The rest of the night passed smoothly. Ash whispered stories as a trick to stay awake like no one was listening. He deviated away from his family history and kept to more general topics; Marty might be crazy, and telling the embarrassing parts of his family to history to someone who might blurt them out whenever wasn’t smart.

When he spent more time yawning than talking, he tapped on Tom’s shoulder and let the other man take over for watch duty.

Then dawn came, and morning saw them all stretching and yawning, bouncing in the morning dew to try and get the blood flowing. There was a bit of a scuffle when Marty didn’t want to return with them (and a brief round of introductions), but in the end it was five against one and Noir wasn’t against throwing Marty over his shoulder and walking down the mountain that way.

Checking in was a simple process, during which they discovered Marty was actually the new vice guildmaster’s son and that he’d run off without letting his father know. They were given a few extra copper for bringing him back. The quest completion was confirmed, and they exchanged the few items they brought back down for gold. Transactions complete, the party went to the main guild hall where the reward was split between them and then the one-time party was dissolved.

“Dad! We’re home!” Ash called out as he climbed over the threshold into the small building. Noir trailed behind him with a pout, upset that he hadn’t been allowed to stay on the mountain and level more.

Their mother was the one who answered. “It’s about time!” she scolded. “Do you know how worried I’ve been? You were scheduled to come back last night!”

“You knew it could be a two day trip,” Ash reminded her. “We were going against a lynx. There was a chance it would take multiple attempts.”

She slapped his shoulder with an angry scowl, and then pulled him into a hug. “I know, baby. But I still worry. Come here, Noir, and give your mom a hug. That was a dangerous quest. Oh, why couldn’t you just take the easy ones and stay away from danger? Or better yet - let’s move to the countryside and become farmers. That’s safe, right?”

“We’re already in the countryside,” their father said from behind her. “And neither one of us knows anything about farming.”

“We can learn!”

Their father shook his head. “Welcome home, boys. It looks like the quest went well?”

Noir nodded his head while Ash held up the small sack of coins. “Quest complete.”

Their father nodded. “Very well. Let’s get something to eat then.”

The small family fell into a familiar routine where the boys set the table while the parents prepared the food, with the quiet sounds of moment settling their nerves and reminding all of them that everyone was safe.

Then Noir asked: “Dad, if I battle the demon lord will I get to level 100?”

“If you battle the demon lord right now, you’ll end up squashed like a bug in the first move,” their father laughed. “No one really battles the demon lord. His minions, yeah, but the demon lord himself is basically a god. No offense to the real gods, but his power is so far above the rest of us that battling him isn’t conceivable.”

“See, I told you,” Ash grumbled.

Noir stuck his tongue out at his brother.

“Boys! No fighting at the table,” their mother warned as she set down their meal. “What’s this about demon lords now?”

“This guy we met was pretty nuts. Said he was the vice guildmaster, but he’s actually the vice guildmaster’s son. He told Noir that if he wanted to be level 100 he needed to fight the demon lord, and that he’d probably need to defeat him multiple times,” Ash explained as they sat down.

“They do say that the demon lord is a reviving monster,” their father mused. “I don’t think it’s been killed in over 50 years, so I don’t know how true that is. It’s possible demon lords are like the lynx: once you kill the lynx, eventually one of the stronger mountain cats will evolve into another one. There are plenty of lesser demons serving it so I don’t see why that can’t be the case.”

“All this talk of demon lords is making me itchy,” their mother complained. “That thing hasn’t made a move against humanity in hundreds of years. Nothing good will come from disturbing it.” She gave both Noir and Ash an extra helping of meat. “For my good boys who brought down a mountain lynx together.” She gave a big grin and beamed. “And who will never ever bring up the topic of fighting a demon lord again!”

“Right,” Ash agreed slowly. “I did say it was a stupid idea.”

“Stop trying to impress mom,” Noir hissed as he gave Ash a light kick under the table. “Suck up.”

“It’s the truth!” Ash snarled back in as quiet a tone as possible.

Their father laughed. “Tell you boys what. How about after lunch we do some training? Let your mother handle the cash and get us a good dinner going while I show you the basics differences between-“

Before he could even finish, both of his sons had finished their plates and were standing by the door debating what would be covered first. Their father shook his head as he gave his wife a soft pat on the arm. “Well, looks like we’ll be heading to the training grounds for the afternoon. We’ll see you later.” He gave her a small goodbye and then bonked his sons on the head before dragging them back to the guild hall and the shared training space used by hunters.

“Now listen here, boys, you worried your mother by staying out overnight and now it’s my job to make sure you understand the basics of quests that last multiple days.”

“Didn’t we cover this before we went up the mountain?” Ash asked.

“Yeah, I thought you were going to talk about leveling up and the demon lord while mom wasn’t listening anymore,” Noir added.

“Stupid one track mind sons of mine, no!” their father scolded. “The most important thing to cover is what to do if that happens again, whether on purpose or not! Now, what are the three basic things needed when you need to camp on a quest?”

The two looked at each other and shrugged, then sat down in the middle of the deserted training field. “Food, fire, and barrier,” Ash yawned.

“Weren’t you listening last time?” Noir laughed. “It’s definitely weapons, protection, and advantage!”

Their father stood with his arms crossed in a giant ‘x’. “Bzzzt. Both wrong.”

“Somewhere in there was ‘indicate your presence,’” Ash said with a scowl.

“That’s when you get lost,” their father groaned as he rubbed his face. “Look, you two, beat this into your head because you’re going to need these basics anytime you’re away from home: food, clothing, and shelter.” He waved his finger at both men as if they were still the tiny tykes who needed diapers. “Those are the three basic necessities that allow any creature to live.”

“Wait, animals don’t wear clothes, do they?” Ash asked.

“I never did,” Noir agreed, “and I don’t remember most animals wearing anything. I mean, there were a few but they were pretending to be human so it made sense.”

“Pay attention you two!” their father snapped. “Animals have fur, or scales, or whatever that keeps them protected from the environment. The human equivalent is clothes. Clothes are going to keep you from getting sick when the weather turns cold or wet, and they prevent you from getting scratches or rashes from brushing against plants. Think of how bad it would feel to sit down without clothes and realize your butt was on a baby nettle plant.”

All three men shuddered. “Right, clothes are needed,” Ash admitted.

“Human skin is delicate. I miss my bark,” Noir added. “Clothes are a poor substitute, but they’re better than nothing.”

“That’s why clothes are one of the top three. Next is food. Nutrients. Nourishment. It is essential to being able to carry on not just on a quest, but also in dungeons and in life generally. Food lets you use skills, walk around, and all that, and without food you’ll fall into the worst sleep curse ever: death.”

Ash yawned and leaned back. “I feel like I’m stuffed to death from that lunch.”

“Overeating is also a curse,” Noir agreed. “A most dangerous one.”

Their father growled and barreled on. “The last one is shelter. Shelter protects you from monsters and other attacks. It can be in the form of a high place in a tree, under an overhang, inside a cave, or inside a magic barrier or blessing. Shelter keeps bad things away. A safe place.”

“I’m bored,” Ash complained. “I thought we were going to train.”

“I reached level ten!” Noir boasted. “I need to show off my new skill! It’s what I used to defeat the lynx. You should have seen it. A move like that would have brought one of those unicorns down in an instant if you wielded it, father. Are you going to tell us how to get our levels that high? Hey, maybe we can fight the same creatures mom and dad fought! That’s a quick way to raise our levels since I already know how they work.” A manic grin spread across his face that had Ash backing away slightly.

His father, however, just leaned back and laughed. “I like how you think! The enemy you know! That’s how a real fighter fights. But, to please your mother, please remember we were talking about safety on overnight quests,” he added. “One word of other training and all three of us might lose our ‘shelter’ for tonight when we get home. ‘Food’ might disappear too. Your mother is very concerned.”