Ryuu entered the arena again, it would be wrong to say she wasn´t nervous. Not as much because of the fight, but more that the more she had to fight, the stronger her opponents got...and with this the higher the chance that Bell saw through her disguise.
Sigh...this was meant to be a training...and now I´m afraid that the man I love discovers me.
Her opponent entered the arena as well, the beige haired cat girl she had seen before. She threw her arms in the air and waved happily to the crowd, this didn´t seem to be the first time she fought in the arena. She wore dark leather clothes, that left large parts of her skin uncovered. She had far more armor on her left side, than on her right.
Her stomach, her feet, her right arm and her head were uncovered. And to Ryuu´s displeasure, she had a deep cleavage. The leather armor itself was made out of segmented plates. When she she turned around,
Ryuu saw that her butt was mostly free, the armor there ended in a thong, with a tiny hole for her tail. For weapons, she had two long curved daggers on her hips, a long whip in each hand. At bracers and greaves, she had curved blade attachments. She had her hair tied up so it wouldn´t hinder her in a fight, everything on her screamed...gladiator.
Filthy... Ryuu was displeased with such an outfit.
"Thaaaaaanks everyooooone!" She waved with both arms.
When she reached the middle of the arena, she turned to the goddess Freya and made a polite bow.
"It is an honor to fight under your eyes, mylady Freya." She averted her face in a gesture of the deepest courtesy.
She is very polite...
The goddess seemed to be pleased, she nodded smiling.
Now the cat-girl turned to Ganesha.
"Lord Gaaaaaneshaaaaa!" She waved enthusiastic. "Do you see me?"
"Of course!"
"Pleeaaaaaase, watch my fight!"
As I thought...the Ganesha Familia is full of...strange people.
Now the cat-girl turned to Ryuu.
"Hey there! It´s nice to meet you, you will be my toy today yes?"
Her toy?
"I won´t hurt you too badly okay? We want to make it look entertaining yes, yes?"
Aha...
"Heeeey are you listening?"
Sigh..
"Pff so unpolite...typical elf..." She pouted.
Ryuu remained silent.
"Hmm.." The cat-girl eyed her from head to toe, for a moment her eyes hung at Ryuu´s crotch and whistled appreciatively. "Wow...quite the stud huh?"
How lewd!
Blood rushed into Ryuu´s cheeks. "Silence!"
"Oooooh so you can talk? And such a harsh voice...I feel my skin tingling." She had a nasty grin on her face.
Enough is enough...
The polite demeanor is only an act...well her behaviour towards her god might be honest.
"We two are going to have quite the fun yes, yes?" She tilted her head and smiled cute and innocently.
I guess she doesn´t take me seriously.
"Oh oh oh, but don´t worry, I won´t reveal your face, even I am not that cruel."
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"And now time for the second quarter finale...begin!"
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Ryuu went into fighting stance, but her opponent didn´t do the same.
"Mou just fighting like that is boooring! We have to heat up the mood! Right folks?!"
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"""YEEAAAAAAAH!"""
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The large crowd of male gods started to cheer up and sing something, more and more people joined the chant until the whole stadium was singing. In the rythm of the song, the cat-girl started to dance.
She shaked her hip provocative to the side and winked to the crowd.
Unbelievable...
Perhaps that was what her behavior was aimed at...but Ryuu was pissed.
I will not tolerate such behavior! Not when my lo...when Bell is watching!
When the cat-girl turned her back to Ryuu in her dance, Ryuu kicked the ground and dashed as fast as she could onto her.
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"""Woah!"""
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Tch!
The crowd reacted to Ryuu´s jump and warned her opponent this way.
"Haha!" The cat-girl whirled around and unleashed her whips, she was pretty fast.
She didn´t use both whips at once, she attack with the one in her right hand and held the other prepared.
The whip brushed her coat, before Ryuu could finish her jump, her opponent pulled the whip back and attack with the other one, while she shaked her hip again and moved to the side still dancing.
The cat-girl was very experienced with her weapons.
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"Ooooh what a sight! Hell-Cat-Chan uses her death dance! She defeated one hundred and six opponents in the arena so far...will Mysterio be number one hunded and seven?"
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"Ahahahaha!" Whip lash after whip lash was fired at Ryuu, who tried her best to evade.
I can´t get close..
Ryuu was very experienced as a warrior, but she never faced someone with a whip before.
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"Oh just look at that! Never have I seen someone evading these whips so well!"
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Ryuu whirled and jumped around to evade the whips, her opponent left no opening for her to use.
Guess I have no other choice...
She tried to slice the whip as it came near, but her opponent was used to such an attempt and pulled back her whip faster.
Nnnngh...Lyra...I´m using your teachings..
That was no easy decision for Ryuu, from all her friends, Lyra´s style made Ryuu the most problems. The problem was Ryuu´s upright elven nature.
She had to use dirty tricks here.
Ryuu sheathed one of the Futaba´s and grabbed something inside her coat.
Whips might be dangerous weapons, but they were not good for blocking projectiles.
Her hand swished through the air and the cat-girl had to evade fast as Ryuu threw a dart after her.
"Oho! Mysterio is fighting back!"
A dance of lashing whips and thrown darts began, Ryuu sheathed the other Futaba to use both hands.
"Why am I even evading? Those things won´t hurt much! Aahahaha!" The cat-girl stopped evading, blocked a dart with her arm armor and pulled back her whip again.
Again Ryuu grabbed something from her coat and threw it.
"Haha- *cough cough* Aaaaaah! What is this you dumbass!" The cat-girl staggered back as a orange cloud enveloped her.
I hate to use that...
What Ryuu had thrown was a tiny package of...itching powder.
Since she started to use fighting techniques from her dead friends, Ryuu had been working on some trickery.
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"Oooh what is this? Mysterio lives up to his name and uses some unknown tools."
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She threw another package and finally grabbed a special tiny box.
I can´t do more than this, I´m sorry Lyra but my heart is just not ready for your techniques...
The second package generated a brownish cloud.
"Myyyy eeeeyeeeees!"
It was tear gas powder...
Now!
Ryuu threw the tiny box after the cat-girl thad had dropped her whips and rubbed her eyes crying. In the moment she let loose, Ryuu blocked her ears with her hands, closed her eyes and opened her mouth under the scarf, while she turned to the side.
"Wa-!"
KABUMM!
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"Whaaaaaat iiiiis thiiiiis!"
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A small detonation consumed the cloud and flung the cat-girl back.
"Aah!"
The crowd had stopped singing...some started to laugh.
Ryuu drew her swords and walked towards her opponent with a sinister face.
Time for punishment...
She saw the cat-girl pulling something out of her cleavage while she evaded the smoke. It a tiny ampule, she opened it and splashed the content into her eyes.
"I´ll freakin kill you!"
As Ryuu came closer, her opponent drew her curved daggers from her hip and jumped onto Ryuu with a murderous glare in her still red eyes.
"You stole my show! This arena is my territory!"
Ryuu had experience with an opponent with such weapons.
Bell wields them better.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Due to her rage, the cat-girl attacked with immense speed, slashed and stabbed after Ryuu.
Neze...I´m borrowing your style.
Right when Ryuu dealt a counter attack...she let go of her swords.
"Wha-!"
She used her left arm to push the cat-girls arm to the side...and then dealt a straight punch with her right into her face.
"Aah!"
The quick change between the styles was something that Ryuu had trained often with Bell, he called the style she used now "Brawler-Mode", it was quite fitting. And the poor Bell had gotten a fine beating more than one time.
In a serious battle training, they both didn´t held back.
Her opponent slashed with her dagger after Ryuu´s head, but she blocked it with her forearm. There was no obvious armor on her, but inside the sleeves and and pant legs were adamantium fibers sewn in.
Until Syr had told her that, Ryuu didn´t even knew that something like that were possible.
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"Where do you get such special custom made clothes from?"
"That´s a secret Ryuu." Syr had winked, smiling.
"But-.."
"No buts!" Syr had leaned closer. "I don´t want my adorable Ryuu to get hurt...and Mr. Bell would be mad with me if your beautiful skin gets scarred because of me."
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"Oooooh Mysterio is starting to kick Hell-Cat´s butt!"
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"Shut up, Ibri!" She nearly hissed.
Ryuu let her opponent no chance to regain her stand.
Runoa...I´m using it.
In order to use Neze´s style better, Ryuu had trained with Runoa who were an expert at fist fights. She had shown her where to punch an opponent, so that it would be effective, regardless of the persons level.
She used all of her speed to grab her opponents wrists and started to wrestle with her.
"Let me go!" The cat-girl was furious.
Ryuu narrowed her eyes and slowly pressed the arms down, she had to watch out for the blade attachements.
Now!
Ryuu twisted her body, pulled up her right leg and kicked her opponent with the back of her foot against the head.
"Dah!" The cat-girl staggered back.
Losing no time, Ryuu continued, pushed forward the knuckle of her middle finger and punched right into the girls solar plexus. Both, Ryuu and Runoa didn´t knew what made this point so weak, maybe Amid could tell them, but it was enough to know that it worked.
"Akh!"
Ryuu whirled to the side and dealt one straight punch to the opponents chin.
Her head jerked to one side and her gaze became unfocused.
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"Eh-.."
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The cat-girl collapsed right on the spot and became unconscious.
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"What a punch! Mysterio knocked out Dusk Walker like it was nothing!"
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The crowd cheered loud, but Ryuu felt somewhat bad. She had to use such methods to win against her opponent. In her past she had no problems using far more cruel methods. But now she had changed.
Did Bell do this to me? Or...is this my old self?
In her past, when she was still with her friends, Ryuu had refused to use such tactics, later she used them without thinking...and now...if she had to, Ryuu would use them...but she didn´t like it.
Some member from the Ganesha Familia came running with a stretcher, one of them checked her opponent, maybe a healer.
"Is she okay?"
"Yes, just unconscious, don´t worry she has a hard skull."
"Good...I didn´t want to hurt her seriously..."
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"What a gentleman! Mysterio checks his opponents condition!"
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"""Kya! What a handsome gentleman!"""
Not this again please...
In the past a girl that Ryuu had helped, had fallen for her, until the moment Ryuu told her that she was a girl too.
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"Ladies and gentlemen, we will take a one hour break before starting with the first semifinal. In the first round, Rabbit Foot will meet Slayer, in the second Alpha meets Mysterio. After these fights we will have another short break and then we will see the finaaaaaaaaaaleeeeeeee!"
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Phew...it´s quite intensive to fight one on one without knowing exactly what I will face..
Ryuu went back to the waiting room to refresh herself.
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In another waiting room, Bell was sitting on the bench and watched the result of the last fight in the magical mirror.
This fighting style...looks familiar..
And the fighter is also an elf...hmmm...
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After closing the door, Ryuu took off her hood and the scarf.
"Puh...it´s getting warm in here..."
Ryuu took of her coat, unbuttoned the vest, took it off and let a little air in her white undershirt.
Why do my clothes have to be so dark.
The fresh air felt good, the white undershirt was almost transparent, since Ryuu had sweat a lot.
She sat down on the bench and took a fan to cool herself, while drinking water.
Ryuu looked around in the room, there were no windows.
Hmmm...
She went to the door and checked if it was closed properly and no one would be able to enter suddenly.
Alright..
Since she didn´t like the feeling of sweat on her skin, Ryuu took off her undershirt and the brassiere, washed herself with a cloth and water from a nearby table and used a towel to dry herself.
That´s better...
Ryuu put the used clothes in her backpack and pulled new ones out, to her bad luck she had forgotten a spare brassiere.
Hmm...I guess with she shirt, vest and coat...there should be no problem...
After she put on a new shirt, she undressed her lower body and started to wash there as well, she didn´t liked the idea of getting completely naked in here, so she washed her upper and lower one after another.
Finished with her personal hygiene, she sat down in a normal shirt and short pants, for now she let her battle garment off.
That was one thing she learned over the years, whenever you can take a break and refresh yourself. The washing was only due to her personal preference.
For a while she sat there with closed eyes and thought about her last fight.
It should be about time for Bell´s fight.
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Two opponents left...come on Bell, you can do it! For Ryuu and my Familia!
Bell entered the arena after the gate opened.
I think I´m slowly getting used t-
""""""RABBIT FOOT! RABBIT FOOT! RABBIT FOOT!"""""
"Oh eh.."
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"Now that´s a greeting we want to hear!"
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Bell looked a bit embarassed with the attention of the whole arena on him.
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"Oh looks like Rabbit Foot is a bit shy!"
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"Aaaaww he is so cute!"
"I want to take him home!"
"Rabbit Foot, do you have a girlfriend?!"
Ah..
Well it looked like Bell wasn´t as used to the crowd as he thought.
Thankfully as the second gate opened, the attention of the crowd split.
"""""SLAYER! SLAYER! SLAYER!"""""
The dwarf walked into the arena, he had the axes loosely in his hands.
He looks tough.
That would be the first time for Bell, fighting a dwarf.
Halfway through the arena, the dwarf seemed to notice something and stopped. He turned to the side and raised his right axe, pointing at the ranks, right at the Loki Familia.
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In the ranks.
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"Haaaa? What´s this weakling doing? Is he challenging us?" Bete looked annoyed.
"Bete...I don´t think he means you...or us." Rivera had her hands folded in her lap.
"Maybe he is greeting...Loki?" Ais tilted her head slightly.
"Is he challenging Miss Ais?" Lefiya´s eyes became small.
"You guys don´t get it..." Tione sighed.
Tiona jumped up and waved smiling. "Heeeeeey! I´m heeeeereeee!"
In the arena, the dwarf raised both axes over his head, smashed the broadsides together and yelled something in dwarfish.
She looked really happy and continued to wave, laughing.
"Did you understand that?" Tione looked at her sister.
"Hehe...he said my smile shines more than the smile of his axe."
Tione was confused. Was that...a compliment?
"He is looking at Miss Tiona?" Lefiya looked surprised.
"Well he has a thing for her." Riveria leaned back in her chair.
"Eh?"
"Tiona has..a man?" Ais looked a bit confused.
"Hey I didn´t allow that didn´t I? Why do I not know anything about it?" Loki jumped up and looked at Tiona.
"Eeeeeeh? Come on Loki...I really like him." Tiona grinned over all of her face.
"Hey I´m your gode-mf!"
Riveria pulled Loki down and covered her mouth with her hand. "Please don´t make a scene now. Let the young ones experience their love."
"Hehehe...thanks Mommy." Tiona grinned.
"Who is a mom?..." Now Riveria looked flustered.
"Ahem...please behave more guys." Finn coughed lightly.
"You heard the captain! Sit down and shut up!" Tione glared at them.
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Bell´s opponent continued his way towards Bell.
I wonder what that gesture meant, maybe he knows Miss Tiona?
They stopped about five meter away from each other and waited for the starting signal, the dwarf was a bit more than one head smaller than Bell, but his hair let him look bigger.
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"This will be an interesting fight! The young rabbit against the literal punch in the face...beeeeeeeeegiiiiiin!"
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Bell pulled out his knives and got into fighting stance...but his opponent didn´t move.
"Yer the one they call Bell Cranel, aye?"
"Eh..yes."
"The fastest at level two and winner of the wargame...yer the one who fought that black minotaur yes?"
"Ahm...yes?"
I wonder if he is one of...those people..
Bell had enough experience with people doubting his past and were sure he was cheating somehow.
A huge grin appeared on the dwarfs face. "It´s an honor ta fight ya."
"Oh?"
"I´m always lookin for some good fight, ya know?"
Slowly the dwarf walked to Bell, pointed his right axe at him, the other over his shoulder and stopped a meter in front of Bell.
"Let us fight like real warriors hm? I bet yer have ta impress someon eh?"
Bell had read about that gesture in books...old hero stories about how the old warriors behaved.
He slowly took a step forward, raised the Hestia Knife and put the top half of the blade against the ax head.
They waited for a few seconds before stepping back...an old greeting between two opponents before a duel.
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"They´re showing their respect for each other! Truly remarkable!"
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For a few moments they eyed each other, until the dwarf started to grin. "Now let´s have some fun!"
Bell had expected many ways for the dwarf to start the fight...but not by throwing his right axe straigt at Bell, the axe head was as wide as Bell´s upper body was heigh.
"Woah!"
He jumped out of the way of the axe, it smashed head first into the ground, the dwarf jumped in his direction, grabbing the handle of his axe and started his attack.
In the first moments of the fight, Bell was defensive, evaded and tried to estimate what his opponent was capable of.
The dwarf performed a vertical slash from below which Bell didn´t even tried to block. Just looking at the dwarfs enormous muscles made it clear, that he was far stronger than Bell.
His arms are thicker than my thighs!
Another axe swing followed the first one, this time striped along Bell´s chestplate, leaving a scratch.
He is faster than I thought.
Bell moved his right hand with the Hestia Knife after the dwarfs swing and slashed along his shoulder. He didn´t had to fear to really hurt the dwarf, the magical field prevented that.
But it would chip away some of the dwarfs stamina.
In a moment he will rise his axe agai-
Bell´s thought was interrupted when the dwarf rammed him shoulder first.
He staggered back, but used the momentum jump backwards a bit, kicked the ground and landed a kick with the back of his foot to the dwarfs head. Instead of trying to evade or blocking...the dwarf just took the kick, his head jerked minimal to the side...but that was all, no more reaction.
"Yer gettin´ into it!"
Bell glanced over his shoulder to get an impression of his surroundings, one of the pillars was nearby.
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Bell, always use the terrain to your advantage..
Ryuu she had drummed that into him over and over again.
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"Yer a nimble on´!" The dwarf laughed happy as he followed after Bell as he evaded again.
The dwarf took both of his axes to the left side and swung them parallel to the right side after Bell. In the last moment Bell jumped to the side, leaving the pillar in the way of the axes.
Now!
The moment the axes were about to touch the pillar, Bell jumped forward and raised both of his Knives, ready to attack the dwarf the moment his axes would get stuck in the pillar.
But...
A hail of stone fragments hit Bell, as the dwarf simply smashed the pillar with his axes.
"Ah!" He threw his arms over his face.
"Ha!"
In the moment Bell couldn´t see anything, the dwarf let go of his right axe and punched Bell right into the stomach.
"Uff!" Bell folded forward.
When his arms came down...the iron fist of the dwarf hit Bell´s chin and threw him on his back, all air left his lungs. He couldn´t do anything else than lying there and gasping for air.
Move move move!
Bell was sure his opponent would attack again...but he didn´t.
The dwarf just waited with both weapons in hand until Bell got his breath under control and got back to his feet.
"No fun in hitting yer on ground, ya know?"
So it wasn´t because the dwarfs honor forbid him to attack Bell or something like that, he just didn´t want his fun to end so quickly.
This is going to be hard...
Bell narrowed his eyes and cowered down, preparing to attack. The dwarf took a wide stand just as Bell jumped forward. He slashed with Hakugen after the dwarfs chest, while thrusting the Hestia Knife forward from the side, the dwarf blocked Hakugen with his right axe and hacked after Bell´s other arm. Quickly, Bell pulled his arm down, reversed his grip on the handle and thrusted upwards to stab the dwarfs arm. The dwarf pushed Bell´s left arm away and tried to headbutt him in the chest. This time Bell was prepared, danced to the side and tried to get into the dwarfs back.
"No yer don´t!"
The dwarf jumped forward, turning himself on one foot as he touched the ground again and swung one axe over his head after Bell, who followed him. Since he had no other choice, Bell crossed his knives and took the downward blow. The sheer strength of that swing brought Bell down to one knee. When he saw the second axe coming, Bell used the force of the other axe to push himself backwards. Immediately kicking the ground and attacking the dwarf again, to give him no time to regain his balance. His arms were still crossed so Bell was able to slash his chest and and shoulder, before jumping behind the dwarf and slashing his back crosswise, before the dwarf could whirl around.
This dance of attack and counter attack continued for the next ten minutes with enormous speed. Normally they could fight over a long time du to their level, but a fight this intensiv was something else than the dungeon.
In the dungeon they got a tiny moment after defeating a monster, but not here.
"Huff...Huff.." Bell blinked sweat out of his eyes.
"This is fun." His opponent grinned like a maniac.
The good thing was that Bell got used to his opponents movements. The dwarf was slower than Bell, but his stamina and strength were far beyond Bell´s.
The crowd cheered and roared by this intense fight.
This might work.
Bell dashed onto the dwarf again, holding both knives with the blade down in his raised fists, he attempted to stab him from above and when the dwarf raised his axe, Bell threw himself down under the axes and jumped upwards again to-
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When he came up...the dwarfs left fist rammed Bell´s face with the force of a siege ram.
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With a painful scream Bell was thrown backwards and rolled over the ground, holding his bleeding nose. Even the magic field couldn´t prevent this.
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In her waiting room Ryuu grimaced.
That must have hurt...my poor Bell..
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"Ooooooh, that looked like it hurt...a lot!"
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Again Bell´s opponent waited until he got back on his feet, blood running over his mouth and chin.
"Havin´ enough?"
"Never!"
My Familia and Ryuu are watching...I will not lose!
"That´s how I like it!"
Bell looked more like a bloodthirsty rabbit than ever before as he jumped onto the dwarf with a bloody face.
I can´t lose! I have to win!
He didn´t try to take the dwarf head on, this way he would lose. So Bell did his best and ducked down, jumped to the side and used every trick he knew to make the dwarf miss and attacked him again and again.
"Stand still dammit!" The dwarf sounded frustrated.
Huff...Huff...Huff..
It was a long time since Bell felt this tired...and he still had the finale before him if he would win. But the dwarf showed no sign of getting tired.
Their fight continued...at some point Bell lost Hakugen from his grip, he used his fist instead.
The next he noticed was that the dwarf lost one of his axes. He was so focused on the fight, that he lost himself in action and reaction, no long thoughts were in his mind anymore.
Only to win.
A fleeting thought flickered through his mind.
Hestia Knife?
He only used his fists...as did the dwarf, somehow his knife was gone. Both had lost their weapons in the fight and just used their fists to beat each other. It felt like Bell was punched by Asterios when one of the big fists hit him, due to his clothes he couldn´t see it but Bell´s body was covered in bruises, his armor plates that were made from lower quality adamantium...dented..
"Ha...ha...ha..." Bell gasped, he had no feeling left in his right hand.
"Huff...Huff...Huff..." The dwarf didn´t look any better.
The blood rushed in their ears, they couldn´t even hear the commentator.
Beat him down...I will win this new sword for Ryuu!
Bell jumped to the dwarf, faked a punch to his chest, instead he punched him onto the nose, the dwarf countered with a headbut against Bell´s face.
"Ah!" Bell caught himself while he staggered back and gave the dwarf a headbut in return.
"Rah!"
Slowly...Bell felt his consciousness fading.
How long...can I still stand...
His head snapped back as he took another punch, but Bell didn´t staggered and punched the dwarf.
With raised fists he stood there panting.
Then the dwarf started to laugh as he took two steps back.
"Ahahahah! Yer amazin´ lad. Thats the best fight I had in a long time, ya know?"
"Ha...ha...ha.." Bell swayed where he stood.
"Ya know what? Yer win. I had ´nough fun t´day. And I don´t like fighting elves...they´re just weasely, ya know?"
"Eh...what?"
"Ahahaha! I love it! So into the fight, yer a good on´ boy."
Slowly it went into Bells mind.
"You...give up?"
"I don´t care bout winnin´ just want ta have fun, ya know?"
He walked over to Bell and held his hand to him.
"Was quite the fun."
They cupped each other's wrists in their hands.
"It was quite a beating.." Bell was exhausted.
The dwarf had a wide grin on his face...but then...
Bell was pulled forward and the dwarf hugged him with still locked arms.
"Wahahaha that was a big fun!"
He patted Bell on the back.
This fight was an intensive experience for Bell, to not be able to use magic..having an opponent who could take sheer endless damage...
But the experience he could have done without it...was hugging a nearly naked, sweating dwarf...
"Aaaaaaaand Rabbit Foot wins!"
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Authors note: Hey there everyone, I was really really happy for your reviews, especially for the really long ones. For now we had one long and one short written fight for Bell and a short written for Ryuu, next one will be Ryuu vs Alpha, a pretty long fight, but not only fighting will come in the chapter, cause it is boring only to read about kicks and punches right?
Edit: I forgot a tiny part at the end.