"H-hngh…"
A shaky whimper slipped from Sera as she clamped her knees together, fighting the slow, insistent pressure of her Instructor's thigh between them. She was pinned against the towering mahogany bookshelf wall; the air thick with parchment and incense, and the vast, vaulted space looming around her. Her hands pushed futilely against his chest as she stared at the ground, determined not to meet his gaze, determined not to lose.
Sweat dotted her brow.
His voice droned low in her ear, a dizzying vibration. Sera struggled to keep her consciousness afloat amid the velvet voice ringing through her ears, her eyes blurring and unfocusing against her will.
"Sera…" he murmured, "showing someone your magic vessel is like showing yourself naked," his voice vibrated through her skull with a languid ease. "It's a deeply intimate thing to show someone your core and it is a deeply violating thing to have it revealed without your consent."
She tensed as his palm, which had lifted her shirt and grasped her ribs with an achingly strong force, slid slowly down, across her side until it settled right below her navel. His fingers prodded gently as if he was searching for something.
"You have to develop mental barriers to keep the riff raff out."
The tips of his fingers dug into her skin.
"Protecting your vessel is a form of self-control. And self-control is what will protect you." Finding the spot he was looking for, he pressed his hand deeply against her abdomen, aiming for her womb, and with a sudden, silent aggression, forced his mana from his palm into her body and veins.
Sera shuddered and yelped as the foreign, golden mana coursed through her body like lightning. Its aggressive tendrils shredded her mental shields like paper. A golden mist lifted like steam from her skin and evaporated lazily into the air; her own mana suppressed into submission as her circuits filled with her Instructor's invading magic. She bit her lip, trying not to cry out, but the sensation was too strong.
"Nngh-h s-stop, ha!"
A sharp gasp tumbled out of her throat as she felt his mana threads root around in her mind, indiscriminately pulling memories here and there and grasping nightmares like pulling up weeds.
It was like he was rummaging through random drawers in the clothing dresser of her brain with utter disregard to her privacy. A heavy blush descended upon her body as she realized he was finding absolutely everything; peering into her secrets, her thoughts and feelings, invading her way of being with his callous, indifferent precision. Every moment, from the mundane brushing of her teeth, to her conversations with her peers, and even her feelings about him, were laid bare for him to see.
He let out a low chuckle as she reddened in embarrassment and anger from the ruthless invasion of privacy. Sera glared up at him with tearful eyes, her irises glimmering like rubies.
He smiled at the sight.
He liked the way her shoulders blushed and shook, the tempting way her saliva coated her lips as she bit them in frustration, and how her eyebrows furrowed in shame, futilely trying to deny the growing ache in her womb.
His sharp eyes flashed gold in the dim lighting of the library, gleaming as his gaze bore into his apprentice futilely struggling beneath him.
He leaned in and pressed a heavy kiss against her ear, his breath hot and close enough for steam to appear on her earring, the condensation flashing across its silver surface like a warning with every breath.
Sera grit her teeth. She hated the way his breath on her ear made her unable to concentrate. Every syllable he spoke tickled deeply in her head, echoing in her skull, and the aching heat in her core kept rising.
His mana, as it arced up and through her veins and arteries, tearing her mental shields down with ruthless ease, was dominating and ruthless. He was clearing away her abilities with a simple swat and it made her feel like her magic was a parlor trick. That's what it was. In the face of his overpowering control, her ungoverned magic felt like smoke and mirrors. Chaotic and unreliable. Explosive and moody. And unable to currently defend herself from his relentless assault on her mind.
He pressed his lips against her neck gently, and then after a brief pause, he bit down hard, pushing mana through her neck this time. Sera flinched, her hands crumpling the fabric of his shirt, her fists still pressed against his chest, and she let out a stifled whimper with her eyes pressed shut. His tongue lapped at the bitemark he had made.
"That's no good," he murmured against her neck, pressing a deep kiss against the wound.
"You can't let me in this easily, Sera."
* * *
On the bright side, I get to eat a little, Sera told herself. Over and over, resigned to her fate, Sera tried to focus on the positive, but it couldn't put out the worsening anxiety she had in the back of her mind that getting involved with an S-class was a bad idea and that she was walking towards her doom.
Well, what was there to do now? Sera let out a breath and tried to relax her shoulders, taking a look out the windows as she passed by. Even if it was from his interference, her job had commanded her to guide this esper and Sera had no choice but to obey. She had to think about his next steps. What was his target? His intent? She had to be cautious because she didn't know what he wanted yet.
Her gaze wandered over to Arlen's back, taking in his form as they walked down the hallway, her footsteps followed methodically a few steps behind him as they made their way to her office.
She could tell he worked out from the way his lean muscles stretched taut and tight under his dark blue t-shirt, his white jacket draped over his shoulder. His figure showed that he had engaged in consistent, regular discipline to maintain his combat form. It makes sense he's an S-class, she thought. While the size of one's mana vessel was majority attributed to genetics, a good portion, around 30%, was affected by effort and sustained practice. 30% was still a significant factor, so most dedicated Espers and Guides with an interest in jumping up a rank dedicated their lives to improving control over their fitness and magic.
As Sera's eyes scanned his body, she recalled his introduction. From freezing Julia's wrist, he had demonstrated incredibly precise control over his powers. Being able to freeze an opponent without harming their body physiologically and in such a small target area for an ice mage was impressive. His rank gave him explosive, damaging power, but his mastery came from his practice.
In this way, from her analysis, Sera instinctually respected him. After all, Sera herself had an ungodly amount of power but clumsy control. She could acknowledge Arlen's current mastery over magic meant he had been dedicated in his practice. No small feat.
Accepting the situation, she started preparing herself as they continued to walk towards their destination. Sera calculated that someone of his rank probably had the ability to see vessels, but she wasn't sure to what degree. As a precaution, she began calling her mana, slowly and methodically during their walk so he wouldn't notice.
Layer over layer, through the calm pacing of their footsteps, Sera stacked mana barriers over her mind and dampened her magic vessel; compressing and squeezing it as if she was wringing water out of a sponge. Her hands trembled and she clenched them from the uncomfortable sensation. Hiding her vessel was something she could do, her Instructor had been more than quite diligent in teaching her everything she needed to know about it. But it was always an uncomfortable sensation. Shrouding her vessel felt like she was suffocating her soul, like she couldn't get enough air. She could endure it, but she didn't like it, and the longer she held it back, the more painful it became. Hopefully, this won't take too long, Sera thought, wrapping another mental chain around her increasingly shrinking vessel.
An iridescent dust began to shimmer around her.
Luckily, the walk generated enough wind for the pearlescent mist leaking from her body to evaporate like smoke, dispersing quickly through movement. She hated to say it, but she was grateful to her Instructor's teachings for this moment. Her aura was now barely perceptible.
She flushed as she recalled the memory of her Instructor invading her memories and thoughts. The shame and anger she felt as he ripped through her core with brazen indifference, rifling through her emotions like picking trinkets at the flea market.
She never wanted to feel exposed like that again. Unwillingly wrenched apart and laid bare. She cast another mental barrier just in case.
As they reached her office, Arlen opened the sliding door. Looking back at her he grinned, "Thanks for having me, Sera."
Sera let out a wry smile. "Of course, Esper Cunning."
* * *
Sera led him to the sofa and turned to prepare tea in the corner. "Esper Cunning, since this is your first session with me, I will tell you my rules. I only have two," she grabbed the teapot and added a generous helping of tea leaves.
"Every session is 15 minutes regardless of purification progress. Clothes, yours and mine, stay on," she said, pouring boiling water into the pot.
"Clothes on? No sex… only kissing?" Arlen asked lightly, his eyes following Sera's every move.
"Kissing and petting. Anything is fine as long as clothes stay on," Sera replied firmly. Setting the tea tray down on the table, she poured him a cup, and slid it over to him before sitting next to him on the sofa.
"When do you allow that?"
"Immediately."
"Right off the bat?" Arlen questioned, tilting his head.
"Yes," Sera said succinctly.
"Usually the first session just extends to holding hands," he countered.
"Those are my rules."
Arlen suddenly understood why Sera had such a rumor about her being the resident whore swirling about. Sera let any esper receive Stage 2 Guiding regardless of rapport or how long they knew each other. It was kind of like saying she'd let any esper halfway into her pants. Or having every esper "try" her once regardless of compatibility.
That, in addition to having a larger than average esper contact list, Arlen could see how such a rumor had formed. Arlen's personal opinion was that espers and guides were in general a rather sexually active bunch, he himself was quite promiscuous, so he didn't see the problem personally. However, most espers and guides still maintained a semblance of pretense and usually only reported hand holding on the first session - even if they did something more.
Assessing Sera's direct demeanor, he could guess that she hadn't done that and reported her guiding honestly. Her candid nature most likely ruffled more than enough feathers.
Arlen took a sip of his tea and, brushing a quick hand through his hair, he turned towards Sera. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he pulled her closer until their hips were touching side by side. "Ok," he said, looking down at her face, "I agree with those rules."
Sera stared back, her red eyes locking with his, a small fire growing behind her gaze. She leaned in until she could feel his breath on her lips.
As their lips touched, she closed her eyes and, with a click of her watch, started the timer.