A few hours before Daniel arrived, the private mansion of Joe’s family
"You’re the first one here," Joe said with a laugh as he stood at the entrance of the mansion and looked at the first person who arrived.
"Oh? I expected Daniel to get here before everyone else," Linor replied with a laugh as he greeted his old friend.
"That kid is always on time, but it’s been a few weeks since we heard anything from him. I don’t even know if he’s coming now," Joe sighed.
"Could he not come? I only came to see him," Linor said.
"Hmph, what about me then?"
"Well... a little bit because of you too," Linor shrugged in response.
"You broke my heart and hurt my feelings," Joe said, placing his hand on his chest.
"It doesn’t matter to me," Linor replied.
While the two of them were saying nonsense like that, they heard a voice that caught their attention.
"Look who’s here... the idiots from school."
Both of them turned and saw two young men around their age. One was a young man with an attractive face, blond hair, and green eyes, while the other was a boy with blue hair and brown eyes.
"Lucas and Julian," Joe and Linor muttered at the same time, their eyes showing a moment of hostility that quickly disappeared.
"Hah, Linor, I missed you a lot," Lucas said, giving Linor a playful nudge and starting to laugh.
"You’ve changed a lot since you were our lackey. Now you’ve become an Awakened yourself, it seems," Julian joined them and said with a smile.
Linor frowned but decided not to say anything. Unfortunately, there were parts of his past he wasn’t proud of, and those two bastards had immediately hit on them.
He couldn’t understand why Joe had invited those two bastards.
"Long time no see. You guys are still as annoying as before, it seems," Joe greeted them with a teasing tone.
"You still hate exercising too," Julian responded in the same tone.
The atmosphere became tense and cold for a moment. Linor swallowed and looked at Joe with a bit of fear. Everyone knew how sensitive Joe was about this issue.
And yet, those bastards had dared to speak about it!
Fortunately, a beautiful female voice returned Joe to his normal self.
"So after all these years, you boys still haven’t put aside your fights?"
All the boys turned and looked behind them. Three beautiful girls were walking together toward them.
The first girl had black hair with purple layers and purple eyes. She was a famous Awakened in one of the top ten guilds in the country, Serpent Bloom, a guild specializing in poisons. Her name was Thyra, one of Joe’s old friends and also his first crush.
The girl in the middle had short pink hair, glasses, and blue eyes. She was another Awakened, but relatively average compared to the others. Her main fame came from being an idol, one of the most popular streamers in the Celestial Domain across the country, with millions of followers. Her name was Rivena.
The girl on the left immediately caught every boy’s attention. Even Julian and Lucas were stunned when they saw her. She had long black hair and equally black eyes, yet her face was extremely beautiful and goddess-like. She was the most famous girl from their school days, Sara.
"We weren’t fighting. This is just guys greeting each other," Julian said with a laugh, putting his arm around Linor’s neck.
"Anyway, it’s good to see you all. It’s been a long time since we met," Joe ignored the two boys and looked at the girls.
"You too. Are you all doing well? I missed you," Rivena said with a cheerful smile.
"Sara, it’s been a long time. How have you been? What have you been doing?" Lucas went straight to Sara and greeted her.
Sara ignored him and glanced around Joe, as if she were looking for someone.
"Where’s Daniel?" she asked in her beautiful voice.
Lucas and Julian’s faces darkened. They didn’t expect to hear that name, and when it came out of Sara’s mouth, it made them even angrier.
"Not here yet," Joe nodded and gestured for them to look for him.
Everyone entered the mansion and went into the main hall, where there were many chairs and sofas, and a large table in the middle. Joe gestured for them to sit.
"Almost everyone’s here. Only James and Daniel aren’t," Thyra said, looking at everyone present, her tone a bit indifferent as she chewed gum.
"Hah, James will soon be announced as the heir of the Goblin Guild, so naturally he’s busy," Lucas said proudly.
"But that Daniel... right, where’s that bastard? Did he finally become an Awakened or not? I heard from Linor he had a Reawakening?" Julian asked mockingly.
"Haha, does it matter? Even if he had a Reawakening, what would change? At most, he went from a useless guy to something better, like an insect," Lucas added, and they both started laughing.
"Ugh, I remember those days when you spent all day fawning over us and giving massages... ugh, by the way, why were you doing that?" Joe suddenly asked, curious.
"Oh right! You were afraid of Daniel!" Lucas answered himself and started laughing, Linor joined in, and they both laughed.
Julian and Lucas’s faces turned a bit sour. Like Linor, they had parts of their past they weren’t proud of.
Rivena sighed and glanced at the two girls sitting to her left and right. Sara seemed completely indifferent, as if nothing mattered to her.
As for Thyra, she also looked like she was just watching a couple of idiots. These boys were still acting like children.
Although the surprise was visible in her eyes too. She also wanted to see Daniel and find out what he had been doing all this time.
After all, that boy had been the most popular student in school before he turned sixteen, among both girls and somewhat among boys as a leader.
However, his awakening process at sixteen caused him to lose all his popularity overnight, and James became the center of attention.
But they had also heard that Daniel had successfully undergone a Reawakening process and this time became an Awakened.
This curiosity wasn’t just theirs, it was Rivena’s as well.
"Oh? Looks like Daniel finally arrived," Joe looked at his phone and smirked.