On the other side of the bar, Maxime stooped to avoid a right and then, with the help of his right foot, spun around quickly.
He grabbed his assailant's arm and pulled hard, making sure with his back that he lost his balance.
*boom*
His assailant flipped over in the air, his back landing hard on the ground.
This technical maneuver drew some applause from the nearby audience, much to their delight.
Unfortunately, before Maxime could reposition himself, two large men armed with stools came up behind him and smashed them violently over his head.
Maxime stood up groggily, blood pouring from his forehead.
"Fuck-off!"
Saving nothing for defense, he swung an arm across the face of each assailant simultaneously. But his physique was such that this amateurish gesture with little power made both men recoil.
Quickly observing the situation, Maxime realized that he'd more or less lost.
He'd already been fighting for a few minutes, and although he'd been able to lay some of his opponents out on the ground thanks to his super-powered physique, his comrades couldn't exert such fighting ability in the same situation.
Joe and Ronny were barely standing, passively taking blows. Only their minds were keeping them on their feet.
Terry had somehow managed to slip between the mercenaries and land precise but deadly blows, but he'd been caught by 2 mercenaries and in just a few blows was covered in blood.
James had also been caught by two of the mercenaries, but somehow kept on struggling while insulting them as "big bitch", which provoked some laughter from the audience.
As for Piedro, he seemed to be rather calm as he withstood the blows without flinching in the slightest, maintaining a far from ordinary composure.
Izo was more or less the same as Piedro, except that at least Piedro grimaced and seemed to feel pain. Izo, on the other hand, was like a tireless machine, seeming to feel nothing. This even made his assailants tremble with fear.
Peter seemed to have put his life on the line ever since a few mercenaries had amused themselves by telling him that once he'd caught him, he'd torture him in every possible and unimaginable way and then send him to hell.
On the other hand, Andrew threw all his strength into each of his blows, unafraid of the slightest counterattack. Wound for wound, he seemed like a wild beast.
Romuald had the two gorillas who had blocked him on the ground not far from him. The latter were completely ko, lying half-broken in the middle of the table.
Romuald seemed to be in a bad way from the state of his face, but his posture showed that he still wanted more.
If that was all, the situation was still pretty good, but the problem was that the mercenaries in front were tough as nails too.
Only 7 had been knocked out, 4 in total by Romuald and Andrew and the remaining 3 by Maxime.
And there were still more than a dozen who were only slightly injured, not to mention their boss completely unscathed.
"Shit, this is an opportunity I can't afford to miss. I hope these mercenaries are pretty rich..."
"System, level up the peasant and swordsman classes to level 2."
Ding!
[50 gold subtracted]
[Peasant class increased by one level].
[Peasant class raised to level 3]
[+0.1 points added to physique]
Ding!
[The "Peasant" class has reached its maximum level].
[Minor stamina talent added]
[Minor strength talent added]
Ding!
[30 gold subtracted]
[Swordsmanship class increased by one level]
[Swordsman class now level 3]
[+0.2 points added to physique]
...
[Current physique: 1.95 (+0.16)]
[Remaining balance: 100 gold coins]
Maxime clenched his hand, feeling immense power in his body as if he'd become indefatigable and could shatter a wall with a single punch.
Obviously it was only his imagination, but he had indeed already achieved a superhuman physique and his energy increased drastically.
The weakest generals in this world are only at this level.
But that's just in terms of physique, whether it's the skills they have in hand-to-hand combat or with various weapons, they're way above Maxime.
Even an elite soldier could defeat Maxime in a duel with a weapon because his skills are far too weak.
However, this kind of physics in a battle in a narrow area and without a weapon is perfect.
With a flash of thought, Maxime fixed his gaze on the instigator of this battle.
The latter put down his glass as he felt as if he had become someone's prey. His body tensed instinctively as he placed both arms at a 90-degree angle in front of him.
The next instant he felt an immense force press down on both his arms, throwing him from his chair and sending him tumbling to the floor.
The deafening noise instantly calmed everyone as countless eyes fell on the young man with the blond hair, or rather the blond hair tinged with blood.
But he stood as straight as a spear, his expression looking as if he'd just done something extremely ordinary.
"Wow." declared a spectator.
"Fucking amazing!"
"Yeah, Pyrion the leader of the bloody bears just took off!"
"Haha we're witnessing the birth of a new legend who knows!"
"Yeah that guy's really strong, especially for his age!"
"His comrades are pretty strong too to last this long against the bloody bears who are experienced mercenaries!"
No matter what the surrounding noise, Maxime could always tell the difference.
And right now his aim was to create an extremely strong image of himself to attract more mercenaries to join him.
"Do you intend to stand up again, or shall I finish you off as you are?" declared Maxime in an indifferent tone.
The noise that had existed before fell silent, and the spectacle was fully appreciated.
"Haha, it's been a long time since I found myself in such a state!" laughed Pyrion as he quickly got to his feet.
"What's your name, young man?" he asked curiously.
"Maxime, leader of the saber-toothed tiger mercenary group. And you?" replied Maxime with the same curiosity.
In fact, the hostility between the two wasn't that great, and fights between mercenary groups were commonplace in this world.
In fact, it was a way of training members with minimal risk, while increasing one's reputation, notoriety and prestige.
Maxime had already worked on himself to change his perception of the world, as entering the mercenary world required adapting to its customs.
"Pyrion, leader of the Bloody Bears mercenary group," he replied with a smile.
The next second, he moved quickly and ferociously attacked Maxime.
"Shit, in terms of physique I'm probably above him but his fighting skills completely dominate me."
Maxime could only defend himself passively against the deluge of attacks.
"In that case, I can only do this..."
Maxime quickly detected a jab coming towards his face.
"An opportunity!"
As the jab hit his face, surprise could be seen on Pyrion's face.
"Shit, get off me!"
"Haha now that I've got you, believe me, I'm not about to let go!" declared Maxime with a grin.
Indeed, Maxime had sacrificed his defense to immobilize one of Pyrion's arms.
Then it was blow for blow, but on the one hand Maxime was physically superior and attacked with his dominant arm, while Pyrion could only throw jabs with his left arm and grit his teeth.
But after just 30 seconds, he was puking his guts out from taking blows to the stomach.
This drained him of energy, but allowed him to regain his distance from Maxime, who had quickly stepped aside.
"Shit, what kind of mercenary potential you got? It must be a 3-star to be so monstrous at such a young age, right? Even 4 stars..." Pyrion said in frustration.
Maxime didn't answer and instead asked:
"You have gold don't you?"
"If you don't want to go out worse off than you are now, pay 100 gold."
Pyrion frowned and said:
"Don't screw up too much, Maxime, my bloody bears have been rather reasonable, otherwise your men would already be all down in a miserable state."
Maxime didn't show anything on his face, but he knew Pyrion was telling the truth. Otherwise it would have been enough for two bloody bears to block the arms of one of his comrades, and then a third could have just beaten him up.
But in actual fact, they did play fair, although they did take advantage of their numbers, except in their duel court.
"But I won, and it was your mercenary who provoked us," announced Maxime.
"50 gold coins," Pyrion replied after some thought.
"100 gold coins." continued Maxime in a firm tone.
"Don't overdo it, saber-toothed tiger chief, 100 gold coins already represents our gross income for a month's mission."
"After subtracting logistics, salaries, maintenance of various collective equipment, a few bonuses, curative medicines and compensation for members killed in action, there's not much left."
But Maxime remained stoic.
Waiting a few seconds, Pyrion sighed, then declared firmly:
"Brother draw your swords, today blood will flow freely."
The sounds of drawing were heard one after the other, as countless swords were pointed at Maxime and his comrades in various parts of the bar.
This time, Maxime could no longer maintain his composure.
"Indeed, mercenaries are no fools and are extremely greedy for money. Taking money from people who have earned it by putting their lives on the line is an extremely dangerous gesture," Maxime thought with slight disappointment.
"That's 50 gold coins and you pay for the repairs to the bar," announced Maxime.
"It's a deal." replied Pyrion with a smile, tossing a bag of gold coins to Maxime, who caught it in flight with one hand.
After all, even he would risk death given his current state.
"Let's go, guys," said Maxime, leaving without a glance behind him.
All the mercenaries followed him, although most of them were in a sorry state.
However, their backs were straight and they exuded a certain menacing aura, impressing the various onlookers.
On the way, Maxime glanced at Romuald, then nodded in approval.
Ding!
[Detected that Romuald has joined the host's mercenary group].
[Innate potential of a star with a minor talent in physics detected].
[Host's talent activated.]
[The mercenary Romuald's potential is increased to two stars].
Simultaneously, Romuald notices something change from deep within his being.
"How is it possible...I no longer feel this barrier that used to hold me back so strongly from progress..." murmured Romuald with enormous shock.
Then he looked at Maxime's back as he calmly walked away, and his eyes widened.
"What kind of heaven-defying magical talent is that?"