As Albus got up, he did some stretches, while staring at Tibaut. He saw the confusion on his face and honestly couldn't blame him.

("I've only told Avis what my magic does in specific so it's no surprise it's left him looking like this. Worse he might have underestimated me since I ran into what is essentially a major weakness of mine when we fought Cormac.")

He looked down at his arm and flexed it as Tibaut launched another fireball at his torso.

("But I'm definitely gonna be sore when I release it. I haven't taken any major damage but I've been using it too much. Though I suppose it is thanks to him.")

Tibaut had decided to keep his distance and kept attacking him with magic.

("Would it be easier to just wait until he tires himself out? He was injured after all and his movements have kinda slowed down (though he still manages to escape me…). No, I should end this quickly, who knows what Avis will do to the others if I take too long with him. If that shady old man down south hears about this, who knows what he might want to keep him shut.")

He turned to Tibaut and with a brief stare in each other's eyes he decided to continue his assault.

("Damnit, he just stood there taking all my attacks? Is every part of him except his balls invincible? Or were they fake and that's the reason they felt different?") As Tibaut came up with odd theories, he narrowly dodged a punch from Albus that left a cut on his chin.

As he tried to gain more distance, he took a kick from Albus but made sure to back away before it landed cleanly. Instead of being killed then and there it just reminded him of the pain his body was experiencing. He had to grit his teeth and roll over on the floor but aimed a fire lance at Albus's face to block his vision, if only briefly. This seemed to be enough as his stomp missed and Tibaut kicked at his knee, in a desperate attempt to dislocate it.

("Alright he can harden himself but maybe that doesn't apply to parts inside him? I think I read in a textbook that testicles are supposed to be inside the body but hang outside for some reason.")

His foot did contact the knee but it just resulted in Albus stumbling. Tibaut quickly got himself up and looked like he wanted to rip his hair out. ("What the hell is this bastard's magic!?")

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He aimed another fireball at his torso and Albus came through the smoke and managed to grab his hand, shattering four fingers.

Tibaut shouted out in pain but Albus had no reaction. As he was about to deliver a final blow on Tibaut, the redhead did something Albus never expected. He created a fireball in his broken hand and let it go off. The blast allowed Tibaut to get away and as a bonus… left some damage on Albus's hand.

("I see, he created it in-between my hand. The fact it was closed so tightly allowed it not to waste a drop of energy on the surroundings. I do think I could have prevented it but turning my body like that wouldn't be worth it.")

His hand was burnt and flesh was showing in his palm but his hand was looking far better compared to his opponent.

Tibaut's legs shook and he breathed heavily as he stared down Albus. The sound of a liquid dripping on the floor was present and that wasn't caused by any turned-over jugs or spilled bottles.

His hand had now lost the crushed fingers from the blast and his hand was in terrible shape. It was bleeding, bone was showing and it was dirtied by the soot of the blast. But he saw this as a better alternative than being punched in the face by Albus and took his opportunity.

He noticed Albus looking at his hand and as Tibaut felt he was going to kneel over, he felt his energy come back to him when he saw his.

("Fucking finally. It looks like this guy can get injured. Maybe I should continue doing what I'm doing. It shouldn't take much more until I see some damage.")

He launched another fireball at his torso and Albus took this as a sign to continue. He punched at Tibaut using nothing but speed. Considering the state of Tibaut's hand, he focused on parrying with the injured hand and dodging where necessary. Even then he could feel himself being slowly shaved away, seconds into this stalemate. He managed to position a fireball behind Albus and launched it at him, though this was more of a smokescreen than anything.

He backed away and launched one more fireball to his torso but for the first time in this fight, Albus used his hand to stop it.

He looked at him and wore an irritable look as he turned his gaze to Tibaut. The flesh on his abdomen was starting to show and it had various burns as well.

("So that was his strategy. He kept targeting one part of me to see if it would get damaged. Tsk, maybe I should have gone all out to kill him. Still, it's only these burns.")

He dodged the blast of the fireballs Tibaut threw at him while in thought.

Tibaut smiled as he realised this meant his barrage of attacks did do meaningful damage.

Albus threw himself towards Tibaut and he tried his best to run away but was quickly caught up. As he blocked and parried Albus's punches, frustration started seeping back into him.

("Tch, if only I wasn't confined to this room. If I was out in the forest or something, I wouldn't be forced into fisticuffs with this guy.")

Tibaut then decided on something even more risky than trying to escape. These were less powerful than the ones he threw at Albus from a distance but more powerful than the ones he'd use at point blank. He created a fireball in the space between them.