Chapter 10 of Monstrum Hominis is up! I've been on like a writing frenzy with this story, so here's another rather quick update. Now behold Chapter 10!

"We need to talk," replied Alucard, "I believe I have something you might be interested in."

Genos looked up from the video game when he heard that cold, cutting voice. He knew that voice! Genos sprinted up to see Alucard and Seras once again, and he ferociously growled. "YOU TWO AGAIN!" yelled Genos, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

"Calm down dude!" Saitama put his hands on the cyborg's shoulders to hold him back. "Like I've said before, they aren't bad guys." Saitama looked back at the two vampires and asked, "How did you find me?"

"Dr. Genus told us you were in the downtown area of City Y, and all we had to do was look for the building with significant damage and several people around it." answered Alucard.

"Although we had to be very stealthy to get here," added Seras, "Since we're vampires and we'll naturally draw unwanted attention to ourselves."

"Right, right. So..." Saitama was a little awkward with this next question, as it felt a tad bit odd to ask. "Do you wanna come in?"

"Sure," Alucard and Seras walked into the room, being violently eyed by Genos who still ferociously hated both of them. "I guess sit on the bed." Seras and Alucard got on the bed and attempted to make themselves comfortable, with Saitama quickly doing the same. Genos, however, chose not to get comfortable and remained standing, his arms crossed and his eyes scrunched in fury. Saitama was a little unsure of how to initiate conversation, as he was a little unfamiliar with social convention, but on the other hand, there wasn't really any social conventions for monsters. "So..."

Genos cut Saitama off before he could try and break the ice, determined to fish out any secrets these monsters were hiding. "STATE THE PURPOSE OF YOUR ARRIVAL!"

Alucard gave Saitama a deadpan look. "You can really feel the love flowing from him," said Alucard.

"Yea... Now what did you want to tell me?"

Alucard took a card out of his pocket and handed it to Saitama. The bald hero examined it with curiosity. "What is this?"

"This is a number to the Hero Association."

The bald hero looked up to Alucard and Seras, befuddled by this information. "Hero Association? What's that?"

"It's an association dedicated to fighting monsters across the globe," said Seras. Saitama's face showed them that this clearly wasn't ringing any bells.

"I can get the main homepage loaded up on my phone." Genos took out his phone and looked up the Hero Association. Once he got the homepage loaded up, he showed the phone to Saitama, who began to read the text out-loud.

"Take a test at any local branch of the Hero Association. If you score better than the cutoff, you will be registered in the Hero Registry and will be allowed to officially call yourself a 'hero.' Once you are recognized by the Association, you are deemed a pro and will get paid from donations collected by the Association. All heroes in the public eyes are registered, professional heroes. You may be doing plenty of hero work, but self-proclaimed heroes are really just weirdoes..." Saitama's voice faltered, and he said the next sentence with bafflement and disappointment, "Weirdoes spouting nonsense and are viewed with suspicion."

He hadn't known about any of this, and for three years, he'd been doing his duty as a hero and most likely been viewed as a freaking weirdo. The bald hero's eyes went dark, and he slowly dropped his forehead to his hands, which were raised up around his chest. "I had no idea."

"So what we were thinking," followed Seras, "Was that we'd sign up with this Hero Association, since they said they pay the heroes and, given your strength, you should be able to kill several monsters and gain quite a lot of money."

Saitama's dark expression significantly brightened up when this advantageous bonus came to his attention. "Yea..." Saitama's attention was shifted to Genos. "Hey Genos, are you registered with this association?"

"No," replied Genos, "Should I be?"

Just like that, an idea popped up in Saitama's head. "Hey let's sign up! Come register with me and I'll make you my official disciple!" With this new suggestion, the young cyborg's mood managed to brighten. "Sounds like a plan!"

"Do you guys wanna come too?" The cyborg's smile instantly faded, and his typical hostility against them returned. The two vampires shone Saitama small smiles of approval. "We'd love to," said Seras, "But..."

Saitama's eyebrow furrowed up. "But what?"

"We know this is a bit out of nowhere," said Alucard, "But do you perhaps have an overcoat and a pair of sunglasses?"

"Sure. Why do you need one?"

"I need to hide my dark tendril from the public, or else we might be brought under suspicion."

Saitama shrugged his shoulders. "That makes sense." Saitama went to his luggage and grabbed a black jacket and some sunglasses he'd been fortunate enough to find and threw it over to Seras. She gladly accepted the jacket and sunglasses and put them on. The young vampire eagerly clapped her hands and got out of the bed. "So, should we get going?"

"Where're we going?" said Saitama, "I don't know the directions."

"I'll search the nearest branch of the Hero Association." Genos got on his phone again and pulled up the location of the Hero Association's branch in City Y. "It's only about 20 minutes walking distance from here."

"Well then, lead the way!"

At City A, where the Hero Association headquarters was located, towering over the rest of the city and watching over it like a protective guardian, the two monsters Walter and The Captain had just reached the front of the monumental building.

"It looks like we've finally arrived," said Walter, "The design is sleek and ordinary. I would assume this building was built primarily for either business or defense."

But defense from what? The two monsters walked in to see. Once the pair entered, their ears were meet with the sound of eager citizens and tourists jubilantly conversing, while other staff members were quickly running about to go about their jobs. They noticed that there were several large individual masses of people crowing around a single person with different clothing. The people were deeply admiring them, staring in awe and asking them several questions at once. At the same time, the individuals being admired were gladly accepting the adoration, basking in it like a warm fire on a cold winter night. Their heads were raised and their lips were curved upward in smiles while they answered whatever questions their fans had for them.

"What is this place…" exclaimed Walter. The Captain tapped Walter's shoulder and pointed to the front desk to ask their questions, although it could take a while.

At the front desk, there was a young woman with brown eyes and brown hair. But her youthfulness was being weighed down by the great stress that came with her job. At the moment, she was in a conversation with what was presumably a very angry or very anxious client, as she was attempting to calm them down on the phone.

"I'm sorry sir, we'll send help right-" Her sentence faltered when she saw two rather handsome men with bulky bodies and intimidating auras standing at the front desk.

"I'll direct to you our support hotline." The woman pressed a key on the keypad and hung up the phone. She hid her tiredness, put up the happy customer facade and shone the two a warm smile. "Hello, how may I help you gentlemen?"

"Hello, we would just like to know what this place is?"

"This is the headquarters of the Hero Association." Walter's eyes narrowed; he looked to The Captain to see his reaction, and likewise, his eyebrow was lifted in confusion.

"Hero Association?"

"If you're from an area fortunate enough not to be attacked by monsters, the Hero Association is an organization dedicated to eliminating monsters or other threats and protecting humanity. Due to the large number of monsters attacking cities, the association has several hundred heroes registered. Are you two here to register?"

"Register? As heroes?" said Walter.

"Yes." The woman grabbed two pamphlets beside her and handed them to Walter and The Captain, who immediately began to read through the contents. "If you're indeed interested in signing up, the way it works is you fill out a form and go to a large auditorium, where your physical abilities will be examined. Depending on your preferred style of fighting, the tryouts will be adjusted. Once you're finished with the physical examination, you'll be given a written exam that will count as half of your total score. If you get anything below a 70, you will most definitely be rejected. But, if you manage to get a near-perfect or perfect score, however unlikely, you will be assigned to either A-class or S-class, the top two tiers of the association. A-class and S-class heroes also have the housing option available."

The last part of the sentence caught their attention. "Housing?"

"As a good grace to the strong heroes, the Hero Association gives these heroes the option of housing. If you choose to be part of the housing program, you will be given a very fancy apartment, and the higher the ranking, the more luxurious the apartment. Additionally, many A-class and S-class heroes will be paid hefty allowances depending on the number of monsters and threats they handle."

"So we won't have to pay for anything?" said Walter, rather stunned at the bonuses provided by this.

"The Hero Association receives its funds from public donations and a few opulent investors, so most bills will be paid by the Hero Association. So, would you like me to give you the registration forms?"

"Ummm... Just give us a minute, if you would." The woman closed her eyes and smiled. "Of course. Take all the time you need." Walter and The Captain walked over to an area with no other people in the vicinity.

"Well what do you think?" said Walter. "It seems like the practical choice, given we'll be able to use our abilities to do what we were already doing with Millennium: fighting monsters. Besides, we'll be given housing and money, which will give us the chance to do some more research on where we are and how we will get back, so there's really no downside to this." Another part of him driving him to this decision was... the impact. If he chose this path of fighting monsters and protecting humanity from the worst of threats, he would be revered, applauded like an actor taking his bows on stage. Life was just a stage performance, and Walter wanted to do something worthy while on-stage, and it didn't matter what stage he was on, as long as he gave an astounding performance. THAT was why he wanted to join this association.

"Yes there is," said The Captain. Walter quizzically stared at his comrade. "If we join this association and they find out we're monsters, they will most certainly attempt to execute us."

Walter let out a sardonic laugh. "They can try! Our abilities far surpass anything measly humans could reach. We'll definitely reach the top ranking class once they see us in action. Besides, we can pass ourselves off as regular humans."

"What about my red eyes?" he said.

The vampire nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. "With your white hair, you can just say you're an albino." The Captain momentarily mulled this over, looking over any cons that could arise from this. The only thing the immortal werewolf ever knew or been good at was fighting. It was in his nature. So if he could permanently stay out of Millennium's evil clutches and join a fighting organization dedicated to saving lives, that was certainly enough for him. Seeing as how the pros far outweighed the cons, The Captain gave a small nod, confirming that he was on board. "Then it's settled."

The duo walked back to the front desk, and Walter promptly greeted the woman with, "We'll register."

The woman beamed. "Excellent! These are for you." Walter and The Captain were then given registration forms and a pen for each of them. "You just need to fill out your basic information, and then I'll tell you where the hero tryouts are being held."

They then began writing, but within only a few seconds, they ran into a little snag. "What if we don't have an address to register?" said Walter, "It's just that we're travelers and don't like staying in a single place for more than a night."

"That's fine," replied the woman, "Just fill out all possible sections to the best of your abilities." There were very few sections, unfortunately, that the two could even fill out. Almost all the sections, date of birth, location of birth, zip code, social security number, all of these things couldn't be filled out. So they quickly jotted their names and listed false information for the sections they couldn't fill out, hoping it would fool the association for now. In less than a minute, the two warriors finished the paperwork and handed it back to the woman.

"Excellent." She took the paperwork with one hand and with her other hand, pointed to a hallway to her right. "Just walk down that hallway, make a right at the furthest entrance, and walk down the flight of stairs. Down there, you'll begin the tryouts alongside the other sign-ups. Here are two pamphlets that will tell you any other additional details you may be curious about." The duo took the pamphlets and slid them in their pockets. Oh, and just to let you know, it's recommended to remove your articles of clothing. You'll find locker rooms next to the entrance. Good luck gentlemen!"

The quartet of soon-to-be-professional-heroes had just made it to the nearest Hero Association branch in the city. The building was an immensely large auditorium with several glass windows near the base of the building. Covering the entire top of the auditorium was a large sleek dome with expensive-looking panels. All around the entrance of the building, there were citizens and eager volunteers yearning to become members of the Hero Association and achieve fame and glory most so desperately wanted.

"This place seems quite luxurious," said Alucard, "I'm somewhat impressed."

"There must be some quality heroes," said Seras.

"Eh, maybe," stated Saitama, "Come on, let's go inside to sign up."

The four trudged through the large crowd of citizens, pushing their way through until they reached the inside of the building, where several other people were waiting in separate lines. These lines of people weren't dressed like regular people, instead having brightly-colored costumes, some of which were revealing and some of which covered their entire body, even their faces. In the center of the room, there were a few employees diligently working, finishing paperwork, talking on the phone, and typing forms on the computer.

"I suggest we go to the front desk for questions," exclaimed Genos.

"Yes, that sounds fine," replied Alucard. Genos huffed and paced toward the front desk. The three were trailing behind him as he went up to the front desk and blatantly stated, "You there."

One of the employees looked up from his work and instantly halted his work once he saw clientele in front of him. So he straightened his back, combed his hair back, and with a professional tone, said, "Hello there. How may I help you four today?"

"We'd like to register with the Hero Association," stated Genos, "I see you're holding tryouts at the moment. Could you perhaps enlist us in today's tryouts."

"Oh, well..." The man grabbed four registration forms and four pens, handing them to Genos, who then passed three papers to Saitama, who gave the other two to Alucard and Seras. "For the tryouts, the association recommends you remove most of your articles of clothing to perform to the best of your abilities. You'll just have to fill out the application forms and you'll be put on the waitlist."

"Waitlist?"

"Unfortunately, the facility is much too full today, but I can reserve you a spot for tomorrow morning at 6:00."

"6:00?!" shouted Saitama, "Are you kidding me? I'm not getting up at 5:30 in the morning!"

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do!"

"Oh, I think there is..." Everyone turned to Alucard, who was slyly smirking and not-at-all disparaged at this unfortunate news. Alucard walked up to the front of the desk, pushing Genos aside and standing face-to-face with the male employee. "You'll move us to the earliest available spots."

"Sir, I'm afraid I can't..." Fear tightened his throat and stripped him of his voice as Alucard delightfully grinned. The monster's body darkened, and he raised his hand. The symbol on his white glove glowed a bright red, and his entire hand was illuminated with a red aura.

Genos didn't like this. "What are you doing?" an angry Genos said.

Alucard held out his other hand out as a gesture to calm the ill-tempered cyborg down.

The man shivered in terror, for from Alucard's body, several eyes began to open up. With a fluid movement, Alucard extended his finger, and reached his hand out to the man's forehead. The man's eyes instantly changed to crimson red, and his nervous expression disappeared in the process, replaced by professional composure. "You'll move us to the earliest available spots."

"I... will..." Saitama and Genos stepped back, the intensity and bizarreness of what was occurring unnerving them. "I will move you all to the earliest available spots."

The man began typing rapidly on an adjacent computer for several seconds, until a soft ding came from the computer. "The next tryouts will begin in 15 minutes." The man gazed back at Alucard and gave him a small smile, which only served to unnerve Genos and Saitama even further. "All you need to do is fill out the application forms, and you will be all set."

Alucard returned the smile. "Thank you." Once the man was finished speaking, Alucard turned around to his three companions as if nothing had happened. "Well you heard him. Fill out the forms and we'll have our tryouts shortly after."

Genos rushed up to Alucard and grabbed him by his collar. "What did you do to that man?" shouted Genos.

"Ey-ey-ey!" Saitama grabbed the cyborg's arm and forced him back, "Dude, take it easy! But seriously, what'd you do that that guy?"

"I just used one of my many supernatural abilities to hypnotize him and move us up. Don't worry though, he'll be just fine once I break the connection."

"I'll take your word for it," replied Saitama, "But lay off all the glowy-eye crap, it's kinda creepy and it's not cool."

Alucard submissively put his hands up. "Very well. Now let's finish the applications and be on our way." Alucard, Seras and Saitama went right on ahead and began filling out the basic information, with Genos reluctantly joining in, still fuming about Alucard.

"Uh, Master..." Seras poked Alucard with her pen to get his attention. "What do we do about the address?"

Saitama overheard the young vampire's question. "Just put the motel I'm staying at for now. Here." Saitama put his form right in their faces, and the two vampires quickly jotted down the address.

"Ok, and that should do it!" Saitama swung his pen in the air and put both his form and pen down on the counter simultaneously. Alucard and Seras quickly followed suit, while Genos was scribbling the last details of his personal information.

"Y'almost done there Genos?"

"Yes." The cyborg wrote down his last sentence and put his form on the counter. The front desk man collected all four forms and put them to the side. "Excellent," the loopy man said, "Now go to the main auditorium just through those doors," The man pointed his finger where several other applicants were crowded around, "If you need spaces to put your personal belongings, there are locker rooms on me right-hand side. Here are some keys." He pulled open a cabinet and grabbed four keys, which he gave to each of the applicants.

"Alright, let's bounce," exclaimed Saitama, pointing his finger in the air and marching onward to the locker rooms.

"Thank you very much, sir." Alucard waved his hand in the air, and the mans crimson eyes returned to their original color. Without another word, Alucard went to join Saitama, with Seras trailing behind him. Genos, on the other hand, briefly stayed to see what happened to the man. After being freed from the hypnosis, the man shook his head in disorientation. "Uggghhhh..." He looked up to see Genos eying him with concern. But the man gave him a quizzical look and only said, "Can I help you?"

"No, thank you." The young cyborg walked away, leaving the man alone to go back to work as if nothing had ever happened.

When Genos entered the locker room, the three had already found their lockers and were in the process of opening them.

"Yo Genos! What locker are you?" said Saitama.

"I am..." Genos looked at the number inscribed on his room key, "Locker 34."

"Cool, then you're right next to me on the corner right here." Saitama patted the cyborg's locker, and he walked over to store his clothing.

The three men began removing their clothing, while the only female couldn't remove any of her clothing without revealing her true identity as a vampire.

"So do you think we're up against some serious competition?" said Seras.

"I dunno," replied Saitama, who was in the process of removing the upper portion of his suit, revealing his perfectly chiseled pectorals. Once Seras saw this, her cheeks became as red as her eyes and she turned her back to the locker room to avoid eye contact.

"I wouldn't expect much, policegirl," said Alucard, who removed his red jacket and hung in his his locker. "Given what we've seen so far and comparing it to our own abilities, I think we will do very well."

"So are we all ready?" asked Saitama.

"Yes, master."

"So let's get this show on the road!"

Alucard chuckled in amusement and placed a hand on Saitama's shoulder, causing Genos to buck to attack, but he stopped himself at the last second. "Yes, let us."

"Uggghh, this prolonged wait is striking my last nerve!"

Given the buildings status as the headquarters of the Hero Association, it would naturally be a popular place for hero tryouts, and today was no exception. In the testing auditorium, there were hundreds of applicants trying out to be members of the Hero Association. However, to cope with the larger number of applicants, the testing area was much larger than any other facility in the other cities. The auditorium was sectioned off into several different squares with different events, so they could only see a few physical tests being given, such as weight-lifting and shot puts. Additionally, they saw several people with matching uniforms leaving and entering the sections, implying they were judges rating the participant's scores.

Even with the large testing facility, Walter and The Captain had been waiting for more than half-an-hour for their turns while the other civilians finished their physical exams, but it felt like they'd been there the whole day. In addition, they had removed their shirts, and the chilly temperature was making them nippy.

"I've seen the strength of these humans: it's pathetic," exclaimed Walter, "More than half of them are barely above the level of average humans. If this represents the best this association has to offer, than this world is doomed."

While Walter was standing there complaining, The Captain had decided to read through the pamphlet they'd been given as a way to pass the time and to learn anything they might've missed. In the pamphlet, there was a brief history of the origins of the Hero Association. Apparently, the founder of the association was a very rich businessman whose grandson was saved by an ordinary civilian when his life was threatened by a monster. What a brave man he must be. As he read through it, he picked up on something that Walter might want to know. "Walter." The Captain tapped Walter on the shoulder. "What now?" asked Walter.

"According to the pamphlet," The Captain pointed at the paragraph he was referring to, "When we sign up, we'll be given hero names based on our characteristics and our heroic acts." Walter tapped the base of his chin. "I've already acquired my title as 'The Angel of Death'. I'm not quite sure there could be another nickname so suited by my power and abilities."

"Walter C. Dornez, Hans Günsche!" When he heard the 2nd name on the loudspeaker, he almost staggered backward. Did the vampire just hear that name correctly? Walter turned his head at The Captain, whose face was darkened as his head was facing the ground. "Your name is Hans?" said Walter, grinning devilishly.

The Captain walked to the testing area without giving his comrade an answer. Walter laughed in sardonic amusement. To Walter, this made the entire wait worth it.

Hans and Walter went to the first area on their right, where a few judges were seated at a table waiting to test the two of them. There were several pieces of white tape on the floor to make the process more organized.

One of the judges cleared his throat, beckoning the attention of everyone in the room. "Ok! Side-to-side hops for 30 seconds. Ready? GO!"

"Ready? GO!"

On the other side of the globe, each of the four heroes had been put into different sections for the practical purpose of quickening the pace, and at the moment, Saitama was doing side-to-side hops alongside a few other hero applicants who were waiting their turns. But what was happening didn't even look possible: Saitama was performing dozens upon dozens of side-hops per second. At the speed he was traveling, it appeared that he was in multiple places at once, when in reality they were his simply his afterimages.

As the day went on and the trials went on, the bald hero breezed through the exercises like they were nothing, because to him, they weren't. With each exercise, Saitama broke the records of previous S-class heroes by a significant margin, breaking the equipment beyond repair and making every other applicant watching him want to throw in the towel and quit. In fact, some actually did.

However, the bald hero wasn't the only one who impressing the judges of the Hero Association: Genos, Seras, Alucard, Walter, and Hans were likewise blowing the minds of the judges with their astounding abilities, amazing physical prowess and enhanced agility. This far surpassed what even the mightiest of A-class heroes could accomplish. No, the kind of strength these 6 possessed was something only a select few people on the planet possessed. This was the kind of strength the S-class heroes possessed. S-class heroes were the miracles humanity needed, and there hadn't been any recent promotions to S-class for over a year. But today, it was guaranteed that they would all reach S-class, and humanity would have 6 more guardian angels watching over them.

In City A's broadcasting station, there were dozens of lights, ladders, and cameras. A very attractive woman in a blue dress was having makeup applied to her face while the crew was getting ready for her next broadcast, specifically an interview. An interview with perhaps the most famous hero of the Hero Association, Sweet Mask. At the moment, this hero was on the phone with a staff member of the Hero Association and conversing about several applicants. "We've seen 5 hero applicants with perfect scores. One of them is the cyborg we've been looking for."

"Ah yes I've heard about that," said Sweet Mask.

"The cyborg was accompanying the two other applicants who received perfect scores, indicating a prior relationship. I understand that this is rather unconventional, but the judges have made exceptions and allowed for them to be in S-class. We just wanted to make sure you were notified."

"Yes, and I approve." He had the files of the 5 applicants on the desk, with each of their names: Genos, Seras, Alucard, Walter, and Hans, and each of them looked rather impressive. "They are definitely S-class material."

Walter and Hans had finished the physical exam over an hour ago, and they'd finished the written exam about 15 minutes ago. The two had been instructed to return to the locker room and wait for their results to be given. However, as Walter had finished getting dressed, a staff member approached him and told him that he was scheduled for an interview. Walter hesitantly accepted and was guided towards a large room, where three men with suits were waiting for him, sitting on a large heightened countertop.

"Hello there, Walter C. Dornez," said the man in the center.

"What is this about?" asked Walter, "Were my results not satisfactory? Was my written exam sub-par?"

"No, of course not!" The man on the furthest right immediately jumped to dissuade his concerns. He spoke in almost a desperate tone, as if he didn't want to anger Walter in any sort of way that would make him leave. "If anything, your physical exam was unbelievable. We rarely see applicants with such amazing talent as yours."

Walter swaggered at the admiration he was receiving from this man, since he rather enjoyed being adorned and praised as such due to the egotistical nature he developed as a child. "Why thank you. Was this why you brought me here then? To compliment me on my amazing results?"

"Actually..." The third man spoke up, "We called you here in regards to what you put on your application."

Walter felt his heart constrict. Uh-oh. Did he do something wrong? Did they figure out his contact information was false? If they did, what would they do to him? Would he be forced to take action and possibly end there lives? "What about it?" said Walter, choosing to play it cool for the time being.

"On the application, there's a section that informs us your preferred style of fight: hand-to-hand combat, swordsmanship, armaments, and other." The vampire inwardly sighed in relief: his secret was still secured. "And we saw you listed the "other" option."

"So what we'd like," interjected the man in the middle, "Is for you to show us what your "other" weapon or fighting style is, if that's alright with you."

"Of course. But I think some props or targets would help me demonstrate my unique weapon."

"We have that covered." The three men turned their heads to their right, and Walter saw that there were several steel target dummies prepared for him.

"Excellent." Walter turned to the man who brought him to the room. "I'd step back if I were you." The man nervously nodded and walked to the entrance.

"Now allow me to demonstrate." Walter opened up his hands. Suddenly, a flurry of blue wires appeared around him, moving about like tentacles on an octopus. The three men sitting at the table didn't understand. None of them had ever seen anything like this before. What were those things?

With imperceptible speed, the wires slashed the steel dummies into dozens of tiny pieces all at once. Then, the wires grabbed hold of the sliced pieces of metal, carried them up into the air, and smashed them down onto the ground. Only it wasn't a random order: the pieces of steel were lodged into the ground in the shape of a circle, with Walter in the center.

"THAT was my "other" option." The spectators were at a loss for words. Each of them had their mouths opened, with their eyes widened and their bodies frozen. Such deadliness, such precision. The wires were able to cut through the steel like paper. Not only that, but the speed at which they moved and the accuracy Walter was able to use them, it was truly unbelievable.

"Well, ummm..." The man on the right side of the table was the first to regain his voice. "You appear to have quite the mastery over this weapon of yours."

"Indeed," replied Walter, "It took me years, but I'm able to control these wires with deadly precision. Along with their razor-sharp edges, I'm also able to join the wires together to create shields that can block even the mightiest of blows. Observe." Walter shifted the positions of his hands, and instantly, a bright blue shield appeared in front of him, eliciting another round of gasps from the spectators. "Not only that, but as you saw before, I'm able to grab objects without slicing them." A blue wire lashed out toward the three spectators, causing them to jump in terror. But the wire wasn't aimed for them: instead, it was aimed for a cup of coffee the man in the middle had been drinking. The wire wrapped itself around the cup and brought it directly into Walters hands. The vampire butler took a small sip of the coffee, and used the wire to put it back in its original spot.

"Amazing..." uttered the man to the left, "What a powerful weapon."

"Actually, there were actually a few things I'd like to ask about," said Walter.

"Yes, of course! Anything you ask, we'll surely answer," replied the man on the left.

"First of all, could my partner Hans and I apply for the housing option?" asked Walter.

"Oh absolutely! Thomas!" The man standing at the door straightened his posture. "Yes?"

"Call Hans in here."

"Yes sir!" Thomas went sprinting across the hall, leaving the four men alone.

"We were waiting to give you your test results, but now is as good a time as ever." The man in the center picked up an envelope and held it out. Walter walked up, grabbed the envelope, and tore it open, but he didn't need to, because he already knew what score and rank he got. He pulled out the paper and smirked: sure enough, he'd been placed in S-class Rank 18 with 100/100 points. "I expected as much."

"Here he is." Walter rotated his body, and Thomas was standing at the entrance with the Captain right beside him.

"Thank you, Thomas."

"Ok. thank you sir." Thomas briskly exited the room while Hans walked up to stand beside Walter.

"Hello Hans," said the man in the middle, "We were just conversing with your comrade Walter about his test results. Here are your test results." Another envelope was in his hand, and Hans slowly walked up to retrieve it. He tore it open, yet barely batted an eye when he saw his perfect score and placement in S-class Rank 17.

"Now, about your housing option," continued the man on the right, "We have a very luxurious penthouse suite available in one of the nearby apartment complexes on the top floor. But there are several other options that we'll show you if that's alright. Thomas will be your guide."

"Yes sir."

"Very nice. And the second thing: would it be alright if I choose my hero name? It's simply something that's been in the back of my mind these past few hours."

The men glanced at each other to see their reactions. The man in the middle then said, "I don't see an issue with that. We've had some S-class heroes suggest their hero names before. What would you like your hero name to be?" Walter cleared his throat, and with a cold voice said, "The Angel of Death." A chill passed through the room for a brief moment. The men on the countertop found the name to be rather... terrifying. That was indeed a name that would strike fear into the minds of monsters, and a name worthy of an A-class hero. "We'll make sure to designate that name as your new hero nickname," said the man in the middle, somewhat worried to incur Walter's wrath. Walter politely bowed to the three men. "Much appreciated." They were taken aback by his extremely polite attitude. For an S-class hero, such a trait was becoming extremely rare, so it was nice to see a change of pace.

"And for you, Hans?" The man in the middle looked to the former Nazi werewolf, who was standing silently and respectfully. Once he heard his name, he looked up and straightened his back. "Would you perhaps like a nickname?" Hans shook his head. "Are you sure?" asked Walter. "You could use your old title under our previous employer." Hans turned to his fellow S-class hero and quietly said, "That is a name of my past. A past that I don't want to relive or have identify me."

The three men noticed the rising tension. "Is everything alright?" asked the man on the left side. Hans looked back up to the three men, innocently raised his hands to them, and replied, "Yes, everything's fine. I believe everything has been accommodated for." Hans walked up to the three men and held his hand out to them. Seeing where Hans was going with this, Walter walked up alongside him and likewise held out his hand. "Thank you very much for your time and consideration." Once again, they were surprised by both Hans and Walter's courteous nature, and smiled as they accepted the handshakes of the two newly recruited S-class heroes. "It was our pleasure. Thomas, you can take them to their first apartment option now."

"Follow me gentlemen." Thomas motioned for them to follow him, and the two S-class heroes went along to find their new home and the start of their new life.

On the other side of the planet, Saitama and Alucard were together in the locker room, while Genos and Seras were still finishing up their written exams.

"The ease of the exams was laughable," said Alucard, "We should reach the upper echelon of the Hero Association without a doubt. With your level of strength, you might be in an entirely different ranking."

The bald hero smiled. "Thanks man," said Saitama, "So when d'you think we'll get our results back?"

"I'm not quite sure," replied Alucard, "I think they'll call us on the loudspeaker."

The two picked up the sound of footsteps coming closeer to them. They turned around, and saw the two 19-year old disciples coming in behind them.

"Hello master." Both the teenagers said this simultaneously to their respective masters.

"Did you find the tests to be elementary policegirl?" asked Alucard. Seras let out a short laugh. "Oh yes. It was nothing like my police training before."

"Good to here. And you Genos?"

Genos didn't even look at Alucard and walked toward Saitama. "Master, did you find the test as simple as I did?"

"Oh yea," responded Saitama. "This was a freaking cakewalk. Alucard said we'd be getting our results soon, and they'd be calling us by the loudspeakers."

"That should be the case. However, I think it will take around an hour to get our results back. So once we get changed, we should wait here to pass the time." The four heroes finished changing back into their clothes, and fell into a rather awkward silence due to the tension surrounding the two vampires and the cyborg, and Saitama didn't really know how to break it, since he was never really good with social conventions.

About 30 minutes of uncomfortable silence, very quite conversation between the separate duos, sitting around and fiddling with their hands or looking at the ground, an announcement came up on the loudspeaker. "Would Alucard, Saitama, Genos and Seras please report for your exam results?"

"Well, let's go." Saitama bounced on up and energetically walked out, with the other three following suit. Once they exited the locker room, they made their way back to the front desk, where several other applicants were standing. Except this time, the man who'd taken care of them before wasn't there. Instead, there was an older woman of about age 40 who was taking care of the applicants.

Saitama walked up to her and tapped on the desk to get her attention. "Hey there, I'm Saitama, and this is Alucard, Seras, and Genos. We're just here to get our test results."

"Oh yes, here they are." Each hero was handed their individual envelopes. The heroes unsealed the envelopes to see their results, and just as they'd expected, they'd all gotten perfect scores. Alucard had been placed in S-class Rank 19, Genos in S-class Rank 20, and Seras in S-class Rank 21.

"Excuse me, what does this ranking mean?" asked Seras.

"That's the highest class of the Hero Association. There are four classes, and here they are in descending order: S-class, A-class, B-class and C-class. C-class is the largest and weakest class, while S-class is the smallest and most powerful class. Usually applicants aren't instantly placed in S-class, but given your perfect scores, your judges have made an exception. S-class and A-class heroes can also apply for the housing options." They all had small smiles on their faces, delighted they reached such a high ranking; well, almost all of them.

Hold on. What did the lady just say? The female vampire's eyes opened widely when an important connection clicked in her brain. "Did you sa-"

"Master? Did you make it to the top of S-class?" Genos interrupted Seras and tapped Saitama on the shoulder, for he had noticed odd behavior coming from Master Saitama. The bald hero's head was inclined downward, and he kept staring at his results for several seconds after opening the envelope.

Saitama rotated his body, revealing his blackened eyes, comical black lines running diagonally across his face, and a smile that said he was anything but happy. "I guess I bombed the essay, cuz..." Saitama lifted his paper up, revealing his score of 71/100, a barely passing grade, and his placement in C-class, the lowest class in the Association.

Genos gasped; how could Master Saitama have been placed in such a low-ranked class?

"WHAT?!" On the other hand, Alucard fiercely grabbed the paper, looking at it in detail to see if this was some sort of sadistic trick played on Saitama. When he realized it wasn't, Alucard furiously slammed the paper on the front desk, causing the seated woman to yelp of in terror. "EXPLAIN THE MEANING OF THIS!" snarled Alucard.

"WHOA WHOA WHOA!" His disappointed face vanished when he saw Alucard freak out and yell like that, so he grabbed Alucard by the shoulder to halt him. "Calm down dude!"

"No! I will not calm down!" Alucard pushed Saitama's hand off of him and angrily stared at the woman. "How could you place this man in such a low-ranking class?"

"Umm sir..." The woman found it hard to form a coherent sentence with a newly-recruited S-class hero yelling at her, "Unfortunately, he did very poorly in the written exam, which caused his score to drop significantly."

"But his strength is otherworldly!" said Alucard, "He received a perfect score on the physical exam! He's worlds above me in raw strength! Doesn't that take precedence over some ridiculous written exam?!" The purpose behind Alucard's explosive temper was that in his mind, a human who defeated him in battle with ease and attained unfeasible amounts of strength through sheer training should have been placed at the top ranking of the association. For everything he'd been through, he earned such a spot and the fame that came with it. To be placed in such a low ranking as this was a complete disgrace to everything Saitama worked so hard to achieve.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do anything about it."

Seras inched up to her master. "Master-" Alucard didn't even turn an inch to acknowledge her.

"Why YOU-"

"Alucard! Enough!" Saitama forcefully grabbed Alucard's arm and spun him around so he'd be directly looking at the bald hero. Alucard's ferocious temper simmered down when he saw how serious Saitama was gazing at him. "Just relax, okay?" he said, "The important thing is that I passed. There's nothing I can do about it at this point, so don't go making a scene like this. Got it?"

After staring at Saitama and allowing for his temper to cool down, the king of vampires closed his eyes and sighed. "Very well. But you still don't deserve this."

Saitama shrugged his shoulders. "I know, but I'll learn to live with it." Seras breathed a sigh of relief, and once Alucard calmed himself down, he walked up to the front desk woman, whose face was ghostly-white. "Did you say something about housing?" asked Seras.

The blood resumed flowing through the woman's face, and she cleared her throat to gain back her voice. "Y-Yes, if you choose to be part of the housing program, you will be given a residency." Alucard, like Seras, now took interest in this and leaned in toward the woman. She nervously craned back, but once she saw Alucard was no longer enraged, she relaxed, albeit hesitantly. "The higher the ranking, the more luxurious the apartment. Additionally, many A-class and S-class heroes will be paid hefty allowances depending on the number of monsters and threats they handle."

"Is there any way we could apply right now for this housing option," said Seras, "Could we even move in today?"

"Let me see..." The woman rolled her chair slightly to the right and began searching on the computer for available housing options. After about 10 seconds of typing, she peered back at the two vampires and informed them, "At the moment, we only have one apartment available, although it's a very luxurious apartment located in the most high-end apartment complex in Y-city. No heroes or anyone in general has moved in there because of its high price, but if you want, I could register you."

"Yes, we'd like that very much," stated Alucard.

"Then I'll do that."

"Oh, and one other thing."

"Yes?"

"Could we have... other company reside with us?" The woman tilted her head. What did he mean by "other company"?

"What I mean is, let's say there was another hero we wanted to accommodate that wasn't in A-class or S-class. Could it be done?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Since it would be your property and if said person were part of the Hero Association, I wouldn't see any problems arise from such an accommodation."

"Then it means I can offer this." Alucard twisted himself around to Saitama and, to the shock of everyone, said, "Saitama, how would you like to live with us?" Genos and Seras gasped, while Saitama's mouth was slightly agape. "Ummmm... can you say that again?" asked Saitama, because he wasn't sure if he heard him right.

"Come live alongside me and my apprentice! In my mind, it's the perfect reward for all of the trouble I put you through with your house. Besides, I won't allow you to stay in the run-down motel you were in last night. With this, you won't have to go through the painful process of searching for a new apartment and having to worry about monthly bills. It's the best gift I can think of for someone in your position."

He was taken aback by the generosity being offered to him. Was there some sort of ulterior motive? Did he want to use this just to attack him up-close? He supposed that was a possibility, but after everything he's seen of Alucard, that wouldn't make sense. And the idea of a fancy apartment as such did sound pretty nice.

"Master Saitama! That isn't necessary!" Genos interjected in the conversation, for he detested the idea of having his master living under the roof of two monsters. "I can get you a place to live! The good doctor has a spare room at his house that he would surely lend to you, and if that isn't possible, I have plenty of money to pay for a lavish apartment."

"Come on Saitama," continued Alucard, "I understand your disciple's hesitation and his concern for your wellbeing, but trust me: this will be beneficial for all of us. What do you say?"

Eh, what the hell? What was there to lose? "Alright, you got yourself a deal!"

"Fantastic!" Alucard eagerly clapped his hands, and Seras gleefully jumped up, while Genos felt the blood drain from his body. He didn't care what Alucard said, he still didn't trust him. There had to be another reason.

The cyborg was, in fact, correct. There was another reason for this: secretly, Alucard wanted this opportunity to observe Saitama up-close and perhaps gain a better understanding of who he was and how exactly he'd gotten this unimaginable strength. He simply had to know: the suspense was killing him.

Once she saw the conversation had wrapped up, the front desk woman spoke up. "I'll let the apartment building know of your arrival. To get there, all you'll need to do is exit the building, head straight for about half-a-mile, make a right on Madison Avenue, and the destination should be about three buildings down. It's called Royal Point."

"Thank you for your support," responded Seras, with a generous smile as well, to which the woman promptly returned. "Now that we're all finished here, I think it would be a good idea to go immediately, so we don't waste any time dawdling."

"Sounds good to me," stated Saitama, "Let's go move into our new digs!"

And there's the end of Chapter 10! I'll probably add some more scenes in later, but I've been writing way too much these past few days, and I just want to update as soon as I can just because. But hopefully you liked what you saw, and the ending was unexpected for you. Also, if you're wondering why I didn't add Sneck, that was in City Z, and he wouldn't necessarily be in City Y. Also, I find the part irrelevant. Maybe I'll put it in later, but I'm too tired to add it now. Anyway, find out what'll happen in Chapter 11 of Monstrum Hominis!