The rays of sunshine illuminate the rainforest, birds start chipping, and even frogs are croaking. It is clear that the rain has stopped in that area and the sun is shining again. A few birds started flapping their wings, and they saw the dripping waters from the leaves and passed by a figure slowly walking through the rainforest. He knows where to go, even though he is following the muddy path created by other civilians. Some small animals have also come out of their shelters. Rabbits, deer, and even snakes have also come out, and the sight of them has caught the eye of the man walking. They wonder about the person who has lost his way in that area. It wasn't long before a hand parted the damp clumps of lily of the valley plants to look behind them.
He saw a town not far away, but was shocked that the houses he saw in his hometown differed. So was the vast building that everyone would call a palace. Although nervous, the man chose to continue heading to that place.
It was nerve-racking. What if they are not friendly? What if they judge him if he doesn't know their language? The worst is... What if they harm him?
With caution, he slowly walked onto the pavement of the streets, trying to include himself and try to fit in. But the people around him looked at him with a concerned look. And before he knew it, someone did approach him.
"Oh my, what happened to you, dear? Did you get caught in the rain? Why didn't you take your brother to get some herbs?" The elderly woman said as she gently pulled him towards the shop where she had been standing earlier. The young man managed to look at the person watching him earlier. As expected, the stares from earlier had disappeared. "Lyore, hurry up and accompany your brother home to get dressed."
The young man jolted when the woman shouted and returned to what she was doing. A moment later, a guy taller than him with black army cut hair, black eyes, and broad eyebrows walks beside him. "Let's go, you might have caught a cold." He said, then walked again towards the other part of the building where the store was located.
The young man looked at the old woman for a moment before quickly following the man named Lyore.
When they reached the inside of the building, the young man watched as he took the kettle heated by the fire. Lyore walked again until he reached the small door and entered it. The young man heard how the man poured water from the kettle into whatever it was pouring into.
"Come take a bath, you stink." He laughed slightly after saying that. The young man tried to smell himself, but didn't have a chance because Lyore pushed him inside the door. "You don't smell. Just kidding. I won't ask you who you are; just be patient with Aleng Elena. That's how she takes care of young ones. And even though I'm not her blood relative, she treats me as one.
You also dress differently from us, so I think you're from another kingdom, but like I said... I won't ask you." Lyore smiled again, and his voice tickled the young man's ears like music, even though they were just far enough apart that it seemed to him that there was almost no distance between them.
The young man nodded as he recovered from the heat in his ears, then quickly closed the door. There he saw a large wooden bucket. He knew it was a large beer barrel, but he noticed this was his only special bath.
"You can take a dip or pour water onto yourself. There's also a tap on the right that you can use." Lyore shouted. "I don't know if you're a prince or a civilian like me, but like I said-"
"You won't ask me." The young man immediately cut off Lyore's words, which silenced him momentarily.
"That's right." Lyore paused briefly before speaking again. "Just call me if you need help. Shout, Lyore, Lyore, please help!"
The young man knew Lyore was joking with him, so he didn't reprimand him. Who was he to reprimand the restless people in that place? Besides, they hadn't known each other long enough for him to tell if it was really a joke or if the man was annoyed with him. All he could think was that he was joking.
The man named Lyore seemed kind. He was the one who said that the old woman had also treated him like family.
Isn't Lyore just like him?
Not from there? From another place? From another world?
The young man's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Here are your new clothes. Wear this so you won't attract sudden attention. Whoever or whatever you are running away from, they won't be able to find you here because the king of this place is one of those with strong powers. He can move things with his mind. But even though our king is strong, it seems like there is only a chance that he will be able to use it because the last time he used it in battle, he looked sort of weakened and seemed to have lost his mind. He still defends us against the monsters that suddenly come to conquer us."
"Monster?" The young man said in Lyore's words.
"They are monsters in the form of humans. Like the king, they also have abilities, but it seems they don't experience the loss of sanity like the king did before." Lyore explained. "Why did you ask? Aren't you being rushed to your place?"
Lyore leaned on the wall while waiting for the young man's response. But even though he waited for a while, the young man didn't answer, so he chose to ask something else.
"Okay, I won't ask. But can't I even know your name, even though you know Aleng Elena and mine?"
Lyore heard a few water splashes before it stopped, and the door slowly opened.
"Auren." The door was slightly open, and naked and freshly bathed, Auren peeked in. "My name is Auren."
Auren was about to answer Lyore's previous question, but was overtaken by the fear that his answer might be misused, and he would ruin it. So he chose to reach for the clothes that Lyore was still holding.
After getting ready, Auren looked for Lyore to ask if he could do something for them, but he found him in the kitchen cooking something. Lyore felt like someone was looking at him, so he looked at his back and saw Auren looking shyly. "Sit down there. We're going to have lunch."
And not long after, Elena was already behind Auren. "Come on, sweetie, come eat." She said, and she sat down first on one of the chairs there.
"Auren is his name, Aleng Elena."
"Oh! What a beautiful name. I immediately remembered King Aureus, one of the saviors back then. But in exchange for his power, there was also a curse that took his life."
Auren did not speak at the old woman's words, but his face showed his desire to know about the power and why it was called a curse.
"As I told you earlier, a few people in our kingdom have abilities beyond the strength of a normal person. And one of them is the ability of the new king to control things as he wishes." Lyore explained while placing food on the table. He gently guided Auren to sit opposite the old lady, who sat next to him. "But the curse Aleng Elena is talking about is that he seemed crazy after using their power."
Auren trembled, and Lyore noticed it. He wanted to ask Auren something, but Elena gestured not to ask anything further.
After their meal, Elena and Lyore return to selling outside while keeping Auren inside, saying it would be good enough if he gained some strength before he helped out. Auren insisted he could help, but the two pleaded with him to take a break because he looked too fragile for manual labor. Even Elena saw the difference between them. He did look different in the emotional part, but maybe because it was his way of defending himself. And even though they want to ask him questions, hurting him with those wouldn't be helpful. Auren is five feet two inches, while Lyore is five feet five inches, so compared to Lyore, Auren's psych isn't enough to lift something. Auren does have some muscles, but it's just enough to say that he is physically fit compared to Lyore, whose biceps and abs are seen through his shirt.
The afternoon went by, and the night fell in. Lyore went and helped Auren to settle in. He gave his bed to him and made a bed using a blanket beside the bed. At first, Auren argued with Lyore about it, but Lyore insisted that he needed more sleep than he did. He needs to get up early in the morning to get some supplies from the market, so it won't be him sleeping on the floor.
Auren was lying down, but his eyes were still open. He was thinking about what had happened and how he had gotten there. Why, out of all the people, was he the only one there, and he was still not sure if he had entered a place he didn't know by heart alone. Yes, the place seemed like an ancient place where he had come from, but he had not lived in this era. A time when he thought cellphones and Wi-Fi were out of fashion, there were no cars, and most of all, there were no Gates, Espers, Guides, and Systems. This was also the reason why he was so worried.
He knew he shouldn't trust anyone here because he was a guide. He was the only one who could heal what the Lyore kings were saying. He knew he could help, but that wasn't enough reason to get back into a relationship where he knew he was the one at fault and would be the loser.
This time, he wanted to live as a normal person. A guide is the only one who could heal a berserking esper. That's why if they ever found out that he was a guide, he would definitely be claimed by the so-called king, and not only that, having sex was the only way to completely lose the high level of being in a berserk state.
The berserk state is the excess of an esper's power. They can no longer control their power, which can cause havoc not only to the people around them but also to the area and themselves. And only guides can relieve such a state because they are specially designated to be like this.
Espers are people who adapted to the necessary circumstances. And just like Lyore said, Auren also understood that the kings in this area only became espers because of those who attacked them. But along with that understanding, Auren also thought about the possibility that Lyore was referring to his fellow espers who came from his world. If he could only look at the system for confirmation but he can't. Right now he just can't.
The system was something their government created device that helps them easily see the relationship between espers and guides and who possibly had a high percentage to heal espers. It was in the form of a window screen that only appeared when a special watch was pressed.
Auren looked at his left wrist, where his watch used to be, but he seemed to be missing it this time. He thought, if only the system were here with him, he would know what happened to his friends before the gate suddenly opened and he was sucked into it.
The gate was egg-shaped, the size of a standard door, but it seemed to be a portal of cold drink smoke. The strength level of the enemies inside depended on the color. And as far as Auren remembered, what he entered was white. A color that had never been recorded in books of knowledge or even reported through the system.
Auren turned to the side as he felt tears welling up. He felt like crying because he remembered his three friends. If they were okay? If they were still alive? If they were also worried about him? And if he could return to their world, would he be able to answer his esper Liam for confessing his feelings for Auren? However, he didn't realize that he had fallen asleep from his thoughts.
And not long after, the next day dawned.