“I can't believe you did that,” Vera shook her head in exasperation.

  “They wanted me to show off my healing power,” Arden shrugged, still wearing his ripped and bloodstained shirt. “I did just that.”

  “You ripped your chest open in front of everyone!”

  “And? I healed it.”

  “They sent us back to the waiting room so they could review us! They don't think you have a healthy mental state.”

  “Okay, I admit, it wasn't the smartest move, but it felt like the right thing to do.”

  “I thought you hated being the center of attention. Did you already forget what happened at Savish’s?”

  “When am I going to learn what happened at Savish’s?” Sya asked.

  “If all goes to plan, never,” Arden said. “And to counter your point, Vera, I realized something about myself around the same time I fought Domah. I don't hate the spotlight, I hate being forced into it. I chose to do it here because I believed it would work out.”

  “I’m pretty sure you did it to freak out the interviewers,” Vera said. “You didn't like the woman's attitude towards you.”

  Arden grinned.

  “I can be both pragmatic and petty. I beat the god of submission by forcing her to submit, after all.”

  “You're infuriating, you know that?”

  Arden laughed.

  “Me, and everyone who knows me.”

  *****

  The three interviewers looked at the door that led to the waiting room where the three prospective Starborn were now sitting.

  “That was interesting, to say the least,” the athlete Gettle said. “Each one was more entertaining than the last.”

  The blonde woman, Lodi, retorted.

  “You mean insane. Who the hell slashes their own chest open to prove that they can heal?”

  “Relax, Lodi,” the gangster-looking Moro said. “You know he just did that to screw with you right?”

  “You thought so too?” Gettle said, spraying water from his fingertips to get rid of the excess blood.

  “It was obvious. The entire time, he was smirking at her.”

  “I think we should bar him,” Lodi sulked. “If he did that because of a bit of teasing, who knows what else he'd do?”

  “Absolutely not,” Moro said. “According to the paperwork, those three are a package deal, and any of them would make great Starborn. You think he's crazy, but he's not. He's measured. In one fell swoop, he did what was requested of him and what he wanted to do.”

  “He ripped himself open like he was a frog in seventh grade science class! You can't honestly believe he wanted to do that!”

  “If he wanted to see this, then yes, I can.”

  Moro turned to Gettle.

  “Gettle, write this down under the boy's bio: high pain tolerance, willing to sacrifice his body, dramatic, and petty.”

  Gettle revealed his clipboard which already had the notes written down before Moro advised him to write them.

  “Attaboy, Gettle!” There was one last note that caught his eye. “What’s that last one?”

  “Competitive. I think part of the reason why he did what he did was to show that he wouldn't be outclassed by the poisoner.”

  Moro nodded.

  “Competition and a bit of craziness are inherent in all Starborn. Once you get powers, you want to show them off to prove who's better.”

  “Which one of the three do you think is better?”

  “My vote is for the first one,” Lodi said. “She was the only one who didn't try to make a scene.”

  “The second one wasn't that bad.”

  “She asked if she could take on the role of an exterminator.”

  “I think the first one as well,” Moro said, surprising Gettle. “She was the only one truly in control.”

  “I think Arden was in control of the situation,” Gettle said. “He got what he wanted out of his splatterfest.”

  “Granted, but he did it because he couldn't do anything else. Vera came in here, stated her power, and displayed it with good control. Superhero movies will have you believe that people want their heroes to have a fun personality. Here in the real world, people want their heroes to be dependable more than anything. They want to be saved more than they want to be related to. Vera is dependable, while the others undoubtedly had more personality than skill.”

  “So what's the call?” Gettle asked. “You're the lead here.”

  *****

  Arden, Sya, and Vera were standing in front of the interviewers table once more. This time, they stood in a line, representative of the fact that they were a group, not just three separate Starborn.

  Arden glanced down at the floor where both the stain and coppery stench had yet to fully disappear.

  Arden and his Status could bag on about his own legacy power being an improvement on Beyond’s, but it was undeniable that the previous Archon’s power was far cleaner.

  Moro spoke after a few seconds of staring at the nonplussed faces of the Starborn.

  “Three Starborn walk into our office,” he began. “A ripper, a poisoner, and a cannibal.”

  “That's reductive,” Arden pointed out.

  “But appropriate. One of you can make anything into a knife, another's body is a weapon, and the other uses other people's blood as a first aid kit. It's quite the band of monsters that have assembled here.”

  Moro tapped his finger on the table for a few seconds before continuing.

  “From what we've seen, only one of you has the mental aptitude to be a licensed Starborn. However, your references have you listed as not only suitable candidates to become licensed, but candidates with great potential. From my perspective, the only potential I'm seeing is the potential for your group to perform cataclysmically. What are your thoughts on this?”

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  ‘Show us,’ Moro thought. ‘How will you react? Will you get defensive? Or will you challenge it?’

  “This is about my performance, isn't it?” Arden asked with a half smile.

  Moro matched Arden’s expression.

  “Perhaps.”

  Arden’s half smile widened into a full one.

  “Then I think you've already made your decision.”

  “Tell me, why do you think that?”

  Arden gestured to the entire room.

  “Because we're continuing with the whole interviewing game. If you thought we were dangerous, you wouldn't have left us out in the waiting room alone. You would have had someone watching over us, or you would have sent us away as soon as I finished my stunt.”

  “We have more Starborn in the building than you think,” Gettle said. “You were being watched the entire time.”

  “Then that proves my point even more,” Arden continued. “I know how much precaution is taken when it comes to rogues. We would have been detained immediately if you thought for a second we were threats, but the fact that you were watching us shows that you wanted to see how we would react.”

  Moro and Gettle both shot glances at Lodi who groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. She had just been shown that Arden wasn't completely insane.

  “What you've said has merit,” Moro continued, pleased with Arden’s answer so far. “It is true that the Association takes a very heavy handed approach to rogue Starborn. If you know that, then why did you injure yourself to such a degree in such a manner that would make people doubt your sanity?”

  Arden shrugged.

  “To get a second interview. I gave a lasting impression as I said I would do, and as a result, we are having this conversation right now. What happened earlier was just the preamble. This is the real interview. That's why you're asking me tough questions.”

  At this, Lodi spoke up, annoyed

  “You are the only group to have gotten this treatment from us. Everyone else was in and out in ten minutes. This isn't the screening process. This is just registration.”

  From Arden’s side, Sya bit her tongue to hide her smile.

  ‘She fell for it.’

  “And yet, here we are,” Arden said. “We are back in front of you so you can see if we pass your little test. If that isn't a screening process, then I don't know what is.”

  Lodi bit her tongue, scoffed, and looked away in defeat. With a scowl, she placed three laminated cards on the table, each of them with the face of one of the three interviewees.

  “I take back what I said about your brain,” she said. “You're not smart. You're devious.”

  “I’ll take it.”

  “You'll also take your licenses,” she said, pointing to the cards on the table. “You passed. You three have been officially registered in the Association.”

  The group stepped up to the table to pick up their licenses.

  “Listen up, freakshow,” Lodi continued. “You are officially Starborn now. You have a duty to maintain the safety of the world and everyone living in it.”

  Arden didn't say anything. He found it hard to breathe when the woman's orange-tier aura pressed down on him and only him.

  “If you do anything that goes against that, then I will personally rip out your stellar core.”

  Moro spoke as the newcomers backed away from the table.

  “With you having obtained licenses, you are now able to choose what you are going to do with them. Do you want to work a mundane job with your powers, or do you want to fight?”

  Arden was still having trouble speaking after Lodi threatened him, so Vera took the initiative to answer after checking to make sure that Arden would be okay.

  “We'll take the combat licenses.”

  Moro offered a hand.

  “I’ll need to adjust your licenses then.”

  The licenses were quickly returned to Moro who did something with them that to everyone else looked he just pinched them before handing them back to the cohort.

  “You are now cleared for field-testing. Should you successfully complete the assessment, you will be allowed to take up membership as a warrior-class Starborn in any group looking for them, such as guilds and the Association. There are other perks that come with being a fighter as well, but you will learn about them when you become one.”

  “If you become one,” Lodi said.

  “We’ll become warriors,” Arden announced, having recovered from the aura release.

  “I don't doubt the skills of your party, given what they showed today. I doubt you.”

  Vera’s eyes narrowed dangerously. She didn't like the attitude of the official. She understood why Arden did what he did, even though she hated that he did it.

  “Enough, both of you,” Moro said. “Field testing takes place at the end of every month. You can apply at the front desk, or right now if you want to.”

  “We’re not quite there yet,” Sya said. “A week isn't enough time to get good enough for an actual test.”

  Gettle wrote something down and nodded his head meaningfully. One final note to add to the dossier.

  Moro stood up and opened the door back to the waiting room for them.

  “It was good meeting you all,” he said. “I hope we're not making a mistake with this.”

  “Oh you definitely are,” Arden said. “Just not a big one. I'll try to keep the rampage on dull.”

  Lodi groaned and spoke to Vera.

  “Keep him on a tight leash.”

  “Don’t you worry. I plan to do just that. He needs a bit of punishment.”

  *****

  The receptionist, Rinit, was starting to get a bit worried.

  It had been more than half an hour since she sent the trio of Starborn into their registration. The only person to come out since then was a teenager who was thrown out by one of her superiors, Moro.

  As a red-tier Starborn working administrative duty, one of her fears was meeting someone stronger than she was who despised bureaucratic function. She would be the first victim if one of them existed.

  Now, she was worried that the people she sent in, while not openly hostile to her, were hostile to her superiors in charge of registration. The brief wave of Ms Lodi’s aura did not ease her worry.

  The only thing preventing her from taking her fifteen minute break and going to investigate was the lack of alarm being raised. As she was thinking about investigating anyway, she heard the voices of the people coming from the hallway.

  “I can’t believe that actually worked,” Arden said.

  “It was always going to work,” Sya said. “I told you what to say, after all.”

  “Has a Starborn ever gone into politics? I think you’d be good at it.”

  “Probably,” Sya said. “I’d hate it though.”

  Relief flooded Rinit’s heart as she heard the group return. She was about to greet them and congratulate them for finishing their registration when she saw the state that the boy was in.

  His shirt had been torn apart. It was a miracle that it was still hanging onto his body, given how little of it remained. Crimson blood stained it everywhere, along with the hem of his pants.

  The next few minutes were a blur for her. She vaguely remembered checking them out of the building, but she didn’t remember anything that was said.

  It was only after they left did normalcy return for her, thanks in part to Gettle appearing in front of her.

  “Mr Gettle!” she said, surprised. “How long have you been here?”

  “Only a minute or so,” he said with a shrug.

  “I’m sorry!" she said with a short bow.

  “Don’t worry about it. It happens.” He handed Rinit the clipboard. “I have the report right here. Make sure that one gets logged.”

  She looked between the clipboard, the door, and her boss that she had a crush on. She couldn’t hold back her curiosity.

  “What happened with them?” she asked.

  “Nothing to worry about. The boy just chose an odd method to show his powers. You’ll see my notes when you log the report.”

  “Are Mr Moro and Ms Lodi alright? I felt Ms Lodi’s aura.”

  Gettle chuckled.

  “Everything is just fine. That was just her punishing the boy for being a bit crazy.”

  “Is she mad?”

  “She was. She’s a lot calmer now. Now she’s just quietly chuckling to herself.”

  “That’s…scary.”

  “Oh yeah. I think she's planning something.”