To Guide Chaos

Chapter 2: The Trial

Chapter 2: The Trial

I closed my eyes and slammed my fist on the table in frustration.

What the hell?!

Seriously… is my luck in the negatives?

My first day at the Academy didn’t even end properly – and I’m already thrown into a trial?

Well, there’s no time to b***h about it. No, complaining won’t help.

I forced myself to calm down and scanned my surroundings.

I didn’t dare to breathe too loudly. I’m afraid even my fast, thundering heartbeat would be loud enough for any monsters to hear it.

The air is cold. Too cold.

It carried a faint metallic scent… like steel and chemicals mixed together.

A laboratory.

The surroundings were dark, but I’m sure I was in something like a laboratory. That, I’m sure of – because the Lys Clan has facilities like this before where I often do chores around in exchange for some fractals.

Dim lights flickered overhead, casting unstable shadows across the room. Machines hummed softly, their screens blinking with data I couldn’t understand.

There were examination tables arranged in perfect rows. Glass containers. Beakers. Transparent chambers.

Everything was intact. Too intact.

There were no monsters around, and it looked like the scientists and technicians just went out for a snack.

The room’s peaceful and quiet.

What am I doing here?

What does the trial want me to do?

Just as I decided to explore the room for a bit, I heard the same voice again, still cold and unfeeling.

[Complete the mission!]

[Mission: Stop Chaos.]

I stopped in my tracks, “Stop… Chaos?” I mumbled, frowning.

What does that mean?

“Does it imply that there will be Chaos soon?” I tried to look for the exit of the room and found it quickly.

It was a large-transparent double doors which made it easy to see what was going on outside.

And s**t!

Did I just jinx myself?!

Suddenly, the ground lurched.

Metal screeched. Glass shattered. Equipment crashed into the floor of the earlier pristine laboratory.

The intact room was soon thrown into disorder as the shaking and explosions continued.

“F*ck!” I cursed as I ran out of the room and soon met with countless panicked screams and the people around were all over the place.

Red lights burst to life painting everything in flashing red.

WEEOOO – WEEEOOO – WEEOOO –

The choking smell of burning wires and chemicals assaulted my nose.

A man slammed into my shoulders, nearly knocking me off balance. Another person tripped and fell, only to be stepped over without hesitation by the panicking crowd.

“Hell! This is hell!”

“We need to get out of the Facility!”

“Oh please, someone help!”

It was Chaos, indeed!

Everyone making their way to the emergency exits, not caring about hurting others in the process.

Is this the Chaos that the Trial wants me to stop?

If so, then how? I only know how to fight…

Wait! If this is happening, then there must be a monster within this facility that’s causing this ruckus.

Right! That’s my clue!

Out of the countless people running all around, I quickly grabbed the nearest person – a lab-coated man who looked like one of the scientists in this laboratory.

I shook his shoulders, “What the hell is happening?! What’s causing this panic?” I asked the person in a hurry.

The scientist struggled against my grip, eyes wide and trembling, “F*ck! Let me go! That thing – Zero! The lab rat Zero is rampaging!”

What? Zero? An Esper?

An Esper is rampaging in here?! F*ck that’s dangerous. Rampaging espers recognize no one. Be in sight of one and you’re dead.

That thought sent chills down my spine.

How can I kill that? I’m not even an esper yet!

It seems that the Trial didn’t favor me kindly after all, but I still have to try to resolve this. I cannot run or hide because the Trial will kill me anyway.

The scientist tried to shoved me away but couldn’t due to his weak body, “Why are you day dreaming?! We should run! If you want to die, fine! Just let me go –”

I cut sharply, “Where?! Where is it?”

He froze, then pointed down the corridor with a shaking hand, “T-There!”

A distant crash echoed from that direction, followed by a scream that ended too abruptly as if to silence that horrifying scream.

The scientist fiercely struggled again, which made me notice that he was tightly holding a slender sword, perhaps to protect himself.

I forcibly grabbed his sword and shoved him away, “I’m taking this. Go.”

The scientist gritted his teeth but just quickly scrambled away, hurrying to the emergency exit.

I turned and walked toward the end of the corridor. The ground trembles worse there than anywhere else.

Sparks rained from exposed wiring. Smoke curled along the ceiling, thick and suffocating.

The metallic scent of blood was stronger now – almost too nauseating.

An esper against an unawakened person. I know that I don’t stand a chance at this but… I at least want to try.

And there’s still mom at home. She’s waiting for me to protect her.

The corridor stretched endlessly ahead, and every step I took echoed in the now empty corridor.

It was dark and silent, completely opposite of the scene just now.

Then –

Drip. Drip. Drip

A dark liquid slid across the floor, reaching near my shoes.

Blood.

Something I was all too familiar with.

Fresh. Still warm.

Suddenly, a light footstep sounded from deeper within the corridor.

Someone – something is coming…

It still made my spine shiver.

I gripped the sword tightly, betraying my instincts that are screaming at me to run.

That’s when he appeared – at the end of the corridor.

A figure of a… child.

His hair is raven black, skin so pale – too pale. Like he had never seen sunlight before. And his eyes… they were red, bloody red-colored eyes that almost felt familiar.

The boy was wearing a lab gown, barefoot, and standing still, surrounded by countless bodies.

Dead bodies.

All mutilated, some parts of the body missing, some twisted unnaturally across the floor, forming a river-like blood to run around the tiles.

“Who?” The boy asked, voice so sweet, innocent, and his head tilted slightly, as if confused.

But the broken glass shards, stained with blood, floating around him tells me everything I need to know. This boy is dangerous.

My whole body felt like it had been poured on by cold water.

A child? You’re telling me a child did all of this? And I was supposed to kill this child?

Suddenly, the boy moved.

Just a step – but the sound didn’t catch up. It echoed too late.

“What the hell?!” I was caught off guard when the boy just appeared in front of me.

If he wanted to kill me, I may not be able to react at all. I forgot he wasn’t a normal child.

He is the one who killed all the piled bodies here in this laboratory.

“Who?” he asked again, his blood-red eyes fixed at me.

For a moment, we just stared at each other.

And at that moment, I felt it. Not the killing intent. Not rage. Just the emptiness inside of him.

“I am not your enemy,” I caught myself explaining to this child.

The boy tilted his head in confusion. As if he didn’t understand what I just said.

“I won’t hurt you,” I declared, my hand shaking before I threw my sword away.

Anyway, such as lousy sword at the hands of someone lame like me won’t even work on such a powerful esper.

Though he is just a child.

“No… hurt?”

I nodded earnestly and took a careful step forward, “Yes. Actually… I was sent here to stop you… to calm you from rampaging.”

I froze a few steps away from him, the air between us heavy and tense. Every fiber of my body screamed at me to run, but I couldn’t. Not now.

“You…calm?” he asked, his voice high and soft, almost like he was questioning a word he didn’t understand.

“I…I – yes,” I stammered, though my chest burned from the thundering beating of my heart.

“I’m here to stop you. Not hurt you. You don’t have to…” My voice drifted as I looked at his innocent eyes.

How can such innocent eyes belong to a blood-stained hand? And a child, no less.

“You don’t have to fight me.”

His head tilted further, as if thinking while the glass shards around him trembled but didn’t move them just yet. At least not yet.

I swallowed hard, taking steps forward. “I know you’re angry and confused and scared, but killing… this isn’t the way.”

His eyes focused on me, unblinking, and for a moment, I thought I saw something flicker in his eyes – something like curiosity.

“You…stop?” he repeated, his voice almost a whisper, as if a child asking for a promise.

“Yes,” I answered, holding my hand out to him slightly, careful not to threaten this rampaging esper.

“I want to help you. I can help you calm down.”

For a moment, he said nothing. The silence was deafening, broken only by my heartbeat.

Then slowly, he took a step toward me.

My whole body screamed in warning, but I steeled myself and smiled at the boy. Though I bet my smile looked much worse than a crying face right now.

“You…no hurt?” he asked again quietly.

I shook my head and smiled, “I won’t hurt you. I promise. You’re not my enemy.”

He paused, tilting his head again, and then hesitatingly reached out a hand.

I smiled and took his little hand. “You must be so scared being alone,” I took a step forward and kneeled so I could see his face clearly.

For the first time, a hint of hesitation crossed his face. He looked at all the bodies and blood around him, and then back at me.

“I…alone,” he admitted in a quiet voice. Somehow, I can feel something tight inside my chest.

Am I feeling pity for this child?

I cupped his small face, “I know they must have done something bad to you, but by doing this you’re only hurting yourself in the process. Let’s stop the chaos.”

He studied me, his blood-red eyes flickering like stars.

“You… stay?” he asked as if looking for something to hold onto.

And I don’t know what came into me, but I somehow thought, I want to help this child.

“Yes… I’ll stay.” I promised.

For a long, tense moment, he simply stared then quietly hugged me and buried his face in my neck.

Then suddenly –

Clink…clink… clink

The glass shards hovering around started to drop one by one on the ground. The air grew lighter. The pressure gone.

In this corridor, which is cold and dark, something inside me changed.

Something inside me formed – warm, gentle, fragile, but I can feel its power.

[Mission Complete!]

[Granting name and designation…]