Sword vs hammer

Qusay was teleported back into the waiting room. He deactivated his dragon rage ability before walking up to Kane.

Kane was surprised that Qusay did not talk even after he sat down next to him.

Qusay took out a health potion from his waist pack and drank the contents in one gulp. After a few moments, he seemed to have recovered as a grin broke out on his lips, and turned to look at Kane.

"How was I, neat huh?" he asked Kane with a hint of anticipation.

"You were alright, I think you might beat me if we are matched up in another round," said Kane in a rather gloomy voice.

"And so what? Come off it bro. You, who is in tier 2, saying you 'think' I would win? You should be proud of yourself as you have the right to compare yourself with the strongest people in this room.

Let me tell you a secret. When I was in tier two of the mutant realm, even with my mutation, I was not as strong as you. You could say I was even far off.

So there is no need to sound so gloomy. Be proud to know that you are a genius among geniuses" said Qusay as he genuinely tried to console the kid.

"Thanks" replied Kane with a warm smile on his face.

The announcement for the commencement of the fifth match was made. The competitors this time was Ferran Azzi and Fellah Sayegh.

Kane has a very strong impression of Ferran. The man was able to dominate a match against an opponent who used swift sword techniques whilst using a heavy war hammer himself.

This went a long way to prove that he had a lot of patience and knew when and how to create opportunities for attacking with his hammer.

The competitors walked toward the teleportation platform and were then teleported into the stage.

The referee stood between them and confirmed their situation before stepping back and starting the match.

The two competitors quickly approached one another. Ferran quickly switched to defense. His heavy war hammer was not suitable for continuous assault because each swing not only consumes a lot of stamina, but its slow swings also leave the body wide open for any fast opponent to take advantage of.

He held the hammer at the handle and close to the head and used it to block his opponent's sword attacks that he could not dodge.

Fellah's inability to land his attacks was getting on his nerves. There was nothing special about him. His mutation, although not a beast blood mutation, was one of the most average mutations one could find. He had no master or any special training. He only had himself and his power level. His sword skills were from the generic manuals bought from the Hunter Association marketplace.

His attacks were almost in disarray as desperation began to set in. When Ferran saw that the openings left by his opponent were enough, he began to counterattack.

CLANK!! CLANK!!

Their weapons clashed at first as Fellah was able to defend his opponent's hammer attacks. This was not without a price though. The attacks were extremely heavy and each strike put a lot of strain on his wrist and fingers.

Fear and anxiety soon crept into Fellah's mind as he made his last mistake of the match.

Ferran saw his fidgety movements and capitalized. He swung his hammer upwards, knocking his opponent's sword out of his hand and onto the air.

Before Fellah could react, Ferran swung his hammer downwards at the skull of his now defenseless opponent.

Fellah could have sworn that he had seen half of his entire life flash before his eyes but was interrupted by the sight of the referee holding on to the hammer's head that was only a few inches from his skull.

The referee then stopped the match and declared Ferran the winner.

...

Kane let his mind wander a little after the match. Apart from the fact that the match was between two tier 5 mutant realm combatants and Ferran's skill with the hammer, there was nothing special about the fight. It just bordered on skill.

"That Ferran guy he is in tier five, three tiers higher than you. Don't trade blows with him if you can help it. I suspect even with your adamantine body and the rock body skill you might still take some damage.

Worst case scenario, you might be broken with a few swings. You might even be lucky if the damage is not too high but enough to train your rock body skill.

I would suggest you find a way to probe his damage output before committing to anything" said Abel.

Kane was not the only one who was not too impressed by the match. Qusay had a look on his face that screamed boredom.

The sixth match was about to begin. The competitors were Anbar Sayed and Zeena Kaleel.

The beautiful Zeena who used short swords was going to fight Anbar who did not use any weapon but his fists.

They walked up to the teleportation platform and were teleported onto the stage.

The referee who stood between them checked their conditions before stepping back and starting the match.

Zeena unsheathed her short swords while Anbar took a fighting stance. Kane would have observed that this stance was one of the many in Hapkido if he actually had the opportunity to learn the practice with the training manual he bought from the marketplace.

Zeena held her short swords in reverse grip and dashed to her opponent. When she arrived before him, she swung the sword in her left hand at Anbar's neck which was promptly dodged when he jumped back a little.

She swung the sword in her right hand at Anbar's neck again when she covered the gap between them.

When Anbar dodged with the same method, sure jumped into the air to deliver a jump kick on his chest.

Anbar dodged the attack with unusual agility by sidestepping the attack before grabbing onto her leg, making a 180-degree turn, and throwing her away.

She did not crash into the floor but managed to somehow land on her feet in a show of precise body control.

She chose to be more careful as her opponent was good at turning one's moves against themselves.

She dashed towards him and slashed with her sword in her right hand.

Anbar dodged again by lightly jumping backward. When the attack missed, he so spun his body toward Zeena's right side which was still defenseless after the previous slash attack, and punched her rib, hard.

Although nothing was broken, she was sent tumbling backward a few feet before she could stand steadily on her feet.

Anbar took to the offensive and shuffled towards her with footwork that did not reveal a fixed direction to his opponent.

He threw a punch at her face but did not fully commit to the attack and used it to bait a response from his opponent.

Sure enough, Zeena swung her swords at the first but missed when Anbar withdrew his punch before punching her hard in the tricep of the arm holding the sword.

She grunted in pain as she retreated a few feet away from her opponent.

Anbar would not let her take a breather as he rushed in to close the gap.

Anbar was aggressively whittling down his opponent. His attacks were always unpredictable, precise, and never missed while every attack made by Zeena was dodged and a fierce counterattack would follow.

Zeena was soon disarmed and could do nothing more but receive the attacks thrown by Anbar with her body.

The referee stopped the match when he determined that Zeena could no longer fight and then declared Anbar the winner.

…

"This guy's fighting style is Hapkido. He specializes in counterattacking his opponents. It's really troublesome, especially for those in the mutant realm as they have no other powers except for their physical bodies.

The fact that he does not use any weapon would make it a little easier for you when you fight him. But expect counterattacks from every punch you throw.

He is in tier 5 though, his attacks would obviously pack a punch. And don't be surprised if he suddenly pulls out a weapon mid-fight.

This would be a challenging fight for you and I would love to see how it plays out" said Abel after the match ended.