Chapter 51 Field Test: Retrieval

Lee Seng stared at the spotted openings of the tall roofed forest. He could see the blue sky moving by. Sunlight seeped into this part of the forest which made Lee Seng feel more at ease.

"Ah, Lee Seng, c'mon." Carter grabbed Lee Seng's arms and pulled him up into a sitting position. Carter De Leon was always a simple minded guy from what Lee Seng remembered. He dressed that way too. T-shirt, pants and some sneakers were always his go to. He always had on the necklace his mom gave him. It was a simple gold necklace with his initials engraved on it.

For as long as Lee Seng could remember, Carter always kept it on. It was his way of remembering home from what Lee Seng could remember. Carter crouched to check on Lee Seng. He pointed at the holes.

"How'd you get these?" Carter asked. He pointed at some of the holes all around Lee Seng's entire body. His curiosity always won him favor with Lee Seng. That was primarily the reason why Lee Seng liked Carter whenever he was around.

"I fought a blood puppet. She did a huge blood spike spell." Lee Seng answered. Carter nodded and noticed the bow strapped onto Lee Seng's body. Lee Seng's tail nervously wagged back and forth and Carter smiled.

"It's been a long time, Lee. I wish we could've met earlier. I heard you got a tail." Carter pointed at the tail.

"And ears."

"And ears." Carter chuckled. "Im glad you're okay. One formed a squad of Numbers to get you from the field test. I'm glad I didn't have to step into the fight."

Lee Seng's tail slowed and curled onto the ground. He knew why the Numbers were there but he really didn't want to believe it.

'I can't keep the Protocol a secret now.' Lee Seng thought. He scanned where the Numbers were. Abby and Scarlet were closer to the forest line, chatting. Alex and Nicole had disappeared.

"They're checking on some participants you had encountered. You almost cornered them into something horrible." Carter said.

"Cornered them?" Lee Seng turned to look at Carter who was standing. He was scanning the area. "What happened?" A long silence filled the space between them. Lee Seng heard the gentle breeze push through leaves. He nervously gulped, waiting.

"Whole you were in that... form. You fought and killed whatever and whoever was in your path." Carter quietly said. He didn't make eye contact with Lee Seng. Lee Seng looked down at the small patch of grass. His lips quivered. Carter's words echoed in Lee Seng's head.

'What did I do?' Lee Seng wondered. His heart sunk. He couldn't help himself think of the worst case scenarios.

"Did I kill... people?" Lee Seng quietly asked.

"You... killed a small squad of Academy soldiers." Carter answered. Lee Seng's blood froze.

'I killed... people?'

Lee Seng spaced out in disbelief. His ears lowered with his head. He stared at the small patch of grass. The awkward, deadening silence engulfed him.

'Did I really kill those people...? The Numbers came out themselves because of it. They wouldn't have come for me.' Lee Seng thought. 'They stopped me to stop the Protocol from continuing to kill. That's good, right?'

Lee Seng's eyes became blurry. He blinked and felt tears roll down his cheek. He let out a shaky breath. He reached to wipe his tears and realized the mask was still on. He pulled the mask off with ease and felt the familiar white wisps disappearing.

He wiped his tears and pushed himself up. Carter watched Lee Seng struggle to stand. He reached to help and Lee Seng pushed his hand away. Lee Seng didn't even look at him. Lee Seng's legs wobbled but he stood. He turned towards the opposite side of the forest the Numbers weren't on and started to walk.

"Lee!" Carter shouted. He reached out to grab him but stopped himself. Lee Seng limped over towards the thick line of trees. He just wanted to sit in a darker place away from everyone.

"Where's he going?" Abby asked. Scarlet and Abby jogged over towards Carter. "What happened?"

"I..." Carter watched Lee Seng enter the dark forest. "I told him about the squad." Abby slapped Carter's arm.

"Why would you do that? He's already going through enough as is." Abby scolded Carter. "Even if I don't like him, I wouldn't tell him something like that."

"The Protocol did it. It ravages until someone wins. We know what that's like." Scarlet said. "He needs to be watched even if it's from afar. Since he has the Protocol activated within him, it's only going to get worse with time and negative emotion. He can't succumb to it or..."

The three sighed. They all knew what would happen. Scarlet looked over at Carter and Abby.

"Just make sure he doesn't go far. We're leaving soon, anyways." Scarlet walked back towards where Dr. Valentin and the two examinees were.

"What was that? Who was that?" Young man 1 asked. Both of the young men were up and looking at Nicole, Alex and Dr. Valentin. Dr. Valentin was carefully observing the two boys while Alex and Nicole stood arms crossed in front of the young men.

"Calm down, boys. Something happened and we had to come onto the site to make sure nobody would get hurt." Alex explained.

"The creature broke through the test site, so we had to come out and capture it ourselves." Nicole said. "You two aren't going to remember a thing, got it? You never saw the creature. You passed out in the forest for a bit because you were exhausted. When you wake up, you'll feel just fine." Nicole's eyes glinted like a prism and the two young men's eyes started to glow like a prism.

"Our job's done. Let's get out of the test site before more students show up." Nicole turned. Dr. Valentin stood up and waved his hand again. The boys glowed green and he followed after Alex.

"Are you done?" Scarlet asked as Nicole stepped out of the forest and into the spotted sunlight.

"Yes, where's Lee Seng?" Nicole asked. Scarlet turned and pointed at the opposite side of the forest.

"De Leon told him about the squadron sent out before us. He went into the forest after hearing that. De Leon and Abby are keeping an eye on him."

"Get him. We should leave before my effect wears off on the young men." Nicole waved. Scarlet nodded and turned.

"You heard that, right?"

"We did. The kid went in deeper." Carter answered.

Lee Seng sighed. He slowly moved deeper into the forest. The sounds of leaves rustling above him, calmed him. His mind and body were in a state of disconnect but the forest always seemed to calm him. He let out a huge sigh, turning it into a scream.

"Ahhhhh!" Lee Seng screamed at the top of his lungs. He punched the tree next to him and shook his head. His ears twitched and he looked up.

Crunch!

He heard something moving off to his left. He took a slow step backwards and heard something take another step.

Crunch!

He bit his lip and grabbed his chest. He pulled on the bowstring and took another step back.

Crunch, crunch, crunch!

A old hag with milky eyes poked her head out. Her gray wiry hair half covered her face. Lee Seng held his breath at the sight of the thing. The old hag craned her neck to the left. She sniffed and then turned her gaze to the right. She looked directly at Lee Seng.

'Dammit, this is a Hag.' Lee Seng thought. The old hag sniffed and moved in closer. Lee Seng waited for her to take a step so he could take a step. The old hag smiled and cackled.

She swiped forwards as Lee Seng three himself backwards.

'Why is an old hag here of all places!?!' Lee Seng glanced at his watch.

[HAG--A-RANK--MAGICAL]

"Fuck." Lee Seng shoved himself away with a blast of gravity. He landed fifteen feet away when the hag's hands started to glow. "Fuck!" He shoved his hand forward and shot a gravity blast at it. The old hag deflected it and cackled.

Purple smog shot out of her hands and as she rubbed them together. Lee Seng started to grab his bow when a blast of wind pushed the purple smog.

"Lee, run!" Carter yelled. Carter grabbed Lee Seng and turned him.

"What the hell is a Hag doing in a the test site? Is she one of the 'surprises'?" Abby landed next to Carter.

"This is gonna be fun." Carter smiled. Abby turned to look at him and shook her head. The hag dashed forward, hands out like claws. Magic circles glowed all over the trees. Lee Seng saw small magic circles that were craved into the trees.

"She carved all of these?" Lee Seng shouted. Carter dashes forward and swung at the hag. Her magic circles died down as her hands were enveloped with a green shield. She lifted it up and deflected the punch. Carter's other fist list up and he slammed it into the shield. Lava engulfed the shield, eating it.

The hag cackled as smog shot out of her mouth. Abby swung a right hook in the air as Carter ducked as if they had already known what was gonna happen. The wind sliced the smog in half and slammed into hag.

She screamed in pain, fumbling backwards. Blood gushed out of her cheeks. Carter flicked his index and middle finger up and in an instant, a geyser of lava shot out of the ground. The hag screamed in pain. He pulled his two fingers in and watched as the lava instantly cooled.