Nate was helping his mother in the kitchen while they waited for the Chrightons and Travers to arrive. After finishing up at the bank, they had gone to the licensing bureau and received their official licenses. He had a screen pulled up on his wrist computer and was watching Aura fight in the dungeon while whisking up some pancakes.

Outside, everyone else was unloading the SUV and giving it a quick wash.

The tall brick duplex they lived in had a garage, but they never parked the car in it. It had a different function instead. One that they showed everyone that day. It served as the family’s glorified mud room of sorts.

They didn’t want to bring all the filthy blood, gore, and mud-stained clothes and equipment into the house. So, instead, they had simply moved the washer, dryer, and large industrial-size sink out into there instead. It let them rinse off the worst of it and then throw it all in the wash as soon as they got home.

There was also an area where they could store their weapons and the rest of their gear. Though some of that also went inside the house as well. You never wanted to have all your gear in one place just in case something happened.

Niall was inspecting their weapons at the moment, while the packs lay forgotten at his feet.

“I’ve never seen a group go through their metal weapons so quickly before,” Lindsay’s guard, Peter, rumbled as he peered over his shoulder.

“I know, none of their weapons made it through intact. Lindsay’s halberd is mostly fine, but the shaft has a crack running down its entire length. It would have broken on her mid-swing after another couple of hits. Angelica’s blade is bent and warped, and it has so many knicks that the core has been damaged.

“Then there are Nate’s kukris. We bought those used from someone who had returned from their own expedition. They had a couple of scratches, but nothing majorly wrong with them.” He snorted and held them up. “Now look at them. Neither has a tip anymore; the edges have countless knicks and the metal itself has actually cracked.” He shook his head. “I’m not sure if this expedition was exactly what they needed, or a world-class screwup on Nina’s and my part.”

The guard was silent for a second as he looked down at the weapons. “It’s not my place to say, but unofficially, I think it was exactly what they needed. I have seen too many rich kids like those two who never understand the dangers of dimensional zones until it is too late. I’m not saying you didn’t mess up, but it might have been for the better this time.”

***

“Have you thought about what weapon you want to use as your secondary?” Nina asked Nate as he flipped over the last of the pancakes. His mother despised the tasteless disc shaped flapjacks, but they were easy to make, and she would bury hers in jam to make up for their deficiency.

Since they had been up all night and then left without eating anything, they were combining breakfast and lunch meals now.

“I was thinking the crossbow might be a good fit,” He told her as he scooped out the bacon from another pan.

His mother was slicing lettuce and tomatoes for sandwiches while bread was toasted in the oven. The apple juice would complete the meal. It was by no means balanced, but it was all tasty and who didn’t like pancakes, BLTs, and apple juice?

“You don’t want to use a regular bow like your old ma’? Have I been tossed aside already?”

Nate rolled his eyes at her theatrics and tossed a piece of bacon at her. “Yes, that’s exactly what I am doing. I’m abandoning our oh-so illustrious line of bow-wielding geniuses for the despicable art of the crossbow.” He chuckled. “Nah, I just figured if I was going to be more of a rogue, sneaky type of person while out there, it might fit me better. Plus… I might have already had a lead on one even before we left.”

Her eyes narrowed, as he practically willed her not to ask more questions on that particular announcement.

Thankfully, before she could say anything, Angelica and Lindsay entered the house from the garage.

She humphed softly and turned to the girls. “I’ve already called both of your parents. Unfortunately, since we arrived far earlier than we originally intended, they won’t be here for two hours yet. That gives us plenty of time to eat, and review each of your performances and concerns.”

Even if they arrived in two hours, it was still earlier than the original timeline. Both of their parents were probably working to speed through whatever meetings they had in place for the day. That was fine though, both girls knew how busy their parents could be at times.

A few moments later, the rest of the group came in behind them, with Niall closing the door to the garage at the end.

“Everything has been rinsed off. The armor plates have been removed from the equipment, and the first load of laundry has been started. As long as we switch it to the dryer right away, everything should be ready for them to take back with them after the meeting.” He told his wife as he helped transport the food to the table.

“Good, we have around two hours before their parents arrive, so let’s eat and start reviewing everything.”

Nate saw Aura run along the bridge and dive into the portal as she headed to the first floor of the dungeon. Trying to be discreet, he moved the camera to the entrance of the dungeon. Standing perfectly still in the small corridor between the entrance and the first room were seven shadow beasts.

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Aura’s revenge fight had come. He just hoped she was ready for it.

Closing the screen entirely, he began making his sandwich. He couldn’t risk getting distracted by the fight, not with everyone else here. That would only lead to more questions that he didn’t want to answer. Questions that his parents already had. Telling them about the dungeon was simply impossible. It was too big of a secret. At the same time, he understood that he needed to tell them something.

He just didn’t know what, and that was the problem. Lying to them would only lead to more issues down the line, and yet he couldn’t tell them the truth either… Was there a happy medium? Some line in the middle that he could straddle. Tell them the truth, but not all of it, with a small lie?

It was something he needed to think about, and fast because he didn’t think they were going to be patient for much longer.

Everyone drenched their pancakes in their syrup of choice, whether it was imitation maple, wild berry, blueberry, or simple butter. The BLTs were similarly made with a heavy hand in regard to the mayonnaise or ranch that the person preferred.

They had all burned a lot of calories during the expedition and were pretty hungry.

A few minutes later, the massive pile of pancakes and sandwiches was nothing more than a distant memory and crumbs on their plates.

Nate cleared the table with his dad while his mom pulled out the map and a few other items.

The initial part of the review went quickly. It was mostly just a recap of where they had gone. Then they moved onto the herb collection part, which only took a few seconds as Nina marked the locations on their map.

The part that took the longest by far was the review of their battles. They talked about each one in depth, covering the moves everyone had made and what they could have done better. It wasn’t just focused on the three newbies either, but all of them.

When it did come to the three newest cultivators though, they delved into why they had made certain choices. They wanted the kids to think about the fights and not just react. Instincts were good, but they couldn’t always be trusted. So, they questioned them. Did they do a certain action because it had been the best option at the time, or because they had panicked and simply reacted? They needed to know which moves were instinct, and which ones were a result of training.

There was a difference, and they needed to know the difference.

Reviewing everything in this manner was one of the truly important learning opportunities for people who had just started going out on expeditions. Without these sessions, the expeditions were nothing more than glorified training sessions in a different location.

The review of the expedition lasted all the way up until the girls parents arrived at the same time.

At that point, everyone moved from the table to the living room, where there was more space. Niall stepped out for a moment and returned with Lindsay’s halberd in one hand and Angie’s sword in the other. He presented them to their parents and then took a seat next to his wife.

“What kind of expedition did you lead my daughter into?” James Travers demanded, his fingers tracing the knicks in the axe head of the halberd. “None of our other children have ever returned from their first expedition with their weapons in this sort of condition!”

“As much as it pains me to do it, I must agree with him.” Aden, Angie’s father said, inching away from the other family. His wife was inspecting the ruined sword blade with a critical eye.

Nina quickly recounted the entire expedition. She left nothing out, as the size of the first wave had been a miscalculation on their part. While the second wave had been because they had chosen not to buy the proper equipment. She was not trying to avoid responsibility. That was impossible and pointless to even try doing. While on the expedition, the kids were her and Niall’s responsibility, full stop.

Instead, she was just letting them know how odd and unusual the sequence of events had been. They weren’t blameless, but she honestly did think that for a first-time expedition all around, it hadn’t been too bad.

“What is your impression of them and the expedition as a whole?” Trissa asked the guards, addressing all four.

The two who worked for the Travers looked to them for permission before answering.

Clark, the man who used a heavy falchion and worked for the Chrighton’s was the first to answer. “I think they were good teachers, and the expedition started out well. The Holmes clearly have significant experience going out on expeditions. However, they have less experience being in charge and planning for everything, and that is where the cracks begin to show themselves. Overall, I believe they did a decent job for their first time. Most of your complaints are unfounded, as what they led the young ladies through is actually representative of an actual expedition.”

It was clearly not the response she had been expecting as she snorted and turned to the next guard. Each of them responded in a similar fashion. The Holmes had led the girls through an expedition that was real and not catered to the rich. They were inexperienced, but that came with time.

Niall and Nina were honestly expecting a far harsher review and were happy to realize they had impressed the guards.

The last item of business was to discuss what secondary weapons the girls were leaning toward. It would be their parents’ responsibility to buy their new primary weapon, as well as a secondary weapon, during the school week. They would need to be ready for when they went on their expedition the next weekend. That time it would be with the companies that they were originally intended to go with and not the Holmes again.

Nate would miss them when the time came, but they would be spending all week together at school. Spending the weekend apart wouldn’t hurt, it just wouldn’t be as much fun.

“What are you going to go for as your secondary?” Lindsay asked Nate.

“Crossbow, I thought it would work nicely with the whole rogue slash scout thing I had going on earlier. Plus, the kukris are very close range, so something on the opposite end of the spectrum makes sense.” He leaned toward her and Angie. “What about you? Neither of you has mentioned what you were thinking of using as your secondaries.”

“I was thinking about using throwing darts or flechettes,” Lindsay told them confidently. “I like the leather bandolier your father uses with his knives. I would be able to leverage the strength I use with the halberd to make them really pack a punch.”

It was an interesting choice, but it fit her and could definitely work.

They both turned to Angie.

“I haven’t decided yet.” She said after a moment. “I was originally thinking about using a bow, but I don’t think that would work the best with my speed. The enhancement I have is more physical, at least for the moment. I don’t think it would extend to the arrow. I’ll need to do some research this week and find out what fits.”

The meeting finished up shortly after that. Nina retrieved the herbs they had been commissioned to get and passed them over to the Chrightons. Then everything was over and done with.

“I’ll see you at school in the morning,” Nate said as Angie and Lindsay walked out the door. He didn’t have a lot of hope that their parents would let them keep picking him up after this event. Regardless of what the guards had said, neither of their parents had seemed happy about how things had turned out.

“We’ll still be here in the morning,” Angie replied with a shake of her head.

Lindsay rolled her eyes and bumped his shoulder. “We’ll see you then. Get some rest.”