Silva glanced back at Lock and Faed. They were both hard at work on baking the cake. She on the other hand, was planning on snatching Alant's secret shrine of fruit. An item very few people knew about. Lucky for her, he was distracted with Flowe and Tigal at the moment.

"I failed at defeating Phina, this is the perfect chance to redeem myself." she thought. Her footsteps made almost no audible sound as she snuck into the secret room that held the shrine within. Completing an oddly specific series of events, it opened. "Sorry Alant dear, but maybe if you were more careful with these sort of things I wouldn't know your codes."

Upon entry, Silva glanced up at a seat. It displayed smooth, shiny, flawless fruits of almost every kind. Apples, bananas, raspberries, and even tomatoes for those who wanted to get technical. "Alant... this is breathtaking.." she whispered to herself. Taking in the gorgeous site for a moment longer, Silva quickly collected all of the fruit held by the shrine, and left without wasting another second.

Silva used her cloud to fly the fruit to Lock. One fell out into her hand. She examined the plump, juicy tomato, and went to take a bite. "Your fruits look gorgeous Alant, time to see if that applies to their taste." The tomato inched closer and closer to her mouth. Before contact was made, tomato juice exploded onto Silva's face. "H-Huh..?" she seemed confused. Without closing her mouth, Silva peered over to her left, noticing Human Hunter there. His arm was extended.

"Collections of that magnitude take a lot of heart and determination to create. Even if it's for our celebration, I don't intend on allowing such a selfish act of theft to continue." Human Hunter's speared chain had impaled the tomato. He retracted it.

Silva lowered her head. A smile slipped out. "Ah.. Human Hunter darling. The newest official member of Proel. You believe that just because of that, you're allowed to decide who I do and don't steal from. Hm?"

"Not exactly. I believe that if I think something is wrong, I'm entitled to stop it. Now I'll give you one final opportunity to comply."

"Well, I apologize but, we don't have time to collect fruit on our own. This is the only way to balance the meal. Since you have objections however, I guess a bit of force will be needed!" The energized whips Silva was known for lashed out. She slammed them against the floor across from Human Hunter. Without uttering even a single word, Human Hunter stepped back, avoiding the whip by millimeters.

"Not a wise choice. I guess we'll get to see if this newcomer's strength is comparable to your own."

"Hah. I already know the answer to that, the only thing left is to prove it."

Just as Human Hunter and Silva were about to fully engage in combat, Lock came sprinting over. He stopped, and stood in between the two. "Tchh.. are you two children truly attempting to engage each other in combat within our own facility! Today is a day of celebration, not conflict!"

"I know that." Human Hunter said. "Which is why I'm stopping Silva from robbing Alant of his shrine of fruit."

"S-Silva!" Taken aback a bit, Lock displayed his disappointment, just now seeing the fruit collected inside of her cloud. "That is widely inappropriate, you are well aware of how important that shrine is to Alant. Its' disappearance would devastate him considerably!"

"Sometimes sacrifices must be made for an enjoyable and balanced meal Lock! Plus, do you not find it a bit suspicious that Human Hunter of all people knows about his Shrine! He hasn't even been here a single week!"

Lock shifted his attention to Human Hunter now. "Actually.. that is a reasonable argument. How exactly have you become aware of its existence, Human Hunter..?"

"Observing.. that's all there is to it."

"Uhm.. Lock the cake is done!" Faed called from nearby.

"I will be there shortly, Faed! Hm.. you two, if you're done here, I suggest you both join me. We are almost prepared to eat. Silva, you must return Alant's fruit beforehand. We may think of another healthy treat to pair with our unhealthy meal."

In disappointment, Silva did just that. "I will have to find some other way, to redeem myself.."

Everyone gathered around a lengthy table. Alant, Flowe, Silva, Human Hunter, and Halt each sat at their own individual seats. Lock and Faed presented the food.

"To Phina's defeat! And the success of the mission of course." Lock held multiple trays of food above his head, Faed did the same. "There were many developments that occurred during our battle. The revelation of my as well as Faed's true strength, gaining a powerful ally in Flowe, and even unfortunate events such as the loss of Tigal's arm. Whether good or bad however, they all made Proel a collectively stronger team. We should be proud of that. Now, enough of my rambling. Time to feast!"

With a toss, Lock placed the food on the table. Alant sliced the cake up at nearly light speed. Thankfully he used a clean blade and not one drenched in blood.

Lock and Faed sat down to eat once they had finished setting everything up. Alant ate a slice of cake delightfully. "Mm man, you guys sure didn't let me down. It tastes incredible!"

"I strive to make for certain that only the highest quality of desserts are served to my fellow Proel members." Lock stated. "I am glad to hear that I was successful."

Tigal poked at his food, making sure it wasn't poisoned.

The mood was overwhelmingly lighthearted. The positive relationship between Proel was continuing to increase. Sometime in the middle of their meal, Setianal dropped down from the ceiling, slamming onto the table. The impact sent a few of the remaining cupcakes into the air. Setianal caught them, and consumed them quickly through his mask. "Welcome back everyone. The mission seems to have been a success." He said with a full mouth. "I am pleased to see it. With Phina out of the way, we won't have to worry about an additional source of human production. She was defeated, correct?"

"That's right. Although it didn't happen without its issues." Silva pointed out. "As you can probably tell, our sweet darling Tigal lost an arm."

"Yes. I did happen to notice that. I've also noticed that yet another candidate to join Proel has arrived. I'm assuming that this is the now former member of the Assassin Corps. Am I right, Alant?"

"As always Setianal!"

"Perfect. I've been waiting to meet him. I've never discussed the Assassin Corps with you all but, I probably should have. They're one of the most dangerous organizations in existence, almost holding the strength to take over the planet whenever they please. If it wasn't for myself, as well as a few others, they would have already done so."

Flowe didn't seem to be intimidated by Setianal whatsoever. "If a discussion with me is what you wish for, I'd be happy to oblige. In exchange for a spot on this team of course. I believe that lending you all the inside information on the Assassin Corps is more than enough to-.."

"No. Not even close." Setianal claimed. "For one, there's no way to confirm the authenticity of anything you say. As a matter of fact, right now I'm fairly certain that you've been sent here to gain our trust, so that you can eliminate us from the inside. Giving us false information with forged evidence is the most logical scenario. You won't be granted access to our team until our next mission is complete."

Flowe placed the fork he used for his cake on the table. "Of course, your suspicions are only natural. Might I ask though, what exactly will this next mission be?"

"I will get to that in a moment. I have one final thing to say before doing so. Human Hunter." Setianal caught Human Hunter's attention. "You have returned.. and in one piece. That's no small feat. Not even Tigal managed to do so. Which means you've officially passed your first Proel mission, but more importantly, you're one mission closer to completing the criteria I set. You are.. the real deal."

Everyone around the table looked in Human Hunter's direction. Setianal then continued.

"Let's hope you're able to prove your worth yet again in the mission I'm about to assign. It's one that's far more difficult."

"Whatever it is, I'll successfully make it through. Benson and Aria have been confident in my abilities, and have looked at me as an inspiration since the first day I met them. Being directly responsible for their capture is something I'll never forgive myself for. But I have the chance to at least save them, I just need to become strong enough." Human Hunter clenched his fist in a determined fashion. "Until they're retrieved.. I can't fail at anything." He felt something pat his shoulder. It was Alant.

"I'll make sure ya don't man. Saving your buddies is my priority too."

Human Hunter nodded.

"That determination is what landed you a spot on Proel in the first place. Don't lose it, Human Hunter. Ahem. Now then, onto the mission." Looking back and forth, Setianal peered at all of Proel's members. "Exactly one month from now, you will all be engaging with the Assassin Corps."

Flowe's heart dropped, his eyes grew wide, and his body began to shake. He knew that Proel had the potential to take out the Assassin Corps in the future, but at their current level, they wouldn't even get close.