CHAPTER 124: COLLECTING A DEBT!

"Don’t sweat yourself, Thunder. Rae’s just not cool like us. He doesn’t get the whole chill vibe we have going on."

Alex said with a casual grin. Thunder and Grumpy joined in with their own giggles and smirks, like they were part of a secret club that Rae could never be in.

Rae didn’t reply. He just stood there, expression blank, then slowly bent down and started packing up his things.

His movements were slow, deliberate, and filled with silent judgment.

Once he was done, he walked to the entrance of the tent, paused for a moment like he was reconsidering his life choices, clicked his tongue in disgust, and walked away without saying a single word.

He didn’t even look back.

Or well, he did look back once, just to click his tongue again, like the tent itself had betrayed him.

Then he marched straight toward Lyra’s tent, dragging his pride behind him.

Obviously, Lyra was utterly flabbergasted seeing Rae stroll right into her tent, a whole stash clutched in his hands like he owned the place.

Her heart skipped, her breath caught, and her brain instantly dragged her back to that night.

She hadn’t faced him since then, hadn’t even dared to meet his eyes, but she knew what had happened.

Or at least... parts of it. Bits and pieces, blurred and heated, flashing like a half-broken lantern in her memory.

What she could not make sense of was the ridiculous level jump. One moment she was just plain old level 59, and then somehow, she woke up at level 165.

It was absurd. It was impossible. It was also terrifyingly thrilling.

And now, for some reason, she was back to level 55 like nothing ever happened.

It made no sense at all. No training could explain it, no potion could explain it. If it was a dream, it had been far too vivid.

She wanted to ask him. She wanted to corner him and demand answers, to find out exactly what he had done to her body, her stats, her everything.

But the thought of standing in front of him, looking into those sharp eyes and that dangerous face, turned her into a coward.

So she stayed quiet.

She kept her head down, choosing to rest for a day and hoping the mission would finish before she had to deal with him again.

Fate, however, had other plans. Because here he was. Standing inside her tent. With that stash.

Looking at her like he had come for something specific, and that something was her.

Her throat went dry. Her palms felt warm. Her knees threatened to betray her. She was not ready for this.

"Y-you need something, Rae?"

she finally managed, her voice trembling, her usual confidence nowhere to be found.

All that muscle, that sharp jaw, that stormy gaze... and she was suddenly nothing but a quivering little shy girl in her own tent.

"Yes..."

The way he said it made the air feel heavier.

"What is it?"

"...You."

Silence.

Lyra’s mind froze. Her heart was a wild animal inside her chest, and her face—oh, her face was on fire.

She was basically a walking, breathing tomato now, and Rae was watching every second of it.

...

"w-what do you mean"

She took two small steps back, hands twitching at her sides, before quickly turning away from him.

Her eyes darted to the tent wall, anywhere but his face. She could not look at him right now.

She could not risk seeing even a flicker of that night in his expression. Because looking meant remembering, and remembering meant accepting.

Accepting that night meant admitting something she had been stubbornly burying deep in her mind.

It meant accepting that she had cheated on Bryce. And she was not ready to look that truth in the eye. Not now. Maybe not ever.

Lyra thought if she played dumb, if she acted like she had no clue what he was talking about, Rae might back off.

She thought he might be decent enough to let it go. But Rae was not that kind of man. He was not built for letting things go.

’That night... what was that creature’

The memory stabbed through her like a lightning strike.

She remembered it too clearly for comfort.

That writhing, twisting, obscene thing that filled her in ways she never thought possible.

"Mmm."

Even the faintest thought of it made her knees weaken. It had not just been one of those slick, powerful limbs inside her.

No, there had been six. Six. Each one claiming a place in her body, stretching, pulsing, moving until her mind nearly broke apart.

’Dammit. Dammit. Dammit, Lyra. Get it under control.’

She clenched her fists, trying to force the heat from her face, trying to ignore the traitorous shiver racing down her spine.

Not once in her life had she faced anything like this.

Not even when both her clans had cast her out, leaving her to wander, to survive, to carve out her own destiny.

Back then, she had been unshakable. She had been stone. She had been unyielding.

Gods, she was strong.

Through nothing but raw grit, stubborn spite, and the kind of willpower that could grind mountains into dust, she had built herself up.

She honed her power day after day, trained until her muscles looked carved from stone, until she was jacked enough to make even seasoned warriors glance twice.

She became a name people whispered with respect, a hero who could crush a boulder with one hand and not break a sweat.

Even when she stood face to face with the Goblin King, she never blinked. Not when his shadow loomed over her.

Not when the air turned heavy enough to choke on. She had stared him down, spat on the ground right in front of him, and refused to budge an inch.

But this. This was different.

Now, for the very first time in her life, something was getting to her. Heat crawled under her skin like fire ants.

Her heartbeat was wild, almost dizzying. She fanned herself quickly, over and over, trying to fight off the unbearable heat, sweat prickling at the back of her neck.

What she didn’t realize was that Rae had no concept of shame. None. Zero. If he thought something, he said it.

If he wanted something, he took it. His mind did not do filters or pauses.

"Don’t you remember, you still owe me a prize."

His voice slid into her ears like a slow knife. Rae dragged his tongue across his lips, and there was a sharp glint in his eyes, the kind that promised trouble.

He wasn’t the type to forget debts.

Not after a day, not after a year. He would wait as long as it took, but in the end, he always collected.

And right now, all his focus was on collecting from Lyra.

"Prize. What prize."

Her voice cracked just a little, and she instantly hated that it did.

Lyra dared a glance over her shoulder, caught Rae’s gaze for a split second, and then whipped her head away like the heat in his stare had burned her.

Eye contact was impossible. Dangerous. But that little spark of curiosity still wormed its way in.

"Don’t you remember. The advance."

Her stomach gave a small drop.

"Ahh..."

The memory hit her like a slow, creeping wave.

The very first day of his so-called massage. He had worked his way over her legs, his hands warm and firm, every motion slow enough to make her skin hum.

And before he left, he had wanted an advance for tomorrow’s session.

He never told her what it was. He just smiled.

Then the next day happened, and Gear, that annoying young goblin, had thrown their whole group into chaos.

The advance had been forgotten. Or at least, she had tried to forget.

But now, thinking back—he had already done her upper body massage a day ago.

Which meant... technically... she owed him. The realization made her throat dry, and she swallowed hard.

"What do you want."

Her voice was steadier now, but inside, she already knew this was going somewhere dangerous. Rae wasn’t clueless.

He knew what happened that night.

And now, he knew the part of her she kept locked away.

The part she didn’t want anyone to see.

Rae snickered, low and smug, and started closing the distance between them.

Each step was heavy enough for her to hear, and somehow that sound alone made her spine go stiff.

Instinct took over, she stepped forward to put space between them, but she found the cold fabric of the tent wall almost immediately. Trapped.

Ba-dum. Ba-dum.

Her heartbeat kicked up, pounding against her ribs like it wanted out.

’Dammit.’

And then, betrayal.

Her kitty quivered. Just a tiny twitch at first, but enough to make her want to slap it into submission.

It was like it had its own memory bank, recalling that night in vivid, shameful detail, and instead of recoiling like a sane creature, it leaned in, curious, eager to meet the monster again.

If her kitty was a person, Lyra would have hauled off and smacked her across the face, yelling at her like you would at a girlfriend who swore she was done with her toxic ex yet still sneaks off to see him.