Max observed Benedict's attacks like a hawk.
For the first 2 minutes of the match, Benedict looked to be completely in control as Max was seen to be completely on the defensive.
" What happened Max, where did the tough guy talk go? ". Asked Benedict as he smiled and thrusted his sword towards Max's abdomen as Max parried with his sword.
Max was absolutely calm despite the opponent's provocation as he knew that unlike what it appeared to the audience, the real individual controlling the tempo of this match was not Benedict but him.
" 100 sword cuts! ".
Benedict shouted as he unleashed his first special move, his sword turning into a blue of movements as a hundred sword slashes moved towards Max.
-100!
Max tried to parry as many of them as he could, and managed to successfully defend his viral organs, however, he was still cut alongside his arms and legs as Benedict drew the first blood.
[ Announcer ] - MAX IS INJURED, Benedict draws first blood!
*Cheers* *Boos* *Groans*
The audience went into an uproar over the damage, it seemed like Benedict would overwhelm Max.
Max was extremely calm even after the damage suffered as he activated his blood manipulation skill to make it so that his blood kept dripping from his arms constantly whereas he healed all other cuts.
Keeping his left arm down, Max only defended now with his sword in his right arm, as Benedict kept up the pressure of attacks consistently, enjoying the fight as he thought that he was about to win a certain victory.
What he did not know however, was that at this moment Max was categorically dripping his blood on the ground as he dodged, creating a massive circle of blood while he dodged Benedict's attacks.
" Come-On golden boy, at least give me a fight, this is too pitiful" Benedict teased Max some more, but while he expected Max to show signs of anger Max's grin only widened as his uncanny smile gave Benedict the goosebumps.
" Why are you laughing, are you insane? " Benedict asked, however, Max did not reply at all, as he kept dodging and blocking the enemy's attacks.
The reason why Max was laughing at the moment was because he could see that Benedict's stamina had already reached below 30% and very soon his body was going to go into a fatigued state once it went below 20% and then the speed of his attacks would reduce significantly.
It had already been 12 minutes since the fight had started and for 12 minutes straight Max had not attacked once, he had only kept moving and defending as he let Benedict exhaust himself.
' What is Max doing, why is he not attacking? '
' What a one sided showdown, just what is Rudra's brother upto? I've never seen Shakuni being beat up like this '
' COME ON MAX! SHOW HIM WHAT YOU CAN DO! '
' Damn it! I've put 100 dollars on you winning Max, come-on do something '.
The audience wanted Max to start attacking now, and their wish was about to be granted as Benedict finally ran out of gas.
[ System Notification ] - Stamina reserves are below 20% , you enter a ' fatigued ' state, all stats fall by 30%.
' WHAT!' Benedict screamed in his mind when he heard the system notification, as the sword in his hand suddenly felt a lot heavier and his movements became sluggish.
Max noticed his attack pattern slowing down, as his right thrust was extremely slow, while his follow up swing was even slower as Max could parry the attacks with enough time to launch a counter in between.
Max ran a quick inspection spell over Benedict and saw his plan coming to fruition.
The smile on his face now became a full-blown grin as Max glanced to his right, seeing that only a metre or so was left till the blood circle was finally completed.
" Tch, tch, tch, Weakling ". Max said as he dodged Benedict's attack smoothly and landed a kick straight to his jaw sending him flying towards the centre of the blood circle.
-25
*DEAFENING CHEERS*
The entire crowd erupted into deafening cheers when Max finally landed his first attack as Benedict was completely stunned at how the tide had turned.
He had never needed to pay attention to his stamina bar in a fight before, as he always managed to finish his opponents before he ran out of gas. This being the first time that he had to face such a consequence and it was utterly humiliating.
Max threw a glance at his brother in the audience who was sitting on a throne smiling as he stroked furball.
" Blood Circle".
Max said as he completed his blood circle and closed the small wound in his left arm as he charged towards Benedict in the centre of the circle.
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
Every passing second, Benedict was losing a single point in HP as he absolutely lost his mind seeing this development.
" What sorcery is this? Why am I losing HP every passing second? " Benedict shrieked in panic, as the crowd absolutely lost their minds seeing Benedict's HP bar crawl down without Max even attacking as they had never seen a move like this before in their life.
Only now that Max shouted the name of the move, ' Blood Circle ' did they notice that the entire martial arena was covered in one large circle of blood, which is when many realised that Max had been planning this move from a long long time.
A chill went down the spines of many individuals when they saw Max throw down his sword to the ground and crack his knuckles as he chuckled and easily dodged Benedict's sword attacks while landing humiliating bare handed punches.
" Fight me like a man! Pick up your sword ". Benedict shouted at Max, as Max easily sidestepped his sword slash and landed a punch over his bronze armour.
Although it was largely ineffective, doing only -3 damage, Max was not intending to go for the damage effect here, his opponents HP was already draining every second and he could not touch him either way.
The only thing that Max was doing now was humiliating Benedict.
" What happened Benedict, where did the tough guy talk go? " Max said, throwing Benedicts insults at the start of the match straight back at him.
" Arghhh "
Benedict tried to go over a overhead slash, however, Max stepped in, dodging the sword as he caught Benedict's arm mid-way with his right hand, and punched Benedict straight on the nose with his left hand.
CRACK!
The ugly sound of Benedict's nose breaking could be heard, as he roared in pain, instinctively dropping his sword as he clutched his nose with both his hands.
" What happened, champion? This is too pitiful, at least give me a fight? " Max said as he knocked Benedict off his feet and climbed over him, controlling Benedict's arms with his left hand as he knocked him out with a brutal right arm punch.
" Pha! "
Benedict spat out a tooth before he was knocked out cold as the referee rushed in to stop Max from inflicting any more damage.
The referee was also extremely pale, with his HP bar in a yellow colour from staying inside the blood circle for so long.
However, Max did not care as after checking in on Benedict who was rushed to be treated on a stretcher, Max was announced as the victor by the referee.
Max raised his arms in glory, and the audience did cheer for him, however it was not heartfelt cheer, but rather one that was muffled with fear.
Nobody expected this sort of dominance, scheming and cold heartedness to be displayed by Max in the fight, however, his victory was undoubtedly extremely one-sided.
While not many could inspect Max's class, the one thing that all earthlings understood at the moment was that, Max was by far the best under 19 they had on the planet, with a promising future ahead.
' Damn, Max is as scheming as his brother '
' That was a well thought out match, and the execution was extremely cold, Max humiliated Benedict before knocking him out cold with his bare fists '
' Did you hear Max throw Benedict's insulting lines back at him before knocking him out? That was brutal! I'd never make an enemy out of Max, he is too domineering! '.
' He is so handsome, is he still single? '
' I thought you liked Benedict? You told me he is your crush after he won the tournament? Now you like my Max? '
' Hey! It's not my fault that Max is taller and more handsome and stronger, and what do you mean by YOUR Max, he is clearly MY Max ! '
' Bitch you're gonna have it now '
' Aghh, leave my hair '.
Max walked off the stage and saw Rudra waiting for him in the tunnel, as he gave his brother a big smile.
Rudra smiled back, he was extremely proud of Max at this moment, and although he did not show it, his heart was actually dancing with joy.
" I thought you would use ball crushing " Rudra said in a casual tone
" Nah, a trash like him is not worthy of master Jhonny's attack ". Max replied as he shrugged his shoulders.
Rudra raised his eyebrows at the response, but after thinking for a while he wrapped his arms around Max's shoulders and said " Indeed ".
Max walked into the dressing room with Rudra, where many of his old mentors and Rudra's friends congratulated him on the victory.
He was very happy to see everyone, as they all joked and laughed about Max's brutal fighting style and had a good time.
Even Masterofchaos was there, and Max casually picked up from a conversation that the guy was tier 4 and not tier 3.
This revelation shocked Max, as he could have sworn that back at the red hand mercenary group he was posing as a tier 3 warrior.
Curious, Max asked " By the way big brother masterofchaos, what are you upto these days? "
" I have a big fish to fry Max, wish me the best ". He replied, not revealing much details
" All the best " Max said, as he noted this piece of information in his mind.