After the adrenaline and excitement wore off from the expedition I slowly made my way out of the cavern, there wasn't much here except refuse; torn animal skins, bones, and now that I knew what it looked like, goblin scat. I just wanted out of here.

  Carrying the item bag full of goblin corpses back through the tunnels and up the stairs was exhausting. It had to weigh at least 100 pounds. As useless as Ki was in a fight, it could augment my strength to a small degree. However, that didn't make the process of dragging the bag back through the rooms and up the stairs any easier. When I finally returned to the light of my apartment I dropped the bag on the floor like a sack of potatoes. It nded with a heavy *thump*. Afterward, I face-pnted into the old couch.

  I was exhausted from carrying the bag up the stairs and keeping my Ki active the whole time. I also can't say mowing down a room full of goblins didn't have some toll on my mind. They were still humanoid, more so than the others I was used to fighting. In a real-world situation they would be cssified as dangerous animals and in this case home invaders. The goblins were a threat not just to me but to everyone else in the nearby apartments. Additionally while collecting the corpses I noticed all of them were male. This meant they went the typical fantasy route for goblin reproduction. While I didn't feel any remorse for my actions, it was a ruthless execution. "I wanna game!" I shouted into the couch. However, it's not like he had the time to burn a day pying games for stress relief.

  I was mulling over his options while lying on the couch. Did I have to report this to the police or something? The military? Remembering the video Mrs. Smith showed me earlier, “Was this happening all over the world?" James jolted up at the thought, only to be brought back down by his stomach.

  Sitting up I opened my ptop and took the steak out of the image I stored it in. My meal was interrupted by an unexpected visitor so I had to take care of that first. It was still warm. I started eating while considering Mrs. Smith’s words.

  When I was finished eating I started collecting my things from the apartment, It didn’t take much time since there wasn't much, and using a copy of the satchel bag I went around the stuffing things inside. As for the goblin loot bag, it was stored in the same image as the goblin I domed with the skillet.

  Once I finished collecting all of my other things I stood in front of my 60-inch psma screen TV. It had cost a pretty penny when I bought it. I could already tell that my sense of value was getting skewed when I considered leaving it behind. the value of a dolr isn't worth as much anymore. Unhooking the cabling and disconnecting it from the wall before it too was sucked into the item bag. “Let’s hope it doesn’t break when I take it out".

  Leaving the apartment keys on the kitchen counter, a note regarding the closet dungeon, and a message to the ndlord. James gave the apartment a final once over, making sure he didn’t forget anything. Before shutting the door to his apartment, “It's going to be a long drive” he noted.

  James grew up on a family farm with his father, mother, and older brother.

  His older brother Danny Dewitt while not the brightest was rather popur during their youth. With his blonde hair, green eyes, and handsome face. He was atypically tall in his youth and was quite sporty. This led him to middle school football. Given his size he was one of if not, the rgest kid on the team. This remained true until his sophomore year in high school when he ended up twisting his ankle. Only to then get caught in a dogpile. He ended up having to wear a cast for the next several months. Due to the injury, he was unable to continue football for the rest of his time in school.

  Now 25 having had his birthday in January, he stood in at 6’4 around 200 pounds. His build, as most would say; was built like a brick shithouse. He was currently learning from his father about business and was pnning to take over the family farm.

  In their youth, the pair didn’t always get along. Even so, the two were brothers. Something their parents grew to understand quickly during their childhood, "When the pair were getting along trouble was afoot”.

  Calling James normal was a stretch. Something the three would agree on. A better term would be troublemaker, nobody knew this more than Diana Dewitt the mother of the two boys. Growing up, James was always a troublemaker. If he wasn’t already doing something that would get him in trouble, he was learning something that would. One day he’d learn origami and by the end of the week, he would have used all the paper in the house making Paper Cranes. As a child growing up in the age of mass media, there were occasions when he would try something that caused problems for the rest of the house. One of those instances was when he watched a survival show when he was 8. After a few episodes and attempts to read survival guides, he decided to go camping. Not that he could go anywhere to test out what I learned. Instead, James set up camp inside the nearby forest on the property.

  Diana was quite used to James’ antics by this point and could only agree with her husband, he would be back in the house by the end of the week. After five days with James out camping, she had spent considerable time cleaning the house. While in the middle of cleaning the kitchen, she heard the door to the house open. Expecting it to be her husband she kept cleaning. However,

  “Mama! Pooper!" the young James excimed.

  “Ha-wa?” While she was surprised that James, the little troublemaker had come back into the house, the four-legged thing he was holding was also a concern. The two were covered in mud and dirt. “Alright, let’s get you cleaned up.” She said guiding him along towards the bath.

  After getting the pair clean, “A puppy?” The four-legged mudpie had turned out to be a puppy. Diana was unable to discern the breed. With copper-colored fur and pointed ears she wanted to say it was a mix between a Shepherd and a Lab but- “Where did you,” Before she could even finish her question James blurted out, “I found him sniffing in my poo ditch”!

  Like his first son Ronald Dewitt was a robust man, now in his fifties he remained retively unbothered by his workload. His day job was as a businessman and in the evenings and weekends, he worked on the family farm. He spent a lot of time raising his two sons. Trying his best to teach them as his father taught him. From taking them hunting, fishing, and the usual family outing.

  He was also a quirky man. This could be seen in his unusual personal grooming choices. Every year he would cultivate a new mustache or beard. A formative experience for the two boys growing up was the year he wore a Charlie Chaplin. If one were to ask him why, his response would simply be “It was on the list”. On one such family outing when his sons were still quite young, Ronald was given many stares and slights, while he didn't give it any mind his sons were quite upset about how people treated him with it. His reason for the boys affected them greatly. “They have their perspective and I have mine. I can't change their mind over a silly mustache. Especially if they won't even talk to me.” Even so, as the year pressed on he quickly grew out the mustache to avoid the comparison.

  End