Maxine exited the Shadow step at Buck's right side. She swiftly grabbed his sword hand at the wrist and slammed her palm on his elbow. An audible snapped resounded as his arm bent in the wrong direction. He screamed in agony as he dropped his weapon. Excellent. It seems that I was correct in my assumption that I could still dislocate joints, even with the forcefield active.

Maxine released her grip on Buck's wrist to allow him to retreat, but not before she kicked his whip sword out of the arena. He took several steps away from her and placed his arm across his chest before grabbing his wrist before snapping it back into place. He groaned in pain and glared at Maxine cautiously. 

Maxine was impressed at his pain tolerance, but that didn't stop her from continueing her assault. She used Shadow Step again to appear directly infront of him and unleashed a flurry of punches into his face before he could mount a proper defence. He lifted up his arms to block the attacks and she made him pay for it by focusing most of her attacks on his wounded right elbow. Each punch was obviously causing him a great deal of pain. I already knew he would feel some of the impacts from when Joshua pummeled me during my fight with him. It's good that he can experience this level of pain, but it won't be long before he tries to fend me off to stop the pain. 

Buck couldn't tolerate the pain just as Maxine had anticipated and he lashed out almost instinctively with a left punch. Maxine dodged it fluidly and grabed his wrist. She could see the fear in his eyes as she followed through and mercilessly dislocated his left elbow in the same fashion as she did with his right. However this time she didn't let him go until after she landed a powerful kick on his stomach.

After Buck staggered away from her and regained his stability, Maxine waited for him to fix this arm as well and decided to ask once he was done, "How does it feel?" Buck looked at Maxine in confusion and anger before she continued, "How does it feel to be the one that is toyed with?"

Buck's face slackened for only a moment before it twisted into pure rage. He charged at Maxine while snarling like a wild animal. As he charged, his teeth began to give off an almost imperceptible glow. I don't like the looks of that.

Maxine used Shadow Step again to appear behind him and in the next instant, she saw a hug set of ethereal tiger teeth bite down where she had been standing a moment before. It's a good thing I got out of the way. That move would have ended this fight. 

Maxine swiftly grabbed ahold of his hair on the top of his head before he could realize what was going on and pulled back violently. He didn't even have the luxury to yell in surprised before she slammed his head onto the arena floor. The impact caused several cracks to appear on the arena floor.

Maxine walked away from him slowly while he rolled back onto his feet. She wanted to toy with him for awhile longer, but she had a limited time frame to do so. She had roughly three minutes left before a section of thinner clouds arrived that would allow for direct sunlight to peek through and the Shadow Step technique drained a small chunk of her essence each time she used it. It was originally an escape technique and not a battle one.

Maxine waited until he was on his feet to kick his left elbow hard and heard him howl in pain as he leapt away. She used Shadow Step again to appear on his right side and kicked his right elbow. He didn't even try to avoid it. Instead he grit his teeth and powered through the pain as he examined Maxine carefully. Oh? Is he trying to find a weakness in my attack pattern? It's not a bad strategy, but it will only work if I had the intention of dragging his punishment out. Too bad for him that I have no such intention. It's time to end this. 

Maxine performed the Shadow Step again, but this time, she appeared close enough to them that they could have kissed. He looked confused and she capitalized on this. She quickly stepped forward and hooked her leg with his and threw her shoulder into his chest to knock him down. He tried to kick her with his free leg, but she caught his attack with her left hand. 

Maxine smiled to herself as she hugged his leg to her chest and gripped his knee with her right hand to keep it from moving. She could see the fear of pain in his eyes as he laid on his back. She heard someone yell 'stop,' but she ignored them entirely as she began to lean forward. An audible crunch followed by a resounding howl of agony as she bent his knee backwards at a forty five degree angle.

While Buck was still stunned due to the pain, Maxine dropped his leg and methodically dislocated his elbows again while hearing the same voice from before yelling at her to stop. She realized that it was Elder Ezekiel, but paid him no mind since it was against the rules for him to interfer. After she finished dislocating his elbows, Buck was teleported outside of the arena and she immediately felt countless stares of silent disbelief aimed at her without even raising her head.

"Winner of the youth tournament, Maxine Levings," the AI announced moments before Elder Ezekiel roared, "Do you know what you have done?!" So, you are not even bothering to hide the fact that Buck is one of your pawns. Works for me. 

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"I just won the tournament," Maxine answered innocently while deactivating her essence armor and she saw his face redden with rage.

"And nearly crippled Buck Wilder in the process!" Elder Ezekiel raged. I didn't hurt him anywhere near enough to do that. An iron stage healing potion would be more than enough to help him achieve a full recovery. 

"Were my actions against the rules of the tournament?" Maxine asked.

"No," Elder Ezekiel growled.

"Then why are you so upset, Elder Ezekiel?" Maxine asked in an innocent tone and noticed that Elder Ezekiel was about to snap. However grandma Victoria's eyes were sparkling with glee, but Boreas looked nuetral. It looks like grandma has caught on to my act. 

"I am also curious as to why you are displaying such anger, Ezekiel," Boreas said calmly, "Buck Wilder's injuries are not as exaggerated as you claim. A single potion and a month of bedrest is all that is required for his recovery. If he was your direct descendant, I could easily understand your fury, but as far as I know, he is not. Am I mistaken in this?" 

"No, you are not," Elder Ezekiel admitted sourly, "But I will still insist that Maxine be punished for such cruel behavior and ignoring the orders of an elder."

"Why?" Boreas asked and started to become increasingly enraged as he continued, "First, you broke the rules of the clan by trying to interfer with the tournament when you told Maxine to stop. Second, I told the participants of this tournament that they could use their techniques at will? Are you trying to turn me into a liar?! If anyone should be punished, it's YOU!" Did I just give Boreas ammunition to knock Elder Ezekiel down a few pegs?

For the first time since Maxine has arrived at the Kavros Clan, Elder Ezekiel was subdued in his response as he dropped to his knees with his head bowed, "Please forgive me, Patriarch. I forgot myself." I think I did. Neat. That means he can suppress him politically for awhile at least.

"You are forgiven, but I do not wish to see a repeat of such behavior," Boreas said, "Now, I believe it's time we reward the champion of the tournament." There is a reward?! Grandma never mentioned that there was one. I wonder what it is. With a flick of Boreas' wrist, a box floating in the air appeared infront of Maxine. She immediately opened it and saw a green potion, a shiny silver ring and a pendant with a large green gemstone embeded in it. She had and idea what the potion and ring were, but not the pendant.

Maxine reached towards the items and put the potion and pendant in her dimensional pouch. Since the ring was rather large, she put it on the middle finger of her right hand and was shocked when it resized itself to fit. She used her spiritual sense to probe it immediately after and smiled when she discovered that it was indeed a dimensional storage ring. It had roughly three times the space inside of it that her pouch did. I have wanted an upgrade for awhile now. My pouch is already quite crowded as it is. That reminds me. I should start sharing some of the chocolate I have stored up. 

Maxine bowed her head to Boreas slightly since it seemed to feel right and went back to her seat just in case there was more to this tournament.

"I must say that this years youth tournament was quite the spectacle," Boreas said happily, "However all of you should heed my words. Do not become complacent and lazy. This tournament was simply a test of your skill level within the clan and does not reflect the skill levels of those outside of it. I expect all of you to continue to train and work hard. With that, I announce that the youth tournament is now over. Go home and get some rest." 

As Maxine stood up to leave, she saw Buck Wilder writhing in pain as his attendant was bending his arms and leg back into place. It looked painful. That asshole deserves every ounce of pain he is feeling. I just wish I could have given both of his legs that painful treatment. However before she turned away she saw a small box appear next to him. Oh, I forgot. Second and third place are often rewarded on Earth. It must be a common custom amongst humans. 

Maxine shrugged and continued to leave the amphitheater. Grandma Victoria appeared beside her when she was a few steps from the exit. She had a huge smile on her face.

"How about we celebrate you becoming the champion?" grandma Victoria said.

"Sure," Maxine answered with a smile. She had already sampled some of the food in the Kavros clan and found it to be quite delicious despite some of the foods possessing an alarming appearance. There was one in particular that upset her greatly. It was a bowl of cooked mushrooms that were considered a delicacy. The problem that Maxine had with them was that each mushroom had a face on it that appeared as if it was begging for mercy. No matter how much everyone told her that they weren't sentient, Maxine just couldn't bring herself to eat them. 

As they approached a restraunt that was eminating divine smells, a young man with brown hair that looked like he belonged on the cover of a romance novel appeared infront of them. He looked only a few years older than Maxine.  

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Adam Zetch of the Divine Mark's Clan," the young man said with an elegant bow, "May I join you for dinner?" Although he was polite, Maxine didn't like him and could tell grandma Victoria felt the same way. 

"No," Maxine and grandma Victoria said coldly at the same time. 

"May I ask why?" Adam Marks asked.

"You know full well why," grandma Victoria snapped angrily and grabbed Maxine's wrist as she moved around him into the restraunt. Huh? That's the first time that I have seen my perpetually positive grandma to ever show anger. I will ask her about it later when we have a more private moment. 

As they went to a private booth, Maxine wondered what she was going to do about the young masters approaching her in the future. She had already put forth a difficult to meet requirement and yet she was being harrassed so quickly. Perhaps he doesn't know about my requirements yet? If not, I don't know what to do. Maybe I should talk to Emily to get a few ideas. Now the only problem is being able to talk to her. The difference in time makes it hard. Maybe I will be able to talk to her this evening.