Chapter 313 Rough Start

"John, you're being rude! They're only here to help! We can't defend ourselves and work on the system down there, so we have to have aid from them! Don't make an enemy. You'll get backstabbed. You should already know full well how that feels." Lisa reminded him.

"Well, I know I can do my job correctly but can they do their jobs?" John asked. He looked at his co-workers. He did have a point. They were all hesitant about getting help from an Academy group for their test, so they didn't know what to expect from this. The group was silent and Lee Seng glanced at the others. They all seemed to have mixed reactions to John's outburst.

"Mmm, I guess you're right to worry about a bunch of students helping you." Lee Seng nodded.

"What?" Caleb's question slipped from his lips. He was shocked that Lee Seng was agreeing with them.

"If I were in your shoes, I'd be skeptical about this, too." Manny added. The students all gave small nods. "But rest assured we can deal with some goblins."

"Four of us fought the goblins off during the invasion." Olivia added. She moved to the front. "I was at this exact spot a couple of months ago, too. Don't worry about our credibility. When the time comes to get to work, we'll do our jobs. If you don't think we can do our jobs then can you do your jobs like you've been ordered to and protect yourselves?"

Tiffi and Lisa were most shocked about the unfolding situation. John's face soured even more. He turned away like a kid pouting about not getting his way.

"Look," Manny's voice broke the tense situation. "We understand your doubts, but rest assured, we're well informed and know what needs to be done. If a situation arises that will harm us, we'll make sure you can get out safe and sound. That's our priority."

"Everything clear?" Ramirez cleared his throat. "They're well informed of the situation. They got a good head on them. I can tell."

"Do you even agree with them coming with us?" Caleb looked at Ramirez.

"Yes. Penumbra wouldn't have chosen to do this if they didn't think the Academy students weren't good enough for this. The CEO has done his homework and I've looked into the students who will be helping out here as well. They're all Third Years."

"Third Year students?" John mumbled. "They're all Third Years?"

"Mmm, we wouldn't want you guys to take First Years. Penumbra has requested for Third Years and up. We got Third Years."

"B-but, didn't Chang just get his powers not too long ago?" John pointed at Lee Seng.

"Mmm, I did." Lee Seng nodded. "The rest of these guys are more refined than I am. I'll most likely be on support duty."

"Plus, we're being led by Manny." Ritsuka shouldered Manny. They all looked at the scrawny pretty boy. Manny nodded like he was used to this.

"Isn't Lee Seng's powers gravity, though? What if he accidentally destroys the caverns?" Caleb asked.

"Don't worry, sir. Lee Seng won't do anything reckless. He'll mainly be fighting with his sword." Manny reassured them. "If anyone gets hurt, I'll heal you. Ritsuka has an arsenal of weapons with abilities that are suited for close combat. Liz is our Glass, Evan's our tank and Olivia is our Observer. We've been practicing ways to minimize damage to the environment." Manny lied.

'Truthfully, we haven't had much time, but we all know to minimize the damage.' Lee Seng thought. 'We only heavily damaged the area yesterday because I pushed Evan too hard.'

"See?" Lisa looked at her teammates. "Team Zephyr is more than qualified to be our guards. Let's do the briefing and get going, alright?"

"Fine." John begrudgingly accepted. The other techs nodded and with that Lisa stood up and a holographic screen appeared in between the two groups.

"You've already been briefed about the mission, correct?" Lisa asked.

"Yes, ma'am." Manny nodded.

"Good." Lisa clicked a button in her hand and the holographic screen showed a large map of the caverns. "This is a map of the cavern. We'll be starting from your left and working our way down this large descending tunnel that's been fitted with stairs and lights and enter the first floor here." She motioned to the bottom right. She clicked the button and a map of the first floor appeared.

"We'll be going to Zone 1R. We'll be taking the third path on the right until it splits into ten different routes. We'll follow the leftmost route from there and end up at Zone 1R." Lisa highlighted the path for the group to see. "This is currently the damaged zone area." A red zone appeared on the highlighted path.

'It's about three-fourths of the way into the path…' Lee Seng scribbled notes on his right arm. He was taking notes on a holographic screen while they were being debriefed. It was one of his habits he had. It helped him focus and retain information (because it was scientifically proven).

"We'll figure out what's wrong with the Light system and fix it accordingly. You'll have to watch us slowly work our way to the end and make sure the end is free of any monsters."

"Alright." Manny nodded. He glanced at Lee Seng who was still writing. "We'll have Lee Seng scout ahead since he has the sharpest ears and eyes amongst us. He'll alert us if anything dangerous is coming our way. Once we get to the red point, we'll slow down and let you do your work. We'll probably keep a couple ahead of you guys just in case we get swarmed. Got all of that?"

"Yup." Lee Seng finished scribbling and looked up. "Do we get a map of this for ourselves?" Lee Seng looked at Lisa.

"Y-yeah. You'll all be fitted with tech to navigate and know where you are."

"Hmph, the kid is actually listening." John snarkily commented.

"Of course." Liz spoke up. "Lee Seng can retain all of this information and easily break it down for us. That's why he has the best notes."

"Don't brag about me." Lee Seng pulled the screen up and tapped on it a couple of times. "Sent. You should all have the information."

"Thanks." Manny smiled, looking down at his watch.

"What gear are we using in particular?" Evan asked.

"Light head gear in case of dark spots." Caleb answered. "A chip that'll give you access to the updated map as it updates. It'll sink your watches and personal gear with our systems. You'll also have to carry food and water provisions and climbing gear just in case anything goes wrong as well."

"How heavy are those gonna be?" Olivia asked.

"Mmm, thirty pounds max?" Caleb looked at the others.

"Around there." Tiffi shook her hand.

"You should be able to carry that." John commented.

"Oh yeah, don't worry about us." Manny waved his comment off. It made John a little more angry. The kids were thick skinned and were very professional. He didn't know Third Years were capable of being this professional.

'They're just teenagers and they're more professional than me…' John's face soured as Caleb tapped him.

"Huh?" John asked.

"They're wondering if we'll need help carrying anything else." Caleb told him.

"Oh, uh, we should be able to carry the gear. We're trained to hold that heavy of a load ourselves."

"If you need help, we can help. I'm sure Lee Seng won't mind being a pack mule." Manny offered Lee Seng up.

'It's like he wants me to carry the burden on purpose.' Lee Seng groaned internally.

"It should be fine. Might restrict my movements, but I should be able to fight just as fine." Lee Seng smiled.

"Well, you could help carry some heavy beams. They're broken into tinier pieces and can attach to the backpacks." Lisa took the offer.

"S-sure."

"They're like 20 pounds a piece though. How many can you carry?"

"How many are there?"

"Well…" Lisa thought aloud. "What? Like twenty pieces or so?" She turned to look at her teammates.

"We would carry about five each with the other gear. That's like a hundred pounds… It would take a load off of us if we can move quicker." Caleb answered.

"How big?" Lee Seng inquired. Caleb moved his hands.

"They're about two to three feet per piece. They'll connect and create four to six piece poles. There's twenty of those poles." Caleb answered.

"Okay. I should be able to carry that."

"W-what?" Lisa shouted loudly in surprise. "Are you sure, Lee Seng? That's four hundred pounds of weight!"

"I've worn heavier training gear. It's fine." Lee Seng smiled.

"W-well," John stuttered. "If he's offering, we should let him, right? It-it'll let us do our jobs more efficiently and smoothly."

"But he has to scout with that gear on him." Marcus pointed out.

"What's the max you can carry, again?" Ritsuka turned his head towards Lee Seng and asked.

"I can carry like a ton on my back without breaking my back… It's been awhile since I've done that though. 430 shouldn't be too hard. I've worn 200 pound training leather jackets before and that's light. Clothes feel like nothing to me, either." Lee Seng answered.

"Well, I still feel bad." Lisa told them.

"We can take a couple so he isn't holding all the burden then." Manny offered.

"Whatever you do, choose soon. We need you guys down there in like fifteen minutes." Ramriez glanced at his watch.