The large beastman didn't move. Brick just took a step back and waited for Pedro's next move. This shook him off guard and went against the plan him and Shadow came up with.
He planned to let the enemy attack first and then attack the warrior's weak points. Since the beginning of the match, the warriors barely moved and just stared at each other. The crowd started to get restless and began to yell at the two contestants.
"Let's go already!"
"Quit Standing around."
"Fight!"
"The match has already begun."
The voices of the crowd made Pedro grow anxious, and he sprung forward to attack. Brick, on the other hand, seemed to have drowned them out and stayed calm in his defensive position.
Leo whispered over to Isabella, "this is part of being a warrior sometimes. Staying calm in the face of danger is important. He's about to learn the lesson the hard way."
Isabella didn't say a word and just continued to watch. She understood the pressure of being in the stadium and how hard it was to stay calm. If she finished Kieya off sooner, she would have won.
Pedro swung his boomerang like a blade only for Brick to block it easily. Using his superior strength, Brick pushed Pedro's weapon away causing Pedro to lose balance. The bear variant followed up with a spear thrust aiming for human's gut.
Pedro executed Broken Shadow to dodge backward narrowly. The short polearm drilled a hole into his armor and left a pin size wound on his abdomen.
Pedro tried to get his bearing, but the bear beastman charged forward with a shield bash that knocked Pedro over. The large shield felt like a mountain hit him.
He was getting up from the ground Pedro was disoriented and couldn't get his bearing. The beastman charged forward again.
Pedro used Shock Touch to charge his boomerang, and he threw it at the beastman point blank range.
Brick infused earth mana into his shield and easily deflected the boomerang away. The lightning blade crashed into the ground a few meters away, and then Brick slammed into Pedro once again.
This hit flung Pedro into the stadium's wall rattling his brain in the process. Pedro didn't know what to do. He couldn't even get his thought together. This warrior just kept attacking leaving him no room to regroup or come up with a plan.
Brick ran over and struck out with his short spear. The tip stabbed Pedro's gut this time. Pedro grabbed the spear with both hands and activated Shock Touch.
The beastman used his earth mana to counter the technique. Brick realized quickly that lightning wasn't the only mana infused in the attack. He released his hold on the spear and jumped back. The beastman looked down at his empty hand and moved his fingers.
The feeling he just had was that his hand rotted and fell off. He wondered what time of mana could cause such a weird feeling.
Pedro was worse for wares. He could barely see straight and had a spear in his gut. Blood was dripping down, and he knew he didn't have much longer before he would pass out.
Pedro ripped out the spear and executed an untraditional Shadow Step and rushed at Brick. Pedro released a roundhouse kick only to be blocked by the large shield. Pedro used the shield as a springboard to launch him into the air.
The bleeding boy rolled across the ground when he landed, and he picked up his boomerang. Getting up, he charged at Brick and threw the boomerang at him. Lightning emitted from the weapon as it flew past the beastman missing him completely.
Pedro then threw out a punch only to have it land upon the large shield. Brick seeing an opening, stepped forward to punch the boy with his open hand. A lighting blade stabbed him in the back right shoulder.
Brick winced in pain, while Pedro grabbed the shield with both arms and kicked Brick. Pedro ripped the shield from him and fell to the ground with a loud thump. Brick reached back and tore the boomerang out of his back and threw it away.
Pedro struggled to get up. The two of them were both wounded and had no weapons. Now they would fight hand-to-hand, but sadly as soon as Pedro tried to move forward, he passed out. The blood loss and hard hits finally got to him, and he couldn't push himself any further.
With Pedro passing out, the fifth match had come to an end. Healer rushed over to tend to Pedro and check Brick's back wound.
"The winner of the fifth match is Brick," Clash announced.
The sixth match in arena 2 wasn't as exciting. Mera, the girl that Leo helped, failed even to land a single hit. Mia, the princess of the Mermanians and daughter of the current leader, Head Princess, was flawless in the fight. Mia fought with a trident, and her attacks were massive. Mera couldn't block any of them. After having her short sword blasted away, Mera forfeited.
The seventh match was the opposite. Abella, the female warrior from the Storm Sect, fought the unnamed Canine variant. His metal mana attacks clashed with her lightning attacks. Both of them only used offensive attacks ignoring defense altogether. In the end, Abella dealt a fatal blow causing the beastman unable to continue. Healers had to rush onto the field to heal both of them right away.
The final eighth match was the fastest match to end. Tia, Mia's twin sister, executed only one attack to defeat the feline variant opponent. Her twin swords flashed and immobilized her in seconds. The X shape wound was evidence enough.
With the eighth match coming to an end the final eight warriors had been decided.
"Congratulations to our final eight warriors. Helias, Dur-dar, Kieya, Bear Variant, Brick, Mia, Abella, and Tia will move on and fight this afternoon. Good luck to the remaining warriors."
Leo and Isabella headed to the temporary Medical Bay nearby. Pedro took more damage than they thought and so they had him stay in the cot to rest. Pedro opened his eyes as he heard Leo and Isabella walk up.
With tears forming in his eyes and him balling up his fist, Pedro cried, "I'm sorry I couldn't win. I tried to win for all of us." Pedro closed his eyes as the water droplets poured out of them.
"Pedro, everyone loses. Even me." Leo told him trying to comfort him.
"I know, but you had an uneven match up. I...I just lost to myself and my opponent."
Seeing the brave boy who'd face death itself break down, Isabella's heart pained a bit. Just a bit ago she felt these same emotions. Loss hurts. She didn't say anything, but walked forward and grabbed Pedro's hand.
Pedro stopped crying and looked at the quiet girl grab his hand. Her hand felt warm to the touch. Slowly, Pedro calmed down.
Seeing the atmosphere calm a bit, Leo then said, "Isabella, you stay here and watch over Pedro. I'm going to see if they need any help in the arenas." The two of them watched Leo leave and then they turned to look at each other.
A soft whisper came out of Pedro's lips. "Thank you..."