Chapter 4: Getting Stronger
"...He sent me to hell…haha…" Galahad was crouched down on the ground, making circles with his finger on the hot, red, dirt. It wasn't but a few moments ago that he met his first living creature, after arriving at this place, it was a…demon.
The purple, muscular creature named S'ym looked at him while tilting his head in confusion. S'ym, as a native of this demonic world, was accustomed to its inhabitants, as well as the peculiarities of this world.
"...*Sniff*…Hmm, you don't smell like a human…and from what I remember humans don't have tails. Where did you come from?" S'ym approached Galahad, closing the distance to arm's length.
"What are you talking about…tail? I have no tail…a tail." Responding to his words, Galahad turned his head, his eyes landing on a long brown tail, hanging from the end of his spine. Staring at it for a few seconds with a blank look on his face, he tried to move it and it responded accordingly.
"Yes…of course, I also have a tail. A demon is talking to me in hell and I now have a fifth limb…sixth if you count my…*cough* anyway. A tail isn't a bad thing." After all, he had been through, a tail was the least of his problems right now.
"Answer me! Where did you come from?!" S'ym on the other hand was losing his patience. He had greater matters to attend and he couldn't waste time on a below-average intelligence creature…his words not mine.
Galahad took a few steps back, flustered at the sudden shout from the demon. He brought his hands to his front and tried to calm the creature.
"Chill…S'ym, right? I have no idea, a dude threw me into a portal and the next thing I knew, here I am. Oh…name is Ga…Gar…eh…Garcia!" Struggling at the last moment, he managed to find an alternate name. S'ym wasn't exactly a trustworthy-looking individual.
"Tch! What a waste of time! Just another unlucky reject…" The demon, frustrated, turned to leave. Galahad, seeing this, jumped from his spot and grabbed the demon's shoulder…maybe the dimensional jump messed up his brain.
"Wait! Where is this place…Ugh! *Slap*…*Crash*" S'ym, already annoyed, turned and slapped an unguarded Galahad right on the cheek, sending him flying, right back into his cave.
"Limbo…you bastard." And with that, the demon kicked off the ground and disappeared into the distance.
---
A couple of hours had passed since Galahad, was KO'd by S'ym. He woke up with a grunt and grubbed his aching cheek. Walking out of his cave he looked around for any sign of the demon. Not seeing him around, he sighed relief.
"...He didn't have to slap me so hard…Dammit, if I was a normal human, my head would have exploded to bits. Now that I am talking about it, last time I checked, humans don't have tails. Maybe it's part of the power that creepo gave me…hmm." It seems that, despite Elaine unlocking part of his memories and giving him back the knowledge of his previous life, he still couldn't make heads or tails of his situation. Apparently, anime and comics weren't part of his part-time hobbies.
"If all demons are as powerful, as that S'ym guy then…I am in big trouble. I should probably learn what my powers are exactly and train. Yeah, train first-explore later. *Grumble*Oh and I better find some food." With a plan set, Galahad's stomach chimed in to remind him, that despite not being human, his hunger was still ever-present.
Jumping on the small hill, his cave was in, he looked around for anything that resembled a forest, or a lake. Nothing of the sort came in sight, in this heat liquids would probably evaporate and plants wither. Taking in the air, he grimaced, a sulphuric odor choking him.
"*Cough*…Damn, the whole place smells like rotten eggs and dirty socks. Wait…is that a deer? It looks like one…except for the red eyes…and the lumps on its back…" After 10 minutes, a new creature appeared. Approximately 200 meters from his location, the deer-looking organism stood still under the scorching sun.
Truth be told, the only feature that made it look like a deer, was its antlers. Other than that…an abomination was what would accurately describe it. Its limps were bent at strange angles and when it tried to move, it had trouble balancing. The skin of the creature was with no fur, blue veins pumping blood visible on its surface and greenish lumps were all over its body. Yeah underneath all that maybe…maybe there was deer.
But as of now, Galahad had no other option. He decided to kill the creature, not with his bare hands but with a rock he found on the ground.
"Okay…I have to do this. It's either me or this…deer. Let's do this!" Galahad shouted and dashed towards the deer, which if normal would have been startled and ran off, leaving a dejected man behind to ponder at his idiocy. Yet this zodeer (Zombie Deer ;P) let out a screech and turned to face him.
It dragged its huffs on the ground, lowering its antlers, and with a push, it charged at the incoming Galahad. Seeing this he wasn't surprised, knowing the place he was in, the creatures were sure to be as aggressive.
A few meters before impact, Galahad jumped, with his newfound strength, and landed on top of the deer, he grabbed its antlers and held on. The green lumps on its back turned out to be filled with puss and upon impact they burst open, covering his lower half in the viscous liquid.
"Aah…crap!" He voiced his disgust, not wanting for this to drag on, and swung the rock with the intent to harm the creature. He landed a heavy hit on its temple, that only seemed to infuriate it more, as it jumped around, trying to throw Galahad off it.
He held on and continued pummeling it with the rock. After a few more hits the zodeer fell, with a bloodied head, breathing its last breath. The whole encounter lasted for a few minutes and yet Galahad was out of breath.
"Man…for a deer that thing was feisty…hehe." He grabbed the lifeless body and dragged it back to his cave, which he decided to be his base of operations for now.
On the way back he came upon a few dried logs, suitable to start a fire. And that is exactly what he did, making a makeshift barbecue he grilled the zodeer. Pondering how his life will go on in a place like this
" That perverted bastard…he must have sent me in this world to die. I am so stupid…I practically served my soul to him. My soul…there must be a way to undo the contract…perhaps a person from this universe can help me out…but that at a later time, for now, I have to eat-sleep-train!" And so a rigorous training montage began.
For the next three months, our protagonist hunted zombie animals and trained, following his faint knowledge of martial arts from his past life, mainly kickboxing.
---
"S'ym, come in." Back at the demonic castle, the purple demon had returned and was now bowing to his master.
"Master, the energy came from a dimensional reject. Probably a failed teleportation or someone banished him here." S'ym spoke.
"Him? Was it a human who visited my dimension?" The lord's eyes flashed as he asked.
"No master. The man called himself Garcia and despite looking like a human, he had a tail and smelled nothing like them." S'ym quickly added, knowing that his master had a bad history with humans, particularly a group that called themselves the X-men.
"Just for good measure check on him every now and then. Now…how is that child, Illyana, doing. Is she still uncooperative?" Changing the subject, the lord stood up and walked towards an open window that overlooked a desolate valley. He gazed and his thoughts seemed to drift.
"...Yes. That child…she is like a little beast. My lord, let me educate her." Saying this the demon licked its lips, with a mischievous grin. His thoughts, too, drifting.
"No… it's my time to step in. Physical abuse will only make her hate stronger, we after all abducted her from a place she called home." The man waved his hand and a red portal appeared, stepping in he disappeared. Leaving behind a grunting S'ym.
"This man… is so…human. Guh! How can he rule Limbo?!" Only if he knew what that man was capable of.
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A few months have passed since Galahad appeared in this new world. Despite the ups and downs, he had managed to survive, growing stronger with every passing day.
"Hah!…Hah!…*Panting*" In front of his base, Galahad was training his moves, which were now looking sharper and focused. His body has also changed significantly.
His shirt was destroyed by his harsh lifestyle and so did his trousers. Now his attire consisted of only, an animal's hide short skirt.
Also, he had managed to find a reflective material similar to a mirror. Managing for the first time in a while to examine his body. A muscular physique, that had developed at an unreal pace, in only three months' time his body had turned from that of an average human's to a buff guy on steroids. He had also grown taller, now reaching the height of about 185 cm.
Long black hair reached his shoulders, with some defiant strands poking out in places. As for his face, slightly above average. Mainly to his intense training, the muscles of his jaw were protruding, giving his facial structure a sharp look. A pair of black eyes and bushy eyebrows were the last of his features. His overall look, influenced by his harsh environment and training…probably his food choices, was similar to that of a caveman.
"Damn…look at those muscles…yeah! *Flex-Flex*" His intelligence, too had regressed to that of a caveman, as he stood butt-naked in the middle of a wasteland flexing his muscles.
"It's about time I head out for some exploration…maybe tomorrow." And with that Galahad headed inside his cave, for a good night's sleep.