Beams of light shot into the sky outside the Avingtons' compound. Different modes of transportation were dropping off esteemed guests, and servants were taking the transportation to a specific location. Everyone was dressed to the nines. Levi observed and found it funny that valets transcended worlds. Apparently, so did skylights, which showed everyone that this was the place to be. He awkwardly adjusted his blazer. He was not a fan of large social events.

What was interesting were all the types of vehicles: carriages, wagons, land boats, animals-pulled vehicles, and some personal hovercrafts. Levi kept notes as it would be helpful for them to have some transportation, especially if the journey back to Arcross would take two months by foot. That was a long time walking. Piper tugged his arm, shaking him from his thoughts.

“Are you alright?” she whispered, her breath tickling his ear. He couldn’t help but smile.

“Yes,” Levi replied. “I was just looking at the vehicles, it might be good to get one.”

“Not a chance,” Piper said. “We have to get you to 4-star and that won’t happen by taking a vehicle instead of training.” Levi frowned, but Piper was right. He had to train, and the few days they had been in the city were the first days of rest that he had had since coming to the world. Levi missed working out for quite possibly the first time in his life. He chuckled to himself. Oh, how times have changed, he thought.

“Fair enough,” he responded. The team approached the gate, where they were met by a guard who wore what looked like light warrior armor—black leather armor with the house colors on their cloaks.

“Invitations?” the guard asked rudely.

“We do not have any former papers,” Anna said.

“Then turn around and leave, this is a private event,” the guard replied, shooing the team away.

“We were personally invited by Izzy Avington,” Anna said. “We are not leaving.”

The guard sighed and pulled out a shell, he spoke into it, “Lady Izzy, did you invite an avian and some other humans?” The guard’s voice was flat and unamused. He nodded his head as he listened. He frowned as the words continued to stream through. Levi looked at the others.

“Sheesh,” he mouthed. “He must be getting chewed out.”

“No kidding,” Anna mouthed.

“My apologies, sir… I didn’t know, I uh, yessir,” the guard stammered. He looked up at the group. “Here,” he handed them the shell.

“Hello?” Anna said.

“Ahh, you must be Silvey,” a male voice from the shell said. “I am Lord Tiberius Avington, I do apologize for my uninformed guard. I heard he was quite rude to our esteemed guest, which, of course, is unbecoming of someone employed by the Avingtons. As I was not there personally, I would like to extend an offer. You may decide the punishment of the guard as my way of apologizing.” The guard audibly gulped at the words from his boss. Levi looked at Anna, and she made a motion for him to calm down.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Tiberius. We humbly accept your invitation and apologies. If I may be so bold as to say your guard was doing what he was told and keeping the riff-raff out, and he did just that. I accept your offer and I wish that nothing happens to the uninformed guard, if that is alright with you, lord?”

There was a pause. Levi could feel the guard trembling with fear and nervousness. Finally, Tiberius spoke up, “Very noble of you, Lady Silvey. I do appreciate your willingness to extend your mercy. I look forward to meeting you inside. Jeffery, you may let them pass. Please be wise not to let it happen again.” The guard saluted, then returned the shell to his pocket.

“Th-thank you,” the guard stammered.

“Maybe next time you will not be so rude,” Anna said. She pushed past the guard as they made their way into the gala.

***

Tiberius Avington was talking with a professor from the Ranger guild about the previous battle of the guilds. In a shocking turn of events, the favored Ranger team lost to a lower-matched warrior team. The two were discussing what went wrong and how the ranger team would learn and ultimately be better as adventurers in the future. During the conversation a servant holding a shell approached. Tiberius knew what this shell was and knew that there must have been a problem at the gate.

“Lady Izzy, did you invite an avian and some other humans?” The guard’s voice was flat and unamused.

“This is not Lady Izabelle, Benjamin. Why are you trying to reach my daughter?” Tiberius said. Benjamin remained deathly still. “Don’t speak. Yes, she did invite someone to the gala. Do you think our house to be so weak that people would dare LIE to enter our gala without serious repercussions?” Tiberius waited for a response. “Well?”

“My apologies, sir…” Benjamin stammered. “I-I didn’t know.’

“It is my fault because you do not know? This interrupted a quite riveting conversation that I was having. Give them the shell.”

“I uh, yessir,” the guard stammered. He looked up at the group. “Here,” he handed them the shell.

After Lord Tiberius had ended communication with Anna, he returned his gaze back to the professor.

“I apologize for the rude interruption. I must seek out my daughter. We shall return to this conversation,” Tiberius said. The professor bowed slightly as Tiberius turned the other direction. Searching through the crowd, he was stopped many times by various people wanting to thank him for throwing such a beautiful gala. He nodded at each greeting he got, continuing his way through the crowd.

Tiberius Avington was no adventurer. He had a 2-star rank, which was respectable in the Qu’ant nation, as most people were 1-star or no-star. He went to the Sorcerer Guild when he was younger because his family were inventors; it is what they do. Tiberius became a great researcher of magical theories, specializing in runic formations. More specifically, how runic formations can help increase the daily lives of those without magic.

Tiberius focused more on outwitting an opponent rather than being stronger. He focused a lot on runic formations, which were less complicated rituals. As he was not a ritualist, he couldn’t create rituals. Tiberius always wanted to become one but never knew how to actually become one, much like his daughter. Unlike his daughter, he had no desire to become an adventurer. He had responsibilities, and he was old enough to know that being a researcher was his life plan and nothing else.

“Daughter,” Tiberius said, finally reaching Izzy. Your guests are here. I suggest you meet them at the entrance.” Izzy turned to look at her father. She was wearing a long, slightly fitted dress with a shawl around her neck. The dress was sparkling with diamond designs. Her blue eyes met her father's. “Nervous?”

“Very,” she said. “Tonight is a big night. They decide if they’ll let me join the team or not.” She held her stomach and tried to catch her breath. Tiberius pulled her in for a hug. He didn’t say anything; he just held his daughter until she calmed down. That hadn’t taken very long as she was calm once again. She nodded and then made her way toward the front door.

“What is this I hear about Benjamin?” Teresa said, walking next to her husband.

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“Oh he isn’t in any real trouble,” Tiberius said. “I was just testing Silvey. I am not sure how she is hiding her aura, but she cannot hide her training.”

“Diplomatic training?” Teresa asked.

“Precisely,” Tiberius said. “Her words were too measured, her tone was too steady. I was impressed. However the way she communicated only someone who knows what is actually being said would understand.”

“Which she did…”

“Which she did,” Tiberius nodded. “I have met many young adventurers, even some who are more experienced. For a 3-star rank, she was far too good. Even over the brief interaction. The question is, why is she hiding her identity?”

“Perhaps so she could just be a normal person for once.”

“Then she should choose a less interesting team,” Tiberius said with a chuckle. “If she wanted to be a normal person she should not have come to Qu’ant with an avian, an otherwordler, and the only daughter of the second most important family in the entire Onyx kingdom.”

Teresa giggled, “not including the fact that the same daughter was reported to always be by the princess’ side since adult hood. I suppose those are dead giveaways, for anyone paying attention.”

“I assure you,” Tiberius said. “We are not the only ones who are paying attention to this team. I just hope they are truly only here temporarily and not for any trouble.”

***

“I think I messed up,” Anna said as they walked toward the massive house.

“I think so too,” Piper said.

Tycen and Levi looked at each other. They both shrugged and then turned to the ladies. “Uh, how?” Levi asked.

“She was too formal,” Piper said. “The type of formal that only royalty or aristocrats understand. All of her training came full force. Of course anyone who hasn’t been trained wouldn’t have noticed.”

“What make you so sure that he knew?” Levi asked.

“The way he said Silvey,” Anna said. “Slow and drawn out. As if to practice it because he didn’t want to say my real name. Then he called me Lady. That is not a title for those not in the upper echelon of society. Which Silvey is definitely not. It was a subtle nod to let me know he knows.”

“I see,” Levi said. “To be fair it’s probably your fault too, babe?”

“Why my fault?”

“If they know of Princess Anna then they probably know of Princess Anna’s best friend and partner who is apart of a rather important family in the Onyx kingdom going by the name of Vendular. I understand I am not from this world but that seems like a very specific last name.”

“I didn’t even think about that,” Piper said. “Damn.”

“What is done is done,” Anna said. "We need not worry about it; we have a night to be here. Gather as much information as you can. We leave after we complete our shopping in the morning.” Everyone nodded as they approached the gilded wooden doors. As they approached, Izzy Avington opened the doors and beamed a smile at Tycen.

“You look great,” she said.

“As do you lady Izzy,” Tycen said.

“Oh stop all of that,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. As she peeled herself off of him, she turned to the rest of the team. “Hey everyone, sorry about the gate mishaps. I have been assured that it will not happen again.”

“No worries, Izzy,” Levi said. “It’s all sorted out anyway. Thanks for having us.”

“Of course,” she said with a genuine smile. “Follow me.” As they walked in, the atmosphere was much calmer than Levi had expected. There was a band playing instruments that were quite similar to the ones that he was used to but had some differences. The sound that came from them was still beautiful. The ballroom was a massive circular room with white pillars lining the center of the ballroom. The floor was an intricate design that had the Avington crest in their traditional house colors. On the outside of the pillars were refreshments, food, drinks, and some tables for sitting and enjoying the time. In the middle of the floor, people were talking and dancing to the music.

Izzy led the team around the big gala, explaining and introducing them to various people. Most of them were those who worked for the Avingtons, either at the lab or the library. Finally, she led them to a group of people that Levi hadn’t seen before besides one person.

“You,” he sneered.

“Brandon,” Levi said with faux joy. “How are you doing?”

“It’s BRADLEY!” He yelled. “Bradley Calder you peasant. What are you doing here?”

“Well, the lovely Izzy invited us,” Levi said. “Sorry about getting your name wrong, Brady, I just cannot seem to get it to stick.”

“Who is this Bradley?” one of the men asked. He was a short man with dark hair and pasty features, just like his sons. Levi assumed him to be the Calder father.

“This is Levi, Father, the peasant I was telling you about,” Bradley said. “Why are you with my fiancé?”

“You’re the fiancé?” Tycen asked.

“What of it, avian?” Bradley shot back.

“This is so cliche,” Levi whispered. “Beautiful smart girl, decent looking jerk, then enters the handsome man to be her hero.”

“This isn’t a fairytale you fool, this is real life. I am not a jerk, you’re just beneath me to talk with respect.”

“Fair enough,” Levi said. He narrowed his eyes at Bradley, and he smirked. Piper looked at Levi with slight amazement. “I’m sorry, what was your name?” Levi asked the father.

“Lord Finely Calder, you may call me lord Calder,” Finely said.

“I don’t think I’ll be doing that; it’s a little weird,” Levi said. “But it was nice to meet you.” Levi stook out his hand for the man to shake. He did not; he stared back at his hand with a look of disdain.

“I do not shake hands with people,” Finley said.

“Suit yourself,” Levi said. “Izzy, where is your bathroom?”

“That way,” she pointed down the hall where there was a small line. “Only a single bathroom so you might have to wait, sorry.”

“No worries, appreciate it,” Levi kissed Piper on the cheek. “Bronson, Filet, pleasure to meet you.” Levi walked away with a smirk as the two men sneered at him.

“Mistress Izabelle,” Finley said. “We look forward to your first dance with our Bradley tonight, to show the city of your engagement, we are so happy for the two of you.”

“Thank you, Lord Finley,” Izzy said with her best fake smile.

“Shall we go practice?” Bradley asked. Izzy sighed but nodded. She looked back at Tycen with apologetic eyes as Bradley whisked her away to practice her dance moves.

“Why did you invite them, Izzy?” Bradley asked.

“Because he’s a good guy, Bradley. You don’t want to be married as much as I don’t. Why are you putting on this show?”

“You know my father,” Bradley said. “I hate these things. Having to pretend I’m someone I’m not. Did you know he had me go to the restaurant to interrogate that team to provoke a reaction. I don’t care about them.”

“Is that why you went? It wasn’t because of Simon?”

“That little asshole? No, I didn’t even know that he tried to fight a 4-star on the boat until that night. He is lucky they were there to stop him and take out the monster. It was Titan Aura Jellyfish.”

“Was that what the monster was?” Izzy gasped. “How did they kill it?”

“I have no clue,” Bradley said. “But I do know it was only the men on the team. Piper was down stairs and Silvey was with the captain. Tycen and Levi killed him.”

“Whoa.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing Izzy. I may not want to get married to you but I do still care about you. Those guys are dangerous. I’m most worried about Levi.”

“Why Levi?”

“It’s always the unassuming ones you have to look out for.”

“Perhaps,” Izzy said. “His familiars that I’ve seen are vicious creatures, so I guess it makes sense.”

Bradley nodded, “I am curious though.”

“About what?”

“How many times can he say my name wrong? He hasn’t repeated yet, and it is quite impressive.” Izzy laughed at Bradley. Bradley chuckled, then sighed, “You know. I hate being this version that my father and mother want me to be. I’m not a spoiled prick,” Izzy gave him a flat look. “Okay, I’m not a spoiled prick anymore. Going to the Ranger’s Guild and then the Adventurer’s Guild changed me a lot. I saw that I don’t really want to be a part of the political family nonsense.” Izzy looked at him with kind eyes. “Forced engagements, being a prick, not getting to train the way I want to, not being able to pick the team I want.” He shook his head. He walked over to a chair and put his head in his hands.

“At some point I just want to be my own person. Form my own path. I am envious of people like Levi and Tycen. They get to do what they want, how they want, when they want, without anyone getting in their way.”

“Bradley,” Izzy said. Despite their differences, Izzy cared for Bradley as well. She had always seen him as the brat from next door. In fairness to Izzy, he had been. He entered the Ranger’s Guild three years ago and was amazing. After he left, he went straight to the Adventurer’s Guild and graduated last year. That was when their fathers told them that they would be getting married. Over the last year, Izzy has seen him grow up and become a different person. “You should leave the city too. Or at least try to.”

“You know I can’t do that, Izzy,” Bradley said. “My family would disown me and then I’d have nothing. That’s not something that I want to deal with right now. I have a duty to my family, this city, this nation, you know this.”

“I do. I also know that it will kill you to have to pretend to be this person that you are not any more. You’re not the same kid that I grew up with. That should be celebrated not hidden in the shadows.”

“Perhaps,” Bradley said, looking down. “But there isn’t much I can do about it right now. Your father wants you to explore. Your father wants you to grow and become your own person, and my father wants a puppet for a son.”

“I have an idea,” Izzy said. “But it is contingent on what Levi says to me tonight, it just might work.”

While waiting in line for the bathroom, Levi enacted his plan. Dameion left Levi’s body and disappeared into the large ballroom. If anyone around Levi had known him before meeting him for the first time today, they would have recognized something was different about him. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say something was missing. His two familiars, Serenity and Anza, were not with him. Anza usually walked beside him, and Serenity usually sat on his shoulders. But they weren’t there.