The World's Ego

The Immortal's Decision

Third Person POV

Hua lets out a small sigh at Xin's respectful greeting and motions him to straighten his posture.

"No need for such formalities, Xin. Since you have brought them here with you, I will not be making this difficult for them. It is simple. Convince me. Prove to me that it is wrong to keep you away from potential danger."

"... Even if I promise you that I will return?" Xin finally asks

Hua gives him a weary smile while some memories surfaced in her mind, "Many said that to me once, but they never did return."

"That's..."

Hua shakes her head, "Enough, Xin. Words will not be enough to convince me. So if you really want to promise me something like that, show me that I can trust you."

She takes up her fighting stance and the three boys immediately stiffen up. Gadra stood aside, breaking Shinji and Mark out of their stupors to stand by his side as well, leaving Xin to fight Hua.

"What's wrong, Xin? Are you hesitating now?"

Xin quickly regains his composure and takes his fighting stance, "No, Master! Here I come!"

Taking out the daggers he had hidden under his clothes, Xin throws them at Hua as she effortlessly catches them between her fingers. However, that was a distraction from Xin as he dashed in and jumped into the air to make a swing at her with his left foot. That was again, effortlessly blocked by Hua's right arm as soon as she lets the daggers clatter to the floor. Hua rotates her wrist to grab onto his ankle and Xin twists his body to use his right leg, aiming for her shoulder, but it is futile. Hua manages to catch that leg as well and finally spins him around once before letting go as he drops to the floor.

"That has got to hurt..." Mark muttered with a wince

"Is that all?" Hua questioned him with a cold tone

Xin hurriedly gets up, "N... No!"

It wasn't even a fight. It was a one-sided futile beatdown. No matter how much effort Xin puts into his sneak attacks, kicks, or punches, Hua was able to nimbly evade or block all of them without needing to move from where she was standing. After a few minutes of trying, Xin steps back to catch his breath and keeps a distance from Hua.

"Already tired, Xin? Then Master shall make the first attack." Hua warns him with her right thumb tucked into her open right palm by her side

Xin stiffens up and prepares himself for the attack, but a few moments later, he sucked in a pained breath and coughs violently. Without moving, somehow or someway, Hua's palm strike had landed a hit on Shin's abdomen, and his clothes creased with the aftermath of the strike.

"Xin!"

"I didn't see her move!" Mark gaped in surprise

"Mm..." Gadra hummed in thought, "Not even my perception magic could keep up. Furthermore, if she had moved, her clothes would have swayed even the tiniest bit. How is this possible...? Is this really an Art?"

Xin was now kneeling on the floor, clutching at where he was hit, heaving heavily to regain his breath. Hua didn't put too much force into the strike, but it was still enough to knock the air out of him.

"Xin. You don't have to force yourself. It's okay to give up."

Xin lets out another violent cough before standing up again, "N... No... I want to keep trying...! Achieve success by learning from our failures, you taught me that...!"

Hua's eyes flickered in slight surprise before she regained her calm, "... I see. Then let's see how far you can go."

"Yes, Master!"