Chapter 197 New Untested Moves

"Man, it'll be nice to not feel so lonely in this place." Lee Seng climbed the steps of the Academic building and turned to look at Ritsuka and Liz. "It was kinda boring to be alone for the majority of the week."

"Get out of quarantine and you want to talk to people but you don't have many people you'd talk to…?" Liz asked.

"Mmm, I got like an acquaintance in my Specialized training class. He's a bit shy though so it's usually just silent."

"Garcia seems to hang around you alot. I guess he still does?" Ritsuka asked.

"Mmm, he's been having lunch with me after the betting match incident. I guess he doesn't want me to feel left out."

"Who woulda thunk. Garcia is an interesting guy."

"Well," Liz said, turning around in front of the two boys and slowly walking backwards. "I'll take my leave first. I'll see you guys after classes."

"See ya." Lee Seng waved.

"Bye." Ritsuka waved. Liz spun around and quickly moved into the heavy crowd. Ritsuka and Lee Seng headed off to their classes.

—

"Ugh, man, I'm not sure if I miss coming back to attend classes or miss attending classes on my own time." Ritsuka cracked his neck as he hung beside Lee Seng. The two of them were walking to their Specialization class together and Lee Seng was in a good mood. He hummed to a new song he had found last night and managed to get some more listens in during the school day.

"Honestly, I miss doing homework whenever I wanted to." Lee Seng told Ritsuka. "I could do whatever I wanted for the day and didn't have to think much about anything. I could do it on my time. Here, I get to follow a consistent schedule at least."

"Breakfast, school, homework?"

"Nah, I've started getting up earlier to workout and practice." Lee Seng yawned. "I feel uncomfortable with the amount of people who are here after school, so I tend to just do it EARLY in the morning." They entered the locker room.

"If I could switch my routine up, I'd join you." Ritsuka said as he turned to his locker. Lee Seng moved to his locker, ignoring the usual stares he was getting and punched in his code and started to change into his gym outfit.

Right on cue, Garcia strolled over, already in his gym outfit and sat down. Lee Seng acknowledged Garcia and pulled off pants and slipped on his shorts.

"I heard Risuka is back." Garcia quietly commented. Lee Seng nodded. Garcia was a quiet individual who really didn't go out of his way to be showy. He kept to himself most of the time and it was nice to get him to chat here and there. Garcia had quickly become more ingrained in Lee Seng's lunch and after school life.

"Mmm, he is. You wanna hangout after classes, again?" Lee Seng closed his locker and set his katana onto the bench. He sat down and slipped on his shoes as he turned his attention back to Garcia.

"Mmm." Garcia nodded.

"What do you wanna do today?"

"We should ask Ritsuka if he wants to join."

"True. Didn't you want to take me to some of the restaurants around here? We could try another one today."

"Mmm." Garcia nodded, again. Ritsuka rounded the corner and found Lee Seng sitting with Garcia.

"Oh, hey Garcia. How's it going?" Ritsuka asked. Garica gave a short nod at Ritsuka.

"You want to go out to eat after class? Garcia's been wanting to take me to some of the restaurants in the Academy district." Lee Seng pointed.

"Oh, really? What did you have in mind?" Ritsuka asked.

"Pizza or Korean BBQ." Garcia quietly mentioned the options. Ritsuka looked at Lee Seng.

"Pizza or Korean bbq. You choose since you came back. Maybe we could have Liz come with us." Lee Seng stood up. Garcia followed suit and the three started to head towards the gymnasium together.

"Liz?" Garcia asked. "Who's that?"

"She's one of my other friends who just got out of quarantine, too. I should ask her if she wants to come along." Lee Seng smiled. They moved out of the locker room and into the gymnasium where the students were all clustering around the middle of the gym like usual. The students all saw Lee Seng and Garcia together, but eyes landed on Ritsuka.

"Oh, he's back." A student pointed out.

"Are you okay?" A student asked Ritsuka.

"A okay." Ritsuka nodded. "Thanks for asking."

"You can ask your friend if she wants to join us." Garcia quietly told Lee Seng. Lee Seng turned and nodded.

"Cool, I'll send her a message, then." Lee Seng pulled his phone out and started to type the message when he realized they hadn't made a decision. "Where are we going? Pizza or KBBQ?"

"Uhhh… KBBQ." Ritsuka answered.

"Sounds good to you, Garcia?" Lee Seng looked over. Garcia simply nodded. Lee Seng finished his message and clicked send. He slid his phone back into his pocket and zipped it.

"Alright, everybody." Mr. Icarus' voice boomed over the cacophony of students chatting. The bell rang and he looked around. "We're continuing our lesson on weapon training. I know some of you have been struggling so I will be personally going around and helping those who need help. The rest of you continue to work hard. Risuka, don't overdo yourself, alright?"

"Yes, sir." Ritsuka nodded.

"Good to see you back. Come see me after class about your exam. Alright, everyone into groups of two or three and you can practice as you need. Use the bots and I'll be around. Isaacson, I'm starting with you today!" Mr. Icarus pointed at the tall red-haired young man. Mr. Icarus moved off to Isaacson and the groups started to disperse into their small groups.

"We've literally just been doing weapon combat training all week." Lee Seng told Ritsuka. "Shouldn't be too hard for you to get into it."

"Mmm, I've been trying to get down this new technique with Obsidian Glass." Ritsuka summoned the black sword. "I should practice against the Academy's bots since the training dummy they gave me had limited options but… Why don't you just train with me?"

Lee Seng looked over at Garcia who had picked up a bo staff and was starting to twirl it around.

"I guess I could help you. I can practice some stuff I've been working on." Lee Seng shrugged. He pulled the katana out and twirled it. He held the scabbard in his right hand. "Come on, let's spar." The two nodded at each other and began to spar.

Lee Seng rushed towards Ritsuka as Ritsuka's sword began to split into two. Lee Seng slashed at Ritsuka, who quickly blocked the attack. The two began to barrage a flurry of attacks back and forth. Ritsuka slashed with both swords, black energy manifesting as an X. Lee Seng raised his sword and scabbard to block the attack. The X collided, exploding on impact and sending Lee Seng backwards out of a puff of smoke.

Lee Seng coughed as he landed on his feet, waving the scabbard to remove any smoke billowing off of him.

"Oh, shit." Ritsuka muttered. He moved towards Lee Seng, who sheathed his weapon and continued to cough. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine…" Lee Seng coughed, waving Ritsuka off. "I just didn't expect it to explode."

"It shouldn't have done that. It was just supposed to… apply force."

"Welp, it exploded… But that's fine. IS this what you're trying to work on?" Lee Seng asked. Ritsuka nodded. Ritsuka's empathic nature made him worry about Lee Seng. "Don't worry about it. I'm studier than I look. Let's go again." Lee Seng waved.

"Y-you sure?"

"Yeah, it's fine." Lee Seng slashed with the scabbard on the katana, watching Ritsuka get bonked in the head.

"Ouch." Ritsuka rubbed his head.

"Come on, let's continue with your new move. I'll block the hits and try to put some heat onto you in the meantime." Lee Seng smiled. Ritsuka nodded and rushed at him. The two began their exchanges. Lee Seng blocked one Obsidian Glass strike and immediately pulled the katana out of its sheath and blocked the other attack.

The two parried and managed to land some strikes onto their bodies. Lee Seng's wounds managed to heal instantaneously while Ritsuka lagged behind. Ritsuka jumped backwards, clearing distance as Lee Seng swung his katana upwards, missing.

"You need a minute?" Lee Seng asked.

"I'll be fine. I've gotten worse training with my older siblings." Ritsuka said, taking a moment to catch his breath. He put both of his Obsidian Glasses in an X formation and slashed. Lee SEng watched as the black energy X manifested again and flew straight for him. Lee Seng readied his block and felt the energy slam into him. HIs katana began to spark as he tried to push back.

'It's heavier this time.' Lee Seng observed. His katana pulsed brighter and he began to push against it. He swung upwards and watched as the energy quickly diverted off to the side.

"Oh shit!" Lee Seng shouted. The energy flew straight for one of the students in mid-strike with one of their friends. Students began to scream in panic, trying to dodge the attack. In a blink of an eye, Mr. Icarus appeared where the energy was coming and lifted his hand. The energy connected with Mr. Icarus who quickly threw it upwards into the ceiling. Black smoke billowed from above as students turned to Mr. Icarus.

"Boys, I appreciate your sparring… but if you're going to potentially injure others, we'll need to section you off." Mr. Icarus calmly spoke