A/N
Sorry for this chapter being so late, I have had a really shitty start to the year. My mums got cancer, but treatment is going well. I have developed a stomach ulcer, so I have been in and out of hospital for the last few weeks. Then my grandmother died. The day after I returned from the funeral, some asshole tried to get me fired at work. Luckily nothing came of it.
What a start to the year…
Still, on a more positive note. Looks at story stats. Blinks. Rubs eyes and looks again.
One hundredand twenty thousand views? Four hundred and fifty one follow?
I… I don't have words. Thank you all so much.
Aiz's Love Awakens chapter 30.
"Asterius…"
Bell grinned as he stared into the darkness, watching for the giant Minotaur's approach. Despite what Asterius had said at the end of their last fight, that their next meeting would be their last, Bell wasn't going to let himself get killed today.
And he had no intention of killing Asterius either. He had other plans for his rival.
Aiz stood next to Bell, looking into the darkness where Bell was gazing, waiting for the Minotaur to appear, when she felt Bell vanish, as if his very presence disappeared.
"Huh?" She turned in surprise, only to find Bell standing right next to her. He hadn't moved.
"Bell…?" She asked very confused. It was like Bell's aura had vanished. The oppressive power of the level seven adventurer could no longer be felt.
He gave her a smile, understanding her confusion.
"A trick I'm working on." He began to explain. "It was getting frustrating not to be able to train with the rest of my Familia on the upper floors. You know nothing spawns there when I'm around, so I started using some of Lefiya's meditation tricks to learn how to suppress my aura. It's not that difficult actually."
"But why now Bell? I don't understand." Aiz enquired. Why was he suppressing his aura now? That would just attract any lower level monsters that were in the area that thought he was vulnerable.
"When I last fought Asterius, I was level three. Remember?"
Aiz nodded.
"I'm gonna give him a little surprise." Bell said with a slightly wicked grin.
Aiz tilted her head, now utterly confused. Even Ottar furrowed his brow in a little frustration. What was the rabbit planning?
"Actually, I'm going to need a little help from you two as well."
"What are you planning Bell?" Aiz asked.
"Asterius always fights alone Aiz." Bell explained. "The rest of the Xeno's are no way near as strong as him. So he comes down here to train alone, or so Lido told me. He does not understand the value of teamwork or to rely on others. You two are going to teach him that."
"Huh?" Aiz asked, still utterly confused where Bell was going with this.
"I'm going to bait him for a bit, make him think I have not gotten any stronger since we last fought. Once he gets overconfident, Ill show him he can't win. Then you two step in and the three of you work as a team to take me down."
Aiz looked doubtful, Bell was certainly strong, but the three of them should be able to take him down for sure, but that carried a lot of risk. She didn't want to hurt Bell.
"Think of it like a spar. I won't be using weapons. If you get a killing blow in, pull back just like we do in sparring."
"Alright." Aiz nodded a little reluctantly, but Bell seemed quite determined with his plan.
"You up for this Ottar?"
The stoic boaz just nodded in response.
"Afterwards… All four of us go take on Balor. You both need that push to level up and the three of you should be able to take him down."
"You won't join the fight?" Aiz asked.
Bell shook his head.
"Not unless I need to. I'm trying to get you two to catch up to me right now. I'm already ready to go to level eight, so I don't need the excellia unless the three of you struggle to bring Balor down."
"UOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!" The Minotaur roared again in the darkness.
"ASTERIUS!" Bell roared back, unsheathing his weapons and charging into the darkness, Ottar and Aiz quickly running after him.
The thirty seventh floor was a confusing maze of white walls, consisting of five ring walls, each one separated by a series of open corridors and staircases leading to no where. It had yet to be fully mapped out as it was so dangerous and there were so few high level adventurers who could survive this far down. However, Bell's sixth sense was telling him exactly where Asterius was, so he had no trouble finding him. To Aiz and Ottar, Bell seemed to be moving almost randomly, running down a corridor then suddenly turning left or right into a new one.
After a few minutes of running, they found themselves in a large open area, a perfect battle arena for the fight that was to come.
Bell stood in the centre of the room, holding his knives up in a battle pose. Ottar and Aiz stood in the entrance to the passageway they had just come from. This wasn't their fight… not yet.
"Here he comes." Bell muttered to himself as he saw the Minotaur's silhouette emerge from the darkness.
"Asterius." Bell called out. "We meet again."
Asterius stopped, utterly surprised to see Bell down on this deep level. He smiled briefly understanding Bell must have gotten stronger to even be here, but was quickly disappointed. Bell didn't feel any stronger than the last time they had met. Asterius had been training hard over the last few months and was certainly a lot stronger, though he gained his strength through training and developing his body. Although he could have gorged himself on magic stones, the giant Minotaur didn't feel that was the right way to get stronger. It wasn't by his own merit if he consumed magic stones to get stronger, he only ate them when he was hungry and needed sustenance.
"Bell." The Minotaur looked down at the rabbit and gave a snort of steam from his nose.
"I am disappointed. You are not stronger."
"Oh I might have a surprise or two for you Asterius." Bell said with a wicked grin and a slight look of mischief in his eyes.
His right hand started glowing as small blue and white particles began to dance around it.
Asterius gave another snort and charged straight at Bell. He knew the attack needed time to charge, but he wasn't that concerned. Last time they fought Bell had fully charged his skill, but it had hardly affected him at all. It had hurt for sure, but it wasn't something to be fearful of. Asterius charged with confidence.
Asterius brought his axe down in an overhead swing, looking to chop Bell right down the middle, and was caught by surprise as the rabbit dodged to one side, slicing the Hestia knife against the Xeno's armour. Bell was trying his best to suppress his strength and speed, but being a maxed out level seven, it was quite difficult to reduce himself down to that of a top level three.
'Fast.' The Minotaur smiled slightly, pleased to find that Bell was stronger than he looked and felt. Although the blow had only done minor damage to his armour, Bell had landed the first blow and Asterius hadn't expected that.
He spun, trying to catch Bell with an elbow to the head, Bell rolled out of the path of the blow and shot out a backwards kick, trying to strike Asterius in the back of the knee. Asterius stepped forwards, avoiding the blow and swung his axe sideways, striking the rabbit with the flat of the blade knocking him across the room so he smashed into a wall.
Asterius gave a snort. Fast he might be, but this would be over with one blow. He charged at Bell again. The dust from the smashed wall began to clear and Asterius was shocked to find Bell standing there completely uninjured. He batted a piece of dungeon wall Bell had thrown at him out of the air.
He swung his axe again, sideways this time aiming to slice Bell's stomach open, but the rabbit had jumped into the air about fifteen feet up.
"Firebolt!" Bell shouted. Asterius instantly brought his arm up to cover his face. Bell's firebolt had taken one of his eyes in the last fight. It was an attack to be wary of.
Asterius got another surprise at that moment, as Bell's silver magic circle flashed and illuminated the room.
"UOOOOOOOOOR!" He roared in pain. Despite Bell putting the tiniest amount of mind into the magic attack, it was still stupidly strong, even when he was trying to suppress his stats. All the fur on his arm was burnt away as the magic fire struck him. The iron arm guard he was wearing instantly melted, the liquid metal scalding the Minotaur's arm.
Asterius swung his arm out in a snapping motion flinging the molten metal into Bells face. Bell hardly reacted though, simply wiping it away with a smile as he charged forwards again.
Asterius opened his eyes in shock. Briefly glancing at his own arm, which was now covered in blisters due to the burnt skin, he looked back at the boys face. There wasn't even a sign of him being burned.
Bell had been exercising his resistance stats as part of his training though. Everyday as part of his training, he had spent more and more time in Welf's forge, slowly building up his resistance to temperature. Heat damage, Bell had thought, would be the most important resistance to train. They were planning on fighting a dragon after all. He had begun slowly just starting with plunging his hands into a small fire. Incrementally he had increased the training, slowly raising the temperature. He had a clay bath in the back yard, installed over a firepit. Each day he filled the bath with water and slowly raised the temperature. It hadn't taken long before he could easily lay in boiling water without suffering in the slightest. He then switched to cooking oil, allowing him to raise the temperature to almost three hundred degrees before the oil itself started to boil away. He couldn't bath in molten iron yet, but he was getting close. He could plunge his hands and arms into the molten metal for a few seconds now, but anything longer than that and he would start to scald.
Still, a splash in the face was nothing to the hero now.
Something was wrong. Asterius could tell. Bell didn't have the feeling of a high level adventurer. There were two standing at the entrance of the chamber they were fighting in. Asterius recognized them. The girl who had taken his arm and the giant boaz. The boaz had intimidated him the first time they met, he knew he was outclassed. The girl, not so much, but she had surprised him. He hadn't expected the attack that had taken his arm. But even as he fought Bell at this moment, he could feel their presence.
Something was definitely wrong. Bell was far faster than his aura would suggest. He was far tougher too. That hit against the wall should have knocked him for six, but Bell had simply stood and thrown some of the rubble at him.
Bell was still charging his Argonaut attack, he was starting to glow over his entire body. Asterius could feel the strength behind it, far stronger than it had been the last time they fought.
Asterius switched to a defensive stance now, no longer on the attack, simply observing the rabbit.
Bell noticed the change. No point in dragging it out now, Asterius had grown wary. He hadn't been reducing his strength enough and the Minotaur had become aware that he was deceiving him.
He decided it was time.
As Asterius once again swung his giant axe, Bell released his full aura, revealing his true strength and trapped the giant axe flying at his head between his blades, locking it in place.
With a grin, he looked right into Asterius's eyes, enjoying the shocked reaction as he held the axe, locked in place, unable to push forwards, nor pull back due to the grip Bell's blades had on the weapon. He pushed his blades forwards, slicing the blade of the axe down the middle, before the blade began to fall, he changed direction and sliced through the handle of the axe, making the other half fall to the floor as well.
The divided halves fell to the floor with and bounced away as Asterius's eyes went wide.
He felt it now. Like the two standing in the entrance, he felt Bell's presence and it scared the shit out of him.
Bell was at the top end of level seven. His stat's hitting quintuple S and ranking fifteen hundred all round. His stacked stat's, despite only being level seven were close to level nine. Bell was an utter monster in Asterius's eyes.
The Minotaur stepped back in shock, utterly overwhelmed at the little glowing rabbit he saw before him.
Bell sheathed his weapons, dropping into his wing chun stance, hand's raised in cup formations ready to grab and punch. This wasn't a fight any more. It was a lesson.
He tilted his head down and rolled his eyes up to look directly at Asterius, a smile slowly spreading on his face.
Asterius took a step back. He felt something he had never felt in his entire life.
Fear.
Asterius knew his limits. He'd fought Udaeus and won. Balor was too much, as was Ottar. Aiz had been a challenge, but he wasn't scared of her. Neither was he scared of Balor or Ottar, he knew full well that he would die, but he'd probably take them with him if they fought. It was unlikely the match's would end in any way except a draw where they both died.
But Bell… Looking at Bell, feeling the raw power the rabbit exuded, feeling the power growing inside him as he charged.
Asterius felt fear for the first time in his life.
If this fight continued, he was going to die.
But oddly Bell had sheathed his weapons and raised his fists.
The Xeno's didn't understand what was going on. What was Bell doing?
Then, Bell blurred and the Minotaur's head snapped around as he punched him in the jaw. Asterius spun on his feet at the force of the blow, spun right around and landed face first on the floor.
Black spots spun in Asterius's vision for a few moments. Bell had pulled the punch, he had too, he was strong enough now that he could have punched Asterius's head off. But that wasn't his goal.
The Minotaur lay there for a moment, stunned and unable to react before slamming his hands into the ground and leaping upwards, spinning as he did to face Bell.
In the few moments that Asterius lay stunned, Bell had stripped his armour and weapons and threw them to Aiz.
He took a low stance for grappling and stared into Asterius's eyes waiting for him to attack.
Asterius quick stepped forwards feinting a punch to Bell's head watching for Bell's reaction and the right moment. As Bell began to move an arm to intercept the blow, Asterius dropped his head low to drive his horns into Bell's stomach.
Bell reacted faster, taking a rapid step back and launching his knee into Asterius's face as he did. The bulls head snapped backwards, blood flying from his nose. He didn't get a chance to react, as his head flew backwards, Bell struck a devastating kick to the Minotaur's right leg. Again, he had to pull the strength from the kick, otherwise it would just shatter the bone. Still it left a painfully bruised muscle. If it wasn't for the fur covering the damage, Asterius would have a dark purple bruise from the crushed flesh.
Recovering his stance, Asterius brought his arms up to defend his face as Bell stepped forwards again. The Minotaur ducked and weaved as Bell pressured him back with a series of straight line punches. He didn't have time to think, only to react, dodging each blow and trying to anticipate the next one.
He failed, Bell kicked again, but high this time landing another brutal blow to the giant bulls right arm, once again crushing the flesh within.
Asterius's eyes widened. He hadn't got a single hit in yet and Bell had already caused quite severe damage to his right side. His leg was painful to stand on and was limiting his movement a little. Not enough to affect his combat ability, but enough so that fighting was painful.
He ducked his head low again as he charged forwards, but Bell grabbed him in a headlock and kneed him in the stomach repeatedly.
Again, he pulled the strength from his attacks. He didn't want to seriously injure Asterius, but the bull was already coughing up blood from the internal damage to his organs.
Desperate to get out of the hold, Asterius punched blindly upwards smashing Bell in the face, causing him to snap his head back to avoid the force of the blow. Still, the Minotaur's fist hit, smashing his nose. Bell was finally bleeding. He grinned as he snorted to clear the blood from his nose. Now this was starting to get interesting.
Asterius began to realise he had to change tactics, he needed to overwhelm Bell and take control of the fight. Leaping forwards again, he wrapped his two arms around Bell's chest and slammed him into the floor.
Aiz winced as she witnessed this. Asterius had slammed Bell into the floor with all of his strength creating a deep crater and a shower of debris. Still, she knew Bell could take it, but it probably really hurt. It would have hurt her for sure.
So far they had only been fighting for thirty four seconds.
As the bull pulled him self upwards, still straddling Bell underneath him, Bell tried to grab him in a headlock. Seeing this, Asterius pulled back before Bell got a chance and tried to punch him in the face. Bell raised his arms to take the blows. Asterius rained punch after punch down on the adventurer, but Bell blocked every time. Once again Asterius couldn't believe it. What were Bell's arms made of? Adamantite? His punches should be destroying the bones in Bell's arms, but he was just taking it with a grin on his face.
Bell, still lying on his back with the Minotaur straddling his torso, watched for the right moment and when he spotted the right gap instead of defending with his arms, he let the blow through this time however, he moved his head to the side forcing the bull to overextend as his fist smashed into the floor. Taking advantage of this, Bell grabbed his arm and locked it onto his chest and wrapped his legs around the bulls head locking him in place.
This was going to become a grapple fight.
Frustrated at being locked in this position, Asterius stood with Bell's leg's still wrapped around his head. Bell's lower half was pulled into the air, leaving only his shoulders and head on the ground. As Asterius got to his feet, he raised his leg and tried to stomp on Bell's head.
Bell rolled and twisted forcing the bull's arm that he had locked to his chest to twist in an unnatural direction. Asterius had no choice as Bell twisted, if he tried to fight back, Bell would rip his arm off. As Bell twisted, forcing Asterius down on one knee and forcing his shoulders to the floor, he removed his legs from the headlock and wrapped them around the trapped arm, forcefully rolling the Minotaur over.
Even Ottar raised an eyebrow. Bell was so strong that he had just flipped the giant Minotaur over like it was nothing. Once Bell had locked Asterius's arm in place so he couldn't escape, he was his plaything.
With the arm still trapped, Bell leaned forwards and grabbed Asterius in a headlock and rolled again, flipping the Minotaur onto his back, releasing control of his arm. Asterius grabbed him around the waist and rolled, throwing Bell onto his back, Bells arm still gripping him in the headlock.
The force of the blow was enough to stun Bell for a split second, allowing Asterius to slip out of the headlock. He rose up on his knees and punched Bell as he tried to recover from lying on the floor.
Bell took a couple of punches to the chest as he tried to recover himself, he grabbed Asterius's shoulders and pulled him closer, limiting his movement and preventing him from punching him. He wrapped his leg's around the bulls torso again and grabbed the back of his head with his left hand forcing it down. Asterius placed his palm on Bell's chest and tried to force himself back up but found himself unable to raise his head. Bell was just too strong. He placed his other palm on Bell's chest and forced himself upwards.
Bell brought his arms between Asterius's splitting them apart, forcing them to the side as he grabbed them. Still lying on his back with the bull on top of him, he used his right leg to push Asterius to the side and grab his left arm, twisting and locking it again with both of his arms.
Asterius grunted and twisted out of the lock, getting behind bell and grabbing his torso with his arms wrapping around him again.
Bell pushed off the floor with his right arm and rolled, forcing Asterius onto his back, slamming him into the floor again. Asterius's head hit the rock floor with an almighty smack, stunning the giant bull for a split second. Bell used this advantage to spin around, his back no longer facing the bull and pinned him to the floor.
They wrestled together for a few seconds, each one trying to overpower the other neither overcoming each others strength. Asterius felt for a few moments that this was Bells limit, but then he remembered his opening punch. He especially remembered that he could tell Bell was holding back and that if he had really punched him with his full strength, his head would have flown from his body and his life would be over.
Once again, Asterius's eyes widened as they wrestled. Bell was holding back…
Was… was he enjoying this fight?
But then it hit him. Asterius was having the time of his life! No one… no one could fight him like this! It was so raw and primal! No weapons… Just pure skill and strength… This was… This was fun! Grappling with Bell like this. Feeling each other out… working out each others moves, how to counter them, how to fight back… In many ways this was far more fun then their previous fights. Each time before there was an imbalance. Asterius was far stronger than the little rabbit he was fighting, but the rabbit was viscous and fast. Removing weapons and relying on just their bodies as natural weapons… There was something about this that was so… Real… Natural… As if two powerful males wrestling like this wasn't an act of warfare or fighting…
It was…
And then it clicked for the giant bull. The awesome Minotaur who dominated the dungeon.
Bell wasn't trying to kill him… No…
This was a far more primal instinct… This fight wasn't one to the death… This was the fight of an alpha male versus another alpha male. It was a fight for breeding rights. It was a fight for territory.
It was a fight of dominance.
It wasn't a fight to the death. It was a fight to submission. To make the other roll over and show their belly.
Asterius smiled as they grappled and Bell grinned back at him, understanding that the giant bull, his rival, understood.
Asterius had lost. He knew that. He could tell how much Bell was holding back. He knew full well, he should be dead already. If Bell had the chance to land the right blow, one punch would kill him. But Bell didn't want to kill him. He wanted his rival… Needed his rival to get stronger and he was showing him that.
Raw strength, power, skill, technique. Bell had it all. The last time they had fought, Asterius had kicked his ass. He understood now. Bell had surpassed him and was giving him some payback… But he wasn't going to kill his rival.
No… Bell was giving him a lesson in humiliation… But he wasn't outright destroying him, despite the fact he could have done so with one punch.
What was the human thinking?
Asterius didn't understand, but at that moment, he didn't have too. He was having the time of his life! This fight was glorious! Despite the pain of the bruises Bell had inflicted, despite the fact that the adventurer who was a third of his size was starting to exhaust him, despite the pain in his jaw from Bell's opening punch, Asterius was having the time of his life.
Aiz and Ottar, both watching in stoic silence had the same thought. It was like watching two snakes tangled together as the pair wrestled with each other.
Again and again, they tumbled over the floor, never standing, each one trying to dominate the other. Bell would twist and roll, forcing Asterius into another submission posture. The bull would break from it rolling again, trying to grab at Bells limbs and twist him around, only to find himself countered and rolled back the other way.
Ottar smirked.
This wasn't a fight any more… not in the traditional sense. This was two males bonding with each other.
He noted the confusion in Aiz's eyes, she didn't understand.
Ottar gave a discreet cough to get Aiz's attention, never taking his eyes from the fight.
"If you ever have male children…" The boaz said quietly, but loud enough so that Aiz could hear over the grunts of effort and pain as the Minotaur and teenage boy grappled.
"Never stop them from wrestling… Unless they go to far."
Aiz glanced at him, not understanding.
Ottar fixed her with a stare.
"This is not a fight." He said simply. "This is how males bond."
Aiz furrowed her brow, confused.
"This is bonding?" She asked… Confused.
"Yes." Ottar replied quietly. He wasn't one to raise his voice unless needed.
Her brow furrowed again. She didn't understand, this wasn't how women bonded.
"They are… playing with each other."
Aiz gave a slight smile, but shook her head.
"Males are weird."
Ottar gave a snort of amusement.
Asterius had managed to get Bell underneath him and was straddling his body again, Bell had his arms raised to cover and block his face as the Minotaur rained down punches over and over. Bell took each strike with a grin. Asterius's punches only caused minor damage. He could go at it all day and Bell would barely be injured. The Minotaur just wasn't strong enough.
But if Bell had his way… He would be.
Bell needed Asterius to be strong… far stronger than he was now.
"What's with him?!" Asterius thought to himself as he rained blow after blow down on the boy beneath him.
"He showed he can grapple as good as me but let me mount him so easily?!
"And now he's not even trying to resist me!"
Bell continued to block blow after blow with his arms.
"Just barely guarding himself?"
Punch after punch rained down on Bell's arms.
"What the hell is he trying to do?"
"That's enough." Bell said after a few more seconds before thrusting his hips up, throwing Asterius half way across the room.
"Oh!" Aiz said quietly to herself, bringing her hand up to her mouth to cover her smile. It was her fault Bell could do that. There was only one reason Bell could thrust so hard with his hips. She didn't dare look at Ottar, who was suddenly staring at her with new respect.
Asterius bounced a couple of times as he rolled across the floor from Bell's thrust, but he managed to regain control of himself and landed on his feet, instantly taking a fight pose, a massive grin on his face.
This was so much better than their previous fights. Their first had been on edge, Bell shouldn't have won. If he was anyone else at that level, he would have lost. But Bell wasn't anyone else. Their second fight… Asterius had to hold back. Bell wasn't strong enough… He enjoyed the fight, but it was just payback for their first round.
Now Asterius was beginning to understand. He couldn't beat this Bell, he needed to be far stronger. But Bell didn't want to end their rivalry yet. Asterius's proclamation that their next fight would be to the death was arrogant and he knew that now.
He was ashamed of his hubris, but overjoyed at the power of his rival. Now he had another mountain to climb, another obstacle to overcome. He was beginning to see what Bell was trying to teach him.
He couldn't win. He knew it. Bell was holding back. Bell could have killed him at any moment.
But he could see it in Bell's eyes and his own reflected the same back.
They were both having the time of their lives. This was fun.
They both leapt back from each other for a moment, both panting hard to recover their breath.
Ottar gave a snort with a grin.
"He's still a child."
"It's like he just wanted to play with Asterius as a warm up."
"I thought he would go all out from the start." Aiz responded.
"Now it's time to see Bell's real strength." The stoic boaz replied.
He smirked.
"The rehearsal is over."
"Now, I've seen all your blows, throws and grapples." Bell said to Asterius.
"You will never reach my level. You need to learn to work as a team."
The Minotaur frowned at this remark. Lido had said the same thing.
Ottar raised his eyebrow again as Bell dropped into a low stance and grinned at the bull.
"It's over." He muttered.
"Monsters can't defeat a human like him."
"Asterius's attacks won't reach Bell any more."
Asterius quick stepped forwards at his fastest speed, hoping to catch Bell off guard.
It did. Asterius's knuckle hit Bell directly on the temple.
For anyone other than him, it would have been instant death.
Bell's vision flashed white for a second as his sense of balance was taken from him. He started to lean to the side, unable to control himself for a few seconds.
Asterius grabbed Bell once again, flipping him over and smashing him into the floor.
Again stunned for a split second, both due to the sudden speed the Minotaur had displayed and due to the smack of his head on the hard stone floor, Bell couldn't respond quick enough and Asterius started punching him in the face over and over again.
Bell spat blood for a second, it was pouring from his nose and mouth, but he quickly recovered, raising his arms to block his face once again.
Asterius rained blow after blow down on Bell's arms, until once again, Bell waited for the mistake and grabbed the Minotaur's arm and flung him behind him, instantly spinning and regaining his feet.
Taking the moment of advantage, Asterius quick stepped forwards and planted his knee in Bell's face as hard as he could.
Blood shot from Bell's nose once again as he was flung forcefully across the room.
Asterius was trying to overwhelm Bell with skill. His attacks ever changing. Blows, throws and grapples.
However, Bell's marital art's skills far outweighed the Minotaur's. Bell had spent hundreds of hours sparring with Mikoto and Takemikazuchi. Asterius only remember training from his previous incarnations. He had multiple lifetimes worth of combat experience, both as a surface creature of his origin and as multiple reincarnations as a Xeno's. However, he hadn't been trained by a god of martial arts like Bell had.
It was the one thing that kinda irked Bell in a way. But only because it showed him strength wasn't everything. No matter how hard he trained, no matter how much he fought. Takemikazuchi was always superior to him. He could win through raw strength of course, but that wasn't Bell's style. Even now, despite his speed, Takemikazuchi could kick his ass.
Bell understood that technique was greater than strength. He knew this from defeating Asterius for the first time.
Asterius was trying to overwhelm him and it might just work… Bell didn't want to lose.. But he didn't want to win through raw strength. If that was the case, he would have killed Asterius with his opening punch.
Asterius slammed his fist forwards, striking Bell in the face.
Before Bell had a chance to react, the bull grabbed him around the head and threw him to the floor.
Twisting around, he grabbed Bell from behind in a headlock, sitting behind him and squeezing the boy in a choke hold.
Bell grabbed the arm around his neck. He could have torn it off, so great was his strength now, but just like Asterius, he was having fun. This was so much fun! He wanted to wrestle like this with Ottar, but knew he was far too strong for him now.
Still… He couldn't help but think it might be fun with Aiz. In private. And naked.
Asterius tried as hard as he could to compress Bell's neck, cutting off both his air supply and the flow of blood to his head, but even if Bell hadn't been pulling his arm back, he would not have succeeded. The strength Bell's neck muscles had now would have stopped the attack from succeeding, no matter how hard he tried.
Bell raised himself up and stood, forcing the bull that was three times his size off of him as he did.
He spun and they faced each other once again.
Bell went for a punch, but Asterius ducked beneath it and grabbed him around the waist.
He threw Bell to the floor before standing over him for a split second.
He kicked him in the face, sending him tumbling across the room.
Both Ottar and Aiz winced at this one. Aiz knew full well that kick was hard enough to have taken her head off. Ottar knew he would have survived with his higher level, but the blow would have knocked him out for sure.
Asterius panted for a few seconds, exhaustion was beginning to kick in. The boy was relentless. Minotaur's were like dogs. They had not evolved sweat glands. In order to expel the excess heat from his body, he had to pant and release the heat from evaporation from his tongue. It was one of the most detrimental facts of being a Minotaur. They were all about strength, but had little endurance. If the fight went on, they would lose for sure.
Bell lay face down on the floor, not moving.
Both Ottar and Aiz expected Asterius to finish him off, both were prepared to leap in and prevent the finishing blow. But Asterius was just standing there. He was utterly exhausted, he stood there panting, trying to vent the excess heat from his blood and muscles. Right now, he couldn't move. If he tried to land a blow on Bell, he knew full well that he would faint from heatstroke.
"Bell." Aiz gasped under her breath, her hand moving towards him in a gesture of wanting to help.
Asterius frowned though. The kick he had released on Bell should have killed him, but something was wrong. He could hear Bell breathing still. The breathing was calm and steady. Bell was still awake, still aware. He was just taking a moment to stop his head from spinning.
How had he survived it?
As Bell began to stand, Asterius understood.,
"I see now." The giant Bull commented between heavy breaths.
"I thought it was weird that I didn't feel my kick hit you."
Both Ottar and Aiz gasped for a second and stepped back. Ottar did something he had never done his entire life. As he saw Bells face as he picked himself up from the floor, he covered his mouth with his hand in shock and surprise.
Blood streamed down Bell's face. It ran from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth. But the grin he had was inhuman. Bell didn't look like a man, he looked like a monster.
"How?" Asterius thought to himself. "How did he survive that blow?"
Asterius's eyes widened once again as he understood.
"He relaxed all his muscles! He saw it coming! By doing so instead of the impact being just his head, it was his whole body!"
Asterius's respect for Bell grew once again at that moment.
"I know he's strong, but that just means he's dealing with my attacks! That's freaking exciting!"
"I knew it! You don't get to fight one like him often! What a man to be my rival!"
Bell flashed forwards before Asterius could blink. He didn't even get a chance to react. If he had, he might have thought; "He was holding back this speed all along?" But he didn't get a chance to think or react. He saw Bell was coming for a chest grapple and tried to move to avoid it, but before he knew what was going on, Bell had grabbed both his forearms.
Bell pulled Asterius's right arm forwards, letting go of his left and slamming a straight line punch into the Minotaur's face. His grin seemed to get more devilish and insane as he got right in the giant bulls face.
Asterius could only put his arms up to block as much as he could as Bell charged forwards in a boxers stance and rained blow after blow upon him.
Bell's grin only got more insane as blood flew from his mouth and nose. Bell's face was a torrent of blood from the beating he had taken already. Blood was flowing freely from his mouth, nose, eyes and ears. But Asterius could see it. Bell was in the zone at this moment. That peak of mind where everything else was drowned out. Nothing but the fight at hand existed for Bell and no matter what, he was going to win.
Asterius ducked a punch and went to grapple Bell's torso once again, but the punch had been a feint, Bell's left hand came slamming down on the Minotaur's temple, the knuckle aimed perfectly.
Asterius's vision tilted and he blacked out.
Bell wasn't done though. He grabbed the Minotaur around the chest, thrust his legs and back flipped the pair performing a belly to belly suplex.
His palm holding his chest down, Bell lifted his fist into the air in order to crush the Minotaur's head.
He stared down at Asterius for a moment, until he noticed the Minotaur had passed out. His breathing was ragged, his smile insane. But after a second he recovered.
He lowered his fist gently and gave a deep breath.
"Asterius…" He said quietly to the knocked out Minotaur.
"I thank you from the bottom of my heart."
"I have… become stronger."
He stood and walked towards Aiz and Ottar.
He gave them an ironic grin.
"Someone give him a potion?" He asked.
"And… you guys should have stopped me earlier…"
He laughed and scratched the back of his head.
A/N
So… What did you think of the fight? I have to admit… I worked really hard on it.. but I'm not sure if you will see it like I did in my head, if you know what I mean. Was it good? Did it work? Let me know!