"Hey, Ike!" Claude shouted towards Icarus as he entered the backyard and ran towards him.
"I heard what happened during your class' soul force test. Sorry about that. Here I got you a little something," grinned Claude as he handed a rectangular box that contained a log cake.
"Uh...thanks..."
"I'm pumped for tomorrow!"
Claude began throwing a series of punches towards the air. It looked very impressive to Icarus. His form was perfect and each punch carried explosive power even though it was nothing but a warm-up.
"Why's that?" asked Icarus as he put the log cake near the patio.
"I'm fighting Richter tomorrow, that's why!" beamed Claude as he finished with a high kick.
"That's your cousin, right?"
"Correct, his been proclaiming himself as my destined rival since we were young. I plan to put him in his place tomorrow."
"What is this, P*kemon?" sighed Icarus.
"Very funny, but the only rivals I consider are Violetta and you," reminded Claude.
"How about considering removing my name on that list?" suggested Icarus. "I can't compare to both of you, at all."
"Ike, what happened? You weren't like this back then. You're going to let a crystal's colour drag you down?"
"That's easy for you to say, you're a Gold Rank. That's one in a million right there. Anyways, I'm done comparing myself with you guys. I'll still be alongside, watching."
"Ike..."
Claude tightened his fists in frustration. He couldn't think of a thing to say that might bring back Icarus' vigour. Icarus was right, that was probably why he had nothing to say.
"Anyways, Claude, I have something to ask you. What do you know about your classmate, Zeke?" inquired Icarus.
"Zeke? You're going against him?" Claude gasped.
"Yeah, is he strong? What's his Avatar? What's his Soul Rank?" Icarus peppered his friend with questions.
"Zeke is very strong," confirmed Claude, "his Essence is Sobek. As for his Soul Rank, its Green Rank. He knows martial arts just like us."
"Oh? What kind?"
"Taekwondo, if I remember correctly..."
"Aight, noted," nodded Icarus. "That's all I needed to know. I'll read up on his Essence for more info."
"Whew, finally everyone's here!"
Yanne met up with the two boys. Right behind her was Violetta who was late. The woman wasted no time in training her three students. Their task for the day was to team up and fight her in close combat. The priority was to prime them up with combat experience.
"You two brats can use your Essences," smirked Yanne. "As for me, I'll be using only one hand."
"Begin."
Icarus, Claude, and Violetta and unleashed a chain of attacks that were easily avoided by Yanne. Every time they threw an attack, they emphasized on explosiveness. Using their fists, elbows, and legs, they attempted to hit their master only to miss or be completely blocked. When stopped, their limbs jolted in pain as they hit Yanne's steel-like body.
The martial arts they used was none other than Bajiquan, their main form of hand-to-hand combat. Since Bajiquan was Yanne's specialty, they were trained extensively for it. However, even it had its own flaws that were easily covered by learning other arts.
"It's that all you kids got?!"
"Shit, switch it up!" commanded Icarus.
"Right!" Claude and Violetta both agreed in unison.
Yanne quickly disappeared from their sight and appeared right behind Icarus. She delivered a jab towards her own son's stomach. However, Icarus saw it coming and tensed his arms in front of him in an effort to block it.
"Not so fast!"
Claude and Violetta shuffled towards Icarus and threw their arms in Icarus' defence. Their efforts were not in vain as they successfully blocked Yanne's simple punch using their arms. However, it was simply too powerful and the impact blew all three of them to the ground.
Without a moment's notice, they immediately got up with visible grazes on their arms. Now it was time for their counterattack.
"Lugh!"
"Ymir!"
Claude and Violetta both activated their Essences at the same time to face the common foe. Icarus stood at the back, conjuring up a plan.
In a flash, Claude turned into a streak of light and reformed right in front of Yanne.
"You aren't the only one who's agile!"
A flurry of glowing fists went towards Yanne to which she parried with one hand, smiling. Tired of the light show, she swiped one of his wrists and threw him back to his peers.
"Claude! Don't rush! We'll attack together!" pressed Violetta.
"Got it! My bad!" coughed Claude.
"Violetta! Make a shield behind you!" shouted Icarus.
Yanne shuffled behind the girl unnoticed and threw a hook. Due to Icarus' warning, Violetta was able to turn in time and made a partial shield of ice.
"That's not going to stop me, Violet."
"I'm well aware of that!" grinned Violetta.
The shield shattered with ease and the punch connected with Violetta's arms. The princess had already anticipated it and was ready to take the punch with a block. But her weak arms could only do so much as she was launched away and crashed into the ground. Despite being immobilized, Violetta managed to crack a final smile.
"Huh?!"
Yanne realized that she had been played. Her lower body was instantly encased in ice while her arm smoked with frostbite from when she connected with Violetta's body. The princess allowed Yanne to get close enough to freeze her at the expense of her own body.
"Oh no! What am I gonna do?!"
"Claude! Now!" declared Icarus.
Claude transformed into a wisp of light as he leapt above the immobilized woman. Then, he turned back to normal and summoned a war axe composed of light. It was one of Lugh's power as the Master of Skills. Claude had the ability to conjure up any weapon made of light.
With all his might, Claude cleaved down on his teacher in an attempt to knock Yanne out.
"Hehe, just kidding," smirked Yanne as she ruptured the ice with pure power.
Yanne ignored Claude and dodged his attack by simply stepping back, causing the boy to ram into the ground due to his uncontrollable speed. She then turned around a caught a knife aimed towards her arm. Icarus' face formed an exasperated gasp. His planned sneak attack failed. It was simply a Plan B in case Claude failed his part in which he did. But Icarus didn't expect his mother to see through his dirty move as well.
"You unfilial boy, throwing a knife at your own mother?" Yanne muttered with a hint of sarcasm.
She retaliated by throwing the knife back towards Icarus. Its outstanding speed was too fast for Icarus' eyes to comprehend as it whizzed by, grazing him on the cheek and cracking the huge boulder behind him.
"Whew, that's Round 1!" declared Yanne. "You three have a 15-minute rest and we'll start the next round soon."
"NEXT ROUND?!!!"
All three looked at each other and palmed their face in despair.