After returning to the surface, things began to change more rapidly. Shurry would play with his friends on a regular basis, when he wasn't doing that, his time would switch back and forth between hunting on his own, and staying with Hathor to keep her safe while the other familia's members went down into the dungeon on longer excursions.
Playing with his friends included games, dances, training, and watching over the young Meda, who really liked his fluffy tail. It was also during these days when Alise made a few comments about Alraj, and Meteria… Ones that, once Hera heard them, Alraj's life got quite a bit harder.
The Zeus & Hera familia members were busy putting their all into their training. And were mostly never home, the rare few moments that they were home, they were mostly asleep, or on their way out again. Though Empress did stay behind every other expedition to spend time with her daughter, bonding. And so she could make sure everything was in order, resources wise…
Time passed with this sort of arrangement, and one day, about 6 months into this rather high tempo training, a familia came to challenge them. Alraj went outside, and one tapped every single one of them in what amounted to barely any effort at all.
"Man, I'm the weakest in my familia, and that's the best they can do? Pathetic. Even that Ottar guy fell in a single hit. What the hell is wrong with these people? I hardly trained at all, but they train to the death every day." Alraj complained, claiming a section of the couch which had a rather special pillow…
"They're just weak. Not everyone can be the type of people Maxim, Empress, Zald, and my sister are." Meteria, now with a head in her lap, coated in hair soft like a bunny rabbit's.
"I know, but I'm weak too, and that's really the best they got? That Ottar guy's what? Level 3? He should have been able to handle at least one attack. I mean he's a boar person too. That's basically level 4 at that point."
"Well, complain all you like. Just don't bother comparing him to little brother. That'd just be completely unfair."
"Pfft, like I'd do that. Little brother is more of a cheat than Alfia." His ear was yanked. "Ow, ow, ow."
"My sister is a beautiful budding young woman. Not some cheat." Meteria scolded, pouting in Alraj's face.
"I get it. I was just making an example."
"I know, but don't be so rude about it."
Time flew by, after that interaction. While playing with friends, he helped find new friends that ultimately joined the Astraea familia. And eventually… They stopped playing together as often as before. It was a slow drift, but having grown a little bit older, and their familia now large enough to handle most situations on their own. They were still good friends, but Astraea familia, and Hathor familia had differing goals they were striving for.
Of course, Ardee always remained close with Shurry whenever she could, however, like before even she started having to adventure with her familia members. Something that was seen as a huge win for those on team Shakti. And a rather big loss for Ganesha, he really didn't like the idea of splitting friends apart simply because of familia boundaries… That didn't have the vibe of a god of the masses. His interventions proved to be extremely helpful in maintaining the bright spark between Ardee, and Shurry. Much to the chagrin of Shakti.
Hathor familia started racking up Monster Rex kills real fast. With Shurry there, serving as an oh shit moment savior… They were able to push down to the 51st floor. It was during some of these expeditions where Hathor familia's members were able to fully bloom into themselves, many started leveling up. A side effect of having more opportunities to do so.
Though, there were still the annoying thorns in their sides, because they weren't the only familia to reach that depth. Freya, Ganesha, Hephaestus, Loki, and a couple others managed to reach this depth as well. Though, of the four familias there, Freya, and Loki familia were the most annoying by far, occasionally they'd try and attack Hathor familia, just because… An action that was met with a rather quick, and fierce response. Sure Hathor familia's members weren't as high a level as the suddenly random level 5, but Shurry was more than enough of a match for the man that smelled like uncooked bacon, Ottar.
Oddly enough, it was as a result of these attacks that started sparking rumors about the two familias potentially being members of Evilus.
Finally, after a rather long time, 4 years to be exact. Shurry held back all of his updates, so he could still have fun playing with his friends, while also being a strong pillar of the Hathor familia. Hathor would still check what he could have done from time to time, but she'd keep him at base level 4, just like he wanted. Doing things this way helped to make it seem like he'd just had a major growth spurt, and would now peter out. Which removed the threat of another god trying to steal him out from under her.
A fear that would reach the apex, extremely soon. There was a special group arriving in the city today, their usual time frame is about 3 years, but since they were early last time, they had to make up for lost time, and ended up spending 4 years on the outside.
Idunn, finally back in the city, ran through the streets like it was the back of her hand, all the way to the Hathor familia residence. She barged in, looked around, and her eyes met the eyes of the one she'd been looking for. "You're so big now. My son!"
"MOMMY!" Shurry's mental development had a small relapse, and turned hyper childish, jumping into Idunn's arms.
The two of them nuzzled each other so much, making up for lost nuzzle time. Hathor acted upset. "Hey, he's my son!"
"Oh, don't get so upset, I haven't seen him in four years, let me have this!"
"You really were struggling without him, weren't you?" Hathor giggled, calming down to show it was just an act. "Have I got a ton of stories to tell you, my dear friend."
"As long as it's about my son, I'll listen for years!" Idunn cheerfully responded.
The two sat down, for a reunion over wine. And it was also about the same time that Ardee managed to sneak her way over too.
"Hey! Shurry, who's this?"
"Oh my, is this his little girlfriend, Ardee?"
"Huh? What, g- gi- gir- girlfriend…" Ardee went flushed red, and went through all of the signs that basically gave away her feelings.
"Oh yeah, that settles it, clear as day. Listen up son, you'd better treat her right… I'm sure you will."
Shurry, still a bit confused about that concept, just smiled, and answered. "I always treat my friends right."
…