Chapter 299 Ritsuka’s Outburst

"Are you okay, Lee?" Olivia asked.

"He's been like this all morning." Manny pointed with his fork. "Come on, Lee, eat." Lee Seng nodded and continued to dig through his food.

"So, uh," Lee Seng cleared his throat. "How was the quarantine?"

"Ugh, don't talk about that." Evan rolled his eyes. "I wanted to die. We were literally forced to just do nothing while we were there."

"You didn't request anything?" Liz asked.

"I did, but being in that room feels suffocating. I'm glad I'm outta that place." Evan stabbed the pancake and stuffed it into his mouth.

"It was alright." Olivia shrugged. "I got loads of time to practice, so I did."

"Same." Manny nodded.

"What would you even practice on?" Liz raised her eyebrows at Manny.

"Not my power, dumbass." Manny rolled his eyes. "I mean close combat training. I did a ton of that and I worked out. Can't you see the results of it?" He flexed and Lee Seng glanced at him.

"No, I can't see it. You're still a slender-figure, pale dude who catches everyone's attention." Liz smiled.

"Hey, I can't help that I'm such an eyecatcher." Manny smirked. Liz stood up and tried to smack Manny. Manny managed to dodge, moving away from the table as Liz started to chase him.

"So, what were you two up to? How's school?" Olivia asked. Lee Seng waited for Ritsuka to say something but he simply kept quiet.

"Okay." Lee Seng answered Olivia. "I was so lonely without any of you guys. Ritsuka and Liz showed up so we spent a lot of time together. I spent loads of time with Ritsuka. Isn't that right, Ritsuka?"

"Mmm." Ritsuka nodded. He didn't look up. Evan and Olivia gave knowing glances at each other before giving Lee Seng a 'he's grumpy' look.

"So," Evan spoke after taking a sip of apple juice. "When're we gonna talk about the upcoming group expedition?" Liz and Manny stopped chasing each other and moved back to their seats.

"I was waiting for all of you to tell you guys the news!" Liz told them. She clapped her hands together and leaned in and looked at everyone. Ritsuka raised his eyes and turned his attention to her.

'Guess he isn't that moody.' Lee Seng observed.

"They're sending us to a Guild for our expedition!" Liz happily announced.

"To a Guild? Why?" Manny asked, concerned.

"They want us to get the natural process of what happens if we were to do Guild work. So we'll be sent to whatever Guilds that will accept us. We're going to get a mission that should match about a D-rank merc or High bronze, low silver adventurer rank mission."

"You know which Guilds are participating in this?" Evan asked.

"I think all of the Guilds in Capitol City are accepting it. Just like how they're accepting student Guildmates."

"If we do well, that would give me a bigger chance of getting into a Guild." Lee Seng nodded.

"Mmm, it be a great time for those who wanted to join a Guild, to show there stuff."

"So what're we gonna do about the training then?" Ritsuka finally spoke. "Since Evan, Olivia and Manny showed up with less than a week of training, it'll be hard for us. Lee Seng, Liz and I have gotten some team training in but I'm not sure if it'll be enough to be passable."

"Don't worry about that. We've been training so we just need to run some team exercises." Manny answered. Ritsuka sighed, irritated. He set his fork down and looked at Manny.

"Don't worry about that?" Ritsuka repeated. The group could feel the air change. "We've all been in quarantine. We practiced a few times with each other and were supposed to ramp up on our training but then the incident happened causing all of us to spend time alone for god knows how long! We have literally today and tomorrow. We leave on Wednesday and if it weren't for the incident that happened yesterday, we could've trained today, too!"

The group grew silent. Lee Seng noticed the cafeteria grew silent. People were looking at them. Lee Seng cleared his throat and watched Ritsuka stand up.

"I don't wanna eat anymore. I lost my appetite." Ritsuka picked up his tray and walked away from the group. The group looked at each other and back to Ritsuka.

"What's up with him?" Manny asked. "He's usually not like that. Did something happen?" Manny looked at Liz and Lee Seng. They both shrugged at him. Lee Seng stood up and grabbed his tray.

"I'll talk to him." Lee Seng told them. "I'll see you guys after classes?"

"Y-yeah. See ya." Olivia waved.

For as sore as Lee Seng was, he kept up with Ritsuka as he flew up the stairs back to the second floor.

"Ritsuka." Lee Seng called him. Ritsuka ignored him and opened the door and moved into the hallway. "Ritsuka!" Lee Seng pushed himself more and grabbed Ritsuka's shoulder, spinning him around. "What's wrong with you? Are you okay? Is something wrong?" Rituska gave Lee Seng a blank face and turned around. He started off, again. Lee Seng followed after him.

Ritsuka entered his room and left the door open. Lee Seng slipped in and shut the door behind him. Ritsuka started to grab his things.

"Ritsuka. What's wrong?" Lee Seng asked. He stood behind Ritsuka who was furiously setting things onto the bed.

"Why can't you leave me alone, too?" Ritsuka shouted. He spun around. Lee Seng could tell Ritsuka's face was pained. He bundled his fists and it shook. He looked upset.

"Leave you alone? What's wrong? Are you mad that we don't have time to train as a team?"

"Why would I be mad about that? We don't have time, so that's whatever!" Ritsuka's voice screamed at the end. Lee Seng gulped and hesitated. He didn't know if he should say something or give him more space.

"What's wrong?" Lee Seng asked. Ritsuka turned his head to the side, staying quiet for a while. "If you don't tell me, you have to tell someone. It's obviously eating at you. What's wrong? D-Did something happen during the match yesterday that I don't know about? W-w-w-why are you like this?" His voice quivered enough.

Ritsuka knew his secret. He trusted Ritsuka enough to keep it. And now that his friend was acting like this, he wanted to find a way to carry some of the burden. Ritsuka gritted his teeth together and squeezed his fist.

"S-s-s-something's… W-wrong." Ritsuka stuttered. Dread washed over Lee Seng. He gulped and took a step forward. Ritsuka took a step back. He didn't look him in the eye.

"What's wrong? Do I need to call a nurse?" Lee Seng asked, concerned.

"N-no!" Ritsuka looked at Lee Seng, shaking his head. "I…" Lee Seng felt a pull. Keng's feet landed on the floor and he stood next to Lee Seng.

"Keng! What if someone sees you?" Lee Seng asked. Keng pulled the silk outfit over his body, making sure it was on right. He ignored Lee Seng's question and took a step forward.

"Thank goodness they enchanted this to stay on my body." Keng's eyes focused on Ritsuka. "What's wrong, Ritsuka? Did something happen yesterday?"

"Should you really be here? What if our friends s-see you?" Ritsuka looked at Keng.

"I'll pop back into Lee Seng quickly. I'm just worried about you, that's all. Did something happen?"

"Well…" Ritsuka gulped. He sighed and looked at both Lee Seng and Keng. "Something… happened. I…" He sighed again. "I woke up and felt that something's different."

"Different?" Lee Seng tilted his head. Ritsuka nodded.

"My power. It feels different. Really different."

"Shit." Keng's curse slipped out.

"What?" Lee Seng glanced at Keng.

"What in particular is different about it?" Keng asked, ignoring Lee Seng's question.

"Well…" Ritsuka scratched his arms. "It's kinda a weird story… I'm not sure if you'll believe me."

"Why wouldn't we believe you?" Lee Seng asked. "You literally know Keng exists and our whole deal with the Fox Spirits."

"Yeah, it can't be that bad." Keng nodded. Ritsuka sighed.

"Well…" Ritsuka glanced up nervously at them. "I think something occurred because of us trying to contain the situation…"

During the Night

Ritsuka's eyes flew open as a strange pain in his stomach hit him like he was punched. He clutched his stomach as he groaned. Black smoke billowed out of his body as he rolled around in a fetal position.

"Argh…!" Ritsuka groaned.

SKKKKRRRRRRR!

The noise of static shot through his head as his groans grew louder.

SKKKKRRRRR!

Gold light seeped out of him as he continued to toss.

'Gold light? What's this?' Ritsuka managed to think. The smoke and gold light flew into his body as his vision blurred. 'What's… happening to me?'

[Notice: Conditions have been met. The Ability Mutation will now begin. Please stand by.]

'What?' Ritsuka's vision moved from a blur into darkness.