Lee Seng pushed the locker room door open and filed into the gymnasium with some female students. They all whispered amongst each other about Lee Seng's looks. They were swooning over him and their curiosity about his tail and ears grew as he passed them without recognition. A good size of students were milling around the middle of the gym as Ms. Winters was tapping away at the tablet in her hands.
Dummies flew up and lined themselves, following the basketball outer lines. Some students were making small talk with her and Ms. Winters chatted away with the students as she finished setting up the dummies behind her. Lee Seng stood off to the side of the group and watched as Felix and the other male students walked in. Felix was flexing his hand as they both made eye contact. The bell rang and Ms. Winters looked up.
"Alright, everyone. Class has begun!" Ms. Winters clapped her hand on her wrist. She watched as Felix and the others joined the circle and nodded. She quickly checked off the students here on her tablet and then turned to look at Lee Seng. "We have a new student joining us today. I'll let him introduce himself." She motioned Lee Seng to move to the front where she stood. Lee Seng stepped over and stood off to the side of Ms. Winters and looked at the crowd.
"Hi, I'm Lee Seng Chang. I'll be joining the Glass specialization class starting today. I'm a transfer student from Griffyth High. I'm a Fighter/Glass Specialist, so that's why you didn't see me yesterday." Lee Seng introduced himself. The crowd began to mutter about him. He could hear the girls swooning over him as Ms. Winters began to rope their attention back in.
"Alright, everyone!" She clapped her hand against the tablet. "I know, I know. We've got a new handsome face joining us. Now's not the time to lose it in front of Chang. As you heard, Chang is a Specialist, so he'll be rotating his specialization classes. He'll be switching from a two to three day format with his Fighter class. With that in mind, please help him and show him the ropes of the Glass, alright?" Ms. Winters spoke.
"Yes, ma'am." The group answered. Ms. Winters nodded and motioned for Lee Seng to step off to the side. Lee Seng moved over to the side and stood next to a familiar girl.
"Huh, I should've expected you to be in my class." Liz spoke. Lee Seng jumped and turned to look at Liz. Her arms were crossed and she was half-listening to Ms. Winters started her usual speech of 'try your best and don't get hurt.'
"Holy crap, I thought you had Specialization classes in the middle of the day like Manny." Lee Seng whispered. Liz shook her head and folded her arms.
"Nope. I have most classes with the pretty boy, but I banked on ending with the Specialization course."
"Mmm, nice to know I have someone I know in here." Lee Seng smiled. LIz nodded and turned to look at him.
"You're making all these girls and some of the guys simp all over you, y'know that?" She shook her head. "I don't even know how you and Manny can be in the same room and not attract attention together."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Alright, everyone. With that in mind let's start off with an assessment." Ms. Winters' voice roped Lee Seng and Liz's attention. "I need data and I think you all would like to see Mr. Chang's powers, yes?" The crowd began to chatter and Ms. Winters motioned for them to quiet down. She turned to look at Lee Seng and motioned him over.
"Good luck." Liz whispered. Lee Seng gave an awkward chuckle before moving back towards Ms. Winters.
"Lee Seng, I want to understand your powers better as a Glass. I would like it if you could show me what you're capable of right now. I do this for every student at the beginning of the year, so they all go through the same grueling task. Just do what you're comfortable with on the dummy there." Ms. Winters pointed. "Any questions?"
"No, ma'am. I understand." Lee Seng shook his head.
"Good, the space is yours, Chang." Ms. Winters moved off to the right as Lee Seng turned to face the dummy.
'White Fox Cloak.' The burst of white and gold energy enveloped Lee Seng as quickly as the gold and white wisps started to move off of him. Ms. Winters studied Lee Seng closely as he got a reaction from the class. Lee Seng lifted his hand to the dummy and released a single gravity shot. The dummy went flying and slammed into the wall. Lee Seng quickly pulled hand backwards and watched as the dummy flew straight for him.
Lee Seng released a bubble of gravity and watched as the dummy's speed slowed to a snail's pace. The crowd of students were in awe of his power as he moved his hand to point at the dummy and slowly pushed it out. The dummy popped out of the bubble and quickly made its way back to its original spot. Lee Seng turned and faced Ms. Winters, watching the gravity bubble pop into thin air.
"That's all I can do." Lee Seng told her. She put the tablet between her arm and side and clapped. The whole class clapped and Ms. Winters moved closer to Lee Seng.
"Can you explain what's around you?" Ms. Winters circled the White Fox Cloak with her finger in the air.
"Oh, this?" Lee Seng looked down. "It's to combat my negative. I learned early on that ranged attacks afflict gravity onto my body, so it grows heavier with each use. That's why I stuck to close combat fighting as a Fighter. The negative wasn't too harsh on my body. I learned how to negate most of the negative effects with this and it keeps me from being forced onto the floor." Lee Seng explained. Ms. Winters nodded and scribbled what she heard onto the tablet.
"Is there a function with your tail with your gravity powers?"
"I can use my tail as a point of focus." Lee Seng swung his tail back and forth as Ms. Winters nodded.
"Anything else you want to show me or is that all you're capable of?"
"That's it." Lee Seng told her. Ms. Winters nodded and tapped at the tablet.
"Bluntly speaking, you have a very basic control of your powers. It's noted in your student records you just got your Awakening not too long ago. A month, right?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"For a month it's not too bad. I do think some sort of growth would've shown itself by now. You will need to work hard to fine tune your power, alright?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Alright with that, we can move onto today's lesson." Ms. Winters turned to face the students. Lee Seng turned and walked back over to Liz. The White Fox Cloak dissipated as he settled next to Liz.
"Is she just like that… always?" Lee Seng whispered.
"Yup." Liz nodded.
"Today we'll be continuing our lesson on ranged attacks versus close combat combatants. There will be times where you have to fight in close combat. Using your abilities to the best you can will make a difference in beating someone who has an advantaged in close combat." Ms. Winters spoke. A hand rose and Ms. Winters pointed at them.
"Wouldn't this be too easy for a Specialist like Lee Seng?" The male student asked. "He has an advantage because he can do both. Wouldn't this lesson be too easy for him?" The other male students began to agree with him and Ms. Winters motioned for them to quiet down.
"Just because Chang is a Fighter/Glass Specialist, doesn't mean he'll always have the luxury to switch his fighting styles. A Specialist has a harder task because they must distinguish between their two classification styles. Being a Specialist who excels in close combat, Chang might instinctively use close combat to help him in combat, but what if there's a situation where he isn't able to freely use his close combat?
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"We are all Glasses. We must understand our strengths and weaknesses. Chang has been blessed to negate some of his weaknesses with his power, but it doesn't mean he can't learn to fight as a Glass and has a Fighter separately." Ms. Winters spoke. "With that in mind, Chang will be using his best ability to only use ranged attacks while in this class, alright?"
"Yes, ma'am." Lee Seng answered. The crowd muttered. They seemed split on Lee Seng.
"Felix's lackeys are always causing problems." Liz shook her head. "Just ignore them. They're wannabes who think they can do whatever they want."
"Mmm, they tried to jump me in the locker room earlier. It's nothing I can't handle." Lee Seng smiled. Liz nodded.
"Group in pairs and pick a dummy. You'll try to fight it off while it rushes at you. The bot will hit you!" Ms. Winters clapped her hands. Lee Seng turned to face Liz.
"Ah, Liz, you wanna pair up again?" A female student asked. Liz looked at Lee Seng and then back at the girl.
"We're odds now that Lee Seng is here, right?" Liz asked. The student nodded.
"Ms. Winters, can the three of us pair up since Lee Seng makes us odd?" Liz raised her hand. Ms. Winters looked over and nodded.
"That'll work, Miss Walt. You and Miss Zhao can pair up with Mr. Chang." Ms. Winters accepted.
"Cool!" Zhao happily answered. She moved over in front of Lee Seng and stuck her hand out. She had black hair that was in a ponytail and had a beautiful smile that made Lee Seng's heart skip a beat. "I'm Chloe Zhao. I'm one of Liz's friends. Do you know Liz?"
"Mmm, she's friends with my roommate." Lee Seng shook Chloe's hand. He felt nervous around Chloe and couldn't pinpoint the reason why. His stomach felt like there were butterflies fluttering about.
"Oh, Manny got a roommate?" Chloe looked at Liz.
"Yup. And who knew it was a childhood friend." Liz whispered.
"Wow, that's lucky."
"Mmm, a lucky coincidence." Lee Seng nervously laughed. Liz patted Chloe and Lee Seng and turned them so they could walk to the end.
"Let's start training before Ms. Winters takes points off for 'loitering' and 'ignoring tasks'." Liz moved them to the end and the three stood ten or so feet away from the bot.