Chapter 128 Meet Your Teammates

THIRD YEAR TEAMS

TEAM 3A

TEAM LEADER: AKIO KATO

EVAN TRAINOR

OLIVIA OK

SOREN ANDERSON

JAE KANG

TEAM 3B

TEAM LEADER: AKALI KATO

LEE SENG CHANG

FELICIA VEX

RITSUKA YAMADA

JASON KANG

"These will be your groups for today." Vickie motioned. "The Academy has graciously given us Numbers 9 and 10 to aid us in the frontlines. Nine and Ten have been working on the frontlines ever since the first incident has happened. They will be here to guide you and work with you guys. If, for <strong>any </strong>reason, they feel you guys need to be pulled out, they will do so. Like Noah has been saying, don't get cocky. With that, let's meet your team leaders."

Vickie motioned and the curtains pulled back. Akali and Akio stepped through the curtain threshold as Noah and Vickie greeted them with handshakes and nods. Vickie and Noah moved off to the side of the stage as Akali and Akio stepped up to the podium. Akali and Akio scanned the small group.

"Alright," Akio cleared his throat. "It's a pleasure to finally see which groups we're in charge of. This is my older sister Akali, aka Number 9. I'm Akio, aka Number 10. We'll be the staff members in charge of the Third Year groups. Just like Sanchez and Greenhorn have been saying, we want to stress the importance of the mission."

"This mission is not <strong>only</strong> your first mission on the field, but it is also a graded opportunity." Akali easily continued. The two seemingly flowed well together. Always on the same page, even if it seemed like they were on different paragraphs. "The horde invasions have been steadily increasing in numbers." The screen changed behind Akali and Akio. It showed different pictures of the horde invasions.

"As you probably know, the hordes have been goblins trying to invade the city. We're not sure why they're invading the city, but it seems like they've been hitting similar areas." Akio continued. The screen changed a the Southwest side of Capitol City had the most tiny marks of horde invasion hits. The west and south sides were marked with irregular marks on the northeast side as well.

"The goblins have been hitting the southwest are of the city. The city's greatest tacticians have a theory to believe that the goblins know something of value is in this area of the city. The last couple of days we've been seeing random hits on completely different sides of the city. Yesterday was the first time they hit the North side of the city." Akio explained.

"We'll be pinged when we're needed. For now, get some rest and stay on standby." Akali ended. The two Numbers moved off to talk to the two Fourth Years while the Third Years started to stand.

"Man, we got split." Olivia said. "Evan and I are stuck with each other while you two are stuck together. Sounds like you'll have a fun time."

"You guys will be fine." Ritsuka brushed off. "If its just goblins, I think we'll do fine. We just need to perform well."

"Ritsuka's right," Lee Seng agreed. He stood up and turned to look at the rest of his friends. "We're gonna have to work with people we don't know and possibly don't get along with. It'll be a great learning experience for us all."

"Well, I guess we should go meet our other teammates?" Evan suggested. The crew nodded and split off.

"I'll go say hi to Akali and Akio while you introduce yourself to your teammates." Manny told Lee Seng.

"Alright, I'll see you in a bit then." Lee Seng waved. Lee Seng headed towards the small group with Ritsuka standing in.

"I'm Ritsuka. I'm a Fighter. I can summon an enchanted scythe and sword." Ritsuka introduced himself. Lee Seng stood right next to Ritsuka and turned to look at the girl and Jason.

"I'm Felicia. I'm a tank. I can take a portion of the damage I get hit with and build a growing shield to block damage." Felicia introduced herself. Lee Seng and the other's eyes wandered to Jason. Jason stared at Lee Seng for awhile before introducing himself.

"I'm Jason. I'm a Fighter. I have the power of pyrokinesis." Jason waved awkwardly at everyone. The three set of eyes landed on Lee Seng. Lee Seng's tail swung in nervousness as he cleared his throat.

"I'm Lee Seng. I'm a Fighter-Glass Specialist. I can manipulate gravity." Lee Seng introduced himself.

"Ah, you're that guy!" Felicia shouted as she pointed at his tail. "Does your tail and ears do anything related with your ability?"

"Ah, I can output gravity wherever on my body, so my tail's pretty useful." Lee Seng awkwardly explained. He looked over at Jason, who was staring at him, again. Jason noticed Lee Seng was looking at him and turned to stare elsewhere. "Well, I guess it'll be us four, so we have an interesting line up."

"Practically three Fighters and a Tank with the added bonus of a Glass." Felicia happily nodded away. "I like our odds."

"I see the team's are meeting before the quest." Akali smiled. Lee Seng looked up to see Akali behind Jason and Felicia. The two split and nodded at Akali. Akali waved at everyone and studied the team. "2 Fighters, 1 Tank and a Specialist. This will be good for us. I'm a Fighter as well, so it'll be easier to keep you guys near me."

"Ah, Number 9. It-it's a pleasure to w-work with you." Ritsuka stuttered. Lee Seng glanced at Ritsuka and made a mental note to comment about it later. Akali shook Felicia and Jason's hands, exchanging pleasantries with each. She moved over to Ritsuka who acted like a nervous fan meeting his idol.

"I-I never thought I-I'd meet you." Ritsuka stuttered.

"Aw, pleasure is mine, Mr. Yamada. I've heard great things about you from your siblings. It's a pleasure to teach one of my subordinates siblings." Akali smiled. Lee Seng tried his best to hide his smile. He knew Akali was just milking this moment. She had met tons of fans and had her own way of making them gush.

"Ah, you-you've worked with my older siblings?" Ritsuka asked.

"I work with Ryu often. I've worked with Rumiko a couple of times on the field as well."

"Ah, my older siblings haven't told me this be-before. B-but, it's a p-pleasure, Number 9." Ritsuka bowed at her and she nodded at him. She looked over at Lee Seng and smiled.

"How're you doing? I heard you made quite the show yesterday." She patted Lee Seng. Lee Seng squirmed away from her and frowned at her.

"I'm fine, Akali." Lee Seng answered. "Zombies aren't going to get me that easily."

"Mmmm, they didn't but they were sure close to. At least that's what Scarlet told me, anyways." Akali folded her arms together and shook her head. "You really need to know your limitations. This is a good opportunity to see how much you've improved training with Akio for the majority of the last month."

"You'll actually be watching me this time?" Lee Seng smirked. Akali shook her head and flicked his head. Lee Seng stumbled backwards and rubbed his head. "Hey! Why're you always like this with me? Be nicer."

"Nice isn't gonna get you or anyone to the front, pipsqueak." Akali shook her head. Ritsuka watched nervously as Lee Seng and Akali continued their squabble.

"Well, at least give me some pointers later, 'kay? I think I actually have the basics of my powers down. I just need another set of Fighter eyes that're experienced and can see if I'm actually improving or not."

"No promises. Let's just get through the event together." Akali moved from the center of the group "circle" and turned around to stand next to Lee Seng and Jason. "Make sure you guys keep your cellphones and/or watched on you from this point forward. We may be called at any given time when the horde is nearing.

? "We'll most likely be intercepting the horde a couple miles away from the city walls, so prepare yourself, alright?" Akali glanced at everyone. The group nodded. "Alright, I'll see you guys at the Portal building later then. See ya." Akali excused herself from the group and wandered over to her brother. Lee Seng watched his older sister excuse Akio and the both of them moved out of the auditorium.

"You sounded like you're close to Number 9." Felicia pointed out. Lee Seng looked over at Felicia and nodded. He could see Jason was slowly inching away from the group and stopped when Lee Seng looked at him.

"Mmm, she's like my older sister. Her and Akio are like my siblings." Lee Seng explained.

"Bro, you personally know her?!? I'm like a huugggeee fan of her!" Ritsuka geeked out.

"Mmm, they aren't anything too interesting. They're just really good at their jobs."

"She's the reason why I wanted to learn martial arts and become an Adventurer. Man, it's so cool you know her. I honestly shouldn't be too surprised you know the Numbers since your dad's the Creator."

"Well, if that's it... I'm gonna excuse myself until then. I, uh... have to unpack." Jason spoke. The others turned and nodded at him.

"True, we should rest until then. What room are you and your brother in, Jason?" Ritsuka asked.

"Oh, uh..." Jason trailed off. "We're on the third floor. I don't really remember the room number off the top of my head."

"Ah, it's all good. If you and your brother need help moving in, let me know. I'm sure you guys could use the help. Lee Seng could help too if he isn't occupied." Ritsuka graciously offered.

"Oh, you don't need to... My brother and I moved all of our stuff in. It's just... unpacking." Jason answered.

"Mmm, okay. If you wanna hangout, lemme know. I'm always free."