Kailan and his family had already visited five stores. Maria and Rebecca seemed happy as they were able to play dress up with Kailan for over 4 hours. Edward, Elias and Kailan on the other hand were dog tired. Nevertheless, they continued walking through the mall as both of the girls still seemed to be quite energetic.

“We really should head home soon honey.” Edward dared to venture into the murky waters of interrupting their fun.

“Yes, yes. We’ll leave soon.” Maria looked back with a ‘no room to refute’ expression as she responded to him. Edward knew he should back off when he saw that face. They continued on as Rebecca pointed out store after store and Maria gave the ok or nixed it.

As they passed by one of the department store entrances, Kailan immediately stopped and stared through one of the display cases. His eyes were wide and fixated. Elias was the first to notice as he sensed that Kailan wasn’t walking next to him anymore.

“Kailan, what are you looking at?” He asked as he walked over to him.

It was a one-piece dinosaur pajama for adults. There were several one-piece pajamas for both men and women. Elias had a flashback as he recalled the much younger Kai running around in his one-piece dino pajamas. It brought a smile to his face. Maria, Rebecca and Edward had turned back and walked behind the two of them.

“I remember when you used to wear those. You were so cute.” Rebecca leaned on Kailan’s back as she reminisced.

“I want it. And the panda one.” Kailan said in a hushed voice as his eyes fixated on the two mannequins.

“Huh?” Rebecca was taken aback.

“Mom, I want these, buy them for me. Please...” Kailan turned to his mother who had all of the money and put on a pleading face.

Everyone was shocked. Even after all this time he still wanted to wear one-piece pajamas? On the other hand, he does have an athletic build that was more on the side of light muscle, with a boyish face. In fact he could be mistaken for an 18 or 19 year old. Maybe even a 17 year old. They all started to imagine him in the pajamas and no matter which one he wore in their minds he still looked absolutely adorable. That was the nail on the head, they must absolutely buy these for him and make him wear them.

The Kailan Complex kicked into overdrive as the entire family rushed into the department store, quickly located the clothes they wanted and then left, after paying of course. At this point, both Maria and Rebecca finally seemed to be satisfied with their shopping spree. After a 10 minute walk they were back at the car and heading home. By the time they arrived at the house it was already 6 PM. Kailan changed into the dino pajamas the moment they got in.

“Some things never change.” Elias said as he stared at his adorable little brother lovingly.

“Uh, huh…” Everyone mirrored his expression as they fawned over Kailan.

Kailan just wore his big stupid grin as he inspected the pajamas, he enjoyed how comfortable they were. It made him feel like he had gone back a thousand years to his childhood. Plus it just suited him. He was a child at heart and the playful type, so childish things fit his style. Having bathed enough in the aura of cuteness Kailan was giving off, Maria decided to do something quick for dinner so she made hamburgers and fries.

They sat around the table eating and laughing as they talked. Kailan was enjoying himself, but at one point his expression showed hints of sadness. This feast, this laughter, it reminded him of Asgard and the people he got to know there. He spent a thousand years there laughing around the dinner table with so many friends. It was only natural that he would feel homesick.

“Kailan, what’s wrong?” Maria noticed Kailan’s odd expression. Everyone quieted down as they all turned and took notice.

“It’s nothing.” Kailan dodged as he tried to hide it with a fake smile.

“Kai, you shouldn’t lie to your family. We all know something is bothering you, so spill it.” Elias reprimanded. His eyes were practically begging Kailan to say something.

Kailan knew that he would have to explain everything one day. But that day wasn’t today. Still, he could at least let his family in a little. He was adjusting to the fact that they were in his life again so he needed to open up, at least a bit.

“I was just missing Asgard. That’s all.” Kailan actually felt a little relieved saying it. He had been missing it ever since he came back. But even more so he had hated not having someone to talk to about it.

“Asgard? Is that the world you were sent to?” Elias questioned. Kailan had been tight lipped about anything to do with his missing 10 years. Now he was finally starting to open up to them. Everyone gave Kailan their undivided attention, waiting with bated breath for him to continue.

“No.” He chuckled. “Asgard is the name of the realm I went to. The name of the world I was on was called Valhalla.” Kailan explained, his gaze shifted down as memories of Valhalla flashed through his mind.

“Valhalla? Like from the Viking folktales?” Rebecca was a bit familiar with Norse mythology. One of her favorite TV series was Vikings, it was an older series that came out before she was born, but it got her blood pumping.

“Something like that. It was a massive world, much bigger than Earth. Everyone there is a warrior of some kind. And I learned how to fight from them. They took care of me when I was transferred to Asgard and became like family to me. Lunch and Dinner was always a festival with everyone drinking and eating and laughing. This just reminded me of that.”

No one was sure what to say next. It sounded like the place Kailan had been sent to was more like a paradise than the cruel and harsh environments the other Returnees described. He had made friends and even family there, before being suddenly plucked away by Gaia to return to Earth. It was no different than what had happened when he was sent there in the first place. Of course he would miss it.

“Don’t tell anyone about Asgard. It’s a secret.” Kailan winked at them as his once forlorn expression transformed back into a joyful one.

Everyone smiled and laughter once again returned to the Jone’s household. Maybe it wasn’t everything but at least Kailan had started to open up about what he experienced in the other realm. That was enough for now. In time Kailan would reveal more, it was just a matter of getting him to take that first step.

After dinner they decided to watch a movie. Kailan had been gone for a very long time so he had a lot to catch up on. Especially in the area of movies and television. After the first movie, Rebecca couldn’t stand it and decided they needed to watch the sequel which went over several of the story elements that occurred before the first one. Elias made some popcorn and they continued their movie marathon.

Everyone finally went to bed around midnight.

Kailan laid in his bed staring at the ceiling. He was going over everything that had happened today, starting with everything he and his family had done. It was a lot of fun and reminded him of the days long ago when he was just a kid. His heart was finally settling and he was feeling closer to his family again. That was the most important thing.

After dedicating a significant amount of time to rewatching those memories. He turned his attention to the meeting he had with the Hunters Bureau. It gave him much to contemplate. The reactions and hostility of the devout patriotic board director. The stares and disregard the others gave him. Their thought processes when he explained his control over Gaia. The shock he saw in them when he showed them his biography. And especially The President’s genuine and friendly attitude.

While he could tell that the President wasn’t faking her attitude, he could also tell that she was an extreme pragmatist. Even if she felt guilty about it later, if it meant doing something “for the greater good”, she would do it. That’s the type of person she was. Kailan could see that the moment he locked eyes with her. She was friendly because she had no reason not to be.

These types of people were the most dangerous. They’re like snakes hiding in the grass waiting to pounce when it suits them. Not really pretending at being a friend, but changing their heart based on the circumstances. They don’t really mean to be bad guys, they just do what they “think” is right regardless of the consequences. So it would be more accurate to call them calculative and reckless.

“I need to level up and regain my God powers. I have too many things to worry about now.” Kailan had been putting it off for a while so that he could enjoy some time with his family, but he knew that he would need to eventually plan for the future. He just didn’t think it would be so soon. The meeting today had forced his hand.

“Firstly, I need to find a way to grow my power back. If I ever want to return to Asgard this is a must. The Gods have rules against creating bridges between realms so I can’t wait for them to make one for me. I’ll have to make one from this side, abiding by the rules. For that, I need my God powers.” Although the Gods were beings that could create and destroy whole universes that didn’t mean that they were chaotic and disorganised. They had rules and laws set forth that governed them. Kailan also had to play by those rules as he was a God and honestly he respected them for it.

“Secondly, I need more strength. At least enough to protect my friends and family. The one thing I can’t trust is humanity. They tend to fall back to their more primitive and baser instincts when anything contradicts their beliefs or falls outside of their realm of understanding.” Humans, despite proclaiming to be evolved, were still quite primitive. Anything that takes them out of their normality is considered bad and anything bad is removed. Only a small selection of humans can handle the unknown, and even then they have their limits.

It wasn’t that Kailan had trust issues, it was simply that he understood people and what they were capable of. And a part of his training was to plan for such things.

“And lastly, I need to be cautious of that group of people. Even Director Morris was wary of them. Still, he’s quite good. I wonder if I can at least trust him.”

Kailan contemplated the meeting from earlier once again, seeing if there was anything that he had missed.

“For now, I can focus on gaining strength and restoring my God powers. I wonder if…” Kailan just recalled something important.

“Status - Skills - Dungeon of the Heart”

“It was reset to level 1 also… I guess even my Heart Dungeon isn’t immune to the limitations of transferring to lower realms. Still, it shouldn’t be a problem. I can combine this with running dungeons on Earth to drastically improve my leveling speed.”

Kailan’s Dungeon of the Heart is a unique skill that only he has. No other being has it nor can they obtain it. In fact even the Gods once said that they might not be able to replicate the circumstances that caused the formation of this skill.

It was created when Kailan was first pulled through into Asgard 10 years ago, Earth time. And it formed due to the error of the dimensional rift forming inside of his heart, along with Gaia activating the Dungeon Management System and then collapsing the formed dungeons. This error also resulted in Kailan being pulled between the realms and eventually reappearing in Valhalla.

The skill itself was a reflection of the infinitely expanding world that now existed within Kailan’s own heart. It gave him the ability to train within himself. The creatures inside were formed from Mana just like a dungeon mine. So they provided real experience and even dropped real items as loot. It also gave him the ability to become a God.

Originally Kailan was a Demon rank talent. Which would have made him the most powerful and most talented being on Earth. But after his heart turned into a dungeon core and a dungeon formed inside it, it gave him infinite potential which caused his Talent Rank to shoot up to God rank. This alone essentially made him a God. But there were a few other steps he needed to complete in order to become a true God and this required the aid of the others.

“My Heart Dungeon resets at the end of the day, for Earth that would be midnight. I’ll plan to run it at night while everyone is asleep. I don’t really need sleep anyway so I can run the dungeon and then rest after. Then I can run dungeon mines during the day.” He thought to himself as he planned his training routine out to the last detail.

He would need to speak to his siblings tomorrow to find out what he needed to do to be granted access to the dungeons. Of course he could also contact Eva and ask her, but he thought it would be best to run it by his family first. Kailan slowly fell asleep having come up with his most immediate needs. Although Gods didn’t need to sleep, it didn’t mean that they couldn’t or that they didn’t enjoy it as much as any other being.

Everyone had a good night’s rest after having a relatively enjoyable day together.

The next morning was the same as usual. Maria got up earlier than anyone to make breakfast and coffee. Then she went door to door to wake everyone up, except Kailan who was rushing out in his dino pajamas the moment he smelled the coffee. Maria opened the curtains to the bay-window in their dining room as they all congregated, letting the light in. It was a Sunday, and sunny, a nice day to relax and enjoy breakfast.

“When do you have to go in today, Eli?” Maria asked as she sat down and joined everyone.

“9.” Elias who had been smiling at the food only moments ago suddenly became sullen.

“Why so early?” Maria questioned in surprise as she served herself some scrambled eggs.

“I have to report about the other night. I was chewed out last night because I ignored their summons.” Elias dejectedly continued eating as he slowly explained.

Maria frowned when she heard this. Everyone was making so much trouble for their kids lately. And she was getting a little annoyed by it.

“Where are you going?” Kailan cut in as he grabbed some bacon.

“I have to go to my guild’s main office. We normally do missions on Sunday mornings starting at 10 but I should be back around 3.” Elias replied.

“Missions?” Kailan was a bit confused.

“Yeah. I’m a member of the Sacred Paladins. It’s a guild formed around Christian faith. We’re seen as the modern age paladins of the church so we do missions to help out people around the city on Sundays. We even cancel dungeon raids for it.” Elias explained as he sipped his coffee.

“Wow. Sounds like an eventful guild. I’m a little surprised modern faiths are in the dungeon business. So do you guys go to church and stuff too?”

Elias was now the one surprised. Kailan had never taken an interest in his faith before. In fact, talk of faith in the house was minimalistic as no one really felt the need to say anything, they understood each other.

The Jones family was a family of mixed faith. Maria is an Agnostic Catholic, Edward is Conservative Jewish, Rebecca is Atheist, Elias is a Protestant Christian and Kailan never really professed to any religion or lack of one. Holidays were always chaotic but they all respected each other’s beliefs and supported each other.

Still, it was rare for the topic of religion to come up. “Yeah, we do. Actually, there’s a church built off of our guild’s headquarters and we get a lot of people in all the time.”

“And actually there are a lot of religions that believe the dungeons and Gaia are sent by God or whoever they believe in to save humanity. So it’s pretty common for there to be guilds all over the world who adhere to a particular religion.” Elias was happy to share.

“Well, they're partially right I guess.” Kailan thought to himself as he imagined the arguments over who it was that actually created Gaia. If there was one thing that could spark an argument it was discussions over religion and politics. And both of them had claws in the dungeon business. “I wonder what would happen if I told them the truth…” He continued his thinking.

“That’s cool. So the Sacred Paladins and the Twilight Garden are the two guilds here in Indy?” Kailan asked as he finished the last of his breakfast.

“Actually, there are a total of four.” Edward started explaining as he poured himself some more coffee.

“Firstly there’s the largest guild, the Blood Knights. All guilds in the world are ranked within their own nations and then there is a global ranking. They even compete for rankings sometimes. But the Blood Knights are one of the top 10 guilds in the US, specifically they are number 7. Their headquarters is downtown near the Hunters Bureau building.” He continued.

“Then there are the smaller guilds. I say smaller, but they are actually mid-sized guilds comparatively to the guilds overall. Guilds are often ranked by whether they are large, medium or small in size based on the number of Hunters and other employees.”

“Yes, and the amount of authority and power they possess is also related to their guild size, but a large portion comes from how many high ranking talents they have. So the guilds internally are often controlled by the Hunters with the highest Talent Ranks.” Rebecca added in between eating her eggs and hashbrowns.

Edward nodded. “Which is why you’ll see the Hunters Bureau being more polite towards the Blood Knights but not being afraid to be mouthy towards the three mid-sized guilds. The bureau has enough power and backing that they don’t need to be too wary of any mid-sized guild.”

“As for the three mid-sized guilds here in Indianapolis, they are the Sacred Paladins who are a religious guild, based up in Castleton. Twilight Garden who are Environmentalists, mostly leaning towards liberalism, based down near Greenwood. And lastly the Riders of the Moon, who are more of a biker gang than anything. Their headquarters is in Plainfield.” He explained as he held his coffee up.

“There are also quite a few smaller guilds throughout the state, but none based here in Indianapolis. Then there are branch offices of the mid and larger sized guilds in various locations around Indiana, including from guilds based outside of our state, which is a common trait for guilds that break into the mid-sized range.” Rebecca jumped in again to add another point.

“I see. So then the guilds or their branch offices all manage the dungeons within their area?” Kailan asked, looking at his dad.

“Mostly, yes. There are rules to help prevent conflicts between the guilds when it comes to claiming and raiding dungeons. But ultimately the dungeon’s ownership will go to one of the guilds and it’s typically the one who’s area of influence that dungeon falls within. There are special circumstances where ownership is taken over by the Bureau though. For instance when a dungeon is close to breaking. At that point it threatens public safety so the bureau will reclaim it and summon the elites from each of the guilds to form a joint party to try to destroy it.” Edward explained with his eyes closed as he savored the flavor of his coffee.

“And if I wanted to enter one of these dungeons?” Kailan ventured as his lips formed into a knowing smile.