None of Tessa's movements was wasted.
This was Tessa in her flow state. Under normal circumstances, she would have crushed him by now, but this time, Elion had grown stronger, so the fight went on.
They traded again, arms crossing in defense, forearms colliding with dull, meaty thuds. Elion took another heavy blow to the chest and rolled with it, then answered with a clean strike that snapped Tessa's head to the side. She grinned through her exhaustion and came back twice as fierce.
Eventually, Tessa's breathing grew heavy, her chest rising and falling as sweat clung to her skin. She straightened slightly and looked at Elion, who was pushing himself up from the ground once more.
His breath was a bit uneven too, and his body showed the marks of far more hits, yet somehow he still looked like he had more energy to spare. Elion, on the other hand, was smiling, a wide and genuine grin spreading across his face—this was the longest he had ever lasted against this battle maniac.
