[A Few Weeks Later (July 2022)]
The past few days of Cyrus' life were rather pleasant if he had to say so himself.
His training and studying were going smoothly, his mastery over his magic was steadily improving, and his research into the world of magic and sorcerers was bearing fruit. In all honesty, the 'tree magic' user couldn't remember the last time he ever felt so motivated. The last few years of his life were so dreadfully mundane that he was even starting to question why he was even alive at all. But nowadays, the young man had noticeably more pep in his step compared to a few months ago. He was even starting to actually think about his future. Something that he had hardly ever done before awakening his powers.
Although there were many new paths opened up to him now, there was one thing that Cyrus couldn't help but come back to every now and then. And that was the job of "Magical Researcher". The job was basically exactly what it sounded like. A position where men and women of the DPA spend their time studying cryptids, magic, enchantments, and so on. Experts in the field of magical science who spent all their time doing cool experiments and exploring new things.
From what the 'tree magic' user had learned, it was a fairly respected position. One that people thought pretty highly of, almost in the same regard as sorcerer assassins and DPA special agents. Albeit with a lot less danger attached to it. From what he had heard, Chief Chandler's husband, Lucas, was a pretty popular magical researcher who worked at MIT of all places.
'I wonder what I have to do to get a job like that.' The young man wondered as he casually made his way into the station, almost completely oblivious to the world around him.
Cyrus then walked into the elevator and pressed the button, taking a moment to relax his body by leaning up against the back wall. Suddenly, just as the door was about to close, a hand appeared out of nowhere and stopped the thing from closing.
This, of course, caught Cyrus by surprise. The young man then looked up from his phone, only to lock eyes with another agent. One that he hadn't seen before. The person in front of him was a woman. One with shoulder-length black hair and hazel eyes, standing at about nose-level with him. She was wearing a simple black suit with a pink shirt and had a bored expression on her face. Based on what he could tell, the woman was definitely around his age. Maybe a year older, if even that.
"Sorry about that." Cyrus apologized for not being aware of the woman's presence. "I didn't know that anyone was behind me."
"It's fine." The woman said with a stoic and dismissive voice.
The woman then took up the spot on the left wall and leaned back against it before folding her arms across her chest and pulling out her phone.
Almost immediately, Cyrus could tell that the woman in front of him was not an ordinary sorcerer. Or at least not like any that he had met so far. For starters, she possessed a significant amount of mana. A lot more than Ayako and almost double the amount that he had. If he had learned anything from all the reading that he'd been doing lately, it was that this lady was at least an A-rank sorcerer based purely on her mana level alone. Even Chief Chandler didn't have this much mana. And she was a certified A-rank herself.
That wasn't all, though. For some reason, Cyrus could sense what felt like multiple mana signatures coming from the woman. Almost as if she were a vessel for something.
'A 'beast magic' user? Don't they house their cryptids inside their bodies or something like that?'
The 'tree magic' user's curiosity got the better of him at that moment, and he decided that he should at least familiarize himself with all of the powerful people working in this office. After all, you never know when you're going to have to work with them in the future.
"Sorry to bother you, but I don't think I've seen you around her before. Are you new here, too?" He asked.
The woman looked up from her phone and gave Cyrus a look that told him that she definitely wasn't in the mood to be bothered.
'Shit! Was I not supposed to say that?'
Her eyes lingered on him for a few seconds before apparently deciding to answer his question.
"Kinda." She replied in the same bored voice that she used before. "I've only been here for a few months."
"Oh, me too! I didn't know there were any other rookies here besides me."
"You must be that guy with the weird 'plant magic' then." The woman then said. "The guy down in the records room mentioned you."
"You mean Freddy? Yeah, we get along pretty well. I didn't know he talked about me to other people." Seeing as he was already here, the young man thought that he might as well introduce himself properly. "I'm Cyrus Moore. I'm working under Ayako Watanabe right now. And you?"
"Maria Ortega." The now-identified woman responded. "I'm with the anti-personnel squad. I'm working under Robin Stillwater."
"Anti-personnel squad?" Cyrus repeated, genuinely surprised at hearing that. "You must be pretty strong then."
"Yeah, I guess you could say that."
Before the man could get out another word, the door to the elevator opened. And Maria wasted no time in making her exit. The young woman then paused for a moment before looking back at Cyrus and telling him that she'll see him around.
'She must be having a shitty day or something.' Cyrus surmised based on the woman's actions. It wasn't all that surprising. From what he knew, the anti-personnel squad strictly dealt with taking down rogue sorcerers who committed crimes in the state. It was the kind of job that would definitely put you in a sour mood depending on what happened.
Deciding to just chalk it up to that and nothing more, Cyrus put the encounter behind him and made his way over to the records room. He still had some time before he was scheduled to meet up with Ayako. So, he might as well chill out with Freddy before it was time to actually start working.
'I wonder what 's gonna happen today?' The young man wondered as he made the short journey to his intended destination.
-(o)-
"So, you're trying to come up with a way to make yourself more efficient in a fight?" Freddy asked Cyrus as he turned the page in his book.
"Yeah." The 'tree magic' user replied. "My magic is too slow. Aside from a mana burst, I have nothing that's fast enough to help me out when things go sideways."
"I can see how that's a problem."
The two teens were trying to come up with a solution to Cyrus' current conundrum. And to say that it was a difficult task would be putting it mildly. The majority of sorcerers could get by with just using their powers to take down cryptids. Which was more than enough, seeing as the creatures could only be killed by magic anyway.
"Hey..." Freddy then spoke up. "You can make weapons with your magic, can't you?"
"Kinda." Cyrus answered. "I can really only make spears, though. Me and Ayako tried to see if I could make knives or swords using the same method, but I have trouble when it comes to forming the blade. Making an edge is just too difficult for me right now. But I'm pretty good at making armor."
"Have you ever tried reinforcing a regular knife with your mana before?"
"Ayako mentioned something like that before, but she said that I wasn't ready for it at the time since it was too dangerous for newbie sorcerers. And it never came up again after that."
"I don't see why, it's actually not that hard."
To further prove his point, Freddy reached down under his desk before pulling a medium-sized hunting knife from his backpack. The 'dark magic' user gave his friend a look before activating his mana and allowing it to flow over the blade. Cyrus watched as a wave of purple energy encased the thing in only a matter of seconds.
"A girl named Valerie who works here uses this when she's out doing missions. Basically, you just use your mana to 'fill in' the impurities in the weapon to make it stronger. It's perfect for people like me who don't have a lot of mana to work with. Or those who don't have a lot of mana control. And if I'm not mistaken, Chief Chandler does the same thing with bullets."
"I see." Cyrus's mind began thinking of how useful something like that could be. It was actually exactly what he needed. "Do you mind if I try?"
"Go ahead!" Freddy smiled before walking over to Cyrus and handing him the knife.
The 'tree magic' user took the weapon in his hand and immediately began focusing his mana into it. Just like Freddy told him to, the process was actually much easier than what Cyrus had originally thought. It was pretty much the same as creating a barrier.
In a matter of seconds, the knife was glowing a familiar shade of dark green. And the 'tree magic' user could immediately tell that the thing was stronger than it was a few seconds ago. Hoping to see what this sort of technique could do, the teen proceeded to grab the half-empty plastic water bottle that was next to him and used the knife to slice it across the middle. And to his surprise, the thing cut through the bottle as if it were paper. With barely any effort on his part at all.
"That's crazy." The man then said.
"I know, right? A little bit of mana really makes the difference."
"This might be exactly what I needed! If I use this technique, then I won't have to worry about getting caught off guard."
Just before Freddy could respond, Ayako walked into the room. The woman was dressed in her usual work attire, which was a simple grey suit and black shirt, and immediately locked eyes with Cyrus.
"Man, you're here early. I heard that you were down here from some of the others." The woman said.
"Yeah, I was just chilling out before we had to meet up."
"Well, it's a good thing that I found you. The boss just told me that we're going out of the city today. The mana radar just picked up a C-rank cryptid that's hanging around a lake. And we need to go deal with it before someone gets killed."
"Sounds like a plan." Cyrus replied before handing the knife back to its owner. "Thanks for the help. I really appreciate it."
"Anytime, man!" Freddy replied with a grin. "I'm always here to help."
"Actually, Chief Chandler wanted you to come with us."
"Seriously?" Freddy gave the woman a surprised look. He certainly wasn't expecting to be going outside of his hole at any point today.
"Yeah." Ayako nodded, albeit a bit apologetically. "We don't know what kind of cryptid is out there, so the boss decided that we might need another pair of hands. And you were the first person that came to mind."
"Figures..." The 'dark magic' user sighed. Unfortunately, this wasn't exactly out of the ordinary for him. His job came with the added bonus of being the "utility guy" whenever others needed help. And the worst part about it was that he was usually the last one to be notified.
With nothing else needed to be said, the trio made their necessary preparations and exited the records room. Ready to go deal with what the day had in store for them.
-(o)-
[One Hour Later]
After changing into some more appropriate attire, the sorcerer trio soon arrived at the lake, and they immediately began searching the area for any signs of their target.
The lake itself was about seven times the size of a football field. And the surrounding area was nothing but forest with a few small piers here and there for good measure. Basically, it was exactly the kind of area that allowed for limited visibility and a high chance of getting hurt if you weren't careful. Add that to the fact that none of them actually knew what they were dealing with and it was a recipe for an annoying time.
The only bright side in all of this was that this place barely had any people around on weekdays. Otherwise, that would've caused some problems that no one wanted to deal with.
"I can already tell that we're going to be out for a while." Ayako complained while looking at her scanner as the group slowly scoured the area, little by little. Checking for any trace of the creature, whether it be footprints or a whiff of its mana.
The 'water magic' user could never understand how the DPA was able to develop technology that allowed them to track different mana signatures through the use of satellites and radar, yet that same tech couldn't be used to pinpoint that same mana signature's exact location. At best, they could only get within a few hundred meters of whatever they were looking for before having to go to try to find it manually. But to be fair, the technology was barely a decade old so there were bound to be a few kinks in the system.
"I don't even sense anything." Cyrus added while picking up some acorns he found on the ground. "Whatever this thing is, it's pretty good at hiding."
"If I had to take a guess, the thing might be in the water." Freddy put in his two cents. "Burus are known to show up in the area from time to time. So it wouldn't surprise me if it was one of those."
Thanks to his study of cryptids, Cyrus was able to picture what his colleague was talking about. A Buru was an aquatic type cryptid that was essentially a mix between an alligator and a snake. They grew to about twice the size of an average alligator and were known to be particularly aggressive when they felt threatened. Or when they thought they had easy prey nearby.
"If that's the case, then let me go check." Ayako looked at her two juniors before walking towards the water.
Once the woman was next to the water, she wasted no time activating one of her spells and quite literally began walking on the surface of the lake as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
"Water Walk."
In the back of his mind, Cyrus was in awe of seeing such a thing with his own eyes. Ayako had told him about this before, but as the saying goes, "Seeing is believing".
Apparently, skilled 'water magic' users like his partner were able to both walk on and breathe in water with relative ease. A skill that was unique to those born with their particular abilities.
From what the 'tree magic' user was able to learn, every magical attribute had something like this. 'Light magic' users could refract the light around their bodies in a way that allowed them to create illusions. 'Fire magic' users were almost impossible to burn due to their bodies being able to handle ridiculous levels of heat. Some 'wind magic' users could actually walk on air for brief periods of time. And many other things like that. For people like him, 'plant magic' users could do a variety of things depending on what type of plant they specialized in. Whether it be creating poisonous substances or rare and exotic fruits.
In a matter of minutes, Ayako was almost halfway across the surface of the lake. The woman was doing her best to keep her eyes peeled in case anything out of the ordinary caught her attention. The water was relatively clear and she could see pretty far beneath the surface from where she was standing. But so far, she hadn't found anything that would be able to give her a clue about the creature that they were searching for.
'Shit!' The woman mentally cursed. 'I can't wait for the day they update these scanners! Doing this stuff the old-fashioned way takes way too much time! Our sensing ability only goes so far at the end of the day.'
The woman pondered whether or not she should go all the way over to the other side, but quickly decided against it. Mainly because she didn't feel like walking all the way back to her partners once she was done. So in the end, she simply made the short journey back to where she started.
While the woman was returning, Cyrus and Freddy continued searching for any clues that might give them a lead. The two of them were inspecting some of the nearby trees before the 'dark magic' user spotted something interesting.
"Hey, Cyrus! Come check this out." Freddie waved the man over.
Once he was by his friend's side, Cyrus instantly took note of the tree that he was standing next to. The thing had a large set of scratch marks on it, almost twice as big as its head. In fact, it wasn't just this one tree. Most of the trees in the surrounding area had similar markings on them.
'I guess the cryptid was marking its territory' The teen theorized. After all, that would only make sense. Cryptids were still animals at the end of the day, just magically enhanced ones. They still followed some basic habits that normal creatures do.
Upon further inspection, Cyrus was able to deduce that the claw marks were all leading in a single direction. A bit further into the woods en route to a large set of hills. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on here. The cryptid obviously had some sort of nest nearby.
"Let's wait for Ayako to get back before we go further in." He then suggested. "I have a feeling that we're going to need her help."
"Good idea." Freddy agreed with no objections.
Sure enough, a couple of minutes later, the leader of the group returned. The younger duo told her about their discovery, and Ayako wasted no time deciding to go further into the woods. So with that, the trio followed the claw markings all the way to the base of the closest hill. Upon their arrival, the group noticed two things. The first was the giant hole on the bottom of the hill that was certainly made recently, given how fresh the surrounding area looked. And the second was the sizable amount of mana emanating from the newly created entrance.
"Jackpot!" Ayako whispered with a smile. It appeared as though they had located their target.
"So...what's the plan?" Cyrus asked as the teen pulled an acorn out of his pouch and formed it into a javelin roughly the size of his torso. While at the same time, Freddy coated his hunting knife with a portion of his mana.
"First things first, we need to find out what we're actually dealing with." The woman began. "We can plan our attack after that. Although...either way, we're going to have to go in there."
"Of course we do." Freddy let out an annoyed sigh. Why couldn't he have just stayed in the office? He wasn't really cut out for cryptid hunting like everyone else was.
And so, the trio slowly made their way into the cave. Their weapons and magic at the ready just in case something popped out at them.
The inside of the newly formed cave was just as one would imagine it to be. Dark, damp, stuffy, and full of non-human mana. They didn't know when the cryptid actually manifested itself, but judging by the amount of progress the thing was able to make in the cave it had to have been alive for a few days at least.
"Ugh...this place is gross." Ayako complained in a loud whisper. Luckily, the group had enough foresight to change into some more situation-appropriate attire. Otherwise, they would've gotten their suits completely trashed.
"I think I can sense where the thing is at." Cyrus announced while stepping over a pile of what he hoped was just foul-smelling mud.
Freddy gave the teen a surprised look. "What, already? Man, your mana-sensing skills are good."
"I'll say." Ayako agreed. Even for a third-generation sorcerer like herself, pinpointing a specific mana signature in this place was a trial. All of the excess mana in the air was basically scrambling her senses.
"Yeah, it's about thirty yards ahead of us."
"How powerful is it?"
"C-rank based on what I can tell. Just like what we were told"
The group continued to slowly advance through the cave before a loud roar caught their attention. And sure enough, before either of them could even blink, a large mass of purple liquid came flying at them.
"Move!" The leader of the group ordered before pulling her partner out of the way. With Freddy diving in the opposite direction.
Once the mystery substance hit the ground, the group looked behind them to see that the stuff was, in fact, some sort of acid. One strong enough to leave a decent-sized hole in the dirt.
"Shields!"
Without so much as a word, all three of them quickly erected their own barriers. Just in time to save themselves from a second mass of acid that impacted the magical constructs. Thankfully, whatever this stuff was, it wasn't strong enough to melt through pure mana. Suddenly, the creature that created this stuff appeared in front of them in all of its scaled and slimy glory.
'A buru, huh? Man...I hate when I'm right' Freddy mentally groaned upon finally seeing the cryptid.
Just like the 'dark magic' user had told the duo before, the buru was an amalgamation of a snake and an alligator. Roughly twenty feet long and five feet tall, with razor-sharp teeth and an elongated tongue.
With no time to waste, Cyrus tossed three acorns in the direction of the creature. The seedlings hit the ground and immediately started growing, creating a series of wooden branches to immobilize their opponent. Unfortunately, the growth was a bit too slow, allowing the buru to wiggle out of the way of the attack before getting trapped. Thankfully, Ayako was right on top of it.
"Water Slicer!"
From the palm of her hand, a furious stream of highly pressurized water shot out of the woman's body and struck exactly where she wanted it to. Hitting the creature with enough force to completely chop off its front leg.
Not one to miss out on the fun, Freddy aimed his finger at the creature. The 'dark magic' user then shot off a mana burst with enough accuracy to take out one of the buru's eyes.
The buru was now in full survival mode. Blindly charging at the trio while haphazardly spraying its poisonous acid in every direction in hopes of taking at least one of them down before it fell. This wasn't too much of a problem, though. Seeing as the creature's reckless abandon was exactly the opening that Cyrus' 'tree magic' needed to finally take hold of the creature.
The moment it was caught, the buru began violently thrashing around in all directions to try and free itself. However, now that the creature was caught in his trees, Cyrus turned his magic's special property on full blast. Draining its mana away faster than it even knew what to do in response.
As the trees themselves began growing larger and larger at a rapid pace, Ayako sprinted forward. The 'water magic' user then used her body enhancement technique to imbue her fist with a surge of mana before delivering what could only be described as a death blow to the beast by punching it in the top of its head. Completely caving its skull in with just that one punch.
To further confirm that the job was done, the buru began disintegrating into nothingness. Which allowed the trio of sorcerers to relax their muscles and take a breather.
"Good job, boys! I'd say we were all worried for nothing!"
Cyrus let out a short laugh. "I wouldn't exactly say that."
"For real...." Freddy agreed. In his eyes, if Ayako wasn't here with them then this would've been way harder to deal with.
As the group took a few seconds to dust themselves off, Cyrus noticed something a bit further into the cave. Under normal circumstances, he probably wouldn't have noticed it. But thanks to the small amount of light that they had, the 'tree magic' user was actually able to see a fair distance in front of him. The green-eyed teen proceeded to pull out his cell phone and walk forward a bit, using his phone's light to get a better look at what had caught his attention.
'What's this?' He thought to himself only a moment before realizing exactly what he was looking at. "Hey check this out!"
Ayako and Freddy turned around to see their partner holding up a pale yellow egg in his hand while standing over a raised mound of dirt, mud, and leaves. One roughly the size of his head.
"Oh shit!" Freddy said with genuine amazement. "That buru laid eggs?"
"Looks like it. There's four of them."
Ayako visually inspected the new discovery while walking over to her partner. "If I remember correctly, those things catch a pretty penny. 'Beast magic' users pay good money for fresh eggs. Bonding with a newborn cryptid is way easier than catching and taming one that's already fully grown."
"So what do we do with them?"
The group leader rubbed her chin in contemplation for a moment before deciding what to do. Normally, any offspring of a cryptid would be killed along with its parent. But that didn't necessarily apply when it came to unhatched eggs. "We'll take them back with us and hand them over to the boss. Not only will some of the 'beast magic' users in the office appreciate it, but we might even get a sweet little bonus out of it."
"Sounds like a plan." Freddy agreed with the woman's line of thinking.
Once the rest of the eggs were secured, the trio of sorcerers wasted no time leaving the area and making their way over to the car. It was still pretty early in the morning, which meant that once they finished handing over the buru eggs and doing their mandatory paperwork, they had the rest of the day to train and goof off.
Unbeknownst to the trio, they were not alone during their brief excursion out to the lake. On the other side of the water, hidden behind the trees, was a small group of six men and women watching them take their leave. At the front of the pack was a familiar-looking man with pale skin, piercing blue eyes, and a neat buzz cut. His cold gaze was locked onto the retreating vehicle, but none of the others around him could tell what the man was thinking.
"It looks like we got here just a bit too late, sir." The woman standing to his left said as she dropped her binoculars.
"Goddamn DPA agents..." A younger man in the rear of the formation sneered. "And we just managed to track that buru down too!"
"And the worst part is that it looks like the thing laid some eggs before getting destroyed. Those things are worth a few thousand bucks a pop."
Without a word, the silent leader stood up from his position and began walking around the perimeter of the lake. His lackeys immediately followed suit behind him. In a matter of minutes, the entire group had arrived at the cave and began inspecting the inside of it to see if there was anything that they could salvage out of it.
"What the hell?" The woman from before remarked once her eyes saw the winding tree that Cyrus had left behind. The magical creation had completely taken over a section of the nearby wall and ceiling. But had stopped growing since its primary mana source was now dust in the wind.
'This magic....' Aaron thought to himself. 'It must be from the guy that Mikayla mentioned a while ago.'
"What the hell kind of magic do those guys have? I've never seen this kind before." One of the unnamed minions said while inspecting the tree, placing his hand upon it for no particular reason at all. The moment he did that, the man suddenly felt the low amount of mana he had begin to drain away from his body. Only realizing what was going on just in time to avoid getting sucked dry and passing out. While that was happening, Aaron witnessed the tree itself begin to grow as a reaction.
"You okay?"
"Y-yeah...it's just...what the hell is this thing made of? As soon as I touched it I felt my mana begin to deplete."
"Fascinating." Aaron finally spoke up for the first time since the group ventured out to the lake. If the blue-eyed man wasn't watching the event play out as it happened, he might not have noticed the change in the tree at all. But since he was, he now had a new theory that he wanted to confirm.
With just his finger, the man touched the tree. And sure enough, he felt his mana begin to leave his body as the branches began to grow outward even further. Not by much, but enough for him to notice.
"This tree absorbs mana." He then said flatly. His words surprised a few of the others around him.
"Seriously?" The woman raised an eyebrow. "I never heard of someone being able to do that before with their magic."
Aaron had a feeling that he had just discovered something that was truly worth his time. But, there was still one more thing that he wished to test out before making his conclusion.
The blue-eyed man stepped back a bit before raising his left hand. Just then, a blue flame the size of a basketball appeared in front of him. With no hesitation, the 'fire magic' user then launched the fireball at the tree. Taking a moment to watch as Cyrus' creation went up in flames. For a short while, the tree grew a bit larger, but it wasn't strong enough to stop itself from turning into ash in a matter of seconds.
"We're leaving." The leader then said as he began walking towards the exit. "It looks like we've gained something more valuable than a C-rank cryptid and a few eggs."
None of the man's subordinates knew what the guy was talking about. But they had long since learned to never question the orders of their leaders. Especially not the one in front of them right now.
'It looks like Mikayla was right about that agent. Hannah is definitely going to want to hear about this. If all of his creations can do something like that, he's going to be worth a lot of money. We might need to come up with a plan for him in the future.'
-(o)-
[A Few Hours Later]
Once all of the paperwork was finished, Cyrus leaned back in his chair and relaxed his body. Happy to finally be done with all of the nonsense that came with today's hunt. The cryptid was dead, the eggs were safely in the possession of some of the other agents who worked in the office, and he officially had nothing to do for the rest of the day.
"Geez, try not to look so happy." Ayako said in a joking tone from across the desk.
"Can you blame me, though?" The teen replied. "Having to fill out these forms every time we take down a cryptid is a total pain in the ass."
"Can't argue with you there."
"Why do we have to do this stuff anyway?"
"It's so that the DPA can keep an accurate account of how many cryptids show up in a specific area and how often. Numbers like that pretty much determine how much funding each station gets for the year."
That certainly made sense in the 'tree magic' user's opinion. He could see how important it was to make sure areas that had higher rates of cryptid activity got more money than others. It was the reason why places like New York and Houston had the biggest offices compared to mid-level cities like Charlotte.
"Either way, now that we're done all we have to do is wait until it's finally time to leave."
"What's the rush?" The woman asked. "You got a hot date tonight or something?"
"Psht..." Cyrus waved off. "As if! I'm just ready to go home and lie down. Besides, the whole dating thing isn't really my scene anyway."
Okay, now that certainly piqued Ayako's interest. The entire time that the two had been together, Cyrus had never once mentioned anything about that kind of stuff. It wasn't exactly out of the ordinary, or any of her business for that matter, but the way that he said that line got her curious. "Why not?"
"It's just not for me. Relationships take way too much effort. And I'm lazy."
"C'mon, you're only eighteen! It's kinda early for you to write the whole thing off entirely."
"Funny, my dad said the exact same thing when I ended things with my ex."
"What happened?"
"Nothing bad. I just didn't feel like dealing with her anymore."
"Wow, and I thought you were a nice and respectable young man. But here you are just tossing women off to the side like it's nothing. Shame on you!"
"What about you?" Cyrus countered. "You're just as single as me."
"I'm a busy woman! I just don't have the time to dedicate to romance right now. My work is more important!"
...
...
...
"Your last guy dumped you, didn't he?"
Ayako instantly dropped her head onto the desk. And a metaphorical cloud began to form over her head. If Cyrus didn't find the image so funny, he might've actually felt bad for the woman. Maybe.
"That bastard left me for someone else!" The 'water magic' user sadly admitted. "And he didn't even bother telling me to my face! All I got was a damn email. A fucking email, can you believe it? See, this is what I get for dating one of my brother's friends!"
Cyrus decided to keep the fact that he broke up with his ex-girlfriend over text a secret. He had a feeling that he probably shouldn't admit to that little detail right now while his partner was like this. In his defense, it was the only way that he could do it without having to get out of bed that day. But the email thing did sound like a good idea that he might need to use in the future.
"I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you. Aren't you from a big sorcerer family? I'm sure that you have guys lined up around the corner just waiting for a chance to get with you."
"Not really. But hey, it could be worse. I could be from the McKenna family."
"Huh?" Cyrus tilted his head in confusion.
"Don't worry about it." The woman quickly replied before changing subjects. "Anyway...since we have the time, why don't the two of us head out to lunch? My treat. I was planning to do that today anyway."
"Why?"
"Because, according to the boss, your probationary period is officially done as of today."
"Seriously?" That was news to him. "That was quicker than I expected."
"Yup, you're a full-fledged member of the team now. Of course, we'll still be partners. But now you can get sent out on hunts with other agents. And you won't be confined to working within the city anymore. So get ready to start taking some overnight trips at least once a month."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Although you'll obviously never find a better partner than me. I am awesome after all."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night."
"Asshole..." Ayako playfully pushed her subordinate on the shoulder.
With that, the sorcerer duo took their leave. On the way, Cyrus couldn't help but feel a little better about himself. He had improved quite a bit ever since joining the DPA. And it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that his outlook on life had improved dramatically. Before, he was just some no-name who was wandering through life without any real direction or purpose. Now, he actually had something to look forward to every day. Sure, the work he signed up for was dangerous. But that just added to the excitement of it. Not to mention the fact that he was learning about and experiencing an entirely new world of things that he had only ever dreamt about.
Things were definitely looking up as far as Cyrus was concerned. And he was more than ready to kick things up a notch.