Kael gave the two time to recover before he called them over; they sat in front of the three.

"That was a good fight!" Alex winced as he sat.

Catena just grunted, still rubbing his stomach; the kick had torn through his training clothes and left a bruise on his flesh.

Kael sighed. "You are not the one that will tell me that, Alex. I am the observer, not you."

"Well..." Alex grinned, his eyes still alight with the heat of the fight even through the pain in his leg.

"Shut up, Alex," Stallus said, but without any heat.

Kael Hound cleared his throat, stopping Alex from replying. "Let’s talk about your fight before we move to the next one."

Everyone became silent then.

"First, Catena. You are very good with your weapon and it seems you have a lot of tricks to do with it, but I noticed that it took too much energy out of you. It made you tired faster," Kael pointed out.

Catena nodded, and Alex continued. "You might want to consider shrinking the size of the metal balls or just using a single chain like a whip. You are quite flexible with your hand."

Catena frowned. "I’ve not thought about it like that before, but I guess you are right. I will think about it."

"Your essence forging is beautifully done. Putting the right amount needed for speed and strength," Kael praised. "You need to work more on your offense though; you fight too innocently."

Azaroth lifted his head, innocently. He hadn’t heard about that before. What does it mean?

"Innocently?" Catena asked in confusion.

"Yes. Your opponents read all your moves before you even make them. There are simply no hidden moves; all are too straightforward and open. It leaves room for opponents to read and counter," Kael said.

So that’s what it meant—Catena was a fighter who was too bold and honest when fighting. Azaroth always thought a fight was about seizing every little opportunity to strike back.

"That’s not a good thing?" Catena asked, baffled, and Azaroth wondered where he came from that had left him so honest in his fighting.

"No, it’s not. You are an assassin, a lowly warrior, a Hound, and your only goal is to win—nothing more," Kael said. "We will have to work on that."

"Next, Alex. Your fighting style itself is unique with your long sword, using two hands, but you are going at it the wrong way," Kael said, and the smile Alex had been building disappeared.

Stallus snorted and removed the hair from her face, ignoring Alex’s glare.

"Although I don’t fully understand your fighting style, it’s a style that takes to incorporate a mobile defense. Like a moving wall or tree. But why are you not moving until you are forced to?" Kael asked.

Alex just shook his head. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Kael looked at him. "You are too slow at forging—that’s what."

Azaroth frowned at that. Slow? How?

"When you forge the essence around your legs like an anchor, you are afraid to move in fear of having to re-forge. I think your style is you being a wall that steadily moves into the defense of your opponent until you pin them under your sword," Kael tapped his mask. "I think we will have to add weight to your sword too."

Azaroth was amazed by Kael’s deduction. He had found out about Alex’s and Catena’s problems within their fighting and provided solutions. Having a heavy weapon would mean Alex delivering harder, stronger blows.

And Catena having a lighter weapon meant having faster and quicker ways to control his chain.

Kael continued. "I also liked the way you forged essence on your hand."

Wait. Alex didn’t forge his hand! Azaroth turned to face Kael. "I can’t remember him doing that."

"Yes, it was really stupid not to forge your hand to increase the speed of your blows," Stallus said.

Alex’s black eyes sparked, and he smiled—slow and satisfied like a cat. A proud, satisfied cat.

"I’m not surprised you didn’t notice," Kael said.

"Notice what?" Stallus demanded.

"Show them, Alex," Kael said.

Alex was only too happy to do so. He brought his right hand out, and Azaroth heard it—a low hum he’d come to associate with the use of essence.

He could only hear the low vibration that sounded like a far-off bee if the user was close. Azaroth didn’t know when it started or how, but since about two weeks ago he had started noticing that anytime essence was used close to him, he heard a low vibration.

But even though he knew Alex was using essence, Azaroth couldn’t see anything on his hand.

"What exactly are you doing?" Stallus demanded.

Catena took one look at Alex’s hand and grunted. "No wonder you hit hard, and your speed is something else too. I thought you only forged your legs."

"It was so craftily done," Kael agreed.

Azaroth felt a flash of irritation for not having figured it out. All he saw was flesh.

Kael must have seen the irritation on Azaroth’s face because he spoke to him. "Look at his hand very well, from his elbow down."

Azaroth narrowed his eyes and looked. There! He couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it earlier—a ripple of energy around his elbow that traced a straight line up and down his whole hand.

"What does it do?" Stallus breathed.

"Just like the normal forging, just weaker," Kael gestured. "It’s mostly used in confusing enemies, to not let them know where you are forging in your body. Hard to do, though."

"So you are this smart, Alex," Stallus teased. "Where did you learn it?"

Alex didn’t know if to smile or glare at Stallus, so he finally settled into a glower. "It’s something I was taught from home."

From home? Doesn’t that mean he learned it even without having essence then? That must have taken insane amounts of brain work to learn something without essence. And Kael said it was hard.

Azaroth wondered which one was the real Alex—the playful, dramatic clown or the serious one that hid his intelligence behind eyes that smiled.

"Impressive," Kael said. "Now, let’s get to the next fighters."