Chapter 78: Instructions

Words : 1257 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Chapter 78: Instructions While an unconscious pilot and his guardian were being ’kidnapped,’ the people watching the live broadcast started realizing that the situation was dire and was going far beyond the scope of the exam. Dominic’s live broadcast gave them an idea of what they were dealing with. But everyone felt the gravity of the situation when Xavier called upon a mecha to deal with it, only to end up trapped inside the cave. However, the commotion happened when the footage was cut off after the cameras were caught in the arachnid’s oozing webs. The viewers could barely see anything except hear the sounds of the thrusters and the particle cannon going off. The marshal immediately ordered a rescue operation and suspended the exam without consulting the school. They weren’t privy to the actual situation and wouldn’t have known how risky it was for Xavier, who was in such bad condition. Duke Leander and the people from the duchy never made progress in fixing the deck, as it was destroyed as soon as the corrupted arachnid appeared before his son. And when the live stream lost connection, the duchy was in an uproar. Thankfully, their men were close by as the duchy’s representatives and could immediately go to rescue their Lord. Ollie, for the most part, resuscitated himself by remembering that if he died, who would go get his brother? So, his first order of business was to look for Luca’s people so he could force them to look. Ollie was planning on begging if need be and prepared to bring money, drones, and weapons. He may not be able to use them himself, but surely, if he bombed that spider, something would happen, right? While everyone was mobilizing to head out to the newly contaminated zone, Luca was trying to haul Xavier out of the mecha. But to do this safely, he had to deal with the black ooze that was now threatening to eat up the spiritual energy of his space. The goo actually grew thicker as it rapidly absorbed all that it could the moment it came into contact with such energy. But instead of finding this disgusting, Luca relished in the increasing goo, letting it increase in size a bit before using the dungeon’s inventory to suck it all up. Without an entity as its Host, the goo could only absorb energy in preparation for an eventual takeover. D-29 made sure to run a scan in case they missed out on any more contamination. Now Luca had to deal with the bigger issue, which was Xavier, who was lying next to his mecha. Luca was still frustrated at how Xavier was just willing to sacrifice like that. But at the same time, he was a hypocrite because, at one point in time, he didn’t even attempt to save himself when something similar happened to him. Luca could only sigh as he pulled over his wooden tub, wanting to place Xavier in but remembering that this guy needed to be guided first before anything else. Xavier would’ve been writhing in intense pain had he been awake. By now, the attack on his meridians had begun, and he was without any protection because he was depleted. The attack on the body had also made it difficult for him to absorb energy from the environment, even when there was so much available. Luca decided to prepare a few pills as well as jugs of spiritual water, hoping to purge everything this time around. Xavier cannot be brought outside with corruption in his body. If he was only partially guided, he would eventually experience a re-do of the earlier scenario. "Host, he’s really contaminated now. I wonder how much CP that would give us?" D-29 seemed to have the correct priorities, and Luca remembered how vital that bit was, too. "!" If he had been very decided on helping Xavier earlier, he was now even more motivated for his own livelihood. His hesitations about using more invasive methods vanished at the thought of a better life. Ka-ching! Ka-ching! Luca thought to himself as he drank as much spiritual water in preparation for the most crucial part. So, Luca began his invasive guiding and was determined to use the XXX methods he learned. He was unsure how to do it and was very nervous, as it would be his first time. In fact, his heart thundered as he took off his shirt and that of Xavier’s. The book was clear that more skin contact meant better guiding, and Luca was an obedient Guide. Then came the XXX part. Luca figured it was now or never. Every moment he hesitated was not good for Xavier, who was fighting for his life. So, Luca did as was instructed: an intimate hug and rub. Luca proceeded to rub his face against Xavier’s chest. Well, technically, had the poor guy actually read past page two, he would’ve known that no Guide would rub his face against an Esper like a loofa, but here we are. "You’re doing great, Host! Keep it up!" D-29 could only offer moral support and was doing its best to support Luca, who was concentrating on rubbing his cheek against Xavier’s pecs. Moments later, and what was practically carpet burns on his face, Luca decided to just focus on clearing out Xavier’s sea of consciousness as it seemed like the original method wasn’t helping as intended. Of course, how would it help when no energy was being exchanged as he rubbed his face like a maniac? Prominent Guides would’ve risen from the grave upon witnessing this, but thankfully, Luca was now in a faraway place. But his decision to focus on Xavier’s sea of consciousness paid off. Out there was a raging storm where it felt like the sky would collapse at any time. Xavier couldn’t hold out for much longer, so Luca decided to pour in as much guiding energy as he could. It felt like he was trying to fill a void, and at the rate he was going, anything he put in was just swept away by the corruption. The transfer was too slow. While it was effective, Luca realized it wouldn’t be enough. He was again agitated because he didn’t really know how to perform emergency guiding. "D-29. Buy the simplest guiding instructions and summarize them for me. This isn’t working." Luca was actually panicking by this time because Xavier’s pulse wasn’t as strong as earlier, and the corners of Luca’s eyes had started to water as he started losing confidence in himself. The little system didn’t waste time. D-29 bought the simplest book with the shortest explanations and digested its contents before instructing its Host. "Host, I’ve finished gathering information! Please kiss the generator. It seems like the easiest and fastest way to guide is to transfer energy through physical contact, as it is direct and does not dissipate spiritual energy into the environment." Luca knew how to do that from the commercials he saw when he was young and immediately gave Xavier a smooch on the cheeks. While Luca felt his efforts were futile, Xavier actually benefited from his different attempts at guiding him. Everything throbbed, and his head felt like it was going to split open, but he managed to gain a bit of consciousness when he felt warmth amidst the glacial cold of his body and sea of consciousness. It’s just that it wasn’t enough. Xavier needed more, and he subconsciously sought out the source of this warmth.

Chapter 78: Instructions

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