Chapter 8. The Glowing Mirage

I wanted to curse.

At the world, at my arrogance, and at the people who put me in this situation.

My own freaking family.

Could I even call them that? The cowardly people who send me into a gate, and then shoved me through a portal leading into another hidden dungeon. A red dungeon.

Son of bitches. Was it jealousy, or was it fear? If they talked to me honestly, I'd tell them I had no interest in the Guildmaster position. They could take it for themselves. Was it my fault if I was way more competent than those trashes?

Trash. All of them were a bunch of human trash.

It wasn't enough killing my mother, now they wanted to kill me? Fine, I'd get out of this dungeon alive, and burn the whole damn family.

Or that was what I thought.

Was it because I was in a frenzy? I didn't even realize how much corrosion was accumulated inside my body. As the boss was slain, and the adrenaline dissipated, I started to feel it.

The feeling of drowning inside the abyss. Being tied by black smoky chains. It kept on piling...and piling...and piling...

My core was pulsing, like it wanted to explode. My mind felt sluggish, and the chains kept on tying me inside the abyss, drowning me...

Where was this? A cave? I wasn't in a cave before...

Something was coming out of my throat; a groan...a growl...

Dark...everything seemed so dark.

Ah, I was too arrogant. Too impatient with the thought of revenge. So much that I didn't even manage the use of my power.

There was a reason why those bastards didn't guide me before the dungeon raid.

Ah...I wanted to laugh, but the only thing coming out of my mouth was a wisp of black smoke and growling sounds.

Was this the end? Was this how my life would end? At the age of twenty-two, before even managed to avenge my mother...

The darkness was suffocating, and yet it started to feel comforting, beckoning me to just fall into its embrace...

And then a glowing light.

A ripple of sunlight. I looked up, and there was shining water dripping from above, and the chain holding my neck was breaking.

More water, like dew, like spring, dripping into my cheek. It felt warm and yet refreshing at the same time. Like a warm mint tea.

Suddenly, my head was pulled out of the abyss. I opened my eyes dazedly, and stared at those water droplets, shining like gems. There were two of them.

Oh, they were eyes.

Such pretty, pretty eyes. They glowed inside this darkness, like a beacon of salvation.

"...who...?" I tried to ask, finally managing to make something out other than growling sounds.

There was a muffled sound. A question. "...do you mind a sexual guiding?" the voice was nice, like a low-tone temple's bell. Melodious. Perhaps it would sound better without that black filtering mask.

Oh. The question.

"...yeah," I managed to mutter, even adding a nod. I don't care, just do whatever. It was weird that this guide asked in the first place.

I didn't know what transpire after, leaning my head on the hard surface of a cave wall. Everything was a blur.

Everything but this serene lake I suddenly found myself in.

It was as if those eyes swallowed me up, and the dark abyss was clearing up. Like mud being flushed out of the clearing.

I was drowning in darkness before, but along with the glow, I was floating inside a water cocoon, which surfaces rippled beautifully, like looking into the surface of a lake from below. It cradled me, seeping into my skin, my vein, my cell, into the depth of my core.

It cleansed me.

With a gentle and addictive caress.

Haa...what kind of guiding was this. It was as if I was in one of the temples, getting guided by the Saintess. Not even the best guide in Golden Viper have this kind of guiding.

This soothing, addicting, pleasurable guiding.

Slowly, my vision cleared, and I could see the guide. A man with fair skin glazed in sweat, as he rode me with gritted teeth and a clenched jaw. Vaguely, I recognized that he was in pain. He probably had no time to prepare himself due to my rapid corrosion.

The fact that he could cleanse me this much was already an unexpected stroke of luck on my part. Even with sexual guiding, normal guides would have no capacity to absorb my corrosion this much. I had tried.

Was this because we were compatible? Or was this guide that good?

But what was a guide with this capability doing in this...where was this? I tried to find my bearing, looking around for a clue, but the only thing I saw was cave walls.

"Ugh—"

And then my focus came back to him. He groaned, bated breath grazing my neck as his head slumped on my shoulder. When I lowered my sight, I could see something glowing from his nape—something like a stigma, made of swirling runes and shaped like a water droplet.

"Ah, fuck!" he cursed, but he didn't stop moving. I was still in a daze, drunk on the pleasing sensation of corrosion being flushed out of my system. Of being drowned inside the soothing water.

Ah. Those eyes. I wanted to see those eyes again.

With a hand that was finally able to move, I lifted his bowed face. The black hair swayed, and I met that mesmerizing blue again. It was as clear as the lake in the temple of Freyja. And the flushed donning the ivory cheek was like the blossoming plum tree around the lake.

Ethereal.

It was the only word I could use for him, before a hand covered my eyes, pressing tightly so I couldn't see. And just like that, the pleasurable feeling was gone, and I realized the man had pulled away.

Ah, damn. Every guiding experience after this would just feel inadequate, wouldn't it?

When the hand retreated from my eyes, I could see the man clearer. Or at least I saw his figure, which was clad in protective layers of clothes, shuffling as he wore his pants again.

From the look of it, he seemed like he would just run after this. That couldn't be. There was no way I would let this man go.

And so I grabbed his arm, now that heaviness in my body had been lifted, and yanked him down. With a curse, he landed on my lap, and I grabbed his waist as an added measure. The blue eyes—damn that blue eyes—look at me with a frown. Now that my mind was clearer, and my vision as good as ever, I could see better.

The blue was different than before, now it was deeper in color. How fascinating. It was framed with long eyelashes that made them even prettier. As pretty as his face. There was still a leftover flush from earlier, and it made me want to plant my lips there. Or perhaps lower, on the snarling lips.

How tantalizing.

My face leaned forward, almost like an instinct, and the next thing I knew, my head was slammed into the cave's stone wall with a strength that wasn't normally found in a guide.

"What the fuck are you trying to do?"

Ah, I was right. He sounded better without the mask. I couldn't help but licked my lips, and dragged his waist closer.

His hand was still gripping my face, covering my eyes and pressing me hard into the cave. "Shouldn't you finish what you started?" stretching my lips to a grin, I grabbed his wrist to take it off my face.

Well, I tried to.

But his hand wasn't budging. Was I still too weak? But he didn't move, even as I exerted more force. I knew I hadn't got all my strength back, but I could at least draw something equivalent to a 3-star esper.

And yet, I couldn't move him.

'What kind of sorcery is this?'

While I was still stunned, he peeled himself off of me, and stepped back. Like a reflex, I stood up to grab his arm again. But this time, he grab my wrist back, and we stood there, face to face like we were about to fight each other.

Something deep within me was tickled. I was curious. I was intrigued. More than that, I felt greedy.

It was like taking a sip from a glass of wine, and it was the most delicious thing you ever tasted. And then you knew that every drink you have wouldn't be the same anymore. Wouldn't be enough.

Wasn't it normal to want the whole barrel for yourself then?

"Hey," I pulled his arm, and he pulled back, and we have a tug-war for a while. So I stop pulling, and he stumbled back from the reflective force. During that one second when he stumbled, I pulled hard and had him crash into my chest.

Oh, those eyes were fierce. "Hey, come and be my exclusive guide,"

If they were fierce before, now the eyes were raging, like a stormy sea. Hmm...was he angry? Why? I thought guides liked being asked to be an exclusive one, since it was a testament to their worth and provide them stability. I mean, I had a lot of calls from guide agencies before this, offering me their guide as an exclusive one.

"You..." ah, his voice was really nice. "You esper are all the same,"

I couldn't help but frown at that. No, no we weren't. Did he just liken me to the rest of the espers?

"Hey," he stared at me, straight, with a fed-up look that tickled my heart. "If you don't let go of me, I'll hit you."

He said that, with such conviction. A hardness in his eyes that challenged me to do just the opposite. So that was what I did. Instead of letting go, I pulled him even closer, pressing our bodies together.

For a note, I was still hard.

He was quite tall for such a pretty face, taller than I thought, probably around 5' 11"—nice height to look down into. He was at the right height for my lips to easily touch his forehead.

Hmm...I don't mind an older man...was my thought before he really hit me.

I noticed the flow of magic power first, but my mind just didn't correlate it with the guide's fist—and it came at me light a freight train. Again, my head and back were touching the cave wall.

Well, damn. That was as hard as one of Han Joon's punches. I got fresh blood smearing on my lips, and stared at the guide dumbfoundedly.

Where was this bundle of sorcery coming from?

"What? What are you so angry about?"

Now, rather than angry, he looked at me exasperatedly. Oh, I know that look. Radia liked to give me that look, like he was tired of my shit.

Oh.

"Why? I just asked you to be my exclusive—"

"Shut up you brat!" he sighed harshly, cutting me off, before walking away towards what I inferred was the way to the entrance of the cave.

"You really won't? Do you even know who I am?"

"No. I don't care who you are."

Wow. Someone just rejected me. Me, the Bassena Vaski. This was really...exciting.

"Why?" it kinda stung that someone out there did not know who I was.

I could hear him clicking his tongue. There was also another sound of a click, and I realized he was wearing his mask again. Too bad.

He took his bag, and just said "I don't like you," like it was the most obvious answer.

"Why not? You went out of your way to guide me this much and you don't want to become my exclusive?"

He turned around, that exasperated look was even more palpable now. "Shut up. I did it for survival."

He stepped away when I walked closer, so I stopped, and just stared at him with pursed lips. "Then do it more,"

The blue eyes were narrowed, and he just flatly said, "No," he rummage around his bag while adding, "I don't involve myself with bratty kids."

Why did he treat me like he was a decade older than me? We are probably just a year or two apart.

I felt itchy. Like every time I wanted something and couldn't get it. Like I wanted to throw tantrum until someone appeased me. He scooted away and threw me a threatening look, as if he would really kill me if I followed him.

So it seemed like I wouldn't be able to get him unless I kidnapped him or something.

...should I?

While I still seriously pondering about whether or not Radia would cover my criminal endeavor, something was flying towards me, which my body caught in instinct; A regenerative serum wrapped in a piece of paper. When I unwrapped it, I found something like a simple map drawn on that paper.

"There's a town ten miles to the west, just go there."

For a while, I just blinked and stared at the two things in my hand. It was just two simple things; the cheapest regenerative serum that could only heal my external wound, and a map drawn in torn used paper, even though I could easily find the place without it.

Two simple things, but my hands were trembling, before clutching them tightly.

My heart too, was trembling.

"Hey," he was already walking away, and my voice was cracking a little. But he stopped and turned to face me anyway. "How...what should I do so you change your mind?"

He raised his brow, either surprised by my persistence or just amused. But it was enough for him to let out a low chuckle, and gave me a lighthearted—and perhaps not so serious—answer.

"I'll think about it if you become the best esper in the world,"

And then he was gone, leaving me with a haunting image of shining blue eyes.

Like a glowing mirage.

* * *

Radia Mallarc looked at the young man in front of him, still on a bathrobe, that just essentially gave him a tale of—probably—a first love.

Even if the man himself didn't seem to realize it.

Bassena had spent a good five days missing, declared as dead by the Vaskis and their Golden Viper guild as a dungeon accident, and suddenly appeared at the gate of Radia's mansion like a ghost.

And the first thing he told Radia was not about the dungeon accident itself, but of the aftermath, and his fateful meeting with this miraculous guide.

"So, you asked him to be your exclusive guide?" Radia asked, crossing his arms in amusement.

"Yes," Bassena nodded while stuffing himself with more food. "But he gets angry instead."

"And you said he wore thick clothes and a filtering mask?"

Again, the young man nodded.

"I see, so he's probably come from the red-zone, since he was also traveling along the Redridge mountains," Radia looked at Bassena again.

The young man was the epitome of a high-rank esper. He had everything; looks, power, wealth, and reputation as the youngest Saint-class esper. He had all but for two things—a functional family and a broad perspective.

"Bas," Radia smiled—one of those smiles that would make people have a bad feeling. "Do you know what being an exclusive guide means in the red-zone?"

At that, Bassena tilted his head. "Was there a different meaning than the general one?"

Radia, the ever patience older friend, tapped on his arm. "In the red-zone, being an exclusive guide means becoming a slave."

Finally, the realization came upon the amber eyes. "...oh,"

"Yes," Radia smiled subtly. He quite enjoyed the dumbfounded look at the arrogant kid. This whole experience should put him down a little, maturing him, and fixing up his weaknesses. "So, what will you do now? Will you look for him?"

Somehow, the brat had the mind to ask the mirage-like guide as his exclusive, but not asking for a name. Though, from the way Bas described him, the guide probably wouldn't give out his name should Bas ask.

"I will, and I will find him," the amber eyes turned sharp now. "But not now."

"Hoo...that's rare for you," Radia smirked.

"Well, I have revenge to be enacted first," Bassena shrugged, smiling back with a determined face. "And I have that homework to be the best esper, too."

The guide might say it as a joke, or as a way to get Bassena off his case.

Unfortunately for him, Bassena Vaski was not one to joke around.