Animals are territorial beings.
Rito should have taken this fact more seriously.
He thought about trying his luck by exploring the map and ended up in the territory of the flaming lions, suffering a terrible death.
The plain where he starts was basically the beginner's area of the map. Although it's where only the weakest rabbits live, there are others even more powerful, reaching sizes even larger than a meter tall, but they also stay close to the territory of the most dangerous beasts, like the Green Wolves or the Flaming Lions.
There were also other animals besides these that he hadn't seen yet, but they were described in the novel he read.
'I want to be strong enough not to fear being killed by any of them!'
"Rito?"
Looking up, he saw Mikan staring at him without blinking: "Yes?"
"Tell me the truth… Did you eat something weird?" she asked interrogatively.
"No?" he replied.
"But, if it's not that, nothing makes sense…" she murmured, placing both hands on the table: "So, how do you explain the change that happened to you? Why does your skin look even smoother and softer than a girl's now?"
"It's really soft and nice to touch~!" Lala said cheerfully.
Mikan looked at Lala, then narrowed her eyes even more at Rito: "Rito…!"
"Calm down, calm down, Miss Mikan," Zastin came to his rescue: "Actually, about the changes in the boy, I have an explanation for that. It's rare, but when someone trains their body and has a lot of talent, they undergo transformations. And that's what's happening to him. His talent is impressive! Honestly, I didn't think he was *that* talented when he asked me to train him."
"Hehe~ Of course Rito is amazing!" Lala let out a giggle while puffing out her chest proudly.
Mikan shot her a look as if to say: "Why are *you* the one acting proud when it's Rito being praised?"
But then, she remembered Lala's identity. Maybe as his fiancée, she could act like that…
And, as his little sister, she herself felt a bit smug.
Though, she covered it up by clearing her throat before saying: "Rito, just because Lord Zastin praised you so much doesn't mean you can get too full of yourself, got it?"
"I know that, I won't get cocky because of it," Rito replied calmly.
After yesterday's near-death experience, all his arrogance was gone.
"Wait, I didn't…" Mikan showed a bit of guilt seeing his reaction.
"It's okay, Mikan. I understand what you mean, and I know you said it for my own good," Rito smiled at her: "But, seriously, I'm fine. I just understand my place very well. That's why I'm going to work even harder and become someone reliable enough to protect you and Lala from any danger that comes up!"
His eyes were blazing.
"Rito~!"
"Rito…"
Both girls were touched.
"Mm, that's more or less it. As expected of Miss Lala's fiancé!" Zastin gave him a thumbs-up.
For Rito, what he said wasn't just empty words.
He truly meant what he wanted to do. But he wasn't just going to say pretty words to please the two of them; he was going to become a man capable of turning his words into reality.
==
==
In the blink of an eye, three days passed.
As he trained with Zastin, he needed more and more light orbs. Now, he used an average of five orbs in just one hour of training. Because of this, he used 105 orbs in just three days.
Now, besides the success he had in refining his skin, he achieved the same result with the refinement of his muscles, tendons, and bones.
In addition to the improvement in his appearance, he grew 10.5 cm, now standing at 1.75 m tall.
Even his hair changed a bit, now taking on a more golden tone with strands as fine as silk.
From an average appearance, he transformed into someone who could easily be mistaken for an idol or model.
==
==
While walking to school hand in hand with Lala, Rito received many stares.
Curiosity, jealousy, desire, embarrassment, etc.
Each person looked at him differently, but very few recognized him.
"Hey, that's the famous transfer student!"
"She's a cutie, right?"
"By the way, who's the guy next to her?"
"I heard she was engaged to the guy from Class 2-B, but that's not him, right?"
"Did she break up with that guy?"
"Rito?"
Finally, someone recognized him, and it was none other than Haruna.
"Yes? Good morning, Haruna," he said.
Seeming surprised by her correct guess, Haruna stammered: "I… G-Good morning…"
"Ah, Haruna!" Letting go of Rito's hand, Lala approached Haruna.
She waved at Haruna cheerfully and ran up to her: "Good morning! Today I ate bacon with eggs and rice for breakfast!"
"R-Really?" Haruna smiled at her and started walking beside her.
Rito, who was left behind, shook his head with a smile and continued walking toward the school.
"Haruna, what did you eat?" Lala asked.
"Today I ate miso soup, with fish and rice," she replied, letting out a soft giggle.
"Ehh? Seriously? That sounds delicious~!" Lala smiled.
…
Almost arriving at the school, he was recognized again.
"Rito, is that you?" Kenichi asked.
"Yes," he nodded.
"I knew it!" Kenichi's eyes widened: "Man, what did you eat to change so much? Heartbreak? Did Lala dump you? Don't let it get you down!"
"Shut up! Who's heartbroken?" Rito rolled his eyes: "I just started training with Lala's bodyguard, and it seems I have some talent, so because of that, I changed a bit. But it's not as exaggerated as you're making it out to be, right?"
"Not exaggerated?! Don't you have a mirror at home?" Kenichi put his hand on his forehead, making an "Atchahh" sound, and continued: "Man, haven't you noticed how much you've changed? Just look at how confused people around you are with your change. Most of them can't even recognize you!"
"W-Well…" Rito was out of excuses.
"See? Now you can't even defend yourself from what I said," Kenichi said: "Honestly, man, if you told me some aliens experimented on you and that's why you changed, I'd believe it!"
"…"
The fact that even he believed what Kenichi said was, in a way, disturbing.
'There wasn't anything weird in those proteins Zastin gave me, right?'
Although, deep down, he knew it was purely because of the light orbs, once a doubt starts to take root, it's hard to forget.
==
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