A loud noise was heard, wind that blows hard after the black sphere with reddish light formed in the center filled the city. All the window panes closed, people rushed into the surrounding buildings, closing off all air access to the room.
Everyone spoke in whispers, their faces full of worry. This was already the umpteenth time in the past two years that the Dungeon appeared in the downtown and the Esper were almost late arriving.
A small child stared at the sky with a black sphere in the center, the sound of a monster screeching could be heard from within. A terrifying screeching sound followed by huge explosions rang out loudly from that black sphere.
"Mom, what is it?" He asked, his eyes round with curiosity.
"It's a dungeon, where monsters appear." The mother replied.
The boy was still staring at the sphere. The monsters.. He had been taught at school that some of them would have powers if chosen, there were two choices, to be a Guide or an Esper. But since he was still in elementary school, his teacher had not explained what the two meant.
"Mom, if there are monsters, will we die?" Asked the child.
His mother shook her head softly, turned to the boy and crouched down in front of him to line their eyes. The two stared at each other.
"See those people below?" His mother pointed at the window, several people were standing under the black sphere in the middle of the street, they were wearing black suits with neat shoes. Some of them just wore plain t-shirts with sneakers.
"They are the Guide."
"Guide?"
"Yes, they're waiting for the Esper they're guarding, the Esper is fighting the monsters in there. When they return, they will need a Guide. And those Guides will help them regain their strength. We won't die, there's an Esper looking after all of us."
The boy's eyes lit up, Guide. He wanted to be a Guide. Esper sounded so cool because they could defeat many monsters inside the sphere, but the Guide who waited for the Esper to return from the Dungeon was much cooler. Because of a Guide, Esper could maximize their strength.
The conversation came to a halt as all the Espers who had gone inside came out one by one, the strong wind had stopped and the sun began to rise again. The people in the room cheered, they came out one by one to clap and thank the hard-working Espers.
One person came down from there, a man with long silvery-white hair. He looked like an angel who had just descended from the sky, but his black clothes spoiled that. He was dressed all in black, a strap running down his chest to his neck. His skin was so white it was almost pale, sweat in beads could be seen on his forehead. He was breathing heavily.
No one dared to get close. They just stared at the man from a distance.
"Noah! Noah!" A man ran up, approaching him wearing protective suit. He approached and carried the man into a car.
"Isn't that Noah Miles?" asked a girl behind the boy.
"Noah Miles? I thought he was dead."
"Right, he disappeared for two years."
"Isn't that because of his Guide who died by suicide-"
"Shh, don't, stop it, don't talk anymore."
Noah's body was carried in by the man in protective clothing, the man immediately took off all of Noah's clothes in the car, the pale-skinned man was still panting, he was clutching his chest, feeling a great pain.
"Luka.." Noah whispered in a trembling voice.
"Quick, drink this..."
The man named Luka quickly put the drugs into Noah's mouth, giving him some water to drink so he could swallow the drugs quickly. Noah closed his eyes, his whole body was red and felt so hot. Noah's body had experienced a rise in temperature when he returned from the Dungeon and used his powers, the rise in temperature made his body feel so hot and made his skin burn. That's why Noah had tattoos on several parts of his body, covering the burn marks caused by his uncontrolled power.
The increase in temperature also made his heart pump blood faster, making him more likely to have a heart attack.
"Luka, have you secured Noah yet?" The voice in Luka's ear brought the man back to his senses, he took off his protective suit and started the car engine.
"We're going back to the lab." He replied without saying anything else.
Luka glanced at Noah several times on the way to the laboratory, the man about to lose consciousness after taking a drug specially made by him. The man had been taking the strong drug for the past six months upon his return to the Dungeon after two years.
Luka put the car into the basement's building, when he opened the door several people rushed over and moved Noah onto a push bed. They quickly took off all of Noah's clothes, putting him into a room with the lowest temperature. The room was so cold, yet it could balance Noah's body temperature which would remain high after the effects of the drug wore off.
"You came on time this time..." A man about fifty years old with a whitened beard and mustache approached Luka. The man had changed into a casual shirt and pants with a laboratory coat.
Luka crossed his arms over his chest, staring at the translucent glass, looking at Noah who was being tidied up by the nurses in the room. A room with many machines, the cables were again connected to Noah's body as before.
"Could you not wake Noah up and make him go to the Dungeon again, Mr. Director?" Luka put on his glasses, speaking without turning to the man beside him.
The tall, well-built man was also staring at Noah.
"We need him. You know lately the Dungeon has been appearing in places we can't predict at all, some monsters have gotten out of there and are roaming the city. It's a mess." The man cleared his throat.
"Noah doesn't have a Guide yet, if he fights under these circumstances, his life won't last long, Mr. Director."
"I contacted the Oak Guild."
Luka turned with a surprised to the man he had called Director earlier. He was Ryan Ainsworth, the Director of the FERN GUILD. The guild that Noah and Luka grew up in.
"Luka, Noah needs Guide anyway, and this city needs him. No, this country. This country needs Noah's power."
"Esper with almost the same power as Noah has now started to awakened, wasn't it a few months ago that there was one with almost the same power as Noah?" Luka began to raise his voice slightly, he sounded so emotional.
"Are you saying that Noah can be replaced? We're talking about Noah Miles. He's the only one who has powers that no other Esper will ever have. After all, we can't possibly let him keep falling asleep and running away from reality." Ryan glanced at Luka who was now staring at him with a confused look, yes, that sentence managed to make Luka a little surprised. How could Noah's best friend say that he was replaceable?
No way.
He was the only Esper who could not die.
That's right, his power did not allow him to die. Under any circumstances, his power would keep Noah alive even if he only had one leg, one arm, or even half his body split open. That terrifying power would still keep him alive like a zombie.
"His mental state is still unstable, he won't be able to meet a Guide who can control him now. He needs a lot of time."
Ryan sighed, "Tomorrow. The boy will come here, I hope you can prepare Noah."
Ryan walked out of the room, leaving Luka clenching his fists in anger. For him it was too soon, Noah couldn't even have a two-way conversation after being woken up. Two years ago they had been forced to put Noah to sleep, the man had nearly destroyed the city with his power as he went on a berserk. If not for Luka's quick action, that day would have been the day the people of this town lived.
Noah was never woken up for two years. Sleeping pills were continuously injected into his body through machines and wires attached to his body, and he was guarded 24/7. But a few months ago, Ryan asked Luka to 'wake' Noah due to an emergency.
From then on, Noah would be 'woken up' to go to the Dungeon and would return to being 'put to sleep' until there was another task for him..
Luka looked at the glass and touched it, he could feel his fingertips feeling so cold. The room was like a frozen room, the pale white body looked even paler, the lips still looked reddish, the eyes closed with long eyelashes.
"I'm sorry, Noah...That day..." He couldn't continue mumbling to himself, what happened two years ago was also so shocking to him. Under such circumstances, Noah still had to carry out his duties as an Esper. Luka sighed, he left the room.