There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 539 - 532. Defenders Role

Chapter 539: Chapter 532. Defenders Role

As soon as Nyx had enough energy to create another portal out of the Deathzone, Bassena had to bid Zein goodbye.

It would be the first time they separated since they entered the Deathzone, and Bassena did not really take it well, no matter how much Zein spoiled him the night before. Too bad for the Saint Class, but his friend and subordinates--who had been separated from their lovers for more than two years already--were smirking in satisfaction behind him.

And too bad for him; Zein’s separation anxiety seemed to not be activated outside of dangerous situations.

Zein was fine about it though, since it was for a job. He simply gave Bassena a pat on the cheek before stepping into the portal. They arrived at the Mortix headquarters closest to the northern border. From there, he boarded a helicopter with Han Joon and Nyx while Radia returned to Athrea in a jet.

Zein had thought they were going straight to the top of the mountain, but Han Joon stopped the heli on a hill area, before handing the control over to Nyx. Afterward, Zein got to experience going down to the ground with a rope--which was surprisingly exciting.

"Sorry for the not smooth ride," Han Joon said as they went down the hill to hike the mountain where the Saint Class lived. "I don’t have multiple people teleportation."

"It’s fine, I need exercise."

Han Joon glanced at the guide, whose eyes were actually got a bit brighter. He had heard about it, but Zein truly had no difficulty following him through the rough path. From the report Radia had been showing him after the honeymoon, it seemed the other guides under him also had a pretty good constitution.

"I heard about your school," Han Joon smiled. "Seems like the military wants to make a contract with your school?"

Zein paused briefly with an arched brow. "You still keep in touch with them?"

"The soldiers are not all bad," Han Joon answered lightly. Most of them knew nothing of what the higher-ups were scheming, and were only trained to receive orders.

Han Joon knew a lot of good, honest soldiers who really wanted to keep people safe from the miasmic beasts, so it wasn’t really fair for him to hate the whole institution. In fact, he was still in touch with his former Mobius subordinates, who sometimes visited him in prison.

"True," Zein nodded, humming in contemplation. The school administration was still waiting for his reply about the military’s proposal. "I guess I’ll think about it."

"Just make a tight-knit contract and don’t let them treat the guides as a soldier."

"I’ll make sure to tell my management."

Han Joon chuckled for a bit. Who would have thought the guide he met at the park that day would become a Patriarch of an Old House and own an academy?

Their nonchalant conversation met a halt when they had to traverse through a steep cliff and climb a stone formation instead of hiking on a calm trail. Han Joon had to pull Zein up the cliff and they ended up taking a brief stop for some water.

"How did you get to know the Iron Mountain?" Zein asked while letting the water settle in his thirst.

"I was on my investigation journey, and I stumbled upon this place," Han Joon swept his gaze across the mountain with a subtle smile of nostalgia. It might be hard to believe, but even this hard terrain he took Zein through was the easiest path he knew after spending quite some time there in the past. "I had thought it was suspicious because the whole place was unmarked, but--"

"Turned out it was private property?" Zein raised his brow, looking at the huge mountain, and wondered how much it cost.

"I was lucky I have the Goddess’ brand on me," Han Joon chuckled at the memory.

Zein raised his brow. A deity brand meant an esper was one of the deity’s favorites, just like the black scales under Bassena’s eyes. It could be anything from a visible tattoo to an invisible sigil. It was rude to ask someone to show the brand, however, so Zein kept his curiosity inside.

"But you seemed to be close enough with him to hear about his relationship with my father," Zein crunched his water bottle and threw it inside his storage ring before standing up.

"Well, since I was here anyway, I asked for a training session," Han Joon smirked as they started to move again.

Zein blinked and tilted his head. "Training?"

An assassin type asked for training from a defender? Zein’s confusion was palpable, but Han Joon merely smiled and asked a question that did not seem to be answering Zein’s curiosity.

"What do you think is an important skill for a defender?"

Confused as he was, Zein still answered the quiz-like question. "Shielding?"

"That’s for tankers."

"Are they different?"

"Tanker is a branch of a defender, just like barrier magician--although the term had been interchangeable these days," Han Joon explained. "But think about it; can you always ’defend’ with just a shield?"

Zein thought about it for a bit as they entered a clear dirt trail, before shaking his head. "If the enemies come from below, or somewhere unexpected, a shield might be useless."

That was why he asked his kids to press their backs against each other; to minimize blind spots.

"Exactly," Han Joon nodded. "Before someone can defend something, they should know what they need to defend against."

The explanation stopped again, as if the esper wanted Zein to figure out the answer himself--which he did after a few seconds. "Detection?"

Han Joon gave a small, satisfied smile. "Spatial awareness--you have that too, don’t you?"

"Yeah, for survival..."

"To defend yourself," Han Joon finalized his point. "He’s so good because he could defend the others before the threat even got close."

"I see..." Zein nodded.

That was a new concept of defense he never thought of before, since most defense was associated with shields and barriers nowadays. Detection, meanwhile, was more associated with scouts. It did work just fine if the scout and the defender cooperated well, but Zein also wondered if this concept got lost because the Iron Mountain no longer came out to teach it to other defenders.

"Anyway, he was the best training for me, who aimed to never be detected by anyone," Han Joon said, finally arriving at the answer to Zein’s original question.

"Ah...make sense," Zein snapped his finger. Seemed like he found the secret to the Night Star’s unbeatable stealth. "Are you saying that...he could detect anything in this mountain?"

Zein looked around again, recalling how big the whole mountain was from the heli. Even Bassena couldn’t spread his detection that much. He could send the children of darkness far, but if those kids didn’t see anything, Bassena wouldn’t see anything. But this Iron Mountain...they could say this old man was a human radar.

"To be more exact, he could detect anything that is within his lawful property," Han Joon explained further.

"So that’s why we get down outside the mountain?"

"Yeah," the esper chuckled, before adding quickly. "But even if we do things politely, there’s no guarantee that he’ll let us in, so I just want to warn you about that."

Zein shrugged. "Better than not trying at all."

"At least, I can say that we won’t be kicked out harshly," Han Joon said in reassurance.

For all he knew, the Iron Mountain was a reasonable old man. Otherwise, he would have been kicked out and beaten up before the Goddess brand was even flashing. But being reasonable didn’t automatically make the old man friendly.

No. The man was old and tired, which was the whole reason he isolated himself in the mountain. It was a wish that was easy to understand, and yet, a lot of people seemed to have low comprehension because they kept trespassing on the mountain and demanding a meeting even after several rejections. After experiencing this kind of stubbornness several times, he became hostile to anyone approaching the mountain with ulterior motives.

Still, if it was a new face, he would at least ask first, even kindly let people who were lost like Han Joon to stay the night and have some rest before kicking them out of the mountain.

"What happened to the persistent people who tried after getting rejected?"

"They return with at least one bone broken," Han Joon replied casually.

"At least..."

"At least."

Zein chuckled inwardly. So that was why, instead of Radia or his agents, Han Joon took Zein instead. It wasn’t just for the sake of nostalgia, but for an ’entrance ticket’. The old man might not know Zein, but he would recognize Zein’s face. Along with Han Joon who seemed to have built a good rapport with the old man, there were two safe entrance tickets that would at least guarantee a safe return with no broken bone.

"Well, even if he doesn’t want to help, I at least hope he can tell me stuff about my father," Zein smiled.

Come up, then

They both paused and froze. Han Joon stared at the invisible line a few meters in front of them, which marked the old man’s territory. He turned to look at Zein, who was laughing quietly in amazement.

"Haha..."

The esper curled his lips. "Sounds like approval."