The Crystal - 24 Lazuli's test began

“Sorry but I am not into martial arts anymore. Try me again if there is a fitness contest. I will happily join then.”

“But….”

“No buts. My word is final.”

“I will join,” said Zohaifa breaking the shell of silence he was in ever since the humiliation. “I will give you all the money if I win. This will be how I repay you.”

Lazuli mockingly grinned at him and replied, “You think you can win! I only asked Lapis because his strength is similar to mine.”

“Actually, my strength surpasses yours. Only our martial arts are similar. Though you have more fight IQ,” interfered Lapis but did not get attention from anyone. So Zohaifa continued,

“I can understand that. He has trained me, after all. But won’t our chance of victory rise by at least 1% if I compete? Luck is also a matter, right?”

Lazuli remained silent for a second and thought about it.

“Your point is logical. But I will need to test your skills to see if your chance of winning is 0.05% or 0.0001%. At the end of the day, there is still the small money we have to spend on behalf of you for the ticket.”

“Not that again. You are heavily underestimating me. Is the enemy that strong?”

“No. In fact, the problem is that there might be none in the tournament who can compete with me. So, the insignificant amount of increase in luck might not be worth the money from the ticket. Now, are you ready to take the test?”

“The hell I am!” exclaimed Zohaifa. He then thought to himself, “I will prove to her that she is underestimating me.”

Zohaifa was taken outside to be tested by the ignorant Lazuli in the garden-like field she addresses as her backyard.

“So, show me what you think might help you win this tournament,” ordered Lazuli.

Zohaifa warmed up first with confidence while intending to crush that arrogance of her.

“Are you ready?” asked Zohaifa.

“Show me already!” exclaimed Lazuli. Lapis and Marium both wished well for Zohaifa in the sidelines.

It started.

Zohaifa proceeded with ‘Lightning Velocity,’ the move he learned taking ideas from Marium. He started revolving fast around Lazuli.

“Seems nothing special. All you are doing is running and wasting energy by producing lightning simultaneously,” noted Lazuli.

Suddenly Zohaifa stopped and changed direction towards Lazuli. When he came close, he tried landing a punch, but Lazuli easily caught it.