Chapter 341 Side Effects?

The day continued with no problems. Lee Seng felt pretty good about going to Fighter class. He really wanted to figure out what he could pull off.

"I'm curious about how I'm gonna do today." Lee Seng nervously commented.

"You've been waiting all day to figure this out, huh?" Ritsuka asked.

"Yeah." Lee Seng nodded. "I would've woke up earlier to train, but I was too tired so I decided to get some extra z's in."

"Well, hopefully everything goes well today. I wonder if Icarus is continuing with 1 vs group battles." The two entered the locker room and split off. Lee Seng opened his locker and pulled his clothes off and changed into his gym clothes. He pulled his gym shoes he had left in his locker and set his things into the locker, closing it afterwards. He sat down on the bench and started to put his shoes on when someone sat next to him.

"Hey, how was your break?" Garcia asked. Lee Seng looked up. His brain slowly began to register the person and he realized it was Garcia.

"Oh, Garcia." Lee Seng smiled. "It went well. How about yours?"

"Went pretty well, too. Got to see my folks." Garcia answered. Garcia kept staring at Lee Seng. Somehow, Garcia had a feeling that Lee Seng didn't look like he normally did. He wondered if it was the new haircut. Lee Seng's hair was blonde and he had a mid part.

"What's up?" Lee Seng asked looking at Garcia.

"Oh, w-well…" Garcia stuttered as he looked away. Lee Seng finished tying his shoes and turned to look at Garcia. "N-nothing… Y-you dyed your ha-hair and got a cut?"

"Oh, yeah." Lee Seng nodded.

"It-It looks g-good. Suits you." Garcia forced an awkward smile.

"Thanks." Lee Seng stood up. "Come on, let's go." Garcia stood up and followed after Lee Seng.

"A-are you going to be fi-fine?" Garcia asked.

"Mmm, I've felt fine all day. I think I can do some training today." Lee Seng answered.

"Ey, Garcia!" Ritsuka wrapped his arm around Garcia. "How're you?"

"G-good. H-had a good break, Ritsuka?" Garcia asked.

"Yeah. Definitely needed to get my ass whooped by my siblings, aha!" Ritsuka chuckled. The three exited the locker room and entered the gym. "How was yours? Got a chance to chill with your family?"

"Y-yeah. It was good." Garcia nodded. Ritsuka nodded and removed his arm from Garcia. The three moved into the middle of the gym and stood off to the side of the large crowd. The group of students were looking at the three of them. Most were pointing at Lee Seng, who was facing his two friends.

"He's back."

"You think he's fine?"

"Didn't he fall into a Shifter trap?"

"I heard he was in physical therapy for most of his break. He looks fine now."

"Doesn't something look off to you about him?"

"What do you mean?"

The bell rang and Icarus' voice went off.

"Alright everyone! Welcome back, welcome back!" Icarus loudly spoke. He moved to stand in his usual spot as the group of students all turned their attention to him. "It's great to see everyone again. I hope you had much rest. Hopefully some of you got some training in because that would make my job so much easier.

"Now, we'll be continuing off with running individual fights with groups. We've started talking about this sort of situation in the sense that a Fighter might be in a position where he has to fight alone. If your teammates aren't able to support you, you must be able to handle your own within a group. What were the essential points made before break when it came to handling a group?" Icarus looked around. Lee Seng lifted his hand and Icarus pointed at him.

"Figure out the main people you need to take out. Make a plan and take out the people who pose the most threat. In the example given, if a group consisted of two Glasses, a tank, and a Fighter, the Fighter and Tank would most likely try to stop the me from going forward. Glasses have a natural advantage when it comes to fighting against Fighters, so naturally a Fighter might want to take them out. I would have to dodge the Tank and Fighter and secure a blow on the Glass, fracturing their teamwork and forcing the Tank and Fighter to pull back to their teammates. I'd use that opportunity to try to take out the Fighter and if my team isn't here by that time, I would work on trying to get the other Glass while waiting for my teammates." Lee Seng answered.

"Good, good." Icarus nodded. "In the example given by Chang, you would have to assess the team and clearly try to take out the Glasses. They pose the most threat to a Fighter, but anyone who has been out on the field or has trained will know that a Fighter would go for the Glass. What would be your reaction to this, Chang?"

"I guess I would resort to playing the field." Lee Seng shrugged.

"Elaborate on that, please." Icarus motioned.

"Well," Lee Seng folded his arms. "I'm in a unique position where Gravity is my power. I can temporarily hold down the Fighter and Tank and try to get the Glass."

"What if you can't get the Glass?"

"I would take out the Fighter."

"And what if your plan fails?"

"Well, we default to waiting for backup. If I'm waiting for my teammates, I'll try to hold out until the end."

"What if they overpower you? What are you gonna do then?" Icarus asked. It was loads of questions that were needed to be asked.

"I guess if I'm getting overpowered, I would just have to pull back. I can't do anything, so I would flee. Maybe even just blink out of there."

"Blink?" Icarus questioned. Lee Seng registered what he had said and shook his head.

"Run. Flee. That's what I meant. I don't know why I said that." Lee Seng corrected himself.

"Good, good. I'm glad you had time to look at the lessons." Icarus complimented him. He turned his attention back to the group of students. "This is what I mean by assessing the situation. You need to think on your feet and act on the situation. If you can't get to the Glasses, then you have to figure out a way to disarm and turn the situation into your favor. If you continue to not do well and get pushed into a situation where you can't take anyone down, holding out and/or fleeing is an option depending on the situation.

"Your life is valuable. I want you all to know that. Yes, you play a pivotal part as a Fighter within your Field Group, but you need to remember living another day is worth it in most cases." Icarus explained.

"Most cases, sir? What do you mean by that?" A student asked.

"Sometimes you go on missions that you know you play a pivotal part. If you're a set a batteries and your team is the device that functions off of the batteries, your team could be setback and shut off due to the batteries being taken out. Sometimes we are put into situations where we have to fight. We have to stall for time so your team can finish the mission. Getting injured, close to death and/or maybe death will occur because of it, but you need to remember your goal.

"If your team plans ahead and a situation happens where you're outnumbered and can't leave because you have to be there, your team must act fast and return to help you. Understand?" Icarus explained.

"Yes, sir." The students all answered.

'Sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself in order to save the rest.' Lee Seng thought. The rough images of the Shifter fight flashed in his head. He shut his head and clutched his head. He could see two versions of him fighting the two small Shifters. He groaned as his face scrunched up together.

'What's this…?' Lee Seng wondered. He hadn't realized he had squatted low onto the floor, clutching his head. Ritsuka and Garcia were hovering over him, trying to shake him out of it and question him, but he continued to be consumed by the strange scene playing in his head.

'Who are you? Why do you… seem familiar?' Lee Seng could see an identical person fighting one of the small Shifters.

"B." A strange voice spoke. "A… You remember it right?"

"Remember what?" Lee Seng spoke aloud.

"Lee, are you alright?" Ritsuka's voice snapped him out of the strange scene. He looked up, almost hitting Ritsuka as he tilted his head up.

"H-huh?" Lee Seng asked.

"Is everything alright?" Icarus asked.

"F-fine." Lee Seng stood up. Garcia and Ritsuka avoided getting hit by Lee Seng as he rose. Icarus was watching him. "Just a strange… headache. Just a headache."

"Do you need to sit, Chang? I've been informed of your condition. Sit down and rest. You don't have to push yourself, alright?"