The three of them got out to the inner yard of the mansion, which must have been owned by an Eastern family before. The weather was lovely, and soft clouds were gently covering the spring warm sun. Niji took a look around: tall brick walls ahead, wooden stages here and there, staircases to watchtowers and overly-used dummies to burn, beat and perhaps even be bitten by mythical creatures.

A slim Asian girl was swinging her legs on a nearby veranda, called an engawa in the East. Less than 5-feet tall, she had two pink pigtails with red ribbons, denim shorts, a top with no sign of breasts underneath, black stockings and white shoes. There were small symmetrical tattoos on her shoulders in a form of semi-disks, most presumably the magical ones. The girl was lazily chewing a thin reed and scratching a black and white cat beside her.

“What a loli,” Niji wondered. “For real, a true battle mage, member of semi-legal group? How old is she? Well, she might be Fiber’s daughter.” She somewhat smiled at the last idea.

“Ohayō, Dasu,” the girl heard them coming and turned to the games. “What’s the matter?”

“This is Niji, an Elementalist from the Academy. Our wannabe recruit. Get things done.”

“A test, huuuuh?” The girl shook her head. “Do we need the noobs from the Academy if they are one-shot?”

“Cut the crap, Sunny. When Dammit comes, we start.”

“Whoaaaaa, well, if Chi is here…”

The girl became kinder instantly. She jumped down and cocked her head towards Rem.

“And he is...?”

“He is a Lackluster,” said Dasnor before Rem could even utter a word. “He’ll leave as soon as we decide on Niji.”

Rem was exasperated, but kept silent. The shorty casually eyed him from head to foot and turned to Dasnor again, “Okay. Where’s Dammit, though?”

“Changing… ah, here he goes.”

“There must be a trumpet call here, no?”

This male voice sounded very familiar to Niji. Some seiyuu from her favorite shows? A random player from a voice-chat of any MMORPGs she had played? There was no point in guessing, but she was sure she’d remembered it at 3 a.m. or at whichever useless moment.

A guy of the same height as Niji entered the yard. One could say his face was like a peasant’s, typical of troublemakers with reduced brain capacity. The corner of his mouth was up in a somewhat sarcastic smile. The mage was wearing military boots, loose khaki pants and a black sport shirt. He was crowned with a knitted bee-striped cap, and a bunch of chestnut hair stuck out from it. His right muscular shoulder was entwined with an abstract painting. Niji didn’t know whether it was an amplifier that big or just a tribal-style tattoo.

“Are you… eh… Dammit? The healer?” Niji asked in doubt while he was approaching the mages, hands in his pockets.

“Don’t I look like one?”

“Well… where is your robe or something like that?”

“Are you a magical girl? Where is your heart-shaped rod or something like that?”

Niji stood still with her mouth open. Thin bee horns on Dammit’s head shook as he laughed.

“Acknowledge my upper hand, and we’ll be friends! But Niji, you are so forgetful. Don’t be like that if you wanna stay alive, free advice. We’ve only seen each other just a few minutes ago.”

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Niji pierced him with her gaze. But… but how? In the office? There was only Fiber, his son and…

“Ah, pardon my manners, I should have introduced myself properly,” the mage cleared his throat and stood bolt upright. “Harold James Mark Omnious the Fourth. Just Dammit, for short. Whoa, easy, girl, easy, I’ve just changed clothes to what’s more comfy. I can heal even without my classy legendary shit on.”

“Harold… Omnious?”

“My lot lacks ideas for naming.”

“I didn’t mean that. I just… I thought your family was too elitist to be with those who are generally considered… um…”

“Misfits, ya mean? Nah, who’s gonna ask them, in the first place? I don’t give a shit about this elitism, long faces and two-hour long prayers to the Goddess. A five-minute session is more than enough, I’d say.”

“That’s why they call you Dammit? Heretic much?”

“Ah, that’s just for usability. Everytime I hear the screams and curses, that means someone is in the process of dying. Yet again.”

“Maybe we’ll start already?” Dasnor asked.

“Aye aye, my Grumpy Boy! I am super interested in your amplifier, Niji. Let’s have a look.” Dammit tried to encourage her with a wink.

“Amplifier?” Sunny arched her brow.

“The Elementalists are so trendy nowadays with their protective auras…” Dammit commented in a mystical tone.

“Thirty paces away,” Dasnor ordered, and the girls walked to their positions. “Five-second countdown.”

The mage girls stood facing each other. Niji was worried sick, much more so than she used to be while taking the tests in the Academy. She looked at her opponent closely, and it seemed the shorty was growing older with each second.

“Uh, Sunny… which type are you?”

“The color, you mean? Nah, I won’t tell ya.”

“That’s unfair! You know I am a Crimson.”

“Do you really think you’ll always be aware of your enemy’s abilities?” Dasnor commented, standing with Dammit and Rem on engawa, far from the battlefield. “We are not the Academy here.”

“Yup-yup,” Dammit nodded. “You’re gonna see such sick weirdos you just can’t imagine.”

“The conditions are perfect now,” the leader’s son added. “You won’t die, but the opponent you face is unfamiliar. A rare occasion.”

“Mind that I’ll give it all I’ve got, no discounts,” Sunny stated with a creepy smile.

There was no point in arguing. Niji observed the little girl in order to find things which could hint at her actual powers. Minimalistic clothes indicated she couldn’t store anything to activate energy—so, not a Crimson. Viridians did not usually fight up close and they were no match for elementalists… she didn’t look like a Celestial as well. If she was an Amber, she definitely lacked a proper weapon, as her tiny fists were more like a joke. A Manipulator? Well, it seemed so.

Because if she happened to be a Summoner, Niji would be doomed.

“Good luck, Niji,” said Rem with a sour face. Dasnor counted to five, and the duel began. The mage girl waited for Sunny to attack first—thus, she could see her color and choose the respective tactics. But the shorty just stood where she was, still grinning slyly.

“C’mon, whatcha waiting for? Are you good enough to stay in M.A.G.E.? Ganbate!”

No, Sunny wouldn’t start off, she would just keep on teasing the newbie. Shame, but speech battles were not Niji’s cup of tea. Time for a “Go Big or Go Home” plan then. Niji gathered a huge scope of energy from her lighter and threw a fireball. Because that was all a sane wizard could do in most situations, right?

Sunny rushed to the side, shortened the distance in a few jumps and appeared behind Niji’s back. Then a presumptuous kick in the ass followed, and the shorty was back at her starting position within a blink of an eye.

It was far beyond a simple humiliation.

Despite the audience expressing nothing more than neutral interest (except for Dammit’s huge grin, but it seemed to be there permanently), Niji felt even more insulted.

“Kinda lame,” Sunny made a verdict, adjusting her pigtails. “Doesn’t your aura or whatever keep you safe from a simple kick?”

“Well, at least now I know you are an Amber. No one else can have such speed.”

“Sou,” Sunny lunged to Niji again, but she was prepared this time.

The loli’s reactions were unbelievable. In a second she knocked the lighter off Niji’s grip and began hitting so fast the Elementalist was barely able to block. Sunny missed quite a few punches, but they were hardly painful at all. If it was indeed ‘all-she-got’ that would be ridiculous.

The young Asian jumped back and squinted smugly, “Can’t do magic without that thingie, huh?”

“Indeed. But I know your trick now.”

“Yeaaaah?”

“You are an Amber with boosted attack speed, but there’s no sense in it considering your level of strength. There must be something else here. Where’s your true weapon? Your panties are too short, no way it could be in the pockets.”

“Whooooa! At least you’re not dumb. You still have a chance against me, after all.”

Sunny crossed her hands in front and put her palms to the tattoos on her shoulders. The amplifiers shone with orange color, engulfed with magical dust, and two disks—each a mix of a fan and a chakram—appeared near the girl. Sunny grabbed the handles and swayed the weapons to her sides in an ostentatious movement.

“Now, let’s get started.”