This forced Trenk to make a decision. Going blow for blow wasn't a bad option. However, the greatest question was whether or not Trenk would be able to tank a direct blow from Oli. And the obvious answer forced Trenk to react and readjust.
Trenk added a hop step to his attack. This weakened his stride and allowed Oli to narrowly evade his sword. But it also allowed Trenk to dip past Oli's mace.
Crunch…
Cracks spread across the ground as Oli's mace landed in the dirt. Trenk's slash attack missed Oli but a trail of fire and dark essence managed to barely come in contact with him. However, the dark essence fizzled out on impact, colliding with Oli's half-dark and half-death essence. Also, the residual fire essence was trounced by the Oli's earth essence, since it lacked the penetrative force of the sword.
"Shall we go again?" Oli asked with a big grin.