Chapter 11: One, Two, Three, Let's Go!

'Show your face. Show me your beautiful face.'

"..."

The woman's desires were loud, louder than Arachnea's. Is it because she's human? Did she see Rhys's face when they rescued him? But he even covered his face before the thing between his legs when they arrived.

Truly, an Explorer's eyes were fast.

Rhys then turned to look at the 5 gray hearts above the woman's head again. A sort of idea has already formed in Rhys's head of what happens when he turns all the target's hearts red…

…and perhaps he can use the woman beside her to confirm that?

"..." Rhys then took in a small breath, turning to see if there were people looking at them. But as soon as he realized that everyone was busy with the Hole, he looked the woman in the eyes… before subtly pushing the towel on his head back.

"Oh."

And without even a second later, a loud gulp whispered into Rhys's ears. One of the hearts flickered, but it did not turn red.

"Have… I already thanked you for getting me out, Ms…?" Rhys then fully brushed his hair back, revealing his face to the woman.

"O… Oh," the woman's eyes quickly brightened; her lips, slightly puckering as she looked at Rhys's silver eyes, "You… you don't really need to. And it's Lina, you don't really need to add 'Ms.', we're like only 2 years apart."

And with that, one of Lina's hearts turned red. Rhys had to scratch the neck of a monster to turn one of her hearts red, but he only needed to show his face to Lina?

"I do need to thank you," Rhys then let out a sigh as he shook his head, "A Lowborn like me would have died there."

"You're… a Lowborn?"

And then, all of a sudden, Lina's red heart flickered before fully turning back into gray.

"..." Rhys could really only squint his eyes as he saw this.

"Uhm…" Lina then started looking away, "I think I'm needed there or something. I'll see you around?"

"Yes, of course."

Of course not—Rhys thought. This was a chance to finally gain something from people that have ignored him for years, he wasn't going to just let it slip away.

And so, as Lina stood up, Rhys also lifted himself up—putting the bottle between them and deliberately letting it spill onto him.

"Oh…" Rhys let out a small breath as the liquid slathered onto his chest and down his finely sculpted abs. He then quickly removed his jacket, revealing the body he had worked so hard for for years… finally putting it to use.

"Oh… oh, my…" An audible gasp once again escaped Lina's lips; her face, completely turning red as her eyes were locked onto Rhys's toned chest.

"Sorry…" Rhys then whispered as he touched his wet abs, and then used the juice that spilled on it to once again fully pull his hair back.

"No, it's—" Lina could not help but instinctively back away; her legs, losing their strength as she almost fell to her butt. Luckily for her, Rhys caught her in time.

"Are… you okay?" Rhys wrapped his arm around Lina; the warmth of his bare body, almost piercing Lina's clothes.

"I… I'm fine," Lina wanted to look away, but was clearly unable to.

"Hm…" Rhys then let out a soft hum next to her ear, causing Lina's entire body to shiver in delight from the tone of his slightly alluring voice,

"Perhaps… I can pay you back some other time?"

"Hm?" Lina took in a small gulp as she lost herself in Rhys's silver eyes, "Then… maybe we can meet—"

"Rhys!"

But alas, before Lina could finish her words, a loud voice approaching them caused her to push Rhys away. She didn't even look him in the eyes anymore as she just walked and left away.

"..." Rhys could really only just look in disappointment. But not at Lina's back, but at the single red heart above her head. His… tactic seemed to have worked; but alas, it was not meant to be.

"Rhys, are you okay!?"

Rhys then quickly covered his face with his hair again as he looked at the voice calling for him, only to see the school's doctor, Katarina, running towards him.

The men that were busy with cleaning up the aftermath of the Hole, completely stopped as they saw her approach. How could they not, when Katarina's bosoms that her shirt could barely contain bounced around in front of them?

"Rhys!" And as Katarina finally reached Rhys, she quickly pushed him down back to his seat, grabbing his wrist to check his pulse, "I… I rushed here immediately when they told me you were one of the people that fell in the Hole. Are you… you're not hurt, are you?"

"I'm… not."

And if there was one man that was not ogling or looking at Katarina, it was Rhys; his eyes just focused on the hearts floating above Katarina's head.

"What were you even doing outside?" The frustration in Katarina's voice was clear for everyone to hear, "Even if you're graduating, you still have to follow the curfew hours, Rhys. Rhys! Are you listening to—"

And before Katarina could finish her words, Rhys suddenly grabbed her hand, causing her to flinch and suck in a deep breath.

"What---Are you alright, Rhys? What's wrong? Does something hurt?"

But as soon as Rhys heard her words, he quickly stood up and looked away—refusing to look at the 5 hearts above Katarina's head as he let go of her hand.

3.

Three out of the five hearts were already red.

Rhys didn't even have to do much, and that tempted him for a brief moment. He almost lost himself as he thought of using the only person in his life that made the effort of helping him. He didn't even think twice, he just grabbed her.

These newfound abilities—it was changing him. If he doesn't learn how to control it, then it will control him.

"Dr. Lopez…" Rhys then let out a short but very deep breath as he looked at Katarina,

"...I need your help."

"What… is it?" Katarina did not seem to hesitate as she once again approached Rhys.

"I… finally had my Awakening."

"..."

"...Follow me back to the clinic."