"Look," one of the Barbarians stated, his finger pointing at Magma. "They are about to get serious," he added. The other nodded his head in agreement. Magma had returned his axe to his dominant right hand, and his aura was steadily climbing up again. The Ice Bear had extended its formerly retracted claws as well. Each claw was as long as Magma and was extremely sharp. Its aura climbed up steadily as well as both – man and bear – prepared to clash once more.
*Roar*
"Roar"
Both roared like beasts unhinged. Like animals unbound after decades in captivity they allowed their bloodlust to take over, and they crashed into each other for the second time already.
Magma started to spin when he was only within a few meters of the Ice Bear. As he span the snow and ice around him were forcefully removed and gathered around the Barbarian Lord. His turbulent aura was like glue, keeping the snow and ice in a constant whirlwind round him.
The Ice Bear was like a merciless brute. Each step it took left vast consequences on the land, with its paws creating several dents and new ditches with every step it took. As it moved it commanded the element that was its birthright, and it acceded to his request. Ice and snow gathered at its roar, and its long and sharp claws were covered in them. The ice coalesced around its mighty figure, forming an impregnable silvery white armor that was far stronger than its scales. As if that wasn't enough, several ice shards gathered on the spine of the armor and took the shape of two giant ice wings that flapped each time the Ice Bear moved, drastically improving its speed. With every flap of the wings the Ice Bear moved several meters closer to its target, and snow was blown away. In less than a second, these childhood rivals were upon each other. The one who commanded the whirlwind with nothing but his physical strength alone crashed into the controller of ice and snow. And the results were…
Destructive!
*Boom*
With a loud bang both crashed into each other. Whirlwind into ice claws, and their furious auras of power tormented the landscape they battled upon. The two Barbarians who came with the Barbarian Lord were forced to retreat even further. Both men escaped speedily, their expressions grave. They had witnessed many duels between these two, but they had never experienced anything of this scale yet.
"Both of them broke through!" one of the Barbarians shouted at the top of his voice so that the other could hear. The raging winds and heavy snow had greatly hindered their senses. They could barely make each other out, much less hear the other without screaming.
"I can see that!" the other Barbarian responded with a shout as loud as his colleague's. Both men continued to race down the mountain towards the place where they kept the Golden Eyed Tigers. They needed to get those unfortunate creatures out of here before the avalanche that had been started by the carelessness of Magma and the Ice Bear reached them.
Magma was a High-Level Pseudo Phenom, and so was the Ice Bear. At least both of them were when they last fought. But it seemed that both had broken through to the Peak of the Pseudo Phenom Realm, hence there was a massive increase in their strength. Since Magma was the Barbarian Lord and barely had any issues that required his personal action, even his aides weren't aware that he had grown stronger. They were just finding out. If they knew that he had grown this strong, they wouldn't have stayed when they found the Ice Bear. They would have left for the Golden Eyed Tigers immediately.
As for the two involved in the clash, they cared very little for what was happening around them. Their eyes glowed with excitement as they pounced on each other. Magma hoisted his large axe and brandished it with the expertise and skill of a man who had been using an axe his entire life. The large weapon gleamed brightly and was particularly resplendent even in the storm of hail and snow. Like a mighty warrior king, Magma swung the axe at the Ice Bear and his powerful aura engulfed the Peak of Ice Frost Mountain!
The Ice Bear was no weaker than its childhood friend, and the axe that had slain many was a weapon familiar to it. The axe didn't scare it, and neither did Magma's aura. For it was just as powerful as Magma, and was eager to show its friend that beast was always superior to man, even if that man was no ordinary man but a Barbarian Lord. With a mighty roar the Ice Bear swung its sharp claws at Magma, choosing to face the Barbarian Lord's attack head on!
*Bang*
Like the clash of two extremely gigantic cymbals, axe met claws. And though the claws were several times larger than the axe, they didn't gain the advantage they logically should have, and were only able to push the wielder of the axe some meters back. Magma was forced back several meters but was otherwise unharmed. He still had a crazed look on his face and was not discouraged by his forced retreat in any way. Although Barbarians were superior to all other 'human' races in terms of strength, the beast race was the true superior when it came to body strength. So he wasn't fazed that the Ice Bear had bested him. He rushed towards the large beast once again, his axe spinning ceaselessly in his hands as he gathered momentum.
*Roar*
The Ice Bear roared in satisfaction and excitement. Seeing Magma getting closer and closer to it, the large Ice Bear rose up. It stood on its hind legs and brought its fore legs together, putting its paws together like it was about to pray. And then it swiped down powerfully towards Magma with its claws still covered in ice.
Magma's eyes narrowed slightly seeing the unusual action of the Ice Bear. But a smile soon found its way onto his face. His old friend was trying to fight like a human! Magma laughed in amusement and suddenly sped up. Like a man drugged with enhancement medication, he quickly jumped out of the way, avoiding the powerful blow. He wasn't stupid enough to think that he could use his axe to block such a mighty charge.
*Bang*
The powerful limbs of the Ice Bear struck the solid icy ground and exploded them into several chunks. The ground shook slightly as several more cracks appeared on the Peak of Ice Frost Mountain. Yet the one who the Ice Bear had intended to bury under the ice was not there. Like a ghost he appeared right next to the Ice Bear, displaying his amazing speed. His axe was still spinning in his hands, with the Barbarian Lord easily controlling the weapon like it was a small dagger. The large axe that weighed a few hundred kilograms was easily and deftly controlled by Magma, and without stopping to take a breather he slashed the powerful blade of the weapon towards the side of the Ice Bear.
*Bang*
The axe struck the Ice Bear mercilessly, and it was sent flying several metres away. It rolled on the ground a few times before finally regaining its footing. Even though it was struck squarely on its left side, there wasn't even a scratch on its ice armor! It shook off the snow that had adhered to its large body during its roll and turned to look at the person who had embarrassed it so. Yet the Barbarian Lord wasn't there anymore!
"I'm here old friend," the gloating voice of the Barbarian Lord was heard, and the man reappeared next to the left side of the Ice Bear once again. Without giving the Ice Bear any time to react he struck the same side he struck just moments ago with deadly precision, and a bit more power.
*Bang*
*Crack*
Once again, the Ice Bear was knocked away. But unlike before, there was a crack in its ice armor. For Magma had struck the same spot he struck earlier! However, the crack was slowly being restored as ice and snow gathered around it under the control of the Ice Bear.
*Roar*
The Ice Bear roared in annoyance. It certainly wasn't enjoying being toyed with. And it was no fun to be sent flying with the huge body it had. But the person responsible for its plight was certainly enjoying himself, and he wasn't ready to give up his advantage. And he certainly wasn't going to wait for the armor to be mended. He displayed his unmatchable speed once again, as his figure flashed before the eyes of the Ice Bear and he appeared right where he wanted to be next – at the site of the crack. With a mighty swing he struck the Ice Bear again, but this time things didn't go as he planned.
*Boom*
A large ice wing was in his way, and it was this ice wing that blocked the attack. Magma looked baffled. Although it wasn't the first time the Ice Bear had formed ice wings, it never used it in this manner. Its control of ice wasn't so refined that it could use it to block and commence attacks. It only used it to boost its speed. But Magma recognized the potential in such a skill. If his friend could control the wings a bit more freely and maybe attack and defend with them, it would become a much more troublesome opponent. And eventually, it may even be able to fly using this method!
*Roar*
The Ice Bear roared provocatively and swung its large wing, swatting Magma away. The Lord of the Barbarians flipped a few times before landing some meters away from the Ice Bear. He dusted the snow off his hair and laughed.
"It seems that if we don't get more serious there would be no winner today," Magma stated.
*Roar*
The Ice Bear roared in agreement, and opened its huge mouth to reveal its powerful teeth. Each tooth was like a large sword and was capable of grinding several heavy swords to dust. Yet that wasn't the reason it had opened its mouth. Several small lights began to gather in front of its mouth as ice shards all around were drawn towards that light. Soon a powerful presence filled the place as the Ice Bear's Breath attack neared completion. This power was called Frost Breath. It was a skill every Ice Bear inherited, but its destructive power varied from Ice Bear to Ice Bear. However, this Ice Bear was a talented member of its species that had been battling a Barbarian Lord since its youth. So the power of its breath was far above ordinary.
"I can't dawdle either," Magma smiled, and his red eyes became even redder. A red light covered his entire frame, and his aura skyrocketed. If before he was like a dragon descending upon a mountain, now his aura was akin to that of the dragon of dragons. He was now a Dragon Lord hungrily seeking for something to devour. He held his axe with both hands, something he hadn't done since the duel began, and the red light extended onto the weapon as well. And with that, something amazing happened.
As the red light grew stronger, Magma grew with it. And so did his axe. The formerly two meters tall man grew to about 5 meters, and his axe experienced the same kind of growth. Magma gave a loud roar filled with excitement and jumped at the Ice Bear. It was at this moment that the Ice Bear's preparations were completed, and it let go of that which it was holding on to, firing its Ice Breath at Magma!
*BOOM*