Unexpectedly, Valir's house turned out to be in the same housing complex as Amma's house."I have no idea your family's house was near with Oriyan's," exclaimed Dim-Dim, jumping out of the car onto the white stone-paved yard."Yeah, almost every day I see Oriyan picking up his little sister to take her to school," said Valir. "Why do you ask?""Oriyan? Do you mean Oriyan Parenzee? Which house is his?" asked Velicia, jumping out of the car and shaking her hair, then stretching her sore waist.Dim-Dim immediately pointed to a large and luxurious house that looked like a Barbie house not far from them. Velicia tied her hair for a moment and then gazed at the house."Mmm... it looks beautiful and unexpected at the same time," she said. "I suddenly wonder what makes Oriyan such a good runner."Dim-Dim laughed, but then he noticed Edel looking uncomfortable, and his laughter faded.Valir wrapped his arm around Edel's shoulder. "It's okay, you're safe with me and your friends," he said. Then

In the evening, after school, taking a short nap, and having lunch, Dim-Dim went to the Venator training building and took an empty room to try transforming into animals he saw in books. He tried everything, from laughing kookaburras, several types of snakes, to quolls. Then he noted some interesting facts about them in the notes app on his phone.He was typing, "quolls shouldn't eat cane toads (even though they might look tasty)," while sitting cross-legged on the floor, when suddenly the door to his training room opened, and Clarinassa and Damian walked in. Each with a disgruntled expression."What's your problem? Stop reporting on the performance of my team members—" Damian started, but then his eyes found Dim-Dim, and he instantly shut his mouth."Oh, turns out there's someone here," Clarinassa said, somehow looking embarrassed.Dim-Dim immediately stood up. "That's okay, I'm done here," he said. He quickly grabbed his book from the floor and glanced back at Clarinassa and Damian.

"Mr. Miller refused to grant us permission to go to the festival," said Justin, as they all gathered in Edel's apartment the next morning before heading to school. "The man outright rejected our proposal even before finishing reading it, and that's because you messed up the city park!""I think blaming Dim-Dim only worsens the situation," Valir said firmly."But I don't understand why you did that, Dim-Dim," Velicia said. "Why did you turn into a bear and—""Good question," Justin interjected. "Yeah, why didn't you just turn into a rhino and demolish the city hall?""Justin, that's enough. What's gotten into you?" Edel asked Justin, with a gentle tone."I'm angry because I thought I could go to the festival outside Safe City, like other normal kids, but everything's messed up because of you!" Justin exclaimed."Listen, I'm sick of hearing your complaints," Dim-Dim snapped. Then, before the others could react, he turned around and left."I'm sick of you too!" Justin shouted back, and t

"Maybe you're right, I might be masochistic," Dim-Dim said. And for a moment, Dim-Dim looked into Amma's eyes, knowing that the girl wanted to kiss his lips so bad. But Dim-Dim stepped back, pulling her hand to sit with the others and eat pizza and pie.Justin immediately handed them both two glasses of cola. "Come on, let's finish the food and drinks and then we'll go to sleep as usual." Justin became a popular guy in high school, but he was dating the school radio announcer, while Velicia had just broken up with a bookworm guy. Both Justin and Valir agreed that Velicia won't match with any bookworm guy, and the girl seemed to trust them this time after regretting dating the last one.Suddenly, Damian approached Dim-Dim and bowed low beside him. "Dim-Dim, I almost forgot to tell you, Dad and Cendana invited us for dinner at home."And Dim-Dim immediately choked on the cola. Edel handed him a napkin, simultaneously with Amma handing him a tissue, and the two girls exchanged surprised l

In the form of an owl, Dim-Dim maneuvered through the air. He flapped his wings soundlessly, his movements graceful, beautiful. With feathers of deep black, he blended seamlessly with the night sky. Despite the pitch-black Vermont night, he didn't need infrared glasses. The monsters hurried on their many legs, darting from one building to another, leaping from tree to tree, towards him.The creatures were chased by deadly bullets from the Venators. Three at the front fell, leaving twelve monsters remaining."Seriously, guys, where is the last one?" Damian asked, his voice coming through the earpiece nestled in Dim-Dim's ear."Two," Oriyan corrected, his voice trembling as he pressed the trigger. "According to the app, there should have been seventeen monsters.""Could the locals have killed two of them?" Charlotte wondered. "Type A monsters?""Well, if so, we needed to recruit them—watch out, Dim-Dim!"Suddenly, unexpectedly, Dim-Dim was attacked from the side by a monster out of his