"Steady yourself," Odeus said, holding her arms.
"Sorry…" Olivia massaged her forehead. "I'm feeling a bit-"
"Yeah, I get it," He interrupted.
"Ah!" Olivia gasped, feet suddenly swept off the ground as she was taken by his arms into a princess carry.
"You're feeling dizzy, aren't you?" He asked while staring into her eyes.
"Y… Yes…" She nodded gradually, eyes opening and closing slowly. "How did you… Know?"
Odeus walked towards the sofa without answering her question.
He lay her on the sofa, took off her heels, grabbed the folded throw blanket, and draped it over her.
Olivia's blushing hadn't weakened, nor had the dizziness.
She silently watched as he gently took care of her, somehow knowing exactly what she needed.
Odeus turned around, and Olivia hurriedly reached for his hand.
"I'm…" She pursed her lips. "I'm sorry, I just…"
Odeus crouched before she could finish her sentence. "It's alright," He whispered with a smile, thumb caressing her cheek in circles. "Maybe next time, huh?"
It seemed like Olivia's face couldn't get redder, yet it seemed to do so as she slowly pulled up the throw blanket to hide the lower portion of her face.
"You'll feel your body burning up for a bit. Bear with it," He said, standing back up. "After that, you'll feel it get really cold. Don't get rid of the blanket."
"How… How do you?" Olivia muttered with a raised eyebrow.
"Hm," Odeus shrugged. "I just have that effect on people." He turned around and his gaze found the Tri-Grade Ether Level Reader. "I'm supposed to do that, right?"
"Oh, yea…" Olivia's words trailed off. She had just attempted to stand, but his hand kept her from doing so.
"I got it," He said and walked towards the device.
"You just need to put your palm over the uppermost sphere. It'll read your Ether Levels." Olivia explained, curled up on the sofa.
"Alright." Odeus nodded, hand approaching the device. 'If I remember the ranking correctly, Jeanne was first with an Ether Level of around 6200, while Jack was fifth with an Ether Level of 4100.'
Those two were really the only spots of the ranking that he remembered, or had paid attention to.
The Tri-Grade Ether Level Reader device consisted of three spheres connected by a zigzagging crystalline conduit, as well as a screen on which the result would appear.
Odeus touched the uppermost orb, and signals started moving up and down the device.
The bottommost orb slowly started to fill with light.
[200…]
[700…]
[1000+]
[2nd Grade Ether Level Reader is activating.]
The conduit between the bottom and middle sphere started shining.
[1800…]
[2200…]
[2800…]
[3200…]
Olivia Del Rey watched the development with great interest.
From her position, she wouldn't be able to tell Odeus' exact score, but she would be able to tell how many Grade Ether Level Readers he would activate through the light filling each sphere and moving to the next.
The passion wasn't exactly gone, but she didn't feel like a crazed maniac while watching him now.
Instead, she felt like a girlfriend, proudly watching her boyfriend test his strength.
Olivia found this much more embarrassing.
[4000+]
[3rd Grade Ether Level Reader is activating.]
Olivia's eyes widened.
Students activating the 3rd Grade was rare. Only five of the hand-picked elite in her class had managed to do so after all.
For some reason, though, she wasn't too surprised.
Olivia knew Odeus was special. More so than she could tell.
[4200…]
[4900…]
[5400…]
[6200…]
Odeus equalized Jeanne's score, who occupied the number 1 spot in their class.
[6600…]
And surpassed it.
[7800…]
[9200…]
[10,000+]
[Ether Level beyond 10,000.]
[Please use a higher Grade Ether Level Reader.]
"Well?" Olivia asked with a smirk, head slightly tilted to the side.
Odeus thought for a bit before giving his answer.
"Around 4200."
"That's great! The fact that you're starting on the third Grade means you have very high potential."
"Yeah…" Odeus muttered, stretching his arms up.
"Hm…?" Olivia Del Rey blinked as he started walking closer.
"This isn't what I want to talk about though," Odeus whispered, bending his back and bringing his face inches away from hers. "Not when we're alone."
"I-I'm sorry again if I… If I gave you the wrong idea. What happened earlier was totally unacceptable and I take full responsabili-"
The sentence was interrupted as Odeus stole one last kiss from her lips.
Despite her better judgement, she kissed him back, and could only stare wide-eyed once he pulled back.
Remaining inches away from her face, Odeus stared into her deep ocean eyes for a moment.
"See you tomorrow, Teach'."
"See you tomorrow… Odeus." The Professor whispered while (Asm)Odeus walked towards the door.