"But sensei...on the very first day...?" Kanhatsu asked, her stern face flickering for a second.
"I need to. You three are the special case."
"But you still haven't told us why we're the special case." Said Kai.
"This duel is only to see your current capabilities. I need to see how much work I have put on you three." Said Shi, completely ignoring what Kai asked.
"If you want a duel, sensei, so let it be then." Caihong said.
Only Caihong was excited for the duel, the most energetic one. Caihong closed his eyes and took some deep breaths. He then opened his eyes; white aether began to form around him, and rope-like tied hairs and some small stone pieces on the ground began to levitate due to his power. Kai and Kanhatsu were able to see small sparks of electricity around him; he was using lightning aether.
Kanhatsu let out a big sigh. She then took a stance similar to a swallow stance, but her legs weren't bent much, and she kept her palms facing front. She had a more refined technique in comparison to Caihong and Kai.
Kai was most raw there, with no technique, no special ability, and no strategy. He had the highest aether reserve in comparison to Kanhatsu and Caihong but didn't know any effective way to utilise it.
On the other side, Shi was just casually standing there, showing no interest. "You may start," he said.
As soon as Caihong heard the word 'start', he immediately went near Shi, leaving a trail of lightning behind. He was the fastest in the trio. With lightning aether in his hands, he started a non-stop attack on Shi with his nails, but Shi was easily deflecting all his attacks with only one hand while Caihong was using both his hands.
"Too slow." Commented Shi.
Caihong stopped his attacks, and from Shi's behind, Kanhatsu began to attack with her palms. She very fluidly used her footwork and arms to attack Shi while changing the type of aether in her palms. Shi was dodging all her attacks while walking backwards. Shi then grabbed one hand of her.
"Your attacks don't carry any power."
Shi then picked her up by the hand he grabbed and tossed her in the air. Kai jumped and caught her. Kai dashed forward to land a punch on Shi, but he was standing still; the attack didn't have any effect. Shi raised one hand when Caihong immediately pulled him back.
"Hey, focus there." Caihong said to Kai.
Those three created distance from Shi, it was obvious to them that they were nowhere near to harm Shi.
"Any plans?" Caihong asked.
"Guys...Shi-sensei disappeared..." Kai pointed to where Shi was standing before. He was not there.
"I don't have any more time to waste." Shi said he was standing right behind Caihong.
It was a great surprise to all three; they had never seen any living being so fast. Caihong tried to run away, but Shi raised one hand towards him, and he immediately lay on the ground on his face side. It was like any type of heavy pressure was being applied on him, and he was not getting up because of it. The place where Caihong lay was crushed by his weight. His expression told that he was in pain.
"Don't go close to Shi, his aether's pressure is enough to defeat us." Kanhatsu said she was panicking a little, like she was scared of anything. She and Kai jumped backwards to create more distance, but Shi disappeared again and appeared behind Kanhatsu. He did the same thing done to Caihong, applying a heavy amount of aether pressure on her.
Now only Kai was standing; he could feel his heart beating fast. He felt something; he slid his hand inside his pocket and took out a pen. It was the same pen his parents gifted him.
"What are you going to do, Kai? Attack me with that pen?"
Kai doesn't know why he thought that clicking the pen would be a good idea. As soon as he clicked the pen, it transformed into a sword. Kai was just staring at his sword; he himself was very surprised. 'Am I dreaming, or did the pen just transform into a sword?' Kai himself was very confused. He looked at Shi. For the first time, Kai saw an expression on Shi's face. Shi smiled a little, and soon that smile became a wide grin.
"Are you going to attack me, Kai?" Shi's voice was different, very rock hard, very ghostly. His eyes were wide, and his face looked terrifying with the wide grin.
'Should I use a weapon on sensei...' Kai thought, 'It's very weird... I'm feeling like it's the right thing to attack Shi-sensei with the sword.' He pointed the sword towards Shi, his hands were shaking. [Attack kai.] Kai heard a very sweet voice but didn't think about where the voice came from and dashed towards Shi.