Chapter 9 : Grind I
"Everything seems good, the spells are stable with no sign of weakening. You should be good for now." Ororo said after examining the armbands and collar she had made for Galahad.
With his unstable power in check, he should now be able to train properly. Focusing on improving his technique, not mindlessly attacking and hope that his attacks connect. Another drawback of his frenzied style of fighting, was that his defence was non-existent, ignoring the incoming blows and leaving his body riddled with injuries.
"Appreciate it…I can finally train like a normal person. By the way, how strong exactly do I have to get to face that S'ym bastard?" Galahad knew that it would take time to reach a reasonable level, where he could at least hold his ground against the demon.
"Ah! Almost forgot, I also made this bracelet for you." Yet another gift was presented to him. It's appearance, close to that of a watch, was a thick metal band, golden of course to match his other accessories.
"Double tap it's surface and the strongest level of energy will be displayed on it, as well as a compass to point you to its direction. I also have to prepare for the fight…you will have to go out on your own." Apparently he wasn't the only one that had to improve, Ororo, despite her current strength, also needed to hone her skills. This left Galahad wondering, how strong was this Belasco guy exactly.
"All these gifts…I will for sure repay you…one day. Can you also add a way, for me to check my powers…in numbers?" He asked.
She took the bracelet back and tinkered with it for a few seconds. Giving it back to him, he checked it. Now it displayed his current strength on the left side, while the strongest targets on the right.
Currently his Battle Power stood at 7000, a big number he thought, feeling satisfied. He tapped on the left side and Ororo's B.P. appeared. (A/N: Not the same system like DBZ.)
"I think I broke it…this cant be working properly…it says your energy levels are over….90000!" Compering the two numbers, Galahad thought that there must be some mistake…but pondering over it for a bit…the woman could summon lighting.
"Nope, that is my current level of power. Your opponent's, S'ym, was around 65000 and Belasco's…lets not talk about his for now." She thought that if her power made him thoughtful, then if he knew what limits that demon had broken…
Hearing that he had to get at least 10 times stronger, made him realize how weak he was compared to these guys. Still he didn't get dejected, instead he had a new-found motivation.
"Then there is no time to waste. I am heading out." Galahad said and went for the exit. Ororo seeing this, clasped his arm and said.
" No you aren't, not looking like this." Referring to his clothes…his leather skirt, that was dirtied with blood, mud and smelled funny, she pointed at his room's direction.
"Go change." And with that she went back on her couch, picking a book from a nearby pile and started reading.
He examined himself and agreed, his current look didn't compliment him at all. So he went into his room, the space where he woke up the first time he arrived here. Since this place was designed for only one person, this was the only available space for him to stay.
On his bed/altar, he found a new set of clothes. Leggings of unknown material, black in color and boots that reached up to his knees. To go along with that she had picked a tank top, of similar material, with some kind of white armor which covered his chest and some parts of his back, blending in with the clothing itself. Seeing this he was thrilled at the idea of wearing skin-tight clothes but he wasn't going to be picky, she had already given him too much.
He dressed up and to his surprise, the set of protective attire felt comfortable. They stick to his skin, highlighting the muscles of his body, not restricting him in the slightest. He stretched and satisfied with his mobility, headed to the main hall.
"...Looking better, like a proper fighter. Before you were closer to a…" Ororo looked at him up and down, satisfied with her choice of clothes nodded. Along with her compliment came a minor insult that Galahad completed.
"Caveman…yes, I am aware. Anyway the debt keeps pilling up…thank you, again." Grateful as he was the man felt bad at always taking things from her. He was determined to help with the rescuing of young Illyana even more.
"No need…if it means saving that girl, then it's all worth it. Now go train, we need to be prepared." With that she shooed him away, clearly disturbing her own studies.
And so Galahad headed out, using his newly acquired tracker to hunt demons and thinking of better ways to attain higher levels of power.
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"I am sure of it! It's that freaking bastard, Grica or Garcia…whatever his name was!" Far away from Galahad, in the empty desert, a purple demon was fuming and talking on his own.
S'ym, having being yelled at by his master Belasco, decided to head out and find the person responsible for the demons deaths. The demons were almost infinite in numbers, the problem wasn't there. It was the action itself that mattered, that someone dared to attack the demon army of Limbo and not just one or two that died, it would soon reach the thousands. Demons were dispensable, his and the lords pride wasn't!
"Hmm…I should go back to the cave I found him in and when I do find him…I WILL CRUSH HIM! *CRUSH*" With a loud shout, the demon pounded on the ground, leaving cracks. He took off, his direction Galahad's old resting place.
---
Unaware of this, Galahad who had just finished off another group of demons, was resting on a large boulder, munching on a piece of meat he had prepared before-hand.
"Fighting these weak demons isn't helping me…hmm…didn't I ask that pervert to make me able to shoot out energy beams? Where are my energy beams dammit!" Suddenly he remembered about his wish and jumped from the rock. He extended one arm forward and concentrated on it, clenching his teeth and trying to make something come out.
His face was morphing under the stress and veins started appearing on his arm. Sweat drops formed on his forehead and soon he was grunting. He knew, this feeling, he was near. Pressing on, his grunt turned into him screaming his heart out, the gates were about to break. A final push, near fainting, Galahad gave it his all and roared.
"AAAH!…*SPLAT*…Did I just…shit myself?! Fuuuck!" Apparently he was pushing in the wrong direction and the wrong gates were breached, those of his butt-cheeks!
He took off his pants and without any water nearby, he decided to grab some dirt and smear it on the shit-stain, it kinda worked but the smell was still there. The strong smell was breathed in and jolted his brain, something snapping inside.
"Wait! I got it! My energy, I have to focus my energy! Haha!" At the sudden breakthrough, Galahad didn't even bother putting on his pants, standing naked focusing once more on his extended arm.
This time he also flared up his aura and tried to concentrate part of his energy on his palm. It worked! Soon a ball of illuminating light appeared and hovered on the air just in front of his palm. At this Galahad was ecstatic.
"Yes! Yes! Haha!…oh shit." Losing his focus for a split moment, the ball of energy dropped towards the ground. *Boom* And touching it, a small explosion erupted, engulfing Galahad in it.
When the cloud of smoke from the explosion cleared, a still naked man came into view with a smirk on his, smog-coated face. Seeing the destruction such a small ball could produce, he dreamed of the possibilities!
"I have to test it on those fuckers! Yeah lets do that!" About to ran off, he stopped, remembering his shit-stained pants…but he decided to go full commando and not wear anything.
And so Galahad went on a killing spree of demons. Throwing energy grenades at them, finishing off any survivors with close quarters combat. His arsenal had improved tremendously with this new ability and he was sure he could further experiment with it to make even more types of attacks. At this point he checked his B.P and it showed 8350, for just a days worth of training this was some fast pace for his strength to grow at.
*ROAR*
His training was interrupted by a threatening shout of a beast. Not wasting time he tapped in his band.
"Holy shit! 13000! Finally found some big fish!" Like a hunter who had at last found a worthy prey, he dashed towards the direction indicated by the compass on the band.
It didn't take him long to find the creature, the demon who was leagues above any of the other ones he had faced. This one was at least 4 times his height and every part of his body screamed of power and danger.
It stood an a pair of two goat-like legs, covered in red scales. Four arms with three-fingered hands, each housing a long black nail. Its back covered with spikes and red, protective scales, that extended all the way down to its long tail. As for the head, the creature had 4 small eyes and a pair of horns. It looked like a demonized dragon on two legs, that had its wings clipped.
"Fuck this is gonna be tough…I love it!" An energy ball had formed on his hand and with no hesitation Galahad threw it on the demon's head, initiating the fight.
"GAAAR!" The giant demon stumble a few steps back and covered its face, roaring in pain. This showed that Galahad's attack was able to inflict damage.
At this point he had already closed the distance and appeared next to its long leg. Clenching his fist, his arm bulged under the accumulating power which lashed out a moment later. His knuckles made impact and a loud thud was heard, the attack didn't even leave a mark on the red scales the monster had.
"Crap!" Knowing he had failed and wasted his free attack, Galahad cursed. The creature had recovered and looked at him with rage, swinging with its arm, faster than what should be possible for a creature this big, aiming the squash him.
Sensing the incoming danger, he dodged to the side. Yet the attack shook the ground, the aftershock throwing him tumbling a few meters away. Naked as he was, the feeling of his private parts dragging against the ground wasn't the best.
He now knew that normal attacks wouldn't work on the demon, at least not on its scales. So he made a plan, a simple one, destroy the scales with a full energy blast and then harm the creature's actual body.
A small ball appeared on his palm, slowly increasing in size, he focused on condensing more energy in it. But the demon wouldn't just wait for him, with a few steps the giant covered the distance and threw a kick. His concentration broken, the ball fell to the ground and dispersed, not having enough energy.
"Fuck! I can't make any energy grenades with this guy attacking me." His level of mastery wasn't yet at the point were he could ran around creating energy attacks.
The kick grazed him, sending him flying to crush in some nearby rocks. He pushed his body out of the debris, veins had popped on his forehead. Getting thrown around wasn't his kink, he was getting infuriated.
Approaching once more the demon threw a barrage of attacks with all its arms, creating a cloud a smoke at the spot were Galahad stood. Waiting to clear, the creature expected to see a bloody pulp of its opponent and yet nothing was there.
"Up here you fuck! Haah!" Escaping its predictable attack, he had jumped up on its body and climbed on top of its head. A ball of energy forming on his hand, he raised it up on the air and slammed it on a red scale that protected its skull!
*SMASH*…*BOOM*
The attack connected and exploded. Not only did it manage to break the scale, it even penetrated its skin, leaving a bloody scar and revealing cracked bone underneath.
"Back to manual labor it is!" With those words leaving his mouth, Galahad started pummeling away on the creatures skull, each hit stronger than the last. Chipping away, the bone broke and brain matter came into sight. The demon's death was near!
*ROAR*…*CRASH* Its nails digging into the skin of its head, it desperately tried to remove Galahad from its brain, only to shortly after fall dead on the ground.
A naked man, from the bottom down, came out covered in pink chunks of meat with a disgusted look on his face.
"Easier than I expected."
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A/N: Yes the creature had more B.P. but it was mainly because of the size difference. He was faster and smarter, so he beat it with a little effort and some injuries. It was an opportunity to try out the extent of his new ability, other than spamming it on some low level mobs :P Thanks for reading!