Chapter 14: Sparring Partner
A day has passed since Galahad was locked up in the dungeon of this unknown, to him , place. Nobody had come to meet him and so alone, he was preoccupied with his own thoughts.
"I can't keep acting like this…eventually my luck will run out…Why did that demon even spare me, I am sure he wanted me dead. *Tap*…Damn the band is broken too…" He tried to check his B.P. but the band malfunctioned and let out a weak light, before cracking and crumbling from his wrist. The strain from his all-out battle must have fried it.
His gaze landed on the two skeletons that were keeping him company, their jaws hand open with heads slumped forward. Looking at the remains, he thought if he too, was going to end up like that. It was just a fleeting thought, but it was enough to enrage him.
"Ugh!" His way of thinking had to change, despair was going to get him nowhere, what he needed most was a strong will. He was determined to grow stronger, this time not only in power but also mentally.
So he stood up and approached a nearby wall, binging his head back, he slammed it with enough force to leave a mark on his forehead and the wall. This cleared his mind of such thoughts.
"It's just been a day and you are already banging your head...you won't last long. Especially with what is about to come." A voice reached Galahad's ears, he believed to be the only person in this prison. Reaching on to his cells bars he tried to find the owner of the voice, who seemed to be locked up in the cell next to his.
"And what exactly is that?" He asked the man, who had yet to reveal himself. For a moment there was silence, as if it was only his imagination that spoke to him.
"...Do you know what this place is? Where you have found yourself?" The man didn't answer and instead replied with a question of his own. Of course Galahad had no idea, which was a common occurrence these days.
"All I know is that I am in a god-forsaken dungeon…along with a man whose name I still don't know. Name's Galahad by the way." He introduced himself, expecting the man to do the same, which he did.
"Galahad…I am named Richard Rider, Centurion of the…former Nova Corps." His introduction was followed by a tone of melancholy. The names didn't ring a bell to Galahad.
"We are prisoners to a lord and master of this dimension…Belasco. In my case, I got caught and stripped of my powers, ending up in this place. Your case seems to be similar, as that demon S'ym brought you here." Giving a brief summary of his end of the story, the man, named Richard, too came near the bars of his cell, allowing Galahad to get a glimpse of his appearance.
Rider had no clothes on his well built upper body, revealing scars on numerous parts of it. He wore a serious expression as he looked at Galahad, his brown eyes glimmered under the weak light, holding behind them a burning passion for survival. He had unkempt brown hair, indicating that he was holed up here for some time.
"I see you are a fighter as well…then you might survive longer than the previous ones." Scanning his body too, Rider took in his built and battle-scars, correctly assuming that he knew how to fight.
"S'ym…that is his name…I did fight that bastard and lost, almost killed in the process. You said survive…but from what?" Galahad asked curiously.
Richard rested his head on the cold metal bars and looked on the shimmering flame of the candle. It took him a while to answer, lost in his own thoughts.
"There is this girl…Illyana…Belasco uses prisoners like as to train her. She is young…but merciless. I was captured a few months back, along with 13 others….as you can see the rest didn't make it." The name Illyana made Galahad's eyes open in surprise, after all she was the one Ororo was after. But his description of her didn't match what she had told him, it seems that the teen wasn't as helpless as she made her out to be.
Galahad opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. The door of the dungeon opened and in came the easily recognisable figure of the purple demon, S'ym.
"Oh! I see you met your roommate…you are lucky you know…I was this close to tearing your throat out! Now…stand back!" Approaching his cell, he stood just inches away form Galahad's face and stared at him with a murderous gaze. The man didn't back away and stood defiantly.
"Lets see how long you can keep that attitude of yours…" S'ym took out a small device and pressed a button, what followed shocked Galahad…literally, a device which he didn't notice up until know was embedded behind his ear. It produced a current strong enough to knock him to the ground.
"Ugh!" Grunting, he tried to pry the device from his skin, only to be shocked even more in return. This time completely knocking him out.
"That's better! Now lets go meet your new friend." Tossing him over his shoulder, the demon left, not before giving Rider a look that said, don't worry you turn will come as well.
"..." Richard's grip on the bars tightened and made small indentations, which escaped the demons eyes. It would seem that whatever powers were sealed…were coming back.
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Arriving at a clearing just outside the castle, S'ym, threw the body of Galahad on the ground with enough force to wake him up. Coming back to his senses, he tried to to attack the demon but his body wasn't responding.
"He has a fiery temper…nothing that can't be fixed." After staying in this world for months, he finally met the man who was said to be the master…Belasco. The demonic lord had his hand casually lifted up and channeled his magic to hold Galahad in place.
Next to him was none other than his apprentice, who Galahad assumed to be Illyana. Her appearance made Galahad question whether this was the same one Ororo was telling him about…she had horns and crimson eyes…the more he looked at her, the more she reminded him of the demons he fought.
"I don't like the way he is looking at me…let me kill him." She said seriously…yeah, there is no way this was the Illyana Galahad heard about. What teen her age would casually talk about killing someone.
"Of course, haha!" The lord enjoyed her murderous urges and released Galahad from his restraint.
The girl stepped forward and channeled her dark arts, crimson spheres forming on her hands. This alerted Galahad, who in return became vigilant. The moment he was released, he had already circulated his energy.
It seems that with the removal of the collar, his aura now had become a bit thicker and greenish in color, also the pressure it released was many times more suffocating. Still he had two armbands restricting his energy, that glowed every time he approached his limiter.
Illyana shot bolts of devilish energy at Galahad, who easily dodged her predictable attacks, annoying her in the process. Evading her bolts, he closed the distance and just when he reached his attacking range, a force stopped him from further advancing.
"That's close enough and you are a tad bit too fast." Belasco spoke and once again restricted his movements, not completely, but enough for his apprentice to land a few strikes on him.
The bolts struck his chest and left burn marks, the size of an adults fist. It wasn't a serious injury, but the fact that he was being toyed with and used as a moving target, annoyed Galahad.
He had once again reached her close enough to be able to speak to her. With his movements restricted, he had to push through her attacks to do so.
"Illyana, stop! Ororo is here, she is trying to rescue you! Ugh!" A bolt of dark energy struck him square in the face, making him wince in pain. Taking a couple steps back and regaining his vision, veins popped up on his forehead. He had enough playtime for the day.
If he couldn't reach her physically then he would attack her from a distance! And so he channeled his energy and created energy grenades, launching them at the girl, who seemed suprised at this.
Once again his attacks were stopped mid-air and exploded on a crimson barrier, which Belasco had formed to protect Illyana.
"Oh! He can shoot out energy as well…how interesting!" The lord smiled and enjoyed the show, as if he was watching a dog do tricks.
Galahad felt helpless, every attack of his got blocked by Illyana's master, who watched from a distance, grinning at him.
Suddenly a light bulb went up on his head. Wasn't this the perfect opportunity for him to practice and even evolve his attacks, his opponent would never take any damage and only lush out attacks at him.
In a way Illyana had turned into the perfect sparring partner, of course there was the damage taken from her occasional successful strikes, but this would serve as a stimulus for him, to be even more attentive of his defence, improving in that regard as well.
It seems that amongst his misfortune Galahad had gained a lucky boon. The girl he was and is trying to save turned out to be his ideal opponent to experiment on. This made Galahad smile in the prospect of his future growth.