Chapter 57 The Quick Rundown

"If we can use the material gifts from the previous field test, it'll work out in our favor." Lee Seng smiled.

"How? I only got these bottles of liquids." Olivia pulled some bottles out of her bag and showed Lee Seng them. Lee Seng reached out for one of them and Olivia put a red liquid bottle in his hand. He moved it closer to his eye and shook the liquid.

"It's cold." Lee Seng observed. "Are they all cold?" He looked up at Olivia who nodded.

"Yeah, they're all cold. The watch told me that one was a Potion of Fire. The blue one is a Potion of Dark Matter and the purple one is a Potion of Mystery." Olivia explained. Lee Seng swished the red liquid.

"If this is really a Potion of Fire then that must mean it doesn't activate unless the liquid makes contact with oxygen. So throwing this or pouring it out will cause a fire..." Lee Seng mumbled. Olivia held the purple liquid up and swished it around. She could a small cloud in the bottle.

"This one intrigues me the most. I want to dismantle one of these, but I'm afraid I'll ruin the effect of the liquid." Olivia explained. Lee Seng nodded. He did think about asking her to dismantle one of the potions but he never thought about the repercussions that would happen if they dismantled the potion effect.

Lee Seng handed over fire potion back to Olivia and reached his hand behind him like he was going to pull an arrow out.

'Arrow.'

An arrow materialized from thin air and Olivia stood in amazement. Lee Seng offered the arrow to Olivia.

"That bow is so cool." Olivia's expression widened. She was excited. She had never seen weapon that could materialize and reproduce the needed parts to adequately use the full weapon. "A bow that can create its own arrows is so cool. The enchant on this must be at least an B-rank." Lee Seng pushed the arrow into Olivia's hand and then let go. The arrow didn't disappear like he thought it would.

"I guess that answers my question." Lee Seng spoke.

"Answers what?"

"If the arrow will stay materialized if I don't fire the arrow." Lee Seng pointed. "Show me how your dismantle works with this then."

Olivia raised the arrow up. She wrapped her fingers around the arrow and then extended her fingers. In a second, the arrow tip, wooden shaft, fletching, and nock pulled apart. They floated higher and Olivia took a step back as the individual parts started to move around by themselves.

"Woah." Lee Seng watched as the individual parts started to slowly spin around in a circle. "This can actually be really useful in different situations." Olivia nodded and pulled the arrow parts to her. They floated over to her hand, landing in her hand. She looked up at Lee Seng who was mumbling something.

'My power can also temporarily stun or stop the Dark Matter flow in someone's body. I shouldn't use it against people. It could be dangerous. The Singles test went well because I could practice against the monsters. I've never used it against a human opponent. Should I try it?' Olivia thought. She had folded her arms together and looked down out of habit.

"Hey, Olivia." Lee Seng snapped his fingers. Lee Seng watched Olivia lost in thought. She had casually folded her arms together while Lee Seng was in thought and when he had come back, she seemed to be thinking about something as well. "Olivia." Lee Seng reached up and tapped her. In an instant, she grabbed his wrist and looked up. Lee Seng's eyes widened in awe. He didn't expect Olivia to have THAT fast of a reaction.

"Woah," Lee Seng managed to let out. Olivia had her hand wrapped around his wrist and it did feel uncomfortable, but first impressions of Olivia had just flew out the window.

"Oh my god, sorry." Olivia let go. Lee Seng pulled his hand back and rolled it a couple of times. "I was thinking and didn't hear you."

"Oh, that's fine. I was just getting you cause I think they're gonna start soon." Lee Seng nodded over to his right side. The teachers were slowly coming back to the middle of the stage. Olivia looked over and nodded. "We should step away."

"Oh, yeah yeah. S-sorry about that. I didn't mean to." Olivia awkwardly apologized.

"It's fine."

The two walked off the stage and nodded at the teachers as they passed. They stood off to the side of the stairs and watched as staff members milled about. The chaos of the gym was in full force. Lee Seng looked around and noticed that people were all in pairs, doing the same thing Olivia and him had done. They were figuring out strategies.

"Oh, Lee Seng." Olivia spoke up. Lee Seng turned to look at Olivia who was leaning up against the wall.

"Yeah?" Lee Seng asked.

"There's something else I should tell you about my power. I haven't had enough practice with it, but I can temporarily stun or stop the flow of Dark Matter in a person." Olivia shifted. "I haven't tried it against actual human opponents, but I tried it during the Singles field test. It worked well for low-ranking monsters, but I ran into some trouble with a surprise monster."

'So she ran into a surprise monster as well. A big coincidence that at least five of us had similar problems.'

"Are you afraid to use it against people?" Lee Seng asked. Olivia looked up, slightly shocked by his question. She didn't think he would answer with a question like that. Lee Seng's image was really different from what the media painted him to be.

"Oh, uh... I just never had any opportunities to in the past. I've never come across someone who's been really hostile that I had to use my powers. 'Use your wits to get out of a situation before you use your powers.' That's what my grandma always tells me."

"I was powerless for three-four years so a lot of my instinct comes to either running or using brute force."

"Running or brute force?"

"Mmm," Lee Seng nodded. "I landed in the tall forest and the first thing I saw was a blue goblin. I killed it but it alerted the other goblins. I ran for a while trying to think of a way to clear the goblins. I ended up crashing a tree into the majority of the goblins. Then I used brute force because my negative hurts me more in the end."

"Your negative is that bad?" Olivia asked. Lee Seng was throwing her through a loop. Her and Lee Seng were basically strangers. They were in similar situations with the exam and that was about it. Lee Seng had his problems and she had hers. The media made Lee Seng seem like he was some sort of deliberate monster that was terrorizing the Creator because of his mother's death. Things didn't make sense with Lee Seng. That's what made it interesting for her.

"Mmm, every time I use gravity, it inflicts a numb and heavy feeling on whatever body part or limb I've used." Lee Seng explained. Olivia gave Lee Seng a weird look. He looked at her and tried to keep a composed outward appearance. "What?"

"Why would you tell a stranger your negative? I thought we weren't supposed to share our negatives. I could deliberately use it against you. I could leak it. I could make your life miserable knowing your biggest weakness." Olivia explained. She moved closer to Lee Seng. Her concern only made Lee Seng more embarrassed and scared of her. He took a couple steps back and made Olivia realize she had unintentionally scared him a bit.

"Oh, I forgot about that." Lee Seng quickly said. He turned to face the stage. Staff members were doing their stage checks while the teachers were milling about and chatting amongst each other. Stewart glanced over at Lee Seng and Lee Seng quickly turned to look at Olivia who was staring at him. He didn't know what to say or do. He had never put himself in this situation.

"Alright, everyone! Can I have your attention, please." Phillips' voice boomed. Lee Seng turned away and looked at the stage. The three teachers spread across the stage. Stewart was close to Lee Seng's side while Icarus was on the opposite side. Phillips stood in the middle of the stage and clapped his hands together. The room slowly grew quiet and he nodded.

"Hope this time was used well. I hope you and your partner understand the basics of your power and what you are capable of. Your class will play a part in the duo matches, but this is things you will learn when and if you transfer into the Academy. The goal of the part of the exam is to see if you can work well with your teammate like it was explained before.

"Your watches will be given a random number. Link that number with your partner and you'll be given a team number. This team number will randomly be picked and if you see your team number, you will fight with the other team. You will have three matches. Three matches is what you get to show off both individual and team skill.

"Here are some rules you should keep in mind. One, you will not kill the enemy. It's a spar match. Please use restraint. Two, there is a boundary that will show up. If you get pushed out of the boundary, you are out. Three, the matches will be timed fifteen minutes each. In the fifteen minutes, show your capability. Four, breaking any of the rules will cut you out of the exam entirely."