Chapter 325 The Heart

Evan thought about all his interactions with Lee Seng. They practiced mock battles against each other and Lee Seng was always absorbing information from him.

"Have you ever been in a rut with what you wanted to do with your power?" Lee Seng asked Evan. He tossed Evan a cold towel and sat down next to him, wiping his sweaty face.

"Yeah I've been there before." Evan nodded.

"I think we've all been there." Liz answered. The rest of the group nodded. "Why do you ask? Are you stuck in one right now?" Lee Seng didn't answer for a while. Evan watched Lee Seng as his tail did the thing it usually did when he was thinking. It mindlessly swung back and forth and would sometimes bump into the person next to him. The tail bumped into Evan and he chuckled, snapping Lee Seng out of thoughts

"What?" Lee Seng asked.

"Your tail." Evan pointed. He noticed his tail was right next to Evan and pulled it away.

"Sorry, dude! I didn't mean to. It's so hard to get used to it." Lee Seng apologized.

"No, it's fine." Evan chuckled. "But to answer your question, yes I have been there. I was honestly there a months ago."

"How did you push past it?"

"Mmmm." Evan hung the cold towel around his neck and looked up at the gym ceiling. Sounds of Manny, Ritsuka and Olivia fighting echoed around them as Liz, Evan and Lee Seng sat near one of the walls.

"I'm not sure if it was obvious but me and Ritsuka go way back." Evan started to explain. "He and I grew up together but lost contact when I moved across the City in middle school. We reconnected in the Winter of 9th grade. I accidentally met him that winter day. He had grown so tall and realized who I was when we bumped into each other that he made a comment about how short I was.

"He was with his older sister, Hayami. They were out buying presents for their eldest brother's birthday. We exchanged numbers and texted. It wasn't until the Summer that just passed, when he called me outta the blue.

"My Father wanted me to take the Academy test again and I was pretty bummed about it. I failed twice so I didn't wanna do it again. Ritsuka called and his older brother, Jiro, told me to come over and give it my all. Ritsuka even said that. They're such brothers." Evan chuckled.

"If it weren't for that, I wouldn't be here… I don't believe in myself too much but it's been nice. I got first place in the Solo test and did pretty well in Duos." Evan smiled. "If he didn't push me, I think I would've just prepped for College."

"Wow, Ritsuka really pushed you to challenge yourself." Liz commented.

"Mmmhm. I'm grateful for that."

"Well I hope I can do that for you guys too." Lee Seng smiled.

'It was that comment that made me realize something." Evan thought. 'Ritsuka had always verbally told me he believed in me, but that day was the day I realized the team believed in me too. Lee Seng had said the words I wished someone would've said to me all those years ago when I was feeling down…'

Evan let out a sigh and nodded. The group was looking at him. He turned to look and smiled.

"If it weren't for Lee Seng, I wouldn't have ever brainstormed all of these cool moves with my power." Evan smiled. He looked down at his hands and watched his thumbs fumble with each other. "I know what I said is harsh… And I do believe we should let someone more qualified handle it, but… I want to search for him too. He's nothing like what's said online.

"He's thoughtful. He notices when I'm having a hard day and cheers me up. Honestly, he heard I like Chocolate milk so he always carries an extra chocolate milk carton to the table during lunch and gives it to me…" Evan looked up, eyes shaking. "Let's try to find him if we can. We'll only do what we are asked to, yeah?"

"Mmm. We will." Liz nodded.

? "Yeah." Olivia nodded. Ritsuka smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, let's give it a go." They all looked over at Manny. A big smile plastered across his face.

"Fine, we'll stick to the mission."

"Well, it looks like we got a unanimous answer." Akio clapped his hands.

"So, who's gonna be Leading this?" Olivia asked. Akio turned to look at her and then looked at Chan-Yeol. Chan-Yeol looked at the CEO and sighed.

"Chan-Yeol will. He's the most qualified for this." Akio smiled.

"Sir, we have plenty of people who can handle this. Who's gonna make sure you're staying on task if I'm gone?" Chan-Yeol asked.

"I just have some Guild errands to run anyway. It shouldn't be too hard without a secretary."

"Sir, I'm grateful you're recognizing my skills but do you really want students to know about my skills?"

"What's wrong with that? If anything goes wrong you'll end it faster than the rest of the Leaders. Plus, you're top tier." Akio gave Chan-Yeol a thumbs up.

"Th-thank you, sir." Chan-Yeol closed his eyes and sighed. He refocused and looked at the group. "If the CEO has declared it then I will Lead you to the spot. We'll look for where the source of the signal is coming from. If it's him, we'll do what we need to. Otherwise, we find his comms device and take it back.

"If any of you break the quest, I'll report it and you'll be dealt with accordingly. You wanted a second chance and you got it. You'll get to see how a quest really is." Chan-Yeol explained. "Got it?"

"Y-yes, sir." Team Zephyr nodded.

"Alright, they should expect you. I'll leave my brother's group in your hands." Akio smiled.

"Yes, sir. Don't slack off while I'm away. If you slack off," Chan-Yeol moved to whisper in Akio's ear. "I'll make sure to add more work onto you." Akio nodded.

The strange paralyzation held onto Lee Seng has he continued to fall. He was screaming for his body to move as the earth moved around him. He could feel a hard tug on his finger.

'My ring!' Lee Seng shouted in his head. He could hear the small metal fly away. A wall, opening, and shutting as the earth behind him continued to move.

Lee Seng free fell for what seemed like hours. He could slowly feel his body twitching.

'Move! React! Do something!' Lee Seng ordered. A bubble of gravity ripped out of his finger tips, pushing him in another direction. Lee Seng slammed into a wall, gasping for air as the sudden inertia disappeared.

He watched as the walls shifted and came to a stop, closing. He gasped for air as his body responded.

"Oh my god." Lee Seng gasped. He slumped over and took a moment to catch his breath. Everything had happened so fast. He thought he had the upper hand but he was clearly wrong.

'They weren't even using a fraction of their true power.' Lee Seng thought. His body rustled and out came Keng, kneeled over Lee Seng.

"Are you okay?" Keng asked. He checked for injuries, rolling Lee Seng onto his stomach.

"E-easy!" Lee Seng managed to let out. Keng's eyes were fixated on Lee Seng's back. He could smell blood.

"You're bleeding." Keng told him. Lee Seng wanted to respond with a "no duh" but struggled to even breathe properly. Keng began to heal the wounds, closing up whatever opened up and the possibility of broken bones.

'An impact like that could've killed you.' Keng thought. Lee Seng's breathing steadied. His body relaxed as Keng continued to heal.

"Oh my god." Lee Seng let out a sigh of relief. "That fucking hurt!"

"What did she even do to us? That strong pressure knocked me back into you and paralyzed you." Keng asked, removing his hands. Lee Seng took a moment to breathe. He looked up at Keng and shook his head.

"I don't know what she did. She can apparently hit the Spirit." Lee Seng answered.

"What do we do now? We have to get out right?"

"I don't even know where we are. Oh shit." Lee Seng covered his mouth. He checked for the ring realizing it wasn't there anymore. "Dammit the ring's gone!"

"Wh-where did it go?" Keng asked. He began to look around as Lee Seng recalled the falling event.

"No, it couldn't have…" Lee Seng muttered.

"Couldn't have what?" Keng asked.

"Something pulled the ring off me."

"What? Nobody was around us."

"Shifters… They have enough intelligence that they could figure it out."

"Can a Shifter even bend metal that intricate?" Keng asked.

"I've read about Shifters who could control metal. It's rare. Rarer than a Biohuman with metal manipulation. What if they pulled my ring off with a Ferro Shifter?"

"Could be right about that." Keng shrugged. "Are you certain it's gone?"

"It isn't in my fingers anymore." Lee Seng told him. "And we lost the bag that would help us in case of a situation like this, too!" He rolled to the side, groaning. He immediately regretted dropping the backpack. "Ah, what do we do now…? We have no actual map, way of communication and no food or water…"