Chapter 4: Fine Dining
3 days later...
"Alright. Tonight we're going to the Lumiere." Evan spoke to himself as he suited up in his signature attire and after that, he made his way down as his family is in the middle of their dinner. "Going somewhere Evan?"
"Yeah dad. Meeting some friends." He replied. "Oh yeah, that. Don't drink too much and swear. Especially in front of that elven queen you're smitten with." Gustav replied as Utah laughed. Anna just smiled and shook her head over their laughing and, "Take care Evan and have fun!"
"Thanks mom. See you tomorrow." Evan then left the house as Mir is outside waiting for him. "It'll be a long flight to the Nihal Desert master."
"I know. That's why I'm using this." Evan took out a teleportation scroll as he got onto Mir and once ready, he used the scroll and they teleported out of sight.
Nihal Desert. At the Pyramid Dunes...
Evan and Mir arrived as they landed on the sand. "I guess we're early and first." said Mir.
"Are you certain?" They looked to behind to see Aran and Shade leaning by a palm tree. Then, a bright light appeared and, "Just in time to see some of you guys."
"Luminous!" Evan greeted when something flew in and, "Mercedes!" He exclaimed as all gathered as the elven queen disembarked from her winged unicorn Sylvidia. After that, it flew off as, "Don't worry, when I summon her, she comes to me in an instant."
"Yes I did see it before when you arrived outside the ruins." Evan recalled as, "Alright, where's the petty thief? We're on time and he's not." Luminous brought up. "Oh are you sure about that nerd?"
"It came from the pyramid." Shade then pointed at Phantom who was standing on top of the pyramid as he vanished through his magic cards and reappeared before the heroes. "Ah, it's good to see you all again! Now, shall we?"
"Sure. Now where's your airship?" Mercedes asked. "My dear elven queen. It's right above us." Phantom replied. "Wait, we don't see it." Evan exclaimed. "Unless-"
"Exactly." Phantom then made contact via his earpiece meant for communications. "Renault, deactivate the cloaking field."
"Right away Master Thief." Renault replied and the next thing it happened, "The Lumiere!" Mercedes pointed at the airship that revealed itself. "Is it just me or is the airship twice it's size?" Mir noticed. "Let me guess Phantom, your airship had a new makeover?" Evan asked. "Absolutely! I spent a few months renovating it with additional creature comfots and more to come. Now, let's go!" Phantom then used his magic cards to telpeort himself and his friends onto his new airship.
On the Lumiere...
"Welcome to my humble home. Newly designed for better comfort and for more treasures to store." Phantom began as all looked around the upper deck. "It's bigger than before." said Aran. "And also..." Phantom went to a wall and pressed a button. The deck floor opened up revealing a pool in the centre of the deck and 2 hot tubs emerged behind the pool. Furthermore, a BBQ pit on the left, deck chairs and tables appeared from below. "Neat." Aran exclaimed as they went down to the centre deck and there, "The sliding doors in front of me leads to the inside. Also big enough for the Onyx dragon to go in." Phantom explained. "Yay! I get to go inside!" Mir cheered as he flew in first followed by the 6 heroes.
Inside...
"This, is where we dine." Phantom showed everyone his dining room. It can sit up to 6 people. "Now we go down and continue on with the tour." Phantom then took his friends around as they used an elevator to down. Mir stayed behind for he's too big to fit into the elevator. As for the heroes, Phantom showed them the pilothouse where his pilot, Renault flies his airship, the intelligence deck where his analysts, Colette and Christiane work, his waist deck, his forecastle, his bedroom, the servants' bedrooms, his 3 bathrooms for one is for him and other 2 are for his servants, the training deck where he hones his thieving and fighting skills, his kitchen and storage room where his 3 maids, Madeleine, Marianne and Marguerite work and they're in progress in prepping dinner, his living room, his lounge, his gym and last for not least, his hold where all the treasures and mesos are stored and managed by his servant, Christophe. "Now that's a lot of treasure." Shade commented when Madeleine showed up. "Master Thief. Dinner is ready."
"Excellent! And just in time we finished the tour. Lead the way my dear." Phantom told the maid as she nodded and had the 6 heroes follow her back to the dining room.
And so...
Everyone soon returned and already, Mir was waiting inside and is seen eating meat from a plate and he has a large jug of water to go with his meal. "First comes, first served!" He cheered as already, the dining table is set as there are utensils, bowls, disposable napkins and glasses all set. In the centre is a pot containing soup, a basket containing bread and buns, 2 medium sized bowls containing sauce and gravy respectively, bottles of orange juice and wine and 2 dishes covered in stainless steel covers that are not revealed yet as right now, Marguerite arrived through the elevator as she wheeled in a food trolley to the table. When she got there, her sisters went to help her as they took out plates with stainless steel covers on them and set them on the table.
Seeing this, all sat down as, "Now let's see what we have for dinner." Phantom took out the cover and on the plate is a flame-grilled salmon steak with lemon butter sauce, buttered diced carrots, peas and corn kernels and a scoop of mashed potatoes with gravy on it. "Now that's what I call fine dining!" He described as all took the lids out to see their dinner as the maids took the lids and placed them back on the trolley. Each of them then took out the 2 covers from the centre of the table and they revealed hand-breaded shrimp and fried dumplings.
"Bon appetit!" Phantom declared as the maids went to fill the bowls with soup which is cream of onion. Once everyone has a serving of the soup, "You may go ladies."
"Understood Master Thief." The maids replied in unison and they left leaving the heroes to have their time together. "So what is the purpose of this fine dining?" Mercedes asked as she ate some of the vegetables and poured herself a glass of wine which appears to be grape wine. "Let's just say...I could use some heroic bonding. You know, like a get together." Phantom replied as he ate a portion of his salmon steak. "The Black Mage is no more and all the fighting is over. Sometimes, I still missed the days when the 6 of us hang out."
"I can agree. It's been a while since we did so. Last time was at the Ereve Christmas Party." Shade brought up as he took the bowl of gravy and added some more of it on his mashed potatoes. "Yeah. We can do something like that. Once a month, we meet up and hang out together." Aran stated. "But how will we plan that? In other words, which of us will-"
"Yes I know what you mean Evan. We can do clockwise rotation based on where we are seated. I'm first and after me, Evan, Mercedes, Luminous, Aran, Shade and back to me." Phantom suggested as he poured some gravy on his mashed potatoes.
"Fair enough." Evan replied as he ate a piece of his salmon steak. "So, how are you guys?"
"Ha! Ha! Splendid! More treasures I have found and kept for myself. I did split some of it to upgrade my airship though." Phantom replied. "The bathhouse Shade and I ran was great! Many people and penguins come here to warm themselves." said Aran. "And Lilin helps us too. Sometimes while we have our break, sparring session." Shade added. "Never too old to train together I see." said Luminous as he drank some of his soup. "Very neat. Maybe I should drop by and ease myself." Phantom stated with a smile as he took some dumplings and ate them. "Yeah right. I bet you want to go hentai there." Luminous stated as all laughed and Phantom was embarrassed to the point he nearly choked on his dumpling.
"What about you Luminous?" Mercedes asked as she ate a piece of fried shrimp. "Well...for starters, I got a job." He began. "Cool. What kind of job?" Evan asked as he ate his mashed potatoes. "Let's just say that the magician instructor Grendel the Really Old came to me and offered a job to help him with his mentorship of training the explorers. I find it useful and accepted it."
"Good for you." Evan replied as, "And you Evan? Still helping your family manage the farm?" Mercedes asked as she passed the plate of fried shrimp to Aran as she took 3 pieces. "Yup. The usual. Luminous ran into me." Evan replied. "How nice. The nerd is running errands." Phantom teased. "Oh shut up petty thief." Luminous replied as he ate a piece of his salmon steak. "What about you Mercedes?" Aran asked as she drank some wine. "Well...I can only say Elluel's at peace and I just simply relax and take care of the elven children." Mercedes replied.
Then suddenly, "And also, she went out with my master!" Mir called out as silence filled the room. "Wait...you 2 are dating?!" Phantom asked as he tried to restrain himself from laughing as all stared at Evan and Mercedes as their faces turn red. "Uh...it's only some bonding. Yeah, that's it." said Evan.
"More like a moment of truth and confession." Mir called out as all gasped. "Wait...you 2 are a thing now?!" Luminous asked. "Uh..." Evan and Mercedes really can't explain this but, "Yes! They opened up! I was dozing off while my dragon ears hear their confessions! Love is in the air!" Mir called out as Mercedes covered her face. "I swear I'll shoot the dragon's tail and fill it with arrows!" She thought as, "WAHAHAHA! I knew it'll happen! Ah, the mistletoe stunt I pulled really did it's job!" said Phantom. "Aw...I always knew they're meant for each other." said Aran. "Just like you and I." said Shade as Aran laughed and shoved him gently. "Well that really brightened everyone's mood." Luminous as he ate a fried dumpling. As for Evan, "Okay...yes I did. I told Merc I loved her."
"Fine! I also told him I loved him! I mean, I can't help it." said Mercedes. "I even kissed him on the cheek."
All oohed when they heard that. "There's nothing to be ashamed of." Luminous spoke up as he smiled at the couple. "Whatever you have in your heart, you have poured it all out to each other. Yes it may seem awkward to you and Evan but through confidence, your relationship will build up becoming stronger in terms of love."
"Wow nerd. That was wise." said Phantom as he burped. "Man dinner was so good that I still have room for dessert! And speaking of which." Phantom then made contact by his earpiece. "Dessert time."
So after dinner, the 3 maids returned and cleared the table. After that, they served each hero a plate which has a slice of chocolate cake on it. "You brought the cheesecake? That dragon over there is fond of it." Phantom asked them.
"We did Master Thief." Marianne replied as she brought it out and presented it before Mir. "CHEESECAKE!" He roared loudly and excitedly as it was placed before him. Mir then ate it in one bite. "Yummy!"
All were stunned by this. "Your dragon definitely likes cheesecake." said Phantom as he started cutting his cake when, "Lovely!" Chocolate sauce oozed out of the cake as, "This is really nice." Shade exclaimed as he began eating the dessert. "Mmmm...rich and creamy..." Aran sampled it and had a happy face. Luminous ate is dessert calmly and enjoyed it in his mind. And finally, "Hey Evan. Open wide."
"Okay Merc." He did and she fed him a sample of her cake. "Ooooh..." The other heroes oohed a this and then, the oohed some more when Evan did the same thing to Mercedes. "Wow...they've become bolder and more confident with each other." Aran thought with a smile as she and Shade had a toast with their glasses of orange juice and they drank together. "And what Luminous said really helped them."
As the 6 heroes continued their dessert. "I thought of something." Evan spoke up. "To start off, Merc and I went out on a picnic, bonded and confessed. Until we're ambushed by golems."
"Golems? Aren't they only found in the Henesys Ruins?" Shade asked. "That's what we thought." said Mercedes. "So it appears that you encountered some unprovoked attack." said Luminous. "It's been ongoing for some time in which monsters from different regions will appear at another region attacking anything."
"Indeed. The elders told us about it. One example is in Kerning City." said Mercedes. "Ah yes. The Sand Dwarves and Dark Sand Dwarves." said Phantom. "Now that you guys mentioned it, something like this happened during one of the sparring sessions Aran and I were going through." Shade brought up. "Yeah! We got ambushed by an army of Eye of Times." Aran stated. They were using their physical and magical attacks simultaneously but we held them off and wasted them."
"In the end, we found dolls and they vanished." Shade ended the scenario as, "Every unprovoked attack has the same result. Dolls left on the ground and they vanished." Luminous revealed and then thought of something. "Evan. Why did you bring this up?"
"Well...when me and Merc were attacked, we fought back and we got aid from an unknown ally." Evan began. "He's an extraordinary explorer. He does front flips, back flips, used various jumping and acrobatic techniques, is armed with twin swords in reverse grip and he can connect them into a single weapon allowing him to hurl it out making it a lethal spinning cutter."
"Whoa. Extraordinary indeed. Bet's he's a mercenary worth a lot of money." said Phantom. "Idiot. Evan clearly said he's an explorer and I can assume he's a warrior right?" Luminous asked. "Yeah he is. He can also channel up his power transferring them to his weapons and he can launch energy waves and discs." Evan continued. "But here's the best part. He can summon monsters to fight for him."
"What? This is the first time I heard of some unique ability." said Aran. "What kind of monsters did he summon?" Shade asked. "If I remember, he summoned 6 Time Guardians. The ones from the Temple of Time." Mercedes recalled. "And how did he do that?" Luminous asked. "He used this." Evan took out the soul dice. "Found it on the grass after the battle. It seems he carelessly dropped one of them without notice."
All gathered around Evan as they looked at the dice. "It has the picture of some helm on all 6 sides." said Shade. "Let's give it a shot and use it!" Phantom suggested. "No. We don't know how powerful the soul dice is and there's a chance it may act hostile and aggressive." said Luminous. "Oh you worry too much nerd. After we eat our dessert, Evan and Mercedes, show us how the soul dice works since you lovebirds were there at the fight." Phantom suggested leaving Luminous to shake his head.
So after dessert...
"Okay...how does he do it?" Mercedes asked as all gathered around the soul dice Evan's holding. "I recall he threw them on the ground and chanted something. Can't remember..." He replied. "Just throw it master." Mir suggested. "I got a bad feeling about this..." Luminous thought as Evan got ready. Then, he threw the dice on the ground. "Nothing happened." Aran exclaimed. Then, "Look! It's unfolding itself!" Shade exclaimed. "Marvellous..." Phantom exclaimed along and soon enough, it appeared.
"It's a Qualm Guardian!" Aran exclaimed as he looked around. Then, "Who are you?!"
"Whoa! It talked?!" Phantom exclaimed. "Yeah. This is something that was unexpected from a monster like him and when this guy used his ability." said Evan as the Qualm Guardian looked at the heroes again. "I ask again, who are you?"
"I thought it knew us because Evan and I fought with him." Mercedes thought when, "I don't know how I got here because only my master can summon me! So I ask again, who are you! Identify yourself!"
"I told you it will act like that. Look at how pissed it really is!" said Luminous and then, "Fine! You all asked for it!" The Qualm Guardian summoned his spear and struck the floor with the spearhead. "Shade! Above you!" Aran called out as Shade looked up to see 2 energy spears in diagonal position. He jumped out of the way in time as they struck down. "Great. He ruined the floor!" Phantom exclaimed as he launched some enchanted cards at the guardian but to his surprise, he spun his spear deflecting all of it. "Impossible...unless he's no ordinary qualm guardian." Luminous exclaimed. "Indeed. This one's fighting capabilities are different from the ones we fought in the Temple of Time." said Mercedes as she fired her bowguns but the guardian moved aside and, "Gotcha!" Aran struck him with her polearm and he crashed onto the wall. "Not the wall! I had the paintjob last week!" Phantom complained. "Worry about your airship later you fool!" Luminous reminded him as he used Flash Shower as an orb of light is fired from his shining rod and it struck the guardian. "We must fight master!"
"No choice then." Evan and Mir used their fusion attacks but this time, he dodged it as Aran and Shade clashed with it together with weapons. Both sides clashed as the Qualm Guardian displayed his spear attacks. Shade flanked it and summoned a spirit to slash it from behind. "AH!"
"You're mine!" Aran then prepared to finish it when, "ENOUGH!"
All stopped and from the sliding door, I was standing in front of them all. "Master! You came!" The Qualm Guardian went to me as, "That's the guy you talked about Evan?"
"Yeah Phantom. That's him." He replied back as back to me and the Qualm Guardian, "I didn't expect you to make a mess in this airship." I spoke first. "My apologies master." He replied. "You should apologize to them. After all, that guy with the cane and magic cards and wears a stupid, funny hat owns this place."
"Hey! My hat's unique in terms of the design and is exquisite!" Phantom exclaimed as, "I apologize for my reckless behaviour." The Qualm Guardian apologized and after that, he glowed and diminished in size leaving his soul dice on the floor. I then recalled it to my hand and kept it. "Neat trick." Aran whispered to Mercedes as I looked at the 6 heroes. "You were foolish to use the soul dice. Because one, when you used it, the monster inside does not recognize you and will act hostile against anyone he does not know. Second, only I utilise them as my secondary weapon."
"But I recall the time guardians recognize me and Evan during the fight some time ago." Mercedes brought up. "Yes. I did summon them. And they knew you when you fought by our side. But due to another person who just now tried to use the soul dice, it does not know you."
"Well that makes things too complicated." said Phantom as I stepped outside and went to the front standing by the edge of the airship. There, I looked at the starry night as the 6 heroes approached me. "Dragon Master Evan. You wish to know who I am right?"
"Oh yeah. My master did ask you that question before." said Mir. I nodded in agreement as I faced the heroes for a moment.
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"My name is Xander."
All looked at me in wonder like as if they've never heard the name before. Come on, it's unique.
"And I, am also known as..."
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"The Summoner." After the intro, I leaned back and fell off the airship shocking everyone. "Well that was unexpected." said Phantom as all went to the front and looked down. "No sign of him." said Shade. "How is it possible for him fall off and vanish?" Aran asked.
Below the airship and in the sky at the same time...
It looks they never knew as I was being lifted by the arms by a Grey Vulture and a Gargoyle Knight as they flew me down. "A bold move you made master." said the Grey Vulture.
"Indeed. It is just as planned and you 2 were on the right timing."
"Thanks master! So where to?" The Gargoyle Knight asked. "Fly me down outside Magatia. There, I will rest."
"As you wish master." They replied in unison as they flew to the location.
Back on the Lumiere...
"So this guy is named Xander and he's known as the Summoner?" Phantom exclaimed as the heroes went back inside. "Well that explains his ability involving the soul dice." said Luminous as Phantom went to the table and grabbed a bottle of grape wine. He then poured out the drink into the glasses for himself and the heroes. After that, each of them took a glass.
"Tonight our get together was fun! A bit rusty from just now but I must say it really is like the old times!" Phantom announced as he raises his in the air. "Cheers my friends!"
"CHEERS!" All 6 heroes had a toast and they drank together. "Hey! Can I have some of the liquid too?" Mir asked.
"Nope." All replied.
"Bummer." Mir exclaimed.
To Be Continued...
