The sound of Nier closing the car door for Bel as she entered his Phantom could be heard as Marcy looked over at Nier, about to enter from the back seat, as she looked at her closest enemy in the front, her hands folded, clearly content with just being there.

  "You don't need to worry about me; just get to driving. I don't need princess treatment to make it feel like I matter."

  "What the fuck did you say, bitch?"

  Bel shouts back, taking Nier by surprise.

  As he could literally sense the hate these two carry for each other, the negativity between them was palpable.

  And Nier called her out on that, taking Bel by surprise as she just realized she broke her cool and dy-like facade because of this gothic bitch.

  "Jesus, are you good, Bel!?"

  Nier asked from through the window, and Bel responded as such.

  "Yes, just bickering between girls, isn't that right, goth bitch?"

  Marcy was annoyed by this and merely cut her eyes, as she said.

  "I am a motherfucking emo, you stupid bimbo blonde, get it right."

  "Who the fuck are you calling a bimbo, you tramp?"

  "I am not A FUCKING TRAMP!!"

  Marcy shouted as Nier stepped between them, cutting the tension short.

  "Can you two calm the hell down? If you want to kill each other, do it ter, and definitely not in my car."

  "Ah, sorry, Nier."

  Bel said, smoothing her skirt and slipping back into her polished posture, the fre of temper already tucked away.

  "…Well, anyway, Nier, can I ask you a question?"

  Marcy ventured, catching him off guard just as he started the Phantom. The car rolled forward, the electric gate gliding open ahead.

  He gnced at her in the rearview mirror.

  "What is it, brat?"

  "I'm not a brat, you old man."

  "Damn right I am."

  Nier shot back, pride in his voice.

  "That means you should respect me more."

  "Tch, whatever. Just answer my question."

  "It depends on what the question is."

  "Hmm… is shapeshifting the only power you have, old man?"

  Bel's ears perked up; she leaned in, adding her own input.

  "Yeah, just a heads-up: when we reach the main office of the Lunaris Hero Association, they're going to test your capabilities."

  "I figured as much. So what exactly are the tests they do there?"

  "Well, from what I remember when I went there to get my occult license, which legally allows me to hunt Fluxes, they put me through three tests: a physical test to measure my abilities, a theory test to gauge my knowledge, and a capability test to determine the scope of my power. After that, they take the results and use them to assign your rank and nature."

  "You mean the standard E-to-S ranking system?"

  Asked Nier as he was now driving on the streets, passing houses and different businesses alike.

  Bel naturally responded to him.

  "Mhm... E is the weakest, people with minor, often harmless abilities: growing cws sharp enough to tear bone, briefly paralyzing someone with eye contact, or doing useless tricks like, for example, changing your hair color or something around that level of uselessness that will get one a rating of E."

  "Or if you scale all the way up to S-Rank, where a single person is cssified as an apocalyptic threat, this means you are strong enough to end the world solo. In the supernatural community, S-Ranks are usually family heads, Public Safety captains, Ascendants… or the top ten heroes in the FAA, or top hero figures of some kind globally speaking."

  "Seems straightforward enough."

  Nier said.

  Marcy, on the other hand, tilted her head curiously as she asked.

  "Think you'll hit S-Rank?"

  And Nier was honest as he responded.

  "Not really. I'm strong, but nowhere near world-ending. Not yet, anyway."

  "Ohhh, ease up, Mr. Confident."

  Bel teased, bumping his arm with a sly smile.

  "Still, even if Nier isn't an S-Rank threat, he is plenty strong, right? I mean, that warp-gate thing you pulled earlier, honestly, a heads-up next time would be nice."

  "Yeah, yeah, I said I was sorry for teleporting in front of you like that. And as for your first point… I have no idea how strong I actually am. I've never pushed myself to the limit to get a definitive answer."

  Said Nier as he continued.

  "But either way, we'll see when they put me to the test. Gotta say, I'm excited to find out my limits. By the way, you said your brother called the Sector Director for Lunaris, right? What kind of person is he?"

  "Zoltris Utomium, of the Utomium family."

  Bel said.

  "His family founded the Hero Association back in 1963."

  "He was also an ex-lieutenant of a team when he was still with Public Safety. You see, after his father died five years ago, he succeeded him as director for Sector-7 and became one of the six Elders of the Utomium family as well."

  "A lieutenant...that must mean he is a high-level Hesta, right?"

  "A level-4 Hesta, to be precise."

  "Oh, he is on his fourth evolution?"

  "Yeah, lucky bastard. I've been stuck on my second for the past eight years now. I don't know why I can't evolve as quickly as some of these monsters out here, but because of my trouble evolving, it gave me time to naturally develop a lot of applications with just the abilities I have now. Still, I do feel like my third evolution is close."

  Expined Bel.

  "You know…

  Nier paused, then continued.

  "I keep forgetting that you're a Hesta. Do you think your third evolution will come anytime soon?"

  "I… I don't know...

  Bel answered honestly as she continued to speak.

  "Usually Hestas evolve naturally with time, or when they're pushed to the limits, to the point it's basically near death. Hestas can also evolve in states of high emotion too; emotions such as immense sadness, anger, or determination can trigger an evolution in a Hesta. My first evolution happened because I got so angry with my father that I evolved right then and there. Since then, I haven't been able to evolve again."

  "You got mad with your dad and evolved? What the hell did he do!?"

  "I don't want to talk about it."

  Bel said, as her aura spiked up a bit just recalling the memory.

  Nier didn't pitch in any further; he knew it was a sensitive topic given her behavior.

  Marcy also did not chime in, but she listened carefully.

  She wouldn't admit it, but she had always wanted to be a Hesta. As, like many others, she had yet to awaken, and she probably won't either, as awakening only happens in 1 in 10,000 people, anyway.

  Then Nier continued, stopping at a red light as he asked.

  "So you think a battle to the death would push you to the limit?"

  "Probably. That is one way to do it, but I don't casually go out seeking trouble. And to be honest, I don't really use my powers that often either. I just never really had a need to rely on my Hesta abilities."

  Bel confessed.

  Causing Nier to bring up an old topic.

  Well, fake for him, but real to her, as this was one of the memories from the mass illusion Kaly cast upon her.

  "I remember two days ago you told me your abilities have to do with your eyes, right?"

  "Yeah, my power is centered around eyes and sight as a whole. To be more accurate, I have the ability to create a visual hive mind of sorts."

  "The fuck is a visual hive mind?"

  Marcy asked, a little puzzled by the wording.

  Bel sighed and began to expin her Hesta ability in more detail.

  "To make a long story short, I have the ability to link to other people's eyes, allowing me to see through them. It is a good ability for spying and the like. I can link my eyes and see out of multiple different people at once. I could also take all the information from one person and inflict all that visual data into the eyes of a single person...the information from that alone could fry their brain, causing severe brain damage that eventually leads to death."

  "I can literally touch an object and connect with it, making a link of sorts, and with it see through objects as well, kind of like turning things into an artificial eye itself. Of course, I have a shit ton more things I can do with this ability. I mean, I've had close to a decade to learn all the applications it gave me when I reached level two. Hell, my power is so strong my mother doesn’t even see me as a normal level two either; my power can hurt level 3s, somewhat works on level 4s, and can mildly annoy a level 5."

  Said Bel

  Then Nier began to speak once more.

  "Wow, you're quite the scary one, aren't you?"

  "Hehehe, you think?"

  "In the right situation you could instantly kill a person with a power like yours. Still, let's talk more about this; we have finally arrived."

  Nier said, as he saw the rge building in front of him, he began to park his car at the side of the road.