Bringing the challenge

[skip-stop]

It seemed that the efforts of the Norwegian woman brought results. Stopping the onslaught of the other blonde, Astrid used her wild strength in combination with concentrated pressure on Aurora's joint. She again first equalized their positions, and then the veteran's hand began to go down, and this time quite rapidly.

It was obvious that Astrid had taken the matter seriously. Being an infinitely proud woman, she couldn't afford to lose to a veteran. She hated being underestimated. After she joined LAW, she heard one or another phrase at the level of "who are you at all?" or "go through the same number of matches as me first" every time before the start of the match.

Annoying. Insanely annoying. The Norwegian woman loved the passion that was awakened in her during a really hard challenge. But passion wasn't the only reason she was willing to take on any challenge. She knew what she was worth. And she wasn't shy about proving it to someone who disagreed with it. Therefore, she was determined to press Aurora's palm to the table.

But then the other blonde almost mirrored what Astrid had done a few moments ago. Placing her palm parallel to the table, she made a block, almost completely stopping the movement of her palm. Gritting her teeth, Astrid tried to increase the pressure, but Aurora's protection was very hard.

She didn't like to lose. That was a fact. But now everything was different. This time, she simply couldn't afford herself to lose. Not against the veteran. Therefore, barely restraining a growl, Astrid went all-in, putting all the available physical strength and her determination into the pressure.

It was hard to say how well it worked. But the Norwegian woman felt that if she could maintain such pressure for at least a few more seconds, Aurora's block would be broken. And the moment she thought about it, a whole string of events happened.

Suddenly, the other blonde's block disappeared. It might seem that Astrid managed to break the resistance of the veteran. However, something was wrong. Even when the block is broken, you continue to feel resistance. But Astrid didn't feel any resistance at all. All the pressure she was putting now seemed to be directed into the void. And even before her brain had fully processed this situation, she first felt a wild pain in her arm, and then heard a pop.

The outside of her palm was pressed against the table. There was silence for a few very long seconds. And then the audience around began to shout enthusiastically, welcoming Aurora as the winner. Astrid's gaze slowly dropped to her palm pressed against the table. She had never been in the habit of hiding her emotions. And now it was easy to guess that she wasn't ready to believe what had just happened. Had she just lost in a pure physical strength competition?

No. At the moment when she applied maximum pressure, Aurora removed any resistance for just a fraction of a second in order for Astrid to lose the pressure point. And when her momentum was directed into the void, she literally had no chance to resist the counterattack of the other blonde. It was a risk, because if Aurora had not had time to take advantage of this short moment, then her palm would have met Astrid's pressure again and in that case nothing would have saved her.

Slowly blinking, Astrid made an ironic hm sound, and then removed her palm from under Aurora's palm. Defeated by the veteran. In a way, Astrid felt cheated. But she also understood that this was not a competition in pure physical strength. Aurora took a risk and this risk paid off completely. It didn't give her any pleasure, but a warrior should be able to accept defeat. Her right arm ached as if after hours of training in the gym with an extremely heavy weight. And still...

"A worthy victory," she said, then turned her gaze to the bartender, "whiskey for the veteran and everyone present at my expense."

[Devastated]

Aurora wasn't usually the kind of woman who would go for such a gamble. She wasn't in the habit of playing things too risky but this time it seemed as if she needed to do so. Jumping on the first chance she saw to turn the contest around and bring Astrid's palm down. Her gamble worked as in an instant that hand of Astrid's met the table and the contest was over. The veteran would release a soft sigh at the event, this had been a contest she had found far too close for her liking.

She had thought she was going to teach this newcomer a few things...but instead she had gotten into it just as much as Astrid and engaged in quite a fierce competition. Not exactly how she had planned on spending her night off, but...it wasn't a bad experience. Aurora would remove her hand after Astrid pulled hers back. Hearing Astrid's words, the older woman would nod her head.

" Graceful in defeat? hmm." Aurora let out as she brought her hand up to her own chin, cupping it as she leaned in a bit closer over the table. Placing her elbow against it and looked at Astrid's features for a few seconds. " Not bad at all..." she'd mumble under her breath. A slight smile appearing on her face, after studying Astrid for a few seconds she would pull back and sit back up straight.

" It was a pleasure doing business with you." Aurora let out as the whiskey was given to her, which the older blonde would sweep back and down the whole fifth of the amber liquid. Placing the glass down on the table upside down as she stood up, she would nod towards Astrid. " I look forward to facing off against you in the ring someday, Golden Dragon~" Aurora spoke out as she turned to walk away. She may have made it seem as if she had no idea who Astrid was, but Aurora had kept her eyes on the newest talent to arrive at LAW for quite a while and Astrid was certainly one of the people she had been keeping a closer eye on than most.

[skip-stop]

Graceful? Interesting choice of words. Astrid even smiled a little. No one likes to lose. This is a generally accepted fact. And if someone tells you the opposite, then this person is nothing more than a liar. Therefore, this defeat really did not give the blonde any pleasure, especially considering that she lost not just to some muscular woman, but to a pro wrestling veteran. In a sense, it was a sore subject for the descendant of the great Vikings.

And yet, despite all her pride, she really knew how to accept defeat. She had nothing to blame Aurora for. It was a fair victory in a fair competition. A warrior should have pride. But pride should not blind a warrior. That was what Astrid believed in.

She tilted her head slightly as Aurora began to stare at her. She didn't say anything when she heard the other blonde's words. Someone could probably dream of hearing something like this from a veteran. However, Astrid heard in these words only "you have a place to grow", especially considering that Aurora had no idea who Astrid was.

"I'd like to try it again," Astrid replied after the whiskey was brought to them.

Like Aurora, the Norwegian woman gulped down her share of whiskey and simultaneously put the glass upside down with the other blonde. Well, it seems that this was the moment for two ships at sea to disperse. It was possible to look at it from different angles, but Astrid wanted to draw some conclusions. She never said that she's able to overcome any obstacle at the first time. But she was always ready to say that she's ready to try again in case of failure.

Watching Aurora get up from the table, Astrid took another look at her hand. She didn't think she would get such a challenge this evening. But she had nothing to regret. So she was going to say goodbye to Aurora. But the other blonde did it first. And at first Astrid didn't even quite understand what she had just heard. Perhaps alcohol in her blood played a role in this. She blinked a few times, and then it finally dawned on her that Aurora had just called her the Golden Dragon. The conclusion was simple. Despite her behavior at the very beginning, the veteran knew who Astrid was. The smile returned to the blonde's face and even her gaze became less heavy.

"And where do you think you're going after such words?" she asked, getting up from her chair.

Astrid took a step towards Aurora. Well, there was nothing to hide here. After the other blonde admitted that she knew who Astrid was, the Norwegian woman's mood became upbeat again, as if there had been no defeat.

"Someday doesn't suit me," she said, "I need a new opponent for the Apex qualifying match and I want that opponent to be you."

Loud? Perhaps. However, she wasn't the type to beat around the bush and waste time. Adrenaline was still pulsing to the blonde's blood. Even though Aurora did not win with the help of pure physical strength, she was definitely one of the strongest in this regard of those with whom the Norwegian woman had to meet. Aurora gave her a good challenge today. And so Astrid saw no reason to postpone the match for someday.

[Devastated]

Aurora took to her feet and turned to walk away, she walked around the table and was about to walk past Astrid, but the fellow blonde rose up to her feet and stepped up towards her. It seemed as if what the veteran had said had stirred up something in the Golden Dragon. Perhaps it was intentional by Aurora to get Astrid going after their contest. It seemed as if the Golden Dragon's mood had soured after her defeat and while she wanted more, it wasn't until Aurora made it known that she knew exactly who Astrid was.

What Aurora got to hear was that 'someday' wasn't going to suit her. Aurora could hardly blame Astrid. She would smile a bit as it seemed as if the fellow Scandinavian wrestler wanted to face off against her rather soon. The blonde veteran would bring her hand up to her own chin and tap it with her index finger a few times.

"Hmm..." She let out, as if she was deep in thought, though there wasn't much to think about. She had already decided once their arm-wrestling contest got going that she wanted to face off against Astrid.

"I think that can be arranged. Though I won't go easy on you just cause you're a fellow northerner." Aurora joked as she would extend her arm to Astrid. " Bring everything you've got when we meet in the ring, deal?" Aurora asked Astrid as she kept that slight smile on her face.

[skip-stop]

Out of the corner of her eye, Astrid noticed that as soon as she literally demanded a match from Aurora, some onlookers around took out their phone and started actively typing something. The Norwegian woman was not the biggest fan of social networks, but something told her that soon even the most caveman would know about what happened in this bar and what it led to.

However, the most important thing for her right now was Aurora's answer. Yes, she managed to learn something about her during their competition. But sometimes appearances can be deceptive, as well as the first impression. Coincidence or not, Astrid has never received any match just like that yet. Every opponent she managed to meet in the ring somehow tried to put one or two sticks in the wheels before agreeing to the match.

But the fears of the descendant of the great Vikings were in vain, because Aurora did not need much time to think. The other blonde accepted the new challenge and even extended her hand to Astrid in order to seal the deal with a handshake. The Norwegian woman returned Aurora's smile and chuckled slightly.

"You needn't ask me twice, huh," she said, "because those are the words I was going to say."

She stretched out her right hand forward and tightly squeezed the palm of the other blonde. Being born to seek out the most difficult challenges and overcome them, Astrid was glad of this opportunity. She might have failed in today's competition, but she'd be damned if she'd let Aurora beat her in the ring. Therefore, she was really going to fulfill the request of the other blonde and give her everything she has when they meet in a fight.

[Devastated]

The older blonde stretched out her hand, waiting to see if Astrid would accept their handshake to seal the deal. Already this would be all over the web no matter what she chose to do. If she wanted to clock Aurora in the face right here there was for sure a few people who were already filming their little stand off and Astrid's declaration to challenge her. Out of the corner of Aurora's eyes she could already see quite a few phone cameras pointed their way.

Thankfully Astrid accepted the handshake and with it Aurora would smile. She nodded her head and returned the firm squeeze in the handshake. " Looks like we've got a match then." Aurora spoke out as she would pull her hand back and place it on her hip. "Until next time then." She spoke as she turned her gaze towards her friend, and gestured with her head. Next thing the crowd knew, Aurora left with her companion and headed off for the night. Her future opponent now set, as she would face off against the Golden Dragon herself soon enough.