Chapter 18 Choice

Lee Seng grabbed at his collar and yanked at it. He began akwardly chuckling.

"Y-yeah, I'm planning on taking the e-entrance exam." Lee Seng acknowledged. Manny smiled and nodded. Lee Seng folded his hands together and stared at tent wall. A cool breeze was making its way through the tent.

"Ah, well I hope you pass it. Maybe we can see each other more, then." Manny said. Lee Seng nodded slowly. He stood up and turned, Manny quickly standing up and blocking Lee Seng's path. "Where you going? You should rest a bit longer."

"I'll be fine. you don't need to worry about me, Manny." Lee Seng said. He pushed past Manny and started to walk out of the tent. Manny quickly trailed behind him.

"Where you going then? You just going to act like nothing happened?" Manny asked.

"You and I both know I just need time to figure things out." Lee Seng responded, turning around. "I got a lot on my plate right now, Manny."

"C'mon, I can help. Just tell me." Manny grabbed Lee Seng's arm. Lee Seng glanced at Manny's hand and sighed, pulling away forcibly.

"I don't have to tell you anything." Lee Seng yelled. "Remember, you left me behind and followed Sara off to the Academy." Manny chuckled and rubbed his temples.

"There were a lot more factors than just Sara."

"Oh, then what else?" Lee Seng stepped forward. Manny took a step up and kept his smile plastered on his face.

"My dad thought it would be good for me. If I'm going to adventure like we both wanted to, gotta go through the Academy first."

"Ahhh, that's something I already know. Try again." Lee Seng smiled with sass. The two knew how to push each other's buttons and Lee Seng knew Manny too well.

'He doesn't have the guts to tell me.' Lee Seng thought. He began to turn when Manny grabbed him again.

"I did it for you. I want us to adventure and see the Old World together." Manny replied. "We both wanted to see the Old World together, why can't I keep that promise?" Lee Seng was appalled by the way Manny was acting. Lee Seng didn't like how stubborn Manny was when it came to him. It only brought up bad memories and that's what ticked Lee Seng off.

"If you weren't stubborn that day and just listened to your heart on this, maybe none of this would've happened." Lee Seng whispered. He yanked his arm away.

"Let's just start anew and enjoy the time we've been graciously given!" Manny pleaded. "I just want to show you I'm different. I'm not who I used to be."

"Then you should be able to tell me why you followed Sara and ignored me for three years." Lee Seng started off towards the exit. Manny ran and grabbed Lee Seng, again. He turned Lee Seng around and Lee Seng's eyes flared blue and red. Manny's grip loosened, taking a step back. He couldn't remember Lee Seng being able to pull of an actual angry face.

"Don't stop me unless you want to explain yourself to me." Lee Seng growled. Manny let go and forced a smile. He nodded. Lee Seng spun in his heel and walked out the tent.

- - - -

The dark tendrils of shadows covered Akio. He stepped up to the darkened piled of cars and rubble. He pushed through the rubble and popped out on the other side. The black and white film suddenly pulled into color and Akio noticed there were a couple of people standing not too far from him.

"Who did this?" A slender woman with huge metal bracelets on her wrists asked. She stood next to a very tall, extremely buff man. He had a crew cut and slowly turned towards Akio's direction.

"I'm not sure but from the reports, whoever did this wiped out a lot of Goblins." The buff man said. "Oh, Akio!" The man waved. The slender woman turned and gave Akio a warm smile and wave.

"We were about to call you. Were there a lot of casualties?" The woman asked. Akio nodded, making his way over towards the two individuals.

"Many were injured, there were some on the verge of death and a couple of deaths." Akio reported. The woman and man nodded.

"So, what were you doing all the way out here?" The man asked.

"Lee Seng needed some help with something." Akio replied. The two individuals faces began to grow concerned. Akio waved them off. "He's fine. A bit bruised but nothing major. Y'know how the kid is."

"Likes to not follow orders." The woman remarked.

"A sly fella." The man added. The three nodded.

"So what brings you out here, Scarlet and Alex?" Akio asked.

"There was a blip of energy that the Creator wanted us to follow up on." Scarlet, the woman answered. She turned to look at Alex who was already pointing in the direction of the blip. Akio noticed his was pointing in the sky.

"The blip came from up there. Did you happen to see anything, Akio?" Alex asked. Akio shook his head.

"I was too busy trying to keep Direwolf Riders out. What exactly happened?" Akio lied. Scarlet turned to observe Akio for awhile and then nodded.

"The Creator says Protocol XI activated. I doubt that to be the case but we need to see Lee." Scarlet revealed.

'Crap.' Akio thought. 'This is gonna be harder than I thought.'

"You just need to see him?" Akio asked. The two nodded.

"See if he's okay. I mean, besides the Protocol activating, this must be Lee's first time in the middle of a Goblin invasion." Alex said. Akio nodded and pulled his phone out.

"I'll call him and let him know we're coming to the campsite then. He should've gotten healed by now."

- - - -

Lee Seng sat on a bench far away from the medical camp. He had gotten many weird looks and decided it would be better to sit somewhere far enough away that he didn't have to constantly check behind his back.

He scrolled through his socials, sighing as many people were talking about what happened at school a couple of days ago. Lee Seng slipped his phone and slipped it back into his pocket when it rang.

Ring, ring, ring!

Lee Seng pulled the phone back and looked at the caller ID. It was Akio calling. He picked up and set the phone near his ear.

"Are you done?" Lee Seng asked.

"Almost finished up. I was just calling to see if you finished getting healed." Akio responded. Lee Seng smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I did. I'm a couple blocks away from the camp."

"Oh, you ran off afterwards?"

"You told me I just needed to get healed. Never said anything about staying."

"Ahh, I guess I did say that." Akio admitted with a chuckle. "Oh, stay where you are. Alex and Scarlet are with me and they wanted to check up on you."

"3 and 4 are here, too?" Lee Seng inquired.

"Mmm, they needed to follow up on something and wanted to check up on you first."

"Ah, alright. I'll be here. Y'know where I am."

"Mmm, see you in a bit." Akio said. Lee Seng pulled the phone away from his ear when he heard Akio say something. "Oh, Lee!" Akio spoke in Japanese.

"Yeah?" Lee Seng responded.

"Everything will be fine, alright?" Akio chimed. Lee Seng was confused. Akio wasn't one to be overly caring.

"Okay?"

"Just don't do anything rash." Akio said. "We'll see you in a bit." He switched back to English and the phone call ended. Lee Seng scratched his head in confusion and shrugged.

"Why's he so cryptic?" Lee Seng pondered.

10 Minutes Later

Lee Seng stared at a video on his phone. A man was sitting in front of the camera, talking about technological advances that have boosted relief efforts in a time of crisis.

"The last twenty-five years has pushed us from the changes of the Old World to our current world. Technology with spacial storage space is now doable because of the New World. New ores, plants, creatures and materials.

"Technology has vastly improved during the twenty-fives years of struggle. We are at a point now that we should really be asking ourselves one question: how can we provide relief efforts to those who need it in hard to reach places?" Lee Seng started to tune out, letting the video play in the background of his mind. People were being redirected from the invasion attack and cars slowly went by.

'If I'm waiting for the three Numbers to arrive, maybe I should choose a Path.' Lee Seng thought. He cleared his throat and stretched, groaning. He smacked his lips as he lowered his arms and felt comfort over take him.

"What are the Paths again?" He whispered.

[Notice: The two paths are Joker and Spell Trickster.]

Lee Seng nodded as the lady spoke. She sounded human to him, but there was an uncanny valley feeling about it. He didn't think it was a woman but something that presented itself as such voice-wise.

"Hmmm, the two do seem good. If I choose Spell Trickster, I could boost my power and melee capabilities. It would work well with my fox-like appearance. On the other hand, being a Joker could work well too. The 'mask' thing is obscure. I could control the battlefield in the way I want to too... Having endless possibilities would be nice, but maybe I should focus on a couple of things rather than split myself thin." Lee Seng quietly pondered to himself. He crossed his legs and arms, slowly moving his feet.

"Ugh, this is too hard to pick!" Lee Seng jumped off the bench and started to pace back and forth. "Which one sounds more appealing?"

'Both would work well.' Keng chimed in. 'If I had the option to progress through many things, I would. Having more options to use in fight scenarios would be nice. You're good with a blade and don't easily scare from what I've gathered. Currently, your gravity powers seem to be destructive far. If you were a Joker, you could possibly wield your gravity power in melee combat.'

Lee Seng nodded along to Keng's opinion. Keng seems to be in his side. He didn't do anything to Lee Seng to make him think otherwise.

'On the other hand, your destructive capabilities would be greatly boosted as a Spell Trickster. You'd be more limited in what you can do with your power, but you'd be well off with it. If what your brother says is true, we should heed Akio's word and go Joker for safety.' Keng continued.

"You do have a point," Lee Seng muttered. "If I were to be chased down, having a variety of ways to handle them, could really help." Lee Seng snapped his fingers and grinned. He planted himself back on the bench and nodded. "I'll go with Joker then."

[User has chosen Joker as their Path?]

Lee Seng nodded.

[Path will now be installed. Please hold.]