Allen and Nera walked skeptically into the dimly lit lounge. As they walked passed, the man who was drawing on a table looked up from his sketch to wave at them. The one sitting next to him caught all the cards he had thrown in the air with one hand and also waved. Allen was not that impressed by the trick and took much more notice of the first person who waved, seeing that their fingers were all completely a metallic black.

He only looked for a moment not wanting to stare and continued on with Nera to the counter that the bartender was standing behind. He looked to be in his early fifties with a neatly trimmed moustache and graying hair with freckles peppering his face. He wore a standard bartender suit with a white undershirt and black vest.

"Could you get us in contact with the person who runs the place?", Allen asked.

"Of course, I am that person. The name's Haris Fletcher. What can I assist you with?", he declared with a half bow.

Allen and Nera were mildly surprised but proceeded with their inquiry.

"That's convenient, Mr. Fletcher. Here, take a look at this.", Allen handed him one of the fliers they made.

"We wanna know if you don't mind us putting some of them in front of your store.", Nera followed up as Mr. Fletcher took the flier in his hands and looked over it.

"A specter hunting service named...Virtuoso?", he looked somewhat confused as he finished reading the flier.

"I know, kind of doesn't fit, right? Personally, I wanted to call it Interstellar Spirit Fighters.", Nera commented.

"Again, where does the "interstellar" part come from?"

“It’s just supposed to be cool, that’s all there is to it. It would be how we stand out.”, before Allen could continue bickering with her in response, he was cut off by the lounge owner.

“Excuse me, the name’s not the part I’m confused about. It’s the specter hunting, are you two Traversers?”, Haris asked.

“Nah, this is our own thing, not connected to them in any way.”, Allen replied, pretending to know more about them than he actually did. He could only vaguely recall that the Bastion attendant had referenced them as being professional spector hunters as well which aligned with why the shopkeep would think they were traversers.

“I see, that must be rather rough then not having the backing of the Traverser’s League such as lodging, resources, and equipment. And you two are the only members of this group?”

“Yeah, although we’re open to new members, I can’t see many people being crazy enough to join.”, Allen commented.

“That would be a hard sell. I have a problem with staffing myself I’m afraid.”, Haris sighed in dismay and gestured around himself to point out the absence of any other workers there besides him.

“Enough with the small talk. Will you let us post the fliers in front of your lounge or what, Old Man Freckles?”, Nera chimed in straightforwardly.

“Old Man Freckles?’

“C’mon Nera, we’re trying to get on the old dude’s good side.”,

“Old dude?”, Haris muttered out sadly as he watched them argue again.

“Your pointless blabbering won’t get us anywhere but wasting time.”

“Even if that was true, being a jerkass doesn’t help either.”

“That’s really stellar to hear from you, harda-”

“I think I’ve come to a decision.”, Haris interrupted forebodingly and they both stopped talking to listen.

“I’ll let you post your fliers here but only on the condition that you both wash dishes here for a week.”

“What, you can’t be serious!”, Allen shouted in surprise while Nera was similarly caught off guard.

“You can’t expect us to be your bus people for no pay because you’re understaffed.”, Nera stated with a scowl.

Haris Fletcher simply chuckled in their faces and nonchalantly handed them back their flier. They were stunned silent in bewilderment enough for the large explosion noises from the video game in the corner to become noticeable to them.

“You’re right, I wouldn’t do such a thing. Just a little jest from this old fellow. I’ll let you place a few ads on the windows.”

“Really? You had us going for a moment.Thanks a lot sir!”, Allen shook hands with the bartender and so did Nera.

“No skin off my back, although buying a couple drinks wouldn’t hurt.”, the older man winked and pointed a thumb to the menu up above him.

“Roger, it’s the least we can do. You’re the only one all day who allowed us to post them.”

‘Especially for free.’

Allen looked over the list of drinks and saw there was a wide variety of beverages in a mix of different flavors such as soda, juice, coffee, shakes, tea, and his favorite, smoothies.

“I’ll take an avocado-mango smoothie.”

“Give me an earl grey tea.”

After Allen and Nera ordered their drinks respectively, Haris promptly prepared them behind the counter using a multi-purpose machine that functioned as a coffee brewer, automatic tea kettle, smoothie blender, and shake maker. They then both received their beverages from each of the lounge owner's hands and sat down on stools next the counter to enjoy them.

They were only there for a moment before noticing footsteps coming up from behind and turned around to see the two guys they saw earlier approaching them.

“Hey, how’s it going there? It’s not often we get people coming here who aren’t looking for directions to the nearest water fountain, much less ones who actually come in, ”, this was said by the young man who had been drawing. He wore a zipped up green jacket with orange accents on it and had a green and orange streak running through his black hair that resembled lightning.

“My name is Luka DelaCroix, one you’ll want to remember when I make it big.”, he signed his named in the air in front of him in bright orange as normally as if it were a blackboard and it then exploded like miniature fireworks as he kept on talking.

“And you two’s would be?”

“What is that and how do I get one?”, Allen abruptly asked in amazement while Nera looked unimpressed and yawned.

“That’s a pretty wordy name don’t you think?”, he chuckled lengthily at his own joke while everyone else, including his acquaintance, looked on in exasperation.

“Sorry about him, sometimes I wish he was as good at talking as he was at drawing.”, this was said by the man who had the playing cards that was now shuffling them. The light blonde-haired man wore a long-sleeved black t-shirt with a wavy lavender line on it, gray wristbands, and a necklace with a square red charm. He also wore two simple gray rings on one of his hands.

“He looks like some sort of street magician. I hope he doesn’t try to mind shatter us or whatever they call it.’

“I can’t see why.”, Nera sarcastically remarked.

“I can, what is that device in his hands anyway?”

“It’s an airpoint pen, uses ethereal ink that allows him to draw in the air. It’s a pretty nifty tool but he mostly uses it to make random doodles in the air.”, as the young man in the black shirt explained this, the other was drawing a beagle wearing a bow tie in the air which further proved what he was saying.

“Hey, these aren’t just doodles, Their incredibly cool works of art. I can even put them into motion any time I want too.”, he pressed a button on the side of the pen and the dog began walking.

“How did you do that with just one button?”, Allen asked curiously.

“Heh, you can preset certain actions to happen depending on the drawing and then activate them accordingly. Pretty neat, huh.”, Luka elaborated as he waved the pen in the air smugly.

“Gotta admit, that would be awesome to have. Maybe I could even draw something that doesn’t look like crap with it.”

“Yeah, this is great but it costs a few Gs and you guys seem like you’re having money problems already if you’re willing to come here.”, he laughed.

“Uhh, I think I’ll pass on getting one of those for now then.”, Allen stated meekly.

“What do you mean by “willing to come here”, Doodles?'', Nera questioned.

He glanced over at Mr. Fletcher who just merely sighed and nodded his head before continuing to polish one of the many clean plates that had never been used before at all. Luka then proceeded.

“Let’s just say that this place isn’t the most popular place around in the Chandelier District and more like the opposite. By the way, how is it that I’ve already gotten a nickname but still don’t know either of your names?”

“My bad, it’s Allen.”

“Mine’s Nera.”

“That’s more like it, this guy right here is Glenn.”, Luka gestured to the blonde-haired man beside him.

“Cool.”, Nera took another sip of her earl gray tea and looked around the building. It looked nice. It was spacious, clean, had nice lighting, a lot of tables for people to sit, a dartboard on the wall, and a couple pool tables in one corner of the lounge, much better than the restaurant she worked at. She could tell the owner had put in a lot of effort in making this a comfy place to relax. There were even flat screen TVs perched on each of the four pillars spread across the place with one of them being currently used to play video games on by one of the patrons. All this made her wonder why a place like this was so unpopular in the first place.

“I’m not sure why a place as posh as this is so empty. It’s kind of strange.”, Nera stated, voicing her thoughts.

“Well, that sort of has something to do with the people Mr. Fletcher lets in. We all have a pretty bad reputation. I’ve gotten into a few fights here and there, this guy pisses people off with his magic tricks, and I’m not quite sure what’s the deal with the guy in the corner..”, he pointed to the person at the other side of the lounge who was playing some sort of war-themed game and had not moved a centimeter from that spot since Allen and Nera got here. “...But once when I tried talking to him in the middle of his game, he tried to throw a chair at me, so I can kind of figure out what it could be.”, he smirked as he elaborated.

“Wow, Mr. Fletcher must be one hell of a guy to put up with all of you guys.”, Nera responded.

“Sure seems like it.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty grea-”

“Hey!!! Listen!!!”, Luka was interrupted by a loud shrill cry that came from right next to him. It came from the young woman who had been singing on the lounge’s stage. Allen did not even notice her walking up to them due in part to her small stature. She was a short young woman in an elaborate frilly blue dress with sleeves that hung down from her arms and a long collar that went all the way up her neck. She had black hair, teal eyes, and currently wore a fierce and irritable expression on her face.

“How dare you introduce everyone else besides me, Luka!?”, she exclaimed loudly again and he clutched his ear, he had taken the brunt of the yelling being right at ground zero.

‘His ears must be ringing right now. I’m a few feet away and that hurt from here.:, Allen thought to himself but daring not to say it out loud in fear of getting yelled at himself.

“You got it wrong, I was just about to get to you. How could I forget our lovely songstress?”, Luka wryly replied.

“Hmph, then go on then.”, she huffed and then folded her arms across her chest.

‘Alright, everyone, this is our resident songstress, Evelyn Facilis, who has the courtesy of singing at the R&R just out of the goodness of her heart. She has an incredible set of lungs on her as you have just witnessed. She once had an entire crowd's ears ringing for seven minutes.”

“What, that’s not what you were supposed to say.”, Evelyn stated.

“Well, you didn’t exactly give me lines.”

“Ugh, whatever, I’m Evelyn like he said. I’m a singer looking to perform concerts all around the world to millions of people. The unfortunate incident he’s told you about happened a long time ago when I was just starting out. I’ve gotten a lot better from practicing here. Maybe I can treat you two to a song sometime? This place has great acoustics.”, she said in a much calmer and composed manner than before.

“I’ll pass on that. I heard enough of your off-key singing earlier.”, Nera remarked.

“Those were just some vocal exercises. My real singing is a lot better. I’ll prove it!”

Nera chuckled, “Okay, don’t go overboard. I’ll be fine with listening some other time.”

“Alright, you won’t regret it! You’ll be serenaded by a future superstar.”, Evelyn declared boldly and pointed directly at Nera with a determined smile on her face. Everyone else had an amused grin.

“Oh! Almost forgot, there’s one more regular here but she’s been pretty busy with work this week. She’s actually the most normal one of the group.”, Luka added.

Allen spoke up then, “What about you? Glenn, right? How does a magician even find work in a place with people that can use magic everywhere?”

“In a very nuanced way, do you want a demonstration? It shouldn’t take long.”, Glenn offered.

“Hmm, sure why not?”, Allen accepted.

“I’m kind of curious to see this myself.”, Nera followed.

“Ah, then how about we make a wager between you two to make this more entertaining?.”, Glenn suggested.

“What kind of wager are you talking about?”, Allen asked tentatively.

“Well, my magic tricks work by having participants try to guess which Craft type I’m using.”

“Craft Type? What’s that?”

“Huh, must not have been raised as much of a Crafter if you don’t know the basics of basics.”’

“Uhh, yeah. I just came to Atelier City and my parents didn’t really teach me much about Craft at all. Allen answered sheepishly. He was not sure what the attitude was to people here of non-magic people coming here but he did not feel like testing it out.”

“I see, I’ll let you in on the info in a way you’ll be able to understand since you’ll need to know it to be even able to participate. You think you can catch on quickly?”

Allen nodded while Nera was also paying close attention beside him. The young woman was curious to find out more about Craft herself.

“I think so.”

“First off, I’m a Magician Crafter as you could’ve guessed and my Craft allows me to manipulate cards in various ways by using each of the Four Craft types: Formation, Augmentation, Invocation, and Transference.”

“And that means?”

“Allow me to show you.”

Glenn pulled a card out from his deck and displayed it to them. He then placed it on the table and a purple glow began emitting from it. It changed to the brown color of the table and became near invisible with Allen being sure that the only reason he knew it was there was because he had seen it put there with his own eyes just a moment before.

“Formation Craft, it allows the reshaping of matter and this is a skill for altering the ink of a card to make it appear as I want.”

Another glow of violet light shimmered over the card and it returned back to its original appearance. Next, he picked the card up and it glowed again. He gave it to Allen, gesturing for him to bend it which he attempted to do to no avail.

“It’s not budging, it’s like it's made out of stone.”, he stated and handed the card back to Glenn.

“That’s because I used Augmentation Craft on it this time to strengthen the rigidity of the card. Augmentation Craft is for altering the physical properties of objects.”

“Alright, what about the other two then?”, Nera chimed in.

“Here’s Invocation Craft…”, Glenn released the card and it began spinning in the air.

“This type allows for the movement of physical objects as you can see. And here’s the last one.”, Glenn said as grabbed the card and swung it in arc.

“Transference Craft, it let’s a Crafter store and emit different forms of energy. My skill in particular let’s me absorb the energy from the movement of these cards and emit that force outwards as so.”, this statement was followed by a light breeze of air expelling from the card.

“Okay, so Craft is separated into those four different types. I think I have a solid grasp on them now but how does that apply to your trick?”, Allen asked.

“My “tricks” work by having my spectators try to guess if I’m using any of the four craft types.”, Glenn elaborated.

“Alright, that sounds fairly simple, but how will we know which is which?”

“With one of these!”, Luka pulled out a small rectangular device that resembled a cell phone with a dark gray circle on the back.

“It’s called a Slate. It's like a smart phone and it has a feature to keep track of someone’s aura and what type of Craft they’re using. I can set this down on its back here and when he’s done with a trick you can check which type was used. Glenn, go ahead and demonstrate for them.”

The light-haired man nodded and performed all the feats of magics he did earlier in the same order while the Slate’s screen switched from images of a red hammer, yellow spear, blue horn, and green pickaxe. Allen figured each symbol represented one of the four Craft types respectively. He had a fondness for trivia and puzzle games, so he was keen to take Glenn’s offer for his magic show along with wanting to find out more about how magic worked for both practical reasons and his own innate curiosity.

‘Seems a little complicated for a simple magic trick but I guess they have to be that complex to stand out in a city with magic users everywhere.’

“What if you switch between the two types while performing the trick. Won’t the last type you used be shown?”, Nera pointed out.

Glenn smirked, “Nice catch but don’t worry, there's a bright glow that occurs on the Slate when the type is changed and it’ll show even when it’s turned on its back. Now that you’re caught up to speed, can I start the show?”, this was accompanied by Glenn magically levitating all the cards into his hand.

“Sure, but let’s use the old man’s Slate just to be sure there’s nothing fishy going on with either of yours.”

Glenn shrugged in approval and Mr. Fletcher brought out his Slate, locked it on to Glenn’s aura for them to see, and placed it on the counter top.

“So..now are you ready? Be sure to pay attention to the fine details from the shine of Spirit to the etching of Sigils.”, , Glenn illuminated a card with his aura and flipped it to its front to show the mystical sign on it, a pair of violet antlers entangled together. Allen felt like he had heard the word “Sigil” mentioned before and now understood that it meant the arcane symbols that would appear every time Craft was used.

Allen and Nera both nodded in unison.

“Get ready to put up those fliers.”, Nera taunted.

“Not sure why I would since I’m going to win.”, Allen retorted smugly.

“Magnifique, it’s showtime!”, the Magician Crafter announced this and threw his entire deck in the air similarly to how he did before. Allen’s eyes darted around trying to analyze each card as they fluttered above their hands. He was watching out for any hint of a magical glow since he noticed that it always appeared along with any magic along with Sigils.

Sure enough, Glenn began outstretching his hand under a card and it would move right into his hand with a violet shine and a Sigil appearing on the front of them.

‘The cards are moving into his hand so...that’s Invocation Craft, right? But that seems like it would be a little too obvious if he's trying to to trick us, but how could he pull this off if it wasn’t that?’

As he continued doing this, Allen noticed something was a little strange. Glenn made sure to place his hand directly under each card before moving it into his hand even walking a little bit sometimes.

‘If he’s just moving the cards with his power he wouldn't need to do all that if he can just telekinetically control them. It’s as if he’s instead propelling them with something...like a gust of wind.’

He came to this realization just as the last card landed in Glenn’s hand to reform the full deck of fifty-two cards.

“I got it. You almost fooled me there for a moment, but I’m sure it’s-”

“Invocation, that’s the one!”, Nera blurted out before he could voice his answer while her fist on the table with a loud thud.

“That’s incorrect.”, Glenn promptly answered.

“Of course, you used Transference to blow the cards into your hand with wind.”, Allen explained confidently.

“That’s right. Seems one of you isn’t as unperceptive as they appear. ”, Glenn stated as he flipped the Slate and proved Allen was correct.

“That’s one for Allen and zero for Nera so far.”, the magician declared much to Nera’s chagrin and Luka’s amusement who began laughing hysterically. He promptly stopped and shielded his face with his hands when Nera motioned throwing her cup right in his face only for him to realize it was already empty.

“What? You didn’t think I was actually gonna pour hot tea on you did you?”, Nera questioned with dubious innocence.

“Yeah, I kind of did to be honest. I’m used to running into gals with hot tempers and wasn’t going to take the chance.”, Luka admitted while Evelyn looked a little annoyed beside him.

“Smart, that may keep you safe from my wrath.”, Nera laughed out loud herself this time.

“That’s a rather maniacal laugh. If you do end up throwing something for real, stay away from my smoothie.”, Allen stated as he moved his beverage closer to him and then took a generous sip.

“Hmph, don’t worry. Anyway, go ahead with your next trick, Card guy. I’ll guess the next one right for sure.”

“Very well, here it is.”, he said as he flipped the Slate over again.

Glenn bridge shuffled the deck. He followed up by flourishing the deck into a fan and pulling out one card, a ten of clubs, making sure they all got a good look at it. He then placed it back in the deck and shuffled it once more before spreading the cards along the counter in a straight line. However, one thing was off about it as Allen observed all the cards. This was because the ten of clubs was missing.

‘The card disappeared so that probably means he used Formation Craft and changed the appearance to blend into the tabletop like he did before, but I didn’t see a glow. Did I miss it somehow?’

Allen went over Glenn’s performance from his shuffling the deck to spreading the cards out on the table but could not recall any glow or shimmer of magical energy at all. He started to wonder if Glenn was able to block them from seeing it somehow with his hands, but Allen doubted this would be enough to hide it completely. Not knowing when he used his magic, meant there was a chance he did not use Formation Craft to conceal the card on the table and used some other type to hide it prior to that.

As Allen muzzled over this in frustration, Nera spoke up, “You didn’t use any of the types.”

“What do you mean? What did he do then?, Allen asked in bewilderment.

“He said that we were supposed to guess if he used any of the four Craft types, so that means that him using none of them was also an option like he did just now. You didn’t see any glow did you?”

Allen nodded. “Misdirection, so you’re saying he wanted us to think that he would be pulling off all his tricks with actual magic to throw us off.”

“Yeah, he just used sleight of hand to hide the card. Isn’t that right?”, Nera asked Glenn directly.

“Correct, hard to get anything past the both of you. I might be in for a surprise.”, with a flick of his wrist, the ten of clubs appeared in his hand without a trace of magic at all.

“Most Crafters are too fixated on magic to consider that something extraordinary can happen without it, even when there’s no sign of anything supernatural. Here, most people are willing to believe in a vague illusion over a clear truth.”, Glenn’s words sounded foreboding even though he kept his same light-hearted tone. To Allen, he seemed to be alluding to a murkier aspect of magical society that he had not yet witnessed for himself.

“In a place where magic is real. Anything seems possible.”

“That’s right, although that doesn’t appear to be the case for the two of you.”

“Well, I’m not that gullible either. I only believe in really credible stuff like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster.”, Evelyn declared with her chest puffed out. Allen had a confused look on his face wondering if those two cryptids were actually real or if it was just the young woman’s own misgivings. It was hard for him to tell.

“Yeah, you’re pretty keen Ev, most of the time it’s you who’s fooling people and not the other way around. Like the time when Glenn was about to get jumped by a mob and you scared them off with your giant wolf monster impression.”, Luka recounted.

“Do you really have to remind me of that? That was my most unflattering moment so far. A songstress should be one who inspires people to gather around them, not run away from them in fear.”’

“Hey, it was still a fantastic performance to watch that saved our buddy here from getting a major beating.”, Luka drew a pair of hands in the air and made them clap for her which she eventually accepted the praise bashfully.

“I guess you are right sometimes. That was a breath-taking performance.”, Evelyn admitted with a self-pleased expression.

‘Wow, she’s rather easy to make mad or happy.’, Allen noted for future reference

“Seems like you’re not the most popular guy around.”, Nera said to Glenn once the illustrated clapping stopped.

“Well, a lot of people take pride in their knowledge of the different types and their ability to distinguish between them, so it’s little wonder my performances are not received well by some. That aside, are you two ready for the final trick? We’re currently tied with you and Allen both having one correct answer each.”

“Yeah, bring it on.”

“Sure, let’s get this over with.”

“Great.”, Glenn gathered all the cards in his hand with magic into a stack and then turned the Slate over again onto its front.

“Then, let’s begin the final performance.”, Glenn announced this and then placed the entire deck on the countertop aside from one card, the two of clubs.

Abruptly, he deftly flipped the card to it’s edge and brought it down swiftly on the deck with one strike cleaving it in two. Glenn then pulled the two halves apart to show them that they indeed were cut cleanly apart before putting them back together and picking them up like they had not been damaged at all.

‘No way, he augmented the card’s sharpness to cut the deck in two and then reformed it whole again afterwards. That was definitely Augmentation and Formation Craft but I didn’t see that light from the Slate go off, so it had to be one or the other, right?’, Allen grunted in puzzlement and looked over to Nera who seemed also to be stumped. He sighed and decided to just throw out an answer even if he wasn’t sure.

“Formation Craft.”

“No.”, Glenn responded.

“Augmentation Craft.”, Nera answered next

“Also no. Looks like neither of you gets this one.”, he stated as he revealed the other side Slate to both of their confusion. On the screen, was the symbol for Invocation Craft.

“But how? That didn’t seem anything like Invocation from what you’ve told us.”

“Definitely, how did you do that by moving the cards around?’

Glenn chuckled, “There’s a saying I always have fun repeating: a magician never reveals his secrets.”

He placed a finger over his mouth humorously leaving them both in the dark about his last trick. Allen knew he was going to be trying to figure it out for a while.

“Well, since both of you are still tied. Let’s wrap this up with a more simple game. A contest of speed. First one to get a card wins.”, he pulled out two cards with their backs to them. Just Allen voiced his agreement and reached out for a card, Nera had done the same and snatched a card out of Glenn’s hand in a blur. By the time Allen grabbed one she was already looking hers over.

“that game wasn’t fair at all.”, Allen mumbled as he observed the card he got, a joker. He looked at Nera’s and saw she had gotten the ace of spades which reminded him of the tattoo she possessed on her shoulder.

“Wow, those are some pretty amazing reflexes. Wait a sec, that speed and that hair…are you a-nevermind. Forget it!.”, Luka stopped mid-sentence when he saw a soul-piercing glare from Nera as she looked up from the card.

“You’re not looking that happy for someone who just won.”, Allen pointed out as he placed a bandaged hand on her shoulder trying to change the subject innocuously. He could feel she was troubled by something.

Nera expression softened as if coming out of a daze and smirked as she consciously took in his words, “I’m just wondering why you aren’t putting up these fliers already, Mummy man.”, Nera tapped her hand on the stack of papers and then pointed to the darkly tinted windows outside.

“Get to it. Chop-Chop.”, she commanded to the beat of her taps.

“...Fine, but I’m not making it snappy.”