"What do you think about this?" asked Alex, to the young man
"He has potential sir." replied young man.
"Yeah I also agree, Joshua." Alex agreed on what Joshua had replied with.
Joshua matches forward and offered his hand to shake.
"I really appreciate your ability and determination, I am looking forward to work with you. Mr. Kaiser." said Joshua.
"Eh? Uh...yeah, you are still better than me though." Replied Kaiser, shook his hand for respect to each other's performance.
"Kaiser... You surely had shown me what I didn't expect and on top of that, you made Joshua use his left hand as well." said Alex, acknowledging Kaiser just as Joshua did.
"Thanks, I apologise for being getting carried away. Sometimes I feel rage. But seems like Joshua was actually trying not to harm me. I apologise to you too, Joshua." replied Kaiser.
"No need for that, I understand. If I were you, I would have done that too." Said Joshua, forgiving Kaiser as if it wasn't a big deal.
"Impressive Mr. Kaiser. You get a passing marks I guess." said Ellie in a gentle teasing tone.
"Hah!? What did you say? Just passing marks?" said Kaiser.
"Hahaha, this is quite fun to watch you both get along. Ellie, do you enjoy the company of Kaiser and Aldo? You have now new friends." said Alex.
Ellie's cheek becomes a little red and looked away.
"No you have misunderstandings Mr. Alex." said Ellie while looking away.
"Hmph, as if we are actually friends." said Kaiser, but this time his voice isn't harsh.
Aldo silently noticed that Ellie and Kaiser may unconsciously becoming closer despite they just met today. Slowly but surely. They might end up being friends if the situation calls for it.
"Hm, now about the next one..." said Alex, staring at Aldo.
Everyone's attention turned on Aldo and his sparring partner who is of same age as Aldo.
"His name is Dale. He is same age as Aldo who is also 10." said Alex, introducing the opponent.
Kaiser went closer to Aldo and tapped on his shoulder.
"Aldo, you were right. We might get to learn more. I was thinking about it when we had a conversation with Frank. So let's try our best." said Kaiser in a low voice, can be heard by only Aldo.
Aldo stepped into the combat zone this time. Kaiser, Ellie, Alex and every student began to watch. The opponent is Dale.
Dale bowed a little bit and said.
"I am looking forward to this."
With that, Dale positioned himself in a basic stance. He doesn't seem to move immediately just as Joshua did against Kaiser in previous sparring match.
Aldo, however, didn't even attempt to take a position just like Kaiser did.
"What is he doing? He isn't even trying to take position?" Muttered Alex.
Unlike Kaiser, who took the stance despite knowing little about martial arts, Aldo doesn't seem to care at all.
As soon as both fighters came closer, Dale immediately launched a front left jab, attempting to target Aldo's face. Aldo didn't react at all and took the hit.
The powerful jab stunned Aldo for a bit, blurring his vision.
"Tch! What is he doing!?" said Kaiser, looking worried.
"I don't know myself." replied Ellie.
Alex and Joshua, however, silently observes Aldo and Dale's fight.
Dale gave another two jabs on Aldo's face and then a corkscrew punch with his right, generating more power than a straight punch. The corkscrew punch landed perfectly on Aldo's solar plexus, making him stumble with high force.
Dale didn't attack again to ensure Aldo recovers his normal position and breath rate.
Despite being hit with those heavy blows, Aldo stood like a normal person as if he isn't in a fight.
"What is he thinking about?" This is the thought that occurred inside almost everyone's head who witnessed Aldo's response.
Dale was concerned whether it's a trap or something, but he moved forward to attack again.
Dale attempted to attack in a similar pattern again but-
"What!?" spoke Dale, with sudden unexpected attempt made by Aldo.
Aldo took the exact stance same as Dale, hitting his opponent with two precise left jabs on the face and a devastating corkscrew punch on the solar plexus.
The timing was perfect and Aldo got extremely lucky to execute his attack before Dale could.
"Not bad, copying my own skills like that, huh? But...." responded Dale, on Aldo's counter attack.
However, soon Aldo had realised that his attacks never landed perfectly as he noticed the quick time frame of Dale's moves.
Dale actually blocked two left jabs with his right palm and even blocking the corkscrew punch with his left.
Most surprising fact was that Dale mid-motion changed his attack pattern to immediate defence with quick, fluid, and precise response.
Locking Aldo's arms, Dale forced him to fall down on the ground by destabilizing Aldo's foot, using the normal kick on it.
"That kid is strong..." said Kaiser.
"Yes, I have seen Dale's fight few times. His performance is good." replied Ellie.
Aldo stood up again. With the same normal stance just like an ordinary person.
"Hm..." Alex seems to be still observing carefully.
"You are good, but that won't work. I have refined my techniques so many times. Simply copying my moves won't make it any difference." said Dale.
Although Dale had explained this but despite that, he knew that the move and combo Aldo had copied was nearly perfect.
Meanwhile Aldo came to realise that Dale can shift his attack to defence with high level of precision, speed, and power.
Dale seems to be bit shocked on how Aldo is awfully calm even after get hit with heavy blows.
"W-What are you thinking about? Are you acting tough or what?" asked Dale, quite flustered by Aldo's behaviour.
Dale snapped out of it and exclaimed.
"Here I come, be prepared!"
Dale attempted to hit Aldo with his corkscrew punch directly, without using jab combos as he did earlier, to quickly knock him down.
Within that short frame of time just before the corkscrew punch landed, Aldo side steps causally.
"...!?!?" Everyone in the dojo were quite shocked at how Aldo even dodge that fast and precise punch with a causal side step.
"How did he perfectly evaded!?" A thought like that occurred to Dale.
However, Aldo didn't stopped and suddenly took an unexpected stance which seemed familiar.
"That stance!!?" exclaimed Kaiser.
"That kid, is he trying to!?" exclaimed Joshua.
"Yes, that kid...I knew something was off...but this." responded Alex.
Dale, as expected, put on a strong guard with his hands crossed adjusting from attack to defence.
However, Dale knew that this wouldn't work because-
After taking the familiar stance, Aldo had quickly performed straight punch...
(Unique Skill- Break Balance)
"Thi-" Dale's words got interrupted as his defence got shattered.
Dale is now hit by a heavy blow to his chest, leading him to fall down while he struggled to breath.
"I am speechless..." said Ellie, quite shocked.
"Me as well.." replied Kaiser, his mouth wide open as he watched the scene unfold.
Dale stood up quickly and his breathing rate became normal again as expected from a trained student of Alex but-
"What was that!?" Dale thought to himself, unable answer his own question.
----
To be continued...