“Much better,” Serix nodded in approval when Cassie performed the uppercut the second time. “The more you practice, the more comfortable you’ll feel with it. Let’s move on to the next one.”

[b]“So,”[/b] Cassie grinned challengingly at him. [b]“Before we go on to the roundhouse kick, show me what else you can do. What other fighting skills have you learned that are more… impressive?”[/b]

“More impressive, huh?” Serix raised a brow at her. Despite his attempts to act professional, he couldn’t help the upward tug of his lip. She was blatantly asking him to show off for her. How could he refuse? “I perform best in a real fight, but I do remember a few sequences from my childhood training.”

He took a stance and closed his eyes, taking a moment to steady his breathing. He opened his eyes again when this was done, executing a precise jab at where he envisioned his opponent’s throat was. He swiftly followed the motion with another punch at the invisible enemy’s stomach and used the momentum from both attacks to sweep his leg out as though knocking the enemy to the ground.

As he straightened his posture, he brought his elbow back as if a new opponent had approached him from behind. He pivoted on his foot and swung his other arm up and around the invisible enemy’s neck, using the momentum along with a subtle motion of his foot to trip it and to throw it to the ground.

Next, he executed a roundhouse kick to another imaginary opponent like the one he had demonstrated to Cassie, except instead of simply dropping his foot back to the floor, he jumped to alternate his legs and strike his fake opponent twice in the side. He finished the spin by bringing his elbow down on the enemy’s neck to knock it down. At the last second, he pivoted again and lunged toward Cassie, shooting his arm out and stopping his hand a mere hairsbreadth from her throat. His fierce expression gave way to a mischievous simper and he took a step back.

“[i]That’s[/i] what else I can do,” Serix said.