There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 758

Chapter 758: Side Story 4. Endless Journey - 41

"Aaaaaaaargh!"

A loud shout came from the private yacht cruising the Eastern Sea, loud enough to startle the poor Sea Serpent swimming alongside it leisurely. The shout traveled to the open sea in the bright early summer, making everyone sunbathing on deck look over weirdly.

"What’s wrong with him, Oppa?" Nari pointed at Asa, who was still screaming at the top of his lungs to the sea breeze.

"Exam stress?" Kar lifted the towel covering his eyes slightly to glance at his twin before closing them again. "Unfortunately, neither of our fathers are studious or smart--street smart, maybe, but not book smart."

Asa had been staying at the top of his guide class, thanks to Zein’s tutelage. But when it came to general subjects, he had to work extra hard. Those who focused on one thing already had to work hard to stay on top, but he wanted to master two things.

Han Shin did not lie when he said Asa would have to work more than twice as hard as anyone. At least, the healer’s field of study still had something to do with the dungeon, which was material processing. Asa, however, pursued something completely different.

Well, it was a pit he willingly jumped into, so Asa couldn’t even whine about it being hard.

Hearing that, Nari laughed and jumped from her seat to smack the younger twin’s back. "Then, you can use this chance to wind up and have fun, Oppa!"

"That’s the plan!" Asa raised his arms high. After letting all of his frustration fly with the wind, he decided to forget about those difficult questions and just play around to his heart’s content. He pointed at Nari and Lucy, before snatching their waists and jumping to the pool. "Let’s go girls!"

"Kyaaah!"

The girl shrieked as they hit the pool with a loud bang, splashing water to the sunbathing boys on the side. Byul screamed and ran away, almost cursing out before clasping his mouth quickly because he had to train a habit of speaking nicely for his showbiz career.

Kar threw away the wet towel covering his eyes to the floor, sighing. "Eh, might as well," he caught Byul and hoisted the escaping boy over his shoulder. "Let’s go."

"Wait--hyuuung!"

The scream was muffled by the sound of splashing water and laughing girls, reminding the growing teenagers of their childhood days; days of playing in Uncle Dia’s mansion and the lake. Zephyr, the Sea Serpent, let out a soft lament, asking the kids to play together, just like in the past.

Between the pool and the sea, they beat the heat of summer in the private cruise Uncle Dia prepared for them as one of Kar’s graduation rewards. On a yacht enough for a hundred people, the five teenagers were the only guests. The rest were their bodyguards and crews that already known them since they were babies, so their parents comfortably let them play on their own.

Even the cooks already knew their preferences, so the meals were always filled with their favorite food. If they were bored of playing with water, there was always a theater for movies and playing games--or a decent gym for Kar who never skipped his exercise even during vacation.

That night, however, he wasn’t in the gym--which was also a small training arena with a mana barrier--to exercise. Byul found the older boy sitting on the floor, in front of a sizable trunk.

"Hyung," he whispered from the door, testing if Kar could be disturbed.

The older twin turned his head and smiled. "You’re not sleeping yet?"

"I drank Asa Hyung’s coffee," the boy puffed his cheek, fiddling with the door knob restlessly.

"Heh," Kar chuckled and tilted his head to beckon the boy inside. "Come here."

Grinning, Byul entered the gym, curiously looking at the trunk in front of Kar. The older boy chuckled again and scanned a code in his commlink to the trunk, which immediately read his biometrics--including mana--and opened up into a mini display.

"Whoa..." Byul blinked as a set of leather equipment came out in full display. Even though he wasn’t a part of the sentinel community, his maternal family was in the business of making esper’s and guide’s attires, so his eyes could recognize how good the set was. "Isn’t that dragon leather?"

"Oh, you can tell?" Kar grinned. Even his usually calm face couldn’t hide his excitement. "It’s from Uncle Dia."

"As expected of Uncle Dia," Byul nodded while stroking his chin, before glancing at the item on Kar’s lap. "What about that, hyung?"

"Dad’s gift," Kar replied while taking the item, wearing it in his hands. "He wanted to get me a weapon, but I don’t need one."

Byul tilted his head and frowned slightly. "Why don’t you need weapons?"

"Ah, since I use mana freely, I don’t need weapons like swords or something like that," Kar replied, reminding himself that Byul was not familiar with the world of combat espers. After all, his father was a healer. "So, he gave me this."

"Gloves?"

"It increases control over mana," Kar explained, sending his mana to his palm. As expected, it was faster and felt easier than usual, as if he didn’t even need to think about it. "With this, I can shape the mana easily. Here, like this..."

Kar condensed the mana in his hand and shaped it into a bird. If he imbued the bird with his thought, he could use it to communicate with someone--something that the magician association had been developing in the last decade after learning from how difficult it was to communicate during Operation Fallen Star.

As a rookie esper, Kar’s speed and precision in creating the bird were on par with his seniors, and he smiled in satisfaction at the result. Unfortunately, he forgot one little thing.

Byul bit his lips and glanced at Kar wryly. "Umm...I can’t see it, hyung..."

"Ah," Kar scolded himself for forgetting this again. "Oh, right--wait a minute."

Of course, Byul wouldn’t be able to see raw mana. Non-awakened couldn’t see that. Even guides couldn’t see mana if they did not train their sensitivity.