Screaming with fury, the Grizzly raised the ax and brought it down like a heavy hammer. The sand flies in all directions as if something exploded in the center of the arena. He knew he hadn’t hit her, but he thought that would scare Navia a bit. He flinched and let out a surprised groan at the words, “That’s all?” As the sand cloud fell down, Grizzly could see Navia standing right in front of him, an inch away from where the ax had fallen.
“You…” Just as the man was about to raise his axe, Navia kicked the wooden handle and broke it, leaving only a stick in the man’s hands. The Grizzly clenched the wooden handle in his hand, breaking it further and leaving only splinters. His eye was twitching out of anger as he watched Navia, unhinged by his show of power.
Before he could do anything else, a fist sunk deep into his fat stomach and pushed him three feet away. The man let out a cough, surprised by the attack. Both of them expected something different.
“I thought I would do more damage…” Navia shook her hand as she felt the impact with full force. “I didn’t try to kill him, but still…”
Grizzly had a different reaction. “That was her strength?! Such a small woman, and I lost my breath after one punch?!” He understood that he had underestimated his opponent.
The crowd cheered at the exciting show that Navia gave them. To disgrace a renown fighter of the arena barely a few seconds into the fight. Surprising the whole crowd even more, especially those who didn’t see her fight from yesterday and came to confirm the rumors that were already spreading through the red district.
Navia took a wide battle stance with her legs spread wide, her right side toward her opponent. “If I want to be able to face Godan. I need to get stronger…” Navia thought with a bit of annoyance as she didn’t know how tall of a wall Godan would be. She waved her hand, giving Grizzly a sign to attack her.
The man roared like a beast as he ran forward. With each step he took, he lifted the sand off the ground. The man threw a wide hook that Navia avoided with ease, but trying not to move too far, leaving a space of few inches between her and his attacks. The man continued moving forward and throwing hooks while screaming on top of his lungs.
Seeing as his attacks couldn’t land, he extended both of his arms to the sides and tried to grab Navia. Earlier, she could easily avoid the attacks, but now, she was near the wall without any route of escape. Compared to his punches, this was much different. That was his style of fighting, crushing his opponents with his strength and weight like a boulder.
The crowd awaited the outcome as they couldn’t see Navia, hidden behind the obese man. Grizzly stood there, not moving at all. People heard nothing, no screams of pain or struggle.
“Surprised?” Grunted Navia as she stopped the man from grabbing her by grabbing his wrists. They were at a stalemate, their strengths almost evenly matched, but Navia was slowly pushed back. Which she didn’t view as a problem since she was able to stop his grapple attack.
The man didn’t answer as he was focused on overpowering Navia and achieving his victory. His arms were getting closer to wrapping around Navia and crushing her. Suddenly, Navia stopped resisting and ducked down, sliding beneath his legs. Grizzly lost his balance, and Navia helped him by kicking him in the back. The sound of vibrating metal echoed through the pit as the man hit the iron bar with his head.
Navia moved back to the center of the arena with a few jumps, waiting for Grizzly to recover. “I don’t know how many strong fighters there are and when Godan will choose to fight me. I need to practice more. I need to get stronger. Especially with monsters like that out there….”
The man turned around with a wound at the base of his horn, blood running down onto his nose and left eye. “I’ve got enough!” He shouted as he lowered his stance and put his head in front, his horn pointed toward Navia. He charged toward her like a rhino. Once he saw her feet, he quickly straightened up his horn, which only grazed Navia’s hair. He quickly followed with a wide hook thrown out of anger and annoyance. Seeing as it didn’t land, he threw lighter but quicker hooks.
As he threw his punches, he wiggled to the sides, almost moving in circles as Navia tried to back away, not trying to corner her like the last time. As he backed his arm to throw another hook, Navia punched him in the stomach yet again. He let out a grunt but continued attacking.
“That punch felt… Harder…” Thought Navia as she avoided another hook. Feeling her fist as if she punched a tree.
Grizzly was getting sweatier as the fight continued. His punches didn’t connect, but his sweat was splashed on Navia. Because of that, she barely noticed the changes that happened to her opponent. Part of his fat got burned, and his refined muscles became more visible. Looking almost like a bodybuilder. His attacks got much faster, making them harder to avoid.
“Is that what Oni are capable of?” Thought Navia as she tried her best to avoid the flurry of punches coming her way. She let out a surprised gasp as she didn’t react in time for one of them. She had to raise her left hand to block the hook to not get hit in the head and possibly get knocked down with that one punch.
The huffing and puffing of both fighters was broken by a high-pitched scream coming from Navia. A bone sticking out of her forearm, broken by a hook attack from Grizzly.
“That’s what you get for being cocky.” Grizzly mocked Navia after breaking her bones with just one punch. He waited for her to beg him to stop the match, to surrender, or even pass out because of the unbearable pain.
Navia was on her knees, sobbing as tears moistened the sand beneath her. Both of her arms were shaking. She moved her right arm as if she wanted to press the arm and ease the pain, but it wouldn’t work.
“Just surrender.” The man said as he waited for her to say something, but once he took a closer look, he was surprised by the black blood. “What are you…” He whispered with concern, not able to identify her race.
“I didn’t want to show it yet… But I have to… If I want to escape, I have to get stronger… I need to save her.” Touching the bone with her hand, she let out a scream as she pushed it back into her arm. Her scream echoed through the whole pit, through everyone’s ear. Shivers run down the spines of everyone in the pit. Putting the bone back in its place was much more painful than it getting broken.
Grizzly observed the woman with concern and disbelief. He couldn’t imagine himself doing the same thing. It was a bit of a horrifying view for him that he looked away for a second.
“She gots some guts…” Whispered amazed Godan as he observed Navia closely and looked at his own forearm. Wondering if he would be capable of doing the same thing. What happened next surprised even Godan himself.
The blood wrapped around her hand to the elbow and hardened into a gauntlet that held her bone in place. That made Grizzly wary, taking a step back and raising his fists, ready to continue the fight.
“No… I need something else to fight him. I’ll lose in a fistfight. My punches don’t do much damage…” Part of the blood armor on her forearm turned slowly into a dagger placed in her hand, leaving support beams for her broken bones. She kneeled for the kitchen knife buried in the sand right beside her.
Grizzly quickly looked around for any weapon he could use to fight. The first thing he saw and grabbed was a worn pickaxe. Once he picked it up, he saw Navia standing right in front of him, the kitchen knife cutting his stomach, leaving a shallow and bleeding wound. He ignored the stinging pain and brought the pickaxe down at Navia. She didn’t expect that a kitchen knife would be blunt and barely injure the man. As she tried to jump away, the pickaxe went into her foot, pinning her to the place.
Her scream was quieter and less horrifying than earlier, but it scared some of the crowd. They haven’t seen such a thrilling duel in a long time, making them forget about blinking or even breathing. They all were on the edge of their seats.
Navia breathed heavily as the pain surged into her brain from her broken arm and now broken foot. She felt the wind gently touching her ear and saying, “Survive… Survive at all cost.”
Godan was quick to notice a change in Navia’s behavior. It was as if she had forgotten about the pain and her own injuries, quickly calming down. “So she intervened? You must like her a lot…”
Grizzly was sure of his victory now that Navia was heavily injured. He was about to lift his pickaxe and deal another heavy blow, but as he tried to move his weapon, he couldn’t even budge it. The blood on Navia’s foot turned into an armored boot that held the pickaxe in place. As the idea of abandoning the weapon crossed Grizzly’s mind, he felt a rush of pain. A kitchen knife stuck in his wrist, his right hand loosened, and he could no longer move it as the muscles responsible for them were cut. Blood sporadically pumped out through a cut vein.
His eyes moved toward Navia, but she was no longer there. The handle of his pickaxe was cleanly cut off, and the iron tool laid on the ground. Next, he felt a sting in his left thigh. As he turned around, he saw no one but a hole left by a knife in his leg. He quickly turned around and swung his left fist to hit Navia with the back of it. As he turned around, his eyes went wide. Navia no longer had her armored shoe, and her dagger grew bigger, almost looking like a cleaver, and he swung his arm right at the blade. The dark blade cut his outer forearm bone and stopped as it scratched the other one. Before he could even scream or let out a painful grunt, Navia pressed the cleaver down, heavily damaging the remaining bone.
As the dark blade hit the ground, the bone began to crack, and his whole arm was hanging from a few remaining muscles and skin. The man heavily trembled and breathed before he even let out his first scream. With both of his arms down, Grizzly was defenseless. He watched in terror as the cleaver turned into a short sword that Navia swung upwards, skewering the man’s head from the chin to his forehead and breaking off the grey horn. The lifeless body fell down with a loud thud, followed by silence.
The first to speak was the old man, laughing at the man who bet on the Grizzly. “Hahaha! Told ya!” The elder laughed as he stood up and pointed his finger at the embarrassed young man.
Navia didn’t even hear that as she only heard a screech inside her ears, her vision becoming blurry. She took a few steps back like she was drunk, barely standing on her feet. After Grizzly, she was next to fall to the ground.
“That was one hell of a show…” Godan was the first to clasp his hands, and the crowd joined him, shouting the title “Lioness!” repeatedly.