Chapter 191 The Calm Before The Storm

"Alright, we've finished up the exam." Ms. Winters stood in the middle of the gymnasium, looking at all of the students. "Since we've finished up and there's still a bit of time left, you can take this time to go home early and get some rest." The students cheered and Ms. Winters waited for the students to quiet down. "Just remember, everything I teach you will be used in the future. I know most of you will be applying for one of the big three job areas, so you will need to be ready for this, alright?"

"Yes," the students answered.

"With that, you may go." The crowd of students started to break apart. Lee Seng looked at his watch and noticed they finished twenty minutes early.

"Well, I'll see you later then." Chloe spoke. Lee Seng turned around and waved.

"Yeah, see ya."

"Good luck on your betting match."

"Thanks." Lee Seng waved again and watched as Chloe merged with some of the other girls and started to chat with them. He sighed and moved to the locker room.

"Are you gonna go to the betting match?" One of the guys asked.

"Oh the one with the new transfer kid and Tristan?" A second guy looked over at the first guy.

"The new transfer kid is the Creator's son!"

"Didn't he get beat by the robot on the first day here?"

"Yeah, he did." A third guy answered.

"Who're you gonna bet on?" The first guy asked.

"Well, Lee Seng did a complete three-sixty today." The second guy pointed out. "He'll probably win."

"Nah, I don't think so. Tristan is well-known for holding his own against all manners of people." The third guy told them. Lee Seng punched his code in and started to pull his school uniform out. He could hear these three guys as they were louder than the rest of the guys in the locker room.

"You really think aura manipulation will work against Lee Seng's gravity power? Tristan doesn't even do so well from what I hear from my buddies. He slacks off a lot and likes to party." The second guy continued the conversation.

"Looks are deceiving. Tristan is apart of that saying. Don't judge him based on the life he wants to live. He may be a popular guy who likes to party and has mediocre grades, but it doesn't mean his actual combat ability reflects that." The third guy told the others. Lee Seng grabbed his things and set them on the bench. He closed his locker and sat down to slip his shoes on.

'Tristan has actual combat ability then?' Lee Seng let the conversation sit in his head for a bit. 'That means I should really dig deeper.' He looked at his watch. It was almost 3:30pm. School would end its final session of classes and he'd have to figure out where he needed to go for the match.

"The Fox dude doesn't even have a chance when it comes to combat experience. He had his power for what, almost two months? Two months? He won't stand a chance. Everything he's been doing looks simple and he doesn't seem to have a strong grasp of his power." The first guy waved Lee Seng off. The group sounded like they were just finishing up changing.

"Soooooo, are we going to watch or not?" The second guy asked.

"Damn straight we're watching. It's the first betting match of the year!" The first guy answered.

"I'm just surprised nobody's done a betting match until now." The third guy added.

"AND it's a really big bet! Public humiliation!" The first guy chuckled.

"Alright, cut it out. Let's go." The third guy motioned.

"Do you even know where the place is, yet?" The second guy asked. They sounded like they were walking towards the entrance. Lee Seng picked up his things and moved out of the gym. As he reached the door, listening to the three guys talk about getting a notification from the school, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Lee Seng fished for his phone and noticed Carter was calling him.

'Doesn't he know I have class for like… another fifteen minutes?' Lee Seng swiped the phone and answered it.

"Why're you calling me when classes aren't even done?" Lee Seng asked, pushing the gym door open and walking down the hall.

"Specialization classes tend to end early. I guess I was right about yours, too." Carter chuckled.

"So, what do you want?"

"I'm sending you a text of where the match will be. Since it's official, you guys will be fighting in the arena."

"There's an arena?" Lee Seng stopped in his place. "Where's the arena anyways?"

"You have to get permission to get into the arena space, but it shouldn't be too hard for you to get there. Get to a telepad and click on the link I sent you. It should automatically set the to destination and input your current location via location tracking. Anyways, the match will start at 5pm. You two should have enough time to rest and do whatever you need to do. Get here thirty minutes early, alright?"

"Got it." Lee Seng's finger hovered over the hang up button. His ears twitched as he heard Carter catch his attention.

"Ah! Lee Seng!" Carter's voice shouted. Lee Seng lifted the phone back up.

"Yeah?" Lee Seng asked.

"This is your first betting match, so this will be the perfect chance to fight against an intelligent opponent. I know you've fought against some intelligent monsters, but human intelligence is one of the scarier things you can fight against. All of the training you've been doing for the last two months since you got your powers, will come in handy."

"You act like I haven't fought someone before. I have at least a decade on me. Picking up a power isn't too different from that. You don't need to worry too much about me, Carter." Lee Seng continued down the hall. He was just given some time to rest before the match, so he decided he would go back to his dorm.

"I'm just telling you because you might get cocky. You may have an abundance of close combat training under your belt, but you're still a novice when it comes to using your power. Just make sure you don't–"

"Underestimate your opponent." Lee Seng spoke the line with Carter. He licked his lips and nodded. "I know. Thanks for the reminder."

"Long as you know, kid. I want to see you climb the school with all you've got. Show them all, alright?"

"Mmm."

"Well, I gotta go. The text should be going out soon. See you later!"

"See ya." Lee Seng clicked the hang up button and stared at Carter's phone name.

Carter de Lion

Lee Seng chuckled and slipped his phone back into the pocket.

'He's totally a lion.'

Students from the Specialized training courses were flooding the halls. They were all chatting away and heading back to their homes and rooms. Lee Seng passed them, the betting match sitting in the back of his mind, as he pushed forward. He passed them and they would bring up rumors about him, recent and old, and the betting match. A lot of them seemed to be in Tristan's favor.

They seemed to be curious about his powers, though. The fox tail and fox ears threw them off and he was starting to find it amusing. The collection of phones buzzed and rang as they all continued down the same hall. Lee Seng grabbed his phone out of his pocket and clicked on the text.

Numbers Academy

The Betting Match between Tristan Pierce and Lee Seng Chang will begin at 5pm.

The match will be at Arena α. The Betting Match will be broadcasted for all Academy students. Anyone who would like to attend the match can click on this link <strong>here</strong>. Arena will open 15 minutes before matches begin!

Good luck to the fighters!

NA

Another text message was sent shortly after that one. It had all of the information Lee Seng needed to get to Arena α.

Please use the link below to auto setup your quick telepad blip into the Arena. Please make sure to arrive at least thirty minutes before the start time.

nacademy.school/31f6n1s

'Sounds simple. I guess it's time to rest before the match.' Lee Seng clicked his phone off and sped up out of the building. He moved past the crowds of Specialization class students and slid down the railing and landed at the bottom. He jogged to the dorm building and opened the back entrance with his keycard and moved up the stairs.

His nerves were setting in now that he got the text message. He cleared the hall and turned right and walked straight up to his door. He punched the code in and listened to the door beep. He pushed through and entered the fairly dark room. He loosened the tie and dumped his things and shoes off to the side and opened the shades.

"Unpack, get the uniform off and get ready for the betting match." Lee Seng told himself.