Clap! Clap! Clap!
Hasya struck his palms together repeatedly. Fyar, Zaefal, Illya, and Rasie immediately shifted their gazes toward the source of the sound. Hasya stood tall.
"Alright, alright, alright."
Hasya took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. His shoulders dropped. He spread his arms to the side for a moment before looking at his students one by one.
"Whoa, you guys are truly great. Seriously."
Hasya shook his head slowly.
"I did not expect you to defeat me at thirty percent and almost match me at fifty percent."
He raised his eyebrows as high as possible. His pupils dilated as he looked at Fyar and the others in turn.
"Honestly, I am very surprised because this was beyond my expectations."
"What did you expect then?" Rasie asked. She stood tall with her breath still ragged. Her face looked exhausted. "Don't tell me you expected us to lose in an instant? Like ready, go, and then it is just over?"
"Yes!" Hasya answered firmly. He nodded without hesitation. "Exactly right, exactly right."
Hasya lowered his gaze to his own hands.
"My arm severed, my body pierced." Hasya looked up again. "You guys are truly crazy."
Hasya then stepped closer to Rasie. He reached the top of the girl's head and stroked her red hair gently. His fingers moved softly through the messy strands.
"I am proud of you, baby."
Rasie looked away. Her ears turned red. She squeezed her own fist to hide her awkwardness.
"Shut up."
"But." Hasya released his hand. The look in his eyes became sharper and more focused. "Your weakness is that you are too careless. Your close range defense is a mess. Your attacks are too reckless."
Rasie looked down. She tensed her arm muscles until her fist trembled. She looked annoyed with the evaluation but did not argue.
"Tch, I see."
"Yes." Hasya nodded. He reached for Rasie's cheek and stroked it gently with his thumb. "And do you know, baby? You have great potential in close combat."
"I truly see potential in you."
Rasie kept looking down. Her eyes stared at the white light pattern on the arena floor.
"D-don't lie"
"That how it is," Hasya answered.
"If those messy attacks alone could trouble me." He pulled the corners of his lips wide until his teeth showed. "Just imagine if you improved your defense and attacked with a regular pattern."
"Whoa, imagine it, baby, imagine it!"
Hasya raised his hand into the air. Then he moved his fingers as if controlling a flow of fire.
"You will truly be unbeatable at close range, especially if you use your fire mode."
"Damn!"
Hasya patted Rasie's shoulder. The pat was strong enough that Rasie's shoulder shook slightly. "Besides those weaknesses, you were good. Be proud because you succeeded in cutting off my hand."
"Ah, oh, one more thing baby."
Hasya chuckled. The sound of his laughter was low.
"You might have the potential to become the strongest fire Hunter I have ever met."
Rasie looked up quickly. Her eyes rounded as she stared into Hasya's eyes.
"W-what did you say?"
"You heard me," Hasya repeated. His voice sounded convincing. "Making a level hundred telekinetic fighter struggle is not an easy thing."
"What you did, trading blows with me, making me severely injured like that."
"It was crazy!"
Hasya's face then softened.
"So, Rasie."
"Keep it up, okay?"
"Love you."
Rasie nodded slowly. The corner of her lip lifted slightly.
"Shut up."
"Love you too."
Hasya turned toward Illya. The girl leaned on Fyar's shoulder.
"And Illya, you were truly troublesome and your attacks were right on target."
Hasya gave a thumbs up to Illya. "Your intelligence and the way you positioned yourself were very good. Good job, I am proud of you."
Hasya lowered his shoulders slightly. He looked at Illya with a more serious expression.
"But, you panic too much. You focus too much on using the same magic over and over."
"You are too emotional. If an opponent has a brain, they will know your attack patterns and magic patterns in an instant."
Hasya tapped his own temple with his index finger. "Try using different magic. Do not panic so much. Control your emotions and my advice is to avoid close combat."
Hasya pulled the corner of his lips into a thin smile. "Understand?"
Illya nodded with a firm motion. "I understand. Thank you, Hasya."
Hasya then turned toward Zaefal. He took a step closer to the man.
"And you, Zaefal. Your sword technique is quite good. Your defense is solid and you succeeded in using Void energy correctly."
"However, you depend too much on your weapon."
"Too dependent on the weapon?" Zaefal asked. He looked at the sword he held. His eyebrows furrowed.
Hasya nodded certainly. "Yes."
"When you lose your weapon, you are powerless. You must learn close combat techniques. Use the Void on your body, not just on your sword all the time."
Hasya pointed toward Fyar with his thumb. "Learn from Fyar for martial arts."
"Because he is the best among us, even surpassing me."
Hasya glanced at Rasie and Illya in turn. "This applies to you too. If you want to learn martial arts, learn from Fyar."
Hasya looked back at Zaefal. "Understand?"
Zaefal nodded. He let out a short breath. "Thank you, Hasya."
Finally, Hasya faced Fyar. He stood right in front of the purple haired youth who was gently stroking Illya's shoulder.
"And you."
"You truly were beyond my expectations."
"You are the third person after Fathir and Zikri who could defeat me in close combat."
Fyar jerked slightly. His shoulders tensed.
"Seriously?"
Hasya nodded. His face looked earnest. "Yes, I am serious."
"This is the first time I have seen a martial art style like that."
"Everything feels foreign to me, but it works very well."
Hasya raised his right elbow high. He bent his arm and pushed his elbow upward, imitating Fyar's previous movement.
"Especially this elbow strike."
"It hurts so much, damn it."
Hasya spun his body one hundred and eighty degrees. He swung his left elbow from behind in a horizontal circular motion.
"And this."
"Whoa, crazy."
Hasya performed a spinning movement on his right foot toward the side. He lowered his body slightly then thrust his fist upward vertically.
"And this."
"I truly could not guess the direction."
Hasya raised both hands in front of his face. He pressed both arms together vertically to cover his head and upper body. "And the way you protect yourself like this is very good."
Wait, he can imitate all those movements just by seeing them once?, his movements already feel right as if he has practiced for years. He truly performed them perfectly in one glance. Damm.
Fyar thought while observing every shift in Hasya's body.
Hasya exhaled. He lowered both hands to his sides.
"Your weakness is only your limited mana. And you are too wasteful using your neutralizing energy."
"The rest is already good."
Hasya gave a thumbs up toward Fyar. "Good job."
"Overall, your teamwork is solid now. Just fix what I said earlier."
Zaefal, Fyar, Illya, and Rasie nodded almost at the same time. The aurora light above them swayed slowly, reflecting in their eyes which now looked more spirited.
"Ah, by the way." Hasya's face suddenly turned very enthusiastic. His eyes widened and sparkled. "Are there any other movements besides those?"
Fyar nodded slowly. "Yes."
"Good, good, good. That is our next training, now we return to the castle," Hasya said with a rising tone of excitement. He struck his hands together once more with a loud sound.