Chapter 288 A Couple Weeks Later

A couple of weeks had past since Lee Seng's weekend incursion into Daros. He had met the God King, learned loads about the Fox Spirits and where Keng came from and dealt with some issues that weren't his and were his.

The long amount of time that went on tripped him and Ritsuka up. They felt exhausted after they came back to Earth. The two found out Liz had been trying to contact them all weekend and they opted to hangout with her with whatever day was left on Sunday.

Lee Seng and Ritsuka spent more time together. It seemed like their bond increased because of the incursion in Daros. Liz noticed this sudden change and inquired about it. They made up something like that they just had loads of things in common, which wasn't really a lie, and they just bonded over it.

They got confirmation of their battle and decided they would do it like they originally planned. The fight was set to happen a week before the group exercise. Lee Seng and Ritsuka spent some time in the morning exercising together.

Ritsuka swung at Lee Seng as Lee Seng backed off. Sweat flying off of the young men as they continued to punch and kick at each other. Lee Seng caught Ritsuka's punch with his right hand and went in for a lunch with his left.

Ritsuka yanked off of Lee Seng's hold and jumped backwards, narrowly missing the swing. Lee Seng and Ritsuka let out heavy breaths as Ritsuka threw his hand up.

"I need a break." Ritsuka tiredly told Lee Seng.

"Alright." Lee Seng gave him a thumbs up. Ritsuka turned around and moved towards his water bottle off to the side. Lee Seng followed after him. The two sat against the cold wall and took large gulps of refreshing water.

"You think we'll be able to beat them?" Ritsuka asked.

"Should be a walk in the park. Kaleb did make the worst choice known to man. It's his fault if he loses and becomes a tutor." Lee Seng snickered. Ritsuka joined in and the two began to laugh.

Lee Seng felt water slip into his throat causing him to cough. Ritsuka's laugh grew louder as he gave Lee Seng a hard pat on the back.

"You okay?" Ritsuka laughed.

"I'm… fine." Lee Seng managed to speak in between his coughs. He wiped his mouth and leaned against the wall. He looked up at the cieling, feeling the cool air kiss his sweaty skin. "You hear anything back from Evan and the others?"

"No. I'm in the dark like you and Liz. Why? Getting anxious we might have to go with plan B?" Ritsuka capped his water bottle and set it off to the side. Lee Seng took another gulp of water before capping it and setting it off to the side.

"I really want to try the six-man team out since we've spent so much time with each other the last couple of months. If things work out, we can apply our team and then apply for housing in one of the districts." Lee Seng beamed as he mentioned 'off-campus' housing.

"You're pretty excited about doing that whole thing, huh?" Ritsuka grinned at the Hmong guy. Lee Seng nodded his head.

"Even if we have to take the creepy haunted house, I wanna experience what it's like to live with multiple roommates."

"You're really excited about this, huh?"

"Yeah. Aren't you?"

"Well," Ritsuka shrugged. "It's like living with siblings but they're strangers, friends, or whatever. It can't be too different from that."

"Even if I have to be with Manny, I think it'll be fun."

"Speaking of Manny, is there going to be a problem if he's around you?" Ritsuka had wondered every time Manny and Lee Seng we're brought up together. Manny and Lee Seng we're pretty clear about the two having a rough falling out three or four years ago, but they both didn't talk about it.

"If he doesn't do anything, I won't." Lee Seng answered. The sound of his watch started to beep. He looked at it and then stood up, grabbing his things. "Well, it's time to hit the showers and go back to the dorm. We got classes."

Lee Seng groaned as he stretched a bit. Ritsuka grabbed his things and the pair exited the gym and moved into the locker room they used for Fighter class.

They stripped themselves of their sweaty clothes and made their way to the showers. They decided to shower next to each other, chatting about classes and their schedules for today.

After showering and putting on new clothes, they teleported back to the Third Year Dorm building and split at the T-section of the hallway.

"Meet at the same place later?" Ritsuka asked.

"Yeah, Liz'll be waiting for us there too." Lee Seng answered.

"Aight, see you in a bit then."

They waved and split off. Lee Seng spent the rest of his morning chatting to Keng. Since Manny still wasn't back, the two could physically talk to each other.

"It looks like you're making steady progress. Excited about the fight?" Keng asked. He was sitting in Lee Seng's desk chair. His back was to the desk and arms were on the back of the chair. He watches as his human counterpart pulled off the t-shirt and shorts and began to put on the Academy outfit.

"Mmm, I'm excited." Lee Seng nodded. "I haven't fought hand to hand combat in a long time."

"You sure you don't wanna use a sword or the bow?"

"Nah, if anything, I'll keep the katana on me just in case. According to the confirmation report, they're also allowing protective gear. I should ask Liz and Ritsuka if they wanna get permission to go to an armorer's shop. I got a whole bunch of creds and want to get myself something decent."

"Don't you have that leather jacket? Isn't that pretty good?" Keng asked. His finger moved for to the leather jacket that was hooked onto one of the hooks in the closet.

"It's a training jacket. It's for fashion and training. It isn't useful for taking protective hits. Plus, I should just go look for gear before the match this Sunday."

"You got a couple of days to get permission then. How're you gonna get it?"

"There's an online form to fill out. Anyone who wants out has to fill it out and get it approved by the faculty." Lee Seng shut the closet door and held his socks in his hand. He was in the Academy's outfit, again and wandered over to his bed.

He sat parallel to Keng, facing him. He slid his socks on as Keng nodded.

"Don't you think there should be an armourer here in the Academy?" Keng asked.

"If there is, I haven't heard of one, yet." Lee Seng set his foot down and patted his thighs. "Am I forgetting something?"

"Your watch." Keng pointed over at the night stand. His phone and watch were being charged. Lee Seng nodded and moved over and grabbed drhe watch.

"Today's Glass training ought to be interesting." Lee Seng muttered. He put the watch on him and grabbed the phone and stood up. "You just gonna observe like usual?"

"Mmm. I don't wanna go too far from you." Keng stood up. He made his way to Lee Seng, pushing the chair as he passed. "Plus, Lady Vix'i and the others are too busy to train me right now."

"That's a shame." Lee Seng frowned. He looked up at Keng and smiled. His eyes wandered to Keng's hair. The white streaks definitely made him stand out. It was growing on Lee Seng. "Y'know what we could do? I could change my hair to look like yours and you could go to school for me."

"No. I'm pretty sure we both agreed you would handle those matters. Plus I would just have to teach you everything, again. What I learn and what you learn can't connect when we join." Keng reminded him.

The two had to learn after a couple of tests that they couldn't learn what the other learned while they were separated. They had to basically explain what they did in their Realms to the other when the other wasn't there. Whatever training Lee Seng did, Keng wouldn't retain any of it. If Keng trained on Daros, Lee Seng wouldn't get any benefits. The two learned they could only retain it if Keng was joined with Lee Seng, vise versa.

"Well, such a shame that I have to suffer!" Lee Seng sarcastically pouted. Keng rolled his eyes and pushed his vessel away.

"You're gonna be late to breakfast." Keng motioned. His body shimmered and the silver light entered Lee Seng's chest. 'It would be ashame if you were late because you were taking to yourself, again.'

"Shut up." Lee Seng shook his head. He grabbed his backpack, checking if he has everything. When all was in their place, he exited the dorm room and moved towards the staircase in the back.