Finral was sitting on the roof of the hideout, thinking hard about the mixer he had planned for tonight.

'What now? What should I do?' he said. 'The mixture is tonight. How should I arrange this? I have three ladies lined up already… hm, a line of ladies. No focus, Finral! You have to decide which squadmates to bring with you? Dak is a firecracker, so he's a must, but I need one more.'

He then opened a spatial portal and began to evaluate all the members of the Black Dragons. First on the list was Magnus, who is busy training out in the forest.

"Fire Magic: Exploding Fireball!" he yelled as he tossed his fireball into the air.

The fireball flew around and started to make a U-turn towards Magnus, who had created a baseball bat made of fire. He then hit the fireball with all his strength and sent it flying off into the distance.

"Homerun, baby!"

Finral was observing him from behind some trees. 'Maybe some girls do like the whole bad boy thing.' He then imagined the meeting but then decided against it. 'But Magnus as quite an acquired taste.'

He then heard the sound of a chisel and when to find the source of the noise. He discovered that Gaspar was carving a wooden sculpture of his sister in the trunk of a tree.

"Almost there, soon I have a life-size statue of my Marie in all her glory," he said, and his nose began to bleed. "Oh, Marie. I can feel you here beside me, my beloved little sister."

'No, I can just see it now,' said Finral.

He then could hear the muttering of Gordon, who was standing right behind him.

"I heard that you are having a mixer," said Gordon. "You want me to come with you? No, really. You don't need to hold back. It's not as if I don't like girls."

Finral just opened his grimoire. "Nobody knows what Gordon is thinking ever. So, no."

He then opened a spatial portal and walked through it, leaving behind a devastated Gordon.

Grey was in the training room lifting some weights, but Finral knew right away that he would be ill-suited for the mixer.

"Charmy might brighten things up a bit if I brought her, like a little mascot," said Finral. "Although…" There was a very strong possibility that she would just order everything on the menu. "That would be a disaster. Okay, no Charmy then. So what about Vanessa? Assuming she sober…"

He then entered the main room and found completely plastered on the couch.

"That's a no-go."

Hiccup was in the back health, relaxing with Toothless resting by his side.

"Ah, this is relaxing," he said.

Finral spied on him from his spatial portal. "I would ask Captain Hiccup, but of course, he's married. Also, I hear that his wife has quite the short temper; I can only imagine how things will turn out that she barged in."

He then re-entered his porthole without Hiccup noticing.

"That only leaves me with one option," he said.

He found Luck training outside and was currently smashing his lightning covered fists into the trunk of a tree.

"A mixer?" said Luck. "Okay."

"Excellent, I'm glad you're on board," said Finral. 'Yeah, Luck at least looks sane; he should be fine.'

Luck then looked at Finral curiously. "Hey, what is a mixer?"

"This is going to be great," said Finral, who suddenly began to have doubts.

He then soon met up with both Dak and Luck inside the hideout.

"All right, we're all set," said Finral.

"So wearing robes is okay?" Dak asked.

"We want to make it crystal clear that we're Magic Knights," said Finral. "The people look up to us; I see no reason not to use that to our advantage."

"Sure, I've got it," said Dak.

"So what mixers like anyway?" Luck asked, swinging his fists. "Do you think we'll get to fight?"

"I don't know, I've never been to one before," said Dak.

"Yeah, just great," said Finral, who began to have a dreaded feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Okay, let's go." He then opened a portal. "Well, you coming?"

"Yes, sir," said Dak and he and Luck dived into the portal.

However, a few moments after Finral entered the portal, Adelaide jumped right in.

"Can I go, too?" Gordon asked. "I promise I won't get in the way."

However, the portal closed before he could enter.

Finral's portal had taken them to the village of Nean, which was located in the Common Realm.

"Out we go," said Dak as they exited the portal.

Adelaide jumped out a few seconds later before it closed and quickly hid. 'Good made it.'

She then began to discreetly follow them as they made their way down the street. The only one who appeared to know our presence was Nero.

'What was I thinking?' said Adelaide. 'Skulking after them to some silly mixer. I got all worry because that idiot wants to indulge himself in some little lowbrow socialising.' She then became all flustered when she realised she was thinking about Dak. 'No, I am not thinking about him! He's a useless muscle head; I couldn't care less what he would want to do in his free time! Who am I making excuses to anyway?'

The sun had set, and Finral was still leading the merry band towards the mixer.

"Right, let's see," he said, looking around. "Where… ah, there you go!"

Dak and Luck looked around and saw that he was looking at a pub called the Heavy Hinker.

Once inside, Finral escorted the two of them to a table with three young ladies were sitting in dresses.

"Well, looks like everyone's got drinks now," said Finral. "I say introduction are in order. I'll start then, shall I?" He then opened a spatial portal and pulled out a bouquet of flowers. "I'm Finral Roulacase, 21-year-old Spatial Magic-user from Rockhold and a Black Dragon squad member. Hi there."

Two of the girls looked at him in awe, but the third, a woman with long scarlet red hair, didn't look too impressed.

"Have a freshly picked moon blossom as a symbol of our acquaintance," said Finral handing each one of them a bouquet of flowers.

"Oh, wow," said the short blonde-haired woman. "How nice."

"These are hard to get, the only bloom at night on Mount Crow," said the girl with medium length black hair and sniffed them. "They smell so good."

"Thank you," said the girl with scarlet hair dryly.

'All right, I've got them interested,' said Finral. 'I'll land a girlfriend this time for sure; I just need Dak and Luck to pull their weight.'

He then turned towards Dak and Luck. "Now, who would like to introduce themselves?"

"I guess I'll go," said Luck. 'This shouldn't be too hard, right? Okay.'

Luck then rose to his feet. "I'm Luck Voltia, and I'm 18 years old. I'm from Ibon, and I'm a member of the Black Dragons too. My favourite thing to do is life or death battles against super-strong opponents. The bloodier, the better and my motto is do or die."

He then fired a jolt of lightning which struck the roasted boar on the table. The ladies just sat there indifferently, clearly not sure what to make of him.

'It's my turn,' said Dak taking a deep breath. 'A real man would probably talk about his streams of stuff, huh? All right.'

He then rose to his feet and pulled up his sleeve showing his muscular arm. "Hi, I'm Dak. I'm 15 from Huttsgalor, and I'm a Black Dragon. And my dream is to become the Wizard King."

The girls just sat there smiling politely, though the scarlet head girl looked like she couldn't be bothered.

'Uh, the Wizard King?'

'No way, he's just a kid.'

'I don't know about these two…'

'They look like trouble,' the two girls thought.

'It's great that there Magic Knights and all, but did they have to be Black Dragons? Lowest of the low?'

'Isn't Huttsgalor a peasant village in the middle of nowhere?'

'If he isn't tall, wealthy and from a higher social stature than I am, then what's the point?'

'Just forget it.'

Finral could tell instantly by looking at them that things were not going well. 'Uh-oh, I'm not getting an interesting vibe.'

He then quickly snapped his fingers. "Okay, that does it for us. Now let's hear all about you; we're dying to learn more, ladies. You ready, let's go."

"Hello, I don't know what to say really," said the black-haired girl. "We're all friends, I'm Erica, and I work for a dressmaker."

"I'm Helene, and I work in a barbershop," said the blond-haired girl.

"I'm Rebecca; I work at a restaurant," said the scarlet head girl.

'Nope, not interested at all,' Finral sighed, but he tried to remain positive. "Wow, you all work. That's great. I would like to hear a little bit more about what you do." He then looked at Erica. "Maybe you can make me an outfit? What you think would look good on the?" He then turned towards Helene. "Would you give me a haircut? I think it's time for me to try out a new look." He then turned towards Rebecca. "Can I drop in for a bite?"

The girl just looked at him blankly.

'Well, that didn't work,' said Finral. 'What's a topic that might reel them in?'

Finral thought for a moment and got an idea. "So want to hear about what we do as Magic Knights?"

"Yes, that would be wonderful," said Helene looking excited.

"Please, tell us everything," said Erica.

'Bingo,' Finral smiled. "I'm happy to oblige; I get to see a lot of different places as a Spatial Magic-user. I can tell you about some of my recent travels."

"Please do," said Erica.

Finral then remembered that he hadn't actually gone on any missions recently; all he had done was transport the others to their missions. 'Lately, the only thing I've done is transporting everyone else to their missions.'

He then quickly turned towards Luck. "Luck, you been working hard. Tell us about it."

"Who me?" Luck blinked.

"Well, go on now, don't be shy," Finral encouraged. "The ladies did say they want to hear everything."

"My work, huh?" Luck blinked. "Let me think… I was fighting these bad guys, you know… bandits."

Helene and Erica nodded, looking excited.

"And oh boy, talk about a bloodbath. I could have just killed them if I wanted, but I decide to let them go with a few bones still left intact."

The ladies just gave him dull works; this wasn't exactly what they wanted to hear while eating.

'You're not helping Luck,' Finral groaned.

"Then another time I was fighting this really strong mage when…"

Finral quickly covered his mouth. "Yeah, thanks, Luck. Now, aren't you getting hungry?" He then quickly looked towards Dak. "Well, I would like to hear from Dak. He helped protect the Royal Capital, didn't you, Dak?"

"That's right," Dak nodded.

Helene's eyes lit up. "Wait, are you talking about the attack the other day?"

"That sounded so scary," said Erica.

"Out Dak wasn't scared though, he even got a promotion," said Finral.

"Wow," said the two girls.

'All right, got them,' said Finral feeling relieved. 'Now we just have to keep the conversation on track.'

"That's amazing," said Helene.

"The people we were fighting were really tough," said Dak. "There was this guy with an army of corpses terrorising the people."

Upon hearing the word corpses, the girls just gave him dry looks.

"Ow, I wish I could have been there," said Luck.

Finral was practically crying. 'They're useless! What was I thinking bringing these two? None of my squadmates on mixer material.'

Nero noticed that Adelaide was watching them disguised as a waitress.

'Maybe I didn't need to keep an eye on things after all,' said Adelaide. 'The mixture doesn't look like it's going well.' She then quickly became flustered. "Not that I care. Dak's social life has nothing to do with me."

"Excuse me, miss," said a patron. "Over here! Another round, please."

Adelaide just narrowed her eyes. "Go get yourself; I'm busy."

"So you heard about that business in the capital the other day, right?" said a familiar voice.

Adelaide looked around and saw that Axel was sitting close by with two friends in a mix of their own.

"Well, I was there guarding the VIPs, so I got in on the action too," Axel lied. "Took care of their number of attackers myself, as a matter of fact. I didn't expect to get a promotion just for doing my duty, truly. But what is a boy to do, though? I know I didn't deserve the honour, but they insisted so well… Oh dear, I may be a tad drunk on myself."

The three ladies they were entertaining didn't look entirely impressed; no doubt they could tell that he was lying through his teeth.

"And what were you doing during the attack?" Axel asked, looking at his choppy companion on his right. "Reading that dirty book of yours?"

"What? Shut up, you don't know what you're talking about, Axel."

"Hey, something wrong?" said the skinny companion on his left, looking at the ladies. "Does being around us make you nervous?"

"You've got nothing to worry about, ladies," Axel assured them as he squeezed a piece of lemon on the chicken. "We won't bite, I swear."

'He just squeezed that lemon right on the chicken.'

'Just listening to this guy makes me sick.'

'Things look even worse for that table,' said Adelaide and recognised Axel. 'Wait? How many I met that guy before, I think… that's right Axel.'

"I knew my Bronze Magic was good, but I never suspected it was that good," said Axel. "Honestly, sometimes I scare myself. Hey, you there, get me another drink at once!"

Unfortunately, he was pointing directly at Adelaide, who then poured out her wand and blasted him with a shot of water, knocking him and his companions on the floor. The three girls turned towards her and gave her the thumbs up. Clearly, they were grateful that she had managed to shut Axel up.

Over at Dak's table, things were starting to improve.

"Wow, that's the kind of magic you used to cut hair, cool," said Luck.

Helene and used her magic to create a pair of scissors. "Yeah, this is it. Here see…" She then used her creation to cut off a piece of her hair.

"Wow, it doesn't take much magic power that your control has to be stellar," said Luck looking impressed. "Show me more."

Helene blushed slightly. "Well, if you want me to."

'His eyes are so genuine; how can someone that bloodthirsty be so cute,' she said to herself. 'Why does it make my stomach all tingly? Oh no, do I have a secret love for dangerous men?'

She then looked back at Luck. "Hey, Luck, do you think I can see your magic too?"

"Yeah, sure," said Luck. "It's kinda tight in here. Let's go out front, okay."

"Great," said Helene.

With that, the two of them got out of their seat and began making their way towards the door.

'Nice,' said Finral smiling towards them. 'Well done, Luck.'

He then turned his attention back towards Erica. "Anyway, the sunrises so beautiful there you wouldn't believe it."

"Wow," said Erica.

"I'll use my Spatial Magic to take us there some time; how does that sound?"

"It sounds good, actually."

"Oh, your mug is empty," Finral noted. "Excuse me, another round, please!"

Erica began to blush. 'A little too flashy and not really my type, but he is the best of the three. He looks like a noble, and Spatial Magic does come in handy, plus he is attentive.'

"Well, shall we go to the Veranda?" Finral asked, offering his hand.

"Sure, that would be nice," she said.

Then both she and Finral left their table.

'For a while, their things weren't looking good, but now I think this might just be my lucky night,' said Finral feeling a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

This just left Dak and Rebecca completely alone, and Dak didn't know what to do.

'So awkward,' he said. 'Why is she staring off to the side like that? Is she mad? Is there something on my face? I can't take it any more, I don't really know how, but I've got to make this better.'

He then looked at Rebecca. "Sure… hmm, do you have a favourite food or anything?"

Rebecca just sighed. "You don't have to try so hard to make conversation; it's okay," she said and began removing her hairpin. "Getting all dressed up and coming out was Erica's idea. She thinks that I need a man for my siblings' sake, but I don't even want to be here. I've spent the whole time worrying about my brothers and sisters back home."

"Wow, how many siblings do you have?" Dak asked.

"Three little brothers and two sisters," she said.

"Sounds like a big family; I've got a twin sister myself," said Dak.

"You have a twin sister?" said Rebecca looking up.

"Yeah, and when we were little, she was a bit of a crybaby," said Dak thinking back. "I always had to step in in order to protect her, but of course, now she's grown out of it. I still remember me and my sister sharing a room; we felt like a pack of sardines. When I joined the Magic Knights, I got a room all to myself, which was nice, but it's kind of lonely not having my sister by my side."

"Oh yeah, I know what you mean," said Rebecca smiling. "My siblings can be annoying, but I miss them when they're not around."

"My sister tries to keep me in line sometimes, so I think I know how your siblings feel," Dak laughed.

Rebecca laughed. "I bet you do."

Adelaide just stared at the two of them. "Wait, she's actually laughing now? How could this be happening?"

She then accidentally broke the plate she was holding.

"Hey, what kind of serving girl are you," said the tavern owner. "I gave you a chance because you are begging for a job, and then you start sending customers flying and breaking my plates?"

"That's enough out of you," said Adelaide narrowing her eyes.

"I'm surprised your big sister," said Dak. "You seem like the type."

"And you look like the overprotective brother that jumps in without thinking," said Rebecca.

"That is me in a nutshell," Dak admitted.

It was then that a drunk began wandering over towards them.

"Well, well, having some fun over here our way?" he said as he attempts to stay upright. "Mr Fancy Magic Knight… whoa, you're a runty thing, and you're in the Magic Knights, really? It must not be too hard to get in; maybe I'll give it a try. I mean, they let you join."

"Sometimes I don't even believe it myself," said Dak.

The drunk then looked at Rebecca. "Hey, now. You got a lot of nerve going after a pretty lady like her. What does she want with you anyway? Got a thing for Magic Knights?"

Rebecca just glared at him.

"Y-you look familiar; I've seen you somewhere. Aw, working in that restaurant with kids strapped to your back. You're always sweating your tail off surrounded by a bunch of brats. Those are your kids hanging around, huh? Did your man leave you behind high and dry?"

"No, I am not their mother," Rebecca glared.

"No wonder you're trying to land a Magic Knight; that sure would make your life easier," he said and then grabbed her shoulder. "Well, you're pretty enough. You want to man that bad. Let me help you, sweet cheeks."

"Hey, get off! Let me go!"

Dak then rose out of this season grabbed his arm. "I don't know what you think you're doing, old man, but you had better let her go. You don't know the first thing about that woman."

"Ohh, so scary," said the drunk, not looking intimidated in the slightest. "I'm quaking in my boots, Mr Magic Knight. What kind of spell are you going to throw at me?"

"Actually, I can't use magic," said Dak.

"What? You're a Magic Knight that can't do magic? Is that some kind of joke?"

He then began laughing.

"Nope, but check this out," said Dak twisting his arm.

Then before the drunk realised what was happening, Dak swung him over his shoulder, and he crashed into the ceiling. He then fell down on top of Axel and his companions, crushing them beneath his weight.

The three girls they were entertaining then rose to their feet.

"Let's forget it and get out of here."

"What a waste of time."

"Want to go somewhere else?"

The tavern owner just looked at Dak, horrified. "What do you do to my table?"

"We got a go, quick," said Rebecca grabbing Dak's hand and dragged him away.

"Wait, come back!" the owner yelled.

"I just remembered there's somewhere I need to be," said Adelaide removing her apron and then chased after them before the tavern owner could say anything.

Adelaide followed them towards an alley where the two of them were catching their breath.

"You were really great back there," said Rebecca. "Thank you so much."

"No problem, sorry I kinda ruined the mixer for you," said Dak rubbing the back of his head.

"You didn't, though," she said and looked at him closely. 'He's on the short side, but is there something about this kid.'

She then noticed that Dak was looking at her strangely, and she immediately blushed.

"Hey, Dak, do you have anyone who's special to you?" Rebecca asked.

"That depends what you mean by special," said Dak feeling a little awkward. "I mean, there's my squad, my sister and everyone at Huttsgalor. But if you mean anyone with romantic interests, no, I don't. However, I don't want to rush into things just to make sure we were right for each other."

Adelaide felt a little flustered.

Rebecca just smiled and nodded. "I see; that's a very grown-up approach. I just hope that I'm that someone special."

"And if not, I hope that we can still be friends," said Dak.

"That's fine," said Rebecca. "Hey, you could come round sometime in the kids. I think they would like you."

"Sounds great."

"So he has no one special," said Adelaide and quickly became rather flustered. 'Wait, that means he's still single. Wait, why do I care? I mean, I don't care who he ends up with. Not one tiny little bit.'