The X Guide

When they were alone, Aicel calmed down somewhat. The pressure of the SS-class espers remained, but the two were not present, so it lessened significantly.

The two stared at each other. Ayen’s expression, devoid of any expression, made Aicel’s lips twitch in annoyance.

"Still high and mighty, I see."

Aicel’s lips curled ever so slightly, making the movement barely noticeable. His eyes filled with malicious intentions, he looked at Ayen up and down.

"You already hooked up with them, huh?" Aicel chuckled in ridicule. "Letting you run outside is their worst decision."

Ayen stared at Aicel, guessing the implications of his words. He did not know why they were so adamant about chasing him. Although, Ayen assumed it was their one-sided grudge when they were young. Or some elders taking a liking to him.

However, seeing Aicel now confirmed a far deeper reason. Based on his words and how he reacted, he was not overly surprised that Ayen was with Khal and Devion.

It was as though this was a scenario they also expected. But why? Ayen was an E-class guide, and one could not casually connect him to being with two SS-class espers.

Unless...

Ayen thought of a possibility, but his expression remained unchanged.

"It’s been years. You haven’t changed." Ayen stepped forward, just a step apart from the boundary created by the two espers. "You’re still the same terrible person in my memory."

Aicel smirked, his tone taunting. "What? You’re mad I caught your little friend?"

Ayen’s hands were behind him, interlocking tightly with each other. "You shouldn’t involve her," he spoke in a low tone.

Aicel let out a disgusting laugh, satisfied that he was affecting Ayen.

"It’s your fault. You shouldn’t befriend her. Ayen, you implicated her in your misfortune. You know it yourself."

What he was saying was not exactly true, and yet Ayen could not help but clench his clasped hands. Aicel said the words that he wanted to consume him, but had been constantly suppressing since this incident started.

Aicel laughed again, eyes sparkling in a rare thrill. Ayen was a person they could not surpass for some reason. Even when he fell from grace, they only managed to celebrate it for a few years before Ayen’s uniqueness came to light.

"You should have stayed alone, like what you’ve been doing for years! Everything that happened or will happen to that woman will be your fault, remember that, Ayen."

Ayen’s clenched hands tightened before they loosened and pulled apart; both hands fell to his side.

Why had he not stayed alone? Aicel’s words seemed to hit a mark inside him. Was he doing well alone... or was he?

Of course, he was miserable alone. But it was better to suffer alone than implicate someone.

Keeran... and now, Khal and Devion...

Why did Ayen suddenly start to long for companions? He was lonely but had grown so accustomed to it that he had become numb to it. So, Ayen could not even feel that he was lonely anymore.

Thinking back, he was not one who took the initiative to come out of the wall he had conjured around himself. Was that his fault, too?

As his mind ran wild, Ayen’s feet started walking slowly. He took a step forward until his feet entered the boundary; the lightning cackled underneath his shoes, but did not attack Ayen.

Aicel’s smirk faded slightly as he walked closer.

The pupils of Ayen’s eyes were too dark to discern anything; he was used to hiding his emotions to actually convey his real ones.

Just as he was in front of Aicel and feeling the temperature dropping, he paused.

Aicel only felt it strange, but he was not scared. After all, Ayen was a guide without any combat power. Even if the two espers gave him a weapon, he would not be able to utilize it. Guides’ energy was far too gentle to actually be used in combat.

"Are you going to say something?" Aicel was about to follow this sentence with a laugh, but it was cut short when his face suddenly snapped to the side.

A tingling assault hit his cheekbones and even penetrated inside his skull. His whole head seemed to throb from the sudden jolt of pain.

Aicel’s eyes widen and instantly become bloodshot from rage. He turned his head to the front again and was about to say something again before another slap landed on his skin, feeling the heaviness of it; tinnitus quickly rang in his ears.

That did not stop there; another slap echoed this time from the side, making his face turn to the other side. His nose even made contact with Ayen’s ring, and a low cracking noise was heard.

Before he could observe his injury, the slap was followed once more. The assault was repeated multiple times, causing Aicel’s mind to go blank.

His surroundings seemed to be spinning; Aicel’s skull throbbed. Even his mana could not circulate for a moment.

Aicel’s face was barely recognizable from those repeated slaps, his blood splattering everywhere, even to Ayen’s right cheek.

Ayen breathed heavily; his right hand, where the ring that the two espers gave him was, trembled. His other hand immediately clasped them to stabilize his emotions.

He did not even care to wipe the blood off his cheek and stared at Aicel, who was still out of it. Gone was the handsome and confident Aicel.

His whole face was sore, and most of his teeth were destroyed. These were surface wounds at most, but the real damage was inside his skull.

Ayen reached out and gripped Aicel’s face with his still trembling hand. Fortunately, the ring, which had both offensive and defensive capabilities, helped him.

His combat ability might be zero, or what you call gentle, but that did not mean Ayen did not have the means to hurt the other party.

Ayen made Aicel look at him, tightening his grip on his chin so that the blood mixed with saliva trickled out. Aicel’s eyes were unfocused.

The way those repeated slaps made a genuine A-class esper reach this state proved how terrifying it was. Ayen could not care less about being amazed by what he did.

"Look at me, Aicel." Ayen’s tone, despite the shaking of his body from anger and every emotion, remained calm. He gripped the other so hard that Aicel let out a grunt, tears falling in his eyes.