one."

Forrest finally tried to derail the conversation "So she is okay then. What about everyone else?"

Jim sighed and told him about their two casualties. Forrest nodded and they continued back to the camp in a bit more somber mood.

Turning to Scarlet he said in a cooing manner "Oh Scarlet! Look what I found for you! All in one piece!"

Jim started shooing Forrest until he was right next to her. Both of their faces went red and Jim laughed. Judging by the looks on everyone's face it seemed only Davis knew about the new couple, or whatever they were. Still it was just so damn cute! New love in a new world!

Jim quickly took out his phone and took a couple shots of the pair. If it worked out he would totally have to charge them for their first photo together, although the pair had their arms crossed now and had an unhappy look on their faces. Oh well, he did his part.

Now that they were all gathered Davis gave them the run down of what happened. Jim could only listen in disbelief, his pups had a hard time fighting these creatures? Looking at the cute furballs he finally noted one thing that was missing. While it was true their stats were maxxed out, they did not have any ultra powerful weapons or armor to back them up. Overall power was a product of both stats and gear, so they had a hard time. In essence they were just a bundle of stats. Still very fierce, but it sounded like these creatures were powerful as bosses beginning in the later half of the game. Absently he tried to drag some random armor over to equip the pups with it, but of course it did not work. Shame.

Maybe some time later he could look into doggie weapons and armor. Jim thought back to his world to those cute little doggie sweaters. Next time he was out he would have to try getting them just to see if it made a difference in their armor value.

Davis began talking to Forrest and were debating on what to do next. Jim glanced sadly at the two corpses. He saw Forrest looking at them as well. Jim could already tell by the expression on his face the man felt like he was to blame. Sighing Jim thought of how he never seemed to have any encounters with creatures. These things were supposed to be guarding the temple, yet they were here. Odds were he was at fault. Should he have given the party all the best gear in the game? The gear he had given them was from the best vendor gear available, but there was still a large difference between that and the best gear.

Jim wasn't sure he should give them items they would have to completely depend on. It would be like creating a massive weakness for them. How would they fair if their weapons got stolen and used against them? He needed to give this some thought.

It was getting late so Jim told them he was calling it a night and went to log out.

After returning his phone to his original world Jim waited until his messages loaded, he knew he should have some.

Then he saw a message from Charlotte.

“They are watching me and my nephew Adam. I don’t know what to do. They keep pressuring us to sell them full rights or exclusive buying rights. This is my family Jim, please call me.”

Never before had Jim truly understood what “seeing red,” meant. But he knew now. Jim put his phone down and began to flex and unflex his hand. He was going to do something, but what? As seemed to be his habit nowadays as he thought he scanned through his inventory with his right eye.

Jim began to pace while doing his now habitual motions. Then Jim accidently kicked his chair while pacing. Instead of falling flat on his face, the wooden chair disintegrated into pieces.

With an evil smile he picked up one of the pieces of broken wood and turned off his inventory screen. Squeezing the wood nothing happen, but then he pulled up the other world with his right eye and the wood shattered in his hands. Just like the night vision, his perks only lasted if his right eye was looking into the other world.

Jim was not defenseless, and Charlotte was one of his. But what to do? Plans formed in his mind as he began to pace once more.