Chapter 755 Scouting Ahead

Broken cars blurred around Lee Seng as the looming ruined city came closer. The caw of a bird made Lee Seng immediately come to a stop, ten feet away from a broken car behind him. The bird cawed as it circled and landed on the side of the building, turning to look around. Its purple eyes scanned, slowly moving towards Lee Seng.

Lee Seng turned and ran towards the car. A blanket of cosmic light and tendrils wrapped around him as he disappeared and reappeared behind the car. He was already in a sitting position, trying to catch a glimpse of the bird as it fully reared its head at Lee Seng's spot.

The bird cawed and flapped its wings. It released itself off its perch and flew straight for the spot Lee Seng was at. The bird landed gracefully as its large wings slowly pulled back to its side. It scanned the area before turning its head straight at the car. It cawed as it hobbled over.

'Crap… Did it notice me?' Lee Seng thought. 'I was so focused on all of these new skills and updated abilities; I almost ran straight into the bird!' Lee Seng peeked out, noticing the large bird looking around as it slowly made its way over to him. The bird was probably four or five feet tall, and Lee Seng could only imagine what it's wingspan was like.

Its purple beady eyes kept scanning. It acted like a predator looking for its prey. Something odd for a bird in Lee Seng's mind. Lee Seng pulled back down to his sitting position and wondered what he should do.

'Should I fight that thing or… Should I stay as hidden as possible?' Lee Seng wondered. His mind ran with different possibilities but something about the bird began to bug him. 'That bird… There's something wrong with that bird. What is it…?' Lee Seng's eyes widened. 'The only colors here are currently black, white, gray, red, and that odd ethereal green color… If I can see purple, then—'

"SKRAW!" The large bird slammed against the car. It shook as Lee Seng held his breath. He needed to get out of there. The cosmos wrapped around him as a black wisp lit up.

'W-what's that?'

BOOM!

The car shook again! Lee Seng focused on the black wisp and watched as he wasn't sitting behind the car anymore!

'W-wait! I-I didn't Spawn Step though!' Lee Seng thought.

[Cosmic Blink has been used.]

'Crap, of course I would forget to read my own skills!' The bird lifted its wing, flinging the car upwards. It screeched as the car slammed onto the ground and rolled away from it. The bird's eyes landed on the spot Lee Seng had just been and turned. It flapped its wings and took to the sky, leaving Lee Seng with a dark blanket of energy on him.

Lee Seng watched fly straight into the city, vanishing from sight as soon as it disappeared behind a building. Lee Seng held his breath as he held his position.

'Was the bird really gone?' Lee Seng thought. He waited thirty seconds and then a minute. Nothing. Lee Seng released the tension and sighed. 'It's finally gone!' Lee Seng pushed himself onto his feet and checked the sky for any birds.

"In the clear…" Lee Seng whispered. "Should I even try to scout around with those things? It might be riskier to do that…" Lee Seng turned and headed back towards the forest.

'If I get caught now, I'll only jeopardize everyone else… We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, I should at least give them that.'

Keng threw the food away and washed the plate. He moved back into the camp and noticed everyone was doing their own things. Calis and Manny had walked off somewhere together leaving Liz and Olivia together while Evan and Ritsuka entertained themselves. Ritsuka worked out, clearly trying to work off the intensity of what just happened while Evan laid in his sleeping bag like a log, face down.

Keng collected the plates and empty food containers and moved them over to the side so he could wash. He hummed one of Lily's tunes. He had heard it from her before and asked why she hummed it. She had told him it was to "reduce stress" so Keng obviously started to sing it to try. The melody calmed Keng enough to clear his mind.

He scrubbed the food off and blasted the plates with hot water and let them drip off to the side while he finished the rest. Ritsuka pushed himself off the ground and noticed Keng humming away. He eyed Liz and Liv and noticed the two girls were heading off somewhere. Evan, on the other hand, flipped himself onto his side and zipped the sleeping bag all the way up. He groaned as he laid there like a baguette.

Ritsuka wandered over to Keng and stood off to the side as Keng washed away.

"Did he actually leave?" Ritsuka asked.

"Yup." Keng nodded. He lifted a plate into the air and let go. He grabbed the next plate and started to clean it off.  "He's got like fifty minutes left."

"You're timing him? How?"

"The rune." Keng pointed next to the plates. Ritsuka turned and watched as a countdown timer appeared.

49:56

"Your use of runes is interesting. I don't know how you can string all of those together." Ritsuka sighed. Keng lifted his hand and a chair flew out of the Void Storage. Ritsuka grabbed it and adjusted it before sitting in it. "You're literally our pack mule, scout, and a Glass/Fighter Specialist. What can't you do?"

"Fix the problems on the inside." Keng tapped his chest. Ritsuka nodded and both sighed. After a slight pause, Keng set another plate in the air and looked at Ritsuka. "Y'know, I used to beat myself over and over about what happened with Lee Seng…" He turned to focus on the next plate. Keng's head lowered a bit as he bit his lip. "'If I didn't cast that spell, he would've had me to help him.' I beat myself over it until I finally got the courage to talk to him…

"I think it's the same way with the others." Keng looked at Ritsuka. "You all lost something that day. You all had to abandon the lives of 'high schoolers at the greatest academy in the world' because of him… It's no wonder why it's easier to find blame in Lee Seng." Ritsuka nodded. Keng was right. He had looked at Lee Seng with such intensity, he didn't realize how close he was to the fire until he got burnt.

"I don't regret it." Ritsuka told Keng. "No matter how close I got to Lee, I saw someone who desperately wanted to live. He trained so hard and even asked me to train with him. When I saw how hard Lee was working to prove himself, I wondered the same about myself. Seeing all of that, I just wanted to see his progress. Plus, I got a workout buddy in it."

Ritsuka smiled at Keng. Keng nodded and set the last plate in the air. He turned to look at Ritsuka while noticing the footsteps approaching. Liz and Liv stopped behind a tree and listened to the two boys' talk. Liv clutched her chest and let out a shaky breath. She knew Lee Seng didn't deserve any of this – they didn't deserve any of it, but it was what happened.

"Would you have done what Lee did?" Keng asked Ritsuka.

"Done what? What happened earlier?" Ritsuka answered with another question. Keng nodded. Ritsuka pondered on it, lying back in the chair. "Take all the hurt and the blame and put it on yourself?"

"Yeah? Would you have done that?"

"I don't know if I would have…. Why did Lee do that anyways? Was he frustrated with the whole situation and wanted to fix it then and there? Things like this can't be fixed right away."

"Exactly." Keng sighed. He stopped the water rune and looked up at the black sky. There was no trace of stars or the moon in sight. "I wouldn't have done the same thing either… Yet, instead of pushing how he felt, he allowed Liv to hurt – to grieve. Lee is hurting, too. He hides it exactly how Evan hides it…"

"Do ya think we all mimic Lee Seng a bit?" Ritsuka asked. Keng nodded at Ritsuka.

"I think everyone mimics each other to a degree." Keng replied. "Hell, I'm the embodiment of that!" Ritsuka and Keng chuckled as Keng continued washing the dishes.

"Shouldn't we go by the fire, Liv?" Liz asked quietly. "It's getting cold." Liv sighed and nodded.

"Do you think they're right?" Liv asked as they continued towards the campfire.

"About Lee Seng?" Liz asked. Liv nodded. "He was a bit aggressive when I first met him, but I think he's softened quite a bit. I think he understands feelings more than we give him credit for." The two girls exited the forest and moved to their sleeping bags and sat down. Ritsuka noticed them and acknowledged them with a wave. Liz smiled before turning to look at Liv. She was shivering more than normal. "Is it getting bad, again?"

"N-no, I'm fine…" Liv pulled at her sleeves. "J-just stay near the fi-fire and I-I'll be okay…"