Sebastian and Max both moved cautiously towards each other, swords in hand.
There were no sudden movements and no reckless attacks as the first exchange of swords was almost powerless.
*Cling*
*Clang*
*Cling*
Both parties parried each other's sword strikes as they did not even use 50% of their full power, both of them waiting for the opponent to make the first mistake.
It was then that Max took the initiative to launch the first attack, as he tried to thrust his sword just as he had done a million times in the training hall before in a movement that came naturally to him now.
Sebastian jumped back after turning his body into an awkward reverse C shape as he dodged Max's thrust and countered by trying to go for Max's throat.
Max ducked and thrusted his sword towards Sebastian once more, who sidestepped it and landed a kick straight at Max's body which knocked Max down flat.
-60
' Fuck '. Max thought as he rolled on the ground, barely dodging the stab attack by Sebastian.
-120
' PHA' Sebastian stomped hard on Max's gut as a mouthful of saliva escaped Max's throat, it looked like Max was trapped under Sebastian, however, Max smartly changed the crisis into an opportunity as he used the attack
"Fireblast".
-1200
Sebastian was blasted off Max, however, the attack did less damage than expected with it not hitting Sebastian dead centre and rather missing the mark slightly.
Max staggered to his feet, and so did Sebastian who was swatting off the flames on his body, as the two looked coldly in each other's eyes before unleashing their big moves.
" Sword Intent" , " Wind-slash". Max said as he gripped his shining sword hard and unleashed a strong attack in the form of a wind tearing Wind Slash that moved at high speed towards Sebastian.
" 1000 sword cuts ". Sebastian countered with his own big move, as the wind around him turned into small sword surfaces exactly 1000 in number and moved in a haphazard way towards Max.
Max's Wind Slash tore through many of the 1000 sword cuts, as it diminished in power before eventually being blocked out by Sebastian's blade.
On the other hand, Max got hit by a lot of Sebastian's 1000 sword cuts, as he found himself unable to dodge small attacks from every direction, as he lost a bit of HP
-30
-40
-40
-30
-40
-20
-30
Although they were all surface level cuts and nothing much, Max felt like he had just run through a bunch of cactus bushes as his entire skin became covered in small bruises.
*HISSS*
Sunlight hit Max's skin through the small openings created in his fabric as Max's Primordial bloodline reacted violently to the sun's presence.
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
" Ugh ". Max fell to one knee as he felt goosebumps run over his entire body.
It had been many weeks since he let his skin be exposed to the sun and had almost forgotten about this powerless sensation that ran over his body whenever he was exposed to the element.
Thankfully, the fabric that Severus had gifted him had a self healing property as within 5 seconds the small cuts were sewn shut, however, Max was reminded of the cruel reality that he was fighting out in the open and here the sun was his biggest enemy.
Sebastian charged towards Max, the moment Max had fallen to his knees and although Max recovered right before Sebastian could land his strike, with the speed and momentum that Sebastian had behind his strike Max was pushed back 5 steps after making the block and knocked a little off balance.
This was all the opening that Sebastian needed as he used the attack " Sword Dash".
Holding his sword with both his hands tight, Sebastian became a blur in Max's vision as the next instant Max felt a strong pain at the side of his gut.
-1750
Max turned to see that his abdomen has been slashed by Sebastian, who was now standing 15 metres behind him, as Max winced and turned making sure that he was always facing his opponent.
At this point Max's HP turned from its once green colour to a worrying yellow as he only had about 50% of his HP bar left.
Max gritted his teeth as he looked towards the once again cautiously approaching Sebastian as he felt his consciousness starting to become a bit blurry.
Although Max did not realise it himself, his Satiety had finally dropped below 60% and he was rapidly losing clarity of thoughts as his subconscious was taking over.
*******
( Meanwhile Anna )
Anna was witnessing the fights play out from the audience seats, although she was a little sad that all her friends were still fighting while she was the only one who was knocked out, that thought was only temporary as she quickly became mesmerised at the ongoing fighting.
Asiva was doing really well against the orc warrior, despite her small frame she had managed to chip off over 75% of her enemy's HP while only losing 20% of her own and was very close to victory.
She was the fastest damage dealer of all four blocks and was most likely going to become the first person to finish her fight and hence gain a longer recovery time as a result.
Max vs Sebastian on the other hand was the most interesting fight of the group, and one that made any spectator sit at the absolute edge of their seats.
It was filled with attacks and counters and moves being unleashed, as despite Max being clearly the weaker opponent of the two, both had nearly equal HP bars 7 minutes into the fight, with Max losing close to 50% of his total HP and Sebastian losing 40% of his.
Anna did not know why but her heart hoped for an underdog victory in Max vs Sebastian as she backed Max to win, however, her rational mind said that it was an highly unlikely outcome.
—------
/// A/N - This bonus sponsored by patron Sivanthe, please thank her in the comments///