Towards the Future

"W-what the fuck," The guy in his mid-teens exclaimed looking at the scene in front of him. There was red everywhere. From the blue-painted concrete and the used baby diaper nearby thrown haphazardly on the ground - everything in sight was covered in blood that he was all familiar with but never this amount. 

The teen blinked. Once. Twice. Before running towards the man whose temple was blown off by an attack from the nearby creature in front of them. The man's face showed no emotions and was just staring blankly ahead of him yet the blood on his temple was dripping at a startling amount. He was neither moving nor breathing.

The creature in front of them was smiling widely and was still alive even with the multiple blasts from the guy Ian was holding.

"That's all?" The creature laughed in an almost childish villainy way. "After all that talk, you fall with only a few strikes?"

Terrified for his life while also holding the bloodied and disfigured man in his arms, the teen states: "Please stop this!" 

The black-haired teen pleaded as he tried to heal the man as quickly as possible. Then, a chillingly deep voice echoed between the two buildings the three of them were fitted in: 

"What the fuck are you doing?" The black-haired teen stopped breathing for a moment - scanning the area to look for the direction of the voice before his eyes landed on the head he was holding. A pair of frighteningly bright yellow eyes stared back at him blankly. The teen was stunned at the sight below him. Now, the temple that was once blown off was stitched back together - or are there new layers of skin intact? It was like the Frankenstein monster he watched randomly.

Stammering an apology, the black-haired guy hurriedly let go of the blond guy he was holding. The man quickly stood up and the teen was still looking down - afraid to meet the pair of sandy eyes again. The teen was about to say something when a loud bang resounded between the two buildings. The black-haired guy looked up and saw that the hideous creature in front of them was now torn into pieces. 

"Hey kid, are you a guide?" The blond guy asked, now that he looked at him - he now just registered that the man was stark naked. Pieces of his skin look like it was just patched up recently. He can regenerate. The teen thought. The black-haired teen just nodded, visibly shaken by what had occurred. 

"That was kinda pleasant," The blonde said. "For once."

-

That was ten years ago. Currently, the black-haired teen is now reaching twenty-six in a few months; still unemployed, broke, and living in a government-supported housing area. Can one even call it a home? It was a 2x2 room containing a single bed frame with rotten foam and a random coffee table that he used as a dining table. 

Standing at a height above the average man - 6 feet ( 6 feet and two inches on a good day ), the black-haired guy is now faced with a problem he was all the more familiar with - getting a job. 

He was wearing a ratty grey vest that the older neighbor beside his room happily gave him and his very own, and his most favorite, plain white shirt. He was on the way to a newly built guiding company near his house, hoping that he could get a job with his silly little qualifications. 

Don't get him wrong, this was not his first job. He tried every job he could possibly find that may accept him based on his history - from being a miner of domains to being a part of the clean-up crew if a shady company accidentally let a creature escape one of the domains. 

However, this one…this was probably the first time he had tried applying for a guiding company. Even with a core, which is essentially the driving force and source of the power (slash technique), defenders have, he never actually tried to get a job based on his only skill.

He was actually quite surprised that there were no lines in the application area - given that most guiding companies have two-hour long lines every day as people want to work where the money is. 

Ian walked in front of the woman who looked surprised to see him. Now he wonders if this was a good decision - is this company actually legit or was this all a scam?

The woman instructed him to put his personal details on the table and wait for his name to be called. 

Not even five minutes later, a man asked: "Ian Terno?" 

He was now in front of a large man with a face so stern, that he probably had a permanent wrinkle on his forehead. "Come with me."

Ian followed behind the large man as he was brought into a small white room with the scent of a hospital that had been thoroughly cleaned but was actually only bleached. 

" Sit there and wait." Because of the sternness of his voice, Ian didn't even wanna let the large guy hear him breathe. 

Soon after, a blonde woman with noticeably bright purple eyes entered the white room. Noticing his stare, the woman chuckled, 

"Sorry, you know how guides are…" Noticing the lack of expression from Ian, the woman's voice slightly lowered. "You know how the eyes are…you really don't?"

"Sorry," Ian said in a low tone, refusing to meet the pair of bright purple eyes. 

"Are you new to guiding?" The woman asked. "By the way, my name is Nath."

The woman shuffled across where Ian was sitting and gestured her arms in the air - suddenly, a see-through screen was in front of Ian. 

"Ian Terno…" Nath said. "It says here you're 25 years old?" 

Ian nodded.

"And how come you never tried to apply to a guiding company before?" 

"I was never actually trained on guiding," Ian said sheepishly. 

"Huh," Nath muttered. "It says here you did not have a core in your initial test?"

Ian nodded again. 

"When was your last test?" 

"Three years after the first."

"Okay, please take a seat there." The woman pointed to the white office cushion next to them. Ian hurriedly shuffled and sat while the woman walked to his side, holding a white holter. "Please take off your shirt, I am going to place these on your chest area which is essentially where your core is."

Ian tugged his vest down while also chucking out his shirt. 

"This will not hurt you in any way, this is just a test to see what your current level is." 

Nath left the room and came back after thirty minutes. For the whole thirty minutes, Ian was left alone, he was drowning in thoughts of what should his next step be - should he not get accepted into this company. He was thinking of finding a job at the convenience store as a part-time job but then remember not all stores are willing to hire him because of his physical attributes. See, he was six foot and he was once told he scares the kids because of his mannerisms and facial expressions. In reality, he was far from those - he likes looking at cute things and just generally wants to be a good citizen. 

"W-we, uh, we will just contact you if you are qualified." Nath stuttered. Ian interpreted it as him not getting qualified for the job. With a sigh, he stood up and said his goodbyes and thank you's to Nath who only smiled awkwardly at him. Ian wants to know why, and what happened to his results. Was it lacking as it did before? 

Regardless, he does not qualify. 

Just as he was about to exit the room, a loud ringing voice was heard throughout the company. Soon, it was followed by an automated woman's voice:

 "Attention Everyone. Code Red. Please leave the facility immediately." 

"Attention Everyone. Code Red. Please leave the facility immediately." 

"Attention Everyone. Code Red. Please leave the facility immediately." 

The noise echoed and everyone was panicking. Ian's heart suddenly beats loudly in his chest. What is happening? Nath burst out from the room they were just in and momentarily locked eyes with him and then ran towards the other side of the exit which was blocked by multiple people running to exit the place. Realizing that it would cause a stampede should more people try to exit the area, he ran towards where Nath headed. 

He ran and ran towards the multiple stairs leading to the ground floor - at least that's what he thinks. As soon as he was nearing the end, a group of people, tad in white clothes were seen gathered near a – is that a domain? 

Ian has never seen one this close before. 

The domain's door, or gate, looks like a glass that was about to shatter. The people were agitated at the sight, frighteningly looking at the gate and each other while muttering amongst themselves. However, a loud voice quieted down the people chatting anxiously. 

"Everyone," The woman said which he just now noticed was actually Nath. "There is a possibility that a creature will escape this domain soon. Currently, S+ class savior Alec Craig is handling it but it appears that there is a miscalculation on the techno team."

"Why do we even let Alec handle such domains?" One of the people asked. "You know how he is…I bet he intentionally let the creatures out because he's fucking insane."

Before Nath can say anything, a burst of white light momentarily blinded everyone in the dark place. Soon, shouts of pain were heard reverberating around the walls while others were grunting and shrieking. Ian quickly adjusted his eyes to see two monsters towering over the powerless people who were lying on the ground. 

It was followed by a loud laugh and soon, a man covered in blood emerged from the domain's gate. Within a second, the man threw a punch which split a creature in half. The other monster tried to jab the man who was…naked. Ian tried not to stare so he looked down for a moment. Another loud bang was heard which made him look up - only to lock eyes with a pair of bright yellow eyes staring back at him. 

The naked man glanced around him and saw all the people lying unconscious and some powerlessly on the ground. The man, still covered in blood, was a tan man in his 30's. His blonde hair whose streaks are almost white was buzzed to shape his face which projects maturity. Despite his otherwise serious look, his face was adorned with a wide smile that was not matching with his quite empty eyes. He looks… crazy. 

Ian just noticed that the man was striding toward him. Slightly cowering to avoid the man's gaze, the blond guy asked: "You a guide?"

"Yes…" Ian said, not knowing what will this lead up to. 

"Guide me then." The yellow eyes were growing increasingly bright against the dark room. It was honestly kind of terrifying - like a predator staring down his prey or the sight of the bright moon staring down at mere humans. 

Ian is about to say something along the lines of 'I do not have any experience in guiding, only a bit in healing' when the man simply says in a much softer tone: "Hurry."

Ian nodded mentally to himself as he got up to his position and tried to hold the man's hands which were calloused and bloodied. 

Ian tried to let go of past worries and closed his eyes, hoping that he could guide him and not have drawbacks because Alec, as he heard from the people now unconscious, was an S+ class savior and he believed he was not qualified in guiding because otherwise, the company would've simply hired him. 

In his guiding, he couldn't help but see pure darkness. His breath quickened but still continued with the guidance. Honestly, he did not know what he was doing. He only had experience in healing but never in guiding so he was nervous and slightly afraid of what would happen should the guy notice he did not have any idea what to do. 

Suddenly, a drop of water caused a slight ripple on the water he was walking on - which he only noticed now. Soon after the light ripple, the solidified water melted below him and plunged him into the vast darkness. He tried to swim and swim but his vision and sense of direction were lost as he remained in the dark place. His breath was starting to lose when a strong smack on his face forced him back to reality. 

"Are you okay?" The man asked him, noticeably worried and the huge smile on his face earlier was nowhere to be found.

Ian was about to say he was fine when he coughed up blood.

"Craig," A deep voice semi-shouted, followed by loud steps nearing their position. 

"Gamnique?" Alec asked, looking up at the huge man of East Asian descent, who was probably in his 30s as well. "What are you doing here?" 

The man had noticeable dark bags under his eyes and his back was hunched unnaturally. If he were to straighten his pose, he would be much taller than Alec. He was in the standard black office attire but he looked opulent than the average Joe. 

"Someone sent an SOS because creatures were exiting the domain," Gamnique said scanning the area. "I told you not to cause harm to our people." His tone of voice was calm yet it is rather authoritative. 

"I did not, it's just that these monsters were fast," Alec explained simply. Gamnique looked like he did not believe whatever was coming out of Alec's mouth. 

Gamnique turned to Ian whose hands were covering his mouth that spat some blood. Ian's eyes were blurry because of the tears from the pain of coughing. "Who's this?" Gamnique asked. 

"He's a guide," Alec sheepishly said. "I think."

"We got to get you healed by another guide, boy," Gamnique said to Ian. "But no guides are available on this floor, can you stand up?"

Ian nodded slowly and tried to get back on his feet when his knees collapsed and soon, he was supported by Alec. 

"Get him to the guide station, I'll take care of what happened here," Gamnique said and Alec saluted mockingly before guiding Ian to the emergency elevators.

The elevator only made Ian more nauseous and soon he was retching on the floor with his hands supporting his whole body. After two minutes and so, Alec spoke: "Are you a guide here?"

"N-no," Ian said quietly, trying to recover. He was using his handkerchief to remove sweat forming on his forehead that was dampening his black fringe. 

Alec let out a loud 'hmm'. "Have you tried to apply?" 

Ian nodded. "J-just this day."

The elevator door opened and Alec was helping Ian stand up from the ground. The floor they were in was devoid of humans but somehow, they still continued walking to the left side. Ian could not help but notice that Alec was actually inches taller than him and he was surprised he could help Ian given his large stature. 

Now looking at Alec fully, he saw that his skin was tattered and was reminded of a past random encounter years ago - when he tried healing another person for the first time. Ian's eyes were traveling south when he realized the man was still naked - Ian looked away quickly and he heard a light chuckle beside him. 

"Here we are," Alec said, helping Ian sit on one of the cushion chairs. "I'm going to call someone to help you." 

The man then shuffled towards the exit of the door. About ten minutes came a man in his 40's dressed in a white lab coat and Alec was nowhere to be found. 

"I'll start," The man said. "Close your eyes."

-

Ian, still a bit light-headed from the guiding slash healing he had received, tiredly closed the door of his room behind him. He hadn't eaten anything today - but that's nothing new to him. A quick glance at the clock tells him it was only four thirty in the afternoon. With a loud grumble in his stomach, he quickly stripped out of his clothes and jumped onto his rotten bed foam which creaked loudly under his weight. 

In less than ten minutes, he was already in deep sleep because of what had happened to him today. A familiar voice that kept on replaying in his head was heard today, once again. 

"I'll come get you, I promise." A dark-haired Asian woman said, eyes filled with tears as she brought her hand towards him. "I'm so sorry."

In the distance, Ian can hear loud voices threatening the woman in front of him. The woman looked at the person behind his back and ran as fast as she could in the opposite direction - leaving behind Ian. 

"You want me, right?! " The woman shouted. "Leave the kid alone!"

And soon, like every dream he had, Ian sat up quickly - breath heavy and sweat forming on his back. He glanced at the clock hanging on the wall opposite his bed - 5:00 AM . 

He wasted no time and took a quick shower. He plans on job hunting again today and dumpster diving for edible food because he can feel the acid in his stomach slowly becoming unbearable from the lack of food. 

Just as he was about to exit the room after slipping on his ratty shoes, a knock was heard on his door. Thinking it was just the older people beside him, he opened his door and was met with a pair of familiar yellow eyes staring at him with a big smile that did not quite look normal. 

"Good, you're up!" The man cheered which was quite a funny sight as he was a six-foot man. 

Ian glanced to the side of the man, making sure no one was looking at them before ushering the man inside.

"What are you doing here?" Ian asked him - the two of them still awkwardly closed together because of the small space of his doorway. 

Alec ignored him and instead asked a question too: "Do you have plans today?"

"Yeah…" Ian said, still cautious of the man towering over his doorway. "Job hunting."

The already bright yellow eyes lit up and Alec visibly vibrated in excitement - like a puppy. Ian could not help but laugh at his thought because why is he calling a thirty-year-old something man, a fucking dog?

"That's great!" Alec exclaimed. "Come with me!" He tugged on Ian's hand towards the exit of this house. 

"Hey, wait!" Ian shouted. "Where are we going?" 

"A-Alec Craig?" A small shocked voice asked. They both glanced at the teen boy standing on the ajar door in front of them. Ian did not know that he had neighbors opposite of him. He only knew of the older people beside him. "You're really Alec Craig! I'm a fan – I wanna be like you someday!" 

Seems like Alec was actually famous and that Ian was the only one who didn't know, it seems. 

Alec smiled even more and waved his hands towards the boy. "Oh, hi!" At which the teen waved back. "We are gonna go, is that fine? It's urgent." 

The teen nodded. Alec forcefully tugged on the hands of Ian who reluctantly followed behind. Once they were outside, he saw nearly ten people in a line in front of a dark-tinted black vehicle. Ian thought it looked like those cliché guards in dramas he saw when he was a kid. He was about to ask Alec what was happening when the guy beat him to it.

"Don't mind them, let's just go inside." 

Quietly, Ian followed behind and sat inside the vehicle. One by one, the people outside walked around and went inside the other vehicles parked behind where the two of them were sitting. 

"Are you sure you didn't come here to kidnap me?" Ian asked seriously. He was actually scared as shit now. A loud roar of a laugh from the man beside him met Ian. 

"Something like that," Alec said. "Just be a good boy and follow me." Good boy? He is a twenty-five-year-old grown man. 

It was about twenty minutes of riding in silence when a phone, which Ian assumed was Alec's, flashed brightly with a beeping sound. Ian heard Alec grunted lightly. Alec sighed as he answered the black phone. 

"What?"

"Craig," The man on the other side of the phone said firmly. "You are near Quezon, right?" 

"No," Alec said seriously and Ian was about to believe him when he realized he lived in Quezon. 

"No time for jokes, Craig." The man stated, clearly unamused. "I'll give your chauffeur the direction. A new domain was created just five minutes ago. Two class A saviors were deployed as well as one B-class guide. However, the techno team nearby said that the domain specializes in the element of geo. The saviors were bruto saviors."

What even are they talking about now? Ian muses to himself. Apparently, the questions in his head are visible in his expression. 

"Wow," Alec chuckled. "You are really clueless about this. You're files were not lying when you said you don't have any experience."

"You…you saw my files?" 

"Well, we were supposed to be discussing something important today…but, work calls," Alec stated. "I'll tell you more later if we get out of this domain quickly." We?

A second filled silence. "Okay, think of this like a pre-exam before you get the job."

Ian's mouth gaped. "You're giving me a job?" His mouth soon curled upward.

"Yeah," Alec said, looking down quickly.

"Thank you! You don't know–"

"Hey," Alec stopped him. "Before you thank me, you should know that this job is extremely dangerous-"

"I haven't had food in three days." Ian was euphoric. "I don't care," 

"You sure?" Alec muses. "Even if it's your first time in a domain?" 

Ian nodded enthusiastically even when his nerves were slowly killing him. He seriously needs to reconsider where this was heading but his hunger got the best of him. 

At his response, Alec's familiar wide grin adorned his face once again.