3 Stripping is a Necessity
When a nearby group of professors saw the creatures barreling toward the river, they made a break for the path leading to the Clark building.
Seeing their movement, Leon dunked under the water while holding Caitlyn by the ankle, so she didn't drift downstream.
Once he emerged, he was holding a rock.
He immediately threw it as precisely as possible to land between the backline of creatures and the professors.
Thud.
It was a small sound, but it gathered the attention of the backline, who turned around.
"Grrrrr. GHAT! GHAT!"
That simple thud was all it took for the creatures at the back to find the group of six running away.
"Kiiiiiiii!"
The moment the canines started barking, the rats followed suit.
Immediately after, the first cry from a rat triggered the entire pack to start running toward the group of people.
Leon immediately turned to grab hold of Caitlyn, only to find he was in between her legs and one inch away from her crotch.
'Thank god it's the apocalypse. If this scene happened yesterday, there would be a manhunt.
A written confession that I was a serial killer would be less convincing than a single glance in this direction!' He cried internally.
Leading a group of professors to their death while buried in the crotch of a half-naked, potentially dying woman—floating in a river—couldn't look any worse.
'Now's not the time for this!'
"Hurry, Shelby!" One of the professors yelled, snapping Leon out of his daze.
He quickly readied Caitlyn.
"Now!" Leon growled under his breath.
He waded to the river's edge, climbed out, and situated Caitlyn on his shoulders.
Then he waited patiently for an apocalyptic miracle.
One came sooner than expected.
"Shelby!" The man yelled.
Shelby had fallen to the ground and was crying out in pain.
"Go on without me, Roger!" She screamed.
"I can't!" The man cried in a panic.
"That's right. You can't. Save your lover, Roger. Succumb to the harsh reality of shameless cliches for me." Leon whispered with a beating heart.
"Leave her!" Another teacher yelled out.
Roger wasn't listening. The man ran to Shelby with a chivalrous expression.
Perhaps he had a delusion he'd be a hero saving the day.
Unfortunately, fate is mundane to those who don't think.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
Poor Shelby screamed in pain. When the man helped her up, she immediately fell again because her sprained ankle couldn't support her weight.
"Grrrrr GHAT!"
"Kiiiiii! Kiiiiii!"
Dozens of creatures approached their position in a flash.
"Three. Two. One. Feeding frenzy!" Leon whispered.
"Gahhhhhhhh!"
"Ahhhhhhhhh!"
The two screamed in pain and terror as the rats and canines tore into them.
Leon ran as fast as he could with his mildly numb limbs and Caitlyn on his back.
The first seventy feet went smoothly until the screaming disappeared, and the infighting between rats and canines ceased.
Leon stopped dead still, treating the situation as a game of squid light, green light.
The creatures started sniffing around and prowling.
"Hurry! They're gaining on us." The group cried in the distance.
The ears of the creatures perked up.
"Gahhhhhhhhh!"
One of the professors screamed out in pain, followed by a second.
The canines and rats immediately shifted their focus and ran in the group's direction.
Leon waited until the entire group started running before booking it to the portable.
He fumbled in his pockets for his keys.
"Please let this go smoothly." Leon growled while pulling out a keyring.
He slid a key into the lock and turned it.
Click.
Leon breathed a sigh of relief when he entered the room and locked the door behind them.
Without a break, he grabbed another key and unlocked the teacher's office.
In addition to a desk, there was a couch, sink, mini fridge, microwave, and TV in the room.
A small break room was strange to find in a normal portable.
However, one would better describe it as a large, permanent modular that housed a computer lab.
He made a deal to live in the room outside school hours because it had such amenities.
Leon immediately sat Caitlyn on the ground while he pulled out a blanket from a desk drawer.
Then he laid the blanket down before picking her up and laying her down.
The second she entered his field of vision, he immediately turned bright red and groaned.
"This… is why people don't wear white clothing." Leon muttered while averting his gaze.
Caitlyn's cute pink panties were visible, almost as though nothing was covering them.
Her matching pink bra was visible through his white v-neck.
He didn't find a contradiction in sight, of course.
Leon turned bright red again when he remembered seeing [more] than her panties.
The young man wasn't a prude. He wouldn't get flustered if a woman jumped into his arms naked.
However, the one aversion he felt in life was the desire to not [look] like he was taking advantage of a woman sexually. He didn't take advantage of them sexually, so an aversion was naturally non-existent.
As for taking advantage of people, he was an equal opportunity manipulator.
Nevertheless, hormones burned the images he saw 50 feet above the stadium into his mind, making it harder to ignore the scene in front of him.
Caitlyn started moaning in her sleep.
Her face was flushed red, and her transparent clothing was skin tight.
Leon took a deep breath to control his raging hormones.
It seemed impossible until he saw the young woman shaking.
The life in his conflicted eyes turned lifeless instantly.
"Hypothermia." Leon chuckled with madness in his eyes, "Stripping is a necessity. Hah haha hahaha."
If putting Caitlyn's panties on her unconscious body before lugging her on half naked wasn't creepy enough, now he had to warm her body without a shower.
"She's going to wake up thinking I've assaulted her." He groaned.
The young man sighed with dead eyes.
"You just led a pack of idiot professors to the slaughter. And you're worried about misconceptions?" Leon chuckled sardonically.
The worst part is that he didn't care. It just made him feel bad that he was worried about his image and felt nothing for the professors.
He felt bad because he knew he should feel bad, but he didn't. If he weren't obsessed with looking normal, then he would have never had the internal debate, to begin with.
Leon glanced at Caitlyn's shaking body and frowned.
He grabbed a spare backpack and threw two sets of dry clothes from the desk into it, followed by food, bottled water, and anything useful.
He also added his stockpile of narcolepsy medication and swallowed a pill for the first time that week.
It was imperative to be prepared ahead of time.
Once finished, he sat her up, stripped off her shirt, and pulled off her skirt with his eyes closed.
Opening them and seeing the bandages he made from her old t-shirt helped calm his hormones.
He stripped off his black jeans and previously white shoes before lying beside her awkwardly.
As if by instinct, the young woman wrapped a hand around his neck and cuddled close against his back.
Leon was more uncomfortable at that moment than he had ever been.
He tried sleeping for three hours before giving up.
So he reviewed what he had learned.
"What was that interface—"
The moment he thought of the interface, it popped up.
—
Name: Hunter S. Thompson
Class: Harem Leader
Level: 3
Title: Virgin with Surprising Potential (New!)
[User Info]
[Skills]
[Stats] (4)
[Item Storage]
[Notifications] (5)
[Milestones] (2)
[Rewards] (New!) (1)
-
[Members] (Locked)
—
Leon didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he saw his name in the system.
When he saw his title, he confirmed that the proper action was [cry].
Leon started by viewing his stats.
—
Name: Hunter S. Thompson
Class: Harem Leader
Level: 3
Health: 75
STR: 26
STA: 31
AGL: 15
INT: 0
DEX: 32
Notes: Your stats have been restricted beyond normal human growth limits. You cannot grow stats without making contracts.
Luckily, it appears you've gone through years of shady military and intelligence training or something more sinister.
The Harem God would love to see the look on your face as you thank your abusive guardian for their forward thinking.
P.S. INT refers to magical capacity. However, considering that you've spent the last year pretending you're an idiot, it's fitting.
—
Leon's eyebrow twitched when he read the notes section. It started depressing but quickly turned irritating.
However, he still had to learn about his [power], so he gritted his teeth and bared it.
He chose [Skills] with his thoughts.
—
Name: Hunter S. Thompson
Class: Harem Leader
Level: 3
Skill: Harem Leveler Lv 1.
Description: Make contracts with women to increase their power.
Requirements: None.
-
Sub Skills:
Contract: Initiate a contract. Once in effect, the user must kiss the consenting party.
If the potential member does not consent fully, the contract will fail.
[More Information]
[Return]
—
"That sounds too simplistic." Leon muttered under his breath.
He chose more information with his thoughts.
—
Harem Leveler Information.
-
Contracts: The user can make or release a contract with any consenting individual.
They then become a [member] of their harem.
Once bonded, the user and member must complete level-up requirements to increase their strength.
Warning: When a member's emotions are generally positive, they cannot harm or plot to harm you. However, they can if they're negative, and the thought will engross them while contracted.
Warning: If the user releases a contract, the power increases from member leveling will be removed and cannot be returned with a new contract.
Warning: If the relationship status of an individual starts positive but quickly declines or becomes negative, they will retain their powers.
Warning: Releasing a contract without consent could be considered a betrayal and reverse emotional standing. The member would then retain their powers.
A judgment from the Harem God will ensure that you cannot release a contract to avoid a fallout. Always be a gentleman and keep your members [satisfied].
[More Information]
—
Leon's eyes glazed over, reading the description.
"What is this? The side effects section of a pill bottle!?" Leon cried under his breath, "There's more warnings than general information!"
For some reason, the side effects of drugs were far worse than what the drug solved. Like heartburn medication with side effects of depression, suicidal thoughts, ulcers, cancer, and an unexplainable link to osteoporosis.
Only this medication was for [survival] and with side effects of getting used by manipulative women, toxic codependence, and death by assassination plots, revenge, betrayal, and irony.
So far, things weren't looking so good for him.
