The X Guide-Chapter 34: About Dungeon Explorations (4)
The two subconsciously smiled.
"Come with us again," Khal suggested, looking Ayen in the eye.
Ayen stared back at him and then at Devion, who did not utter a word but was waiting for the answer.
Fiddling with the mana core, Ayen finally nodded.
"If it’s fine with you," he agreed.
The two seemed to sigh in relief at the answer and exchanged glances. With the new deal set, Ayen’s stay at the forbidden zone just became a little more exciting than originally intended.
At least he would not be confined to the building.
They did not linger around after that and returned with the spoils. The two were not the ones disposing of or selling the monster corpses they killed.
Ayen was not privy to the details, even if the two truly did not care to share what they did to him. He was still under the impression that knowing too much would lead to falling deeper into the already deep entanglement they had.
Khal and Devion were like that. They seemed not to mind about secrets, or those were not considered ones for them.
In any case, the first two weeks in the forbidden zone passed by peacefully. Ayen guided the two whenever his condition recovered, as backlash always happened to him each time.
The backlash was mostly the annoying and uncomfortable type. In the past two weeks, they had six guiding sessions, excluding the first two.
Khal and Devion were getting used to the sensation and did not go through a hard time suppressing their emotions anymore. Of course, the effect did not diminish.
And each guiding session would leave the two in a flustered appearance. Ayen was accustomed to it by this point. The dungeon explorations also continued.
The two did not always bring Ayen, and mostly to the relatively safe and manageable dungeons. Sometimes, they were clearing monsters in the surrounding area instead.
This day, the two gave themselves a rare break. As the mana concentration and miasma were reaching an all-time high outside, even they would be uncomfortable, or so they said.
"Have you been to the beach?" Devion asked seemingly out of nowhere.
Ayen glanced at him, who was sitting lazily on the couch. Beside him was Khal, leaning on him and having his eyes closed.
"No. Never," he answered, eyes returning to the television.
Humanity had not developed much in terms of technology, and mostly paid attention to the research about the monsters and dungeons. It was still convenient to have entertainment even if Ayen was not enjoying much.
The host showed an expansive pool, wearing a two-piece bikini swimsuit. Ayen realized he was not asking out of the blue.
"The beach is now home to sea monsters." Khal, who Ayen thought was sleeping, lifted his head from Devion’s shoulders and spoke. His voice was hoarse, and his eyelids were not open fully.
"I know." Devion stared at the screen. "It’s fun to swim around in the sea, Ayen. Want to try next time?" he suggested.
Ayen already knew the pattern. During the two weeks he stayed here, Devion was the one suggesting visiting and experiencing all sorts of stuff.
On the other hand, Khal was the one refuting or pushing them for Ayen. He had the gist that this was how they had always been. Devion was pushing for a ridiculous idea, and Khal was agreeing with them.
Most of their conversations went on like this.
"I want to ski, next time?"
"Sure."
"Let’s mate that with Liz and see what offspring they’ll have."
"Liz will run away from home if you do that."
"But I want to."
"I’ll go get it. Wait here."
"There’s a huge lava down there, let’s go!"
"That’s not a good idea. Ayen doesn’t have heat resistance yet. Next time." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
Throughout the time, Ayen realized that Khal was actually very indulgent with Devion’s whims. It was an eye-opener when he was the one always teasing him as well.
"You said there are sea monsters." Ayen also knew about this. The sea was now their home ground, and most beaches, if not all, were restricted for ordinary civilians.
"It’s fine. We’ll kill the sea monsters around the area first." Devion began to tell his plan. "Then we’ll build a temporary safe area to swim around."
The idea was good, actually, but...
"I won’t have time. I’ll leave soon."
Right. The original three weeks had been cut short, and just yesterday, Ayen received his new assignment from the phone number he gave.
This place did not have much connection, but simple communication devices did not have such an issue.
"Ah, right." Devion clicked his tongue, seemingly displeased, but did not react further to that. "We can go next time. Maybe you’ll crave the sea."
Without elaborating, Ayen already knew what he was implying. His backlash was truly random, but three of them were drowsiness, and the rest were different from the last.
The strangest so far was wanting to see a huge wolf. Ayen was convinced he was delirious to be able to come up with that. This was not even a backlash anymore but a straight insanity.
However, the two were very attentive, and they did manage to do what Ayen wanted. It just so happened that the dungeon they last cleared had begun to nurture a ’boss’.
Ayen had spent 3 hours in that dungeon admiring the wolf, who was almost battered because of the two. Of course, he was like having a fever, mesmerized by it for some reason.
"We don’t know when." Ayen had given up guessing what his new ’backlash’ would be, the same with the two.
They would only need to deal with it once it occurred. So, his insistence on never suffering them alone was correct. Only the two SS-class espers could indulge those ridiculous whims of his.
Devion let out a sigh after some time.
"Are those higher-ups of the association gone senile or what? Why did they let an E-class Guide be assigned in a red zone?" Devion had been furious the first time he found out, and being reminded again, his dissatisfaction grew.
Right, red zone. Ayen was assigned to a red zone again, for a second time. The two did not know that yet.
