Three Ways to Run from an Esper

Part 8

For the next two weeks Dokja spent most of his time training. Heewon taught him three times a week, and he spent the days that she was busy practicing by himself.
"Am I interrupting?" Joonghyuk's voice broke through Dokja's concentration as he slashed through a practice dummy.
"I was just about to take a break." Dokja said as he wiped sweat from his brow.
"Follow me. I have something to show you." Joonghyuk lead Dokja up to the floor below the penthouse. Dokja thought they were going to Joonghyuk's office, but he turned left instead of right in the hallway and walked up to a set of large oak doors.
"Go ahead." Joonghyuk motioned for Dokja to open the doors.
Dokja stepped forward and pushed open the heavy wood.
He gasped at what he found inside.
The room had high-vaulted ceilings and the walls were covered from floor to ceiling in bookshelves lined with books.
"I didn't know the guild had a physical library, I thought you guys mostly used tablets or computers if you needed to research something." Dokja asked as he looked through the seemingly endless rows of novels.
"We do, but you told me you prefer reading from a physical book when you have the opportunity. I had this built just for you." Joonghyuk explained.
Dokja stared in bewilderment as Joonghyuk handed him a key.
"You can come here anytime you like."
Dokja didn't know how to respond. This was a big present, and while Dokja still enjoyed spending as much of Joonghyuk's money as he could, he felt overwhelmed at the thoughtfulness.
"Is it to your liking?" Joonghyuk asked
Dokja shook his head to break his stunned silence and walked up to Joonghyuk.
"It's amazing." He gave Joonghyuk a quick kiss on the cheek, "Thank you."
Joonghyuk stood in stunned silence as Dokja walked away and began looking through the books.
"WOW! These are all hardcover first editions! And this one's even signed by the author!" Dokja exclaimed excitedly as he pulled books from the shelves.
Joonghyuk smiled as Dokja sat down on one of the comfy sofas and immediately got absorbed into a book.
Joonghyuk left him to read, he knew once he got like that nothing could pull him away from the pages.
As he walked out of the library he got a dungeon alert. He called up Jihye as he quickly got ready to leave.
"Let Dokja know that I'll be gone for a couple of days. I got a request for a dungeon expedition to guide researchers through an A class gate so it will take longer than usual." He informed her.
"I heard Dokja say that he wanted to go on a research expedition in a dungeon someday, maybe you should take him along?" Jihye suggested.
"No." Joonghyuk responded with a glare.
"Roger Sir, but expect to get an earful of complaints from him when you get back."
"I'm fully aware." Joonghyuk sighed.

When Dokja heard where Joonghyuk ran off to, he was pissed.
He had said several times now he wanted to explore a dungeon, and a research expedition was the safest way to do that! It was when scientists were lead through an already cleared gate in order to learn more about the environment and resources. How could Joonghyuk think that was too dangerous!
He complained about this to Sangah and Sooyoung at lunch the next day.
"I don't know why you're so obsessed with entering a dungeon. You're not an esper and even if you were, you'd probably be an F class and get your butt kicked by even the weakest monsters." Sooyoung mocked as she leaned back in her chair.
"No one asked for your opinion you plagiarist." Dokja rolled his eyes.
"But why do you want to enter a dungeon so bad Dokja?" Sangah asked with a concerned voice.
"Because that bastard sunfish still thinks I can't handle myself. He still worries about me even going out alone to the grocery store! As if the boogeyman is hiding in the bushes outside 7-11 to ambush me as I'm drinking a slurpie!" Dokja complained.
"Well, I admit that Joonghyuk can be too controlling, but he might have a point with walking alone late at night as a guide." Sangah said hesitantly.
"Since when did you take his side?" Dokja raised an eyebrow at his friend.
"I'm not taking his side exactly, I just know there's a lot of awful people out there that would do awful things to an S-class guide." Sangah explained anxiously.
"Trust me, I'm fully aware, but I really can take care of myself. I'm not completely helpless and my sword skills have really improved." Dokja sighed
"It's not about how capable you are, it's about how sinister and unfair bad espers can be. I've seen how smart and clever you are countless times Dokja, but what would happen if you found yourself in a position where you can't trick or plan your way out? Even with your sword, against high-level monsters or espers..." Sangah trailed off, not needing to finish her thought for Dokja to understand.
"I get it, I get it." Dokja huffed. He knew Sangah was just looking out for him, but he had heard it enough from Mr. Doom and gloom. He didn't need the lecture from his friends as well.
He finished lunch and left to go read in the library.
It was almost midnight when Dokja finally finished the book he had been absorbed in. His stomach rumbled and he decided he was craving some of that spicy ramen from the convenience store a few blocks away.
He was stopped by the night guard when he tried to leave the guild tower.
"Stop, sorry, but Mr. Yoo has informed all security personnel not to permit you to leave the guild unaccompanied while he is away on mission." The guard said as he stood between Dokja and the door.
Dokja put on a charming smile, "That's alright, I know you're just doing your job. It must be tiring having the night shift, want one of my energy drinks?" Dokja asked as he fished a can out of his enchanted coat pocket and handed it to the man.
"Really? Thanks! I was getting pretty sleepy." The guard smiled as he opened the can and took a sip.
"Well, I guess I should let you get back to work, have a good night!" Dokja smiled and waved as he walked back to the elevator.
The guard waved back and turned to face the door.
Dokja didn't get on the elevator. Instead he snuck into a janitors closet and waited while he read a novel on his phone.
After a few minutes had passed he quietly opened the door and peeked back out into the front lobby.
The guard had fallen asleep in a chair beside the door.
'I knew that sleeping powder from the enchanted items room would come in handy. It's a good thing Joonghyuk doesn't monitor what I buy with his card, I've made quite a few suspicious purchases.' Dokja thought to himself as he casually walked out the door, right past the guard.
    

He happily walked out of the convenience store with a bag full of ramen and other junk food. Another purchase on Joonghyuk's card that he probably wouldn't be thrilled about.
     Joonghyuk had been cooking healthy meals for Dokja and while the esper was an amazing cook, sometimes Dokja just got a craving for empty carbs and preservatives.
     He was walking back to the guild when he thought he heard someone shout in the alleyway.
     'Creepy alleyway late at night with suspicious sounds? You've read enough stories to know this screams danger.' Dokja thought to himself.
     Then he heard another scream, it sounded like the voice of a little girl calling for help.
     'Well I'm not heartless.' Dokja gulped as he hesitantly walked down the dark alley.
      When he arrived at the corner, he peeked around the corner to find an abandoned parking lot with a white van.
     The door of the van was open and Dokja saw two small bodies tied up in the back seat before the door was slammed closed by a young man in a dark hoodie.
     Another man with a crooked nose came around the other side of the van.
     "Are we bringing them to the usual spot?" Crooked nose asked the man in the black hoodie.
     "Yeah. We already got a buyer. They're both A-class espers, so we're gonna get a huge payout." Black hoodie responded in a gruff voice.
     "Just make sure to keep those restraints on them. It blocks their powers. Otherwise two C classes like us won't be able to contain them even if they're just kids." The man warned.
     Crooked nose nodded, and began to climb into the van.
     Dokja began hatching a plan quickly. 'I might loose them if they drive away now. I don't think I'll be able to sneak on board either... well, here goes nothing.'
     Dokja stepped out from his hiding spot and walked right up to them.
     "Who are you?! What are you doing here?!" Black hoodie asked, his eyes glowing as he activated his esper powers.
     "I feel like you guys are the suspicious ones here. I was just taking a lovely nighttime stroll down this dark foreboding alleyway when my night was ruined by two numbskulls that apparently enjoy kidnapping children." Dokja said with a charming smile.
      The two men looked to each other in bewilderment before looking back at Dokja.
     "I don't care how high level of an esper you are, you don't want to mess with us. We have a powerful backer." Crooked nose said, obviously assuming only a powerful esper would be cocky enough to stroll up to an esper kidnapping scene so casually.
      "Wait a second... look at this guys neck! He's a guide!" Black hoodie said in surprise.
      They both laughed, "Oh no! Whatever shall we do? A guide has us cornered! How terrifying!" Crooked nose mocked while cackling.
      Dokja just continued smiling as the two men caught their breath.
     "Well it looks like it's our lucky day. Even if he's a low level, guides are worth a lot on the black market. We can offer him to the same client buying these two runts." Black hoodie said as he kept his powers activated and started coming towards Dokja.
     He grabbed Dokja's shoulder, "Now come with us quietly, and nobody has to get hurt."
     Before the man could even blink Dokja unsheathed his sword and used his legs to trip the man. He fell to the ground and Dokja pointed his blade at the man's throat.
     "Don't move," Dokja said to crooked nose who was still standing beside the van in shock, "or your friend here may have more problems than just his ugly face." Dokja warned with a smile.
      "You damn guide! What makes you think you can treat two espers this way!" Crooked nose screeched before charging at him.
      Dokja used the pummel of his sword to knock black hoodie unconscious, he then pivoted to avoid crooked nose's first attack and slashed the man's ankles, causing him to fall to the ground beside his partner in crime.
     "Man, that was my first real fight and you guys made it way too easy." Dokja frowned before knocking the other man unconscious as well.
      He immediately went over to the van and opened the door.
      Staring back at him were two children, a brown haired boy and a blonde girl, they couldn't have been older than ten, bound in chains with gags in their mouths.
     "It's ok, I'm here to help." Dokja reassured them as he took the gags out of their mouths.
      "Thank you mister." The blonde haired girl said.
      Dokja tried to cut the chains with his sword, but it didn't leave a scratch, he remembered hearing them say the chains were enchanted.
     He walked back to the two unconscious criminals and dug through their pockets, but couldn't find the keys to the chains.
      "Umm, mister, they don't have the keys. There was another esper that brought us here. He has the key." The brown haired boy said
      "Another esper? What did they look like?" Dokja asked as he began thinking up ways to get the chains off without a key.
      "Why don't you take a look?" A voice interrupted from behind Dokja.
       Dokja turned around to find a tall man in a black business suit standing there.
     The man seemed to look between the unconscious grunts, the van, and Dokja while assessing the situation.
      "It seems a guide who doesn't know how to mind their own business is interfering with my work." The man said in a calculating voice.
      "Well, I can't say I'm a big supporter of child abductions, maybe it's time to consider a different career path." Dokja quipped.
      The man didn't immediately attack Dokja like the other two. He stayed standing right where he was. Dokja didn't know what he was waiting for, but realized too late that the man's eyes were glowing, and that Dokja was beginning to feel incredibly tired, his eyelids forcibly shutting against his will.
       'Is this payback for drugging that innocent security guard?' Dokja wondered as he drifted off to sleep.
    
     He awoke to the sound of the van door opening. It took him a moment to realize where he was and what was happening, but the second he saw the two chained children sitting next to him, he immediately snapped awake.
     He looked down at his own hands and feet that were now shackled. His sword had been taken as well.
    'I need to find a way to escape, otherwise Joonghyuk will never let me hear the end of it, actually, he'll never let me out of the guild again.' Dokja thought to himself grimly.
     The crooked nosed man glared at him when he opened the door.
     "You really thought you were some hotshot with that sword of yours didn't you? Not so tough now huh?" He mocked.
     He grabbed the end of their chains and tugged the three of them out one by one.
     The man in the business suit was waiting beside the van.
      "I can't believe I had to accompany you two buffoons on a simple transport job." The man complained as he typed on his phone.
      "Sorry Mr. Paul, he took us by surprise, I never expected a guide to be able to fight." Crooked Nose said nervously.
     "I'll be docking your pay for this incident. Now get these three inside. The client will be here soon and we still need to check this guide's ability level to know how much to sell him for." Paul said in an annoyed tone.
     They lead them into a warehouse and chained them to a support beam in the middle of the room.
     Black hoodie came up to him with a small electronic device that had a small metal bar poking out the top of it.
      "I'm going to unchain one of your hands, and you're going to grab the bar so I can measure your ability. Any funny business and I'll punish the two brats, understand?"
     Dokja nodded and the man untied his left hand. He grabbed the metal and let his energy flow.
     "Woah! Hey boss, come take a look at this! I think we hit the jackpot."
     Paul came over and looked at the screen on the device.
     He whistled, "Those are the highest numbers I've ever seen in a guide! He must be an S-class! Looks like we're making bank today."
     They re-chained Dokja's hand and went into a side office.
      "I'm sorry Mister." The blonde girl said with tears in her eyes from beside him. "You wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for us."
      Dokja smiled down at them, "Don't worry about it kid, this isn't your fault. I promise I'm gonna get you out of here, trust me."
     The girl sniffled but seemed to calm down a little.
      Dokja looked around the warehouse. He didn't see his sword, they must have brought it into that side office.
      He tried to look in his coat pocket to grab something, but his hands couldn't reach because they were tied behind his back. That's when he noticed that the boy's hand's were tied in front of him.
    "Hey kid, can you try to reach my coat pocket? I think I have something that could help us."
     The kid reached over and was able to maneuver his hands into the pocket.
      Dokja told him what to look for and was relieved when the kid got it and passed it into Dokja's hands that were still behind his back.
     That's when Paul and crooked nose came back in, this time followed by another man in a suit.
      "Here are the two esper's I told you about Sir, and we actually have a little surprise as well."
      The man looked at the two kids and Dokja.
      "Is he an esper too? I don't like getting them when they're older. It's hard to control a full grown esper." The client said.
      "No Sir, believe it or not, this is an S class guide that just fell right into our laps." Paul said
      "Ah yes, I see the collar, but do you have a way to get it off?"
      "Not yet, but even if he can't be bonded, you can still receive guiding from him or use him to guide your espers." Paul advertised.
      "I'm not sure, even if he's S class, the fact that he has a collar means there's probably a high class esper searching for him. Not worth the trouble." The man concluded.
      "Don't you want to test out my guiding before coming to a conclusion?" Dokja asked.
      "What?" The man raised an eyebrow.
      Dokja smiled his best customer service smile. "I mean, how often do you come across an S class guide? Trust me, my energy is amazing, it's well worth the hassle." Dokja advertised.
      Paul and the customer looked at each other and back at the guide.
     "You found one weird guide, never seen one get kidnapped and actually help sell themselves, but he's right. I'd love to sample the merchandise." He grinned.
      "Just curious, but what level esper are you? I don't want a low level to buy me." Dokja asked the man.
      The man grinned, "It seems this guide has standards, but not to worry little guide. I'm an A class, you won't find much stronger than me." He bragged.
      'Perfect' Dokja thought to himself.
      "That's a relief, I'll need you to unchain my hands though." Dokja said, still smiling.
      "Why don't I just use your lips?" The man said with a smirk.
       "Well what if my guiding is not to your liking? Close contact guiding with low compatibility can feel awful to an esper. I wouldn't want to harm you in any way. If I use my hands we can test properly before using closer guiding." Dokja explained, glad he payed attention in his guiding classes.
      The customer thought about it for a moment and nodded. "I suppose you're correct. Unchain his hands Paul."
     Paul hesitated, "I don't know... He's acting kind of different from when we found him..."
     "Stop wasting my time. He's just a guide, I can handle him." The man said impatiently.
      Paul nodded and walked up to Dokja with the key.
     "No funny business." He warned, before unlocking the chains.
     "Me? Funny business? I wouldn't dream of it." Dokja smiled.
      "Hurry up and show me what you got guide." The customer said as he held out his hand to Dokja.
      "Yes Sir." Dokja said and grabbed the man's hand.
      "WOW! This feels amazing! This guide is on another level!" The man said with a blissed out expression.
     Dokja concentrated, he remembered a lesson he got from his esper training. One of the lessons that Mrs. Boksun asked them to keep quiet about. It was how to send an esper into a rampage.
     At first he did regular guiding, but slowly he started holding back the esper's energy. Not returning it properly and allowing the toxic energy to build up pressure like a bubble.
     "Wait! What are you doing! Let go of me!" The esper said, his voice quickly shifting from bliss to panick.
     He wrenched his hand away, but it was too late. His eyes glowed a molten gold. The signs of an esper about to loose control.
     Paul growled, "You brat! Do you have any idea what you've done! You've doomed us all! No one can stop an A-class esper on a rampage! He'll kill us all!"
      Dokja just smiled. "If only there was an S class guide around who was strong enough to guide a rampaging A class!" Dokja said sarcastically.
      "But with my two friends here and I chained up, I don't really feel like helping. Maybe It's better if we let him burn off some steam." Dokja smirked.
     The rampaging esper turned his glowing eyes onto Paul.
Rampaging espers were known for attacking the strongest person around first. Luckily, the two kids were still in power dampening shackles, so the next most powerful esper in the room... was Paul.
      Paul dodged a fire blast from the rampaging esper, he tried to use his sleeping power, but between all the fire blasts, he didn't even get a chance.
     He looked angrily at Dokja, but threw the key.
     Dokja caught it and undid his leg restraints and released the kids. All while Paul was being an unwilling distraction, still attempted to avoid being disintegrated with a fireball.
     "Ok, let's get out of here." Dokja held up the item the brown haired boy had retrieved from his pocket earlier, it was a small potion vial.
     He took a small sip and handed it to the boy. "Both of you take a sip of this." He instructed.
  They did as they were told and as the blonde girl finished the last of the potion, Dokja's hands began turning invisible. He watched as the two children began to disappear as well.
     "Stay close to me." He instructed as Paul was still screaming behind him as a fireball from the deranged esper narrowly missed him.
      The three of them sneaked towards the office as Paul screamed. Both children grabbed his hands to follow him.
      "YOU DAMN GUIDE! GET BACK HERE AND STOP THIS LUNATIC! WE MADE A DEAL!" Paul screeched in anger as Dokja entered the office, the door shutting behind them.
     Inside the office, the man in a black hoodie had headphones on and appeared to be listening to music on full volume. Which explained why he didn't hear Paul's screams.
     'How convenient.' Dokja thought to himself as he grabbed his sword from the corner and left without incident.
      They left the warehouse as the sun was just beginning to rise and flames began engulfing the building. Paul's screams had faded from inside.
     It was then that the invisibility potion began to wear off. It was meant to be used for one person and they shared it between the three of them afterall.
     He felt a small tug on his coat and looked down at the two children.
     "Thank you Mister." They both said.
     Dokja smiled softly, "No problem, I'm sorry you had to go through that. May I know your names?"
     "My name's Lee Gilyoung." The boy answered
     "And mine's Shin Yoosung." The girl added
     "It's nice to meet you both, I'm Kim Dokja, can you tell me where you live so we can get you both home? I'm sure your parents must be worried sick."
     "We don't have parents." Gilyoung said bluntly, "and we can't go back to the orphanage, they're the ones who gave us to those kidnappers."
    Dokja was stunned for a second, but smiled reassuringly at them.
    "It's ok. If you want, you can come with me." He offered.
     Both children nodded while holding onto his coat.
     "Then that settles it. You can come to Skybreaker guild with me. You'll be safe there." He assured them.
      "Woah! You're with Skybreaker guild! That's awesome!" Gilyoung said excitedly.
      "I'm glad you think so, but can I ask a favor of both of you?"
      They both nodded.
     "Can you keep what happened here tonight a secret? There's a certain person at Skybreaker that I would prefer not knowing about tonight's events." Dokja said with a nervous sweat drop.
      "And what exactly did happen here today." An angry voice spoke from behind Dokja.
      'Of course he chooses now to show up.' Dokja thought in annoyance as he turned around with his signature charming smile.
     "Joonghyuk!" Dokja greeted cheerfully, "What brings you here? I thought you would be gone for a couple more days on that dungeon research trip?"
     Joonghyuk glared at him. "I got an alert from your collar. Several alerts actually. The first was your increased heat rate, the second informed me that an esper used a sleeping power on you, the third said you were unconscious, the fourth said you were guiding an esper, and the fifth said you were surrounded by an incredibly hot environment." Joonghyuk listed off with growing furry in his voice.
     Dokja continued to smile innocently as a building burnt to the ground behind him.
    "I have no idea what those notifications could possibly be referring to." He lied shamelessly.
     Joonghyuk just stood there with the look of someone contemplating murder.
     It was at this perfect time that the man in the black hoodie decided to evacuate the burning building. He came running out screaming.
     The moment his eyes landed on Dokja and the kids, he screamed.
     "You brats! You puny guide! How did you get out of your chains? What happened to Paul and our customer! You should have been sold already!" He screeched angrily.
      Joonghyuk turned his furious gaze on the C class esper.
     "You put my guide in chains and tried to sell him?" Joonghyuk asked, with the tone of a man no longer just contemplating murder, but fully prepared to commit it.
      The C class guide was apparently not a complete idiot, because the moment he saw Joonghyuk, he froze up and shut his mouth.
     "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now." Joonghyuk said icily.
     Dokja wasn't necessarily against killing a man involved with child abduction, but he didn't think the kids needed to witness anymore trauma, so he grabbed Joonghyuk's shoulder to stop him.
    "Why don't you just notify the APD and have them handle him? He's not much of a threat on his own." Dokja said.
     Joonghyuk looked like he was about to protest, but glanced between the kids and Dokja and sighed.
     "Fine." He pressed a button on his watch before walking over to the C class and knocking him out with the hilt of his sword.
     He turned back to Dokja, "You have a lot of explaining to do."