CHAPTER 308: END OF NORMAL

Still, the numbers didn’t make the memories vanish. Aria had lost her arm in that dungeon. Nyx had been a hair away from death. If not for healers, if not for their emergency retreat option, things could’ve ended horribly. Leon’s example burned fresh in Kaiden’s mind. The parasite invasion combined with the lack of an escape route made him experience true agony and misery.

Risk equaled reward, yes. But it also equaled the chance of losing someone irreplaceable.

He felt a knot in his chest. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—exchange even one of his women for the entire universe. Stats were good. Artifacts were good. But their lives? That was non-negotiable. It was time to start making smarter calls about which dungeons they tackled.

With that sobering thought, his gaze moved back to his sheet.

[Stats]

{Vitality: 60}

{Strength: 68 → 78}

{Agility: 67 → 77}

{Endurance: 62 → 72}

{Mana: 40 → 50}

{Magic: 40 → 50}

Kaiden’s eyes lingered on the translucent numbers only he could see, lost in the weight of his own decisions, until Liam’s voice cut through.

"You really are a superhuman now."

The words weren’t said with admiration alone. Liam’s wry smile held a shadow of something else. Dejection, maybe even envy.

Kaiden blinked out of his trance and glanced at him, only to notice the bar in his hands. At some point, Liam had used his distraction to load on far more plates than before. Yet his arms moved with the same steady rhythm, muscles flexing but not straining, his breaths calm. Kaiden hadn’t even noticed the difference.

He paused mid-rep, holding the bar still. Then, with a quiet sigh, he eased it back onto the rack. "Yeah," he said, rubbing his palms together. "That’s what I came here to tell you. I’ve got to start treating my body like an awakened’s now. Normal human training... it won’t do anything for me anymore."

Liam’s face softened. He leaned back against the bench, arms crossed, and gave a slow nod. "I figured as much." His tone was understanding, but the weight behind it made the air turn bittersweet.

Kaiden studied him for a moment, then asked, "Do you ever wish you could’ve awakened?"

Liam chuckled at first, but there wasn’t much humor in it. "That’s an irrelevant question. I’m past the age. Door’s closed."

"Even so," Kaiden pressed, "theoretical questions can be fun to explore."

For a moment, Liam didn’t respond. His gaze shifted downward, fixed on the polished floor beneath them. A long sigh escaped him, heavy with unspoken things.

"Truth is that at first, I was jealous of you. Not because of your... harem or the pornstar thing. But because you became this." He gestured broadly at Kaiden. "A real superhuman. Look at me..." he flexed his arm almost unconsciously, his physique as solid as a statue. "I worked harder than any man I know to get here. Years of sweat and pain. And then a nerdy twenty-two-year-old who barely touched a dumbbell..." He shook his head with a laugh that wasn’t quite bitter, but close. "You surpassed everything I could do in weeks. That’s the gap between awakened and us normies. And I hated it."

Kaiden stayed quiet, letting him speak.

"But then," Liam continued, his voice softening, "I saw the other side. The risks. The blood. The shit you’ve been through just to reach this far. I saw those clips... Monsters clawing at you, the way you almost didn’t make it out a few times. And I realized... I was being narrow-minded. You deserve what you got."

He shook his head, almost rueful. "If I had the choice? Sure, I wouldn’t mind a badass class. Who wouldn’t? But truth is... a life like that isn’t for me. I wouldn’t be chasing strength or glory. I’d just want to run back home to my missus the moment it got ugly."

A crooked smile tugged at his lips. "Guess I was meant for mediocrity. Even as an awakened, I’d probably just be some run-of-the-mill nobody with a coward’s attitude."

Kaiden pushed himself up from the bench. He stood tall, looking Liam straight in the eye with a rare, solemn expression. "I disagree. You’re living the life, Liam. A good career. A woman who loves you. Stability. Peace. You’ve already won. My life might be louder, but it’s also quite possibly shorter, maybe even emptier if things go wrong. I’m chasing ultimate strength, and that’s the thorniest road I could’ve picked."

For a beat, silence lingered between them. Then Liam’s serious mask cracked, and his old grin returned. It was the same charismatic, macho smile Kaiden remembered from the very first day they met.

"You’re right," he said with a laugh that carried warmth again. "Contentment with what you have... maybe that’s the truest kind of strength."

The two men clasped hands again, but this time it wasn’t a casual greeting. It was heavier, charged with everything they had just said and everything they couldn’t. A man’s handshake, the kind that said things words never fully could.

The two men then got themselves a couple of protein shakes from the vending machine. It was a frothy mix of banana, oats, and milk that promised "peak recovery" but tasted mostly like melted ice cream. They sat side by side on the bench, sipping casually while their eyes fell on the training area where Aria was going all out with her friends.

Aria wasn’t sparring in a serious way, more like using her monstrous awakened strength to tease. She grabbed one girl in a playful bear hug and spun her around like a ragdoll before setting her down dizzy and laughing.

Another time, she picked up a friend bridal-style and announced she was rescuing a "princess" from a dungeon, much to the embarrassment of the poor girl flailing in her arms.

Kaiden narrowed his eyes the moment he noticed Liam’s glance trailing a bit lower than it should have, catching sight of Aria’s pronounced, round backside accentuated by her tight yoga pants.

"Don’t even think about it," Kaiden said dryly, sipping his shake. "Her ass is off limits. Look anywhere else."

Liam blinked, then laughed, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "For a pornstar, you’re strangely possessive of your co-star."

"I’ve only ever starred with my lovers. None of them have ever been with another man. They’re mine, and I’m theirs. Outsiders might think it’s odd, but for us, it works perfectly."

That answer seemed to settle it. Liam chuckled again, shaking his head before deliberately fixing his gaze on the redhead trainer colleague of his who went from being a badass chick to a helpless, kidnapped princess. "Fair enough. Consider my wandering eyes disciplined."

The conversation drifted away after that as a comfortable silence settled in. Soon, it was time to leave. "You two have fun?" Rae asked with an impish smile.

Aria, still buzzing from her training, bounced in place and chirped, "I had a very good time! Thanks for taking us here!"

Kaiden nodded slowly as he also replied. "Yeah. It was good to say proper goodbye. I feel it now—my life as a normal human is done. From here on, it’s nothing but the supernatural."

And with that quiet declaration, their brief visit to the gym came to a close.

He didn’t know it yet, but awaiting Kaiden at home was a gift, one he never expected.

...

Author: I wrote these Chapters on the airport in a hurry, I hope their quality wasn’t bad. Thanks for reading!