Lyn tapped her fingers as she flipped through the pages of the Quester's Tribune. The orange tint of the sun illuminated her messily torn notepad and her cold, half-finished coffee.

She had been sitting at the cafe for hours, soaking in the strong coffee aroma and skimming through newspapers. Occasionally, she scribbled a request on her notepad. The sheet of paper lit up and then, as Lyn tore the page away, disappeared into thin air.

A large hardcover notebook fell in front of her with a thud, almost toppling her cup of coffee.

"Here you go," an annoyed voice growled.

Lyn's lips tugged upwards. "Oh hey there, Em. Good to see you."

Emily rolled her eyes as she plopped down on the chair opposite Lyn. Her short, blonde hair glistened in the sunlight; her expression, on the other hand, was as sullen as ever.

"That's the list of all the qualified fighters who left Dawn Avengers," she said. "Most of them are already in other guilds, so good luck trying to poach them."

Lyn opened the notebook. Rows and rows of names filled the page, along with each person's contact and background information.

"Em, thank you so much for this." She looked at her friend sincerely. "Really."

Some of the iciness in Emily's blue eyes melted away, but her brows remained furrowed. "So, found any jobs yet?"

Lyn scratched her auburn hair. "Not really. Every one of these commissions requires a fighter even when they don't have to." She tapped on the page she was on. "Like, look at this. It's a quest against giant ants. Even Irene can take this on by herself, but they want a team with at least one fighter. I just don't get it."

"I told you," Emily said, rolling her eyes again. "Fighters are as standard as healers."

A few months ago, Lyn would have argued against that statement. But now, after endless rejections and months of joblessness, she had no choice but to accept it.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it now." She sighed. "Honestly, this is discrimination against elemental mages."

"Oh shut the hell up." Emily rolled her eyes yet again—for the third time now. Her eyeballs always seemed to get a great deal of workout whenever they met. "It's about time that you let go of your stupid ego and find a fighter for your team, or you'll be jobless forever."

"I should let go of my ego?" Lyn stared at Emily with an exaggerated shocked expression. "You, Emily Enric, Queen of Haughtiness, are telling me to let go of my ego?"

Emily's nose twitched into a scowl. "Yes, you need to let go of your ego! You and your stupid ego that made you leave the guild in the first place."

Lyn raised her eyebrows as she chuckled. So, it seemed that after all this time, Emily still had not gotten over the fact that she had left the number one guild in the world to start her own independent team.

"Alright, alright, I agree, okay?" she said in an attempt to placate her fuming friend. "I'll put aside my ego and contact these people."

As Emily continued to grumble, a petite woman approached the table. It was Cydney Yen—a waitress at the cafe, and the cutest person Lyn had ever met. Her long, silky hair was tied up into a high ponytail, while her plump cheeks stuck out under her black eyes like fluffy clouds in the night sky.

As usual, Lyn could not help but smile (maybe a little overly) enthusiastically at her. "Hey there, Cinnamon."

"H- Hello." Cydney's voice was softer than usual, as she cast nervous glances at Emily. "Is there- Is there anything I can get for you?"

"Yeah, what do you want, Em?" Lyn offered, after seeing Emily's lack of response. "I'll treat you. Let me return the favor."

Emily's frown deepened. "Whatever, I don't care."

"Alright then. Do you mind getting her a tiramisu, Cinnamon?" Tapping on her cup, Lyn added with a mischievous wink, "And could you also get me a refill? My coffee is getting cold."

"Okay." Cydney nodded before dashing away.

"Thank you, Cinnamon Bun!" Lyn called out to the leaving waitress. She turned around, her stupid grin still plastered on her face, only to be met with Emily's look of utter disgust.

"Cinnamon?" Emily repeated.

"Yeah, that's what I call her." Lyn shrugged. "It suits her, right?"

"Are you flirting with her?"

Lyn narrowed her eyes with feigned suspicion. "What? Are you jealous, Em? We've been broken up for a while now, you know. If you still have feelings for me, you should let me know ASAP."

Emily's permanent scowl seemed to suggest otherwise. "Why would you be flirting with her?"

"Why not? She's cute."

"You shouldn't associate yourself with someone like that."

Lyn's smile faded away. "What do you mean?"

"She's..." Emily faltered under Lyn's sudden change in tone. "Lyn, I know about her, okay? Cydney Yen, or whatever her real name is. She can't do magic. Not any form of elemental magic, not even the most basic ones that babies can do."

"And?"

"And?" Emily exclaimed in exasperation. "Are you kidding me, Lyn? She's a freak!"

Lyn's jaw clenched. She had seen her fair share of customers who had tormented and insulted Cydney over the years, and she definitely did not appreciate having someone she respected to do the same thing.

"Leave."

Lyn's cold voice rendered Emily speechless. When she found the ability to speak again, she exploded.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Lyn? You are one of the most powerful mages I've ever seen! You have so much potential to make a name for yourself, but you decided to leave Dawn Avengers and then associate with people like that? To come to this shitty cafe just to flirt with a magic-less freak?"

The air around the two of them became strangely tense. Emily stopped her rant at that instant. Eyes widening and body stiffening, she muttered, "Lyn..."

"Don't speak about her like that ever again," Lyn said in a low voice.

Emily's blue eyes darted around, jumping at the occasional soft crackles around them. "Lyn, you know you can't use your quester-level magic in a public place like this."

"Leave."

"Stop that, or I won't be helping you ever again."

Lyn maintained her icy cold stare. "Leave."

They glared at each other for a long time, until Emily stood up and slammed her hands on the table. "Fine. I'm done caring about you. You're addicted to throwing your future away, aren't you? I'm glad I dumped you and your good-for-nothing ass."

Lyn averted her gaze as Emily bolted out of the cafe. She looked around. There were a couple of weird stares from some customers, but thankfully, Emily didn't seem to have caused too big of a scene. Letting out a long sigh, she sipped what was left of her coffee.

A fresh cup was placed in front of her. Cydney, and all her cuteness, was back.

"Where did your friend go?" she asked. In her hand was a plate of tiramisu, with pieces of chocolate decorating on the side.

Lyn forced a smile and tried to sound as nonchalant as possible. "Oh. She, uh, left."

"Oh..." Cydney frowned, her expression tainted with worry. "Is it- is it because of me? Was my service too slow? Or did I do something wrong? I'm so sorry, Lyn—"

"It's not your fault, Cinnamon." Lyn placed a hand on Cydney's arm. "Something popped up for her so she had to leave. It has nothing to do with you."

Noticing Cydney's sad glance at her prepared cake, Lyn reached for the plate. "I'll still eat the cake, don't worry," she said with a quick wink. "I'll eat anything you make."

Cydney broke into a smile. "Thank you."

Lyn felt as if her breath was taken away. Finally, a smile. That was the petite woman's first genuine smile that she had seen all day—and she had been in the cafe the entire day. Why did such a lovable, beautiful smile come so rarely?

A rush of protectiveness gushed into Lyn's heart. "Cinnamon, has anyone been bothering you lately?"

"No." Cydney shook her head and then chuckled. "Well, you've been here a lot recently, so that probably helped."

"Oh? Then maybe it isn't such a bad thing I'm jobless after all. I get to see you all the time."

Cydney's face flushed. She quickly changed the subject. "Have you- have you found any commissions yet?"

Lyn's mood plunged at the question. "No, and I don't think I'll be able to find one unless I find a fighter for my team." A thought occurred to Lyn. "Hey, would you happen to know anyone?"

Cydney blinked. "Me?"

"Yeah, I mean, since you do work at a cafe in Boston, the city of questers. Have you maybe met anyone who might be interested in joining an independent team? Like maybe someone who couldn't get into a guild or someone who's looking to leave their guild?"

"I- I don't know..." Cydney muttered. "What kind of... person are you looking for?"

"Well, a fighter, mostly. They're enhancer mages who know how to fight."

Lyn saw Cydney's quizzical expression and explained further, "Enhancer mages are people who specialize in doing magic on physical objects, like a sword, or a spear, or something. I'm an elemental mage, so if I ever had a sword or a weapon, it'd just be, you know, a regular sword or a weapon. But a fighter's sword will actually be enhanced with magic, so it's a lot more powerful and a lot hardier. Also, they have to know how to fight. I don't have time to be training anybody up."

Cydney seemed to be deep in thought. "Would you be okay with... anyone?"

"I guess. Preferably someone who I'll like since I'll be the leader and all."

"Someone you'll like?"

"Yeah, for example, someone like you, Cinnamon Roll." Lyn grabbed another chance to throw in another flirtatious comment. "I like you a lot, do you know that? Have I told you that before?"

She giggled as Cydney's face turned bright red once again.

"I think... I think I know someone..." Cydney stammered.

"Wait, you do?" Lyn was taken aback. "That's awesome! I'm planning on having open interviews next week, do you mind seeing if you can get them to come by then?"

Cydney nodded. "I'll... I'll let them know," she mumbled. "Just let me know the details."

A customer at another table called for Cydney, and she left hurriedly.

Lyn watched as Cydney rushed around the cafe. The sun had set and it was evening—the day was officially over. But now, there was a book full of people to contact. She stretched her arms and picked up her pen again.

Time to get back to work.