Blood Elf Monarch

It looked like the old master had finished his training session and noticed the commotion over here. Hence, the reason for his arrival.

Serene quickly approached the old elf and gave him a bow as well.

"Master Ortiz, this man is the one mentioned by the queen. His name is Tristan."

The old elf, who was called Master Ortiz by Serene, didn't talk much. He only said, "Please, don't mind me. Continue, if you must."

Sindur stood up and prepared his stance once more. Tristan was also silent and altered his stance. He didn't like to keep the fight half finished, after all.

Tristan was surprised as he saw Sindur gradually became serious. There was no more smirk on his face, no more mocking nor condescension. His face was extremely calm like a lake surface as he prepared his stance. It was obvious that he didn't want to play around with his master personally watching.

After the two parties were ready, the sparring continued.

This second round continued with Sindur managing to land dozens of punches on Tristan, while the latter couldn't land any punches as his explosive and sudden moves no longer worked on the fully alert Sindur.

Fortunately, Tristan didn't suffer that much of a loss. Thanks to his impressive battle power, Sindur was unable to actually injure him, especially without any kind of weapon. 

The most painful blow he received was similar to being smacked by a wooden block. But for Tristan who had gone through many battlefields and endured unimaginable pain, it was manageable - insignificant, even.

Besides, even if Sindur managed to use his bizarre punches and made Tristan's body like jelly; at the end of the day, he could always get up and fight once again.

Tristan, at the moment, was the true living example of a punching bag!

Several minutes passed on and the sparring still raged on fiercely. However, things gradually started to change as the situation went into an unexpected direction. Tristan had gotten the hang of Sindur's move as he managed to land a few grazes of his own. He could feel as if his body was slowly burning; he clearly felt the passion as he tried his best to tackle the elf's moves.

Without him realizing, Tristan started to move more efficiently in order to facilitate Sindur's advances. In the meantime, his actions started to slowly adapt to his opponent.

After being hit dozens of times more, Tristan finally saw the chance to land a direct strike and he took it without any hesitation.

BAM!!!

A jab fell onto Sindur's face, sending him flying backwards due to the sheer momentum it carried. He travelled several meters in the air before falling flat to the floor.

Tristan let out a satisfied smile. Not only did it feel really good, the sound it made was also wonderful. As his punch landed on Sindur's face, he could clearly see the shocked face on the elf's face. 

Imagining the irritated expression that the elf probably had right now made Tristan feel this was one of the best moments in his life. Especially when his soon-to-be beautiful wife caught every single moment of it. For him personally, Serene's shocked face was truly the best of all.

Sindur groggily tried to stand up. Moments later, he finally managed to and was about to continue the sparring when Master Ortiz stepped forward.

Knowing what his master wanted, Sindur stopped himself, took a deep breath before doing a slight bow to Tristan. Afterwards, he moved a few steps back.

Tristan saw the said master gesturing to him to follow him.

Turning to look at Serene, who nodded her head, Tristan swiftly followed Master Ortiz who already started to walk away. The three of them made their way inside a smaller room right beside the place where the master held his training session before. 

One side of the room was open with a view of the garden and a small wooden table was seen in the middle of the room. Tristan and Serene sat across from the old master. 

Silence fell between them as Master Ortiz brewed tea. After serving the two of them a cup, he finally opened his mouth.

"Tell me, Tristan. What fighting technique did you use before?"

The question startled him as he never really studied any martial art before, much less knowing any fighting technique. The only thing that could be counted as fighting technique in his opinion was everything that he learned from all those brawls' between inmates. Therefore, after thinking for a moment, Tristan decided to say, "I guess you can call it Inmate Boxing."

Keen expression was seen on the old master's elf.

"Oh? I hope later you can give some pointers on this 'inmate boxing."

Master Ortiz's words gobsmacked Tristan. Pointers on street fight boxing? He wondered if he could even explain what it was exactly.

Even though life at that time was hell, this 'boxing' indeed helped him survive four years in prison. However, how could he elaborate things like hitting using any objects you could find or staying as far away from 'bending over' towards your opponent to this old master?

Even so, Tristan knew that he couldn't refuse this elder. Therefore, he politely said with a strained smile, "Of course.. M.. Master Ortiz.. I will do my best."

The old elf nodded his head, took a sip from his cup and continued his words.

"What do you think about our 'Sis Mahna'?"

Tristan was silent for a moment, thinking about the answer.

"Honestly, I think it's very interesting. It's fast and unpredictable, and I wonder what those punches really are. They are so annoying."

Master Ortiz seemed to nod at his statement.

"Sindur is one of my best disciples. He had mastered the Nerve Striking Art and his Katra was also already in the third stage. Not many elves could defeat him. Hence, it's quite admirable for you to be able to lay a hit on him"

Even though he wasn't an expert - an amateur at best, Tristan had heard about the nerve points on human's bodies and the like. He knew that hitting these so-called nerve points could do wonders for the recipient's body. No wonder those punches could cause trouble to his body.

However, what was Katra?

"What about this Katra, Master Ortiz? What exactly does that mean?"

Upon hearing Tristan's words, a look of realization was seen on the old master's face. Then to Tristan's surprise, Master Ortiz sighed.

"No wonder the queen asked me to teach you. You don't even know what Katra is."