“If you’re still not ready to be alone yet, you can hang out with me until it’s time to meet your family,” Zavira offered when we arrived a short distance away from the main gate to her sect compound.


    We’d been teleporting all over the Alliance, so it made more sense to take her home than to force her to deal with portaling back.


    I smiled at the offer but shook my head. “I’ll be fine,” I promised. “I could use a little time by myself, and it’s only a handful of hours, anyway. I have some stuff I wanted to do that I haven’t gotten around to yet, so now is a good time to take care of it.”


    “Oh yeah? What kind of things?” my friend asked curiously. She didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to get back.


    “Don’t laugh, but I need to reorganize my storage,” I said.


    “Of course you do,” Zavira said with an exaggerated eye-roll. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. It’s fine.”


    “No. I’m serious. My reward for completing the rift was an expansion of my inventory. I haven’t had a chance to reorganize everything yet.”


    I’d decided not to completely hide my reward since it was only a matter of time before people started asking about it. Rather than lie about what I got, I decided to just downplay it. That way, I was being honest without saying anything that might draw more unwanted attention.


    “An inventory expansion?” Zavira’s brows furrowed. “That doesn’t seem like a proportionate reward for beating a challenge rift when you entered it at such a disadvantage.”


    “Maybe the amount of time I spent in stasis counted against me?” I suggested. It was as good an explanation as any and really might have factored into the reward.


    Zavira paused for a moment, then shrugged. “Maybe. Who knows how rift rewards are determined?” She opened her arms and stepped forward. I met her embrace. “I really am glad that you’re back. Keep in touch this time.”


    After a few assurances that I wouldn’t just disappear again – hopefully – I watched as my closest friend disappeared through the ornate enchanted gates that protected her sect from outsiders.


    Once she was out of sight, I teleported back to my hotel suite. My former mentor would be meeting me before the rest of the family arrived for our trip, but that wouldn’t happen for another five and a half hours.


    The suite felt oddly still when I returned, making me immediately shiver. It really was the first time I’d been totally alone since I escaped from the rift, and I wasn’t quite sure how to handle it.


    After a moment of indecision, I shook my head. “No. I’m an adult. I don’t need someone with me every minute of the day. I need to get over this,” I admonished myself.


    I didn’t bother sitting down since I planned to use the time to do some long overdue testing on my new pocket dimension.


    Casting my consciousness into the space, I assessed its current state. For now, the entire pocket was in stasis. I got the feeling that if I were to enter the space now, that effect wouldn’t apply to me, but I didn’t necessarily want to risk testing it.


    “Let’s adjust things a little bit,” I murmured before flexing my will to alter the space to better suit my needs.


    What started as a perfect circle slowly shifted to something closer to a ‘Y,’ with the bottom branch being reserved for items that would remain in stasis and the top two branches being set aside for personal use.


    I quickly decided that the leftmost branch would be used as a garden, with heavy time dilation to allow for quick growth. The rightmost branch would house my personal workshop and a suite where I could relax. I’d set the latter up like a home, so it probably wouldn’t need as much space as the garden or regular storage.


    “It’s too dark,” I muttered a second before the entire space was illuminated by a soft white light. I couldn’t discern the source of the light, but I knew I could control it, just like every other aspect of the space.


    I shifted everything stored in the pocket dimension into the branch dedicated to stasis storage. The items naturally organized themselves to my preference, slotting into the places I had subconsciously allotted for them.


    Looking back at the other two branches, I realized that I would need a lot of resources to make the space functional. The left branch would need soil and plants, as well as some programmed changes to the environment to ensure things roughly matched their origin and allowed for growth.


    The right branch would probably need some kind of flooring and walls, even if they were purely superficial. While I didn’t think I’d mind gardening in an illuminated bubble surrounded by the void, the same could not be said for working or relaxing in such. But as long as I covered the space, it probably wouldn’t bother me.


    For now, I’d make the temperature comfortable and add airflow so I’d be able to breathe once I physically entered the space.


    I could probably get away with just setting up a pod or two instead of decorating everything manually. I had crafted a new Tier Nine variant with all the upgrades I could think of shortly after tiering up, after all. It would probably work well enough for the space.


    If it didn’t, I could always try something else.


    Nodding to myself, I pulled the Tier Nine pod from the storage branch and moved it to the workshop/ residential branch. I was a little surprised to find I could interact with the pod while it was in the pocket dimension as if I were holding it in my hand.


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    Selecting a series of options that would expand the pod to its maximum, I watched as the back section of the branch was slowly filled by the expanding travel home.


    When the pod stopped growing, I adjusted the dimensional space to wrap around the device, reclaiming the wasted space around the pod for another use.


    Manipulating the shape and size of the pocket dimension was almost like telekinetically molding clay. Everything shifted so easily, as if the space itself was eager to accommodate me.


    After checking the time and verifying I still had plenty to work with, I took an excited breath and willed myself into the pod within my new pocket dimension.


    I could feel the shift between realms. It was a lot like entering a rift.


    The air inside was crisp and fresh, while still being warm and welcoming. It was almost like the pocket dimension had manifested it to perfectly suit my subconscious desires.


    I took a deep breath and looked around.


    Having no real reason to do so, I hadn’t expanded a travel pod to its maximum in ages. The last time was probably back on the third floor of the Realm Dungeon when I was using a pair of pods as a combined residence and workshop.


    There was a surprising amount of room inside. It was probably close to a large warehouse in size. It even looked a bit like a warehouse since I hadn’t directed the item to manifest any room or floor dividers.


    I quickly changed that, splitting the space into two floors. I created a large, open workshop on the bottom floor and a modern-looking living space on the top floor. Moving myself into the center of the upper floor, I roughly copied the layout and style of the penthouse suite I’d temporarily lived in on Hadier.


    The décor was made up of mostly semi-tangible holograms, much like Lisa’s avatar. There were no furnishings just yet, though that was an easy enough fix.


    With a flex of will, the limited furnishings I had stored in the stasis section of my new pocket dimension transferred to the rough apartment. I didn’t have a lot, and most of what I did have was pretty old, even if I had kept it all in pristine condition through the use of Time magic.


    I’d need to go shopping soon, but I’d have to do that later. I only had a limited amount of time to dedicate to sorting my new space before family members started showing up for our excursion to Agirock.


    I teleported to the bottom floor and started bringing in the various workstations I’d acquired over the years. Thankfully, I’d always kept my workstations stored in my inventory, so I hadn’t lost any when the Assassin took my ring.


    I didn’t bother moving any of the material storage containers since I could retrieve items from stasis just as easily without having them take up the space. That might change if I eventually invited other crafters to use the hidden space, but for now, I’d keep everything separated.


    Though I had a lot of tables and tools, once everything was in place, the large, open room still felt quite empty. It was a far cry from the cramped conditions I’d gotten used to working in. The stone room I’d called home for the past couple of decades had been quite small, after all.


    Once everything was acceptably situated, I exited the expanded pod and looked out at the pocket dimension. There was still a lot of space in the branch I’d dedicated to the pod, so I adjusted things a bit to push some of that unneeded area to the other branches.


    Being surrounded by an unending void was a little disconcerting, just as I’d expected it to be. But knowing I was safe alleviated a lot of the discomfort. I still wouldn’t want to look up and see that when I was crafting or resting, though.


    I spent what remained of my time exploring my new domain. I could have cranked up the time dilation to get more subjective time, but since I didn’t really feel like crafting anything and I was already feeling the sting of solitude, I opted to let things run normally for everything but the dedicated storage spaces.


    Once I left, everything would be placed in stasis anyway until I made a few more modifications.


    <hr>


    “Are you sure you want to come along?” I asked Bell while the rest of our gathered family members checked over their equipment. “I promise I’ll keep them safe.”


    Bell scoffed. “You think that’s why I’m going?” she asked incredulously. “Seriously, Emie. If you can’t keep them safe, what good would I do? I’m tagging along because killing Tier Five beasts would help me advance. I’m only Low-Tier Five.”


    I sent my sister-in-law a look of apology. I hadn’t really considered the benefit that hunting on a Tier Five frontier world might provide to the higher-level members of the family.


    “Should I invite Amie or Ashlyn, then?” I asked a bit uncertainly.


    Bell shook her head. “Both of them have the support of people who could easily get them there if they wanted to go. I mean, you can make the offer if you want, but I know Ashlyn, for one, won’t be able to drop everything to go on a hunting trip. That fancy Alchemists’ Academy she’s attending is far too strict about stuff like that.


    “As far as Amie goes, just invite her on the next trip when you take James and Caesi. Maybe check in with Kaylee and Lucas, too. I’m almost positive Lucas won’t be able to come since he’s off somewhere exploring with the SEF, but Kaylee might be able to get away. She’s living on Morkin right now.”


    “Yeah, Mas—I mean, Kai mentioned that.”


    Bell smirked at my slip but didn’t comment, though her eyes drifted over my shoulder to the man in question. He’d decided to come along for the trip, and I didn’t see any reason to deny him.


    Looking back at the people gathered, it was clear everyone was as ready as they were going to get. Mom, Daniel, and Eve were all obviously very nervous about the trip, especially knowing they would be going against Tier Five opponents. But I’d assured everyone they would be perfectly safe, and I intended to keep my promise.


    “Alright, everyone. Get close and grab ahold of your neighbor. Skin contact helps, so hold hands or something,” I said.


    Kai slipped his hand into mine and smiled gently. Bell grabbed my other hand and gave me a knowing look, followed by an exaggerated wink.


    I struggled not to roll my eyes at her antics.


    Somewhere along the way, Bell had gotten it in her head that Kai and I would make a good couple. He’d never directly expressed an interest in such, but he also hadn’t expressed a disinterest.


    I wasn’t sure exactly what I felt for my former Master, but I certainly didn’t think now was the time to figure things out. I only had a limited amount of time outside of the dungeon. Getting involved with anyone seemed like a bad idea.


    “This is going to be a two-step process instead of the single action that most of you are probably used to,” I warned, focusing on my task. “Please don’t resist. It’s already going to take a lot of mana to get us all there.”


    It wouldn’t wipe me out by any means. Even without making physical contact to ease the mana needed, I’d still have plenty to make the trip a couple of times.


    Phasing into the weave first was a necessity, given the vast distances involved. But I didn’t bother explaining that part of it. None of them were Space Mages, so it wouldn’t have made much sense to anyone except maybe Kai anyway.


    Once everyone was connected, I moved us, first into the weave connecting every physical location in the realm, then to the main Agirock teleportation beacon.


    It was my first time teleporting such a distance, but I found that my increased tier made it just a tad harder than teleporting within the same solar system had been before I was abducted. It was a huge increase in power, and I could only imagine how ridiculous my abilities with Space magic would be once I reached the Pinnacle.