The first one to walk up to the sparring platform was Kanal. She was the most excited among them. As a battle maniac with the only hobby of fighting anything and everything, she climbed the platform gingerly.
She was holding a sword made out of unique metal. The handle was crafted with the bones of a magical beast that she slayed. The craftsmanship of the sword was a little crude, but it did its purpose well. The double edge of the sword was screaming sharp.
The moment she got onto the platform, she drew her sword and pointed it at Thee. She was ready to battle. With complete concentration, she stood without a change in her posture.
Kalina was considered the referee of the match. So, Kanal waited until the signal was given to start.
"Begin." The single word from Kalina lit the sparring platform in a scarlet hue.
The sword Kanal was holding had already turned red hot. A small but bright red flame was covering it. And with each passing second, the intensity of the flame only increased.
"Thee, get ready. This time, it will not be easy." Kanal said while swinging her fiery sword left and right.
"For you, it will never be." Thee took out his spear and launched a fierce attack at Kanal.
Like that, the battle began.
"Booom!" The dust that was spread around the sparring platform rose into the air. The shockwaves from the collision were leaking into the surrounding.
Kalina quickly realised the change in their strength. Last time, when she came to the stone head tribe, they were nothing more than bugs in front of her. But now, they have become warriors that can threaten her.
They were already tier 3. Their growth rate was impressive for such an obscure tribe. Most warriors show growth at a rapid pace when they are young, but this was more than that. It was slightly shocking. Not considering the princesses, even the ice phoenix tribe didn't have talented individuals like them.
How were they born in the Stone head tribe? Kalina thought.
Meanwhile, the battle continued.
Kanal was maximising the use of her flame skill to coat the thick layer of fire on her sword. This was the only skill that she had absolute control over. So, she made sure to use it appropriately. Other skills were more energy consuming and uncontrollable. Using such skills would only have put her at a disadvantage in a fight between humans that can think and act.
So, the red hot sword smashed against Thee's spear. Tiny sparks flew from the point of intact while they both jumped back. If one was considering pure physical strength, they were at similar strength.
With just that, you could see the sweat and blood Kanala shed to catch up to Thee.
But physical strength was not the only determining factor in a battle. Physical stamina, energy quantity and the maximum amount of energy a person can utilise at any given moment, all affect the battle outcome.
And these three factors were not in favour of Kanal. She was aggressively pushing towards Thee while he defended calmly. He was just using full-body enhancement to deal with the attacks.
While Kanal drained her energy quickly by using her energy skill, Thee made easy work of her with his spear skill. He was staying far away to avoid the flames, the reach of the spear allowed him to do it.
Even though Kanal was on the losing side, the battle was thrilling to watch from the sidelines. Alex had a newfound appreciation towards these kids. Even though everyone calls them an adult, they were still fifteen-year-old kids. And he knew that they can't have the achievement they have without working hard.
'Still, Thee is a stupid shit-head. Ah! Shit-head rhymes with stupid. I am a genius!' Fortunately, no one could read the mind of Alex.
After a while, the predictable battle ended. Thee kicked Kanal off the platform after she became too tired to battle anymore.
"Thee is the winner." Kalina declared.
The depressed Kanal walked back with her head stooping low. She wanted to show her strength in front of Kalina. But all that she achieved was a quick defeat. The thick-skinned battle maniac became a meek kitten. She didn't know how to explain it.
Kalina, who realised this said with a smile.
"Kanal, do you why you lost?" Guidance is what she needs, and she will get guidance. Kalina decided.
Kanal shook her head.
"You lost because you wasted too much energy. You were trying too hard to win. This created openings in your moves that Thee could exploit. Fighting styles vary from person to person. So, I won't ask you to change your style. But give a little more thought towards a strategy to take down the enemy.
"Losing is not something to be ashamed of. The disappointment you feel now can become your fuel for success. Analyse the reason for your defeat and learn from it. With constant improvement, what you might feel is an impossible task would become possible." The words from Kalina lifted her mood. So, Kanal lifted her head with fiery passion and walked towards Kalina. She was happy to be acknowledged by Kalina.
And Alex watched from the sidelines as Kanal turned into a complete Kalina fan girl.
"Kanal." Kalina called out.
"Yes!" Kanal almost gave a salute and said 'Yes Sir'.
"Relax, I was just giving you some pointers just like you asked."
"I am relaxed!" She obeyed without saying a word back. If you hadn't seen Kanal before, you might have thought of her as a cute disciplined kid. But this incarnation could not have been further from the truth.
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"Next… Charam, it's your turn."
"Okay," Charam replied and went to spar. Unlike Kanal, his spirit guardian was similar to Thee's, the stone giant of the Stone head tribe. So, he had a worse chance than Kanal to win against Thee.
As expected, the match ended quickly. Other than the smug face of Thee getting even smugger. There was no difference in the outcome.
Nonetheless, Kalina gave some quality advice to him. According to her, the problem of Charam was his inability to act at the right moment. He was spending more time thinking rather than reacting.
So, when he encounters an unexpected attack, he gets thrown into panic, unable to properly defend himself from the attack. It was the exact opposite of Kanal.
Kanal was able to immediately handle unexpected attacks. But she had no strategy to deal with the sparring partner. In the case of Charam, he had a clear strategy of trying to avoid the attacks of Thee as much as he can. But he failed to execute that due to his inability to react properly to the changing conditions.
Charam was satisfied with the constructive criticism he got from Kalina. So, he went back to think for himself. It was a chance to gain a breakthrough in his mentality.
Poka went to the sparring platform without any hope. He was a hammer wielder. He was slower than Kanal, a sword wielder and Charam, an axe wielder. In front of a spear wielder like Thee, he was at a disadvantage.
Even though he was more talented than Charam in energy utilisation and skill manifestation. His combat talent was low. His huge body was best for defending against an attack from the magical beasts. But it was a weakness against humans.
So, Poka went onto the platform without any hope. Losing against Thee was not something new for him.
It only took one attack from Thee to destroy the defence of Poka. Making use of the slower movement speed on Poka, thee slammed his spear against the exposed back Poka.
Thankfully, Poka activated his skill, stone formation create a thick layer of stone on his back. So, it didn't leave behind any permanent damage to his body. However, the time it took for him to recover from the attack was enough for Thee to push him off the platform.
It was a definite loss for Poka.
But Kalina and Alex quickly noticed the problem here. Poka didn't have the will to fight and win. So, without that, how can he expect to succeed? And the main cause for Poka's state was Thee.
In their entire life, Charam, Kanal, and Poka had never won against Thee. He didn't let them have even a chance to surpass him. So, they were subtly influenced by his will. They were subconsciously believing that they couldn't win even if they tried.
There was a mind game being played without their understanding.
Even though Kanal put up a good fight, she was also influenced by this mind game.
The gaze of Alex and Kalina crossed. In their minds, they had the same thought. Kalina and Alex realised the damage Thee had done to the kids' psyche.
'This is not a real friendship. Thee was using the others to raise his status. It was a game of power. His actions are similar to that of a tyrant.' Alex thought.
"Poka, you just have to believe in yourself." Kalina gave the final piece of advice while ignoring Thee.
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