"165...166...167..."
Sweat slid down along the curve of the cheek, gathering at the chin, forming a crystal-clear drop, then falling onto the collarbone.
Lucina bent her legs, grasping the stone handle with her arms, trying her best to push her chest up.
Pull-ups are a high-difficulty calisthenics exercise that can enhance the coordination, strength, and endurance of your chest and upper body muscles.
A strong body allows a person to travel freely to any place, but most people abandon their bodies with infinite potential, letting alcohol and tobacco corrode their organs, eating too much fried food or staying up late, making themselves weak and overweight...
Another 6 cycles passed...
Lucina had been here for a long ti, she was very worried about Chen Ke and the others, not knowing the situation in Asgard, but she was sure Chen Ke was definitely looking for her.
She took the alias Amara and made a group of friends under this stone do; they were all Asgardians. Odin once waged wars across the Nine Realms, and when Asgard’s army left, many warriors were left behind.
Eivor was one of them. This group initially had thousands, now there were barely over a hundred left.
But Eivor never gave up seeking a chance to return to Asgard, they were constantly searching for an opportunity.
"Sister!" Eivor ca over to Lucina carrying a large hamr.
Lucina let go of the stone handle, jumped down, wiped the sweat from her neck and forehead. The ti for her first appearance in the arena was drawing closer and closer.
Eivor understood the language of the Gray n; he heard them talking about the sturdy girl who would face her first battle, and the Gray n couldn’t wait to see her crushed to death by the body-wrapping stone python.
"So, my opponent is a stone python?" Lucina asked.
"Not very strong, but also not weak. Hit it on the head once, with your strength, it’s enough to shatter its skull." Eivor lowered the hamr on his shoulder to the ground and then tilted the long handle towards Lucina.
It was a long hamr, the head black, appearing to be made of so special rock. The wooden handle felt nice in the grip, a very fine weapon.
Lucina lifted it with little effort, gripping it tightly with both hands, feeling its weight.
"How big is that thing?" Lucina inquired.
"Very big, but don’t let it scare you, sister. It’s about as long as six carriages strung together, but it’s not as fast as a real snake. You’ll have plenty of ti to evade its moves," Eivor laughed.
"That sounds quite simple." Lucina comnted.
"I’ll give you a tip, always stay in front of it, wait for it to make the first move, it’s slow; when the head cos over, strike it once with all your strength, sure to shatter it," Eivor advised.
"Got it, stand in front, hit the snake’s head," Lucina smiled.
"But rember, sister, don’t let it wrap around you, don’t stand in the circle ford by its body. It’s not formidable, but it has killed many of my people. It will try to encircle you, then tighten its body, crushing your muscles and ribs, before snapping off your head," Eivor warned.
"Understood, I won’t die here, absolutely not," Lucina laughed.
"Seeing you so confident is wonderful. You must have berserker blood flowing in you," said Eivor.
"When will I be on stage?" Lucina asked again.
"It depends on them; I guess after the next awakening, you’ll be on," Eivor replied.
Lucina nodded, deceiving Eivor into thinking that she was also an Asgardian, but revealing nothing more. Eivor didn’t ask further, they both understood, keeping so reservations.
Upon waking again, a Gray Man stood at the door of the stone chamber; Lucina knew it was her ti to go on stage. She climbed up, marked another notch on the wall with a broken stone, then followed the Gray Man out of the passage.
In the stone chamber used for training, many were still busy with their workouts. Seeing Lucina co out, they all stopped what they were doing and looked at Lucina.
Eivor stood at the door, holding that long hamr. When the Gray Man and Lucina arrived, he handed the hamr to her, reminding, "Aim for the head."
Lucina lifted the hamr, nodding towards Eivor, and then was pushed into another passageway by the Gray n.
Sweltering hot air blew from ahead. Climbing the steps upward, she arrived in another stone chamber, the preparation hall, with two rows of stone benches, so gear tossed in the corners. She already had a weapon, so there was no need to choose more.
The Gray Man released the iron chains from Lucina’s hands and feet, giving her a push.
At the end of the hall was an arched doorway to the arena, outside glowing red, heat waves blowing, flickering red firelight, waves of shouts and noise pouring in from outside.
Lucina carried the hamr out through the arched doorway; it was a large circular plaza, the ground covered with blood-stained sand, the entire arena about half the size of a football field.
And around the field sat rows of spectators, all Gray n, naked upon a glance, showing no sign of class distinction.
Seeing Lucina erge, thousands of Gray n roared loudly, as if booing, waves of negativity and mockery crashing against Lucina with trendous montum, but she wasn’t scared.
Lucina gripped the hamr handle with both hands, staring intently at the opposite arched doorway. These Gray n wanted to see her bleeding, but she wouldn’t let them succeed. She would survive, then find a way to leave this godforsaken place.
"Stop wasting ti!!! Get out here! Rocky baby!" Lucina shouted at the doorway.
Suddenly, a pair of red eyes appeared at the doorway, accompanied by the sound of rocks slithering and hissing. After a while, a huge flat triangular rock head erged from the darkness.
This stone head was as big as two of her, with a body composed of linked segnts of blocky rocks, looking no different from the Big Rock Snake in Pokémon, just without the horn on its head.
"Damn... it’s so damn big..." Lucina took a deep breath, her whole body tensing with nerves, adrenaline reaching its peak.
The stone python slid out of the doorway slowly. It had no forked tongue but still hissed, its red eyes swirling around, keenly observing Lucina.
Lucina glanced at its body as it slowly slid out from the doorway, coiling into a massive pile, like a stone mountain, each segnt riddled with bumpy, rugged, and sharp protuberances.
She definitely didn’t want such a stony body wrapped around her, even if it didn’t strangle, one would still be crushed by those scattered stone bumps.
"Hit the head... hit the head..." Lucina muttered, gripping the hamr tightly, slightly moving her footing to align herself directly with the stone python’s head.
"Co on, co on, bite !" Lucina raised the hamr and shouted at the stone python, trying to provoke its attack.
The next instant, the stone python lunged its head like lightning, biting onto the hamr held by Lucina, snapping it with a crunch, Lucina’s hands jolted, feeling the stick beco much lighter.
The stone python bit off the hamrhead, tasted it, then spat it out. The black hamrhead fell to the ground, and the audience erupted in laughter.
Lucina looked at the stick in her hand, cursing internally.
"Eivor... you said this thing was slow..."
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