Episode 4: To Start Over (1)

The evening light shone down onto a young man as he exited the Hunter's Association building. There, it could be noted that he had a tired expression on his face, almost as if he was going to collapse at any given moment.

"...ugh. It's this late already?" Jace muttered as he took notice of the sunset in the distance. "Wow... What a serious waste of a day."

From this morning until now, Jace had been stuck at the Hunter's Association, all so he could obtain his hunter's license. He had originally thought it'd take around one to two hours, however, who would've thought that the exam's format would change, ruining Jace's entire schedule?

"Sigh. What a tiring day..." Stretching his arms whilst yawning, he turned to look around the area, taking notice that, compared to earlier, there were now only a few people idling about outside of the building. "Just why does this exam have to be so exhausting? Even my final high school exams weren't this bad..."

The entire license exam was a hassle for Jace. Especially so with the constant problems that were thrown at him with the format change. He loathed it, preferring the old format, where he would've had a far easier time with the exam.

"Stupid association..." He grumbled, turning his attention over towards the card in his hand. "But, whatever. What's done is done. I finally got my license, and I can now stop worrying about drawing attention."

It was all finally over for Jace. He no longer had to worry about Soren and the fear of him ever finding out that he took the exam. He could now happily go home and get a good night's sleep. However, just as he was about to take a step forward, a voice suddenly called out to him.

"Hey! You're Landon's partner, right?" Abruptly stopping in his place, Jace turned around, taking notice of a blonde-haired woman standing a few meters behind him. "The one from the exam?"

"...?" Taken by surprise at the sudden call, Jace took one good look at the person before him. "...who are you?" After a single glance, his brows furrowed, feeling as if she looked familiar to Landon, yet completely different at the same time.

"Hmm... It looks like you are!" she clasped her hands happily. "Is Landon done waiting for his license yet? I see you already got it. Ah, I also heard he's going to throw a party. Are you coming as well?"

"...you still haven't answered my question," Jace frowned. "Just who are you?"

"Oh, right, introductions!" she coughed. "I'm Lisa, his friend."

"...his friend?" Raising his brow in doubt due to the eerie resemblance of Landon, Jace turned around, now facing away from the woman. "...alright then. To answer yours: I don't know and no." He replied, beginning to walk down the staircase. "If there's nothing else, I'll be taking my leave."

"Wait, you're not going to go to the celebration party?" Lisa questioned. "Why not? He's treating, you know!"

"...I'm tired," he shrugged. "I don't really see any reason to go."

"No reason? Obviously to celebrate, no?" she continued to poke at the question. "You guys did win after all! So it wouldn't be right if the other man of honour was gone."

"I'm not needed," Jace replied. "I didn't do much anyways."

"Hmm... But those were some nice shots though!" Lisa raised her brow. "You sure you didn't do much? Seems like you contributed as much as Landon did."

"I have no clue what you're talking about but," Jace frowned. "This conversation is going nowhere. If you're here to invite me to the party, then no need. I'm not going."

"Jee!" she sighed. "Then how about this? There will be a small meeting at Crucelean Cafe, second floor, tomorrow at 2 PM."

"...and I should go because?"

"It doesn't look like you have anything better to do?" she chuckled. "It'll be worth it, or so I think. You're a Synergist, aren't you? So don't you need a team?"

"..." Jace kept quiet. "I'll think about it."

"Great!" Lisa smiled, soon waving goodbye to Jace. "I'll be going then~ See you around!"

As Lisa began moving away from him, the young man stood there, in deep contemplation.

"...I'm meeting a bunch of weird people today."

Shaking his head helplessly, he sighed, beginning to make his way back home.

...

Through the streets of Aurelis, a young man in a plain black shirt could be seen casually making his way through the crowd, soon stopping in front of a building the next moment.

"...Cerulean Cafe?" Jace thought to himself, glancing back and forth between his phone screen and the front of the building, where he could note the beautiful exterior decorations laid out outside. "Sigh. This took a while to find. Just why did this have to be so far from my house?"

In the end, Jace decided to go with Lisa's invitation and attend the "small meeting" that was to be held in this cafe. He knew not what to expect, but, there was only one thing he wanted, which was a team to go into a dungeon with.

"..well then. Let's just see what this is all about." Though, in the grand scheme of things, Jace decided to come here as there was nothing better to do. "...I swear, if it's anything weird... I'll leave."

As Jace stepped foot into the cafe, he was greeted by the sight of an almost deserted place, where no customers could be found whatsoever. Instead, only the bored workers could be seen idling around, waiting for someone like Jace to enter the cafe.

"...oh! A customer?!" A waiter shouted out.

"Really? You're joking, right?" A waitress hurriedly exited the kitchen the next second.

"...are you sure it's not one of his friends?" A bored old man sighed.

"Eh! Doesn't look like it!" The waiter replied.

"...uh?" Jace blinked in confusion, not knowing what to say to the situation he found himself in. "Is this Cerulean Cafe...?"