Chapter 143 Finishing The Battle

The adventurer looked up and realized the goblins weren't moving. They watched as the lower-half of the goblins' bodies dropped and the top half fell afterwards. The barrier around them made the goblins upper-half bodies slam into the barrier.

"You okay?" Lee Seng asked. He sheathed his katana and pulled the goblins' top halves off the barrier. The male adventurer cowered and slowly peeked up at Lee Seng. The male adventurer noticed Lee Seng's black veins and cowered, again.

"Go away, monster!" The scared adventurer shouted. Lee Seng ignored the comment and lowered himself and knocked at the barrier. He could feel it had similar properties to Zoe's barrier. This one felt slightly different. He couldn't put his finger on it and realized he was starting to poke at it when the scared adventurer shouted at him again. "Go away!"

"Are you really an adventurer?" Lee Seng pondered. He took a closer look and noticed the scared adventurer was in adventure gear. Lee Seng moved to face the scared adventurer. The scared adventurer moved to the other side, cowering as Lee Seng continued to stare at him. The sounds of goblins screeching caught Lee Seng's attention. He looked behind him and watched as a small group of goblins slid down the crater path and rushed towards him.

'Four or five goblins. Two of them have... bows. The rest of melee.' Lee Seng watched as the goblins with the bows readied their arrows and aimed. The arrows sailed through the air, passing their allies as it flew straight for Lee Seng and the scared adventurer. Lee Seng swatted an arrow from mid air and snapped the arrow in half.

"If you want to be useful, get off the ground." Lee Seng released the broken arrow and pulled his katana out. The three goblins began their barrage on Lee Seng. The first one swung, forcing Lee Seng to dodge backwards. The second one moved in and swung downwards, landing a blow onto the ground while the third one used the second goblin to gain air.

The goblin screeched as it swung for Lee Seng, but was immediately stopped by the push of gravity. The goblin went flying as Lee Seng moved onto the second goblin, swinging a kick at it. The kick slammed into the goblin's chest and sent it backwards into the first goblin. The two goblins collided with each other, falling onto the ground.

Lee Seng slashed the air and watched the gravity rip out of the sword and through the goblins. A puff of dirt billowed upwards as the sounds of more arrows flew straight for Lee Seng. Lee Seng moved right, dodging the first arrow while the second arrow pierced itself into Lee Seng's shoulder.

"Argh!" Lee Seng yelped in pain as he stumbled backwards. He pulled the arrow out without hesitation and felt his body instantly heal it. He could feel his body pulsing. Lee Seng's veins rippled with Dark Matter energy. He could feel it trying to push out of his body as he ran through the smoke.

'It's always one thing after the other. Why can't I just do one thing at a time?' Lee Seng complained. He broke through the dirt cloud, listening to the goblins draw their bows. They readied another attack. Lee Seng lifted his right hand and blasted the right goblin. Gravity shoved the goblin straight into the crater wall, instantly killing it.

The left goblin archer fired the arrow straight at Lee Seng. Lee Seng released another gravity blast and watched the arrow shatter and goblin create another humanoid indent in the wall. Another pulse from the Protocol made Lee Seng wince. His right hand was starting to feel heavy from the negative. The sounds of the field were quieting down. Adventurers slayed the goblins and shifters with ease.

Lee Seng turned to look at the scared adventurer, the Cloak and wisps fading off of him, and noticed they were now scrambling out of the crater, towards another set of adventurers.

"That one!" The scared adventurer screamed. "There's that one with the tail!" The adventurers turned to look at the scared adventurer and noticed the fox tail young man standing in the crater. The black veins pulsed and Lee Seng groaned, clutching his arm. "That one is trying to kill me!"

"What do you mean? Isn't he on our side?" An adventurer questioned the scared adventurer. The scared adventurer turned to look at Lee Seng starting to squat. He seemed injured and some adventurers pushed past the scared adventurer, towards Lee Seng. The group slid down the crater as Lee Seng's cries started to reach their ears. Lee Seng watched as his hands were starting to turn back into the Dark Matter form. He attempted to pull the Dark Matter off his hands, but watched as it quickly grew back.

"Wo-woah, what's happening to him?" An adventurer pointed out. Lee Seng flicked his eyes up to watch them come to a stop ten or so feet away. Lee Seng continued to pull the Dark Matter off his hands. It quickly moved up his arm to his elbows.

"H-he <strong>is</strong> one of <strong>us</strong>, right?" Another adventurer asked. They began to come closer as Lee Seng looked up at them.

"Don't come any closer!" Lee Seng shouted. The adventurers stopped in their place. Lee Seng pulled his hands behind his back, trying to hide the Protocol's work.

"A-are you okay?" A female adventurer asked. "Do you need help?"

"I'll be fine! Please, don't come any closer!" Lee Seng pleaded. The adventurers all exchanged worried looks. Lee Seng could hear other adventurers whispering amongst themselves. They were all talking about him.

"You don't look alright. I think we should--" Another adventurer started to share his concern when a flash of light appeared in between Lee Seng and the group.

"Back away, please." Akali's light form dissipated. She faced the worried group of adventurers and motioned for them to move back.

"But, he's..." The female adventurer pointed.

"I know. He's hurting. I'm glad you weren't the first to turn on him just because he looked different and is experiencing something way different than you could imagine." Akali empathized with the group. "Thank you for caring about your teammates. Especially an Academy student, but my little brother needs my help in times like this."

"He's Number 9's b-brother?" An adventurer stuttered. Akali nodded and turned to look back at Lee Seng. He went back to wiping the Dark Matter. Akali moved over to her younger brother. She kneeled down and grabbed his hands. Lee Seng froze.

"Calm down. It's going to be okay." Akali was trying to comfort Lee Seng. He recognized the voice change. She was centering his attention onto her, so he could take a moment to breath. His hands shook with the amount of nerves and anxiety building. "Pick out three things you see on me. Name them for me."

"Your jacket. The necklace I-I gave you on your 38th birthday..." Lee Seng's eyes continued to search for things he could see on Akali. He tapped on the ring she wore on her left hand. "Th-the ring from your parents."

"Mmm, good. Breath, okay? It's going to be fine." Akali held Lee Seng's hands as he started to steady his breathing. "When did this start?" The Dark MAtter started to slip back down his elbows. He watched the Dark Matter linger half-way between his elbows and wrist.

"When the female shifter saw me." Lee Seng answered.

"You fought a shifter? Isn't that a bit dangerous for you?" Akali's worried poured out of her. She hadn't taken the time to notice where Lee Seng was. She had tried to look out for him, but the chaos made her focus on finding the rest of her students. Akali glanced over to her right and looked at the other students watching. They seemed just as confused and curious as the rest of the adventurers.

"I lack experience, not power." Lee Seng pulled his hands away from her. He started to push himself off the ground when Akali grabbed his hand. She stood up and moved to whisper into Lee Seng's ear.

"Did the Protocol tell you what was happening?" Akali asked. Lee Seng stayed silent for a bit and then slowly nodded.

"15% Threshold was reached." Lee Seng repeated what the Protocol told him. Akali slowly nodded and watched the adventurers start to gather themselves. Luis started to bark orders and attempt to break up the adventurers staring at them.

"You hit the first major point, already?" Akali whispered. She pulled away and watched Lee Seng take a step back.

"What's the first major point?" Lee Seng asked. Akali's eyes lingered on Lee Seng for awhile.

'The first point usually differs based on the person... He did have two full transformations which is very uncommon before the first point...' Akali recalled the information on it.

"A-Akali?" Lee Seng called her.

"Yeah?" Akali looked up. Lee Seng knew she was thinking about something.

"What do you mean by the first major point? Is that... bad for the Protocol or..."