Chapter 2: Steadfast Storm ~ Winifred Brunhild

Winifred Brunhild lived in the industrial area of Millicent in Nexus City. Built on what was once known as the Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida, USA, after it was reduced to a flat crater from the defeat of the Black Death a century ago.

At just twenty one years old she could already feel the existential dread weighing down on her tiny frame, from having wasted most of her life since leaving school procrastinating, indulging in her own laziness and her failed attempts at becoming an online personality.

Losing contact with what little acquaintances she made in high school and spending her days locked away in her room, watching bizarre japanese cartoons, playing video games and then complaining about both on anonymous imageboards throughout the internet. She truly lived a hellish existence.

In the dark reaches of her bedroom, lying in bed with her only light source flickering from her laptop, with a sphere of wind circling around her to fend off the Summer heat, Winnie browsed the threads of Nu-chan, hopping between topics with sarcastic reply after sarcastic reply. All for the sake of a cheap laugh, until finally settling in a thread that caught her attention.

“What happened to my android waifus!?” One poster declared, complete with an image of a very angry, MS Paint drawing.

“Old media promised we’d have robot qt’s to take care of us in the future. WHERE ARE THEY!?” Another spouted.

These childish outbursts were common on Nu-chan and Winnie knew engaging with them was pointless. They weren’t really looking for answers, they were merely venting, some of them screeching ironically to fan the flames of the thread for their own amusement.

This borderline deranged behaviour was just the culture of the site, but even so, as more posts poured in, Winnie, in a vain attempt at some kind of human interaction, tried to correct the wailing hivemind.

“We don’t have android waifus because robots and intelligent AI’s have been illegal since before most of you newfags were born. Did you retards even go to school?”

Of course, this response only made their resistance harder.

“>implying they don’t have them locked up somewhere in a secret base.” One anon replied.

“this” Another agreed.

“check em” Added another, their priorities clearly skewed.

Winnie knew taking this any further would be needlessly exhausting, but it was three in the morning and she was bored.

“Why would they do that? The world was nearly enslaved by a global AI satellite in the 2070’s! Why the fuck would we do that shit again, when we have Magus to do all the stuff robots could have done anyway?”

“Just don’t make another Global AI, idiot.” A user quickly posted, along with a complimentary smug anime face.

“Are you fucking serious?” Winnie muttered to herself.

It wasn’t the user’s reply that bothered her, but rather their post number. 1177788888. As per the unspoken rules of Nu-chan, any post with a number that ended in recurring digits was always deemed correct, regardless of its content and the numbers had spoken.

“FUCKING CHECKED”

“QUINTS CONFIRM”

“ANON ON SUICIDE WATCH”

The thread quickly derailed into post after post of users praising the numbers, with Winnie’s original argument becoming completely irrelevant. All she could do was laugh at the absurdity unfolding before her.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake…” She sighed. “It’s too fucking hot in here to deal with this bullshit… I’m going to sleep.”

Winnie woke up early in the afternoon. She washed herself, but stayed in her comfy pajamas, having no real reason to get dressed when she had no plans to go anywhere.

She was a short girl, despite her age. She looked as if she were still a high school freshman, which annoyed her. Purchasing the latest games was difficult, when she didn’t look old enough to be playing them. With messy, shoulder length, malachite green hair and dark bags under her eyes, she always looked like she just crawled out of a cave.

“Good afternoon, Sweetie.” Her mother greeted, looking far more kept together than her daughter. “Did you sleep well?”

“Sure…” She yawned, stumbling through the kitchen, like a zombie.

“Do you have any plans for today?”

“Stream… I guess…” She answered, looking in the fridge, scratching her butt, hardly paying attention.

“You mean that thing where you play video games for people on the internet?”

“Don’t say it like that… makes it sound gay.”

“Sorry, Sweetie. Anyway, your Father’s waiting for you in the garage. He’s got a surprise for you.”

Winnie nearly choked on the orange juice she drank from the carton. This was never a good sign.

“Oh god, now what?” She asked.

“Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

She feared whatever hair brained scheme her overly enthusiastic father had dreamt up, but she had no choice but to humour him.

Slowly slipping through the garage door, she saw her father doing quick maintenance on his bulky jeep. He was a large, burly man, with a bushy beard and thick German accent. Before she could mutter a word, he caught sight of her and dropped everything.

“Winifred! My little Engel!” He rejoiced, bear hugging the small girl. His sudden affection only spelled trouble for Winnie.

“Dad… please… can’t… breathe…”

He helped her to the ground as she regained her footing.

“Winifred! I have good news!” He yelled, jovially.

“Can I eat first?”

“Nein! There’s no time. Now! Do you remember that talk we had about finding you a job?”

“Nope, blocked it out…”

“No worries! A position just opened up at my shipping warehouse! Your talents would be of great use to us!”

“Dad… have you ever heard of this little thing called: Nepotism?”

“Nah, it will be fine. You always used to help us after school, they would love you to join!”

“It was only one or two boxes, Dad… besides, aren’t those jobs supposed to be secured for people who can’t use Magus?”

“It’s only part time. Get you experience for a real job later!”

“What real job?”

“That’s for you to decide, when the time comes!”

“I don’t know… I feel like you’re just doing this because you want me to work with you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! I’m doing this because you don’t know what to do, so I am giving you a push in the right direction! Or, are you too embarrassed to work with your vater!”

“Yes. Very.”

“Oh… I see… you’re too ashamed to work with your own vater…”

“What!? No! That’s not what I…” Winnie screamed in frustration. Her father would always turn into a massive sulk whenever his children disapproved of him. For a big man, he was surprisingly sensitive.

Winnie crossed her arms, pouted like a child and accepted her fate. “I guess I’ll give it a shot…”

“That’s my Engel! Now get dressed! We leave soon!”

“Wait! Like, right now!? But, I was going to stream today!”

“Oh, I see…”

“Hey! That’s not fair Dad! You can’t do the sad sack routine twice in a row! But… I guess I can reschedule.”

“Excellent! Now drink some coffee! I want you awake and ready for when we arrive!”

The warehouse Mr. Brunhild owned, called Ship n Tip, was for delivery storage and pickup. Employees are tasked with sorting packages and containers, ensuring they’re delivered to the right trucks at the right time.

A nervous, sickening feeling fell over Winnie, as her father escorted her through the main gate, realising the sheer scale of the mind numbing boredom she was about to subject herself to.

“Mr. Brunhild?” A young man, wearing the Ship n Tip uniform asked. “Who’s the girl?”

“She is our newest employee! Right, Winifred?”

“I am now…” She answered, rolling her eyes.

“She is?” The man questioned. “No offense, but isn’t she a little small? This job is pretty physically intensive.”

Mr. Brunhild laughed heartily. “Winifred! Looks like he needs a demonstration!”

Winnie bashfully sighed as she pointed to the box at the young man’s feet. A sudden draft kicked up as the box levitated off the ground, toward her. Within moments, she had the box perfectly balancing on her finger, held in place by the swirling breeze around it.

“Woah…” The man gawked, with Winnie looking unimpressed. “Wait a minute. Sir, isn’t hiring a Magus user unethical?”

“But, not illegal!” He answered. “Besides, she is just here part time. To get work experience for a real job later! Now, take her inside and show her to Bannerman, so she can get to work!”

“Okay then…”

He guided Winnie inside the large warehouse, filled with shelves of seemingly infinite length, containing boxes and packages of all shapes and sizes. She soon met with one of the managers of the massive storage facility, dressed in a dull, beige jacket and hat.

“Hello, Winifred. I’m Mr. Bannerman and I’ll be your manager.”

“Okay.” Winnie replied, with a dull expression on her face.

“Uh… yeah. Anyway, here’s your uniform. It’s just a jacket you wear over your usual clothes. Oh and don’t forget your cap.”

“Okay.” She shoved on the bland, brown jacket and baseball cap, without saying a word.

“As for your work. Your shift today will be a short teaser to give you an idea of what you’ll be doing. Just move a group of boxes from the back of the warehouse, in section E to the entrance so they’re ready for pickup. Can you handle that?”

“Okay.”

“You could at least try to be a little enthusiastic.”

“I’m moving boxes, sir.”

“I guess… wait!” Winnie stopped in her tracks, she assumed Bannerman had finished talking. “I haven’t demonstrated the proper lifting technique. We don’t want you getting hurt.”

“What?”

“You know, lifting with your knees, carrying on the shoulders…”

“Fuck me…” She muttered under her breath in disdain.

While the other workers relied on their natural strength to lift and carry cargo, Winnie wasn’t so physically blessed. She instead whipped up a small whirlwind around her finger, levitating her cargo with little effort.

“I already knew Brunhild’s daughter was a Magus User, but she’s way stronger than when she was little. How is she doing that so effortlessly?”

The employees looked on in bewilderment at the small girl transporting such heavy loads without showing a hint of fatigue, her bored expression never leaving her face. It was almost insulting. The delivery truck soon arrived, with Winnie having already prepared the packages for pickup, with time to spare.

“Hey, Winnie!” Her manager called. “Could you help unload some of those boxes off the truck?”

The burly truck driver laughed at the small child that was sent to help him. “Hold up there, short stuff. This ain’t just any delivery. These boxes have got some heavy duty equipment. You might wanna get one of those forklifts.”

“I got it.” Winnie responded, completely deadpan.

It took a little more effort than usual, but with a flick of her hand, the heavy duty boxes were whisked away on a torrent of wind that carried them into the back of the warehouse.

“Jesus, kid… keep that up and these poor schmucks will be out of a job.”

“Just following orders.”

Winnie returned to work as the other employees looked on in contempt. They found it unbelievable that Mr. Brunhild would not only hire a Magus User, but that they were his own daughter. None of them had a grudge against Magus Users themselves, it was simply unethical. This one girl could fulfill the duties of twenty men, with zero effort.

For the rest of the day, Winnie could feel the judgemental stares of her colleagues, as they closely watched her, calculating how much work she was completing, compared to their own.

Without Magus they could never hope to achieve the amount of progress Winnie had made in just a single day, and worst of all, she wasn’t even aware of just how much further ahead she even was. All with that unshaken, bored expression plastered on her face. It was degrading, like a trained athlete competing in a local tournament.

By 5:00pm, Winnie was finally free to go home, having worked for five hours and spending most of it lounging around, as she finished her duties swiftly. Being the doting father that he was, Mr. Brunhild waited for her by his massive jeep in the parking lot, ready to drive her home. She was beyond embarrassed as he waved and yelled to her.

“Over here, my Engel!”

The young man from earlier, met her at the entrance confused by his boss’ behaviour. “Hold up. Is Mr. Brunhild waving at you?”

“Yeah…” She sighed. “He’s my Dad.”

“Oh… that explains why he’s bending the rules for you.”

“He’s excessive like that.”

“You coming back tomorrow?”

“Sure, if I haven’t killed myself by then…”

“Wh-what!?”

“I was kidding, you retard.”

“Geez, you shouldn’t joke about that stuff.”

“Whatever. See you later, what’s-yer-face.”

“My name’s Emmer.”

“Emma? Isn’t that a girl’s name?” She snarked.

“N-no. It’s short for Emmerich. What’s yours?”

“Winnie.”

“See you tomorrow, Winnie.”

“Later, Emma.”

Upon her return home, Winnie was immediately greeted by her Mother.

“Hi, Sweetie! How was your first day at work?”

“Meh. I’m gonna go stream.”

“So, everything went fine then…” She muttered to herself. “Oh, by the way, your sister has a friend over, so try not to scare them this time.”

“I make no such promises.”

In the hallway just outside her room, she could hear the whispering of her sister and friend as they passed by.

“Winnie started her first job today.”

“Job? I thought she did gamer shit, or something.”

“That’s more of a paid hobby.”

“That’s so lame.”

As the girls giggled to themselves, they suddenly felt a cold draft blow past them, as a hand clasped onto her sister’s shoulder.

“Hello, Stacey.” Winnie accosted.

“O-oh… hi, sis. Did you hear any of that?”

“Not sure. I was too busy preparing to do lame gamer shit.”

“I-is that so?”

The wind picked up as Winnie slowly lifted off the ground to look down on her sister and her obnoxious friend.

“Remember, Stacey. You may be taller than me, get better grades than me and have way better social skills than me, but I’m still the big sister. If you wanna talk shit, tell it to my face or do it in the privacy of your own room, instead of right outside my fucking door.”

“Y-yeah, of course.”

“Good.”

The wind disappeared as Winnie returned to the floor, with the two girls quietly returning to their room.

“Wow, Stacey. Your sister’s scary.”

“Nah, she’s just really grumpy.”

Winnie always got a kick out of messing with her sister, but deep down she knew that her Magus was the only thing she truly had over Stacey. Still as her big sister, she needed to assert her dominance every so often.

“Dumb slut.” She laughed, returning to her room.

After dragging herself out of bed for the first morning she’d seen since leaving school, Winnie braced herself for the day ahead. Arriving at work she quickly got back into her routine of carrying boxes, waiting for the next order of boxes followed by carrying more boxes.

“Why is she just sitting there?” Emmer asked, as Winnie leaned back in a chair at the back of the warehouse.

“Look up.” Mr. Bannerman directed Emmer’s attention to the stream of wind carrying boxes across the warehouse, like they were bobbing through water.

“Holy crap! Are you kidding!?”

“I know she’s Brunhild’s daughter, but this is a bit much. She’s practically showing off.”

“Really? She just looks bored to me.”

“Exactly. You’d think a Magus user would be training for something more important. Why is she wasting her time here?”

There was a hint of bitterness in Bannerman’s voice.

“Hey, Bannerman.” A burly employee called. “I’m here for my shift. What have I got today?”

“Hi, Pete. For now, you’ve got a bunch of equipment to move on the bottom shelf of Area C.”

“Alright, I- what the hell!?” Pete suddenly shouted, rushing over to Winnie. “What are you doing, kid!?”

“Working.” She answered, staring into space.

“But this was supposed to be my shift! You can’t just move my stuff around!”

“Winnie!” Mr. Bannerman scolded. “I told you to move the boxes on the top shelves, only!”

“Oh… whoops.”

“Whoops!?” Pete shouted.

“This job is so easy, my brain must have turned off.”

“Easy!? I break my back hauling all of this stuff, you little brat!”

“Well, now you don’t have to.” She responded, slightly irritated.

“Yeah. Now I don’t have a shift. What am I supposed to do now?”

“Go home!” Winnie asserted.

“Staying home doesn’t pay the bills, kid!”

“Alright! Fuck!” Sick of listening to the man’s complaining, Winnie shifted the direction of her wind stream, as the boxes sailed across the air and returned to their position on the bottom shelf.

“There! Everything’s back! Now fuck off!”

“Winnie! Don’t be so rude!” Mr. Bannerman criticised.

“Rude!? He’s the one who came over here, yelling at me like an asshole! Excuse me for losing my patience!”

“Winnie! You need to be more mindful of the other workers. We’re all in this together.”

“Fine. I’m sorry I accidentally did all your work for you.”

Pete groaned, dismissing her apology.

Although upset with the man’s attitude, Winnie couldn’t be bothered to pursue the issue any further and left.

“Winnie, where are you going?” Emmer asked.

“Home.”

“Home? You can’t just leave whenever you want. You’ll be fired.”

“I finished my work already. I don’t need to be here.”

“She has? But… it’s not even lunch yet…”

Winnie didn’t mind walking home, as it beat dealing with the embarrassment of her Father and it gave her some time to cool her temper.

As she moped down the street, she heard a commotion in an alleyway. The industrial area of Nexus City was notorious for shady activity, as it was away from most of the public’s eye, but Winnie never expected to catch sight of such dealings in broad daylight.

There was a man in a black suit harassing someone, holding them up against the wall, their nose bleeding.

“Look. All I’m asking is that you pay your protection money, otherwise I’m gonna have to take it by force.” The suited man threatened.

“B-but, you’re the only one assaulting me.”

“Exactly. And if you don’t want any more of us showing up, you’ll pay up.”

The suited man suddenly caught sight of Winnie. “Get lost kid, this is adult business.”

Winnie pointed her finger forward, agitated by his remark.

“Fuck off.”

A sudden gust of wind blew forth from her finger, crashing into the suited man’s chest, like a fist of air. Once the man was knocked to the ground, a second gust blew him to the back of the alley.

“You little brat! I’ll-” Before the criminal could finish his threat, he noticed an empty dumpster already floating above him. Winnie dropped the large, open trash container on the man’s head, trapping him inside.

“Asshole.”

The injured man immediately seized his opportunity to escape.

“Th-thanks, kid.”

“Whatever…”

“Hi, sweetie.” Winnie’s mother greeted, once again. “Finish work already?”

“Yep.”

“Anything interesting happen?”

“Nope.”

“Did you make any friends?”

“Hah!”

“Honestly, Winnie…”

“What? They’re all middle-aged dudes who don’t like me anyway.”

“You did at least try, right?”

“Well… Emma seems okay…”

The rest of the day passed like usual and before she knew it, Winnie was up the next morning for another round of championship boxing.

“Is she just sitting in that chair again?” Emmer asked the manager, as Winnie mindlessly carried a stream of boxes over the worker’s heads.

“I was supposed to show her how to use the forklift today, but she refused.” Mr. Bannerman complained.

“I mean… does she really need it?”

“That’s not the point. I know she’s only here for part-time work experience, but she could at least pretend to want to be a part of the team.”

“I’ll try talking to her. It’s about time for lunch break anyway.”

“Good luck.”

Emmer approached Winnie, who was just staring into the ceiling while her Magus did all the work.

“Hey, Winnie. You wanna go get lunch?” He waved to grab her attention.

She thought for a second, slumped in her chair. “Sure, why not? I’m done for today, anyway.”

“What? Then what are you doing with those boxes?”

“Juggling them. It’s good Magus practise.”

“I wish I could finish my work as fast as you.”

“Not like it’s hard.”

“That’s because physical labour is usually reserved for people who don’t rely on Magus. You’re lucky your dad bent the rules for you, considering the questionable ethical practises of-”

“Shut up, nerd!” Winnie suddenly interrupted.

“Um… okay.”

“Now, let’s get lunch already. I’m hungry as fuck.”

Emmer soon learned that Winnie could be surprisingly intimidating for someone so small.

Just across the road from the warehouse was a burger stall with tables and chairs set up. It was frequented by plenty of workers in the area with Winnie and Emmer being no exceptions, as they took their seats.

“So, how are you finding work?” Emmer asked.

“Boring.” Winnie replied, playing with her hair.

“I guess it would be for a Magus user.”

“Yeah… sorry about that.”

Emmer had to pause for a moment. “That was… unexpected. For what?”

“Getting in the way.”

“What are you talking about? You’re not getting in the way.”

“Don’t be stupid. It’s obvious no one wants me here. Magus users shouldn’t be using their powers to work menial jobs. It’s insulting to the people who aren’t lucky enough to have those powers.”

“Then, why are you working here in the first place?”

“It makes my Dad happy.”

“With the way you act, I didn’t think you cared.”

“My Dad’s always supported me. I hate disappointing him.”

“I see… but is it making you happy?”

“Doesn’t matter. I could never get a job on my own. I don’t have the same enthusiasm as my sister.”

“What’s she like?”

“Stacy’s talented, sociable and on her way to college. I’m always the problem child. The anti-social, shut-in with no real goals to pursue. I thought taking this job would be a good first step into finally figuring my life out.”

“Have you figured anything out yet?”

“Nope.”

“When I left school, I wanted to be an engineer. I took this job to save up, so I could go to college myself.”

“When I was in school, I just fucked around with my friends to try and get through the day. That place was a nightmare. The teachers were pricks.”

“My teachers were pretty supportive. They gave me a lot of guidance about what grades I needed and where to go after getting them.”

“I didn’t like speaking with my teachers and they didn't like speaking with me. They’d get mad when I wouldn’t do homework and get even madder when I’d pass my tests anyway.”

“You know, most people treat their Magus as just a minor convenience, but you control the wind like you’re some kind of psychic. How’d you get so good?”

“I don’t know. I just pushed my powers further than most people cared to, I guess. Although generating mini hurricanes doesn’t solve as many problems as you’d think.”

“If that’s the case, why even bother practising at all?”

“Same reason I play video games. I like getting good.”

“You ever thought about getting a job that actually puts your Magus skills to use?”

“I don’t like the idea of being treated like a living tool.”

“When you live on the bottom rungs of society, I’m afraid that’s all you can really hope for.”

“I know. It sucks ass down here.”

“For someone so anti-social, you’re pretty talkative today.”

“Yeah… usually I just tell people to fuck off. I must be in a really bad place to even consider opening up to some guy I just met.”

Though a little hurt by Winnie’s words, Emmer could tell her blank stare and cold attitude stemmed from her feelings of depression and a lack of purpose, but he just didn’t know Winnie well enough to give her any meaningful advice.

“Now that I’m thinking about it. Why did you want to talk to me?” Winnie asked.

“I don’t know. Because you’re cute, I guess?”

“Wh-what!?”

Winnie had never felt such a strange mix of insecurity and anger before.

“Uh, nevermind! Hey, let’s change the subject!”

Emmer’s extremely poor decision making was only seconds away from incurring Winnie’s wrath, but thankfully something far more important suddenly came up.

“Woah…” Emmer gasped. “When did those black cars get here?”

“Oh shit…” The man at the burger stall gasped. “You kids should lay low. I need to call the police.”

“Police? Why?” Emmer asked, worried.

“Those are Apathia cars, kid.”

“Apathia!? But, we’re just a shipping company! Why would they bother us!?”

“They must be on the hunt for new assets.”

Without saying a word, Winnie strolled over to the warehouse.

“Winnie, where are you going!?”

“To the warehouse.”

“But, those Apathia guys are violent mobsters! They turned the Veritati District into a crime ridden hellscape! You can’t just confront them on your own!”

“I’m not gonna let those assholes push my Dad around.” She answered, unfazed by the dangers ahead.

The employees cowered at the back of the warehouse, terrified by the five strange men that had wandered inside and asserted themselves by singling out the manager and brutally assaulting him.

The leader of the group, a tall slim man with messy black hair, held Mr. Bannerman by his collar, having already beaten his face bloody.

“If the guy running this place ain’t interested in coming out, then we’ll just have to give him a reason to.”

Fearing the safety of his men, Mr. Brunhild entered the building from the back entrance, marching past the panicking employees. Everyone present was well aware of the danger they were in. The black suits and dark auras emanating from the men confirmed that they were indeed Apathia.

“I was in a meeting with someone very important. So, state your business, immediately.” Brunhild ordered.

“Your business? Interesting choice of words. You see, this is our business now.”

“What could you possibly want with Ship n Tip?”

“Not sure. We don’t have much interest in shipping, but one of your employees disgraced my men, so consider this acquisition a form of punishment.”

“As if I would ever give up the company I inherited to thuggish children, like you.”

The leader threw Mr. Bannerman’s unconscious body aside, excited to have found a new victim to toy with. “If you think your size is gonna help you in this fight, then you’re in for one hell of a rude awakening.”

A black aura surrounded the man’s body, consuming all light around him. A sickening smirk crawled across his face, as he drew closer to Mr. Brunhild, who could only brace himself, for he had no experience fighting a Magus user, let alone someone exhibiting such savage energy.

“Hey!” A voice cried from the other side of the room.

The Apathia members turned to find a small girl, standing in the doorway, glaring angrily at them.

“What’s with this lost kid?” One member chuckled.

“Get lost, brat. We’re busy.” Another scolded.

“Guys! Wait! That messy green hair, condescending scowl and ugly uniform. She’s the one from yesterday!”

“You hear that, Poacher!? Looks like we found the ‘psychic bitch’ Dumbass was talking about.”

“Who cares about tiny tits over there?” Poacher replied. “We’ve got a business to take over.”

Winnie did not take kindly to the unnecessary jab at her chest size. Now, more than ever, she was determined to kick their asses.

“Get your ass over here, you fucking prick!” She taunted. “Or are you too scared to fight a little girl!?”

“I don’t fight children.” Poacher answered. “I’ve got goons to do that for me.”

The four men charged at Winnie, who pointed her finger upward as a cyclone of wind caught the reckless gangsters, twirling them around helplessly before the wind dispersed, sending all four of them flying in different directions throughout the warehouse, knocking them out of commission.

Poacher couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed. The small child wasn’t even trying, but she already wiped out his whole team.

“You idiots! How many times do I have to tell you, not to rush in without a plan! You should be using your Dark Magus to assess the situation first! Like this!”

He held out his left palm, creating a dark, black orb and fired it at Winnie. She held out her own palm and created a wall of wind that gripped the blast of darkness in place. No matter how much Poacher pushed, he couldn’t break past Winnie’s wall and his attack soon dissipated, the energy scattered with the wind.

“Those are some strong defenses you got there. In that case, I’ll just have to throw something bigger!” Poacher held his hands above his head, gathering energy above him into a massive ball of black mass and threw it at Winnie.

The blast was too big to hold back with the wind, but thankfully Winnie already had plenty of practise moving large objects with her Magus.

She caught the orb in a torrent of wind, catching the black mass of destructive energy and then redirected its path by carrying it along a stream of air. The stream stretched across the warehouse and back to Poacher, rolling the energy back toward him like a ball in a half-pipe.

He braced for impact, still in disbelief at what he was seeing before his own attack detonated in his face. He flew across the floor onto his back, angered but not seriously injured.

“Obnoxious brat! Now you’ve really-!” Before he could finish, another gust of wind struck Poacher, swallowing him in a whirlwind that sent him flying into the storage shelves, crashing into the back wall and burying him under the boxes.

“Damn kid!” He cried, clutching his injured arm, unable to move it. “You’ll pay for this, you little shit stain!”

“Get a haircut, you hippie-ass looking twink!” Winnie retorted, unfazed by his threats.

The injured gangster made his escape through the back exit. Soon, the police were called in to arrest the leftover henchmen as Winnie reunited with her father. With the fight over and the adrenaline no longer pumping through her body, Winnie fell into her father’s arms, in disbelief at what she just did.

“Winifred, my little Engel! That was unbelievable!”

“I’m kinda shocked myself. That was cool.”

“And I always thought you took after your mother, but you’ve clearly inherited the Brunhild Iron Will.”

“It was nothing. Seeing those men trying to intimidate you just pissed me off.”

“Now I see why Akachi wanted to meet with you.”

“Akachi?”

“Old man! Stop cowering behind the door! My daughter just saved us!”

An old black man with a dirty brown jacket stepped out from behind the back entrance to the warehouse, peeking around to make sure everything was safe before coming over.

“Who are you?” Winnie asked, confused.

“Come on, little lady. You know me! I’m Akachi Quaero!”

Winnie stared back, blankly.

“You know, one of the founding Magus researchers?”

Still no reaction.

“I’m one of the reasons Nexus City even exists.”

“Um… I think I heard your name in history class, once.”

“History class? Damn, am I really that old…?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Well, I caught wind of a man who was saved by a Magus user yesterday. Apparently, they were employed at this warehouse, so I thought I’d come investigate. But, I never imagined they’d be a young girl strong enough to take down five Apathia members on her own. That’s mighty impressive.”

“O-oh, thanks.” She blushed.

“I don’t need your thanks. I just need your signature.”

He handed Winnie an employment contract.

“Magus Defense Agency?” She questioned.

“I was talking it over with your dad, but after seeing your performance today, I’m convinced you’ll be a perfect fit for the squad.”

“I don’t know… this seems kinda dangerous. What do you think, Dad?”

Mr. Brunhild folded his arms. “Winifred. I cannot lie. I don’t want you to get hurt, but I also don’t want you to squander your talents. Your Wind Magus is a gift that’s been neglected for too long.

I wanted you to hone your skills here and work with me, but working with Akachi and his team to defend this city from the likes of Apathia, may be the best option for everyone. But, I shall leave the final decision to you.”

Winnie wasn’t sure what to think, but there was one thing she was sure of. Fighting Apathia goons gave her a rush she was severely lacking in her life, a sense of purpose and excitement that made her feel alive.

She always tried to shut herself away to not be a burden on others, but now she was given a chance to truly open up and show the world what she was really capable of, by displaying her own natural talents.

“Sure, okay.”

“That’s my Engel!” Her father cheered. “I know you’ll blow those criminals away like weak, flimsy candy wrappers!”

After Winnie signed the contract she was about to head home, only to stop after seeing Emmer, waiting at the entrance for her.

“I can’t believe I was actually worried about you facing those Apathia guys. They never stood a chance.” He praised.

“I’m sure they were just weak grunts.”

“I saw you sign something for that Akachi guy. You’re not leaving already, are you?”

“Oh… yeah. Guess you’ll have to find someone else to hit on.”

“W-what!? I wasn’t hitting on you!”

“I was being sarcastic, retard.”

“Don’t! It makes me nervous!”

“But, you know. Once I’ve settled into my new job, I wouldn’t mind hanging out with you again. You know, just in case the other Magus users turn out to be assholes.”

“Sure, it’s a date… I mean friend date! We’re friends! That’s all! No dating! Just friends!”

“A friend, huh?… it’s been a while since I had one of those…”