Chapter 5- The Fight

The dummy conjured the staff again, it still used the plant affinity. Damian tensed his body as the dummy sped towards him. It was not fast as before, he had really improved. Vines shot out from nearby trees towards his legs and Damian jumped with ease. The dummy levelled with him in midair and swung the staff in a mighty arc which was narrowly missed by Damian, who reacted with an equally powerful swing- which sliced the jaw of the dummy, that is if it had one. Damian had a sense of déjà vu, only this time it was directed at the dummy. The dummy began to attack Damian furiously. All of its attacks were easily avoided. Damian jumped again, this time, dodging sturdy-looking roots that came out of the ground just beneath him. He had already heard the vibrations caused by the roots moving unnaturally underground and already seen them coming. The dummy followed him yet again into the air but this time Damian, who had somehow predicted this, kicked the dummy on its chest so hard that it hit a massive oak tree meters away.

Payback!!, he triumphed in his head. He somersaulted and slid backwards as he landed on the forest floor. He heard hissing and twisted his body left as the veins crashed down, kicking dust into the air. The vines homed in on him as he ran in between trees zig-zagging all the way through. Damian made a U-turn and leapt in the air yet again and rotating horizontally, cut through the persistent vines. The rest were tangled and knotted around round trees, rendering them useless. Damian landed atop a short stout tree with a sigh, yards away the dummy climbed out of a depression(hole) in a giant oak tree stem. The dummy had a layer of mitra which varied depending on the level of difficulty the user chose. Damian on the other hand didn't even check the level of difficulty before training. The dummy had a bullseye somewhere on its body, the bullseye position was always changing and its visibility is compromised depending again on the difficulty(Beginner level always showed the bullseye and the above levels didn't).

Landing the first strike, Damian had already broken through a number of mitra layers without knowing. The last one broke when the dummy smashed into the oak tree. The dummy's eyes appeared and glowed ominously red- it was on the offensive, the bullseye has appeared, its defeat was eminent and it wasn't going down without a fight! A cylinder protruded from its chest- an energy cannon. The trees twisted and shook wildly as energy amassed in the cannon and a green substance swirled spirally at its tip- it was actually energy that had manifested in its plant variant form. Damian ran towards it as a low pitched sound rang throughout the forest. The energy ball from the cannon whistled towards it target. He leaned left as the ball came sizzling by, it burnt off a lock of his hair without even touching it, talk about a narrow miss. The ball still chased him as he continued to run towards the dummy. Damian slid in between its legs and threw his sword into the air. The dummy jerked backwards as the energy ball connected to its chest- it exploded, tearing apart its wooden body. Its body began to regenerate at an astounding speed and Damian was somehow unfazed, the only way to stop it was to hit the bullseye. He kicked off with all his might as the dummy lunged at him. Damian climbed up to level with the spinning sword in the air, as the dummy looked up at him, Damian kicked the sword with his heel. It slid effortlessly through the bullseye and even emerged behind its head- perfect!!.

The familiar white walls faded in as the dummy thumped on the floor. Damian was still amazed by how life-like it was, he proceeded to pull out the sword and the familiar pillar and sphere appeared. They melted slowly back into the floor as Damian deactivated them, he had had enough for today. He leaned back against one of the walls and slid down to a sitting position, he placed the sword against his side, rubbing the left index finger across it jagged side. Then closed his eyes, attempting to calm the adrenaline that coursed through his veins.

Shiny black metallic fur covered a ferocious muzzle, proud, bright magenta eyes shone at Damian. Khorpius looked pleased.

'You Are Progressing, Young One', commented Khorpius. Damian was very pleased with the comment as well as himself.

'But You Are Nowhere Powerful, Or Capable. A Long And Dangerous Journey Lies Ahead, Make Haste For The Accursed Grows!' He was still weak, that was a fact but he couldn't comprehend the latter.

'Mere Swordplay And Leaping Aren't Going To Guarantee Power, They Merely Polish Your Skill And Agility. I Shall Teach You Cultivation Through Meditation.' Damian beamed, finally he could attain powers.

'You Cannot Attain Something That Does Not Belong To You, You Can Only Attain And Use Your True Power And Potential.'

'That's the thing, I don't have any powers or abilities', retorted Damian.

Khorpius looked at Damian mysteriously and chuckled, 'Time Will Tell.' Damian dully noted the emphasis on 'Time'. It could be sooner than later or the other way round. The great wolf proceeded to leave a small sphere of light- a nimbus- in front of Damian.

'Upon Meditation It Will Enlarge In Size- Only Then Will You Know Your Progress.'

He immediately sat down and began to follow the instructions Khorpius gave on meditation and cultivations. The eerie and empty darkness around made it impossible for Damian to concentrate.

'Perhaps My Chosen Needs A Serene Environment', the darkness swirled and birthed a splendid cliff that sloped downwards to form a headlong, the starry night caressed with auroras of different hues that reflected on the calm glassy sea. The slow breeze ruffled Khorpius metallic fur and Damian's hair. Ever so slowly, he began meditating, the scenery made it quite easy. After what seemed like hours, the nimbus had increased but quite insignificantly-but Damian was not downhearted-he was happy, in fact he planned to meditate and stay with Khorpius a lot, and he could be locked for all eternity, Damian didn't actually care. After reading the manual, he found out about the magic channels that had mitra flowing through them around and in the Starlight that radiated from the mega sunbead in the ship's core room. If he could amass enough mitra and choke the channel that controls the WR's door, breaking out and escaping will be a piece of cake.

As days sped by, the nimbus grew in size- almost as big as Damian's fist, and it also grew brighter too. Progress was slow but was he still as happy as ever. He also sensed and saw movements in WR occasionally sometimes Lutz or Layla will bring his food, Captain and the others trained like he was never. Khorpius was still as mysterious and silent as ever. He spoke amusedly when giving Damian pointers.

* * *

It all happened so suddenly and frightfully, almost a nightmare!, not one that could scare Damian but still!!