Chapter 19. Entangled Secret

During guiding, the guide and the esper were connected deeply with each other.

Just like how Zein could see Bassena's mana core, the esper could sense the fluctuating emotions inside the guide.

It affected the pure water washing away the chains inside of him. It was gentle before, the familiar feeling he had four years ago. But when the portable purification device was being brought up, the water started to become harsher—like a hose spraying strongly into a muddy field.

Bassena felt it instantly; agitation, impatient. The strong torrent of water also indicated something else; excitement.

And yet...why did he look sad, then?

Bassena watched as Zein frowned, staring keenly at the guide's downcast eyes. He didn't mind the fluctuating guiding, it still felt as good and refreshing, surprisingly. But he didn't like that look of pain that flashed on Zein's face for a few seconds.

"Zein..."

As if waking up from a stupor, the guide snapped his head up, eyes flicked into Bassena's keen gaze. He blinked once, twice, and then the water inside the esper turned gentle again.

"Ah, sorry," Zein muttered apologetically. It was obvious that he had never slipped up like this during guiding before.

Bassena wasn't the most emphatic person. No—people actually called him cold-blooded. But he had enough EQ to understand that Zein's reaction had something to do with his past. The guide's emotion fluctuated the most after the mention of having the terminal encompassing a city.

'It might...have something to do with the red-zone where he lived before,'

And Zein wanted the device to truly achieve that—a city large radius.

This time, it was Bassena that tightened up his grip. "It's okay," he said. He looked at their holding hands, and stared at them for quite some time.

Zein didn't ease his own hand, nor he told Bassena to loosen his grip. Perhaps the guide felt guilty for his slip of emotions earlier, although it hardly had any effect on the guiding itself. Whatever the reason, Bassena felt the urge to push his luck, and move his hand, waving his fingers on the guide's so their fingers were interlocking.

"It will happen," he muttered, softly, only for the guide to hear. "Someday, it will happen."

Bassena felt the guide stiffen, but soon, Zein relaxed his hand, and there was no indication of him pulling out the guiding hand.

* * *

Ron pressed his lips while his mind swirled after their briefing ended. He sat down at the dining table in deep pondering.

The implication of the portable barrier's possibilities was something beyond just a safety measure for dungeon diving or expedition. Of course, it would make dungeon raids easier, but the greater impact would be felt outside the dungeon.

If the device truly managed to reach a big enough radius to encompass a whole city—no, just a whole complex—they could create an artificial safe-zone. It didn't even have to be a complete safe-zone, just something like an orange-zone would be enough for a decent living environment. That would mean no more red-zone.

Ron sighed; even if that was the case, he didn't think the government would allow such a thing to operate, especially by a private company. And not just the government, but Sentinel Association too. After all, how else could the elites maintain their superiority without the existence of the less-privilege?

Power only thrived when there was no equality.

But that was only a possibility talk. Even just with the basic ability it had now, if an outbreak happened, this device could swiftly purify the contaminated land so the reconstruction of the impacted land could be done faster.

But would that be the end?

This borderland could be strengthened even more. Without constantly having to live in a hazardous atmosphere, both the espers and the guides should be able to do their job even more.

But something about their objective tickled the scout's keen sense further. Why did they need to test it inside the Deathzone? It would be enough just to bring the device inside a high-class dungeon.

The scout's eyes widened a little bit. If the device did manage to purify a large piece of land, then...could it be used to create a settlement inside the Deathzone?

Ron's eyes quaked for a bit as he suddenly arrive at the biggest impact this device could bring.

A reclamation.

For a full minute, Ron just sat still on his chair as if he was attacked with a freezing spell. Could humanity finally have a chance to reclaim the land beyond the Deathzone...

But the scout instantly shook his head. Crazy. That would be crazy. So crazy that he didn't think it would happen. In the first place, how much capital should be poured for such devices to be operated on a large scale? Even with Mortix's famously massive R&D fund, they only managed to develop it up to twenty meters radius.

That didn't mean it wouldn't happen in the future, though—

"Mister Ron, Mister Zen," Naomi's sudden voice broke Ron's pondering. He lifted his head to face the woman who walked toward the dining table with her usual business face. "I don't mean to question your integrity, but I still have to remind you that the contract you signed includes a secrecy clause."

"Of course, you don't have to worry about us, Miss Naomi. I'm not crazy enough to make problems with Mortix," Ron smiled. He was there when the inquiry came to the Captain, so he already knew this would be a case of 'whatever happens in the Deathzone stays in the Deathzone' kind of mission. "You don't need to worry about Zen either, he's the most tight-lipped person here. He would keep everything to himself even without any contract."

He turned his head to look at the guide, and so was Naomi. But Zein did not make any reply. His eyes were closed, and it was clear that he was concentrating deeply. It had been like that for a while, actually, as the room was filled with the scent of wet soil and spring brook for more than one hour now.

"You're still at it?" Ron raised his brow.

It was probably weird to ask this if it was any other guide. After all, there was nothing weird with hours-long guiding, especially for inexperienced guides or high-rank espers.

But Zein wasn't an inexperienced guide. He was a veteran that was known for his speed and efficiency. It took him only twenty minutes to bring Ron's corrosion down two levels last night. Personally, Ron had never seen Zein guiding a single person this long before.

"Almost done," the blue eyes opened, their light had dimmed to signal the coming end of the session.

"Whoa..." the scout remarked in surprise. So a Saint-class truly was something else.

Naomi, who saw the wonder on Ron's face asked in confusion. "Why do you look surprised?"

"Because I am," Ron leaned back on his chair, looking at Zein amusedly. "It's the longest I've seen him spend on someone."

"Really?" Naomi didn't look or sound amused. "Isn't it normal to guide a Saint-class esper for hours?"

"That's right," Han Shin left the couch and joined them on the dining table, exchanging gazes with Bassena, who raised his brow with a smirk. "I never seen guides cleanse him less than two hours even just for a half-level down. Well, unless they faint first..."

"Faint?"

"You know, mental exhaustion," the healer shrugged his shoulder. "And they said his system is scary," he smirked at Bassena mockingly.

Ron looked at Zein again, who was still unbothered by all the conversation; no sign of exhaustion, much less looked like he was about to faint. He smiled, like a proud uncle—colleague. "There's no such thing as mental exhaustion in Zen's dictionary,"

Naomi rolled her eyes at that. "If your guide hit mental exhaustion just after an hour of guiding session, we should reconsider the con—"

"Naomi," Bassena cut her, and the Mortix's representative stiffened, words caught in her throat. Bassena didn't use any reprimanding tone, but Naomi was frozen like a chided child, just turning her body respectfully at the Saint-class.

"Y-yes, Sir?"

"Measure me," Bassena commanded shortly, which prompted her to scurry over toward the corner that held some equipment.

While Naomi went to retrieve the corrosion measuring device, Han Shin talked again. "You know…back home, we never let Bas reach more than orange-level. It's exhausting the guides that had to cleanse him, so he did it as often as possible," the healer looked at Bassena as if he was some annoying anomaly. "But even then, he never really 'clean' you know..."

Han Shin held up his hands and gestured for apostrophes with his fingers. "That's why we want at least two guides yesterday," he watched as Naomi came back with the device and started to measure Bassena. "Honestly, it's good enough if mister guide here doesn't faint—"

Before Han Shin could finish his sentence, however, it was cut by Naomi's gasp as she stared at the measuring device, prompting the other to look at her.

At the same time, Zein exhaled slowly and released his hand from Bassena's clutch. "Is this enough?" he asked, to the astonishment of Han Shin and Naomi who stared hard at the measuring device.

"Hey, this is not an error, right?" Han Shin whispered.

"This is made by Mortix, Sir..."

"Why? What happened?" Ron scooted toward the two people with the measuring device, looking at the 'green' indicator. The scout tilted his head like he couldn't understand what the fanfare was all about.

"It's green..." Han Shin still spoke with a whisper-like gasp.

"That's what pre-cleansing is supposed to be, right?"

"But...it's green..."

"Isn't that...good?" Ron still couldn't understand the broken response.

"Ron, it's green!" Han Shin threw his arms up. "In just an hour! This is the first time I see Bas this clean this year!" the healer started to laugh, not sure because he was still astonished or because he felt glad for his friend.

"Seriously?"

"Oh my gods, mister guide! You weren't kidding when you said it wouldn't be a problem, huh?" Han Shin walked around the table, tiptoeing closer to the guide that had moved to take a glass of water. Glasses.

At the dining table, Bassena stretched and smirked smugly. "I told you he's the one."

"But..." Naomi put away the device and looked at Zein that was still gulping water with concerned eyes. "Are you alright, Mister Zen?"

At the question, the espers all looked at Zein. But the man just waved his hand while refilling his glass for the third time. "It's alright,"

"You don't feel like fainting or anything, right?"

"I would've stopped if I did," Zein answered before downing his third glass.

"Is it not scary?" Han Shin asked while tilting his body, peering into Zein's face from below.

"No?" Zein frowned in confusion, his face clearly saying 'was I supposed to?' before adding; "It's just massive. Needs time to locate the corrosion,"

At that answer, the healer turned his head to glance at Bassena, who still leaning on his chair, with a deep smile adorning his face, and amber eyes radiating warmth as the man looked at Zein.

Han Shin felt like he finally understood it; Bassena's apparent obsession with the guide.

He knew that his friend was still on the end spectrum of the yellow-level before coming here. Even with their beat guide in the guild, the guy would need at least two hours to bring the corrosion level to barely reach green. And yet, in just a little more than an hour, this random guide from the edge of the world cleanse him to a mid-green level.

It was truly a thorough pre-cleansing.

And the guide still looked fine after all that...of course, any sane espers would want to have Zein for themselves. Especially someone like Bassena, who could only have his system cleansed thoroughly through the help of a Saintess.

What exactly was this kind of high-quality Guide doing in this borderland with a fake license?

"Hmm...I'm curious now...how's it feel to be guided by you..."

Zein just glanced at him before throwing the question. "You want to have a go now?" he asked while reaching out his hand.

But Han Shin quickly retreated while shaking his head. "No, no, you better save your mental energy, mister guide," the healer grinned.

"Just call me by name,"

"Can I call you Zein, then? Oh! Nice timing, the equipment is here!" Han Shin suddenly clapped his hand, as the lounge door was opened, showing Balduz with two suitcases in his hand.

The man had gone down to retrieve Ron's and Zein's promised equipment. He proceeded to put the suitcases on top of the dining table, since it was where the others congregated.

Naomi, as Mortix's representative, punched in the passkey for the suitcases and opened them as Ron and Zein moved closer to the sound of a hiss, and checked the content of the suitcases. Naomi swiveled the cases to the contracted personnel so they faced their respective owners.

There was a set of battle suits inside, black in color, with a gloss sheen and an emblem of two letters, SA, at the chest area. Included in the set were gloves and boots, also with the same small emboss of two letters in gold.

Ron widened his eyes, not as much for the suit as for the lettering. "Is this...from SavAsh?"

"Of course," Naomi nodded proudly. "SavAsh is part of Mortix Group, so it's a given for Trinity to use the product from SavAsh."

Mortix Group was indeed a leading corporation in charge of the dungeon business. Their claw wasn't limited to just processing the raw material harvested from the dungeon, which was handled by the Mortix company. Turning it into technology, and implementing it into daily necessities, from the magic stones power plant to the fashion line was what made the group really flourish.

SavAsh was the subsidiary that handled the clothing line, from guild uniforms to sentinel equipment, even the daily clothes used by the elites—after all, those CEOs and politicians always liked an extra defensive feature on their suits and party dresses.

But since they had a reputation for making clothes for world leaders, the company only produced high-quality clothes that someone like Ron and Zein couldn't even dream of having. Which was why the scout was staring at the sleek battle suit in front of him with a wondrous glint.

Ron, in his astonishment, couldn't bring his hand to reach out for the equipment, still staring with dreamy eyes. But Zein, who never bothered to check on high-end brands—since he thought he would never be able to afford them anyway—just took out the clothes and check on them. He spread the jacket in front of him, stretch the sleeves, and rubbed on the material—all with serious gaze.

Didn't matter what the brand was, he just needed to know how well it functioned.

"It's made from the synthetic material that we developed mimicking the Highland Slime," seeing that Zein was checking on the equipment keenly, Naomi started to give out explanations like the company's representatives that she was. "It can absorb kinetic damage and pressure to a certain level, block miasma, and reflect low-level magic."

The blue eyes widened slightly. Zein might not care much about the brand, but the quality and the function of the clothes truly deserve Ron's dreamy eyes earlier.

"Why don't you try it?" Han Shin suggested, for some reason directing the commlink bracelet in his hand toward Zein. "We picked the one that seemed to be your size, but who knows, right?" the black brows wiggled playfully.

Zein looked at the healer suspiciously, but still tried on the clothes nonetheless. For sure though, it was miles better than the one he had. Zein never skimped on his equipment since he had nothing to spend on, but even then, there wasn't much he could get in the red-zone or the borderland.

But this...made his current equipment feel like a total rag. The fabric felt smooth and cool on his skin, and it felt so light. It was more fitted to his body than what Zein was used to, but there was nothing uncomfortable about it. Rather, since it was less bulky, he felt like he could move even better. The fingerless glove did not hinder his grip, and the boots felt like they boosted his speed.

It felt so nice that he cracked a smile unconsciously, and a flash was immediately showering him.

Startled, Zein looked up and saw Han Shin in the middle of pointing and clicking on his bracelet, crouching on the floor, and then standing, and then running around to the other side—all the while keeping his wrist near his eyes. The flash was coming out of the bracelet.

"Ok, good, good...let me take it from—Zein, can you move like you...no, try to fix your gloves—yes! Like that!"

Zein was...blinking in confusion.

'What the hell is this kid doing?' he tilted his head, and somehow it seemed to make Han Shin even more excited.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking your picture, of course," Han Shin looked up from his wrist, as if Zein was asking something weird.

But Zein was someone who never had a commlink before, so of course he didn't know that. He frowned, and stepped back from where Han Shin crouched down. "Why?"

"Oh," the healer blinked, now realizing that Zein didn't seem to like it, and spun his brain. "Ah, mmm...you see, my fiancée is the one who made that, so I wanted to show her how it looks being worn?" he smiled innocently, and heaved a sigh of relief when the frown on Zein's face was finally gone.

Just a second after that, a message appeared in his link.

[Send me those]

Clicking his tongue, Han Shin glanced at the smirking Bassena.