The thing was, the head of the spear was wider than the link of the chain, hence why it got stuck in the first place. The edge of the spear’s point was sticking out past the chain’s width and could still cut the man, even as Brennus drew back and dragged it along his groin, stepping backwards to hasten its retraction. So, while the chain did indeed reduce the damage he could have taken, it would not negate it entirely.

Not that it mattered, doing damage while retracting his spear was ultimately just a fortunate happenstance for Brennus. In truth, he simply wanted to free his weapon of the obstruction, and did so, withdrawing the point so it hovered between the two of them. Now should the man remain stationary he was just in time for his backstep to lead into another sudden forward gathering step. The point of his spear was placed nicely for another gut shot, so he thrust his back hand forward to shoot the shaft through his lead hand, with the intention of putting six inches of steel into the man’s lower abdomen. If the man instead moved towards him, he could thrust from where he was standing after his backstep with the exact same result. He aimed a couple inches off to the man’s right side in either case, as he was striking from his own right.

-Snip-

See, though, the problem arose from a simple solution. If the link of the chain touched his groin, that meant the widest part of the blade wasn’t. It couldn’t be, instead it was on the outer side of his groin, twisted flat and fitted to protect him from damage. So, when the spear was pulled back the only resultant action was what was already described – the spear slid its sharp edge along the chain, without ever actually touching flesh. Why that was so hard to grasp, he didn’t understand. It was a pretty simple concept, but if the man wanted to stop the fight he’d gladly draw him a diagram in the dirt of how it happened.

Either way, immediately after the spear pulled free his eyes were already back on the opponent – and in that moment, he saw the next attack beginning. Again, it was one of cowardice and fear. Rather than simply standing toe-to-toe and fighting like a man, with honor, he continued to use the pathetic weapon that already proved useless more than once. The same held true for the newest thrust. It aimed for his right side, from the right side of his adversary – and the solution to the problem was once again just a simple shifting of his hips. He moved immediately as the spear came forward, and its angle belied its target – at least the general idea of it.

Shifting, allowing his weight to imbalance, he could twist the right side of his body. Pulling his right leg backward, and pivoting on his hips while adding a slight lean to his torso resulted in the exact same thing to have happened before. He simply shifted to the side and the spear, once again, missed him completely. As soon as the spear reached past him, he let his right-hand drop – and the chain swung behind him, smacking the haft of the fully extended spear away from his body. At the same time, his body swung back to proper stance, and shifted with purposeful, minute footwork that began to push him forward.

Of course, it didn’t matter. The man was immune to his own momentum, and would immediately have full control of his extended weapon again, and somehow be able to draw back and launch yet another attack in the exact same span of time as the first seemed to be coming. It didn’t matter though, Beatdown was growing tired of the mediocre, boring man who stood before him – and the fight was no longer one of any true value to him, or his Master.

The other had been weighed.

The whole thing was a test, to see if the man was adaptable. To see if the man could deal with fighting someone stronger, and faster than he was, to see if he could change his game to handle a more powerful adversary. He could not.

The other had been measured.

It was clear, throughout the fight, that Brennus – while strong to his own people – could not compare with the peak of human capabilities. He stood no chance in a straight up fight, and that’s why he feared to engage in one. It was something apparent to Beatdown, all throughout the fight, by his inability to adapt. To change.

And he had been found wanting.

As always, they were wanting of power. Wanting of anything akin to discipline. Beatdown, at his full strength, could end it right here, right now. But he wouldn’t. He was toning himself down to be at peak human level, and even that was apparently too much for this man. This man who barely understood what his own actions were, how they worked, or the function of them. The fight was meaningless, and with the others next attack it was over, one way or another.

There was a subtle difference in Brennus’ jab this time as compared to his prior failed attempt. He hadn’t committed to a lunging step and thrust with his body in this instance, but had offered up only a token jab with a gathering step by feeding the pole through his left hand. In essence, it was a feinting attack, designed to draw Beatdown into another of those ludicrously fast body movements in which he turned his entire lower torso away from a thrusting spear point. Brennus hadn’t intended to thrust his spear right through the man, but rather to just barely stab six inches of steel into his gut. Which meant Brennus was indeed immune to his ‘own momentum’ because he had barely invested any, and that his opponent’s attempt at bashing away his ‘fully extended spear’ were simply thwarted.

The spear retracted lightning fast, faster than it had before as he gave the arrogant barehanded warrior a taste of the agility that had kept him alive in this arena. Then, before the man could even right himself and return to a proper stance, he’d thrust the spear before he’d even half retracted it, again by feeding the shaft through his left hand as he forced the point forward. He was looking for weakness in the man’s left side as he turned to face Brennus again, he wouldn’t be saved by a stray piece of chain or his arm in this case, the spear point would find its way into his body wherever was open when Brennus made his jab, ideally his left lung, or his liver. There was enough force in this blow to ensure ruin upon the man when he turned into the spear.

Of course, there was always the -slightest- possibility that Beatdown could simply move his entire torso out the way of the spear yet again. In that case, Brennus would be forced to step back or risk his opponent bypassing the head of his spear, as was his only realistic strategy. Brennus hadn’t made it this long by fighting like a fucking idiot, after all, honour and manliness were simply the pathetic excuses of the dead and dying in the arena sand. Brennus didn’t have the luxury of all that much belief that he’d get another chance but this one to live, and he certainly wasn’t going to rush to find out by disregarding the most fundamental concepts of combat now.