Chapter 235: Talk in Cafe

After taking the IDs from Lily, Lucian and Selene silently looked down at them, reading through the information written on the cards—their names, their ranks, and their talents.

Everything that would now officially identify them as awakened members of society—and, more importantly, would allow them to enter dungeons without any problems.

"Now that both of you are officially registered as awakened..." Lily spoke, drawing their attention back towards her.

"Let me tell you a few rules."

She then began explaining the fundamental rules of the Association.

It took her a few minutes, and she was a little pleased to see Lucian listening to her words attentively, though she didn’t know that he was simply doing that to keep his mind from thinking about anything else.

"And mainly..." she said, her tone becoming slightly more serious.

"No violence inside the Association, or that can lead to serious repercussions."

Her words were pointed directly towards Lucian, and even Selene couldn’t help but glance towards him.

But rather than reacting nervously to her words—

"Why are you looking at me?

I’m not that type of person... don’t you already know that?"

The moment those words left his mouth, several people nearby almost felt their lips twitch—Selene included.

Even Lily stared at him for a few seconds.

"I already saw a demo," she replied wryly, shaking her head.

Her expression then shifted into even more seriousness as she looked at both Lucian and Selene.

"I know both of you might already have a bit of experience with monsters, but please... stay safe."

If they were really from an awakened family, then they would’ve already fought a few... or perhaps many monsters.

But even then, caution was still very much needed.

And arrogance... that simply led to more and more deaths.

She had seen it herself.

People who thought that dungeons were nothing more than treasure hunts, places where they could collect XP, farm monsters, and get stronger.

They didn’t understand that this was the real world, not a game where they could take everything easy.

Most of them... never returned.

And if they did... then they never thought the same way again.

Lucian and Selene silently nodded, and after a few moments, they left her after taking their IDs.

Both of them eventually turned around...

Only to find the entire squad standing directly behind them.

"Got the ID...?" Isaac asked, to which Lucian gave another silent nod.

"Then can we talk now...?"

For a moment, Lucian almost seemed to be thinking, perhaps deliberately considering whether he actually wanted to talk...

And seeing that, Isaac’s lips twitched.

"Fuck it, you’re coming with us, or else we’re leaving."

Saying that, Isaac alone turned around and began walking away without waiting for a response, leaving his entire squad standing there with smirking looks on their faces, amused by their Leader’s slightly tsundere behaviour.

"So... shall we...?" Ava asked, her tone slightly nervous as she looked at Lucian.

"Yea—"

Before Lucian could even answer—

"Are you coming or not?!"

Their leader’s irritated voice echoed from farther ahead, and after looking at each other, the members of the squad began rushing toward Isaac, while Lucian and Selene followed them at their own pace.

Ava, however, slowed down slightly until she was walking beside Selene. Her gaze drifted toward Lucian for a second before she walked alongside them.

Lucian recognised the woman, but seeing that she had no intention of harming them, unlike yesterday, he faintly calmed down, walking behind the team.

"Looks like our first dungeon exploring will be very entertaining." A faint chuckle escaped his lips.

His mood seemed to have lightened ever so slightly.

Selene noticed that, and her expression softened beneath her mask.

At least he was finally turning normal.

The group eventually reached a café located just outside the Association building.

The place wasn’t particularly crowded. In fact, it looked somewhat empty, with only two or three people sitting around and talking quietly.

None of them cared much about that. They simply entered and took their respective seats.

Isaac, Jake, and Lucian sat on one side of the table, while Jake looked at Lucian with an intensely curious gaze, something Lucian didn’t like even one bit... though thankfully, Isaac was deliberately sitting in the middle to stop the new troublemaker from meeting their own troublemaker.

On the opposite side sat Jennifer, Ava, and Ella—the female squad members—while Selene took a seat beside them, her hands calmly resting in her lap.

Yet despite her composed appearance, she was feeling slightly nervous... because...

Just like in Lucian’s case, she was also being stared at... by Jennifer, who tilted her head toward her, clearly trying to get a better look at her face.

Though...

"Is that... a mask...?" Jake asked even before Jennifer could.

Everyone’s attention instantly shifted toward Selene, who stiffened slightly, feeling even more awkward—though her demeanour remained completely calm and composed.

She didn’t really want to say anything, but seeing the clear curiosity in everyone’s expressions...

She silently nodded before slowly reaching up and pulling her hood back, revealing the darkness covering her entire face—the mask that completely hid her features without revealing even her eyes.

Jake’s eyes widened.

"Damn... that’s fucking cool!"

He almost stood up from his seat before Isaac immediately shoved him back down.

"Can you even look with that mask?" Ella leaned forward, studying the strange mask.

Selene remained silent for a moment, but before she could even try to answer—

"How is that even attached to your face?" Jennifer asked, noticing the lack of strings or anything else that seemed to attach it to her.

After a brief pause, without even letting her answer, she continued.

"And why are you hiding your face...? Is it...?"

She didn’t complete the sentence, though Ava immediately flinched beside them, remembering the same question she had asked yesterday to taunt her...

Only to get an ice stake that had almost pierced her body.

"Can you stop harassing M—my partner...?"

Lucian interrupted before his mother could become any more awkward.

He could feel the slight stillness in her body, almost as if she didn’t even know what she was supposed to say—or even whom she was supposed to answer first.

He couldn’t help but inwardly feel amused by her introverted side—though that was somewhat obvious, considering she had been trapped within four walls for quite a long time and hadn’t interacted with many people.

Jennifer blinked once before a playful smile spread across her face.

"Okay, okay, Mister Lucian, we weren’t harassing her... damn, how possessive~"

Her tone carried a clear hint of teasing, making Selene’s fingers tremble slightly beneath the table the moment she heard those words.

She glanced towards Lucian, who seemed completely unfazed by Jennifer’s teasing.

"I’m not... possessive."

Even he knew that she wasn’t exactly wrong, but still...

He wasn’t that bad, right...?

[...]

Lucian slightly rolled his eyes, dismissing the accusation before shifting his attention around the cafe, and after a second—

"Why is this place so empty?" he couldn’t help but ask.

Isaac, who had been quietly sitting across from him, looked at him as if the answer was very obvious.

"Do you think people have time to go to restaurants and cafes during the apocalypse?"

Lucian paused, and after looking around once more, he slowly nodded in understanding.

After some not-so-useful talk, like why Lucian was wearing sunglasses and about their unusually expensive clothing, Lucian couldn’t take it anymore.

And after waiting for another minute—

Bam!

He finally slapped his hand against the table.

"Let’s talk about the important stuff, shall we...?"

He asked with a smile, a smile that barely reached his eyes, feeling slightly irritated by the waves of questions about his life and all that from the women... and from Jake.

Every one of them nodded almost immediately, and seeing the silence finally settling down, Isaac, who had remained quiet for such a long time, finally leaned forward and spoke.

"Before we go to the dungeon, I wanted to tell you about ourselves and also a few protocols, so nothing goes wrong inside the dungeon."

The atmosphere around the table gradually turned serious—much to Lucian’s liking.

The casual conversation disappeared, and Isaac began explaining, telling them about a few more rules properly, making sure Lucian and Selene understood them, while at the same time also reminding the others from his squad as well.

"Many dungeons are taken by the major guilds, so coming across a dungeon that the Association itself can use is already rare. The Association has taken this particular dungeon so we can get stronger... not just by rank, but by improving our skills." Isaac continued with a serious expression, and hearing his words, everyone turned serious as well.

"For our raid, we are going to kill as many monsters as we can while keeping our safety as the main priority."

His gaze travelled across the table.

"So this is a reminder to the reckless people."

Almost everyone turned towards Lucian, who sat with his arms crossed over his chest while casually leaning back.

"What?" He tilted his head almost innocently.

The entire group shook their heads. Isaac rubbed his forehead slightly before continuing.

With that, each member of the squad introduced themselves properly, telling them about the weapons they used, or about the way they were going to fight inside the dungeon.

During their conversation, everyone ordered something from the cafe.

The drinks also arrived, and before long, every one of them was either sipping coffee or drinking whatever they had ordered.

(I don’t know the names of any other drinks besides coffee, tea, and cappuccino—so spare me for being so old-fashioned.)

Except for... one person.

"Are you not going to drink that?" Ava asked, seeing him staring at his drink, almost as if it were his personal enemy.

He and Selene hadn’t actually ordered anything, but after pushing Selene a little more, she finally complied and ordered a coffee, while Lucian hadn’t ordered anything—yet someone else (naturally, Ava) from the group had ordered something with him in mind.

Though that consideration wasn’t exactly useful... especially not for a vampire who craved nothing but blood.

Lucian’s lips twisted slightly as the unpleasant smell of coffee assaulted his nose, but just as he was about to reply—

"He doesn’t eat anything from the outside," Selene interjected, answering instead, since she already knew the exact reason for his reaction.

A vampire... and human food, both weren’t exactly a good combination.

"Oh..."

Ava nodded, feeling slightly downcast.

Jennifer suddenly smiled, and a playful glint ran through her eyes.

"Does he only eat homemade food from your hands...?" she asked teasingly.

But instead of any nervousness or rejection—

"Yes."

Selene’s answer came naturally, stunning all of them.

Of course, she wasn’t wrong, since Lucian always ate her homemade food... at least when he was a human.

’Sigh...’

Now things were much more complicated.

Now he had his sis—lover, girlfriend... or whatever—who would feed him with her own bod—blood...!

’Just what am I imagining...?!’ Selene thought, mortified, even though she inwardly knew she wasn’t wrong.

It seemed that, one way or another, everyone was slowly trying to decrease the things she could do for her son.

"If you aren’t drinking, then I’ll take it." Jake grabbed the cup before taking it for himself.

Lucian didn’t stop him, not that he particularly cared. They were the ones paying the bills anyway.

But—

"I don’t think you should be eating that much while going into a dungeon." He couldn’t help but mutter aloud.

"It’s fine... its p—ffhine..."

Everyone’s lips twisted slightly as they watched him eating so hurriedly, as if someone were about to take it away from him.