Lucian sighed and pulled away. The metal petal seemed to cling to his finger lightly, desiring his touch even within its inanimate existence. “That’s three. Seven more—I’m estimating at least two others should’ve located the other receptors at this time.”

“Slow work for the high-level Guides that like to brag,” remarked Ian, dragging his gaze away. 

Lucian laughed softly. “Certainly, they like to overestimate themselves. Am I included in this discrimination of yours?”

“I’m discriminatory.”

“You are.”

Ian narrowed his eyes, his lips pressed in a thin line. “But never to you.”

He started down a different pathway, shrugging a creeping vine that fell over his shoulder. Lucian followed with a smile. “Never? I feel like your insults have reached me as well, however.”

“I insult everybody equally.”

Another light laugh. “You’re an advocate for equality, without doubt.”

Ian ignored the sarcasm in the comment, ducking under a low-hanging branch. He swiped away a thin branch that itched his head, but a small leaf fluttered, landing softly and secretly on top of the mass of dark hair. 

Lucian stared at it, standing a breath away. His fingers reached out, delicately plucking the leaf. They grazed the surface of the soft hair underneath and hesitated.

Then, as a vague thought, a trickling desire, flickered once, he withdrew his hand sharply as if he’d been burned. 

Ian sensed the movement, swinging his head back. “What?”

Lucian’s fingers curled, folding over the leaf. “I thought I saw a bug.”

“There aren’t any bugs in a stimulation.” He stared intensely at Lucian’s closed fist, suspicion clouding his face. If things progressed as planned, he would escape the facility. It was unknown when he’d ever return—if he would. “What did you do?”

He took a step closer, leaning in until he could see the freckles in Lucian’s eyes, like a scatter of stars mixed with the rich green. His reflective gaze left nowhere to hide. “What did you want to do?” 

His voice dropped, the question hovering in the air.

Ian was spontaneous, aggressive, goal-orientated, and many other things. A person always moving forward couldn’t be held back by anything or anybody.

Lucian’s foot shifted, a mere fraction back.

Ian’s gaze dropped, a flicker in his expression—disappointment, or something else—and he coldly spun back around towards the path. He’d taken a single step when a bloodied body emerged from the bushes with flailing arms.

Ian stepped back, avoiding the body as they collapsed onto the ground, coughing violently. They spun around, dirt-coated fingernails grasping for him. 

He avoided the grasp coldly. “What are you doing?”

“Help me—I don’t know why, they gathered together in one spot!” rambled the young boy with a shaky voice. “Through—through there.”

“Impossible,” interrupted Lucian, carefully crouching down to comfort the boy. “The stimulation is designed to release monsters separately. Is this your first time? Are you alright?”

“It’s not my blood, but—hic—! Somebody—somebody—“

“Somebody what?” Ian frowned impatiently, glancing in the direction the boy pointed. He turned his chin to the air, furrowing his eyebrows, deepening the irritation on his expression. 

He sensed it—a strange energy disturbance. It slipped under the surface of his skin, tickling his flesh and casting shivers along his limbs. 

An abnormal energy. 

All monsters radiated a certain extent of energy depending on their level—but this one silently seeped into the air, only making itself known once discovered. Once it was sensed, it rushed into all the body’s orifices, forcing complete attention.

It was similar to that abnormal Esper he’d encountered.

The young Guide shuffled away from Ian’s frightening face, leaning closer towards Lucian. “I—I can lead the way—“

“Don’t bother,” interrupted Ian, rolling his shoulders impassively. “I can feel it. You’ll only be a hindrance.”

Lucian shook his head helplessly, patting the Guide’s back lightly. “We’ll take a look. If you look on your watch, there should be an emergency flare signal where they’ll be able to directly take you out. May I ask your rating?”

The Guide sniffed. “R-really? It’s C-class.”

Lucian’s smile froze. Although the facility didn’t like wasting resources on the stimulation, they weren’t likely to provide prompt attention for those under B-class. Furthermore, if they became curious and chose to observe instead—

Ian sneered ahead, his mouth sharp. “Will they come? If the situation ahead is as bad as it looks and they’ve done nothing, watching from behind their pretty little glass, do you think they’ll come?”

“Ian, let’s not—“

“Not what? Tell the truth? Do you want to bask in the little lie you tell yourself, that somehow you have a fraction of worth in here?”

Ian stared with challenge written over his stern expression, irritated by Lucian’s passive and gentle methods. 

The young Guide was likely raised in a simpler environment—had it not been for the incident, the young Ian who knew nothing about the world might have been satisfied and reassured. What could they do against everything they’d ever known?

The branches shadowed above them, remaining still and lifeless. The manufactured trees, the stimulation, this small room in an even smaller reality buried under the ground. 

All aspects became startlingly vivid, imprisoning them all. 

He didn’t wait for either of their reactions, dashing deeper into the forest as he grasped onto the trail of energy. His momentum increased as he ventured down a decline, tearing through a tall bush. 

Gasping, he entered a clearing where a wide, still lake sat in the center. The exposed area revealed the metal ceiling above, shattering the illusion of a forest. 

He didn’t have time to linger on that detail as he heard the sound of bullets firing, and swords slamming into tender flesh, squelching as blood splattered on the ground. 

There were four Guides engaging with towering monsters, all of different shapes and energies. 

Ian’s eyes darted rapidly, his heartbeat racing as tension lined his body, pulsing violently in his veins. Sweat beaded his forehead, the moisture slowly steeping out of his body and leaving his throat parched. 

It wasn’t those monsters.

That terrifying energy did not belong to those monsters.

He walked backward, unknowingly heading towards the lake which contained murky, dark green water. His foot pressed into something soft and slippery. His eyes, which had been focused on looking levelly around him, slowly trailed down.

A man’s torso, ripped of its arms and lower half, stared directly at him with blown-opened eyes. The face was frozen in an expression of immeasurable terror.

Ian’s gaze continued to trail past the man’s remains, to the still water. 

A single eyeball popped through the surface with a bubble. The pupil rolled, shaking madly before it abruptly stopped, landing on Ian. 

Bubbles rose to the surface, distorting the smooth lake until it began to boil, rolling with movement underneath. A second eyeball, and then a third—and then dozens, dozens more continued to emerge from the lake. 

Ian staggered, his body trembling with instinctive fear.

A hundred eyeballs rolled in circles, before landing on him. The water rose as a flesh appendage resembling a skinned serpent uncoiled itself, raising its meaty and long neck high, blistering with an infection of loose eyeballs.

The Guides, a short distance away, turned their heads to the gurgling noise as a giant shadow fell over them.

All colour leeched from their expressions. 

“What the fuck—get away from me!” One of them screamed, his flight senses kicking in as he darted towards the forest. 

The eyeballs lazily rolled in their bed of red flesh, fixing onto the retreating figure. The serpent hissed, and its neck rushed towards the escaping Guide. 

The head slammed down, and a row of teeth revealed as a sickening crunch echoed through the air. A pair of hips and legs spurted with blood, taking a single step before crumpling sideways. 

The mouth crunched with dissatisfaction, turning towards the frozen Guides nearby. 

At that second, an explosive gunshot rang out.

Behind the raised muzzle, a pair of sharp and focused raven eyes stared from behind, his hair unraveling from the momentum.