Stahl was furious! She looked to the judge in question and saw a look of contempt satisfaction upon the otter's face.
He had no intentions of making fair rulings here. He had no intentions of calling any points for either fighter. He was just here for the show, and most of the beastmen in the stadium wanted the same thing, to see the human broken, defeated, and humiliated. They were not left wanting for long.
Aster barely managed to backstep away from the humanoid dragon in time as his giant, clawed hand reached out to grasp at where he had just been.
Aster was beginning to understand his present circumstance when the dragon suddenly spun and used his large tail to sweep the human off his feet and onto the cold, compacted dirt of the ring.
Straga took the opportunity to grab hold of the boy's left arm and lifted him high into the air, bringing the anxious human eye level for just a moment while he leaned in and whispered into his ear.
Straga had a voice that chilled Aster to the very core.
"Do you know which bloodskill I inherited from my father, little human?"
Aster felt his heart seize as his mind raced to find the answer. He had studied the great houses of Alora... The Raxos family... Their bloodskill...
The boy's realization and the look of fear that flashed across his face afterwards brought upon a delightful, sadistic feeling of power to the monstrous beast before he softly whispered a single word to his captive with a toothy sneer, activating the bloodskill for the first time that Selection.
"Fracture."
Stahl shuddered when she heard the ghastly 'Pop,' sound of Aster's forearm snapping in two from the skill.
The piercing cry of agony that followed the injury, and the roaring applause that soon drowned out the human's own scream just made her feel incredibly uneasy.
The she-wolf felt sick. She felt angry. She felt helpless as she watched the brutal display continue, the rough treatment only intensifying alongside her emotions as it progressed.
It was all just so overwhelmingly... Brutal. Unnecessary. They didn't have to go this far... They just wanted to.
Aster writhed in place as his body was playfully dangled by the humanoid dragon's unyielding grip. He could feel the pressure of his own weight pulling the broken bones further apart, bringing new waves of intense pain shooting up his forearm.
A heavy sweat had begun forming on his brow and his back from the searing sensation, but he wasn't beaten yet.
The human focused every bit of strength left in him, curled his knees up to his chest, and kicked both of his legs with all the force he could muster directly into the dragon's snout, effectively freeing himself at the cost of more pain shooting down his arm from the impact.
He hit the ground with a hard thud, and instinctively used his good arm to cradle his injured appendage as the human struggled to his feet. He almost even managed to fully stand in time.
Straga was furious now. He looked back at the boy trying to regain his footing before him, leaned his head back, and stepped forward into the blow as he bashed his scaled brow down against Aster's own.
The maneuver brought stars, and a sharp pain darting through the boy's skull as the softer flesh on his forehead split beneath the great impact and his knees went weak.
Aster fell to his knees. Blood ran freely from the fresh gash over his eyes and filled Aster's view of the humanoid dragon with a scarlet tint. A view that now seemed quite befitting of the bloodthirsty beast.
Aster struggled to move backward in a daze. He managed two feet of distance before the dragon rammed its fist into the human's nose, breaking it as well on impact.
Even more blood flowed from these wounds before the dragon pulled his fist back again and thrust it roughly against the human's jaw, this time shattering a molar.
The human spit pieces of the broken tooth out, and noticed there was a lot of blood in it, too. His own teeth had badly shredded the inside of his mouth when the dragon punched him.
Aster was beginning to feel oddly fuzzy now, and it didn't feel like the hits he was taking were hurting as much anymore.
In truth, he was only just that disoriented and out of touch from the concussion the mighty head-butt had given him, that, and the state of shock his body was falling into.
The humanoid dragon punched him two more times in quick succession, lacquering his scaly fists with fresh human blood as Aster fell backward.
Aster was pretty well out of the fight. Who wouldn't be? Even through such abuse, he still desperately clung to his desire, his dreams, albeit only barely at this point.
He felt the dragon give him a bone-crushing kick in his midsection, bringing forth fresh wails from the boy as two ribs cracked beneath the pressure.
His body twisted as it was knocked further back from the blow, landing with him on his back, gasping to take a breath. He shakily managed to roll over with the use of his good arm and was immediately met with an unstoppable feeling of nausea as his breath returned to him.
Aster writhed up what little breakfast he had eaten that day, his broken ribs screamed in protest as the muscles contracted sharply around them, forcing the bile from his lips.
He dared a glance upwards, and saw the dragon approaching him again, his deranged smile had grown even larger now, and a glint of ecstasy shone brightly in his truly unhinged eyes as he slowly inched closer to the boy.
Aster's fear escalated to a point he had never known possible as the icy realization penetrated his mind with its chilling claws.
Straga stood over Aster for a moment, the large wings blocked the sun behind him while casting a chilly shadow down upon the broken human.
Aster realized then... This beast was here to kill him. This was the face of death. It was here for him, and it was still smiling.
***