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Energy Eater - Chapter 137 - Brute VS Brute
🕑 Added 2025-06-26 22:24:35 +0000 UTCBefore Astrid stepped into the arena, Rex pulled everybody aside and gave a brief explanation on how we were supposed to introduce ourselves. He had just realized that everybody would need to know the proper way to start the fight. It was quite simple, and I ended up focusing more on the fact that they had this type of culture than the explanation itself.
Luckily, the System was able to catch everything that he was explaining and gave me a quick rundown of the things once it realized that I didn't really listen to it. It even promised to give me a quick script of what I was supposed to say to assist with the engagement. But that wasn't something for me to worry about right now.
Astrid stepped towards the arena, not going inside just yet, and spoke up. "Astrid, strong brute, offers challenge."
This was how we were supposed to say it when we were simply challenging anyone who was willing to take it. In this case, we didn't have to worry about random people joining since this was already something everybody had agreed with. But since she didn't know the names of our opponents, she had to give this more blanket statement.
"Minar, strong brute, accepts Astrid's, strong brute, challenge."
The Rodenti who stepped forward was the one with the stone cleaver in hand. He was larger than the rest, being about my height, which meant he was still a bit smaller than Astrid. But he was massive. Aside from the Huskcarver, there was no one in the area who was even close to being as muscular as that one Rodenti. He was wearing a set of heavy leather armor with some stone studs or some sort of mineral tied and woven with the cloth itself. It was hard to put my finger on what he looked like, but after a moment I realized this was a caveman knight. And that was the best way I could describe it.
The two of them nodded to each other, agreeing with the challenge. They jumped down into the arena. I could tell that the Rodenti was someone who was also focusing on their body attributes. And again, this didn't look like a secret to anyone. Just like it happened with the first fight, the moment their bodies impacted heavily in the ground of the arena, the fight already started.
Astrid launched at the Rodenti, waving her axe in a single {Frost Chop}. I was a bit worried that she went for the kill right away. But the opponent was fast enough to move and dodge the attack. In response, the Rodenti waved his cleaver, which he was holding with one hand, aiming at her head.
Despite the mentions of not trying to kill each other, this very much looked like a fight to the death. Part of me wanted to jump in and stop it since they were being so aggressive. But according to Rex, once the fight started, no one had the right to interfere, no matter what. If someone did, the entire team would have conceded the match to the other side. And that wasn't something we wanted to happen right now.
Astrid blocked the blow using her own weapon, the Frosted Axe slamming against the stone cleaver, and punched Minar in his face. It caused the Rodenti to stumble back while giving her a chance to attack once more. This time it didn't seem there was a skill behind her blow, just the pure strength that came from her body.
Minar saw the attack incoming and ducked under it, kicking at her leg in hopes of making her stumble. But the Huskcarver was solid. A simple kick wasn't enough to bring her down. She swung her axe once more, this time using {Frost Chop} again, but Minar reached to the ground with one hand and created a small shield made of stones. Now there was a block of dirt missing from the floor underneath them.
The attack was slowed down by the sudden appearance of a shield, but it didn't stop. It continued to break through the dirt and reach the Rodenti underneath, who was forced to block it with his forearm. There was a layer of frost being created on the wounded limb, but Minar quickly jumped away and shook it off, letting his arm return to a more usable state.
He glanced at his fresh wound and then at Astrid, giving her a solemn nod of recognition. The Frosted Lumberjack took that as a compliment and, instead of pushing forward, she held back, giving the Rodenti a chance to come and attack.
There were some boos coming from the crowd, especially from Rixnala's side. But some of the more seasoned warriors were nodding with appreciation.
Minar started running towards Astrid, scraping his cleaver on the ground, making it grow as the rocks from underneath them started to attach to his stone weapon. By the time he reached Astrid, the cleaver had turned into a long sword that he was now holding with both hands.
Still, the Huskcarver didn't give in. She stayed there, activating her {Huskforged Armor} to block the attack. A carapace of ice formed around her body, giving her a look that mixed actual armor with the exoskeleton of a spider. Astrid used her left arm to protect herself, putting the axe behind it just in case the strike was enough to pierce the barrier. And that was a very risky move since if the attack was too powerful, it could seriously hurt her arm if not cause it to be completely removed. But since she was trusting her skill that much, I had to trust her. Not to mention that if anyone was aware of the strength of her opponent right now, it would be the Huskcarver.
The sword slammed against the frosted carapace created by Astrid and stopped after a few millimeters. It wasn't even able to break through the entirety of the outer layer of the armor. But the now two-handed stone sword was capable of at least cracking parts of Astrid's defenses.
There was a moment where both of them just stopped and stared at each other in that position. Minar trying to push down his weapon even more and Astrid just holding on with a single arm against it. Until the Huskcarver snapped her arm open and swatted away the stone sword, causing it to fly out of the arena and into the crowd.
Luckily, everybody was quick enough to get out of the way, so no one was injured, but there were various gasps coming from those around the arena.
Astrid took a few steps back and waited, likely expecting for Minar to go grab his weapon. But instead, the Rodenti brute simply put his arms up as if he was going to fight bare-handed.
Astrid paused and said, "You can pick up."
But Minar shook his head. "Out of arena. Can't leave or lose. Can't ask help or lose. Don't need weapon to continue."
Astrid paused for a moment and nodded. She raised one hand and said, "Wait," before turning around and showing her back to him while she approached us. Once she reached the edge of the arena, the Huskcarver raised her axe and asked, "Hold, please."
I picked the axe up and took a few steps back before Astrid turned back to Minar and said, "We continue?"
The Rodenti gave her a smile and a nod, and the two brutes started running at each other with their hands to the side. The way they were attacking was very similar. They were not boxing or anything of the sort. It was more like wrestling positions, or how you would expect that a wild man would fight.
Minar first tried to swipe at Astrid's arms, but she was able to avoid most of the attacks. And the ones that she didn't were blocked by the armor that was still active around her. The benefits of using it didn't completely vanish after she gave up the axe like I was expecting. But I couldn't remember if that was a skill that only worked with the axe or not.
They exchanged a few more blows with punching and slapping, the Rodenti swaying away from her. It was somewhat similar to sumo wrestlers as her open palms slammed on her opponent. Minar stepped back and launched at her again, this time with both claws out, but Astrid ducked under him, grabbing the man by his legs and lifting him over her shoulders before dropping him back into the ground in a move that was very similar to wrestling from the old world.
There were loud cheers when that happened and even some gasps of pain from the crowd once they saw how heavy the impact was as the Rodenti crashed into the ground. Both of them quickly tumbled in opposite directions and got to their feet, ready to continue the fight.
Astrid rushed at Minar, doing a similar move and grabbing him by the waist. But this time she didn't stop once she had a hold on the Rodenti. She kept pressing on, pushing him into the wall until she slammed him against the edge of the arena.
Minar tried to claw at Astrid's back and even used both hands to slam her, but the Huskcarver was relentless. Once he was pinned on this part of the arena, being forced to prop himself up otherwise he would fall out of the ring, she started to punch him over and over on the head, on the sides of his body, and blocked any attempts at him to claw at her.
They continued that brawl for a couple moments before Minar put both hands back, holding on to the arena, and yelled, "Stop. I give." And once he was freed, the man collapsed into the ground, his tail still pressed against the wall of the arena. He was feeling dizzy and struggling to get back up.
Astrid took two deep breaths before reaching down for him and helping Minar get up before both of them left the arena with the Huskcarver victorious.
The crowd exploded in cheers, not just from the intensity of the fight but also from the sportsmanship shown by both of them. Astrid didn't have to get rid of her weapon, neither did she have to let Minar use his bigger skill. And Minar could have attacked Astrid when she had her back turned to him. There was no rule about that, and Rex confirmed that it would still be an honorable win if he had done something. Yet the two of them fought to their best and showed their strength.
But I couldn't help but feel some pride, as Astrid was clearly the superior fighter. She didn't just win the battle. She overpowered Minar completely. When she had the advantage, she allowed herself to go down to his level and stopped the Rodenti. It was hard not to have a huge smile on my face as my first companion climbed out of the arena, the blood from her arms and back still there but the wounds already healing thanks to the {Body Regeneration} that I gave her.
I raised one hand, and we did a high five before Astrid quietly stepped behind us and didn't say anything. She just stood there without gloating, without celebrating, as if this was nothing but a Wednesday.
"That was bad ass," Michael gasped.
"It really was. You are awesome," Riley opened a big smile.
Astrid smiled back but returned to a neutral expression, not wanting to show that she was that excited about this.
Rixnala scowled and gave Minar a few slaps before turning to the group again. "Fine. One, one. Not over. Still two fights." She turned to the Rodenti with a longer coat. "Go, now."
"Vrika, mage, earth. Challenges Riley, mage."
Without missing a beat, Riley stepped forward. "Riley, mage, silk, accepts the challenge from Vrika, mage, earth."
