“That looks great!” –exclaimed Amelia as Ricardo entered the room.

“I guess it's fine just for a day.” –said Minerva, looking at the tray with greed.

Friday afternoon, lunchtime, no mother in sight. After getting to the first milestone of the plan, Ricardo wasn't feeling like leveling solo in VC, so he decided to cook for a change.

“Ham and spinach lasagna, I hope you enjoy it.” –said Ricardo, putting down the tray and serving the food, dividing it in three equal portions.

“This is really good.” –said Amelia, smiling as she ate. –“You should cook everyday.”

“Ehh...” –started Ricardo, before being interrupted.

“You can't eat like this everyday; do you know how many calories are in here?” –asked Minerva, looking at Amelia reproachingly.

“By the way, what's up with mom?” –added Minerva, before taking a forkful of lasagna to her mouth.

“I guess she is still busy with that project she was helping with.” –answered Ricardo, while cutting a perfect square in his plate.

“She said she'll tell us about it tomorrow.”

“How did it go with the training yesterday? Enjoying throwing fireballs?” –asked Amelia, after eating her last piece of lasagna.

“Now that we have two Tier 1 players in the party, it was way too easy.” –answered Ricardo, who had already finished. –“And our rogue is amazing, she finished the boss without getting hit a single time.”

“Wow, that's like top player skills.” –said Minerva, still eating.

“Yeah, she restarted her char but she's a veteran.” –said Ricardo, smiling. –“She has helped me a lot.”

“Did you finally get lucky with the wand?” –asked Minerva, while scooping the last bits of food of her plate.

“Nah, it was another miss.” –replied Ricardo, standing up to collect the dishes. –“But I don't care that much about it; I have been fine playing with the basic staff.”

“I'll give you mine.” –suddenly said Minerva, Ricardo freezing in place for a second.

“Shall we log in now?” –added Minerva, with an uneasy look.

“Don't worry; we already decided to have another go at the boss today.” –answered Ricardo, nervous. –“And as I said before, I'm just a casual gamer so it isn't like I 'need' it.”

Minerva had been insistently curious about Virtual Connection lately so Ricardo had seen it coming. At some point he would have to meet his sister in-game, but the later the better.

“Here we are again.” –said a grinning Angela while staring at the golden-rimmed door, the One-eyed Summoner waiting on the other side.

“To think we were one hit away from being wiped out the first time.” –said Kyle, wistful.

“I bet you are glad we took the risk at that time.” –replied Angela, smirking.

“Ok, I admit it.” –said Kyle, smiling. –“Are you close to leveling up?”

“Yup, I should level after beating the boss.” –answered Angela while checking her character screen.

Milana had been sort of dejected all along the way. She was worried about the speed dating event and Minerva's wish to meet her in-game wasn't helping to lessen her anxiousness.

“Are you ready?” –asked Kyle, looking worriedly at Milana.

“Yeah...” –started to answer Milana. Beating the low leveled mobs had been so easy that her mana bar hadn't lowered from the three quarters mark at any point.

“Before going in I wanted to say something.” –added Milana, steeling herself. –“It's obvious that we have outleveled this place for some time. Since Angela is probably leveling up after this, let's make today's our last run.”

“But you don't have the wand yet.” –said Angela, raising her eyes. “It's true that we probably could get a bit more experience in other areas, but if we are gonna do mindless grinding it's better if we have a purpose.”

“Don't worry about that.” –said Milana, firmly. –“My sister used to play this game and she just told me she would give me hers if I didn't get it.”

Of course Milana would rather not have it come to that; she couldn't evade Minerva forever, though. Well, who knows, the wand might drop this time.

“Ok, let's make this a memorable one!”

“You didn't need to refrain.” –said Angela, laughing as she put her daggers away.

“No way!” –exclaimed Milana with a twinkle in her eye. –“I wouldn't dare to mess up your masterpiece!”

The party beat the One-eyed Summoner soundly; Angela didn't get hit at all while dueling the boss. The cat-girl sported a relaxed smile all the way, like she had taken a huge weight off her shoulders.

“Such a pity, no wand today either.” –added Angela, still smiling.

“Yeah, I did notice.” –said Milana, unworriedly. –“It would have been too perfect.”

Milana knew that meant she would need to come clean with her sister, but her friend's happiness was infectious. Besides, one part of her was excited about spending time with Minerva in Virtual Connection.

“Did you finally level?” –asked Kyle, storing his lance and shield in his briefly materialized backpack.

“Yup, got to 20.” –answered Angela, doing the victory sign with her fingers.

“You're such a dork.” –said Kyle, stifling a laugh.

“Hahaha, Kyle's calling me a dork.” –replied Angela, openly laughing.

“That's how I know.” –added Kyle, breaking into laughter.

“I guess this is it for today's training.” –said Milana after the laughter subsided.

“I really want to do my class change today so I'll be going solo.” –said Angela, grinning. –“But you two feel free to continue without me.”

“I have an event later so it suits me.” –said Milana with a playful smile. –“Kyle, wanna date now?”

“Yeah.” –answered Kyle without blushing. He was already used to having a pretty older girl asking him out for a 'date'.

“Got it.” –said Milana, watching a flaming hawk dropping from the sky.

“That was the last one.” –said Kyle, setting himself on one side of the room to prevent being surrounded.

This time Kyle managed to eliminate the first wave before the flying foes' appearance, which Milana just finished. Next wave would be several degrees harder so having a clean slate was comforting.

Third wave: Eight ethereal nightmares

“Horsies incoming!” –exclaimed Milana, while taking cover behind Kyle.

The closest pair of nightmare charged towards them, Kyle blocking both with his shield and spear.

“Take a shot if you have the chance.” –said Kyle, while getting ready for the next ones. –“I can take a couple of charges without getting in the danger zone.”

“Alright.” –said Milana, aiming over Kyle's spear arm.

“Fireball!”

Fourth wave: Seven heartbroken otterflies

Milana had just finished a second nightmare when the otterflies appeared. From the leftover horses only a couple more were anywhere close to dying, since she had been aiming only towards Kyle's right hand.

“As we planned, now I'm stepping back.” –said Milana with a mischievous smile.

“Do as you must.” –replied Kyle, bracing himself for the next nightmare charge.

Milana aimed and immediately shot a force bolt towards the closest otterfly. It squeaked and fell back, unnoticed by the mage girl who was already shooting the one next to it.

Shoot, shoot, shoot...

“Fireball!”

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Shoot, shoot, shoot...

“Fireball!” –exclaimed a serious Milana while spinning in place. The otterfly fell down burning as Milana restarted the round from the rightmost one.

“I'll be going down soon.” –said Kyle, preparing his spear to attack. There were five nightmares left and he was aiming to reducing them to four.

Milana just answered with a smile, not that the warrior could see it from his vanguard position. She kept counting otters in her head as she shot, waiting for the damaged one to come up.

Kyle thrusted his spear towards his designated prey just before their charge would collide with him. The rightmost nightmare impaled itself, falling down while the other one impacted onto the warrior's shield and turned around.

The next pair of nightmares began their charge as Kyle dislodged his spear. With his health bar almost depleted, he kneeled in place, turning his head towards the deeply concentrated mage.

“Fireball!”

“Those nightmares are just way too strong!” –exclaimed Milana, pouting.

“They are level 27; it would be weird if they were a pushover.” –replied Kyle with a relieved smile. –“Anyways, we did better than I expected; you aim really fast.”

“You see, if you have seven otterflies in a circle it's fairly easy to calculate the angle for shooting.” –said Milana, tracing lines over her palm. –“I was more concerned about forgetting which one I had to fireball.”

“So that's what worried you so.” –said Kyle, laughing. –“You looked like a zen master, frowning while shooting with downward eyes.”

“Hehehe.”

“The date almost got me to 22, the bonus exp adds a lot.” –said Kyle while checking his display.

“Yeah, normal grinding feels like a waste of time.” –said Milana, who was already at 23. –“And I guess I should log out for dinner now.”

“I'll probably try to use my other daily date; I can't let you outlevel me too much.” –said Kyle, smiling bashfully.

“Don't worry about me; have fun.” –replied Milana with a confident smile.

“Are you using your second date too?” –asked Kyle, curious.

“Who knows?”

Woah, this is amazing.

Milana had arrived ten minutes before eight, immediately taking the elevator towards the private lounge of 'The Grinning Flatfish'. As the door opened, she could see a breathtaking roof terrace with two-person tables placed all along the edge of the building.

“Hello!” –exclaimed Wanora, approaching Milana in a long-sleeved navy blue dress with a white scarf.

“Hello Wanora.” –said Milana, letting herself be hugged by the overly affectionate guildmaster.

“I'm so glad you decided to come.” –said Wanora, materializing a white handbag. –“We don't have too many guild activities, so this one is a chance for you to make your guild debut.”

“Yeah...” –said Milana, crouching in her violet cocktail dress.

“Here it is.” –said Wanora, pinning a nametag on Milana's breast.

“To speed up the introductions, everyone has this nametag.” –said Wanora, pointing towards hers. –“It has your name, class and level. That way if you're only interested in nabbing a good exp date partner, you can check out your compatibility at a glance.”

“I see.” –said Milana, reading Wanora's nametag. She was a level 50, as expected... –“Are you a rogue!?”

“Yup; wanna have a drink?”

“We even have free drinks, this event is really fancy.” –said Milana, sipping a strawberry mojito.

“Yeah, and the best is...” –said Wanora, getting closer.

“You can't get drunk in Virtual Connection.” –whispered Wanora to Milana's ear.

“Hmm... Wouldn't it make drinking pointless in the first place?” –asked Milana, crooking her head.

“Nah, it gets you to the mild buzz state and then stops. It's magical!” –exclaimed Wanora, taking a chug of her drink and leaving the empty glass on the bar with a clank. –“Another vodka greyhound, please.”

“What's that?” –asked Milana, looking at the pale yellow drink.

“It's just pomelo juice with vodka.” –answered Wanora, smiling. –“Wanna try it?”

“Ok.” –replied Milana, taking the glass and sipping the cocktail.

“It's bitter.” –said Milana, frowning.

“It's an acquired taste.” –replied Wanora, happily sipping her greyhound.

“Shouldn't you get back to welcome the participants?” –asked Milana, still nursing her first cocktail. –“It's already eight.”

Certainly, it was already the time for the event. Even so, there were only Wanora, Milana and the bartender in the whole rooftop.

“Don't worry, you were the only newbie tonight.” –said Wanora, smiling while holding her third greyhound. –“Guild members know that Johnny always arrives at least 15 minutes late.”

“So it's like that.” –said Milana, scowling.

“Don't mind it.” –said Wanora, laughing. –“He's the one paying for the venue; we need to be accomodating, don't we?”

“I guess...”

“Everyone, welcome to Torinelo City Workshops's Speed Dating Club!” –exclaimed a tall guy dressed in a black tuxedo and a violet tieless shirt. –“For the new ones, I'm Johnny, an officer of the guild and the host of this event.”

At 20 past eight, Johnny finally made his appearance. He entered the room with a confident smile, tucking his shoulder length chestnut-colored hair behind his ears, it's golden highlights sparkling as he moved under the lamplights.

“Tonight we have 12 girls and 11 guys, so Wanora is sitting out this time. Such a pity for her fans.” –said Johnny, winking towards the bar, where Milana, Wanora and couple of high level guys from the guild were standing around.

“Is it ok?” –whispered Milana.

“Don't worry; I'm here just for the free drinks.”

“Hello, nice to meet you.” –said a short guy in a blue blazer and jeans, before sitting in front of Milana. –“My name is Roberto; you can call me Rob.”

The speed dating event was managed by private chat with something called dateBOT. Each participating girl got a table number, in which they would be sit for the duration of the event. Guys would get assigned to a random table at the beginning and then rotate clockwise when the time's up.

“Hello Rob.” –said Milana, taking a glace at Rob's nametag.

“Yeah, I know.” –said Rob, forcing a smile. –“It's really hard to get a steady date partner as a male mage.”

“It wasn't that.” –said Milana, stifling a laugh. –“This is my first time speed dating ever; I just don't know what I'm supposed to do.”

“You don't need to worry.” –said Rob, taking a gulp of his rum and coke. –“For starters, I'm pressing 'Yes' after our time's up, no matter what.”

“That's reassuring.” –said Milana, looking at Rob's eyes. –“You know what? I'll do that too.”

“Woah, I might have broken the system.” –said Rob, laughing.

“Maybe.” –said Milana, smiling. –“Did you speed date before?”

“Only at last week's event.” –answered Rob, taking a glance at Milana's nametag. –“I would like to get a regular date partner but most girls want a warrior.”

“You got it tough.” –said Milana, taking a sip of her drink. –“I did date a mage once.”

“How did it go?” –asked Rob, wistful.

“Not too well.” –answered Milana, laughing. –“But we were beginners; I think now I would do it much better.”

“I'd like to take you up on that.”

Here he comes...

Following Rob, Milana speed-dated a couple of high-leveled guys. They were mostly agreeable, but it was easy to realize that they weren't that interested in dating an unexperieced mage. She didn't put much effort either, looking sideways from time to time, towards the real motive of her participation.

“Hello Milana, welcome to the guild.” –said Johnny with a perfect smile on his face as he took the seat in front of her.

“Hello.” –replied Milana, a bit taken aback.

“Sorry, I just knew it.” –said Johnny, with a twinkle in his eyes. –“There's only one new girl tonight and there's no way I would forget someone like you.”

“Thank you.” –said Milana, with a nervous smile.

“I'm Johnny, by the way.” –said Johnny, raising his glass and drinking.

“Yeah, I know.” –said Milana, smiling despite herself.

“Are you having fun tonight?” –asked Johnny, leaving his drink in front of him.

“Yeah, Wanora told me you are providing for the venue.” –said Milana, sipping the last of her mojito. –“That's very kind of you.”

“It's my pleasure; I've got more golden hearts than I can possibly spend alone.” –said Johnny, laughing. –“You can get a new drink directly from the table, just press the button on the right side.”

“What are you drinking? It looks really pretty.” –asked Milana, pointing towards the pale violet cocktail on the table.

“This one is a color-changing martini.” –answered Johnny, swirling his glass.

“Color-changing...” –said Milana, confused. –“Is it magical?”

“It could be; you should check it yourself.” –answered Johnny, winking.

It was irritating how he could manage to do such a perfect wink; a normal person would look stupid if they tried.

“Alright; it's free anyway.” –said Milana, pressing the 'drink order' button.

A four-button display appeared in front of her, named: reorder, favorites, keyboard input, voice input. She pressed the last one and said: 'color-changing martini'.

Her empty glass dissapeared from the table, a martini glass filled with a deep blue drink taking its place.

“It's blue.” –said Milana, dumbfounded.

“Yup, as it should be.” –said Johnny, stifling a laugh. –“You see that small pitcher?”

“Yeah...” –said Milana, just noticing a little jug filled with a pale yellow liquid next to the glass.

“Pour it over.” –said Johnny, amused.

“Ok.” –said Milana, pouring the pitcher's contents over her drink.

As the liquid mixed with the glass contents, violet swirls started to appear, slowly turning it into the violet cocktail that Johnny had.

“Hmm, so this is the magic.” –said Milana, a little dissapointed.

“All the drinks in this place are real life replicas.” –said Johnny, taking a sip of his drink encouragingly. –“I first saw this one in a cooking show.”

“Tastes like diluted cough syrup.” –said Milana, frowning after taking the first sip of her drink.

“It isn't for everyone.” –said Johnny, laughing.

Milana was getting flustered, fidgeting with her fingers along the side of the table.

I'll be damned...

“That one's good too.” –said Johnny, as Milana voiced the name of her new drink.

“And it tastes nice to boot.” –added Johnny, winking conspiratorially.

Milana had decided that she couldn't force herself to finish her violet martini, ordering a blue hawaiian in replacement. The drinks were just bits of data, so she didn't feel guilty about throwing an almost full cocktail down the drain.

“Ahh, much better.” –said Milana, sipping from her blue hawaiian.

“Indeed.” –said Johnny, leaving his sky blue cocktail on the table.

“Really!? So you don't even like it!?” –exclaimed Milana, completely flabbergasted.

“Well, if you think about my image, wouldn't you say 'a violet martini just suits him'?”

“And then, Wanora just stuck the gargoyle's head down the salamander's throat.” –said Johnny, mimicking with his hands.

“Did it work?” –asked Milana, excited.

After the drinks switcheroo the mood had completely changed. Milana had asked Johnny to tell her of an embarrasing story as a punishment, yet he wasn't fazed, and she just got into it despite herself.

“In a way.” –said Johnny, guiltily. –“We didn't get wiped out by the salamander's fire breath...”

“But...” –said Milana, prompting Johnny to continue.

*ding*

“Time's up.” –said Johnny, flashing a winsome smile.

“I hope we get to talk again soon.” –continued Johnny, doing another of his perfect winks before taking his leave.

“...”

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