"Let me do it again", He said. He stepped back to the center and without looking down, he lifted his right foot and swung it to the right. With that same momentum, he shifted his body weight across and moved his left foot too.
Haze watched intently. He had to admit the man moved with great mobility for a man his size. In fact, he moved very fast for any size.
"Now you do it", The man said.
Haze took a deep breath. Due to his senses being slightly high, he could easily see and memorize moves. He took a fighting stance, then he raised his left foot, swung it to the side and dragged the rest of his body in a fluid motion.
"Brilliant", The man said. "You were a little sloppy however. You need to keep doing it for a while till it becomes natural to you".
Haze nodded and concentrated on mastering the side step. It took him about twenty tries while the man ate his apple and watched for him to finally perform it satisfactorily.
"Good!", The man said and clapped his hands. "I've never had anyone master it that fast", He confessed.
Haze felt his chest swell with pride. He was still capable of extraordinary feats, he just needed more training.
"Now you'll practice it with your other leg", The man said and Haze nodded.
He began to practice the side shuffle on his right leg, it was slightly harder since it wasn't his dominant leg but he fought through the pain and kept practicing.
The man had run out of apples by now and he sat on the small fence, watching Haze. He had to admit he was fascinated by him. Haze had taken barely thirty minutes to master the side shuffle. He had taught so many students by now so his memory was a little hazy but if he remembered correctly, this was the fastest anyone had mastered it.
He studied Haze again. The boy was obviously struggling with using his weaker leg and one could see that moving the leg made him feel some type of pain. Regardless, the boy persisted, fighting through the pain as drops of sweat riveted off his forehead.
The man wondered why Haze felt pain when he used his right leg. It seemed like an injury.
Hades had told him the boy just came back from a very dangerous and tasking mission but he wouldn't say what it was. He wondered what kind of mission it could be where Haze could have gotten a muscular injury.
After his fiftieth try, Haze collapsed to the ground from exhaustion. He panted heavily and the floor was soaked with sweat.
He still hadn't mastered the side shuffle to his right.
The man looked at him with pity. "That's enough for now. Let's take a little break".
"I don't need rest", Haze said, and with great difficulty. He rose to his feet. "I'm perfectly fine".
"No you're not", The man said and pointed to the ground. "Sit. Now".
Haze clenched his teeth. He wanted to continue training till he could master the technique but he knew better than to offend the master.
"Yes, master", He grumbled and sat on the rock hard concrete.
The master knew what he was doing. He could have chosen to sit on the grass under the shade but sitting on the concrete under the mild sun was his way of punishing himself for not mastering the technique.
The master laughed. If the boy was a god, he would expect him to actually surpass every student he'd taught. Sadly, the boy was just a demigod.
He sat like that in silence for a few minutes then when the master noticed Haze had calmed down considerably and his breathing had slowed down, he got to his feet and stretched.
"Okay, time to resume training".
Haze got back his feet and wanted to continue the side shuffle but the master stopped him.
"We won't be doing that again. You can practice it in your free time. We're moving to the next one".
He moved his feet deftly.
"The second basic technique is the vertical movement. You need to be able to switch between advancing and retreating as smoothly as possible".
He rocked his right foot forward and moved his left behind him, then just as quickly, he moved it back, switching the feet.
Haze studied the movement as Master Wei repeated it over and over. Finally it was his turn to do it.
Haze replayed the movement in his head and was sure of how it was executed but when he moved his legs to do it, Master Wei shook his head.
"Wrong", He said firmly.
Haze huffed and tried it again. The master shook his head once more.
"Wrong"
Haze took a sharp breath and moved his legs again. The master shook his head once more.
"Wrong", He said. "You seem to know what you want your legs to do but you have a problem making them do it".
Haze sighed in frustration. He moved his feet forwards and backwards but Master Wei shook his head.
"Okay. Let's break it down", He said. "Focus on the forward movement only. Do it like this", He did the movement again.
Haze did as he was told and the master nodded. "Okay. You got that but you need to perfect it. Now do the backwards movement".
Haze did it and the master shook his head. "That's where the problem is. The backwards step seems harder for you".
He looked up at the setting sun. It was evening already.
"I have to go now. Keep practicing those moves. You should be able to do them flawlessly by tomorrow".
Haze nodded and Master Wei picked up his satchel from behind the tree.
He was soon on his way out of the courtyard.
Haze didn't stop to rest for once. He kept practing the moves throughout the evening. Even as nightfell, Haze stood outside, practicing the moves. He eventually collapsed from exhaustion and fell asleep on the hard pavement in the middle of the courtyard.
From a corner of the courtyard, Gatti watched as Haze collapsed to ground. He shook his head in concern,Hades had introduced the poor to a whole new world of pain and hard decisions.
He decided to let Haze be as he walked to the palace to give Hades his report.