Sin-Ni scouted around for a job—at every shop, restaurant, cafe, grocery store, whatever it was, as long as it was near the Dawn Avengers headquarters. It wasn't easy, since most employers did not like that she could not operate appliances. Thankfully, she found a waitressing job three streets down. It was at a small and cozy cafe, and her boss, Jennifer, was a kind and sympathetic lady.

The job itself was simple enough—going around the cafe taking orders. It was a bit tougher whenever people dirtied the place, which occurred way more often than she had hoped. And right now, a bunch of teenagers had, of course, spilled their drink all over the floor.

Sin-Ni sighed and looked around. Jennifer was in the kitchen talking to the pastry chef, so no one else was available to help. Letting out yet another sigh, she grabbed a cloth and rushed over to the table.

"Ah, so sorry about that." Three high school girls sat around the table, pouting at one another. "Gretchen over here got a bit clumsy."

Gretchen scoffed as she folded her arms. "It's not my fault you brought up Aaron's messages right as I'm adjusting the straws."

"It's okay," Sin-Ni mumbled. She swiftly mopped the table and the floor clean, before glancing at the girls. "Do you guys want a refill?"

Three pairs of perplexed eyes bored into her face. "What's wrong with you?" blurted one of the girls. "Can you not use magic?"

Sin-Ni felt her cheeks heat up. "N-No, sorry..."

"What? Why can't you?" another girl asked.

"Erm..."

"Oh my God, Karen," Gretchen scolded, "you can't just ask people why they can't use magic. Some people are magic disabled."

"There are people like that?"

"I've heard of them, but I've never seen anyone like that in real life." The third girl leaned forward and gave Sin-Ni a strange grin as if examining an exotic object from space. "I can't believe such people really exist. How do you even survive?"

The heat in Sin-Ni's cheeks shot up all the way to her head now. "S- Sorry, I- I have to get back to work now..."

With that, she scurried over to the kitchen, threw the towel into the sink, and hid behind the door. Jennifer exchanged a knowing look with the pastry chef, before approaching her.

"Sydney, are you okay?" Jennifer asked, as she gently placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Jen, I'm- I'm okay, someone- someone spilled something..."

A mixture of realization and regret flashed across Jennifer's face. "Ah, okay, I will take care of it." She smiled and handed her a stack of flyers. "Here, why don't you take a break from cafe work and give these out instead?"

"You sure? But the customers—"

"Don't worry, I'll take over for now. I need these given out anyway; we need more publicity."

Beaming with relief, Sin-Ni grabbed the flyers and darted out of the cafe.

This was yet another job that was simple enough, although she had always found herself in front of the Dawn Avengers headquarters. Why did she always gravitate here? And right now, she was here again—and, of course, Lyn the lightning mage was marching out of the building.

She was flanked by her usual group of friends. One of them was a black woman with a maroon hoodie, dreadlocks, and helix piercings. She was hitting Lyn on the arm as they roared in laughter.

Sin-Ni gulped. One arm hugging the stack, the other hand holding out a single flyer, she tried to walk towards the group.

But she couldn't.

Her jelly legs would not budge. Sin-Ni had no choice but to stand there, motionless, frozen to the ground, as she watched Lyn and her friends sauntered away and out of her view.

A small whimper escaped her throat. She lowered her head and stared at the flyer, which was now crumpled from her grasp. The words, "30% discount for first-time customers," stared back at her.

What's wrong with her? Why couldn't she approach Lyn?

Shoving the creased flyer into her pocket, she resumed her job grudgingly. As long as she continued doing what Jennifer told her, she would eventually be able to save up to three hundred dollars for the application fee. As long as she continued her job and stopped wasting her money on an enchanted broom that did not work for her. (It was five hundred dollars! Five hundred! For a broomstick that did not fly!)

And once she got into the guild, maybe she would finally be able to talk to Lyn. Or maybe, just maybe, Lyn would talk to her.

Oh, also, she had to figure out how to get home, of course.

✿∅✿∅✿

Sin-Ni looked around the waiting room. The inside of the Dawn Avengers' building had changed drastically since the guild battles a month ago. Instead of a massive stadium that held hundreds of thousands of people, there were now rows and rows of what seemed to be training rooms. And in these rooms, the real guild battles were held; fighters attacked one another with actual hostility, while elemental mages blasted fireballs or wind storms at targets.

The more Sin-Ni peered into the training rooms, the more excited—and nervous—she got. Tapping her fingers restlessly on the table, her eyes drifted over to a water fountain in the corner of the room. Maybe she should drink something.

She hopped off her chair, skipped over to the fountain, and grabbed a disposable cup, before finally remembering that she could not operate it. Ever since living in a magic-proofed hostel, she had been occasionally forgetting about her limitations in this world. She sighed and tossed the cup away.

"Is it clogged?" a voice said behind her.

Sin-Ni spun around. A tall blonde woman was leaning against the wall. Underneath her furrowed brows, a pair of piercing blue eyes and sharp cheekbones radiated an exquisite charm that managed to command both awe and fear at the same time. Sin-Ni recognized her; she was Emily Enric, the daughter of Ender Enric.

"Oh... not- not really..."

Before Sin-Ni could react, Emily was next to her, grabbing a disposable cup and pouring water into it. The frown deepened, while the ocean eyes darted from the water fountain to Sin-Ni.

"You're right. It's not clogged," Emily noted. Her snappy voice did not match her pretty face. "So what's wrong?"

Once again, Sin-Ni's cheeks heated up. "Erm, yeah, s- sorry, I have trouble... doing basic magic."

Emily tilted her head. "All types of basic magic, or just water?"

"A- All types..." Sin-Ni admitted as she shifted on her feet. "S- Sorry..."

"You have nothing to apologize for. There's nothing wrong with that."

Emily handed the cup of water to Sin-Ni. Sin-Ni smiled appreciatively before chugging down the water.

"You are... Sin-Ni Yen, right?" Emily said.

Sin-Ni nodded. "How do you know?"

"Well, I'm in charge of your application."

If she had not already finished the cup, Sin-Ni would have spat water all over Emily's face. "W- What?"

Emily held out her hand and a piece of paper appeared—her application form, the form that cost her three hundred dollars to fill out. "Thank you for your interest in Dawn Avengers. Unfortunately, I can't allow you to join. Guild policy. Sorry, Sin-Ni."

And then, the form left Emily's hands and landed on the trash can, joining the fates of the disposable cups. She turned around and walked into the interview room Sin-Ni had been waiting to enter.

Dread crept up Sin-Ni's heart. There was no way she was rejected just like that. Indignation overcame her fear, and she ran into the interview room.

"Wait, wait!" she exclaimed. "I can't do basic magic, but I can still do enhancer magic! I can still fight!"

The blonde woman turned around and glanced at her. "It doesn't matter. You need basic magic to be able to operate a lot of our safety items, so it won't be safe for you in quests. I can't allow you into the guild knowing that, I'm sorry."

"But I've done lots of quests! I don't need the safety items, whatever they are!"

Emily raised her eyebrows. "You're bold, but I'm sorry. We are the number one guild in the world, and we go on the most dangerous quests. We can't have a quester who's unable to operate safety items."

Tears welled up in Sin-Ni's eyes. She had spent months—no, almost a year—traveling across the entire country; she had worked so hard saving up enough money for the stupid application form. And after all that, she was rejected just like that? Tears streamed down her face, and she quickly wiped them away.

"Please, please, I swear I can fight. Is there no way I can be accommodated?"

"Our guild has strict rules, and we need to follow them to ensure every guild member will be safe." Emily was unwavering in her decision. "I advise you to try out other guilds. They may be less strict about this."

Sin-Ni wanted to argue more, but a lump had formed in her throat. Before more tears could flow down her face, she spun around and stomped out of the room.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. It was so difficult finding a regular job without basic magic, why would she think that joining a guild would be any different? Not everyone was as nice as Jennifer. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

As she opened the door, Sin-Ni was met with a large group of people emerging out from the training room right across the hallway. One of them was the black woman who was Lyn's friend. Lyn was nowhere to be seen, however.

"What in the hell are you doing?" Emily's voice barked from behind.

With a lurch, Sin-Ni hurriedly moved away and muttered, "Sorry, sorry, sorry, I'm leaving, I'm leaving right now—"

But Emily was not talking to her. Her azure eyes were glued onto Lyn's friend, as she stalked out of the interview room and stopped right in front of her.

Despite being a head shorter than Emily, the black woman stood her ground and returned the glare. "What do you want, Emily?"

"The training room is reserved for senior questers only," Emily spat.

"So? It was empty."

"It doesn't matter if it was empty. You're not supposed to use it at all."

"Oh, who gives a shit."

"I do," Emily said through gritted teeth. "Rules are rules, Irene."

Irene rolled her eyes. "What are you going to do? Report me?"

Emily's face reddened. "Yes. Yes, I am."

"For real? Just for using a goddamn room? Jesus, Emily, what the fuck?"

"Yes, for real. You're not getting special treatment just because you're Lyn's friend!"

"Special treatment? What the fuck are you talking about? This is just straight-up ridiculous!"

"You're ridiculous for disregarding the rules all the damn time!"

A shouting match between the two women ensued, while a small crowd of curious onlookers gathered around them. Sensing danger, Sin-Ni backed away and dashed out of the building.