As if they coordinated it, both of my parents arrived within a few minutes of each other the following day. It almost had to have been planned since Mom was coming from Earth while Dad and his new family lived in a different city on Hadier.


    Things were less awkward than I expected, which was a welcome surprise. Mom seemed pretty familiar with Dad’s new wife Caesi and their three very young children. Having Bell there as a bit of a buffer probably helped as well.


    Even knowing how mana had reduced the length of pregnancies to roughly half a year, it was still a surprise to see how close together the children had been born.


    “They’re all so close in age,” I commented as I lightly bounced my five-month-old baby brother. The toddlers playing in the manatech play yard were fifteen months and twenty-six months old, respectively.


    Dad chuckled lightly at my statement. “Caesi wanted them to have playmates,” he said as if that explained everything.


    “How does it feel to be a new dad in your eighties?” Mom asked curiously before adding, “Not that any of us actually look our ages.”


    “Eighty isn’t very old,” Caesi interjected. “It’s actually pretty young to start a family for those who plan to progress beyond Tier Four.”


    I wasn’t sure if my new stepmother meant it as a jab toward my mom or not, but Mom’s expression tightened. Since Bell was sitting on the small couch beside her, she put her hand on Mom’s arm comfortingly.


    Mom had only reached Peak-Tier Three after all these years because she refused to risk entering a rift after Justin died. I was only aware of that fact because I’d spent some time going through more of the accumulated messages I’d received upon leaving the rift.


    Recognizing the expression on his ex-wife’s face, Dad ignored the comment and answered the question. “I don’t feel that old, so it’s pretty normal. Hitting Tier Four was almost like getting a rejuvenation treatment.”


    “Speaking of tiering up, has Agirock been tamed yet?” I asked, suddenly getting an idea. I was not above using a little emotional manipulation if it would help my mom progress and live longer.


    “No. Last I heard, it was still being subjugated. I think there are a couple of cities, but they haven’t gotten all of the rift breaks handled yet, and the areas outside the city are supposed to still be pretty overrun with rift beasts.”


    It was as I expected. A mere quarter of a century wasn’t nearly enough to clear a whole world without bringing in a lot of higher-tired people.


    “I should be able to teleport directly there,” I said quietly, thinking aloud. “Not that I need to save credits or anything, but it would be a pretty good way to test my limits.”


    “Why would you want to go there?” Mom asked, hearing what I was muttering. “I know the creatures there aren’t really a threat to you, but you aren’t allowed to just go in and kill them, right? What would be the point in going?”


    My eyes met hers, and I smiled. “Well, you mentioned something about maybe fighting rift breaks again if I was on overwatch, didn’t you?” I asked, referencing something she’d said in one of the many, many messages she’d sent during my time sequestered in the rift.


    Knowing they were planning to come to see me right away, I’d used a bit of dilated time to review all the messages from Mom and Dad before they arrived.


    The color drained from Mom’s face. “I, uh, I think I’m too old for that now,” she said quickly. “It’s been too long since I did anything like that. I’m sure you have better things to do with your time. You just escaped from a rift. You should relax!”


    “There is nothing better to do with my time than to help you overcome your fears and tier up. I want you to still be alive when I get out of the dungeon. Besides, helping you tier up would make me happy. Please? I promise it won’t take long, and you’ll be perfectly safe the whole time.”


    Mom’s hands shook lightly, causing Bell to lean closer. I could only assume the two women had bonded over the shared trauma of losing Justin.


    “I-I think I’m fine. You really don’t have to go out of your way. My life expectancy is already good enough to still be healthy when you get out. Besides, I can heal myself, even if it doesn’t reverse aging. I have a [Rejuvenation] wand that Bell made for that.”


    “Come on, Mom,” I said, channeling my inner child and pouting. “Doesn’t Daniel need to tier up, too? He’s also Peak-Tier Three, right?”


    Of course, I already knew the answer. Master Kairos – or Kai, as he once again insisted on being called – had updated me on everyone in my immediate family. I considered my niece and nephews part of that.


    After awakening with a mid-strength Light affinity, Daniel had become an Enchanter, just like his mom. He wasn’t much of a fighter, but nobody mentioned he actively avoided combat like Mom did. In fact, he probably already had his alternate level dealt with.


    Even so, I doubted he’d mind a little help pushing past the threshold. Most people wouldn’t.


    “Daniel? What does he—”


    “Oh! I’m sure he’d love that, Emie!” Bell interjected brightly. “He hates that he’s fallen behind his brother, even though we all knew it would happen when he took the professional path. I’m honestly happier that he isn’t putting himself in danger on a regular basis. Daniel has never been one for conflict… unless it involves Lucas.”


    I grinned at the support. “Can you reach out to him and ask if he can take a few days off? He can use the whole ‘miraculous return of a long-lost aunt’ excuse,” I said playfully.


    I kept an eye on Mom during the exchange so I could tell that she really wanted to decline the offer. It was a bit heavy-handed of me, I knew, but they really would be perfectly safe during the excursion.


    I planned to handle things much like the dungeon cities did with their under-tiered individuals. The only difference would be that we’d be safely perched on a platform of Space mana instead of standing on a wall during a beast wave.


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    Since the rift beasts were outside of their domain, the system shouldn’t even penalize them very much for using overpowered weapons.


    “We should include his wife, Eve, too,” Bell said as she tapped her phone. “She’s Tier Three as well, though I think she’s a couple of levels behind him.”


    By the time Bell coordinated with her son for a trip to Agirock, Mom had begrudgingly agreed to go. I hoped that by the end of the trip, Mom would feel better about hunting again.


    Dad and Caesi expressed an interest in doing a similar trip some other time, but didn’t try to join the excursion we were planning. There would have been plenty of room, but it was probably better this way.


    <hr>


    The trip to the frontier world was scheduled for three days later. I spent most of those three days getting to know the new additions to the family and catching up with the old ones.


    A notable outlier was my visit from Rhona. She’d taken on Amie as an assistant of some sort and had paid for her to attend one of the good Academies that specialized in Mind magic.


    From what I’d been told, their affinities were almost mirrors. Rhona had a strong Crystal and a weak Mind affinity, while Amie was the opposite, with a stronger Mind affinity and a weak Crystal affinity. Technically, Amie’s Mind affinity wasn’t strong; it was just on the upper end of standard.


    Regardless, Rhona was the only non-family member who visited before I once again left Hadier. I didn’t count Kai or Zavira since they were about as close to a family member as someone could be without actually being related.


    I still wasn’t quite sure where I stood with my former Master, but I was grateful for his presence.


    Zavira was just… Zavira. She was still the same stalwart companion she’d always been.


    Aside from my mentor, she was the only one who consistently expressed confidence in my eventual return. There were no messages of uncertainty or worry. Every message I received in the twenty-six years I’d been gone expressed absolute confidence that I would overcome the challenge and return stronger.


    Her faith was humbling.


    “So, you’re going to head out to power-level your mom and nephew tomorrow?” she asked, though it was less of a question and more of a segway into a new conversation.


    It had taken a couple of days for Zavira to finish her delve and learn of my return, but as soon as she heard the news, she dropped everything and portaled right over.


    I wasn’t surprised to see how familiar my family had grown with my closest friend after catching up on most of my messages. Both of my parents often talked about Zavira’s regular contact with them after I was abducted.


    If anything, Zavira probably knew my parents better than I did now.


    “Yeah, and Daniel’s wife,” I answered as we walked down a busy street. Everyone had already retired for the night except for us and my former Master.


    I’d invited him to come along with us on our foodie walk, but he’d declined, saying he thought it would be better for us to catch up without him hovering nearby.


    He wasn’t worried about any future abductions, so I wasn’t overly concerned either. Besides, I kept a modified barrier active the whole time. I felt confident it would repel even a Tier Ten’s spell at least once, provided they didn’t somehow have a stronger Time affinity and Time Magic Mastery.


    Even making contact wouldn’t be enough since the spell was layered and anchored to my skin.


    “So, are you going to use the rest of your allotted break or head right back into the dungeon?”


    “Oh, I’m taking my break,” I assured her. “The advances I made should be plenty to compensate for the time I spent in the rift. If anything, it might have saved me a little time.”


    “Fighting up a full tier is quite lucrative for those who can survive it,” she agreed before grinning mischievously. “Maybe you can take me with you when you do your mandatory delve.”


    “Didn’t my recent escapade count for that?” I asked in confusion. “I just got out.”


    Zavira shook her head. “It counts from the time you enter, not when you clear it. I’m not sure how the Adventurers’ Guild will handle everything, given the circumstances, but you should plan on needing to clear at least one more rift before you reenter the dungeon.”


    I frowned at the news. Kai hadn’t mentioned anything about needing to go back inside a rift.


    “Don’t get too worked up about it,” Zavira continued. “I doubt clearing a similarly-tiered rift will take you very long. I finished mine in a few days with a team. If we work together, I’m sure it won’t take long. And you don’t have to fully clear it to count. As long as you kill enough mobs to drain some mana, it’s usually considered good enough.”


    “Well, if you want to join me, I don’t see why not,” I said. “With the right weapons, it shouldn’t be that hard. Honestly, once I tiered up, the challenge rift wasn’t all that bad, and I was still technically under-leveled for it.”


    “Yeah, your affinities are a cheat.”


    I shrugged and playfully replied, “Nobody said life was fair.”


    Though I hadn’t changed my appearance, nobody recognized me as a Tri-Affinity Mage. It had been long enough that people didn’t really remember my face, and I kept my affinities masked.


    The only one that showed up with an inspection spell was Arcane. I figured it was a good one to display since it could justify the use of basically any other affinity.


    I’d also gotten used to wearing black, and I’d held to my new preference even when purchasing casual clothing. When coupled with my hair, my displayed affinity was very believable.


    After we picked our next restaurant and got settled into a booth, Zavira sighed heavily. “I’m so glad you’re finally back.”


    “You just like me for my ability to teleport,” I joked.


    “I mean, yeah, that’s pretty nice,” she said with a smile. “It would take way too long to travel between cities and worlds to sample the best foods without you.”


    “Access to good food is important,” I said seriously. After a moment, we both chuckled.


    “I really missed you,” Zavira said. “I never doubted you’d come back, though.”


    I grinned. “I know. You mentioned that a lot in your messages. Seeing those really lifted my spirits. I still haven’t gotten through all of them. I think you’re the only one who unfailingly sent a message every single month while I was gone. Even Master Kairos wasn’t that consistent.”


    “I promised you I would.”


    “That was for when I returned to the dungeon.”


    Zavira shook her head. “Nope. Every month. My Interface Assistant reminds me if I forget,” she replied before grinning slyly. “Besides, I think your mentor was a little busy during most of that time.”


    “Dealing with the former disciples, you mean?” I asked.


    “Yes. I worried there at the beginning,” she admitted. “I thought he might go too far and violate the Accords after you were taken.”


    Our conversation was interrupted by the waiter, but it didn’t take long to place our order. A lot of restaurants had a sampling menu and we just ordered two of everything. One was packaged for takeout and the other we’d enjoy in the restaurant.


    “He just collected the worst of them,” I said after the waiter walked away. “He said he was waiting for me to escape so I could be there when they were punished. We’re going to do to them what they arranged to be done to me.”


    I normally wouldn’t talk about such things in public spaces since, while not technically illegal in most territories, my mentor’s actions would certainly be frowned upon. But since I had activated a low-key privacy ward before we sat down, I wasn’t worried about being overheard.


    It was a subtle combination of Mind and Sound magic. The Sound magic muffled and distorted our conversation, while the Mind magic made anything that was heard seem boring and uninteresting.


    Completely blocking all sound often drew the attention of those who might otherwise overlook us, so subtly was key.


    “I wouldn’t mind coming along for that,” Zavira said with hardened eyes. “I’d like to see those arrogant elves get a taste of karma.”


    “I’m sure Master—I mean, Kai, won’t mind,” I said, catching myself.


    I was going to make a real effort to address him the way he’d asked. It was hard because I’d gone right back to calling him Master Kairos in my mind while stuck in the rift. It would take some time to get used to calling him something else.


    Maybe I’d ask the Mind Healer I was going to go see once my little excursion to Agirock was finished to address that for me. It shouldn’t be a hard thing to alter.


    The people who knew my plan were completely supportive of my decision to talk to someone. Kai had even found someone I could tell about the time travel thing. I found myself strangely looking forward to the visit.