The underling hesitated. When Aaron showed no reaction, he went on.
"After all, this is the Faction Contest. I thought those two would fight until the heavens went dark."
"But from what I can see, it's just shattered space everywhere..."
This was not the spectacle he had wanted!
Aaron shook his head and chuckled.
"Feels simple and dull, doesn't it?"
The underling nodded eagerly. "Yes, exactly!"
Aaron sighed. The kid still had a lot to learn.
"What do you know? Because this is a battle between First Sequence fighters, it's normal for things to be this straightforward..."
At Jin Henry and Shanhai's level, testing the waters before going straight for the big moves was common practice.
Who at that level didn't have a killing move up their sleeve?
If you held yours back until your opponent used theirs, it would already be over for you...
"Those earlier attacks gave both of them a rough idea of each other's strength."
"When First Sequence fighters strike, they usually go straight for the kill. They know what kind of skill, and how much power, it takes to hurt an opponent."
"Shanhai's skill is bizarre. Even my father probably couldn't detect him through that concealment."
"Jin Henry was hit because he unleashed his big move after Shanhai did."
"And that one step behind may well have decided the battle. Do you understand?"
The underling found it all rather murky. He still couldn't quite grasp it.
Aaron explained patiently, "Say two fighters are close in strength, and both have lethal finishing moves."
"Shanhai hid himself, so Jin Henry couldn't lock onto him. Jin Henry got overconfident and failed to use his trump card immediately, giving Shanhai his chance. Once Shanhai's killing move hit Jin Henry, it meant Jin Henry was pretty much finished. Got it?"