It's bright and early, roughly 9 A.M., when Luna opens her eyes. "Jeez, that was some of the best sleep I've had in a while!" she exclaims. She happily skips to the kitchen, ready for some much-needed breakfast, and is surprised to find food already sitting on the table. Two breakfast sandwiches, crispy hash browns, a few slices of toast, coffee, and orange juice—all waiting to be devoured.

Sunny walks around the corner. "Sup, partner. Hungry?"

Luna's mouth waters, practically turning into a waterfall. "Yesssss!" At lightning speed, she sits at the table and immediately starts shoveling hash browns into her mouth.

Sunny lets out a hearty laugh at the sight. "Gosh darn, partner, you must have a bottomless stomach!"

Luna rapidly nods in agreement, still devouring her food. After finishing the hearty meal, she looks up at Sunny. "So, when are we heading into the city?"

Sunny raises an eyebrow, then quickly lowers it. "Oh, we're already in town. I forgot to mention—we arrived while you were asleep!"

Luna takes a long, awkward sip of coffee. "Y-yeah, I like to sleep in sometimes!"

Sunny scoffs. "Yeah, if you think waking up at 9 A.M. is sleeping in. More like waking up slightly late!"

Luna rolls her eyes at the remark. "Well, let's, uh, go look for that Hunter place, yeah?"

The two women exit the RV, but the cat unexpectedly hops onto Luna's shoulders. "Umm, you know, I never asked before, but what's the cat's name exactly?" Luna asks.

Sunny gives a slight smile. "Billy!"

Luna whips her head toward Sunny. "Since you own the cat—oh, you son of a!" She tries not to laugh, refusing to give Sunny the satisfaction.

As Sunny and Luna make their way through the town, Luna speaks up. "Alright, we need to be on the lookout for 'Life Giver' and 'Cool Beans.'" She raises an eyebrow, ensuring Sunny is paying attention.

Sunny quickly replies, "Uh, y-yeah, partner."

Luna sighs, realizing Sunny's clearly eyeballing some shops, including what appears to be a gun store. "How about this: I'll go look for the Hunter place, and you can go check the sto—" Luna turns to Sunny mid-sentence, only to see an outline where Sunny used to be.

"Alright, Billy, just me and you," Luna says. The cat simply meows in response.

As Luna walks through town, she notices a few people staring at her. Without Sunny, she doesn't feel as confident.

She lowers her head instinctively, as she's done most of her life, but strangely, she works up the courage to ask a passerby a question. "U-uhm, e-excuse me. Where is, um, the store—I mean the coffee shop, Cool Beans?"

The man looks at Luna, raising an eyebrow. "Strange. You have white hair. That's not normal. You must be European or something. Maybe something else. Who knows. Anyway, continue down this block, take a left, then a right, and keep going straight. You'll find it." The man nods his head "Oh miss, one more thing" the man removes his hat revealing that he's bald "Don't worry, I wasn't making fun of your hair I think it's quite nice actually." he smiles before walking off

As Luna skips toward the direction she needs to go, a light blush spreads across her face. "Oh, I can't believe someone complimented my hair. No one's done that before!" This thought echoes in her head, filling her with newfound confidence, if only for a brief moment.

Now with a bit more pep in her step, Luna quickly makes her way down the street. Soon, she spots the coffee shop and the insurance firm. Feeling a bit de-caffeinated, she decides to enter the coffee shop.

Inside, she sees a large, heavyset man and a woman with blue and purple hair, sporting a nose and lip piercing, working behind the counter. The large man notices Luna and smiles. His face bears a few scars, and his hair looks unkempt, as though it's seen better days. "Hi there! What can I get ya?"

Luna pauses, her social anxiety bubbling to the surface. Even something as simple as ordering a drink feels like an uphill battle. She takes a deep breath and tells herself, "You're an adult, Luna. You can do this!" Repeating this mantra in her head, she cautiously approaches the counter.

"I-I, uh, would like a coffee, pl-please..."

The woman gives her a slow, exaggerated blink. "And what else?" she asks, her tone dripping with attitude.

The man frowns and looks at the woman. "Bianca, be nice!"

Bianca rolls her eyes. "Whatever, Jeffery."

Jeffery lets out a sigh before turning back to Luna with a warm smile.

Luna freezes for a moment but manages to stammer, "Oh, uh, I guess I'll take a macchiato and a b-blueberry m-muffin."

Jeffery nods. "Alrighty, coming right up!"

Bianca lets out another dramatic sigh. "I can't believe I have to work."

After about five minutes, Luna receives her coffee and muffin. Jeffery places them on the counter with a grin. "Order up! So, let me guess—you're here to get your Hunter's License?"

Luna nearly chokes on her food. "H-how do you k-know that!?"

Bianca raises an eyebrow. "It's kinda obvious. Also, that girl Sunny told me to tell you to wait here for her."

Jeffery quickly looks at Bianca, exasperated. "Jeez. Look, we both work for Sanctum, alright?"

Luna takes a long sip of her coffee, trying to regain her composure. "So, uh, this test or whatever... How hard will it be?"

Bianca sighs dramatically. "Probably pretty hard. The person proctoring the test is a four-star Hunter on the verge of becoming a five-star Hunter."

Jeffery nods in agreement. "Yeah, Emmerich. The Sky King."

Luna gulps nervously. "Th-The S-Sky K-King? That's a title. I suppose, uh, h-how strong is he?"

Bianca thinks for a moment. "If I'm correct, during that terrorist attack in Berlin two years ago, he supposedly handled all one hundred attackers by himself. And he didn't kill a single one of them."

Luna mutters under her breath, "Y-yeah, that's pretty impressive. Wait a second, how was it obvious that I'm here for my Hunter's License? Huh, what if I was just here for coffee?"

Jeffery raises an eyebrow. "I guess whoever was your teacher, mentor, sensei, or master didn't tell you that Hunters are normally drawn to one another. Also, you've got a scary amount of mana. You should practice concealing it or something."

Luna's face turns bright red. "O-oh, I s-see. I'll, uh, keep that in mind next time I train w-with Sunny. Oh, uh, y-yeah, my name is Luna. Nice to meet you!"

Jeffery smiles warmly while Bianca rolls her eyes. "Well, that's a lovely name!" Jeffery chuckles. "Yeah, cool name, I guess. But hey, tell your friend Sunny to behave from time to time."

Luna raises an eyebrow. "Wait, tell Sunny to behave? Why?"

Jeffery lets out a long sigh. "That woman knows how to brew up a storm with her antics, and trouble always follows her. She stopped by earlier while she was picking up food and, oh yeah, beat the snot out of two bank robbers. So yeah, tell her to let the police do their jobs—on top of telling her to behave."

Luna sinks into her seat. "Oh, I see. I'll keep that in mind..."

Bianca sighs again, looking almost bored. "By the way, the coffee's on the house."

Jeffery smiles. "Yeah, don't worry about it. Sunny said she'd meet you here, so why not relax?"

Luna's expression softens into a gentle smile. "Yeah, I guess I could relax for a little bit!"

After a relaxing forty-five minutes of jazz and coffee, Sunny walks into the shop, though she looks a bit roughed up. She strolls in with her usual confident smile. "Sup, partner!"

Luna quickly stands up, alarmed. "W-what happened? Are you alright? You look beat up!"

Sunny lets out a hearty laugh. "Yeah, I'm fine! I got into a fight at a bar. But hey, I was gathering information!" She says the last part reluctantly, scratching the back of her head.

Luna sighs in relief. "Well, at least you're alright. So, what did you learn?"

Sunny glances at Bianca and Jeffery. "I guess I can trust you two. After all, I've known both of you for a few years." She exhales deeply before continuing. "First things first, the Hunter test will have two parts: a hunt and then a fight."

Luna's eyes light up. "Okay, that doesn't sound so bad!"

But Bianca and Jeffery exchange uneasy looks. Jeffery sighs. "So, it's going to be like that."

Luna looks back and forth between them, confused. "W-what do you mean by that?"

Bianca leans on the counter. "The last time the test was two parts instead of three, only three or four applicants passed. Normally, it's closer to a hundred or two hundred."

Luna raises an eyebrow. "Wait, so one hundred to two hundred here, or...?"

Jeffery shakes his head. "No, worldwide. The exam is extremely tough. With it being two parts, they'll probably skip the educational portion, which means the death count will be high."

Luna's eyes widen. "Wait! Isn't that stuff important!?"

Sunny shrugs nonchalantly. "Yeah, I agree. But they do this to weed out the 'bad ones.' I think it's highly immoral, but it's how this business operates. Don't worry—you'll be fine. You've already unlocked your Will, so you're progressing fast!"

Jeffery's jaw drops. "YOU ALREADY HAVE YOUR WILL!? MOST HUNTERS UNLOCK THEIR WILL AFTER MONTHS OF TRAINING, AND YOU GOT YOURS IN A FEW DAYS!?"

Luna covers her ears. "Yes, jeez! You don't have to shout!"

Bianca shakes her head, muttering, "Bullshit." She looks at Sunny. "Didn't you just start training her a few days ago? I mean, with her mana levels, I guess it makes sense, but... Hold up, how are you with psychokinesis?"

Luna looks down in shame. "Terrible."

Bianca sighs in relief. "Okay, good. I'm glad I'm not about to get shown up by a greenhorn. But Jeffery over here—"

Jeffery quickly cuts her off. "Don't you dare say it."

Bianca and Sunny burst into laughter. "Don't worry, I won't say shit," Bianca says, wiping a tear from her eye. Meanwhile, Luna stands there, utterly confused.

Jeffery sighs and shakes his head. "Alright, show us your Will. I might be able to help you with it."

Luna glances nervously at Sunny, who gives her an encouraging thumbs-up. "Go ahead, partner. You can trust him."

Luna closes her eyes and begins to focus, but nothing happens at first. Jeffery strokes his chin thoughtfully. "Here's some advice: try remembering the feeling from the first time you used your ability."

Luna nods and focuses on her fight with the tomb flower in the basement. She concentrates harder, and soon, a single string begins to unravel from her finger.

Jeffery rubs his chin again. "Interesting. A string-based technique. Sunny, I assume you've been helping her with magic, right?"

Sunny grins. "You bet your sweet bippy!"

Jeffery chuckles, nodding. He pulls a book from the counter and hands it to Luna. "Here, this has about seven spells in it. They're a bit basic, but there's one advanced spell that should help with your upcoming test."

Luna's eyes widen in joy.

Jeffery continues, "But for your Will technique, remember that feeling and focus on it. Also, Sunny, did you tell her about the cat on her shoulder?"

Sunny laughs nervously. "Heh. Screw you, Jeffery. I was going to tell her later. Yeah, partner, that cat is actually a weretiger. But don't worry—its collar suppresses it, so you're safe!"

Luna whips her head toward the cat. "W-what the fuck!? Well, I'm glad you like me!"

Jeffery laughs. "One more piece of advice, kid: almost all Will techniques have more to them than what you see on the surface. Most people focus on the initial ability instead of experimenting. Be creative!"

Luna nods rapidly. "Got it! I'll keep that in mind. But, um, Sunny, shouldn't we, uh, head to the place so I can sign up or whatever I have to do?"

Sunny pats Luna on the back with a grin. "I love your enthusiasm. Alright, Jeff and Bianca, we'll be seeing you!"

With that, Luna and Sunny make their way to Life Giver, where Luna will sign up for her chance to become a Hunter!