Zachary mirrored Yin's smug grin as well.
"Not bad."
"That is good enough, Yin. As long as it is not a meager five seconds, that should suffice for now. We will practice your Lightning affinity some other time."
"Yes, sir!"
The ashes brought upon by the tree's decay faded away with the wind, taken by gust of the mountains.
Yin himself equipped the safety gloves of Luken which prevented him from using his decay abilities subconsciously.
Suna and Yin high fived as the latter sat beside her.
"Nice one, Yin!"
"Y-You really think so, Suna?"
"Of course, dummy!"
Her smile was pure and honestly blindingly bright.
"Next up, Zachary."
The tall lean man stepped in front of the Commander.
"Tell me, Zach boy, when you attacked us that night, you could have maybe landed a hit on the Red King had you just used your Anima skills. It's Fire, isn't it?"
"It's honestly too hard for me to control my skills, sir. Even enchanting my weapons would last from five seconds to fifty seconds on a good day. And yes, I am a Fire Slayer, technically."
Zach responded with an annoyed face.
"A Slayer must learn to master his spells and skills in order to become an effective soldier, have all the books you have read not teach you that?"
Luken approached him.
"I-I know that. But maybe I can become a Slayer without exercising my affinity? People with awakened Anima cells like us already have heightened physical strength and instincts, right?"
Zachary protested against Luken.
"Are you serious? You will not even practice using your skills?!"
Yin stood up.
"Calm down, Yin. Let us see where it goes from here."
Luken placed his hand on his chin, indicating a "thinking" posture.
"Hm, let us see. Alright, I will allow it. I'll allow you to only use your scythe and nothing more."
Luken said.
"Really?! Do you mean it?"
Zachary's eyes glinted with happiness.
"He must really hate practicing affinity spells and skills."
Suna remarked.
"On one condition. You must be able to hit me, hit me with anything, honestly, be it your fists or your scythe, as long as you make contact with me, you're free to do as you please."
Luken locked eyes with Zachary.
His ocean blue gaze intimidated the young man and caused him to back down a little bit.
"Very well."
Zach nodded.
"I am ready when you are, Zach boy."
Luken smirked.
Gavin face palmed.
"He is having way too much fun. He's supposed to be training you guys."
Yin stood up to focus on what was about to happen much more closely.
"This is fine, sir."
His eyes were different. They were that of an animal's, an animal trying to study its prey and learn from it.
"Very well, I won't interrupt them."
Gavin said.
"I'll give you one whole minute, if you can't make contact or even touch me in that time, you lose."
Zach nodded.
"Here I come, sir!"
Zachary kicked off his approach by rushing at the Commander.
He swung his scythe at him in a wide horizontal angle.
"I've got you now!"
In a split second, Zach's scythe was now on the ground, it was pierced by Luken's sword.
Zachary tried to pull it out from the ground where it was stuck, but to no avail.
Luken was stepping on his sword's hilt on one foot, all the while balancing his whole body on top of his sword.
"Hey Gavin! Do you think you can cook the Peking duck tonight for dinner?"
Luken shouted at the Serpent Summoner.
"Not a chance."
Gavin answered back.
"W-What?!"
Zach was enraged.
Not only was the Commander not facing towards him, he was reading a damn recipe cook book!
"That has got to be disheartening."
Suna said.
Zachary jumped vertically upwards with such force that the a shockwave of wind began to kick up below him.
While mid-air, he swung a jabbing motion with his fists.
Luken just jumped from the hilt of his sword and dodged it easily.
"There's no way to go but back down when you jump, Commander!"
Zach smirked yet again, thinking he had the Commander cornered.
The Commander shot a water blast from his palms sideways, propelling him away from the hungry Zachary just waiting for him down below.
Zach clicked his tongue in anger and dismay.
"S Ranks and above really are on another level. But no matter, as long as I can make contact, I still win!"
He said.
"Thirty seconds left, Zach-boy. You know you can just give up now and accept that you lost, right? You are wasting our time."
Luken said mockingly.
"Never!"
"Hey Gavin, who do you think has the most physical strength among the three of us?"
Suna asked the Serpent Summoner directly.
"Well, if I had to rank it from the top one, top two, and top three, it would probably be - you, Yin, and then Zachary."
Gavin answered her straightforward question with no hesitation.
Suna clenched both of her fists close to her face.
"Alright! I'm the strongest!"
Gavin sighed.
"Suna, we've been telling you this time and time again, physical strength is not the only factor that determines who wins in a battle, there are plenty other factors that come into play as well."
She did not hear these, as she was too busy complimenting herself in her mind.
"One minute is over, Zach boy. I win."
Luken said while not even looking at Zach, he was still reading the cook book.
"Why are you even reading a cook book? I do not think you even know how to cook an egg at all!"
Zachary was frustrated.
"You're right about that! But man, looking at food just makes me excited to go on conquests, I'll get to eat these dishes after a successful mission, every single time! Anyway, you lost, so you better get ready to brush up your flames, young man."
"Y-Yes, sir."
Although he lost, Zachary was grinning.
"I will be sure to get you next time, with my fire spells and skills!"