Asha would have gotten the block off, had the punch ever landed, but suddenly she was falling—at least until he caught her. She made to grab him, intent on at least pulling him down with her, but he'd dropped her and danced back before she could.
"Dammit," she cursed as she rushed back towards her feet.
Too zoned in now to respond to his insult, she shifted as he circled, keeping him in her sights like before. But since waiting for him to come to her wasn't going well, she lunged at him first, her aim really just to land a hit on him—any hit.
Xarakas smirked as she lunged at him first, deflecting her initial hit as he grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back as he moved out of her way, giving her a swift punch to the gut before shoving her out of the way and dancing away again.
"Sloppy. Predictable," he scolded, easily dodging her next few attacks and landing his own as he disengaged. "I'm not here to play games, Princess. If you can't even learn after a few minutes, how can I expect you to learn during our lessons?"
It didn't feel as if he pulled punches, but Asha didn't let that deter her as she attempted to land just one hit on her instructor, who acted as if fending her off was as easy as breathing.
It was during a lull when she'd pulled back to rethink her strategy that he spoke though. "Because everyone learns best when their teacher is working on giving them a concussion."
"I'm trying to make sure you understand what you're getting into," Xarakas countered, rolling his shoulders as he stretched slightly before tucking his arms behind his back, as if challenging her to hit him.
"I may be the best, but anyone looking to hurt you who is halfway decent would be able to block some of my attacks and land a few of their own, if they got lucky. They're not going to dance around you or give you opportunities, either. They're going to slit your throat before you have the chance to understand what's going on. So, Princess, your concussion will be a valuable lesson, one way or another: either it will motivate you to never receive one ever again, or it'll make you invest in proper guards."
Asha narrowed her eyes at his words.
"If you think I'm going to give up just because you've landed a couple of hits, you're wrong," she warned.
It seemed like that was exactly what he was expecting—that he'd just show her this was going to be more difficult and more painful than she expected, and she'd decide she didn't need any of this after all.
But what he didn't realize was how stubborn she was. Or that she'd already committed to the Tournament. It was already too late for her to turn back.
So she attempted to attack again, this time feigning the first before aiming to catch him when he made to dodge.
Xarakas was glad to see the attempt at a feint, even if it wasn't particularly well executed, since it showed she was at least attempting to adapt. But he caught her fist easily as he dodged, using her own momentum to flip her over his shoulder and toss her to the ground, not bothering to catch her this time so she could land full force.
"No, I expect you to give up after I spend the next three hours beating you to a pulp as I dodge your sad excuses for attacks."