Sera stiffened, looking at the man towering above her.
She recognized him immediately.
Who wouldn't? S-ranks were celebrities, and Ratha – one of the most prominent guilds in the country – proudly hoarded three of the nation's eight.
During her probationary period Sera had researched every major figure in the guild – for work and for survival. Arlen Cunning had made her personal list of people to avoid. She had even browsed his public social media once. Smiling selfies. Candid group photos.
An extrovert. An aggressive one.
With that light blonde hair and those bright icy blue eyes he was easy to spot from a distance. Whenever she saw him in the guild she gave him a wide berth. S-ranks were too visible, too powerful, too connected. Staying away from the biggest whales in the building was common sense.
And now he had noticed her.
This was bad.
Sera closed her eyes and groaned inwardly. She ran through her options in rapid, increasingly unhelpful succession. She should have taken a punch sooner. She shouldn't have practiced combat at all. She could have punched her own face at the same time Julia punched hers to inflict the right damage. None of these were useful observations now.
Her spiraling thoughts were interrupted by a light, gentle voice. Smooth as velvet.
"Are you alright? Guide Sera Yun."
Sera inhaled and opened her eyes.
His blue gaze was fixed on her, glittering with polite concern. Outwardly his expression was kind and mild. But Sera kept her body tense, a deep unease settling over her.
He felt dangerous.
The rumors had spoken of his friendliness, his easy charm, his effortless popularity. But standing here she realized something else – this was a man clever enough to curate exactly the image he wanted people to see. The sort who could smile while prying open someone else's secrets.
Perceptive. And sly.
Sera's eyes narrowed just slightly. I should be careful.
Arlen extended a hand to help her up. Sera looked at it, then back at him, and made a split-second decision.
The best way to deal with him is not to deal with him at all.
Instead of taking his hand she pushed herself up from her knees, clasped her hands neatly in front of herself, and gave a small bow with an upbeat smile.
"I am alright. It is an honor to meet you and receive your help, Esper Cunning."
She caught the brief flicker in his expression – the corner of his mouth twitching before the gentle smile settled back into place.
"Sorry, Sera!" Julia blurted, rubbing her now-thawed wrist as ice crystals fell to the floor. "I think I just got too excited. How'd you learn to dodge like that? You were like a little squirrel!"
"I had a good teacher," Sera said, gratefully shifting her attention away from Arlen. "I was raised in a… martial arts academy and was always known for my speed."
She lied smoothly, making a mental note to remember that later.
"You were incredible!" Julia exclaimed, clapping a heavy hand onto Sera's shoulder. "I haven't had that much fun outside the field in years. When you awakened as a Guide, did your abilities increase too? You were so fast I could barely keep up."
"I guess so. Probably that."
Sera kept her tone mild and chirpy. She was grateful the spar had ended without exposing too much – but Arlen's attention had settled on her now and that felt considerably worse. Bullies could be ignored. Ordinary espers could be redirected.
But powerful, curious people had the resources to keep digging.
Sera reached for Julia's hand.
Best to leave before he gets interested.
"Our sparring session was intense, wasn't it?" she said lightly. "Aren't you tired too, Julia? Why don't we head to the showers and take a short break?"
She glanced toward the supervisor across the hall. He flicked his hand in casual agreement.
"Well then," Sera said, turning back toward Arlen with another polite smile. "Thank you for your help, sir. We'll take our leave."
Still holding Julia's hand she turned and started toward the exit as quickly as decorum allowed.
"Wait."
Sera and Julia froze.
Sera cursed inwardly and turned back with measured care. In a rigidly hierarchical guild like Ratha, an S-rank, regardless of job duties, was effectively a superior officer – power here didn't simply command respect, it commanded obedience.
"Yes, Esper Cunning," Sera said, carefully avoiding direct eye contact. She had the uncomfortable sense that meeting his gaze too openly would only encourage him.
"Guide Sera," Arlen said pleasantly, "you're a new hire, right?"
"Yes, sir. From the most recent hiring cycle."
"They call you the morale hire, don't they?"
Sera's fingers twitched. She looked up and accidentally met his gaze. His eyes glinted with mischief.
He was baiting her.
She held his stare for one beat before answering, "My performance reviews are favorable, yes."
Arlen studied her for a moment.
Then he smiled.
Slowly, he pointed to himself.
"Then," he said lightly, "can I have a session?"
It wasn't as though the gym had been empty. The hall was large and crowded – espers and guides sparring in pairs across every mat. When Arlen had stepped in to freeze Julia's wrist, everyone had seen it. Everyone also knew the unspoken rule around S-ranks:
Mind your own business.
It was better to pretend not to notice than to gawk at an S-rank's affairs. That was the etiquette expected around someone with overwhelming power.
But an S-rank requesting a session from a C-rank guide? In public? The notorious one?
The room stayed in motion, but a hush settled over the hall. Kicks grew quieter. Punches softened. Everyone straining to keep sparring while listening as discreetly as possible – an S-rank requesting a session from a C-rank guide was already the most interesting thing that had happened in this gymnasium all week, and everyone present knew it would reach the cafeteria by lunchtime. The only question was how embellished it would be by then.
Arlen watched Sera closely. Her red eyes flashed – a tiny frown touching her face before she smoothly reassembled her composure. He could practically see the gears turning.
From the moment he had seen her moving he had known something was wrong. She was not a C-rank. Most in the room had been too focused on their own practice to notice – but both he and Rena had seen it immediately.
A civilian martial arts background and under two years as a newly awakened guide could not explain what she had just displayed.
The way she shifted her weight.
The way she turned her body.
The way she dodged without overcommitting.
Those were the instincts of someone accustomed to facing opponents much stronger than herself.
Sera Yun was hiding something.
As an S-rank, Arlen's mana perception was refined enough to read the outline of another person's vessel with brief skin contact – capacity, strength, the texture of their mana. A vessel revealed the truth of one's power. He had intended to test his theory the moment he offered her his hand.
But Sera had dodged his hand and stood on her own, as if she had somehow sensed his intention to probe her core the moment their skin met. Now she was guarded, and prying into her vessel would not be nearly as easy.
No matter. A guiding session would give him far more time than a handshake ever could.
"I am grateful for your request, Esper Cunning," Sera began carefully. "However, as you know, I am C-rank. Per Ratha's regulations, I am only authorized to guide one rank above or below my own. I may only guide up to B and therefore cannot guide an S-rank–"
Arlen had expected that answer.
Of course she would hide behind the law. How else would a little squirrel protect herself? What she didn't understand was that S-rankers lived in a different world than everyone else. They were too valuable to be constrained by ordinary rules.
"Ah, yes," Arlen interrupted pleasantly. "That is true, Sera."
Sera frowned faintly at the casual way he used her name.
"But," he continued, "as a Government Strategic Asset, I am permitted to override guild code and request a Guide of my choosing under emergency discretion."
S-ranks were national weapons as much as guild members – the number a country possessed correlated directly with its military and political strength, and the law accommodated that accordingly.
Esper power was national power.
Sera had not known this provision existed, which was understandable. She was an outsider trying to live quietly, not a student of wartime authority.
"Alright," she said carefully, "I…understand, Esper Cunning. However, this is not an emergency, is it? Based on your current condition, your pollution appears minimal."
"Does it?" Arlen asked mildly. "Wouldn't an Esper know his own body and pollution levels best?"
"Yes, sir. However, if there is no official emergency request, I feel uncomfortable responding to an informal summons. Please receive a pollution assessment and submit an emergency request through the proper channel," she countered.
Emergency guidance requests were bureaucratic by design – evaluation, formal sign-off from a doctor, processing time. The system existed precisely to prevent espers from commandeering guides on a whim. It was slow and deliberate and Arlen would have to go through every step of it before she was obligated to respond to anything. She had found her out.
Arlen stared at her in silence. Then he lifted his wrist and tapped a few times on his watch.
Without warning, he began counting down.
"Ten. Nine."
Sera blinked. What is he doing?
"Eight. Seven."
She frowned, glancing between him and the room.
"Six. Five. Four."
"Three–"
Trill.
Sera's watch suddenly chirped. She looked down. A holographic notice appeared:
< Emergency Guidance Summons >
Room 310 as soon as possible.
- Administrator Risa Agnato
She stared in shock at the alert before slowly lifting her eyes to meet Arlen's grinning face.
This cheeky mother–
S-rank espers – especially someone as extroverted, charming, and well-liked as Arlen Cunning – rarely lacked favors. Plenty of people at the guild were more than willing to indulge someone so powerful. Unbeknownst to Sera, Arlen had a good enough relationship with Administrator Risa Agnato to call one in on the spot.
After all, who truly denied an S-rank? A national treasure.
Sera had made a catastrophic miscalculation.
"Oh dear," Arlen murmured slyly. "I'm suddenly not feeling very well. Looks like I may need some emergency treatment."
Sera felt her stomach drop. For a brief treacherous moment she considered pretending to faint. That would probably make things worse. Refusing the summons meant a work demerit. Running meant worse. Delaying meant Arlen would assume she had something to hide – which, inconveniently, she did.
Could she sabotage the guiding session somehow? No. Not without drawing even more attention.
Damn it. There was no good option.
"…Understood," she said at last, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. "I will…comply with the emergency summons."
Inside, she was screaming. Julia's head snapped between them, pink eyes wide. "Wait, seriously? You're guiding Arlen? Right now?" Sera resisted the urge to grab Julia and use her as a human shield.
"How interesting!" Julia laughed, completely oblivious to the tension hanging in the air. "Sera's a great guide. Her guiding feels soft and fluffy every time. You're in for a good time, Arlen!"
Julia slapped him on the back with cheerful force. Sera felt her soul briefly leave her body. She resisted the overwhelming urge to grab Julia by the shoulders and shake her.
Object.
Interfere.
Challenge him.
Do literally anything helpful.
Instead, Julia beamed proudly beside her, inadvertently endorsing Sera's impending doom.
Oh gods.
"Indeed," Arlen said smoothly, the grin still lingering on his face. "I'm very much looking forward to it."
He brushed past them and began walking toward the exit.
"Room 310," he added over his shoulder. "Your personal office, Sera." Then he glanced back, icy blue eyes glinting with quiet amusement.
"Don't keep your patient waiting."
Cold sweat slid down Sera's spine.