Chapter 84: There’s Enough for Everyone

Liam managed two more rounds before Lin refused to continue. He had stopped recovering quickly between falls, and the last time he stood, his left leg took a moment to straighten properly. Lin watched him reach for the water, then picked up the case from the table. There was no more satisfaction on his face now. Apparently, throwing somebody around became less entertaining once they started looking as though they might need help getting into their car.

“You’re done.”

“One more.”

“You said that twice.”

Liam looked at the green panel again. His EXP remained at 128. Getting thrown onto the floor until he couldn’t stand apparently wasn’t going to make the system reward him out of pity. He dismissed it and sat down, letting his breathing settle while Lin packed the manual. The God Tier Grappling Skill still supplied answers whenever he remembered a movement, but knowing what his body should have done didn’t make the bruises disappear.

‘Fine. I’ll come back with a body that actually listens.’

They agreed to arrange another session after Liam returned from California. Lin asked how long he would be away, then nodded when he heard it would only be the weekend. Before leaving, Liam reminded him not to practice the added pages of the sword manual. Lin gave him an irritated look, though he kept the book wrapped and put away.

By the time Liam reached the apartment, Clara had already found flights.

“Rebecca can come?”

“She said she can leave tomorrow after her classes.”

“And you?”

“I checked before asking her.”

Liam lowered himself onto the couch carefully enough that Clara stopped looking at her phone.

“What happened?”

“Training.”

“With the guy who tried to stab you?”

“He didn’t stab me today.”

“That’s a terrible answer.”

She made him take off his jacket, then checked the bruising near his shoulder with considerably less gentleness than he would have preferred. Liam caught her wrist before she pressed the same place again. Clara looked up at him, apparently ready to argue, but he simply pulled her closer and rested his forehead against her stomach.

“Book the flights. I want to go home.”

Her hand settled in his hair.

“Okay.”

They reached California on Friday evening. Rebecca had traveled separately, and by the time Liam and Clara arrived at the new house, his father was already waiting outside with her. The Range Rover stood farther up the driveway, looking strangely familiar beside a building Liam had only seen through photographs. He stopped the rental car near the entrance and remained behind the wheel for a moment, watching Michael come down the steps.

The house was real. So were the lights in the windows, the boxes visible through the open door, and his sister standing beside a stack of flattened cardboard.

Clara touched his arm.

“Liam?”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

He got out, and Michael stopped halfway toward him.

For a few seconds, his father simply stared.

“What the hell have they been feeding you?”

Rebecca laughed immediately. Liam had expected her to make things worse, but she only folded her arms and watched as Michael stepped closer. His father looked him over from his shoes to his face, then put a hand against his upper arm as though checking whether somebody had replaced his son with a larger model.

“Good food,” Liam said.

“That’s what he told me too,” Rebecca added.

Michael shook his head and pulled him into a hug. Liam bent slightly to meet him, one hand settling firmly against his father’s back. He had spoken to him over the phone, heard him complain about paperwork and moving, and looked at every photograph he sent. None of that had prepared him for the weight of his hand against his shoulder.

His father stepped back first.

“Your mother’s inside. She’s been checking the window every five minutes.”

Liam barely heard Rebecca greeting Clara behind him. He took the bags from the trunk and followed Michael through the entrance, then stopped when Rachel came out of the kitchen with a dish towel in her hands. She looked at his face, glanced down at the luggage, and immediately began complaining that he should have called when they left the airport.

He put the bags down before she finished.

“Hi, Mom.”

Rachel’s next sentence disappeared against his shirt. Liam held her carefully, closing his eyes while she rubbed his back and told him he had become far too big. From somewhere near the stairs, Emily complained that nobody had reacted like this when she came home from school. Rebecca told her to move out first, and the argument that followed sounded so ordinary that Liam started laughing before he realized it.

His mother leaned back to look at him.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re laughing at me?”

“No. I missed you.”

That quieted her more effectively than anything else he could have said.

Michael showed him the property the next morning. They walked past the house and followed the edge of the land while the grass was still damp beneath their shoes. Most of it remained empty. There were fences to inspect, an outbuilding Michael wanted repaired, and more work than the photographs had suggested. His father pointed things out as they walked, occasionally stopping to explain something he had discovered since moving in.

Liam listened without checking his phone.

“You really want to keep animals?”

“Eventually. I need to sort this place out first.”

“How many?”

“Enough that your mother complains. Not enough that she leaves me.”

Liam laughed. Michael smiled and continued toward the fence, testing a loose section with one hand. He had been talking about the land in almost every call since they found the house, but seeing him here was different. He looked busy in a way that pleased him. There was something he wanted to wake up and work on, even if most of that work currently involved making lists and arguing with people over repair estimates.

Liam remembered deciding that his father could eventually take the Millers’ place.

Standing beside him now, the thought felt less simple.

“Dad, if I found a business opportunity…”

Michael turned toward him.

“What kind?”

“I’m still looking at it.”

“Then look properly.”

“I mean something you could be involved in.”

His father considered that while pressing the fence back into place. He didn’t immediately agree, which Liam appreciated more than he expected. Michael had accepted the house after enough conversations about whether his son could afford it. Being given something didn’t mean he intended to nod at every idea Liam brought home.

“I’d want to understand the work.”

“Of course.”

“And whether I wanted to do it.”

Liam looked at him.

Michael smiled slightly.

“You bought us a house, son. You haven’t hired me.”

For a moment, Liam didn’t answer. Then he laughed and nodded, feeling a little embarrassed by how directly his father had understood him. He had been thinking about trust, control, and whose name he could put on a business. Michael was thinking about what he wanted to spend his days doing.

“That’s fair.”

“What business is it?”

“I’ll tell you when I have something worth showing you.”

They returned to the house just before breakfast. Through the kitchen window, Liam could see Clara standing beside Rachel while Rebecca searched through a cupboard. Emily sat at the island eating something directly from a container, watching the others work without showing any intention of helping.

Liam slowed near the back door.

A green panel appeared in front of him.

[Updated.]

[New Side Mission: Cook dinner for your family without hired help.] [Skip for $2.]

[Main Mission: Reach Level 5.] [Incomplete.]

He read it once, then looked through the window again.

‘Finally. Something that doesn’t involve getting thrown on my back.’

By five that evening, Liam understood why the system had offered the option to skip.

His first attempt at the sauce tasted mostly of salt. The chicken had needed longer than he expected, and Emily had eaten enough of the vegetables he was preparing that he eventually moved the bowl away from her. Rachel kept appearing beside him with advice, while Clara read the recipe from his phone and stopped him twice before he added something he had already used.

“You said you could cook,” Rebecca said.

“I said I was cooking.”

“That’s a very important difference.”

Liam pointed toward the dining room with the spoon.

“Go set the table.”

She went, laughing, while he tasted the second attempt at the sauce. Better. Not something he would have paid Agricola’s prices for, but it was edible, and he was beginning to understand why his mother disliked people asking when dinner would be ready every few minutes. He checked the chicken again, then moved on to the potatoes while Clara stood beside him, keeping her own hands away whenever he insisted he could manage.

Rachel finally took a chair near the island.

“Your grandmother used to say the same thing.”

“What?”

“That she didn’t need help. Then she’d complain nobody helped her.”

“I haven’t complained.”

Clara turned toward her.

“He complained when I put the spoon in the wrong place.”

“It was still dirty.”

Rachel laughed, and Liam gave up trying to defend himself. He carried the finished dishes to the table one at a time, making Rebecca move the glasses before she put them somewhere he would knock over. By the time he sat down, everyone else had already started passing plates around.

He looked at them before reaching for his own.

His father was cutting a larger piece of chicken in half because Emily insisted she only wanted a little. Rebecca told her she would come back for more. Clara sat beside his mother, explaining something about her apartment while Rachel listened with the attention she usually reserved for family news.

Liam’s hand remained beside his plate.

Michael noticed first.

“Eat before it gets cold.”

“Yeah.”

He took a piece of chicken, added potatoes, and finally tried the meal he had spent most of the afternoon worrying about. The skin wasn’t as crisp as he wanted, but the meat was cooked properly. The sauce worked with it. Across the table, Emily had already started eating the half she claimed was too much.

Liam smiled and picked up his fork again.

[Side Mission Complete: Cook dinner for your family without hired help.]

[Reward: Basic Cooking Skill.]

[AMPLIFYING THE REWARDS BY 10,000X…]

[NEW REWARD: God Tier Culinary Arts.]

[Explanation: Mastery of ingredient preparation, cooking methods, flavor balance, and kitchen technique. Ingredients and equipment must be supplied.]

The understanding arrived while he was chewing.

Liam looked down at his plate and immediately knew what he should have done differently. The order of preparation, the heat, the way he had handled the chicken before cooking it—there were so many small mistakes that he almost reached for the serving dish to inspect the rest.

Then Rachel asked Michael to pass her more.

Liam left the dish alone.

‘Fine. I’ll make it better next time.’

Dinner lasted longer than he expected. Rebecca talked about her classes, Emily complained about unpacking, and Michael kept returning to what he wanted to do with the land. Nobody needed Liam to arrange a meeting or explain where a payment had gone. When his mother asked about college, she wanted to know whether he had friends and whether he was sleeping enough.

He answered as much as he could.

Afterward, he helped clear the table while Rachel put the leftovers into containers. She noticed him checking how much remained and pushed one of the containers toward him.

“Still hungry?”

“No.”

“There’s enough for everyone. You made far too much.”

Liam looked at the food, then at her.

“I know.”

Rachel returned to the cupboard for another lid. He stood beside her for a moment before opening the dishwasher and taking the plates from Rebecca.

For once, he didn’t check the system again that night.

Liam woke to the sound of a cupboard closing downstairs. For a moment, he remained still, looking at a ceiling he didn’t recognize while Clara slept against his arm. Then he heard his mother telling someone to leave the bread alone until breakfast, followed by Emily insisting she was only checking it. He smiled and carefully slipped out from beneath Clara. She caught his wrist before he could move away, opened one eye, and pulled his hand back against her stomach.