Cold Steel! A Clash of Blades Continued! [Galen]

To put it into simple words, Galen was bored. Cornatto was too busy lately for them to train and Christopher was gone, he went to the new headquarters of the Saiyan Remnants on Planet Namek, while Arion and Cleo were minding their own business. Even Calla was busy with her school and training alone had become quite dull, now that his power had grown. ”It’s so sad… Us humans can’t grow quite as fast as the saiyans… I feel like I’ve hit a milestone forever and I can’t seem to increase my power enough to pose a challenge to most of them, even if I keep on refining my skill and finesse…” and this frustration was depressing. The human swordsman stood there, leaning against the horizontal windows of the first floor of his home atop the Korin’s Tower.

This boredom led him to think about another friend: Jie Shan. The last time they sparred was pretty amazing, even though Galen ended up being completely trashed by the hybrid saiyan’s absurd power. ”The Super Saiyan… Sometimes I wish I had something like that. I have my inner power but it is nowhere near as strong as that form…” he thought to himself, thinking about the absurd burst of power Jie Shan and Christopher had when they ascended to their form. This frustration made him feel a little angry, not at his friends, but at his own situation; Galen loved being a human and he was happy with that, but as a protector, it was ultimately a hindrance.

But fate is something odd and it works in a weird way. On the very same day Galen thought about his friend, one of his… How should he call, employees? Whatever. In any case, Galen was quite surprised Dou Furu showed up and invited him to go to the Lan Dian estate for a sparring session. Galen’s eyes glowed in excitement and he promptly accepted the invitation. The Tower Keeper wasted no time in grabbing his sword and heading towards the exit of the tower. Noticing that, the Flying Nimbus approached quickly, but Galen shook his head. ”Sorry, my friend, not this time! I’m in a hurry and now I’m faster than you.” and with that being said, Galen flared his light blue ki aura and scratched the skies heading north, far above the clouds.

Took Galen nothing but minutes to arrive, while the sun was still out there. Galen landed in front of his home, not suppressing his ki at all, so that the hybrid could sense him. ”Hey, Mister Jie! I’m here!” he shouted, unable to hide his excitement.

It didn’t take Jie Shan long to reach the door and open it for Galen. The human smiled upon seeing his friend and preferred sparring partner. ”Hello!” the swordsman replied after Jie Shan shout his name and, after he was invited to get inside the house he promptly did so, bowing a bit before passing through the portal. The human turned his head back when Jie Shan started speaking again, saying he could just land on his courtyard thus making it quicker for both of them and he nodded acknowledging that. ”Sure, Mister Jie, if you don’t think it’s invasive and impolite, I will surely do that next time!” he said in a gentle tone. Galen was hyped for this spar and that much was clear from his body language and the kind of clothes he was sporting.

It caught him by surprise when Jie offered him some food or drink and that made him chuckle a bit and shake his head. ”I appreciate your offer and care, Mister Jie, but I’m alright. I came here ready for our sparring session, so I had some food beforehand, but if you feel you need to eat, I don’t mind waiting, we can sit and talk about stuff while you do so.” his tone was calm, but there were traces of excitement hidden in between the lines. Galen’s hand was itching for the hilt of his sword, and his ki was completely unsuppressed, ready to be unleashed with all he had; Now that he had mastered the Kikoukenjutsu Sword School, he felt like he was definitely ready to try and even the odds, even against that Super Saiyan form thing.

If it meant he would have to tap into the greatest of his tension, then so be it, it was no longer that dangerous. It was funny but Galen had managed to learn how to control his emotions in his angry fueled transformation and that made him feel quite more satisfied with himself; it was still a very emotional and sort of unstable state, but not quite as much and he could definitely think clearly this time.

Galen chuckled when Jie Shan said he was also ready to go, pointing out that they were both on the edge, ready to clash with their steel and soul. ”Oh yeah! I was carving for a good fight. Things can get rather dull on the Tower sometimes, and… Truth be told, I’m tired of feeling like the consolation prize warrior of the X-Fighters.” and that was enough to reveal a bit of his inner feelings; even though Galen was a quite honest individual, he wasn’t into talking about his deepest feelings all the time and would instead hide them away with a cordial smile and a polite attitude.

Being around saiyans for such a long time lit a flare inside his heart, a flare not natural to a human, but that seemed just like the nature of a saiyan. He was a peaceful individual, but he wanted to protect things he held dear and the inability to do so made him mad, and that anger, that fury awoke a power inside of him, a tension that would make his blood run like crazy through his veins as his heart beats like it was about to blow to pieces. Unknowingly to him, his body had evolved and so had his ki and the saiyans influence would be more clear in the near future, but when would that power awake? It was yet to be seen.

In any case, Galen followed Jie to the courtyard, reaching the center of the place and there he stood with some feet in between the two warriors. At the very same time they drew their blades, and Galen’s broad sword was free from its confinement once more. Galen put the blade in front of himself, in a much more refined Kikoukenjutsu Sword School stance. Jie would probably remember it and notice how much it improved since the last time they fought; Galen had finally fully mastered his fighting style and was ready to rumble.

”But let’s cut the introduction. We had plenty of that before.” and gritting his teeth, his skin started to become pink due to the intense blood flow, his hair became purple and one of the locks was bristled and spiked, his eyes became bright crimson as he reached his High Tension state.

[High Tension. PL: 1,696,990]

”Before I would get really damn mad in this form, but I’m better at it now. I call this my High Tension mode!” he explained and, although he wasn’t in a blind rage now, he was clearly serious, sheltering his anger with the power of his will. ”Now… Show me that Super Saiyan of yours!” and he truly wanted them to go at it full power.

Just like he had asked, Jie Shan decided to oblige to Galen’s request and ascend to his Super Saiyan form. The Golden Warrior of legend was there and Galen couldn’t help but to feel awestruck. His Ki sensing ability went over the top when Jie’s power became so high that it wasn’t even fair to compare with his High Tension mode and that made him scoff, not angry at Jie Shan, but with himself: was that truly the limit of a human? While Galen had never met a human that was stronger than himself, Cleo had a similar mean to power-up through her masks and it made her increase her power the same amount as he could. It was almost like he was fire and she was ice, but with the same intensity. To think that it may be the peak of a human’s potential was something that hurt and he grimaced with the thought. ”No… it can’t be. I can’t be this week forever! I don’t care how much I have to train, I will overcome my limits! I will overcome my humanity even! I will show, through my will power, that us, humans, aren’t just fodder!” and his determination, together with his frustration and rage were fueling something deep inside him and he could already feel the shivers running down his spine.

”So much power… Amazing! It’s sad, really… Heh… I can’t compare in raw power, but… I will make it up for it, with the POWER OF MY WILL!!” Galen shouted much louder in the last words and, without wasting anytime, he dashed forward with all of his available speed. His purple ki aura was intense around his body and around his sword. ”YYYYAAAAAAA!!!!!” Galen bent his knees a bit, putting a lot of pressure on his feet tendons and pushed himself upwards a lot, gaining the skies. Following that, he threw a powerful sword strike downwards, aiming to hit Jie Shan’s head with not only the power of his body and ki, but also using gravity with his fall, to make it faster and stronger, trying to make it up for the huge gap in their strength.

Galen couldn’t just count on his power and skill alone if he wanted to be a match to Jie Shan in this battle, otherwise he would be trashed just like he was the last time and he wasn’t willing to go down that easily now.

Galen’s attack was far too easy for someone like Jie Shan to anticipate and to react to and, as it should be expected, he fully dodged the attack, fast as lightning and, immediately after that, he roared, saying it was far too obvious and slow and that his tactics were quite suicidal, and Galen didn’t disagree, but even though he showed no signs of reaction to his words, instead he just glared at Jie Shan with the corner of his crimson eyes as the hybrid moved backwards, telling him to try and hit Jie Shan with his lower speed and Galen narrowed his eyes.

The impact of his blade to the ground created a crack on the floor but the blade remained intact. Galen got back to his feet, with the sword ready and then faced him once again with a serious and determined look on his face. ”I’m just getting started! You may be faster, Mister Jie, but that means NOTHING!” and with those words, he dashed forward again, in what seemed – at first – like another reckless attack, but before he got close enough to strike, he let go of his right hand from the hilt and, pushing it forward he summoned a huge energy from within. ”AAAAAAHHHHH!!” he shouted as he used his Ultimate attack, the pinnacle of the Kikoukenjutsu Sword School and its most deadly technique.

From his hand, the blue colored energy stretched, aiming at Jie Shan’s chest with furious speed. He was hoping to catch him off-guard, but at the very least, if he missed, the blade would still be there, since Galen was able to retain it until he had used every last ounce of energy he had poured into it. However, though, if Jie Shan chose to block it instead, he would be catch by surprised, as the properties of the energy were such that any attempt to block its sharp blade would be useless and hurt the target.

Jie’s speech was interrupted by the sudden energy blade that manifested itself on his right hand, aiming to hit the hybrid right at the chest. It was too close for comfort, but still, the super saiyan managed to dodge the stab and Galen clicked his tongue, frustrated with his second failure of an attack. ”Dammit! Almost got him! But almost is nothing!” he thought to himself, immediately following his opponents movement with his crimson eyes. Jie Shan was amazed by the technique and that would normally leave Galen quite happy, but this was not the time to be goofing around and Galen quickly moved his body to be once again facing his sparring partner.

Still, the Spirit Sword had a special trait to it: it wouldn’t vanish even after a failed attack. Instead, Galen’s right hand became a circular guard of an energy sword that seemed to be just as dangerously as it was on the first attempt of a stab; the energy signature from it hadn’t depleted the slightest and now the fuchsia fighter had the energy sword and his own broad sword on his hands, ready to keep on fighting.

”It took me ages! But this is the supreme technique of the Kikoukenjutsu Sword School, the Spirit Sword! I won’t tell you just yet all it does, but I invite you to find out, Mister Jie! I’m not holding back in the slightest, this is me going all out! I know the odds aren’t in my favor, but if I’m going to be defeated again, I will at least make you work for it!” he said in a determined tone as he adjusted his stance to match his current two swords style. Another good thing about the Spirit Sword was that Galen could recover his energy while still using it, making him a dangerous opponent who couldn’t be underestimated, even with such a gap in between their power levels.

”Now take this!” and, without moving, Galen pointed his energy blade towards Jie Shan one more time and, against all odds, it stretched towards the hybrid! Galen didn’t move, thus he didn’t quite expose himself, but being able to control the blade was another perk of the technique.

Galen’s attack was fast and it almost caught Jie Shan by surprise completely. The blade stretched and rammed by his flank, vaporizing his gi and injuring his flesh, but it wasn’t a deep wound. True it would most definitely hurt, but it would be way too far from actually doing a serious enough damage to grant Galen an advantage in this fight. At least the attack seemed to be enough to put some more heat into his bloodstream and, for a moment, Jie Shan looked like he was about to burst into his saiyan fury, but alas, he manage to keep it in check and the human was glad for it in a way; should he face him going truly all-out, there was little he could do right at this moment.

In any case, Jie Shan seemed like he was ready to show what he had under his sleeves and when he said that, Galen exhaled deeply and made a brief nod. Focusing his power on his hand, the Spirit Sword reappeared once again; it hadn’t vanished completely, but it had indeed lost some of its power. ”I’m looking forward to that, but don’t think you defeated the Spirit Sword yet. I can control the energy output of it, so it’s a very intelligent technique! I won’t lose all of my energy if I just graze you! I will lose just what I actually used against you so… I could say I still have like… Seventy percent of it, right here with me!” he said, cracking a smirk with the corner of his mouth and pointing the energy blade right at Jie once again.

When Jie Shan summoned his ultimate technique, Galen was awestruck by it. It was even more impressive to manifest than the Spirit Sword and god, it felt absurdly strong. Galen adjusted his fighting stance, pierced his broad sword into the ground, so he could focus all of his soul onto his own Spirit Sword, because he knew that if he was to face the Lightning Blade halfhearted, it would be his doom. ”Amazing! So much power! It’s like a sword forged by lightning itself! Not just regular ki energy! I envy you, Mister Jie! Not only your super form, but this attack… But… Don’t think for a second you will defeat the Spirit Sword easily! Let’s see who will still be standing after this clash of energy blades!” Galen said in a rather excited tone. The human was feeling shivers running down his spine like crazy, as well as butterflies in his stomach! Unlike the last time they sparred, this time they were truly going all out.

As Jie Shan attacked, Galen responded by dashing forward against the lightning that was formed after he struck the air. ”Burn bright, Spirit Sword!” he shouted as he clashed against Jie’s thunder attack. Galen could feel the absurd pressure of the attack and, focusing all of his power onto that struggle, he managed to pour more energy onto his Spirit Sword, making it grow again in power and, for a moment, it seemed like he would be able to fight the Lightning Blade on equal grounds.

But that didn’t happen.

After a couple seconds struggling to hold his ground, it was clear Galen was about to lose his footing and the energy of the Spirit Sword was being drained at a very fast pace trying to keep up with Jie’s ultimate skill. ”AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” Galen screamed as he poured his soul onto that attack, but in the end, the Spirit Sword broke away and the lightning struck him like it was piercing right through his whole body. The shock was intense and painful, much more so than the Thunder Shock Surprise Cornatto used against him and the shock rendered him incapable of moving.

Smoke came out of his body as he stood there, electrocuted before falling back to the ground, apparently defeated. Galen couldn’t move because he was stunned and, right now, he was unconscious, but deep inside his mind and heart, he was still struggling. ”No! No! No! I can’t go down like that! Come on, body, don’t let me down!” he begged and, oddly enough, his ki refused to return to his base form, even though he was supposed to be out cold.