Chapter 37: Chapter 36. Where It Always Near

"I'll explain later," Bassena smiled amiably, still holding into Zein's shoulder with one arm. He looked around at the mass of red eyes, his own amber glowing with ferocity.

Zein heard the esper sigh, before Bassena lifted his leg lightly and stomped the ground. There was nothing happening inside the safe zone barrier, but their surrounding was drowned in darkness—a different kind than the natural darkness of the Deathzone. The darkness swallowed the confused and agitated kobolds and suddenly, the area was filled with shrieking sounds. The researchers closed their eyes tightly and covered their own ears, and the espers watched the boundary carefully.

Zein, however, was watching Bassena. The hand on his shoulder was gripping tighter, and he could see a few beads of sweat on the esper's neck and temple. The man didn't appear to be hurt anywhere, but something terrible must have happened during the last two hours if he had to use Zein as support.

The darkness that devoured the surrounding beasts was like a giant snake with countless mouths. The crunching sounds of bones breaking and the splat of blood keep on resounding for quite some time.

All the while, Zein straightened his back, making his posture firmer for Bassena to lean easier. With the hand that wasn't gripping the Black Pearl, he touched the esper's arm that flung across his shoulder.

Zein widened his eyes, almost gasping at the accumulated corrosion that went up two levels in the span of a mere two hours. "What—"

"Shush," Bassena smiled, lowering his gaze to stare at the concerned blue eyes. Zein could see it then, the exhaustion inside, the subtle deep red on the outer rim of the amber orbs. "Just guide me,"

Whatever happened to the man in those two hours, it was enough for him to use his skill until his corrosion reached the orange level. It was as if he just battled an A-class dungeon in solo-mode.

But Bassena was right, it wasn't something that should be mentioned willy-nilly, lest it would procure distress among the team. So Zein wordlessly held the hand gripping his shoulder and guide Bassena as the esper continued his onslaught on the kobolds.

"More is coming," Ron informed them. "Looks like wraiths and something reptilian, also—"

"Their kind is not important," Bassena cut the scout. "There must be an opening when they come to the boundary. Locate it, and calculate how long it'll be opening," he gripped Zein tighter as he shifted to look at Sierra. "Use your homing skill."

"What about the target, Sir?"

Bassena reached out his hand and pointed a finger against the sharpshooter's forehead. Sierra's eyes flickered for a moment as Bassena transferred his child of darkness's vision and memory—a figure in writhing black mass and billowing fog for hair, chanting something nonstop. "That. Coordinate with Ron."

"Yes, Sir."

Zein watched the exchange, and noticed how Bassena slightly panting after that, sweat trickled down his neck. He closed his eyes then, concentrating so that he could guide Bassena faster—so that the esper could use his skill to his heart's content without worrying about the corrosion level.

"Thanks," he heard Bassena whisper in his ear, and the sounds of painful shrieking and agitated growling drowned everything else. He chased out the new chains crawling into Bassena's core while destroying the ones already swimming around muddling the sea of darkness.

For a while, that was the only thing Zein could focus on. When he opened his eyes after a while, the sounds had died down, and Bassena was in the middle of explaining things.

"...it's different than this one, but the principle was the same. The one used on me was imprisonment formation, so all my senses were being robbed. That's why my skill was getting disconnected,"

Bassena still had his arm around Zein's shoulder, but when the guide's eyes fluttered open, the arm slid down, resting on Zein's waist.

"It wasn't a spell, but formation?" Han Shin gasped.

Bassena stepped back and slumped on one of the chairs, bringing Zein together with him. The guide staggered back following the pull, and ended up seated between the esper's leg. Before he could even muster a complaint, Bassena already leaning his weight forward, head pressed on Zein's shoulder and arms around the guide's waist, exhaling harshly.

The palpable exhaustion inside the soft panting breath culled Zein's shifting motion. He sat still, listening to the rather ragged breath behind him, and ended up holding the arm around his waist. There were still a lot of corroded chains inside Bassena's core, and the esper must have been feeling pretty heavy and miserable.

"I didn't sense any beast around the camp, so I tried to probe around the ruin. It took me a while to realize I'd been put through an illusion. When I came to, the formation was unleashed and I was trapped inside a void prison," Bassena explained, still with face buried in Zein's shoulder. "I used every skill that I have to try to break free, to no avail."

Every skill—Zein turned to look at the blonde head buried in his shoulder. So that was why his corrosion spiked up two levels. In an environment rich in miasma, using every skill nonstop for two hours, and probably in a frantic state of mind...

"Every skill?" Han Shin suddenly stood up. "Is that including the [Second Skin of Immortality]?"

The healer's voice, which was usually cheery and youthful, dipped low. The black eyes frowned, a clear tension in his face. Zein felt Bassena still at that, before the esper lifted his face. "Will I appear like this if I used that?"

Han Shin narrowed his eyes. "But you did plan to use that, didn't you?"

Bassena shrugged. "Thankfully I don't have to resort to that,"

"I'm telling Radia," Han Shin sat down again, arms crossed and pouting.

"What skill are you talking about?" Zein asked after a while, since he lost the context of their conversation. What kind of skill was that, to make Han Shin look agitated?

Bassena laid his head on Zein's shoulder again before answering. "Hmm...just something like a safety net. If I fall into life and death situation, the skill will heal me and put me into a temporary invincible state, including getting rid of all debuff and entrapment spells."

"That—"

"Yeah, but you have to be IN a near-death situation!" Han Shin hissed. The implication was clear—since there was no enemy, Bassena would have to inflict self-harm until he was near death to activate the skill. "And it can only be used three times, isn't it? No—you only have two times left!"

Zein whipped his head and stared hard at the esper, brow dipped low above the stern blue eyes. Bassena casually shrugged with a tired smile. "Well, thanks to you, I don't have to."

There were a lot of things Zein wanted to say to the esper, but the man's last sentence brought him back to the dagger that he had sheathed. The Black Pearl...when Zein 'borrowed' it from Bassena before the expedition, he had never thought that it could be used this way.

"Right, that!" seemed like the topic also enough to drag Han Shin's attention away from the immortality skill. "How's that happen? Has it always been capable of doing that all along?"

"It does, although I had actually forgotten about it," Bassena laughed weakly. "I put my seed of darkness once inside, a long time ago..." he paused to stare at Zein. "How do you know how to summon me with that though?"

They looked at Zein then, who was actually feeling flabbergasted himself. "I don't know," he titled his head, staring at the dagger strapped to his thigh. "I just...accidentally cut myself during the commotion..."

"Huh..."

Bassena took Zein's hand, looking at the still-fresh cut in the guide fingers. "Ah..." Han Shin snapped his hand and the cut was immediately closed and healed.

"...did you call my name too?" Bassena asked.

"Well, yes," Zein shrugged, "since you're missing and all,"

The amber eyes curled into soft crescents before getting buried on Zein's shoulder again, lips stretched wide behind the black uniform.

"Umm...but what kind of creature could conjure something as strong as that?" Ron tapped on his temple, frowning in anxiety.

Right—they hadn't talked about the most important issue. The forces that surround them were annihilated already, but not the looming danger.

"Not only that, but we also have to take into account on how they can use concealment that even deceive Sir Vaski," Eugene added. "It seemed like they knew who they have to isolate and strike when the opportunity comes."

"A high degree of intelligence usually present in the beasts within high-class dungeons," Anise chimed in. "So there's a possibility that they came out of high-class dungeons. But we also made a theory about how the creatures in the Deathzone might develop over time."

"You mean, like leveling up?" Sierra widened her eyes.

Anise nodded with Eugene. "Since here they wouldn't face being hunted like the creatures in other dungeons. Mister Ron also said that the creatures in Deathzone tended to be stronger than their dungeon counterpart."

"That's true," Ron gave his affirmation. "It's included in the briefing that the Captain had prepared, although we can give you a more detailed report once we get back."

"Oh, that would be helpful, Mister Hillard!" Anise clasped her hand.

"So who could it be, that put the imprisonment formation on Bassena?" Zein asked, getting them back on track.

Han Shim gasped then, as if he just only remembered about it. "That's right! Aren't we still in danger?"

Bassena swatted the air with his hand, cheek laying listlessly on Zein. "I don't think so. It was the kind of spell that used a lot—probably all—of mana. Do you think something that can trap me is available that abundantly?"

"You're annoying but you're also right," Han Shin clicked his tongue. "So who do you think it was?"

Wordlessly, Bassena pointed toward the ruin. "The boss, of course."

The others immediately looked toward the ruin with caution. It somehow made sense that ruin would have a boss creature residing within it. "So...it's like a dungeon huh?" Ron laughed awkwardly.

"And the shard is the core we need to destroy—"

"Take. We need to take!" Han Shin corrected his friend hastily with a hiss.

"We have to hurry though, before whoever that was recharges their power again," Bassena looked up briefly to stare at the other members. "So we'll have a quick rest and proceed again."

With that order, they instantly dispersed to take care of the camp—building tents for some quick shut-eye and preparing meals. Han Shin plopped back on his chair and stared at Bassena and Zein.

"You just got separated for two hours and are already so clingy..." Han Shin narrowed his eyes, looking at Bassena who was practically hugging Zein from behind.

But that couldn't be considered weird on Bassena's part. What was weird was that Zein allowed it without any apparent displeasure. The guide even held onto Bassena's arm, looking like a pair of frolicking lovers, although Han Shin knew that Zein was just doing some guiding.

Bassena just wordlessly flipped the healer, too exhausted to make any remark. Zein felt the weight increasing more and more on his back, but just used his magic energy reserve to strengthen himself.

"It's really coming from here," Bassena muttered, eyes fixed on the slightly glowing mark on Zein's nape. "Where is this magic energy coming from?"

Zein glanced up, and tilted his head to check on the esper complexion. "You don't need any healing?"

"No, I'm not physically hurt. Why are you ignoring my question?"

"What about sleep?"

Bassena pursed his lips. "What sleep? I just woke up from a nightmare," the esper shuddered from the memory of the void before narrowing his eyes, "Is it something you don't want people to know?"

"Hmm..." Zein leaned his head back, laying on Bassena's shoulder, eyes looking at the barrier that went back to being invisible. With his free hand, he pointed to the purification device in front of them. "Like that," he said concisely.

Bassena furrowed his brow, pausing to think for a moment. "Absorbing miasma and purifying it into raw energy?" he muttered, before correcting himself with widened eyes. "Absorbing esper's corrosion and turning it into raw energy?"

Zein glanced at the others, which fortunately already doing their own thing. They immediately left Bassena and Zein on their own, building the tent and preparing dinner. Zein raised his hand and lightly placed the back of his fingers above the esper's lips.

"Keep it to yourself,"

Bassena raised his brow, stunned. And then he whispered; "No one knows?"

"No," Zein sighed, leaning back and closing his eyes. If the esper had no plan to sleep, then he'd be the one to sleep instead.

Bassena looked at the guide's face, still covered in a mask. The hand holding Bassena's still continued to guide, even as Zein drifted into sleep. Bassena pulled the guide closer, against his chest, lips resting on Zein's shoulder, a slight blush tinged his cheek, and a long sigh escaped from his mouth.

"How could you be this accommodating but still rejecting me?"

* * *

When Zein opened his eyes again, he was still leaning against Bassena's chest. He looked down at his commlink, checking the time. It seemed like he was asleep for three hours. Not bad for a nap.

"Where's the other?" he turned around, finding the camp empty. He stood up then, to Bassena's dismay, and stretched up his stiff body.

"I told them to rest, since we'll need to be vigilant once we stepped out to the ruin," Bassena pursed his lips, eyes watching the guide moving about in front of him. "Although we still haven't found the entrance."

Zein crouched down in front of the makeshift table they used for meals, and lifted a plate labeled with his name. "Hmm...do you think they attacked us just because we came close to the ruin?"

He had thought about it while drifting into sleep; the attack was done with soldiers, lots of them, as if they were in a war. Typically, for troops that could even conceal themselves, it'd be more beneficial to attack them when they were still in the middle of preparing the safe zone.

Or better—just lure the team into the ruin and attack in their Homebase.

Unless they didn't want the humans to come into the ruin.

Zein took the plate and sat on the chair that used to be occupied by Han Shin. "They probably didn't expect you to go out on your own, right?"

"Hmm..." Bassena rubbed his lips and narrowed his eyes. "So it's a hasty plan, and they're waiting until I'm truly trapped before making a move on the camp," the esper tilted his head. "But for a boss who knows how to take the opportunity, it's a stupid move to keep attacking the barrier. They should be clever enough to know it's not working."

"But if they just want us to move away because of fear and anxiety, or closed off our contact with the outside..."

"Then it might work—assuming I was still trapped," Bassena tapped on his cheek, glancing at Zein. "The question is why," the esper smiled. "What are they protecting?"

Zein stared toward the ruin. "What's someone that doesn't seem to want us to come could possibly protect..." he looked at the smirking Bassena, "...aside from an entrance?"

The esper laughed, which told Zein that the man had recovered. "What, so we're in the right place all along? Should we take a look?"

And then, after Zein finished his meal, Bassena woke up Balduz and Ron, asking them to take a watch while he and Zein checked the nearby area for possible entrance.

The moment they stepped out of the safe boundary, Zein just walked following his instinct—or rather, following the shard's calling. They decided not to walk too far though, just until the skyscraper-like structure further west.

"Do you think there's still room beneath all of that landslide?" Zein asked, stomping his feet lightly on the ground.

"Seeing that there's a possibility of the colony, it should be," Bassena muttered. "I read somewhere that the building before the age of apocalypse mostly have basements."

"Hmm..." Zein looked up at the looming structure that looked like a tower. "I wonder what kind of complex this was," he stepped back to be able to see the top of the tower, before suddenly being hit by an idea. "Hey, do you think we'll be able to go down through this building? If there's an opened window or balcony somewhere—"

*crack*

Before Zein could finish his sentence, the ground beneath his feet suddenly crumbled. Through the cruelty of gravity, Zein felt his body falling fast before he could even yell Bassena's name.

Fuck—not this again!

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