After the fight the people had gathered around the two and were babbling away about how well they had done. Most of the other instructors were teasing Shun about how he had only managed to fight to a draw with his student. Shun just retaliated that his student was just that much more talented than theirs. Which naturally ended in a shouting match, none of the instructors was willing to admit that any of their students were inferior.

Dorian walked over to his friends grinning. “What did you think of my new party trick?”

“I'm not even going to ask how the hell you did that.” Blaitz said walking over with a beastly grin. “It would just give me a headache anyway.” Blaitz did however poke him while keeping the grin on his face. “Just making sure you didn't somehow turn into a ghost!”

The rest of the group laughed, it felt good seeing the others again. Shiela came running from the other side of the ring. and went for her patented diving hug, the legendary Glomp. Dorian caught her and spun her around once before perching her on his shoulders.

“What did you think Shi, did I do well?” Dorian said using the nickname he had given her over the past few months.

Shiela looked at him and beamed, proceeding to give him a head rub and giggling in glee. Dorian laughed. “Guess that means you’re proud of me!” Shiela nodded a few times energetically.

“You guys sure have changed quite a bit over the last few months. Especially you who Lalin what in the hundred hells happened to you.” She used to seem so stoic so the savagery in her eyes really was quite the change.

“My instructor simply told me there was no need to hide who I am anymore. My people are looked down upon by yours. Here however no one seems to care about where you came from or what your past may be. As long as you have the skills to fit in that is all that is needed.” The savage mage told him.

Dorian looked her in the eyes and grinned. “You never had to hide anything from us you know. I hope you realize that. We are quite the gathering of oddballs after all.” The rest of the group merely nodded their agreement while Blaitz slapped her on the back a bit too enthusiastically. Almost causing Lalin to land face first on the stone floor.

She glared at him angrily which only made him laugh harder. She continued glaring for a moment till she sighed and shrugged. It was after all how Blaitz treated everyone. They soon enough started sharing tales of their instructors and the crazy things they had done to teach them new things. They all looked at Viyella unbelievingly when she told them he had shot her arrows right out of the sky. It seemed like a thing that would only happen in a bard’s tale.

“Have you heard that they want us to join in on a mission sooner than planned?” Gladiel suddenly said disrupting the conversations flow. Dorian knew that Gladiel had done some digging around for information. It seemed to be a passion of his, finding out information he should not have a hold of.

“Haven't heard of it yet no, but then again I haven't really been in contact with anyone much beside Shi and her tutor.” Dorian told him.

“Well there seems to be this human trading organization somewhere in the sewers that they want to clean out. But it seems that the people responsible have quite the amount of thugs under their control. It's near an army. A number of gangs had come together to set up an underground slave auction. The profits are high so other gangs quickly accepted the offer to join in. It resulted in the operation becoming of a larger size than most people would have thought possible.”

The group's face had turned with disgust at the mention of a slave auction. Through personal experiences they had gained a hate for slavers. A hate that burned heavy in their hearts, Lalin and Viyella in particular were the most bothered by the news of another slaver organization. Apparently, although it was news to the group, Lalin's people had often been captured by other kingdoms and empires to be used as slaves.

She came from one of the northern tribes that gathered in the mountains. The tribes lived separately and had no real contact with each other or the outside world. Which made them easier targets for slaver organizations. After all who was easier to take than people who had no family or representatives in the 'civilized' world.

“Do they have any information about Ístril yet?” Dorian asked with worry on his face.

“Nothing.” Gladiel said annoyance apparent on his face. “The information gatherers are vexed by the lack of information around her. The commander has dug deeper than even he should have done but they found nothing. Honestly it has been covered up to cleanly, there is suspicion of major governing factions being involved.”

If the governing factions of the empire were involved it would make the matter a lot more complicated. Dealing with political problems was not really their strong suit. Some enemies were simply too big to fight. Unless you had a strong power of your own backing you up. That or an army. Although the people of this group were individually extremely skilled they were more suited for subterfuge and smaller scale operations.

They were nowhere near the danger of a full sized army. Dorian refused to give up hope though, all he needed was a target. The smallest sliver of information would be enough for him to move on. They did however need to get that information first however.

“We really need some information. Gladiel keep an ear out for it, although this seems like an organization with a straightforward goal we can't be too careful. Anyone can keep information to themselves for reasons that may not be clear for us at the moment.”

Gladiel nodded. “I was going to keep an ear out regardless. Information is one of the most dangerous weapons. Even for a gentleman such as myself.”

“Well thinking about it for any longer won't do us any good. Let’s get us some food, I’ll treat you guys to my new found cooking skills.” Dorian said grinning at them.

The rest of the group excited to change the new food, followed him. Shiela still sat on his shoulders playing drums on his head. Laughing and joking with each other they headed to Dorian's quarters. Suddenly Vor brought up if they had enough chairs for the lot of them. Dorian shook his head. They had only 4 chairs for their rather small table. Vor rushed off in the distance before reappearing with a pile of chairs and even an extra table.

The group was too used to his feats of strength to even be surprised anymore. Blaitz did take a few chairs off his hands however to make walking a bit more comfortable. They entered the room with their newfound furniture and set the table. Dorian then headed to the kitchen and took out the olive oil, spices, potatoes vegetables and meat from the magical freezing compartment in one of the walls.

He started cutting up the vegetables, Shiela who had also become quite proficient with her cooking skills helped out. Helping cook lunch and dinner every day with Shun and Dorian had polished up her cutting and other cooking skills. At the age of 8 She was already a more proficient cook than most average people.

Dorian put some of the spices in the olive oil and stirred the mixture, which he then added to the slices of potatoes he was baking. The aromatic smell of the food wasted no time wafting into the nostrils of the hungry group. Their stomachs started to grumble with the anticipation of a delicious meal.

“

Viyella started putting the plates on the table, while Dorian made some finishing touches to the sauce before putting all the dishes on the table and telling them to dig in. He had made an absurd amount of food because he was well aware of the depth of the holes in the stomaches of his squad mates.

After a quick thank you they dug into their food ravenously. Happy moans and sighs escaped the group as they enjoyed their food. Shiela watched them eat with a proud squared back before filling their plates immediately with more food once they emptied. Dorian had been right about the amount of food. In fact he was starting to worry that might even not have made enough. Blaitz and Vor were eating so much food that he wondered if they actually digested the stuff or if they had some kind of magical circles in their mouths that made the food mysteriously vanish.

The mood during dinner was lighthearted and easygoing. Moments like these were unfortunately rare and unfamiliar to the group. Dorian made sure to cherish the sight of it. It was always a treat to see people really enjoying the food you had made. Shiela looked just as proud as he felt watching them make the food disappear.

Secretly however Dorian was worrying about tomorrow. A all out mission of all the members of right of the bat. It was kind of disturbing how it was necessary to use all 400 members. They had given the organization a name of its own in secret . They couldn't keep referring to it as the organization after all. It would be extremely suspicious in public.

As a joke at first they had given it the name ‘The Table’, surprisingly however the use of it had spread among the senior members as well. It was a safe to use, neutral way to refer to the organization. If you used table in a conversation for instance you could say, how have things been going at The Table? People passing by would not understand what was so special about whatever they were talking about.

It was rather ingenious, or so the other members thought. Dorian and his group however still could not say it without laughing, at the very least a smile would pop out whenever they said it. It was ridiculous how it seemed to be a normal thing for the other members to call an elite organization The Table.

Dorian still wondered who exactly sanctioned The Table however. They were a part of the government and they had political support. They were basically just an elite group of the army that operated covertly, both within their own borders and outside them. Eventually they had found out that the cleaning of this city was merely a stand-by order until they had things to do on the other side of the border.

Their superiors had deemed it a good idea to have them clean up the city while on stand-by. It was a good way to bring the crime to an all-time low. Dorian wondered however if the emperor had knowledge of this or if it was just a political noble faction that sanctioned this without the emperor’s knowledge.

Dorian sighed deeply and thought how it was actually none of his business. As long as he was able to do things he deemed necessary to protect the country he would do so without hesitation. He was proud of the empire he lived in. Sure there were plenty of things wrong with the country, but which country did not have its flaws. The thing Dorian was most proud of in his country was both its diversity and the government’s tendency to take care of their civilians.

If there were monster plagues on the country side the people in charge would immediately send a military force to quell the problem. Life in the countryside was generally very peaceful as a result. He had found the underbelly of the Empire however in his new line of work. It was disconcerting but he was happy that there was something being done about it. And that he could be a part of it.

While Dorian had been lost in thought the rest of his group had finished their plates and were sharing experiences from their past, their respective clans or families and showing off scars that they had. Some of the scars had some really good stories behind them, others were hilarious mishaps. For instance Gladiel had a scar on his butt. It had happened when he had flirted with a girl who had violent tendencies.

What she had done was ram her fork right into his butt cheek when he was looking admiringly at another girl’s bosom. The story made everyone laugh, Shiela seemed a bit confused by the story but was just happy to see everyone else laughing. That was more than enough for her to laugh along.

Dorian decided to just enjoy the night. Who knew what tomorrow would hold.

And another chapter done, More editing by Sk8late aswell!

Hope you guys enjoyed,

Thanks for reading!