Yasoke climbed the stairs apprehensively, but tried to ignore the feeling; he cracked his joints, preparing himself and dissipating the tension until he reached the center of the arena. There, Yasoke realized everyone was staring at him and spotted his opponent in front of him, who displayed a cold expression devoid of emotion. The announcer explained the rules to both and repositioned himself outside the arena.
Yuji watched from the sidelines, serious and anxious. Rokko noticed the apparent discomfort of the macogo master: — Are you alright, sir? Yuji replied, stuttering slightly: — Perhaps. It's the first time a student of mine is going to fight, and the first time I've had a student who didn't run away from me on the first day! Rokko cracked a smile but didn't fail to notice Yasoke's unease. "Damn it, there are so many people. I'll have to fight this 'nerd.' Does he have a plan? I don't know, I'll only find out by fighting," Yasoke thought to himself, clenching his fists and hardening his expression.
The announcer raised the gun and prepared to fire. Yasoke took a loose stance, not fully guarding, simply maintaining his step, while Henrique Loss only stared at him seriously. Then, the judge pulled the trigger and the fight began. The crowd went wild; Yuji assumed a posture of extreme seriousness, staring coldly at the arena.
Without wasting time, Yasoke ran toward Henrique Loss, ready to strike him with a right kick. However, as he did so, Henrique vanished from in front of him. Yasoke looked back and saw Henrique adjusting his glasses and picking up a book on foreign policy. — What? Is that allowed? — Yasoke questioned, confused. The blue-haired youth replied: — The rules state that bladed weapons are not allowed; a book is not exactly a bladed weapon, nor is it a firearm.
Then, the youth in glasses vanished and reappeared with a wooden chair to read in the middle of the arena. Yasoke began to feel insulted and even more confused. The crowd began to boo the fighter: — Hey, you bastard! Get off that chair and fight! — one of the fans shouted. Henrique Loss felt annoyed and replied: — To me, it's not worth wasting time fighting a beast; I must use my time for important things! Yasoke, offended, retorted: — Fine, but then why did you come to the tournament if you didn't want to fight? Henrique Loss looked at Yasoke and replied: — The fight will end quickly, and I can use some time to read; only that. After all, my next opponent seems much more interesting than a guy who wears ballet slippers to fight!
He wounded Yasoke's honor and planted a seed of doubt in the young man's mind about the fact that he used ballet slippers. In truth, not even Yasoke himself understood why he wore them, but the comment left him deeply offended—as did his master, who was watching everything. — You know what? I'm done with this nonsense! Yasoke ran toward the youth in glasses with accumulated rage. Henrique watched everything and waited attentively for the youth in slippers who, when attempting a right bandal tchagui, saw his opponent use the chair to defend the kick. The wood shattered with the monstrous force of the strike, but Yasoke did not tire and prepared a right punch aiming for Henrique's face. At the moment of the strike, the youth in glasses vanished, leaving Yasoke standing in a straight punch position; he had struck the wind.
Yasoke was stunned by the speed of the movement and, at the same instant, looked back and realized his red jacket was gone. Henrique Loss was holding it with one hand: — Nice jacket; too bad it's horrible for fighting. He threw it out of the arena and began cracking his joints. Yasoke charged, wanting to land a punch, but all his attempts were frustrated. — Now you realize the difference between us: you can't hit me, but I can hit you easily! — But you haven't hit me yet! — Yasoke replied.
Hearing this, Henrique Loss adjusted his glasses and vanished. The moment he disappeared, Yasoke was struck in the abdomen by a right punch. The youth tried to counter-attack, but Henrique dodged and landed a right kick squarely on his face, projecting Yasoke against the ground. — Damn! — the crowd shouted at such a fascinating and precise strike. Yuji and Jhony were startled by the precision of the attack.
Despite the perfect strike, Yasoke stood up, only with a cut lip. He wiped the blood with the back of his hand. — I recommend you give up before you end up disfigured — Henrique said. Yasoke listened and flashed a smile: — Hehehe, I'm not going to give up just because I took a mediocre little punch and kick!
With those words, he charged at Henrique Loss. — You know that won't work. The youth in white vanished before Yasoke could even execute the strike. Beside the youth in slippers, Henrique delivered a straight punch to the face, followed by a hook, all hitting Yasoke with precision. When Yasoke tried to counter, Henrique vanished and reappeared striking his abdomen, making him recoil. This lapse created an opening in his head defense, which was hit by a perfectly placed descending kick, throwing Yasoke to the arena floor.
Yuji clenched his fists: — What a terrible situation; the opponent is teleporting, but Yasoke doesn't know it. Rokko asked: — How do you know Henrique Loss is teleporting and isn't just very fast? Yuji explained irritably: — It's simple: he leaves traces of mana when he vanishes, and his mana reappears in another location. If he were just fast, his mana would follow his movement! Rokko understood and smiled: — Stay calm; the boy will know how to get around this problem. Yuji replied, embittered: — I didn't teach him how to identify mana, so he probably just thinks his opponent is very fast. When he finds out, he might not even be able to stand from taking such a beating. Please, Yasoke, figure this out fast! — But even if he finds out, how will that help him if he can't feel the opponent's mana? — Rokko questioned. Yuji thought for a moment and replied: — He'll have to predict the teleportation.
Rokko was impressed, and Yuji made a sign with his hands indicating that Yasoke was in deep trouble. "Damn it! This guy is too fast," Yasoke thought as he stood up from the well-placed kick. He looked at Henrique Loss's cold expression and said to the youth in white: — You know, Henrique, I don't like running away. I picked up that habit in the junkyard where I came from, and there we had a phrase created by me! — he smiled and shouted — If I'm going to get screwed, I MIGHT AS WELL GO ALL IN, HEAD FIRST INTO THIS SHIT!!!
After the shout, Yasoke ran toward Henrique Loss, who showed disgust at the foul language uttered by the youth.