Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 104: Book 2: Chapter 21: Asura’s Bloodwrath

Read chapter 104 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Book 2: Chapter 21: Asura’s Bloodwrath Book 2: Chapter 21: Asura’s Bloodwrath It was the twenty-fourth day that things really had a change. On the edge of the day’s sun, with dust curling through the air like spirit smoke, Alex stepped into the open training circle and faced down a Terraxum soldier built like a stone wall. The man bore glyphs across his collarbone, arms and legs and a jagged scar across his left brow. His name was Korran, and his boots looked like they’d kicked down doors in every province of the kingdom. It was luck that he managed to get invited into the ring. During camp at the end of the day, the soldier always built up a large ring to train in. Alex and the other Worldstriders were relegated to an area a short ways off. He and his fellow earth-born soldiers would train among themselves. Fist to fist, no weapons, no spells, not with the bracers still active. Meanwhile, the Terraxum soldiers had their own training. Theirs, too, was without weapons and spells, as their training ring bouts seemed to have rules. Strength against strength, skill against skill, technique against technique, that was all. The last bits of sunlight was dimming down when the Terraxum ring quieted and became tense. He couldn’t quite make out what was going on, but Alex assumed there was an argument of some kind happening. He began to move closer, hoping to catch a glimpse, or hear a snippet of the activity. No one spared him even a first glance and he slowly moved his was, step and by step toward the now large ring of soldiers gathered around. “No one, no one at all? Pansies. I’ll take you off night watch rotation for the rest of the way to the capital.” The voice carried over the crowd. Deep and mocking. “Eh, no takers? That’s what I thought.” The man pushed through the crowd, letting Alex see him for the first time. His tattoos stood out immediately, scroll-work covering each limb and part of his upper torso. They were exactly what he needed to study. The Terraxum man was nearly through the crowd when Alex finally found the courage to speak up over them all. “I’ll do it.” Silence yawned and heads turned toward him. In his trousers, pants and woven sandals, his hands tied, and bracer’s pulsing sporadically with the faintest of light; he looked almost pitiful. A few chuckles began to travel among the soldiers that could see him. Others began to whisper, asking questions. “You?” “Sure, why not?” he shrugged, the bracer clinking from the movement. “I can’t exactly be taken off of guard duty… but if I win, maybe you can add something to my rations for now on?” The others laughed, one soldier slapped him on the back. He just smiled confidently. And now, there he was, standing alone in the ring across from the man. His hands were freed of the rope and bracers for the fight. The rules still said no spells, but Martial Styles were allowed, he made sure to ask about that. "Just a bout," Korran said. "First to yield or knockout. Nothing fancy." "Sure," Alex said, cracking his knuckles. “No bloodshed. Promise.” “Bloodshed is fine boy, we just try not to go too far with it,” Seargant Korran, as Alex had learned as his bracer’s were being removed, smirked at him and popped his knuckles. His tattoos rippled along with his muscles, and he watched that intensely. The man starred back at him, probably getting the wrong idea about Alex’s apt attention. “You got this Alex!” Garret hollered from the edge of the ring. There rest of his team was there, having learned what was going on and coming to watch. He simply shot Garret a thumbs up and grinned. His eyes never left Korran though, the green-ish glyphs on his skin was the only thing he cared about for the moment. A lieutenant stepped forward just within eyesight of both men. “You ready?” They nodded to the watching officer, circled once, then moved. Alex came in fast, feet light, fists whipping out like a viper. He feinted left, shot in low, and moved through the stances of the Demon Asura to angle u