In fact, even the ground is gone, what I am looking at is a huge, circular crater. It is tens of miles across at least, but from here I can't tell how deep it is. The sides of the crater are bright red, the molten stone has yet to cool off.

I should be flying back to the ship, but I find I am far too curious to do so. Instead, I turn around and fly back towards the crater for a closer look. I even drop down lower so that both Lin and I can see just how deep it is.

It is hard to judge the depth since the bottom of the crater is covered in molten stone. Near the center of the crater there is even magma coming up from beneath. The blast must have opened up a magma chamber that was underneath the ruins.

That means that we accidentally created a new volcano, it is a good thing no one lives in the area. There is no sign of the gate, meaning our mission was a success and I don't have to go to the demon plane. Now that it is confirmed, I turn and start flying back to the ship at top speed.

Although, there is probably no point in rushing, we have probably already been spotted. I can't feel any gazes, but since they can't look at me directly that isn't surprising. However, there is no way I will believe that there aren't several gods looking at the area right now.

Because of that, I don't want to gate back to the ship, I want to keep gating a secret. Besides, once we are on the ship they shouldn't be able to track us anymore. Hopefully Lin is right and they will focus their attention on the demons instead of us.

However, I sort of doubt that is going to happen considering they probably witnessed the spell. A spell that can level a city, that kind of power is really hard to ignore. Although, it will probably bother the gods more that this power is in the hands of mortals.

"Oh, right, did you get exp?"

Lin says "Yes! I gained another level!"

"Just one?"

Lin says "At my level, gaining an entire level is really impressive. Those demons must have been pretty strong."

"I guess that makes sense."

The flight back to the coast is uneventful, we see a few beasts but no large groups. Just as we reach the coast, I spot a few groups of elves fighting beasts. We quickly fly past them and I land on the balcony at the back of the ship.

"Athena?"

Athena says "Yes, master?"

"We are done here. Once all the elves have returned we can set sail. We will be following the coast to the west."

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Athena says "Understood, master. Should I order the elves to return?"

"No. There is no rush. You can let them finish hunting."

Athena says "As you wish."

"We will be in the castle if anything comes up."

Lin and I enter the castle, but none of the kids are around, so I ask Jarvis. As expected, the kids are currently adventuring in the shadow plane with Chloell. Considering how long we were gone, the kids have probably experienced several days.

Or maybe not, it depends on how much they have been in the shadow plane. It is really hard trying to keep track of the different time flows, but it is worth it. The extra time we gain by using the time dilation is a huge advantage that I don't plan to give up.

Lin says "What's the plan?"

"We can relax and go back to doing what we want until the ship reaches the peninsula. Barring any unforeseen events, it should take the ship about a week to reach it."

Lin says "An entire week passing without something going wrong? You sure do dream big, Ash."

"Well, I'm sure that the demonic beasts will keep attacking the ship, but the elves can handle that. We should only need to get involved if something major happens."

Lin says "Until then, we can go back to reading?"

"Yeah, that's the plan."

Lin says "Alright, sounds good."

"Once the kids get back, we can have dinner with them."

Lin heads to the library to read until the kids return and I go to take a lava bath. Of course, I take some manga with me to read while I am soaking and relaxing. While our lives were never really in danger, it was still a fairly tense situation.

That just makes it feel even better to be able to relax for a while and enjoy my bath. I get to relax for a few hours before I hear noise upstairs that indicates the kids are back. When I go to join them, I find them clustered around Lin telling her about their adventures.

I quickly join them, start taking out dishes for everyone to eat, and then we have dinner. While we are eating, the kids tell of their adventure and then we tell them about ours. I was right, this is the second time the kids went into the shadow plane since we left.

They have been having a lot of fun and at the same time they are learning a lot. I can already see signs of them developing a more mature outlook. Fighting and taking risks are good ways for them to grow up, I just don't want them to grow too fast.

After all, children should be children, if they were human there is no way I would let them fight. However, it is a different story for my kids since they are all beasts of one type or another. If they weren't with me, they would probably be having to hunt for food by now.

Well, some of them anyway, different species will have different speeds. The shadow drakes seemed like they probably kept parenting for a long time. It makes sense since they have a much longer lifespan and slower development speed.

Then again, since they depend on shadow power to grow, I have no idea how long it would take. Ekard still being so small is my fault, I haven't been providing what he needs to grow. Luckily, now that I know about it, I can take the steps needed to help him.

Although I don't seem to need to, the kids have brought back loads of things for him to eat. The four of them are taking care of it for me, which makes me feel rather guilty. However, since the kids are enjoying it and want to do it, I won't stop them.

It is actually nice that they are doing all this for their brother they haven't even met. Well, they have met inside the soulscape, but that doesn't really count. It is going to be really fun and hectic when they finally all meet in person.

After dinner, the kids go watch cartoons while Lin and I curl up together to read. Once the kids have fallen asleep, Lin and I head to bed for some fun and then some sleep. I only sleep for a few hours and then spend the rest of the night working on my core.

Core Upgrade Progress: 44%

Lin says "Good morning."

"Morning, beautiful!"