A week later, inside a high school explicitly designated for families who are first-class citizens, two boys are sitting at their respective desks in one of the classrooms.

All looks normal inside as the students wait for the teacher to start the class.

The twins Cora and Yara are in a heated discussion over a televised beast fight from the weekend. Televised fights have become the norm worldwide.

Some fights are held for competitions between schools or professional groups, but sometimes, these fights have a more significant meaning and outcome. They can lead to the rearrangement of power between the ten world committee groups.

Last night's fight was a competition between professional groups for TGene resources offered by Clan Azura.

“Yara, wasn’t this weekend's fight the greatest this year? I love Vilis and how she handles herself in all her fights,” says Cora.

“Yeah, I think she is the best fighter out there right now,” responds Yara.

Khyrum can hear them even though he sits across from them on the other side of the room.

He shakes his head while mumbling, “Yeah, of girls, but she can't compare to the guys,” thinking no one heard me.

But Cora whips around in an instant and stares intently at him.

“What did you just say, my dear Khyrum,” she says in a spirited tone.

“If I heard you right, you’re saying girls can’t compare to boys?” she continues.

My face showed a surprised look. I didn’t expect the twins to be able to hear me, and I didn’t know how to respond.

“Yeah, Khyrum, did you not see the fight last night?” asks Yara.

“Didn’t you see how Vilis from Daisuke put a beating on those ten beasts all by herself? Then she went on to fight the pack leader, an Elite Class Beast; I might say, by herself while everyone else was still fighting the other beasts.”

“Also, Fye from House Nouvis was a close second to Vilis. She helped kill the pack leader along with Vilis and the others. Those two are girls; you know that, right, Khyrum?” say Cora and Yara.

Beasts first appeared around 1000 years ago, the same as when the first Other-Worlders appeared. Some old scientific records state that they came about from scientists experimenting on animal genes. They figured that if humans had Transcendent, why not try it on animals?

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The God Complex is what it is referred to as back then. It looks like we screwed up, and the experiments got away from us.

Other scientists today speculate that. They might have been left here by another alien race to have them wipe us out so they could claim the earth for themselves.

Yet a third version is that they lived inside the earth’s crust. They were sealed away, and only after all the seismic activity from that era could they finally break free.

Who is correct? No one knows now. It's been so long that it seems no one cares about this today, so we can only learn about these beasts at school and fight them when we get the chance.

At the start of the year, we learned from Mrs. Ranya, our homeroom teacher, about the beasts and their different rankings, low, middle, and elite-type classes. Above the three regular beast classes were the ascended and mutant designations given to beasts that showed signs of intelligence.

After I killed my first beast two years ago, I tried as best as I could to avoid them when I went out hunting. But I still run into one or two loners ever so often. I killed them easily, which helped me refine my techniques and skills. But that skewed my perspective on them. Most beasts were easy to kill, so when I heard the twins talk about how outstanding these girl fighters were, I couldn’t help but shake my head.

As I talk to the twins, Brandon looks on. He is a little wary of me since I seem to get along well with these two girls.

Brandon looks at the twins; he feels infatuated with them. He wants to own them and have them only talk to him.

“These beautiful girls need to be mine. I’m the only one with any future here, so they should be talking to me,” he says while looking at Khyrum angrily.

Khyrum, on the other hand, does not see them the same way Brandon does. He sees just two classmates he barely knows since he usually never talks to anyone, let alone thinks of them as attractive females like Brandon.

For whatever reason, I decided to interact with the twins this time while they were discussing the fight since I like the fights, too.

“I understand what you are saying, girls, but will you tell me that Vilis & Fye can compare to Nighe from Daisuke?”

“If you say they can, then you would be lying.”

“I once saw Nighe take on 25 beasts by himself in a fight and then go on to kill an Elite Class Beast. Yes, it was along with other fighters, but he still dealt the finishing blow.”

“Nighe is so cool. He can use gravity spells and poisons. Man, I wish I could do that, too,” I say, sighing.

Cora and Yara look at each other with devilish smiles on their faces.

Suddenly, I started getting cold shivers, like I had just fallen into a cold cellar.

“Let’s make a bet then, Khyrum,” said both girls. “The Next fight that Vilis, Fye, and Nighe have together. If Vilis or Fye win, you must grant us one wish each; if Nighe wins, we will grant you one wish each.” Both girls said, giggling. “Do you agree?”

After staring at the girls, I blink for a second, “What’s with this vibe?”

I feel like I’ve been suckered into a no-win situation, but Brandon intervenes just as I’m about to say no.

“Sure, I will take that bet; just don’t come crying when you lose,” says Brandon to the girls, smirking.

Brandon had been dying to join the conversation. That bet just gave him the opportunity he needed.

“I think you two girls are dumb for making that bet. Of course, Nighe is going to win. Boys are naturally stronger than girls, right Khyrum?” he blinks one eye at Kyram, saying follow my lead.

“When we awaken, we will be stronger than you girls, but don’t sweat it; Khyrum and I will protect you.”

Both girls shoot a look at Brandon that says, “We are going to kill you.”

They are about to say something when the teacher interrupts them.

“Students, good morning,” says the teacher.

“Before we start, I want to introduce a new student who just transferred; please help me welcome EVA VOX to the class.