The SSS-rank Guide Doesn't Need Saving

Aisha had no idea that a new rumor was beginning to spread among the students. She headed toward the building responsible for keeping samples of monsters for students at the Academy to research.

To reach it, Aisha had to cross an open walkway that connected the main campus to a smaller annex. The walkway offered a clear view of the training ground below. Sentinels in dark uniforms sparred against holographic projections of monsters. Small bursts of psychic pressure ripped the air around them like heat waves. Some even took off their upper clothes to spar with another sentinel, sweat making their bodies glisten under the setting sun.

A few guides stood at the sidelines, carefully watching everything so they could immediately rush to any accidents and stabilize sentinels after their fight.

Aisha continued walking, the noise of clashing energy and weapons fading behind her the further she went. A modest sign above the entrance of a building read RESOURCES DEPARTMENT in plain lettering.

She pushed the door open.

Long aisles stretched out on either side, lined with shelves holding specimen jars, sealed containers, and stacks of files that hadn’t been converted to holographic format yet.

And at the front desk, an old man hunched over a thick, leather-bound book. His silver hair was sticking out unevenly. He wore a long grey robe with the Association’s crest stitched on his collar.

He didn’t glance up when Aisha approached, clearly more interested in what he was reading than who was entering the door.

”Excuse me,” Aisha said. ”I’m here to collect a specimen sample.”

”Mm,” he mumbled, still reading. ”Class and rank.”

”Class 7-D. D-rank guide.”

He merely gave her a nod before he shuffled from behind the counter. He gestured for her to follow him into the tall.

”7-D’s assignment this time is the D-class corrupted monster. It should be around here,” he muttered as they walked past columns filled with different samples, each one pulsing faintly with light. Some glowed a soft blue, others a sickly green, and many others. ”Right this way.”

They stopped before a glass canister the size of a person. It held dozens of identical samples, marked with faint green lines.

”Take one,” the old man instructed, waving a hand toward the canister. A small hole opened with a soft hiss.

Aisha reached forward, her fingers closing around one of the samples. It was slightly heavier than she thought, and she sensed a faint presence of miasma within.

”Ah-ah,” the old man suddenly said, smacking her hand before she could fully withdraw it. ”Don’t hold it with your bare hand for too long. Put it in your spatial ring immediately. Skin contact can let the miasma seep through, even through a suppressed sample. You need to be careful with it.”

Aisha nodded and quickly tucked the sample into the small ring she wore, feeling it vanish into the pocket space. The tainted presence faded the moment it was stashed away.

”That should be enough. You can go.”

”Can I look around for a bit?” Aisha asked suddenly.

”This isn’t a shopping mall. But, fine, you can look around. Just don’t touch anything.”

Seeing that she was genuinely curious about the samples inside this place, the old man didn’t stop her. He only reminded her that he would only allow her a few minutes to wander around.

Aisha thanked him before turning around, looking at the countless columns and canisters surrounding her. Each canister and shelf displayed a holographic panel, flickering with rotating images, depicting the very creature the samples had been extracted from.

She walked toward the nearest one to her right, studying it quietly.

A beast with elongated limbs and a shell that resembled something from her original world. A crab, she thought. But this easily dwarfed any crab she’d known in her old world. A serpentine creature with too many eyes lining up its body, its scales shimmering in an aqua hue. Another that looked very similar to a boar was also one of the displayed creatures in there. However, it was so thin as if it had gone on a diet.

She paused before one that unmistakably resembled a large shrimp the size of a house.

The description below it said its tail was its strongest feature. It could destroy a steel wall and completely throw off several sentinels into the air.

Aisha’s lips twitched.

Deciding she had lingered long enough, she turned to leave, passing beneath the tree at the center of the hall.

Up close, its size was even more impressive, branches stretching far above her head. Its leaves were made of pure light, rustling faintly. She stopped before it, wondering if it was real. But before she could touch it, the old man’s voice called out behind her.

”Careful there. That’s the Divine Tree of the Academy.”

Aisha turned to glance at him as he approached him with his hands placed behind his back.

”Is it a real tree?”

”No. This is a copy of the branch we found from a dying tree that has been floating outside our galaxy.” The old man moved to stand beside her. ”It is one of the empire’s greatest feats.”

Aisha fell into a deep thought. How did it get there? And for this to be a copy of its branch... just how big was that tree they found before?

”The real one is inside the Imperial Palace.” The old man continued. ”This one here is structured to hold and store pure energy collected from our highest-ranked guides. It acts as both a suppressor and an absorber, keeping the miasma from the samples stored in here neutralized and what leaks through the containment. Keeps the entire department from becoming a walking hazard.”

Aisha glanced up at the branch once again.

”It also reacts and absorbs,” Aisha turned to him as he added, ”particularly strong waves of guiding energy. Not that it happens often.”

To control the miasma coming from the specimens inside this building from gathering, the tree was constructed to absorb guiding energy from S-ranks to select A-rank guides. Every three months, the Association would send a unit to allow their energy to be absorbed by this tree.”

Aisha found this branch even more mysterious. But she was even more curious to see what the Association was like to be able to produce such innovative and excellent equipment.

Aisha thanked him and left.

The old man went back to his desk, picking up his book once more, but before he could settle into his chair, he nearly dropped his book as a blinding light radiated from the tree’s branches in violent waves.

”What in the world—!”

He hurried toward the tree in panic.

”Emergency terminal... where was it again?”

He shifted his feet back and forth, at a loss of where he should go and find the terminal. Then, he remembered it was on his desk.

Running back to it, he quickly turned it on, the screen spreading wide in front of him. He saw the red emergency button on it and was just about to press his finger on it when the burst of light faded.

He glanced at the tree and the terminal, wondering if he still had to send an emergency signal to the Association. After a few seconds of hesitation, he finally pressed it. Since the tree was important equipment in the Academy, any damage should be reported for immediate repair.

However—

”Why is it like this?”

The tree’s energy level had spiked ridiculously high compared to what he remembered. They should have remained low until the next scheduled replenishment from the Association guide unit.

Instead, the tree looked as if it had just been refilled.