Two pucks came shooting out of the machine. The air time on these ones felt so long. One puck was destroyed, the other fell to the ground.

  “Oh,” Leifren was shocked. “Seems I missed.”

  The rest of the squads cheered as Tvira won the shootout. Their praise humbled her, and gave her some well needed relief. She finally felt relaxed. Avryn smiled at her, knowing that. The nearby doors opened up and out came Auskar.

  “Father,” Jenilah bowed.

  The squads followed suit and bowed after her.

  “Ah, I knew I heard the sound of competition here, and it seems we have a winner here, miss…?” he extended his hand out to her.

  “Tvira. Tvira Wildermann,”

  He gave her a firm handshake.

  “Will you and your friends stay for dinner?” he turned to Leifren.

  “Yes, father,”

  He invited them to a restaurant nearby. It was a good family-owned restaurant. Calming music and nice chatter accompanied by beautiful guitar music. Chefs were busy in the kitchen. It had a glass display featuring a pig being roasted to serve. There were also other meats being cooked a few ways behind it.

  “Good evening, Mr. Rosenfaust. Your table is ready,” the maitre d’ bowed.

  “Excellent,” he marched on proudly. “Come.”

  They were given the middle table for the night. It was large and spacious, with its seats arranged around. A fine, smooth, white tablecloth was on the table. A big, rotating glass was in the middle so the dishes would be served to everyone. A vase sat right in the middle of the glass, boasting an arrangement of different flowers in it. Auskar sat at the head of the table and beckoned the others to take their seats.

  “Order whatever you’d like. I suggest the fish fillet, myself,” he chuckled.

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  The waiter arrived and took in their orders. Auskar asked his children,

  “So how are the expeditions in the Lost Lands faring?”

  Leifren was first,

  “It’s everything as your stories say, father.”

  “It was challenging, but our teamwork has led us out of many situations,” Jenilah chimed in.

  “Oh, and of course, thank you for helping my children,” he eyed the rest.

  The rest nodded and bowed. Appetizers were brought in. It was a mix of some vegetable soups, salads, and deep fried dumplings. They were all delectable as they were finished by the group almost as quickly as it was brought out.

  “So, I hear you fancy yourself a gunsmith, Avryn?” Auskar asked.

  “I spent a lot of my time tinkering with them,” he answered.

  Auskar prepared a story for this occasion for them to hear. Back when Leifren was a little boy, he used to sneak into Auskar’s personal armory and fiddle with the guns. Auskar was happy to give him a model gun kit to tinker with. It was in a Rosenfaust’s blood to be good with their firearms. Building their own guns was also a massive trial for them. The story seemed to interest the Wildermann siblings the most, who went through similar things.

  The night went by fast with more stories shared and knowledged gain from the Great Hunter, himself. They returned to the Rosenfaust household and slept in their guest rooms. Then they were treated to a nice breakfast by the staff.

  “Man it feels so good to have a breakfast like this after months of eating gruel,” Harver complemented. “My complements to the chef,”

  “Thank you, Master Harver, I shall tell them that,” one of the maids bowed.

  Auskar finished up his plate. He told his children that their guests may stay over if they’d like. Jenilah already thought up of an idea to entertain them during their stay. Auskar went out to go on his business.

  “So what does your father do since he’s retired?” Avryn asked.

  “He’s an adviser and on the board of directors for Vistella Corp,” Leifren answered.

  Avryn leaned back, and thought to himself.

  “We still haven’t all the context to what happened in Middsborough, and I wouldn’t want to get your father involved,” he rationalized.

  “Of course,” Jenilah said. “How about something fun instead?”

  She led them towards the living room. Sweet, scented candles were lit. Antique, decorative furniture were expertly arranged in the room. A huge device sat on one side. Jenilah introduced them to the Grand Scribe. It functioned just like a regular Scribe and more. It had peripherals attached to it as well. She turned it on and waited.

  The machine hummed as it turned on. Icons popped up as it waited for input. Leifren explained on how The Net works to the squads. They were intrigued on seeing its use in action.

  Jenilah opened up a browser and entered into a video platform site,

  “This is where we watch videos,” she explained. “We learned a lot of things on our off time.”

  She revealed that the Ordellian Military Academy was one of the established channels on the site, as well as the Baradovian Military Academy. There were also other educational channels one could look. She clicked on one of the videos and then it played out in its entirety.

  “Wow, the marvels of technology,” Kiria commented.

  “Is there anything less…uh…boring there?” Harver asked.

  Jenilah searched up on some sparring videos, and there were many. Harver and Avryn were certainly satisfied seeing those.

  “I remember we still have those movies from when we bought them, maybe we could watch that,” Leifren suggested.

  All nodded, and so it was done. Jenilah also went out of her way to order some snacks through the Grand Scribe. The thought of having food delivered to you through the click of a button was a deal none could refuse. They would have pizza that day.

  They watched an action adventure movie titled Action Armas, the story of a superhero extrodinaire who saved the commonfolk against evildoers across The Chain. His never say die attitude and charisma made him a popular figure among children. He also preached exercising and proper dieting.

  The day was overall relaxing, and much needed for both squads for they would surely face tougher battles ahead, and not just against the Corpses.