"We will now conduct a 5 minutes trial guiding!"
Ilyas held out his hand, attempting to guide Xain which Xain obediently held. Body contact was needed for a guide to channel their wavelength and stabilized the esper.
"How are you feeling? Any discomfort?"
"Discomfort?" Xain grinned widely, "I feel great!"
"Wait Xain!"
Xain pulled Ilyas into his embrace, pressing all his body to increase body contact. An inhuman act of dumping all your impurities into your guide, which could make them went into shock.
It only took me a second to process what happened and another second to open the door separating the room.
"He's force guiding! We need to separate them-!"
BAM!
The researcher couldn't even finish his words as a heavy punch to the face sent Xain flying to the wall. A crater formed on it because of the impact.
"...."
Silence immediately fell on the room.
I looked down at my fist, then at Xain lying on the ground and lastly at Ilyas I had pulled to my side before my mind finally realized.
'Oh, I punched him too hard.'
"Ethan! You bastard!" Shouting, Xain shot up on his feet.
As expected of an S-Rank esper, his fist was already in front of my face before I could blink.
I quickly ducked, grabbed his shoulder and swiped his feet.
"Ugh!"
He arched beautifully in the air with his feet up before falling ungracefully on his butt.
'What a shame, if only he stayed up in the air for a few more seconds I might believe he can fly.'
That joke flashed on my mind as I dusted my hands. As Shelly said, Xain was a great barbarian, but he was precisely that, a barbarian. He didn't hone his technique to fight in a 1v1 situation, that's why he was easily taken down by a 1v1 specialist like me.
Groaning, Xain rubbed his back while standing up, "Fuck you Ethan! You always get in my way!"
"Ah sorry, that must have hurt your butt, or should I say... it hurt your pride more?"
The researchers muffled snickers could be heard from the open door. Xain furrowed his brows and snapped at them, "What are you laughing at you bastards?! Do you want me to smash your brains?"
'Why are you lashing out at innocent people?'
I almost clicked my tongue when I watch him, but I turned my attention to Ilyas.
"Can you continue the test? It's fine if you want to take a break."
"No, I'm fine, let's continue."
His word wasn't really convincing as his body gave a slight tremble. I knew for sure this accident had formed some kind of trauma within him.
I couldn't blame him, I was scared and uncertain when I first awaken as an esper too. Based on my research of the comic, Ilyas was still a naive young man when he first awakened as a guide. And he was suddenly harassed by three espers whose only thought was violence, of course he would feel uncomfortable.
Tapping his shoulder, I gave him a reassuring smile. Until he's matured enough to handle these crazy espers, I would stay by his side. I should search for other love interest too, Ilyas deserved better than these assholes. That way, when they reached the happily ever after ending, I could easily say goodbye and leave this comic world in peace.
I grabbed Xain's collar and dragged him on the ground. As expected, he struggled to break free.
"Hey! Don't grab me like I'm some kind of trash!"
"Please continue the test, the next one is Cedric right?"
The researchers nodded at my words and their gazed turned to Cedric. He's still sprawled on the sofa but there's no sign of him moving from that position.
"Cedric, it's your turn."
Shelly's word didn't register in Cedric's head at all. She looked quite pissed off after being ignored.
"Cedric, if you don't stand on your feet and get your guiding compatibility checked, I'll ask the bureau to cut your gaming budget."
"What?! Wait! Anything but that!"
Cedric quickly slipped his phone on his pocket and entered the machine room. His behavior suddenly turned 180 degrees as he obediently followed the procedure.
'So game is his weakness huh?'
I decided to note that into my mind for future reference.
"The guiding compatibility for Cedric Lawson and Ilyas Anderson is 96%!"
"Ohhh! A near perfect match! It's even higher than Xain!"
The researchers excited voice filled the room. They seemed happy on the high matching rate, probably because they finally had new data to compare to.
"We will now conduct a 5 minutes trial guiding!"
Once again Ilyas held out his hand for guiding, this time more timidly. Cedric held it with no hesitation, but as soon as their hands touched, Cedric widened his eyes.
A smile slowly crept up his face, not a happy smile, but a sinister one. The gears in his head were turning as he stared at Ilyas.
"Um, can you please stop staring? It's becoming uncomfortable." Ilyas asked, which Cedric replied.
"Sure, anything for you, honey." But he didn't break the eye contact, not a single time since the start of that 5 minutes guiding session.
"Time's up! Seems like there's no problem. Cedric you may leave."
"Alright."
Cedric finally break eye contact with Ilyas when he stood up. Holding the doorknob to leave the room, he winked at Ilyas.
"See you next time, our precious guide."
He didn't spare a single glance at the researchers and walked past Shelly.
"My job here is done right? I'll leave."
"Be on time if a gate opened up, and leave your watch on in case we need to contact you." Shelly said, knowing that if Cedric wanted to leave there's nothing that could stop him. After all there's no more schedules left for today.
"Ethan, you're up."
"Yes."
It's finally my time to be tested. As I entered, I noticed Ilyas' uncomfortable gesture. When our gaze met, he looked down at his shoes and quietly entered the machine.
'Those two really scared the hell out of him.'
I stepped inside the machine and laid down comfortably.
Let's hurry up and finish this quickly.
"The guiding compatibility for Ethan Dale and Ilyas Anderson is 82%!"
"Huh? Isn't that low?" Ilyas' confused voice filled my ear.
Seeing how high the previous two compatibility was, he might be expecting a higher number. But hearing the compatibility percentage being higher than 20 already made me wanted to jump in joy.
"No, that's not low at all, in fact it's already surpassed the minimum number to become a dedicated guide. It's rare seeing the compatibility being higher than 80, having three espers with that high of percentage for one guide is already considered a miracle."
"We will now conduct a 5 minutes trial guiding!"
The researchers' voice was heard once again, urging us to continue.
I turned my eyes to Ilyas, he looked exhausted already, not physically, but mentally. Forcing him to do more guiding in his state somehow pricked my conscience.
But as if sensing my hesitation, he held out his hand for the third time.
"Don't worry, I know what you're thinking, but I'm not taking that offer. Even if it's only 5 minutes, I'll give you a proper guiding."
This time, he was the one assuring me with a smile. I couldn't help but smile in return.
'He's a strong one.' I thought.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
"Yes!"
I held his hand and let his wavelength flowed into me. It really surprised me how great high compatibility guiding felt like.
A warm but relaxing energy slowly spread and settled inside. As if I was wrapped in a thick comfortable blanket in the icy winter.
With how comfortable it was, I could melt away like a candle-
"Ethan?"
I blinked, my eyes seemed blurry so I rubbed it a bit, but when it cleared, what I saw was Elias' face directly in front of me.
It made me flinched in surprise. I usually didn't let anyone got this close to me unless I will it.
'Now that I think about it, this position seemed off. Is that the ceiling? And the soft sensation beneath my head...'
The moment I realized what my head was lying on, I raised my upper body. I glanced back and my suspicion was confirmed, I was lying on Ilyas' lap.
Why though? I thought we were guiding so how did I end up in that position?
"What is it?" I asked, avoiding my gaze.
"The 5 minutes trial guiding is over. Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?" Ilyas answered, a slight worry on his tone.
I clenched and unclenched my hands – trying to feel my condition. But I felt no discomfort, my headache was lighter and I could feel my hands a little bit.
"I guess not, in fact it feels too comfortable that..."
"It makes you fall asleep?"
Wait, I fell asleep?
I did? So that position was because I fell asleep? It's a miracle for an insomniac like me to fall asleep. Was the guiding that powerful?
Ilyas chuckled at my bewildered expression, "So you don't realize? Seeing you slowly doze off was a real sight, we actually extend the duration of guiding to 15 minutes to let you sleep."
"Wait what?!"
Startled, I stood up, but the speaker turned on and Shelly's voice was heard from the other side, "It's fine Ethan, just consider this our payment for dealing with Xain's ruckus before. It's nice seeing you have a good rest."
Her voice continued, "Though, you still have to pay the repair for that crater on the wall, it will be expensive, so be prepared."
The sound of muffled snickers was heard through the speaker.
'Hmph, seemed like they are having fun joking about it, huh?'
As a functional member of society, of course I wouldn't miss this opportunity to crack a joke myself.
Puffing up my chest, I swiped my hair and pointed at myself, "Who do you think I am? An S-Rank esper with the highest paying net. This kind of repair won't put a single dent on my bank account."
Laughter was heard from the speaker, Shelly's voice then continued, "Sure, now then our S-Rank esper, could you please step out the room?"