His breathing had sped up long ago, and he couldn’t feel most of his right arm anymore. Her strength and endurance in actual combat were much greater than what he anticipated. So, he changed his plans. Now, all he hoped from was to endure the rest of the third round and then go all out in the fourth.

The referee shouted and started the fight once more.

Aleister groaned as he walked back to the center. One minute, more like one second.

His attack hadn’t even affected Brilnia. “Where did all of your strength from the arm wrestling match go? How have you gotten weaker since then?”

There she goes again. She continued to barrage him with an endless amount of insults as she attacked. Aleister couldn’t deny that they had pissed him off, but he held back that anger. Just one more round.

He continued to repeat that phrase in his head. And then, before he knew it, the round ended. He let out a deep sigh of relief. He walked back. The sweat and dirt that drenched his hair fled as he shook his head. But before he even got the chance to catch his breath, the next round began.

Well, here goes nothing. Even though he had been on the defense this entire fight, he used that time to study her attack patterns.

She began her assault exactly like he anticipated. Brilnia charged in and attacked with a vertical flurry. First from below, then above. Aleister took a step to his right. Next, she should—yup. She swung her axe in a horizontal before bringing it down.

He purposefully moved right every time she launched this combo of attacks. Just like how she attacked in a pattern, he defended in a pattern. Part of this was his instinct, but he was still cognizant of his own actions.

With this knowledge, he watched the axe fall down towards him and sidestepped to his left. Just like he planned, his action startled her. She tried to change the direction of her axe, but momentum was a powerful force.

Aleister capitalized on this opportunity and swept his spear up. The blade of his spear scratched against her nose as she stepped back. A droplet of blood spattered across the floor.

The crowd went dead silent for a split second before erupting in a violent explosion of noise.

She grinned at him and through a light chortle said, “Now yer getting somewhere.”

“I try.”

Brilnia lurched her axe at him. He simply avoided the attack and lunged with his spear. This exchange of attacks continued for what felt like an eternity.

Aleister dryly wheezed and coughed up mucus from his lungs as soon as the minute long break started. Weaving in attacks while continuing to defend knocked the wind straight out of him. This didn’t even include the physical fatigue of his arms and legs. But at last, he made it to the fourth round. He now gained a better sense of the flow of battle and prepared a series of counterattacks. Would it end up with his victory? Probably not, but he still had to make the attempt.

The next round started.

They once again exchanged a series of blows. For the most part he avoided repeating the same tactics, but threw a few in there for good measure.

The time finally arrived.

With one hand, Brilnia hewed her axe upwards like an uppercut. Aleister stepped back, as per usual. Then she struck her axe down with both hands. He would now normally retaliate by attacking with his spear. His action would then cause her to block the tip against the axe’s blade. However, instead of committing to this action, he feinted it. This was good enough for her to bring her axe up to block her body.

Aleister saw a look of displeasure in her eyes as he ducked forward. Clearly she hadn’t expected his actions, which only made him smirk. The butt of his spear swept at her legs. There were a number of options she could choose from here, but there was one he hoped for the most. And that was for her to—

She jumped.

Perfect!

As her feet left the ground, Aleister didn’t continue to push his spear all the way. Instead, he stopped it halfway. And brought it up a few levels to her inner thigh. At this height, he flicked across and, with all of his strength, pushed. Brilnia tumbled onto the floor. Knocked prone.

Aleister flipped his spear and brought his spear’s blade down. However, Brilnia recovered much faster than he could expect. She had already taken several steps back. Her face shriveled as she stared at him with a crooked look of ire. She jumped at him. Something had changed, but Aleister didn’t know what.

She swept her axe, but as Aleister blocked it, the attack’s force actually pushed him back. Now his left arm had gone numb. But Brilnia continued her assault. With each and every attack, she grew bigger and bigger. Not in a physical sense, but instead in her overall presence, took over his entire field of view.

Aleister didn’t have time to think as her axe crashed down in the next instant. He blocked with the spear’s shaft. Or hoped too. Instead, the impact ripped it asunder.

“I surrender.”

Brilnia halted her movement, but the axe continued its trajectory and cracked the ground.