The Lightning Mage

2 | The Unexpected Fighter

Irene rolled her eyes and pretended to gag. "That's so stupid."

"I agree with you, but we gotta do what we gotta do." Lyn shrugged.

A knock came on the door.

"Ooh, one more," Millie said excitedly.

"Dear God, let's hope this person is good," Irene mumbled.

The door creaked open, and a petite woman with a high ponytail peeked into the room. Lyn's heart leaped to her throat at that moment.

"Cinnamon!" she exclaimed as she jumped up from her chair.

Glued to the door, Cydney pushed out a small smile and glanced around the room. "H- Hello, Lyn..."

The other three team members stared at them.

"Cinnamon?" Millie repeated, her brown eyes twinkling in amusement.

Irene lifted her eyebrows. "Oh? The waitress at that cafe you always go to? The girl you've been telling me about? That girl?"

Before Irene could spill any more secrets, Lyn interjected with a cheerful grin, "Yeah! She's Cydney. She told me that she knew a fighter so I asked her to drop by."

"Oh really?" Irene smirked, while Millie giggled behind her. "Is that really the reason why you wanted her to be here, Lyn?"

"Shut the hell up, Irene." Lyn turned back to Cydney, who had finally left the door and made it into the room. "Thank you so much for coming, Cinnamon. So, where is the fighter you mentioned?"

Cydney gulped with her head lowered. "There's... no one," she muttered. "It's... it's me."

Irene snorted, while Millie and Raph exchanged strange looks. A stone of dread landed in the pit of Lyn's stomach. She knew of Cydney's conditions, and there was no way Cydney could make the cut.

"Oh Cinnamon," Lyn said warily, "I'm sorry, but you'd- you'd have to be able to do magic..."

Cydney did not answer. Instead, she unhooked her wristwatch. With one swing, the watch extended in length, changing its shape into a thin, grey sword that rested comfortably on her hands.

Lyn's jaw dropped. Next to her, Millie gasped and covered her mouth, while Raph choked on his saliva and Irene fell out of her chair, somehow.

That was an impressive display of transmutation—one of the most advanced enhancer magic. Most enhancer mages could only (as the name suggested) enhance the strength and capability of their weapons. Even Emily, one of the best fighters in Dawn Avengers, could, at best, enlarge the size of her sword. But Lyn had never seen anyone transmute a sword from something completely different, and with such ease and speed.

Irene managed to pick herself back up from the floor. "You... Lyn said you can't even do basic elemental magic, but you can do advanced enhancer magic, like transmutation?"

Cydney nodded. "Only... Only on this," she stammered, pointing at her weapon.

"Oh, is that some kind of a special magical item or something?" Millie suggested.

"S- Sort of..."

Lyn remembered how she had noticed Cydney wearing a broken watch a few months ago, and how she had offered to fix it but Cydney had insisted against it. It dawned on Lyn why Cydney kept the watch the way it was—it was her special weapon.

And right now, the cute, delicate girl that Lyn was so familiar with was wielding a deadly, needle-sharp sword. This image itself was causing Lyn to suffer from mild cognitive dissonance.