For some reason, Levi’s first instinct was to hide Skarm’s body behind his back. But that would only make him look more suspicious.

“What is wrong with you?” the woman hissed, setting down a grocery bag so she could put a hand on her hip. “Lurking around a park, doing things like this?” She waved the hand still carrying milk to indicate Levi. “You think it’s fun to terrorize people, is that it?”

“No, not at all.”

“Levi? What’s going on?” Gordon’s voice; he’d clearly overheard.

Levi shoved the phone in his pocket.

“It’s been a rough day,” he told the woman. “I don’t remember the last time I slept, and I really don’t know how to handle you right now. So please go away and let me figure out how to revive my minion in peace.”

“You can’t traipse around in public looking like you walked out of a zombie movie.”

“It’s a free country.”

“But there are children.”

Levi looked around. “No, there aren’t.”

“Of course not, because you’re terrorizing everyone with your getup!”

Ah. She hadn’t forgiven him for scaring her earlier, and wanted to justify her anger with excuses. Once, Levi might have argued, defended his perceived honor. But pride meant something entirely different to him now. Prolonging the encounter would only waste time. “Of course, you’re right. I’ll go home and get changed. I’m sorry to have caused a disturbance.”

She pursed her lips in disapproval, but nodded. “Good.” Without another word, she gathered her groceries and stalked away, giving Levi a wide berth.

In that moment, he made a snap decision. He didn’t want to be tied down to the conventions of this era. He had more important things to do.

He’d find his own way home.

He pulled out his phone.

“—was that about?” Gordon was asking, his voice tight.

“I changed my mind,” Levi cut in. “I’ll be going alone. You can go back, I’ll be fine.”

Before Gordon could argue, he ended the call. His finger hovered for a moment over the call button for Irene, but he suppressed the urge and put the phone back for now. As desperate as he was to hear her voice, to know that Peter was safe, he wanted to be somewhere secure for that call.

And… perhaps he should give himself some time and space before he initiated contact. This whole Gordon thing had showed him plainly how ill prepared he was for interacting with people who’d known him in the past. After all, while to him a full decade had passed, to the rest of his family they’d probably seen him a few hours ago. He had to decide how he was going to break it to them that the Levi they knew had been through a whole lot more than a single day since they saw him last.

Just imagining their reactions made him inwardly flinch away. Irene’s cold glower. Peter’s confusion at the stranger in place of his father.

Yes. Definitely for the best that he put that conversation off at least a bit longer.

Levi hurried away from the park, still carrying Skarm’s body tucked under one arm. He attracted more than a few questioning looks, but no one else tried to stop him or speak to him.

He found a gas station to look for a local map, only to be shocked by what he found.

Ohio? Why was he in Ohio? That was halfway across the country!

…that did explain why Gordon had mentioned an airport.

This changed things. If Levi was in Ohio… and with other people, and at a hotel… this must be a conference. And if it was a conference week, in July, that meant Peter would be at summer camp and Irene would be off on some crazy adventure with her sister, or visiting her parents.

He couldn’t gather them too abruptly without causing undue worry. And if they expected him to be gone for days yet, that gave him time to breathe before he had to make a decision about confronting them with the new reality. He could give them a few more days of peace before tearing their world open at the seams. And he could spend that time ensuring that he leveled enough to be worth the time.

The thought of how close he’d come to death against a single level 1 dungeon boss lit an angry fire in his chest. He--

“You in line?” someone asked, cutting across his train of thoughts.

Levi shook his head, moving away from the tourism display. He knew where he was now, and from the dungeon location he could estimate where another could be found. Around an hour and a half away by foot.

He still had the dungeon location maps memorized, even after everything. They had to know where they could train between waves of demon invaders, precision was essential. Mana Ping only had so much range, and to waste days wandering around in enemy territory searching for the dungeon entrance would be unforgivably dangerous.

Levi had been on more than enough dungeon runs to be familiar with the process. He could find dungeons easily enough.

“You okay?” The voice was hesitant.

“Yeah, on my way to an event,” Levi said. He forced a smile. “Like my costume?”

The other guy laughed nervously, muttered a half-hearted compliment, and shuffled past.

Levi glanced down at his torn and bloodstained shirt and slacks, grimacing. It really didn’t look like a costume at all, more like he’d been in several violent altercations.

Well, that he could do something about.

He asked at the counter for directions to the nearest sporting goods store, which ended up being within walking distance. He found a decorative evergreen tree he could stash Skarm’s body behind to keep it out of sight from the road, since he’d need his hands free and didn’t want to answer the inevitable awkward questions.

Though he hated shopping with a passion, he took the time to search through his options. He bought several pairs of rugged hiking pants, a large backpack, and three different jackets in the sturdiest materials he could find. None were proper armor, but together they’d at least slow a claw attack. He needed the checkout clerk to walk him through the process of paying with his phone. Thankfully it still had all his logins auto-saved. He couldn’t even remember the name of his bank, let alone account details.

Levi wasted no time in equipping his new acquisitions, retrieved Skarm and stuffed the dead minion into his backpack, then jogged in the direction of the next nearest dungeon. The multiple layers of clothing were hot and restrictive, uncomfortable in the July heat, but better uncomfortable than dead.

He needed someplace to think, and a dungeon was the best option he could come up with. He’d never been an adrenaline junkie, never chased thrill for its own sake, but there was something familiar and right about engaging in life or death conflict. All this walking around, visiting stores, simply purchasing what he wanted instead of fighting for it, talking to people with entirely different priorities and outlooks on life… it felt unnatural. Wrong.

In the dungeons, everything made sense again. Everything was trying to kill him, and he wasn’t going to let it. Simple. Dependable.

He left the city proper and jogged through the suburbs, moving through ordinary neighborhoods and into a less reputable part of town. Surprisingly, the decline in cleanliness and upkeep quality made him feel more at home. Grungy alleys, suspicious and wary looks, the pervasive sense of ‘just trying to get by’. It all felt more familiar than anything the bright happy city center could offer.

He sent out a mana ping every few minutes as his mana recovered. For a while, his ping returned the original dungeon and nothing else, then he got nothing for a long time. Finally, it pinged back a mana entity strong enough to be a dungeon entrance.

He followed the ping and found the dungeon, practically invisible like the other one, this one hovering behind a dumpster in the side alley by an apartment building.

It took a bit of climbing to reach, but as far as he was concerned that was a bonus. Just meant there was less chance of someone else beating him to it.

Destruction Dungeon: Level 1

Levi stepped inside without a moment's hesitation.