Bout

There were other students to pick from, but Helios decided to have Finlay spar with Tylem.

[Finlay is a kind child with great self-control.]

Thinking this, Helios thought that the experienced Finlay would be the best possible sparring buddy for Tylem, who was still unacquainted with Kyokushin Karate.

During the fight, Finlay could help give pointers as well.

Furthermore, Helios could get a good measure of Tylem's strength by matching him with Finlay, a very talented student who he knew the strengths and weaknesses of.

"Hey, Finlay!" Helios called out. "Please come over here for a moment."

Finlay was speaking with Jaylen when the head instructor shouted for him.

"Hello, Instructor." Finlay ran toward them, bowing.

Meanwhile, Finlay took note of the two seventh-graders standing in the corner of his eye.

"Finlay, how many times must I tell you to stop that?" Laughing, Helios explained, "What age are we in? That's too formal. Anyways, I have something I'd like you to do for me."

"What's that?" Finlay asked, a hint of interest in his round-shape eyes.

Helios motioned with his face, smiling at the seventh-grader who was neither tall nor short.

Finlay followed Helios' eyes, and he came face-to-face with Tylem. The stand-out feature he noticed were those deep-black eyes that emitted nobleness and poise.

"I would like you to have a friendly spar with Tylem over here." Helios patted Tylem's shoulder, grinning, "You may have heard of him recently, but keep in mind he's still a newbie in Kyokushin Karate."

"Tylem?" Finlay became curious, thinking, [Isn't that the guy who beat Balo?]

Recalling his previous fun match with Balo, Finlay remembered that he was quite evenly matched with him, even though the latter was considered to be the 'strongest of the school.'

In that match, Finlay had followed his set rules of Kyokushin Karate, where he would not throw hand strikes against the face. If he had chosen to do so, he might have even been the clear victor.

"You want me to have a spar with him?" Finlay scanned Tylem up and down, which could be seen as rude to some.

"Yep," Helios repeated.

Finlay had not seen Balo's fight for himself, so he wasn't sure about Tylem's strength. In fact, he had just overheard a bit of the rumors from some of his friends, the exact details being unknown to him.

Tylem was not uncomfortable with Finlay's detailed examination of him. From the looks of it, this tall eighth-grader was an honest boy who did not hide his intentions like most Ivla students.

"I won't say no, Instructor." Finlay nodded, adding, "I'll do my best to be of help."

With a bright smile, Finlay turned to Tylem, "It's great to meet you in person. I'm Finlay."

Tylem saw Finlay's outreached hand.

It was an unusual formal greeting amongst middle schoolers in the modern era.

Nevertheless, he smiled while giving the boy a firm handshake, "Mn. I'm Tylem."

"That's great." Helios grinned. "I knew I could depend on you, Finlay."

"Now, let's get you two boys going!" Helios, acting as the referee, walked up to the wide-open arena.

The light-blue arena was made from EVA, a thick high-density foam that was great for absorbing impact.

Kaden had grabbed a free seat from somewhere as he plopped himself at the sidelines, excited to watch the match between Tylem and Finlay. If he could, he wanted to bust out the popcorn.

Finlay was well-known throughout the school, and his fighting reputation was up there amongst Ivla's best. Furthermore, he was friends with many students, having a kind, easy-going attitude.

Tylem, on the other hand, was the up-and-coming star of Ivla.

If Kaden were to describe his friend in two words, it would be 'Brother Monster.'

Before the spar, Helios swiftly guided Tylem through the basics and rough rules of Kyokushin.

Soon, the two were ready to go.

"Please guide me, Tylem!" Finlay bowed, clasping his gloves together.

"Likewise." Tylem grinned as he mentally replayed Finlay's moves once more.

"Great." Helios had the two boys touch gloves, and he held them in place while counting down.

"3."

"2."

"1."

"Begin!" Jumping away to the side, Helios boomed, his anticipation clear.

Today, he would witness the famous transfer student's capabilities—the one who all the teachers were obsessed with lately. Being an ardent martial arts enthusiast and instructor, he admired true talent to the point of near obsession.

Finlay first kept his distance from Tylem as he began to analyze the transfer student's fighting stance and style.

In the beginning, Tylem's closed stance was a bit stiff and awkward, and he was recalling how Finlay and the other eighth-grader had positioned themselves. This was his first time learning a martial art, after all.

Seconds later, Tylem was now in Kamae Dachi, a Kyokushin fighting stance. Keeping a close eye on Finlay, his arms and legs began to move on their own, creating an ideal distance.

Tylem, as a cultivator, had great control over his limbs.

"Oh?" Helios watched Tylem, his surprise obvious.

Somehow, Tylem's Kyokushin stance did not look sloppy at all for a complete beginner.

It wasn't perfect, of course, but Helios could see Tylem improving at a rate visible to the human eye.

"A genius." Helios thought.

"Not bad." Finlay began to close the distance, his guard up.

Then, in a smooth motion, Finlay moved in preparation for a Uraken Ganmen Uchi.

"I'll test him out first." Finlay launched a fast back-fist strike to the front, planning to slow down toward the end.

Finlay would not use the most dangerous moves first against a beginner.

Tylem was still deep in thought when the fist came flying toward his chest.

"Cool..." In the eyes of Kaden, this fist was too fast, and he, himself, would never be able to dodge such a move. The reflexes required to do so needed to be honed through many battles—unless one was a natural genius.

"Swish." Tylem moved without thinking, and he instinctively evaded the fist.

"Nice." Finlay praised, admiring his opponent's reflexes.

Since it was like that, he would not slow down this time.

Swerving around, Finlay repeated the same strike. This time, however, he planned to go all out.

Tylem noticed how Finlay maneuvered himself to waste as little time as possible.

To minimize all unnecessary movement.

Viewing the fist that came at his chest again, Tylem changed his approach.

Slightly moving off to the side, Tylem watched Finlay's fist move past him.

The sound of Finlay's fist cutting through air sizzled in Tylem's ear.

"God damn, son." Helios' enormous grin widened even more.

Due to how he evaded, the gap he needed to close was minuscule. Right now, Tylem could see an opening, but he did not take it.

It was a spar to exchange pointers, and he wanted to learn as much as possible.

Finlay's eyes widened in amazement, but he wasted no time as he utilized a different move. It was a difficult, highly-skilled attack that required a lot of training and dedication to accomplish.

Likely, the tall eighth-grader was taking the spar seriously now.

This time, it was the Ushiro Mawashi Geri, a reverse roundhouse kick. If it wasn't for the padded head guard, Finlay's mighty kick would be very dangerous.

The kick came flying at his right cheek.

Tylem leaned back, the angle was just right for him to elude the roundhouse kick, a bright light racing through his iris. The flying kick swept past his eyes and kicked up an audible wind that caused the hair hanging across his forehead to flutter.

"Swoosh!"

Apart from Kaden, everyone watching was stunned. In the training center, the spar had drawn the attention of other students and instructors.