Registration Complete!

"Your registration is complete… You will receive your special awakened identification cards in a day or so…" the old scientist muttered with a ghostly pale face. Kaiden and the girls didn't understand why he acted as if he'd just seen the end of the world, but they were happy to be let go without getting hard-to-answer questions thrown at them.

"Yessssss!!! We're officially awakened!" As soon as they left the room with the artifact, Nyx squealed with overwhelming joy and ran up to Kaiden. His back was turned toward her, but that didn't deter the pink-haired beauty at all as, in the next moment, she jumped onto his back and began laying numerous kisses on the back of his head.

Kaiden was surprised but managed to grab her lower thighs, supporting her weight.

"We're in public…" Aria whispered bashfully while watching the surroundings. The exit they left the room through led them back to the reception area, so numerous staff and awaiting registrees stared at Nyx's antics.

"I don't care! My submissive roleplay porn is already on the net; my image cannot be ruined any further!" The Space Valkyrie decreed merrily, not at all bothered by what she was saying.

"Khm! Khm! May I ask where that can be found?" A guy coughed into his palm before asking his question. He immediately received a very strong elbow into his side from the girl sitting next to him. She was looking at him with complete disbelief in her furious eyes.

"Valhalla's Sinners!" Nyx replied without an ounce of shame or care, after which she went back to needily hugging her boyfriend and kissing him fervently.

"And you said I made you feel like an innocent maiden…?" Luna grumbled, referencing her earlier words.

"That was before my inhibitions have been removed. I've found my peace with my place in the world; I couldn't care less what randoms think of me!"

"Didn't you blush a few minutes ago when Kaiden said we met during a porn shoot to the scientist dude?"

Luna's question was met with a sly giggle, "Hehe! My inhibitions were removed after that when we became official awakened!"

"That's the spirit," Kaiden agreed while laughing heartily. 

The two women kept bickering while Aria tried to get them to make up. When they stepped out of the building, a chorus of frenzied screams welcomed them. 

"A-tier!!"

"I can't believe this!"

"Can you tell us about your thoughts?!" 

Dozens of reporters were in the middle of losing their marbles while taking thousands of pictures per second of the young man standing in front of them. He'd just finished his evaluation and gotten the fabled A-tier classification.

"Ahaha! If you want to hear from me, then you gotta schedule an appointment with my agent once I hire one!" he shouted gleefully, looking very full of himself.

Kaiden put Nyx down from his back and murmured with disbelief, "… David?" He recognized the man to be his dorm neighbor, the guy he'd been beefing with ever since breaking his little toy in kindergarten.

"Huh?" The man in question somehow heard his voice and turned around. He was just as surprised. "Kaiden? What are you doing here?"

"I awakened. I see you did as well. Congratulations."

"Hehehe! Yeah, I'm of the amazing A-class, can you believe it? What tier did you get?"

"F."

"N-no way! Ahahaha!" David began mockingly laughing at him from the top of his lungs, so much so that he had to clutch his stomach while doing so.

Kaiden wasn't overly bothered. In his eyes, David was the perfect example of an eternal loser, no matter what he managed to achieve.

"Where did you leave Becky?" Kaiden asked, he couldn't see her anywhere nearby. She surely should've come with her partner for such a monumental event.

David continued laughing for a few seconds until he finally managed to hold it together long enough to reply. It was evident to all observers he was having the greatest time of his life. "The first thing I did once I noticed my awakening was break up with her. She was nothing but a mistake I made in my youthful desperation."

"What a wonderful boyfriend you are," Luna scoffed angrily. She didn't like this person one bit, and each time she saw him, well, let's just say he didn't do his image any favors.

"Oh, the gamer gremlin is here too!" David voiced and then glanced at Nyx and Aria, "And would you look at that, the hooker gang stands united once again!"

Luna's gaze darkened as fury overtook her features. "I warned you, call me a prostitute one more time, and I will ruin you! [Storm-"

She was abruptly interrupted when Kaiden put his hand in front of her mouth. Luna angrily turned toward him to ask why he stopped her, but her question didn't leave her lips. It simply couldn't. What she saw was a sight she'd never seen before. If she was furious, then Kaiden was outright boiling with pure, unadulterated wrath. 

His entire demeanor shifted. His usual laid-back, confident posture stiffened, and a dark, threatening aura settled around him. The warmth in his gaze vanished, only to be replaced by murderous eyes that made the air around him feel insufferably heavy. Even the paparazzi's constant camera clickings ceased abruptly.

Although their eyes showed them the vision of a young man, all observers could swear that, in reality, they saw only one thing: one monster. The worst of them all.

Vespera Ashborn.

Only she had this presence to her. He looked like the male version of the Shadow Monarch when she was about to go on a rampage against those stupid enough to earn her ire.

David's eyes widened in fright, and his mockery ceased immediately. He took an instinctive step back as his bravado crumbled.

"W-w-what do you want?!" he yelled in a much higher pitch than he wanted to.

Kaiden spat his words with venom. "I warned you already. No one has the right to speak of these precious existences in such a despicable manner, not you, not my family, not the association chairman, not even the president of the United States. The two of us have our differences, but that gives you no right to involve my loved ones. Thus, you leave me no other choice." 

He stepped toward the shaken David until he was right up against him, glaring deep into his eyes before declaring, "I, Kaiden Grey, challenge you, David Bennett, to an Awakened Duel. May my right as an awakened who had been wronged to his very core by another allow me to restore the honor of my women."

"Kai, it's fine!" Aria shouted with worry overwhelming her entire being.

"Yeah, this loser's words do not affect me," Nyx nodded.

Luna was about to voice her agreement when Kaiden turned toward them and looked deep into each of their eyes one by one. He said no words, but they instinctually understood one thing. Kaiden was furious beyond reason. He wanted to beat David up. 

He had to.