Chapter 24. Where Intuition Flares

It was a weird feeling, waking up so comfortably on a plush mattress inside a secure tent in the middle of a freaking Deathzone. It was so weird that despite how nice it felt, Zein woke up earlier than anyone else.

When he came out, the barrier was still standing, and he could inhale a sense of fresh air inside a small safe zone.

'What a piece of miracle,' he thought, looking at the device in the middle of the camp. Twenty meters of radius couldn't be considered as big, but it was enough for a small group like this. If it could be used in a place like a Deathzone, it should be even more effective in a dungeon.

"Coffee?"

Ah, right. Zein woke up earlier than everyone, but there was someone who didn't sleep and took the role of the solo night watch.

"Do you ever sleep?" Zein asked, genuinely curious at the esper that was in the middle of pouring freshly brewed coffee into two mugs.

Freshly brewed coffee in the middle of the Deathzone...

Zein felt complicated about this. So far, nothing truly serious had happened, so his outburst about the danger of bringing civilians here felt ridiculous now.

"Sleep..." the esper walked closer and put a steaming mug in Zein's hand. "Sometimes, I guess..."

"What kind of answer..." Zein sighed, and just decided to not care anymore. It wasn't like he knew how the real esper's body worked.

Besides, despite hadn't slept a wink since arriving in the borderland, Bassena didn't look at all exhausted. In fact, he looked kind of energized, amber eyes shining like a pair of jewels, appearance as impeccable as ever.

"Well, thanks to someone's diligent guiding, I feel refreshed," the esper smirked, sipping on his coffee. The amber eyes narrowed from behind the steaming mug, staring at the guide with a deep smile. "And I feel even better seeing your face first thing in the morning,"

Zein scoffed and turned away, sitting himself on one of the chairs surrounding the table used as the kitchen, and drank the coffee. It made his face scrunch in bitterness, and prompted a chuckling sound behind him.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Zein sunk his back into the chair, only to have a looming shadow hovered above him. He lifted his head, and watched with a raised brow as the esper dropped two cubes of white sugar inside his mug.

Bassena looked at him with a smirk, somehow looking more annoying from down here. Without even giving any time for Zein to make a face, the esper lowered his head, and whispered close to his ear. "We don't bring much of that, so keep it a secret, okay?"

Zein pressed his lips and said nothing, quietly sloshing the mug to dilute the sugar, and sipping it wordlessly. This time, a slight blissful blush appeared on his pretty cheek, just like the time he ate the mango for the first time.

It was quiet inside the camp, but it wasn't the eerie quiet of the regular Deathzone. There was clean air, a safety barrier, a dimensional pocket full of fresh ingredients, a warm tent, and a powerful guard.

Zein just wished the rest of the expedition would be as nice and as peaceful as this morning.

* * *

After a peaceful breakfast and a quick dismantling of equipment, they continued the journey, leisurely climbing the hill along the stream. Just like yesterday, nothing of note happened, as the espers worked diligently. Even Han Shin hadn't faced any need to use his skill, and looked just like another researcher instead.

The day proved to be uneventful, and they arrived at what seemed to be the peak of the small hill. From here, the stream went down gradually instead of forming a waterfall. The team decided to have another test on that point then, as well as giving the chance for the researchers to rest.

Ron used the time to organize his map—the area he charted within these two days was already bigger than the one the Unit managed to do all these years. Truly, the presence of a Saint-class esper made all the difference.

The Saint-class who also ceaselessly trained the miserable sharpshooter.

Perhaps because they hadn't faced any significant danger, they proceed with a lighter heart, even when the miasma getting thicker. Their face wasn't as tense as before, and they even began to converse on the way.

Zein was no longer gripping the hilt of the Black Pearl all the time, and used his time to observe the surrounding area instead. Usually, when he went to the Deathzone, they had to constantly move in vigilance, so there was no time to observe the diverse vegetations that were getting wilder and wilder.

He also used the opportunity to further hone his senses, spreading his detection range wider bit by bit, watching the beasts getting chased and massacred by a bunch of fleeting darkness—sometimes in the shape of stakes, sometimes scales, arrows, even swords.

Zein noticed, however, that the number of these flying weapons of darkness was increasing the further they moved. It was to be expected though, since the deeper they went, the thicker the miasma. Of course, the beasts would be that much more, and that much stronger.

He was honestly amazed that even with that, Bassena still managed to eliminate them before they got close to the team's proximity. The only enemy the Saint-class couldn't get was the one inside the water, which was probably why he'd been training Sierra so hard—at least to be able to lure these water creatures out.

But no matter how amazed he was, when Zein looked at the increasing force of the beasts as they proceed further, he couldn't help but get tense. It didn't help that the others felt so secure they started to lower their guard, even without the presence of a safe zone.

Nothing happened, however, and Zein began to breathe easier. He'd been living in so much danger that he got paranoid easily in a place like this. Perhaps because he hated putting his life and safety in others' hands, Zein could never completely feel at ease, even in a seemingly secure environment.

But he realized that it was easier this time, putting his life in another's hands. Another's very strong hands.

But was it just the strength that Zein confided in?

Honestly, he wasn't sure anymore.

Zein had met a lot of persistent espers chasing him. And all of them were rude, pushy, quick to resort to their superiority when making a point, and had no qualms about using violence in the face of rejection. Of course, not all of them were like that. And the other type—the gentleman and considerate type, as Yath put it—would immediately back down once Zein said no.

But somehow, this man, Bassena Vaski, managed to be persistent without crossing any boundary. The man didn't use force, or pressure him with an esper authority. But when Zein clearly reject his advance, the man didn't just stop and gave up. It was like he chose to ignore the rejection and just kept on going until Zein had a change of heart. As if he had all the patience and the time in the world.

And Zein...Zein didn't find it revolting, somehow.

Not that Zein had any intention to change his mind, however. But still, he realized that he'd been indulging this one esper more and more...

'Am I getting swayed?' Zein frowned and shook his head. 'That's not good, I shouldn't—'

"Let's stop there," the voice of the man that had been disturbing Zein's peace of mind suddenly rang. The guide lifted his gaze, and so did everyone else.

In front of them, Bassena was pointing at the cliff wall on the other side of the river. There was something that looked like a void in the wall, so it seemed that they finally found a cave.

"It's time to call it a day, and you should test it out inside a closed space," the expedition's commander decided, and no one from the team had any objection to the idea.

Once again, they jumped over the five meters wide river to enter the cave. This time, since there was no stone in the middle that they could use as a medium, both Han Shin and Zein had to be carried over.

Zein had wanted to try if he could jump over the river on his own, but unfortunately, this wasn't the place nor time for experimenting with his limit. So he obediently waited until Bassena threw—yes, threw—the cursing Han Shin over to the other side like a sack of potatoes to be caught by the tanker Balduz.

"Are you going to throw me too?" Zein tilted his head as Bassena walked toward him with a smile.

"Of course not," the esper looked down and whispered. "I don't have a grudge against you."

"You have a grudge against him?"

"No, but he's annoying," Bassena brushed a finger on Zein's midriff. "Can I?"

"Yea—ugh!" Zein pressed his lips as the esper grabbed his waist tightly, pulling their body close together. He felt the same feeling he got inside the sentry box—the rousing of strong mana. But this time, that mana enveloped him instead of the enemy, and Zein's mind flew to the sea of darkness—the feeling of swaying inside that abyss.

In the time it took Zein to blink, the swaying and floating feeling vanished as the mana retreated, and he found out they were already on the other side of the river, right at the front of the cave where everyone already gathered.

The hand on his waist lingered for a while, even after they landed safely, and Zein couldn't help but lifted his gaze to meet the observing amber.

"Are you—"

"Can't you just take me like that, you fucker?!" Han Shin shouted before Bassena could finish his question to Zein. He stomped his boots to the ground as if it was Bassena's feet, and glared daggers at the man.

"You said you feel nauseous riding on my darkness before," Bassena smirked, lightly flicking the fuming healer's forehead.

Han Shin hissed like an angry cat while covering his forehead. "That's still better than being thrown, you jerk!" he still glared for a few seconds before staying still suddenly, then turned his face to Zein. "Wait, are you alright, Zein? Do you feel sick or anything?"

"No," Zein answered shortly, scooting away from the hand still perching on his waist.

"...no?!" surprisingly, both Han Shin and Bassena let out the same reaction.

The guide's response was the same as when Han Shin asked about whether or not guiding Bassena was scary. "Am I supposed to?"

With a shrug, Zein walked away from the two stunned espers toward the others who had been staring into the cave.

Cave...hmm, cave. Zein felt another jolt inside his memory vault when he looked at the earthen wall and stony surface of the dark cavern.

"Is it safe?" he heard Han Shin ask the other esper.

"I sent some of my kids inside, so it should be."

"Stop referring to your skill as your kids..."

"What, but the skill's name is [child of darkness], what do you want me to call them, then?"

"Chief, we've checked inside, there's nothing left there. Mister Ron also detected nothing," Sierra gave her report. "We just need to get rid of the corpses."

The city boy Han Shin shuddered and replied with a wave of his hand. "Uhh...yeah, sure, do that..." and then he scooted far from the cave until the other espers threw all of the corpses outside. They were worm-like creatures that had the healer flinching and hiding behind Zein, cursing in a low voice while clutching the guide's back with trembling hands, muttering how much he hated corpse, hated insect, hated worm...

It was only after he ordered them to triple-check the cave for possible leftovers that he moved to enter the cave. Even then, he moved while using Zein as a shield, in case Bassena decided to be an extra jerk and threw him a body or two.

"Stop being pathetic," Bassena clicked his tongue and shook his head, but Han Shin just flipped him off and continued to latch on to Zein. Part of it was just to piss Bassena off and made him jealous.

At this point, Zein—and everybody else—had used to these two executives bickering. He had heard that they were childhood friends, so that was probably why. So rather than giving attention to the two children, Zein looked around the cave.

It was narrow around the entrance, but after walking a few meters, it opened into quite a wide cavern that was perfect for setting up camp. It seemed like there was no other path further down the cave, so they set up the device again.

While the espers were busy setting up camp, Zein was busy digging into his nagging memory. The fact that he didn't remember much already told him that it happened around that time—the red-zone incident. It was probably somewhere in the Redridge mountain then, since he didn't think he had ever crossed something like a cave anywhere else.

Why was he in a cave though? Was it to look for a place to sleep like now? Zein tilted his head as he stared at the back wall of the cave. Looking at the stone wall somehow invoked a strong bad feeling inside of him.

The cave at that time...there was something weird about the color of the wall at that time. It wasn't the color of the earth, but more sinister.

Was it a dungeon?

...ah! It was a closing dungeon, that was why he had a bad feeling about it. He met someone too, an esper...an esper near eruption...

Hmm? Zein widened his eyes. Oh...that was it! The emergency situation that compelled him to use sexual guiding...

His mind slowly drew the sight he saw at that time; the dim light of the cave, the dry air, the vibrating leftover mana from the closed dungeon...he remembered it was pulsing with an eerie vibe, and the air felt like it was shimmering and sweltering and...

Zein stared at the wall of the cave in the present. The bad feeling he got was still persisting, and like an instinct, mana flew into his eyes.

But there was nothing there. In the first place, it was impossible that he could find something out if the espers couldn't.

Yet, the feeling persisted. And if there was something Zein had his faith in more than the esper's prowess, it was his intuition.

Slowly, Zein reached into the hilt of the Black Pearl, mana slithered into his arm and entered the blade. Bassena looked up from the ground he'd been flattening at the sudden flow of magic, eyes staring sharply at Zein's hand. But before the esper could voice anything, Zein took out the black dagger and flung it into the wall.

"What—"

The dagger flew in a trained trajectory with a dense light blue mana wrapped around the blade and struck the cave wall. But instead of a dull sound of a sinking blade, the wall made a cracking sound, like glass breaking.

Like a mirror.

With the sound of glass and magic breaking apart, the previously earthen looking cave wall distorted. It splintered with a loud, deafening creaking sound that had the civilians screaming and covering their ears in agony.

"What the hell?!" Han Shin jumped back and retreated far from the wall. "What the fuck is that?"

Immediately, the rest of the espers took a combat stance. Bassena, without waiting to know what kind of creature it was, let out dozens of dark chains binding the still twisting, writhing giant figure.

But the creature didn't form anything concrete, like a lump of giant stone and earth, and while kept on twisting and wriggling, it hurled stones and dirt around. Only that the stones and dirt also emitted black smoke of condensed miasma.

Zein felt his waist being grabbed again, but this time, it was harsher. He finally knew how Han Shin felt as they were being thrown to the opposite wall, where the researchers crouched while screaming on the ground. A pair of strong, bulky hands caught him and Han Shin, and put them on the ground beside the researchers.

"Shield!" Bassena shout an order, and Balduz responded with a trained discipline. He stomped his feet into the ground and eight transparent walls formed an octagon shield surrounding the researchers, Han Shin, and Zein.

"Fucking twice!" the healer cursed while clutching his waist. But he climbed to his feet and grabbed the two researchers' heads, sending out mental healing through his hand. Soon, the screaming stopped, and the civilians slumped to the ground, trembling and shivering.

Zein looked at the wriggling mass of giant stone and muttered. "It's an Earth Specter..."

"Wha—is that something that only appeared here?"

"Yes, it's like a wraith that had absorbed certain strong elemental attributes from the environment," Zein saw Ron explaining the same thing to the other espers. "It was closer to natural phenomena than a monster, so that's probably why detection didn't work."

And as a Specter, it had the ability to sow immediate fear inside other's minds, which was why the researchers were struck with bone-chilling dread the moment it made a sound.

"But it's the first time we come across one with concealment ability..." Zein frowned.

The stones and miasma-clad debris struck the transparent wall around them. But as expected of a defense skill from a 4-star tanker, nothing could go through the barrier. The researchers, already calmed by Han Shin's skill, breathed in relief. They sat on the ground, limbs trembling and shaking. It was the first real danger they faced since coming here, and they needed time to collect themselves.

That being said, the Specter had to face the Bassena Vaski, so aside from the initial surprise, there was nothing it could do but received the barrage of piercing darkness, as the sharpshooter and the scout got rid of the flying debris.

"Huff, seemed like it'll end soon," Han Shin puffed his cheek, exhaling in relief. Rather than fear or worry, the shock from the sudden attack was greater.

Hearing the healer, the researchers let out relief sounds, propping themselves with their arms on the floor, only to get yanked and forced to stand by the guide.

"Ugh!" they groaned and cried in surprise, back slammed into the transparent wall. But their cries immediately turned into strained gasps as vines burst out from beneath the ground they had just sat on.

"There's two?!" Han Shin glared at the vines, but his following curses were cut by even more vines piercing from the ground.

The protecting shield now turned into a prison, as the vines lashed around the four non-combatants. Zein jumped to grab the nearest researcher, Anise, and placed the woman behind him, as Han Shin shouted for the tanker to dispel the shield.

But before any of the espers outside could react, one of the vines grabbed the male researcher and threw the man into the gaping chasm created by the bursting vines.

"Ah, fuck!"

With a short curse, Zein jumped into the chasm.