The neon led lights backstage lit up. This was his queue to appear. Before walking into the arena, he could hear people cheering. Has his opponent already entered? Most likely, since nobody cheers on for Maarschalk. When Maarschalk left the entrance the shadows ominously seemed to follow him before he stepped on the edge of the arena. This arena has seals or other instruments strung up that weren't visible to the naked eye. They suppressed magic of any kind. The cheering stopped when Maarschalk made his entrance; maybe the audience got tensed up, or intimidated by his presence? Maarschalk wore comfortable clothing; clothing fit for close quarter combat - since this fight is all about using his knowledge in martial arts to the most.

This time he didn't wear his usual tie and dress shirt; instead they were the kind of clothes he wore to events like these. Combat ready ones. His pants for instance, is of elastic material. While not hugging his skin, it is tight. This allowed for his legs to have free movement and as agile and quick as could be. His dress shoes were laced tightly; he doesn't want to lose a shoe in a kick after all. His shoes are black, just as his pants. The garb he wore around his torso has its unique qualities. It is more of a robe than a shirt, the sleeves were long and the lower part that covered his torso is droopy. Whilst also being black, much like the rest of his outfit the garb that he wore were worn by mythological bringers of death. This was an imitation of the robes that those bringers wore. The robe has no additional effect other than scaring his opponent. It is made from normal cloth. His head isn't covered. The robe has a hood as well, but Maarschalk intentionally left that hood down - he knew that his opponent kind of knew him; disguising himself at this point has no value.

Watching his opponent walk towards the center made him see a familiar face. He is from the same home; although this time around he is his foe instead of friend and would be referred as such. Winning this battle has Maarschalks highest priority, this isn't the place to make friends. Whilst moving towards the center he noticed that his opponent had stopped moving a few meters away from the dead center. This allowed Maarschalk to move towards the complete center of the arena and have a few meters of distance between himself and his foe. Staying at a distance too far away wasn't useful, since Maarschalk is a close quarter fighter. This match was going to be about punching and kicking. The referee gave the sign to start the battle, and thus the battle started.

The height of the figure who stood in front of his opponent gave the battle an awkward twist. Most of his battles were going to have this twist; his abnormal height compared to his opponents. That didn't stop him from fully using his body as a weapon, as has been presented today. Maarschalk considered many weapons to be an extension of his arm – however, those types of weapons weren't allowed during this tournament. During this tournament Maarschalk had to focus his knowledge in martial arts - using his bare fists for punches, grapples; and his legs for kicks. These things weren't a hassle for Maarschalk, proven by the state of his opponent. Maarschalks left fist was red from punching. Perhaps this was an indicator that Maarschalk is a southpaw.

'Is that it? What the hell is your name anyway.'

He arrogantly spoke towards his foe. Maarschalks calm posture proved that he didn't break a sweat during the exchange. Maarschalk was prepared for anything; he didn’t consider the element of surprise to be a factor outside of real combat. Though it is still applicable in a setting like this; strategies that involve using parlor tricks like pocket sand were certainly cheesy, but viable. These kinds of parlor tricks didn’t appeal to Maarschalk. Even though his aura spoke of lethality and danger he could still be reasonable – honor among thieves is something he believes in. In all these years of him fighting, he hadn’t faced an opponent that truly scratched the surface of his personality– nobody had enough power to force him to. This had its side effects, one of them being that it results in Maarschalk being an arrogant prick. Maarschalk knew of the power that he inhabited because of his participation in his guild; knowing that his foe had this power as well he had developed a strategy do deal with this.

Because Maarschalk is arrogant, he had great confidence in his ability to strike opponents. Allowing him to fully utilize his body to the most of his confidence, social constructs didn’t hold him back. The negative effect of this is that he usually left his guard wide open; since he believed in his ability to be able to strike his opponent first. This arrogance chalked Maarschalk out to be a dangerous opponent. His natural height and his confidence in his movements makes his opponents too easily realize that Maarschalk is danger; whereas he would be underestimated otherwise.

Not to mention that this fight was being held in an arena; Maarschalk knew that his opponent probably was on the edge of moving before he moved in himself. This would certainly prove itself true had his opponent moved away from Maarschalk instead of towards him. Had his opponent moved towards him instead of away, the entire dynamic of the fight would change in a most subtle of way. It would rely on Maarschalk being reactionary to any kind of odd movement; had that not been the case the normal approach of closing the gaping between himself and his foe would continue by his own pace. With great expedience Maarschalk motioned every fiber in his body forwards. He moved from his initial starting position towards his opponents starting position. Maarschalk knew he had to hold his distance from his opponent at a reasonable distance, this meant that he tried to always stay at least one arm’s length away from his foe. This could prove itself to be disadvantageous had his opponent noticed and moved in against him.

By bluffing with a punch whenever his opponent dares to move towards him, this strategy was to be mitigated. Maarschalks intimidation played a big role in this. He embraced his dangerous aura and used the most out of it. The way Maarschalk moved was by shifting the center of gravity from the center of his body to the front of his body. This was a very uncool way of walking; but it was the most stable way and ensured that he wouldn’t trip or get pushed over by his opponent. The way this worked was by keeping the center of gravity in front of his leg. Which visually resulted in him running like a penguin. Since his subpar speed this was the best way to accomplish traveling towards his opponent. It took a few seconds for Maarschalk to appear an arm’s length away from his opponent. During his movement towards his opponent he arched his left arm. His right arm was in front of his body. When he begun arching his arm, he simultaneously used the momentum that he had gained by moving towards his opponent to his advantage. The punch that he delivered had enough destructive force behind it to murk a building made from stone. His fingers were perfectly formed into a fist; Maarschalk certainly no fool when it comes to using momentum to its maximum. Should his foe have the chance to evade to the left or right or whatever, the force behind his fist would still be felt throughout the arena. If it wasn’t for the power behind his punch it would be the fact that Maarschalk threw a hook with maximum momentum without any hesitation that delivered fear into the heart of men.

His left fist aimed for the center of his foes chest; the solar plexus. Hitting the solar plexus with enough force easily can cause a temporary collapsed lung. Which usually escalates to a panic attack; not being able to breathe goes against human instinct and forces an extreme reaction unless your body is extremely well trained against it. Had his enemy defended by using his arms as a shield, the print of his fists would still print through his arms like they were made from chicken.

His opponent truly would be cornered by this exchange. As his only chance at evading this deadly exchange would be evading left, right or backwards. Although that was narrowed immediately after.
Maarschalk had anticipated that his foe could move left, right, or backwards. And by anticipating this he formed a strategy. He threw his first hook by moving the left side of his body to the front, and moving the right side of his body to the back. This meant that with the gained momentum, and the bodily movement his hook had the most power behind it that he it could have. This left his right arm open; and he decided to take advantage of that. He used his right hand as a bluff. His left hook was to ensure the chances that his opponent evaded to the right; and he used his right arm to increase the chance that his foe moved to the left. So, he intentionally left his opponent at an impasse. Naturally, the only other way for his opponent to evade was to either move backwards or use his arms as a shield – Maarschalk had a good idea that his opponent would move backwards. He took advantage of this by stepping continually forwards after throwing his left hook. The bluff that he threw with his right arm naturally forces his foe to give evading his strike more time to think. Backwards was his only option without getting assblasted by Maarschalks fists. The trick he did with his right arm bought Maarschalk more time to move forwards to repeat the same thing had the first attempt failed. This process was repeated until his opponent had found a way out of it that wasn’t just moving backwards.

‘Let’s have at it then’

Maarschalk spoke in response to his opponent in the calmest of ways.  

OOC:
Claiming my hit.

he arched his left arm.
This leaves me with some leeway, had this been a straight punch - I wouldn't have as much leeway to move my arm down mid hook. Since I arched my arm, I can lower the position where my fist lands or higher it before the fist lands; should you have jumped or ducked down. In this instance you ducked down; resulting in me slightly readjusting my hook to punch you in the face and KO you.

When the attack came Atlas would dodge a little to the right and bring his body down a little to duck himself under the arm that would of hit him.
You said that you brought your body to the right and then duck under the arm that would have hit you. There are two issues with this. My right punch is placed much lower than my left hook; since you described yourself moving to the right and then moving under my arm this wouldn't be possible anymore, as you'd still get hit by my other hand in the face since it is much lower. This would result in a KO.

His left fist aimed for the center of his foes chest; the solar plexus.
Since you ducked down, and my fist originally was headed for your chest, I am still able to pull down my hook by a few inch because of your sudden movement and easily hit your head. At this point it becomes irrelevant which side you dodged into.

Maarschalk seemed to have brought his right arm to defend his body and he brought his left arm up to strike Atlas
This is also false, as my right arm was used as a bluff but could easily escalate into a punch if Atlas had gone into the direction that the fist was covering. Perhaps it could be argued that this was an earlier observation, since at one point of my actions I put my right arm in front of my body; if this was the case Atlas would still get hit by this arm, since the bluff would escalate into a punch and hit him in the head since he ducked down.

I'm claiming my hit:

tl;dr// it doesn't matter whether you dodge to the left or right then down; you still get hit by either my right fist or you get hooked by my left arm which was arched prior the fist landing allowing for enough leeway, not to mention the spot I wanted to hit was your chest. Me arching my arm allows for enough movement to hit you in the head.

His lanky opponent seemed to think that ducking under Maarschalks left hook could get him out of the pinch. Since Maarschalk aimed at his chest before his opponent could duck down, he took the opportunity to lower his arm; which connected his left fist directly with the side of his opponents head. With the momentum that he gained, and the strength that he used - this was to be a clean hit to completely murk the face of his opponent.  Since his opponent begun ducking as soon as Maarschalk threw his hook; he had enough room to move his arm down with the rest of his body - the thunderous sound of his hit connecting shook some parts of the arena.

'I guess that makes me the new Sinatra.'

Maarschalk moved back after the hit had connected. Motioning his head left and right to check if the referee was going to stop the match and declare Maarschalk the winner.

The referee didn't budge from his initial position. Maarschalk knew why this was and reacted immediately; the passive that brings a Lamia Scale back to consciousness after being fatally struck; although he hadn't seen it activate on someone else before. The clear bruises from his fist still manifested on his opponent’s face - albeit not currently visible to Maarschalk, it seemed to have to do with the awakening. No man with a caved in face could normally breathe again the next second. One should wonder what else would pass these barriers of anti-magic.

The next time Maarschalk was to fight a Lamia Scale member, he would have to develop a plan against his own passive. For now, he needed to strike his opponent again, and this wouldn’t prove itself to be a problem considering the current state of his opponent.

Considering the location of the first hit, Maarschalk had to assume that his opponent had buckling legs. Maybe the shock of getting hit from that close with as much power certainly would add onto that. Maarschalk however was ruthless. Honor among thieves, his ass; victory had to be ensured. Maarschalk still in motion, moved immediately after noticing that the referee didn't move. His reaction speed was true and matched his iron presence in combat. He was advantageous in this aspect; since he moved in before allowing his opponent to back away. If he weren't moving prior, he'd be slower than his opponent. Maarschalk used the same exact move that he used earlier to bring the first blow again. This meant that he moved with his right shoulder pointed towards his opponent and his left arm in an arch ready to strike as soon as Maarschalk got within arm’s reach. With the same momentum that he previously had, Maarschalk found himself within the striking range of Atlas. Although this time, his left arm was going to be a bluff. He begun to move his left shoulder to his front and interrupted himself by using his right arm to give his foe a straight punch. Was he not interrupted by his foe; this would have been his course of actions.

If his foe made it impossible for him to knock him out with his right arm his actions would change in the subtlest of ways – but only if that ensured the means of a victory. Maarschalks arms were ready to knock his foe out; even though his left fist was red from the first strike. He was clever enough to figure out that hitting his elbow with his maximum strength would be a no-go, but was also deciding whether he should have a trade-off for finishing this fight quickly. His left arm aimed for his opponent’s lower body, and his right arm aimed for his chest should his position allow for it.

Since Maarschalk already was moving before he moved towards his foe; he had the upper-hand. His foe, buckled over from the previous hit – seemed to fade out of reality and have some daydreams whilst Maarschalk moved towards him. The distance between the two was short before Maarschalk moved out, giving him enough room to land a new punch before allowing his opponent to dilly-dash out of there; the attack in combination with Maarschalks relentlessness surely would mean the end of the fight right here.

OOC:
Claiming my hit.

Here is the timeline of actions.

Atlas would get up from his position and look to Maarschalk who was looking at the referee to see if he would call the fight.

Maarschalk still in motion, moved immediately after noticing that the referee didn't move.

I need to watch out for his hits from now on, Atlas thought to himself.

With the same momentum that he previously had, Maarschalk found himself within the striking range of Atlas.
-----(cut off-point, beyond this is voided due to my action.)

Atlas would take some steps back to open one more meter between then if Maarschalk did not move towards him.

-----

Atlas would take some steps back to open one more meter between then if Maarschalk did not move towards him;

You implied the distance was under a meter before you tried moving out; since I struck you a few moments before, then hopped back to watch the referee not move, and then moved in again I no longer move at the speed that the speed statistic says I do(dashing); but instead at the running speed. Since you were knocked out, then woke up, then got up and tried moving back; it'd mean that you barely meet the dashing speed because of your recent unconsciousness as well. After I move, you're still in the process of thought and then you move, although I already have punched you before allowing you to move back because of my superior speed. From this point on, the rest of your post would be void - but if the battle mod disagrees with this I have plenty to support other means of me hitting you which I will do now.

Atlas would roll towards the way Maarschalks back was facing.

You would be mid-roll as I get within a striking range of you. This allows for me to KO you. In most cases, your back would be exposed(because you'd be rolling towards me) to my entire body. If you claim you were four to three meters away, it'd be the same case. The outcome of this battle doesn't depend on the distance between you and me at this point, I moved to you, and you rolled towards me.

It was with general ease that Maarschalk had found his foe within striking range; it was actually quite surprising since his foe seemed to try to roll towards him before his fist met his body. The damage that his fist would bring was far greater than the initial strike; which was to feel out his opponent, this strike was to snuff his soul out of his body. His fist left a big red mark on the skin of Atlas. A memorabilia of this fight; where he first presented his head for Maarschalks fist, and then not soon after the rest of his body. Maarschalk didn't want anyone to think that he was throwing, it'd disgrace his victory - thus he made sure to be raw during his last punch.

The punch, powerful enough to throw his guildmates' unconscious body out of the ring. Which, followed by Maarschalk claiming his victory. If by some freak coincidence, the body of his guildmate managed to stay up, Maarschalk would deal with it.