Dario and his examiner walked into a spacious room filled with various equipment uniformly scattered around. Off to the sides were tables set up with comfortable looking chairs in a sort of lounge area. Up above, there appeared to be glassed balconies on three sides of the room overlooking the entire area. Apart from the two of them, there seemed to be nobody else in the room.

As they walked further in, Dario noticed some scorch marks on the walls along with small cracks spread around various areas. Some of the strange equipment around the room seemed damaged or distorted in some manner. Dario took this all in with a keen eye, but rather than feeling anxious, he felt excited. This seemed like a place that saw some action, and he loved experiencing new things.

When they reached the middle of the room, the tall bald lady turned around to face him. “I’m known as Miss Aimee, and you may refer to me as such.” She gestured towards him. “What’s your name?”

“The name’s Dario,” he replied with a confident grin. Dario hoped to make a good first impression, and Superiors were supposed to be brimming with courage and boldness right?

“Well, Dario, why don’t we get to know each other more. It’s not often I get to be an examiner,” Miss Aimee said with a smile. “Usually I’m out there fighting the good fight but I took a week off to do something more relaxing.” She spread her arms out and stretched before assuming a more relaxed pose. “I hope you don’t mind if I take my time with you.”

“What’s it like out there?” Dario asked eagerly. He was keen to go through with the examination but he was just too curious to let the opportunity pass. He had never been outside the colossal walls of the city and he’d been interested to find out what horrors lurked outside in the Wildlands.

“Around here? Not much.” Miss Aimee shrugged. “Most of the area surrounding the kingdom and the nearby cities and villages don’t really have any of the truly terrifying monsters around. Most of those have been killed already or moved away. It’s usually just minor threats like slimes, goblins or harpies.”

Despite finally learning something from someone who’d actually been outside the walls, Dario felt disappointed. Was that really it? It sounded like there wasn’t really anything threatening or world ending outside the walls. Dario had grown up with tales of bogeymen and monstrous beings that existed out in the Wildlands and his own mother had used them to scare him back to sleep as a kid. Now, apparently, he was told that there wasn’t really much substance to those stories.

“Is it bad that I think that’s kinda disappointing?” Dario asked with a frown. “I thought there’d be tougher things out there.”

Miss Aimee laughed and placed her hand on his shoulder. “Hah, I like you newbie, I think we’ll get along just fine. You sound like a combat addict, something I’ve been accused of by many.”

“It’s not that I like fighting,” Dario denied. “Well, okay, I do get in a scrap or two, or ten, but that doesn’t mean I’m an addict.” Dario took a deep breath before explaining, “It’s just, I thought Superiors were really protecting us you know? Like you said, fighting the good fight and defending humanity from the terrors outside. I just thought there’d be more to it than just slimes and goblins.” Dario looked down with a dejected look on his face.

Miss Aimee walked away and leaned on a nearby piece of metal equipment. She sighed and crossed her arms.

“Don’t get me wrong, there is more to it than just that. It’s just that the higher class threats exist far outside our territory. If that wasn’t the case, we’d be in a lot more trouble.”

Dario perked up. “So things like dragons, hydras, and giants do exist?”

“Among many other things, yes.” She nodded. “They used to live a lot closer but we, humanity that is, eventually pushed them back and established an equilibrium. The A-Class threats never usually approach us, so it’s not too bad. The B-Class and below are still around though, and last time I was really out there deep in the Wildlands, well, I was fighting a horde of undead in an underground cave.” She grimaced and shuddered. “That wasn’t very fun.”

“Fighting undead… that sounds fascinating,” he said honestly. It really was fascinating and he was learning so much. None of the things he learned since coming to register were things he was aware of previously. He didn’t even know that there were Classes for threats! He had truly lived a sheltered life.

“In a way, it is fascinating,” she agreed. “You won’t believe some of the ways they—”

“Wait a minute,” Dario interjected. Even though he’d like to learn more about the world, he could do so after doing what he was supposed to be doing. “As much as I appreciate this world lesson, aren’t you supposed to be examining me or something?”

The bald, amber eyed woman grinned at him in amusement. “I already did newbie. You’re definitely a supe, just like everyone else in this building.”

“What? What do you mean, and what’s a supe?” Dario asked, bewildered.

“A Superior,” she clarified. “You don’t think we refer to each other as Superiors all the time do you? That’s just silly. It’s a bit of a mouthful, and quite egotistical in my opinion, but it’s more for the sake of normal people. Propaganda to keep the status quo, so to speak. We usually just call ourselves supes, or supers.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Most non-supers don’t, and its kept that way." She shrugged. "Apparently it’s so we’re glorified and not questioned, but as I said, I think it’s just ‘cause it’s too long to say.”

“Okay, that’s good to know.” Dario nodded before remembering the other thing she said. “Wait, what did you mean when you said you examined me already? We haven’t done anything yet.”

“I already examined you when I put my hand on your shoulder earlier,” she replied.

“What? How was that supposed to tell you anything?” Dario asked, baffled.

“One of my abilities is psychometry.” Seeing Dario’s confusion, she explained, “It’s something that allows me to analyze an object or person. I can examine some of their history and see their potential.”

“Wow, that’s... actually pretty cool,” Dario remarked. He was constantly amazed by all the things Superiors were capable of, and he could only imagine all the things one could do with a power like that. It made his own abilities somewhat lackluster and basic in comparison.

“And, even if I didn’t have this ability, I could tell that you were a supe the moment I saw you,” Miss Aimee stated.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Tell me, what is the first thing you think of when you see a supe?”

“Um, I think of how cool they are?”

“Not like that.” Miss Aimee rolled her eyes. Dario found that simple action to be somehow captivating, probably because he had never seen amber irises on a person before. It was as unique as his own amethyst orbs.

Was this what it was like when people told him he had pretty eyes?

“I mean, what do you think of when you actually look at them, at supes, physically,” she emphasized.

Dario took a moment to think of what she meant before realizing what she was hinting at. “They all look stunning,” he stated. “Like, physically attractive, more so than normal people.” It was an observation he made quite often, and it seemed he wasn’t the only one who did.

“Exactly,” she said, satisfied. “Every supe you’ll ever meet will look intensely attractive, or at least above average. There is a reason for that.”

Miss Aimee walked over to a nearby table and sat on a chair, inviting Dario to sit across from her.

“Haven’t you noticed your body changing, your facial structure improving, maybe you got taller, or you found you had more muscles than before?”

“I thought that was just puberty,” Dario muttered before taking a seat. “And, not to be arrogant or anything, but I’ve always been considered attractive so I didn’t really notice too much.”

“Regardless, it’s a well known fact that all supes become the ideal version of themselves. When you become a supe, your body changes itself to achieve its maximum potential, and sometimes beyond that,” Miss Aimee lectured, her chin on top of her interlaced fingers.

“So, what you’re saying is... you found me attractive the moment you saw me,” Dario declared with a grin.

“Precisely.” She chuckled at Dario’s dumbfounded face. “Don’t be so surprised, I find most supes attractive, as does everyone else. It’s no big secret.”

Dario stayed silent while digesting this new information.

Did that mean that anyone who looked attractive had the potential to be a Superior, or already was one? That couldn’t be true, otherwise there would be a lot more supes around, or were there more than he thought? What was the difference between normal person attractive, and Superior attractive? Wait, did that mean an ugly person could suddenly and randomly become beautiful? Heh, he knew some people who’d like knowing that. However, he still didn’t understand what gave Superiors their enhanced looks.

“If what you’re saying is true and all Superio— err, all supes look naturally good-looking, then what is it that makes them that way?” he asked.

Miss Aimee leaned back in her chair and placed her feet on the table. She gave him a coy, secretive smile, as if knowing what she had to say would change his world forever.