The Ancient Genes

"Clang!"

Max's dagger struck the giant club, Max could feel the intense force but this time, he wasn't going to get blown away. He endured it and in the end was pushed a couple of steps back.  Bahamut on the other hand was forced a step back as well.

His eyes were wide open as he looked at Max. He just couldn't comprehend it. He had absolute confidence in his strength. After all, unlike Max whose hearing had been enhanced, Bahamut's physique was enhanced. There was a reason for him to be confident.

Max was no less surprised than him as well. He had clearly used everything he had in that strike and could only manage to push him a step back. Even though Max's main ability was his ability to sense, this didn't mean he was that weak in terms of pure brute force.

'He hasn't even got the spirit shell yet, I wonder how much strength will he have after he acquires it.' Max couldn't help but think it, this boy was surely going to pack a lot of punch.

"You are strong!" Bahamut said with surprise, "Let's see how you far with this…"

Bahamut moved and much to Max's surprise, he pulled the club like a thin stick flying through the air.  The huge club tore through the air and came like a canon that had been launched from its shell. Max could feel the intense momentum it was carrying, he wouldn't just be done with a few scratches if he attempted to block that.

Max took a step aside and dodged the attack. The battle continued and Max started to find flow in Bahamut's battle style. The kid had strength but he was lacking in speed at least in comparison to Max. "You aren't going to win like this?" Max said with a smile as he dodged the incoming club. He then moved in with his dagger.  But suddenly his eyes widened as the next instant, Bahmut who had been holding the club with both of his hands, let one of his hands go. His hand reached out to the incoming dagger and he caught ahold of Max's wrist.

Max felt a strong grip on his hands. He tried to pull his hands back but couldn't even budge and only stare at the boy who was smiling at him, "What now?" Bahmut had his feet dug into the ground and with his strong body and support from his feet, there was no way for Max to move him.

Bahamut used only one of his hands and pulled the huge club into an arc planning to smash Max into the ground. Max on the other hand could feel the danger very clear.

"Give up before it's too late," Bahamut said with a smile and was already bringing down the club on Max without any hesitation.

"Don't get too cocky," Max mumbled with a smile and the next instant, Bahmut felt a cold sensation in his feet. Before he could even look below, Max pulled his hands with all his might and Bahamut who wasn't planning to let go was pulled as well. He noticed the puddle of water around his feet and realized that Max had cleverly used the mud to make him lose his support from the ground. After all, without the support from his legs, there was no way for him to keep Max in one place.

In the end, his feet slipped and Maxed pulled him along. This interrupted Bahamut's attack, successfully lowering the force behind it, as well as misguiding it.

"Bang!"

The club landed on the side and Max felt the land shake, cracks emerged on the ground beneath and the club sank into the ground. That was terrifying.

"Do you want me to give you a blue eye? Let go!" Max said and Bahamut finally let him go. Max clearly had a chance to get perfect hit but this was just a spar, they were not here to harm each other but just to test.

"It's your loss…." Max said with a smile.

Bahamut looked at Max and asked, "That's it?" He still wasn't done yet. It was just starting to get interesting.

"We could go on, but I can't guarantee there won't be any injuries. Besides, It seems that I accidentally tore my wound open." Max said with a twitch as he unbuttoned his shirt and the bandages indeed had turned red. The injuries from the train hijack still hadn't completely healed yet, not to mention that the injury given by the black demonic energy took longer to heal.

"You should have told me about it earlier…..I wouldn't have forced you into it." Bahamut said with wide eyes, he was shocked. Max could still move like that with injuries.

Bahamut couldn't help but finally acknowledge him as a fellow monster.

"Let's get you treated," Bahamut said as the club in his hands vanished and he returned to his usual appearance, looking like a sweet boy whom people knew as Felix.

"It's fine…" Max waved his hands, it wasn't a big deal and would probably heal within a week.

"I can't take any risk, you are my most important chess piece…" Felix said as he dragged Max along. There was a bit of guilt in his voice too, but most of it seemed to be the truth.

…

An hour later…

Max left the place with a bottle of elixirs. Felix had insisted Max on carrying it. He wanted him to be in a good condition and win the upcoming Competitions. 

Max was surprised, elixirs were something very rare and expensive. But it seemed that the Zens had a healer in their family. Well, it was a good thing for them because Max knew that they would be allies one day.

…

Seeing that Max had finally left, Felix turned around and asked the man behind, "Who do you think would have won if we continued?"

The man with a huge build, who had been standing calmly all this while finally spoke, "You would only have about 20-30% chance of winning."

"That low? Are you sure? I was confident about 50%. I still had to reveal my real fighting style…." Felix said in disapproval. He still believed he had a fighting chance here.

"He was injured and still managed to get an upper hand on you. You might be able to overpower him in terms of brute force but that isn't the only factor deciding the battle….As for your battle style, we still don't know if he has a counter for it or not, but my instinct tells he is much more ferocious than you can possibly think."

Felix was surprised, he knew that Max was strong but earning such praises from this man was not something everyone could do. Even he hadn't received any praise, except for 'You are Strong' when he won the bet with him.

….

On the other side, Max was already moving towards his house, the meeting took much more time than he expected. 

There was a smile on Max's face. Even though Bahamut didn't turn out the way he thought him to be physically, he still was the same strength-wise. 

He could tell that the kid hadn't gone all out yet, even though he was a kid, he was sly. He was waiting for Max to reveal his strength.

'He is strong but would definitely lose to me without the spirit shell..' Max could tell it.This was his instinct.

'Spirit shell…' Max could feel the need, they had to get them fast.