Max had to squint as he stared at his opponent fifty meters away from him. The opponent had a ponytail of brown hair, pristine green metal armor and a red spear. He also had a shield.
"Man, I was challenged four times already, can't you guys just leave me alone?" The spearman said.
Max stood still, thinking.
His sword could lengthen into a whip in two seconds. It takes two seconds for it to have its full length.
The arena was a smaller one, but it was almost packed. A thousand people were gathered. They watched challenges and fights like this. Cheers were heard everywhere right after the fighters emerged from their tunnels onto the stone floor of the arena.
Seven meter tall walls surrounded the two fighters that seperated the fighters from the audience atop the wall.
The two fighters stood in the open field for a minute already.
Max's and the enemy's body was fully infused with aura.
A man in pure white clothing and shoulder length red hair levitated upwards and towards the middle of the field. An Awakened.
A surprise, but this was connected to the great tournament, so it wasn't too crazy.
"Dear fighters, the rules are simple." He said.
"Once the person is unconscious, severely injured or I, the referee say the word, you stop. The signal of surrender is a raised open hand."
Then he levitated away but remained in the air.
"3,2,1...FIGHT!" The crowd exploded as the fight commenced.
The spearman ran towards Max. The latter simply sent out an aura slash from Virtonia. The spearman parried it with his aura infused spear, but a small explosion happened which stunned him.
Then the spearman was whipped.
He flew ten meters to Max's right as the player swung the whip again.
He missed as the spearman quickly recovered because he blocked the whip with the shield. The enemy sent a fast aura stab which Max side stepped and parried a physical thrust a second after that. The spearman was fast.
Max ducked a shield blow to the head and dashed away, turning his whip into a sword as he sent out two aura slashes to stop the enemy's momentum.
The man slid under them and jumped up into Max, almost getting his neck with the spear which was in the enemy's left hand. Max dodged and swung his right sword Virtonia.
It was parried as the spearman pivoted and angled hisbspear but Max sent out a powerful aura burst into the spearman from his body, creating distance, which cost him significant amounts of aura.
As the spearman stopped, a whip was about to strike him. He barely blocked and flew again.
Max dashed to follow him and whipped again, this time landing. He continued.
The enemy cowered behind his shield as the blows were breaking him down.
Max followed him wherever he flew like a predator. Pummeling him and not allowing him to breathe. An aura slash from Virtonia, a whip strike, dashing and Max's focus all together continued his dominance.
The shield broke from the whip strikes that breaks boulders. It was surprising that it didn't break sooner. It can't be said that many fighters have ever experienced and adapted to a bendable steel whip that dents boulders.
Virtonia's aura was chaotic and produced random effects, and this time, when it came into contact with the spearman, it exploded softly, creating purple smoke across the entire field.
Both players were now invisible to each other.
Max smiled slightly and closed his eyes. He activated Echolocation and combined with his stealth passive ability concealing the sounds of his footsteps, he approached with absolute confidence.
The spearman had lost his shield and was moving around, lost and afraid.
An elbow strike hit him in the side of the head and he was kicked away right after with a roundhouse kick to the stomach.
He fell down to the ground but quickly recovered. His spear glowed with aura and he struck at the places where Max had hit him from.
An aura blast hit him in the side and then an aura slash from Virtonia. He barely stood on his feet. And then the whip sent him into the stone wall.
"AAAAH!" He screamed. "I surrender!"
The arena was silent. The fight was short and they couldn't even see what happened. Boos were heard.
Max stood still and absorbed the smoke with Virtonia's passive, recharging it partially.
The enemy was sitting against the wall, one hand raised. The crowd was furious. Some even threw stuff onto the players, or at least tried to.
"The fight is over!" Said the white robed Awakened as he levitated down. "Max Veritas is the winner and has officially qualified for the Imperial tournament!" The man spoke with a very loud voice, as if he had a microphone. Another use of aura, one which enhanced vocal cords.
Boos continued.
"Alright everyone, not every fight is long and brutal!"
Max stood still, basking in the cleared air. Air going to his nose.
Was it really this easy? He thought.
The spearman could've put up a better fight had it not been for the unpredictable nature of Virtonia's aura.
Little did Max know, his next opponent would be far more menacing and brutal. It will be a fight to, perhaps, death.
Max had earned a spot in the tournament of the Awakened. A tournament which the Emperor himself will be watching.