BXBX NOVEL Chapter 303 Team Training Day (2)
The cold wind bit at the group as they opened the door. Lee Seng poked his head and looked around. The tall forest looked the same as the last time he was here except there was snow around.
"Coast is clear." Lee Seng told the others. He stepped out and looked around. The group filed out one by one, all huddling near the shack. The Academy had hundreds of these across all of their Field Test Zones. Scouts would look around in each field zone once in awhile to make sure the shacks were still okay and to keep any maps updated for the Academy.
"Alright, we\'re in the Tall Forest zone." Manny assumed his role as leader. They had all talked about who should be the leader and everyone looked at Manny. He had the most knowledge when it came to formations and team synergy. They had all decided he would lead the group. Lee Seng didn\'t mind as much. He knew how logical Manny was, so he didn\'t mind taking the opportunity to learn as they trained.
"Remember, we\'re here to train according to our roles. Everyone remember what they are?" Manny asked. Everybody nodded one by one. They had all decided on their team roles. Lee Seng was put into the role of scout because of his superhuman senses. He would keep ahead of the group and alert them if anything were to happen. Manny and Olivia would stay behind with Liz in case they were flanked. Ritsuka and Evan would take the front, looking for Lee Seng\'s signals while Liz stayed in the middle of the group.
They had all divided their strengths up and decided this formation would most likely work while they roamed. Liz was used to being in the back or middle. She could hit things from afar for the group when they needed it. She wasn\'t used to there being another Glass. She usually had to do more work, but since Lee Seng had opted for scouting, he would be able to keep the front clear.
"Alright, let\'s go." Manny motioned. They assumed their travel formation. Lee Seng gave a small two-finger salute and ventured into the tall forest.
\'It\'s been a while since I\'ve been here.\' Lee Seng thought. \'I wonder how much I\'ve grown in those months.\'
\'Let\'s just hope you can easily take out F and D-ranked monsters without breaking a sweat.\' Keng replied. Lee Seng listened to his shoes crunch against the ground. He ran for quite awhile. His comms were on and he could hear the others making small talk as they ran.
"So which formation are we gonna try?" Liz asked. "If Lee Seng is going to be a scout, it\'ll be hard to pull him to be back with me for that formation."
"True," Evan agreed. "I think we should try slightly changed version of that one. Just make him keep front as a scout."
"It\'s not like it\'s going to be a problem all the time." Olivia commented. "He is pretty fast. I mean look at him," she pointed in to the distance. "He\'s far."
"Do you want me to slow down?" Lee Seng asked.
"You\'re like a speck in our view." Manny told him.
"Alright," Lee Seng came to a stop. "I\'ll go slower."
"Back to formation talk, though." Manny continued. "I think we should opt for more plans with Lee Seng not being in formation. If we do 2-1-2, I think it should work out fine. Lee Seng has the freedom to react however he needs to."
"But that could make things more chaotic for us." Liz brought up. "We could accidentally hit him."
"I can use my position to our advantage." Lee Seng spoke up. "I can easily disappear from an untrained eye."
"But if someone\'s fast enough to keep up with you, you don\'t have the upperhand." Ritsuka reminded him.
"Yeah, that\'s true." Lee Seng nodded. "Well–" His ears instantly perked up. His head turned left, looking diagonally in that direction.
"I guess we could try–" Lee Seng tapped his ring and muted Evan from talking. He could hear his friends gaining on him, but something was keeping him alert. He tapped the ring, unmuting it.
"Something at 11." Lee Seng warned them. Their voices died down as they slowed.
"You know what it is yet?" Manny asked. Lee Seng started to make his way over. The crunching of snow made it hard to have a surprise attack on whatever was making those noises. The scarce vegetation on the ground made it hard for him to hide. He could hear multiple voices. They were talking some sort of gibberish.
\'Goblins?\' Lee Seng thought. He came to a stop behind a tree. He moved his tail as he pushed against the tree. He slowly peeked out.
"GRA!" A grovely voice shouted. He could see a group of goblins. They seemed to be carrying dead animals.
\'I guess they\'ve finished hunting.\' Lee Seng thought. A louder voice broke through the noise. The goblins all turned and looked at a taller goblin. \'A hobgoblin?\' Lee Seng guessed.
"Gra tie admfew!" The hobgoblin barked. The goblins grumbled and started to follow him.
"What\'s the situation?" Manny asked.
"Goblins and a hobgoblin." Lee Seng told them. "You wanna try?"
"Let\'s go."
Lee Seng turned away for a moment, seeing his friends slowly make their way over to him. He could hear a voice moving towards him. Lee Seng grabbed onto the hilt of his katana and took a slow breath.
"Gra! Efvaj lhbme!" The goblin grumbled.
\'It\'s coming straight for me.\' Lee Seng thought. The crunching footsteps of the large-footed goblin moved closer to the tree. It sniffed the air. Something was definitely different in this area. As it slowly started to poke its head past the tree, Lee Seng swung his flattened right hand straight for the goblin\'s neck. In one swoop, he severed the goblin\'s neck and quickly pulled the goblin over, turning and setting it down on the tree.
"Argh?!" A couple of goblins looked over in his direction.
\'Shit.\' Lee Seng thought. \'I think they heard me.\'
"3-1-2." Manny ordered. Ritsuka and Evan jumped out from behind their trees as a psychic current of electricity flew past Lee Seng and bounced between the goblins. The goblins screamed in pain, instantly dropping as the other goblins turned and howled.
"ARGA MNEFK!" The hobgoblin pointed its cleaver straight at the group.
"Go!" Ritsuka shouted as he and Evan passed him. Lee Seng followed after them as the goblins all started to rush them.
"Archers!" Evan shouted. Goblins readied their arrows and fired. Lee Seng lifted his hand in the air and swiped left. He watched as the arrows redirected themselves away from them as Ritsuka and Evan moved forward. Ritsuka swung at a goblin, severing its head as he moved onto the next one. Psychic energy flew past, slamming into two goblins as the archers readied another attack.
"3-3!" Manny shouted, rrushing past Lee Seng.
"Got it." Lee Seng nodded as Liz and Olivia moved closer to Lee Seng, hiding behind trees as another barrage of arrows flew at them. Lee Seng swiped the air again, watching the arrows fly past.
"Get the archers!" Lee Seng told them. Evan slammed the shield against a goblin and swiped his hand across, slashing at the goblin.
"Holy shit, that could do that much damage?" Olivia observed. Her eyes wandered over to Ritsuka. He was being swarmed with goblins.
"Did we get a large group?" Liz asked as she fired another psyshock at the archers. An archer sizzled into dust as the other archers lowered their bows and ran to gain distance.
The goblins jumped at Ritsuka, two goblins going limp as Olivia pulled her fingers away from each other. Ritsuka slashed in front of him, kicking one of the frozen goblins into the other. Manny ran past Ritsuka and Evan, smiling.
"Dibs on the hobgoblin!" Manny shouted.
"Bruh, is that a good idea?" Lee Seng questioned. Liz shook her head and fired another psyshock.
"Let\'s move up closer!" Liz told Olivia and Lee Seng. Lee Seng began to nod when he heard something strange behind them. He turned to hear a loud whistling.
"Behind!" Lee Seng shouted. He threw his hands out, freezing dozens of arrows as they multiplied. He grunted as a couple of arrows flew past his hold. Liz shocked a couple arrows out of the air as she moved away from it. Olivia jumped to the side, taking cover at a nearby tree. Arrows thumped into the trees as she turned to see the archers in the distance readying another strike.
"Archers from the other side too!" Olivia pointed behind them. Lee Seng sighed.
"I\'ll handle the archers behind us! Lee Seng, can you handle the ones in the forest?" Liz asked.
"Handle them?" Lee Seng smiled. "Shouldn\'t be a problem." Liz and Lee Seng dashed in opposite directions.
"What do I do then?" Olivia shouted.
"Don\'t get hit!" Lee Seng answered.