First hit. Caius had decided to use the flats of his blades instead in order to keep from doing any real harm to Yuffie, but he wasn't making it too easy either. He took a deep breath, keeping his body and mind calm and still as could be while he watched her movements. She claimed he fought dirty, but all he did was use what he had the way it was supposed to be use. As had she, even if she had attacked when the opponent had no visible weapon in their hands at the time. He hadn't even attacked her unarmed either. So he ignored that.

She hurled the shuriken together, this time after slamming her fists together. The motion indicated he should be ready for magic of some kind. And that was when he noticed that the shuriken wasn't flying in the same straight line it had been before. Instead, she appeared to be controlling it. He propped his blades into a cross to block it, waiting for the chance to parry it back. But that was when he heard the sound of the ground coming up. So she was doubling up on magic? It seemed she had some strong reserves of magic, and some resourceful cunning. He would give them that. Most would be hard pressed in a situation like this, she had effectively pincered him. But Caius wasn't most.

He would blip from sight for just a moment, the tiniest warp that made it look as though he had just phased through the buzzsaw shuriken and the flames. He didn't hesitate to take the offensive, running forwards and pointing his blades at Yuffie. Clicking the triggers, he would launch rapidfire energy bullets from both gunblades at Yuffie. These were laced with Thunder, and while they wouldn't wound her, she would get a nasty shock if she was hit.

But what if I told you they were just a distraction?

While she dealt with those, Caius' daggers would disappear and be replaced with his proper gunblade. The moment he reached her, he would go for a flurry of blows head on. They had seen her offensive capabilities, but could she handle well under pressure?

She had speed as well. She accommodated for a small and likely frail frame with agility. Reflexes were sound too. She clearly had battling experience, far more than someone her age should. Something that Caius could identify with himself. It seemed that this was his way of learning more about this potential recruit. Not through her words, but through the way she fought. Though her words fell on deaf ears as his heart was completely into the fight itself. His expression had become purely stoic, no longer making jokes or even answering her taunts. She was quick on her feet and in her reflexes, and had good control over her weapon using some sort of magic. She also appeared to be able to utilize magic in the traditional fashion as well. Good on all accounts so far, but he hadn't finished testing as to whether she could do well when the pressure was on.

Despite her being unarmed, she was able to redirect his blows. He kept striking back in rapid succession though, no matter how many times she deflected. But the pivotal moment came when Yuffie created some distance and held out a hand. The whistle in the air likely meant she was still controlling her shuriken despite having to defend. He had thought perhaps if she was forced on the defensive she would lose control over it. It appeared to have to some extent, but it seemed she didn't need much opening to call it back. Very interesting.

Unfortunately, she had telegraphed the attack. Giving a very obvious hint in the name of trash talk. It was there that his ears picked up how close the whistling was getting, and while he was tempted to say "I didn't", he knew it would be better for her to find out on her own.

Seeming to be ignoring her, he would press his attack. Going for another swing as if trying to cut her off before she could do anything, he would phase through her at the last moment, before promptly shoving her from behind towards her own shuriken.

Thus came the test. He wanted to see how much control she had over the weapon or if she had the reflexes to block it with hardly a second left to do so. Of course, he had no intentions of causing her any real harm. If Yuffie proved unable to defend herself, the weapon would disappear when it was inches from her face. But only if necessary.

"And you need to stop telegraphing your attacks."

Caius hadn't really spoken during this, but he had decided to give Yuffie at least a little bit of advice in this instance. Sometimes it was better to remain silent and focus on the battle at hand. One thing she had learned though, was his attack patterns. Good, she had a good memory. A good memory was an asset in battle, but if one relied on it too much, then one could be easily taken by surprise if one got too confident when utilizing it.

Luckily for Caius, one thing that he had in spades was versatility.

Yuffie brought out more magic the moment that he moved to block the shuriken that was coming back at him. This time he wasn't as surprised to see her using it, but it still posed a problem. She was directly blocking his path with it, and it would likely get him even if he teleported past it. The only way out was to get out of dodge completely. But he needed to find a way to turn this to his favor.

That was when he remembered one weapon he hadn't shown off just yet.

"Thundara."

The mercenary launched a bit of magic of his own, combating her Bolt. The two attacks would intersect, causing a small explosion. Bracing himself, the explosion would blow away the shuriken and Caius would immediately use a Point Warp, disappearing before the smoke cleared.

Caius would soon re-appear on the roof of the Wyvern's Rest, in Yuffie's blind spot. She had talked about being a great ninja, surely she could appreciate the tactic. Hopping down back into the courtyard, he would point his gunblade towards Yuffie.

"Bang" came a deadpan tone, though he didn't pull the trigger. There was no point, he decided to leave it up to her to consider whether he could have actually hit her from there. Something to think about might teach her some humility. "I think you've adequately showcased your abilities."

Her scouting capabilities were good, albeit overly flashy and wasting movement. She had a good foundation, but needed improvement. Caius slowly nodded his head as he lowered his gunblade. Yuffie of course, assumed right away that she had passed and was welcome. She had a severe case of overconfidence that might need some work too.

"You fought well. You can clearly handle yourself despite your age" Caius admitted in what was probably going to go to Yuffie's head quickly. "But some minor criticism, in hopes it will aid the progress of your fighting skills. You telegraph your attacks -- as in you are verbally giving away when you're attacking. To use our battle as an example, aside from casting, I did not speak before an attack. Keeping your opponent guessing is a vital aspect to battle. If they don't see you coming, you have the advantage."

She was likely taught that in ninja school, if she was actually a ninja. But he decided not to mention that part. Thinking about it for a moment, Caius also wanted to address the battle's end. But how to do so in a way that Yuffie wouldn't just tune out?

"Your instincts and senses are good. And you're quick on your feet. But you could be even faster. The issue is you waste movement. I can understand a desire to show off, it's fun. But it slows you down and wastes your energy. Showing off can be a good thing if a mission involves performance using your abilities. But in a real, life or death battle, your movements should be as quick and precise as possible in order to ensure you have the advantage over your opponent at all times."

Hopefully that would get through. But somehow he doubted it.

"The best battle is one that ends quickly and with as little damage as possible on your person. Just in case you need to fight again on short notice. Many monsters fight in packs, so conserve your energy and take as little damage as possible by cutting down your movements."

Now with that out of the way, they could talk business.

"Next, you'll be going on a job with one of our leaders to ascertain your field performance" Caius would reveal when Yuffie asked when she started. "Which as Celes is on vacation, would be me. It's one thing to know how to fight well. It's another to know how to handle field work while keeping innocent people safe and handling yourself with honor and representing the Dragonblades well. In Torensten, a warrior's honorable reputation is everything, especially if you're a guild that can't help people if they don't trust us. Meaning you need to conduct yourself on the field in a way that contributes to that. Or to put it simply, if our reputation improves and people know we're reliable, the whole guild benefits, including you. If you do something that hurts it, then it hurts all of us. Again, including you."

Caius shrugged in turn. "Though really, we just take the safety of innocent people seriously. We want to help people. That means we gotta do it right."