Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 81 Wrong Advice, Again.

"What about we feed it the Lowborn?"

It was a heinous suggestion. But as the hundreds of examiners very slowly turned their heads toward Rhys, it all of a sudden became the only viable solution to their current predicament. Rhys wasn't blind to this at all, as he momentarily stopped his search for the cameras hidden around them and scanned the person who suggested it.

It was one of the people who Rhys saw earlier that did not puke, or even seem nervous at all as they landed in the Underworld.

"Look, before anyone says how cruel this is…"

They did not seem done convincing the others of their plan, however, as another one from their group stepped forward. This time, it was a somewhat beautiful woman; enough charm to disarm someone. Sadly for her, Rhys had already spent long amounts of time with even more extraordinary women — and he wasn't fooled by the concerned tremble on her face at all.

"...He is already missing an arm, and look at him — he can't even stand up from the whiplash."

Whiplash, a word usually only used by veteran divers of the Underworld; Rhys had heard it being said several times in the corps by his seniors.

"Even if he manages to survive here, and by miracle becomes an Explorer. He would just die an even more gruesome death," the pretty woman said with conviction; her voice, hurt with each word she uttered, "At least here…

…he would have a chance to be a hero."

"That's… right."

And the truth is, the people did not really need any more convincing. As soon as the first person suggested the plan, most of them already nodded their heads and agreed without a second thought.

One single Lowborn vs. the lot of them? How was that even a choice?

And so, very slowly… or very fast depending on how one may interpret it, Rhys slowly found himself being stared at by all the almost half a thousand examinees. They did not really need to push or surround him, as Rhys was already isolated from them in the first place since he was the first to land in the Underworld.

"..." Rhys wasn't focusing on any of them, however, as he finally stood up and subtly looked at the seemingly veteran group, only to see them giving each other high fives down below. Rhys was about to approach them, but as he did so, his eyes finally caught a glimpse of one of the cameras hidden near the hole.

And almost immediately, his body instinctively turned and his head lowered — he did not want to be scared of this. He was tired of being scared by this trauma, but his trembling legs showed no signs of cooperating with him at all.

Katarina once told him that it wasn't the cameras he was afraid of, but the intent behind them; he needed to understand that to slowly get rid of his phobia. She always told him that it was alright, that fear is a part of life and he should learn to embrace it and welcome it, then use it.

"…But what does that even mean?"

"Everyone, wait! Wait!"

And as Rhys once again tried to calm himself down by whispering his thoughts to himself, the scrawny examinee rushed to his side and started raising his palms up in the air,

"Sacrificing someone is not the way we will survive this!" The scrawny man said as he tried looking each of the people in the eyes, "You do not want your first step in becoming an Explorer to be paved with blood, not with blood. That's not what it takes to be a hero!"

"...Who says anything about wanting to be a hero?" One of the other examinees also raised their voice as he disagreed with the scrawny man.

"That's right, we're just here to earn money!"

"Didn't you just kill someone!? Don't be a hypocrite, you have more blood on your hands than any of us ever will!"

"Wait…"

"Let's just tie up the Lowborn! Why are we even discussing this!? People like that black-haired scum shouldn't even be allowed to live in the first place!"

"Who… who said that!?"

And soon, the scrawny man could not even discern where the shouts were coming from as they turned to roars of hate.

"Jay. It is no use."

The scrawny man, Jay, turned to look at his muscular sister, who was shaking her head as she approached him.

"Jenny? You mean… not you too," Jay could really only shake his head as he blocked the trembling Rhys from his sister's path, "If we're going to be like this, we might as well forget our dreams."

"I mean it is no use talking to the others," Jenny once again shook her head as she stood beside Rhys. And although she was clearly shocked that Rhys slightly towered over her, she still grabbed Rhys's arm, "You are not safe here."

"Jenny…" Jay wanted to smile, but as he realized the other examinees very slowly approaching them, the only thing he could do was grab Rhys's other arm… but there was nothing to grab there and he almost tripped himself, "...My sister doesn't talk much, but when she does, she's usually right. We need to get you out of here."

Jay looked at his sister, the two nodding to each other as Jenny started dragging Rhys away… only to find that she could not even budge his arm for even a single millimeter.

"..." Jenny squinted her eyes for a bit, before looking at Rhys from toe to head. Of course, it was extremely hard to see Rhys's face because of his hair; but as soon as Jenny caught even a tiny glimpse of the expression on his face, she could not help but quickly let go of his arm and back away, almost drawing her machete but stopping before she could do so.

"Jenny…? What are you doing?" Jay was confused by his sister's action, but did not really think twice of it as he opted to grab Rhys's hand instead. Before he could do so, however, Jenny quickly pulled her away from Rhys.

"Sister!? What are you—" And once again, Jay was interrupted. Not by her sister, however, but by the sudden fog that was creeping from their feet. And as soon as Jay saw this, his head quickly started shaking as he stood close to his sister.

"Everyone! Whatever you do, don't move!" Jay let out a scream that almost cracked his voice, "I… I was wrong! The Fog Kamelos isn't alone!"

"What!? What the fuck do you—"

"Fog!" Jay did not let anyone talk over him, "If a fog grows in a Fog Kamelos' hunting ground, that means it is nested there…

…with its family."

And as soon as those words escaped Jay's mouth, the other examinees who were still approaching Rhys all stopped in their tracks.

"Quick thinking, Jen," Jay nodded and looked at his sister, "If we moved away from the hole, we would have been—"

"That's… not why I pulled you away from him."

"Huh… what do you mean?"

How could Jenny not move away from Rhys, when the expression he saw of him earlier almost made her pee her pants? She couldn't really explain it due to her lack of better vocabulary, but it was… almost gnarling.

And Rhys, perhaps finally came to a sort of realization of what Katarina said to him. Welcome his fears, use them as fuel…

…and turn it into rage.

Unfortunately for Katarina, that is not what she meant at all, far from it. Sadly for her, she was not exactly a psychologist and forgot...

...that fear, shame, and rage are all that Rhys grew up with, they are all he knows.

And as the fog slowly crept, a weird smile also began to creep onto his face… slowly.