***(Harald)
His eyelids quivered as they felt like they were forced open, but it was like opening an iron shutter with a single finger. The force was there, though extremely weak. It also felt weird on his eyes.
Slowly, he lifted it up, allowing light to enter his iris as everything took on a blurry sheen, a deluge of halation filled his vision as nothing could be seen with clarity. It was difficult to identify what he saw and also extremely disorienting, like his brain's cognitive ability was floating on a balloon into the stratosphere, he couldn't grab ahold of any of his thinking ability. Like his consciousness had evaporated.
His eyes then took a groggy shift, the physical discomfort jolting and sending more and more stimulation to his cloudy and fuzzy mind. Pangs of cranial pain permeate into his entire body, causing his eyes to open up to halfway, his view was more clearer than before but still too blurry, his tears stuck in his eyes. Then he exerted his physical strength, pushing himself above what he layed on, he could understand feel it now, the familiar sensation of the soft sheets under him.
This was the second time he felt comatose. He squinted his eyes tightly and brought his upper body up, pushing himself against the bed head to prop himself up. He opened his eyes fully, then wiped off the haziness obstructing his view.
"Ugh... Shit... How did I survive...?" (Harald)
Much better at it too, he recovered way quicker than when he was human. It felt more like a long long nap than an actual coma, he didn't feel any of the weakness that he did when he woke up from his initial coma a few weeks ago. His body actually seemed to have energy and he didn't have to drag it like a corpse. He could freely see, hear, smell and feel.
"What's happening...? " (Harald)
His memories weren't resistant though, they were still muddled from the impact to his body.
"Hup!" (Harald)
His body sprung up and he brought his legs off the bed to stand on the ground. To preserve the integrity of his body, the magic still regenerated his muscle mass back so he didn't look like some kind of frankenstein with both female and male parts, but that was only the major muscle groups.
His cells on a small scale were gradually being replaced everytime he regenerated from an injury with cells that could better conduct magic. His body would be able to regenerate faster from now on unlike a magical girl who's entire body is already converted from the transformation. But he still felt weird having his flesh replaced little by little.
"No... I'm losing mass, but not completely. Is the magic adapting to me as I adapt to it?" (Harald)
In the first place, there might be a limit to this magic flesh replacement phenomenon, or his body might resist it by building more muscle from moving faster and carrying more weight. After all, even magical girls can still train their muscles. So he as a human, who's body isn't optimised, might find it easier to train. He might even be able to train faster since he can take more strain with his magical powers, building tougher muscles faster with the regeneration.
As he got more optimised, this muscle building process might get closer. But he could resist it. There was a way out of the dark tunnel.
He looked to his side and the scabbard was still attached to him. He had been sleeping with a scabbard so one can only imagine how uncomfortable and awful his sleeping posture got. 'Uwah...' he groaned in his mind.
He had a feeling, perhaps a faint hope that he could live through that battle. The only thing that could save him then was a magical girl with healing powers... Or his scabbard. If someone fed it a large amount of magical particles, it would be able to save him. In other words... Galadyn either bought or stole some magic weapons and shoved it inside his scabbard, then transport him to an infirmary bed.
Well first, he would have to look for Galadyn and thank him... Then after that...
He exited the room and entered a long corridor, a servant who was quite a distance away saw him and brought him to an office looking room. Sure enough, Galadyn was inside, he owned the entire building. Unexpectedly, it was a primitive looking building built solely with concrete and practicality in mind. The hallways were easy to traverse and the rooms had mats to soften the experience on their feet, but that was it.
"Yo, looks like I kept you waiting." (Harald)
"Heh, indeed. Still I didn't expect you to only take one day. Exactly 1 hour on the dot. Guess that's what I can expect from my partner." (Galadyn)
Harald was given some robes which he had styled into his signature look. A tan brown robe with a hood wrapped around the top half of his torso down to some of his hip, concealing his scabbard and blade. His denim jeans had countless little scratches and tears, but they still fit comfortably to complete the look. His hair hadn't been cut in a long while, but they were style to the left side of his face. His fiery and reliable expression beamed at his partner.
Galadyn has similar black hair, but it was completely combed to the back save for one thick lock the swung down the centre. He looked like a noble from some otome game, his two piece suit looks sophisticated, but it was grey and made of cheap materials. It all came down to practicality and low cost for him, he made things look grandiose more than they actually seem. Even his baseless smile, it looked fragile yet it seemed to inspire a nonsensical confidence in those around him.
"You say that, but your servant was at the perfect place when I just woke up. You predicted this didn't you." (Harald)
"Hahah. Who can say? Anyway, I take it that this means-" (Galadyn)
"Yeah. I'm ready. I've got enough energy to meet a C grade now. Under that smoke, you stole every hidden magic weapon under the stars didn't you." (Harald)
"As expected... Don't you think it was amazing? A little smoke, a little help. All of them fell under my prowess. Though I had to kill some of them, tch.
Thankfully their allies are too much of a group of cowards to attack while you were out of commission. " (Galadyn)
He shifted to another side of his table, searching under a pile of papers as if he was fishing for treasure. He then presents them to his partner.
" You've finally found her? " (Harald)
They didn't need words to communicate on this subject. Galadyn gives him one final nod and even reveals another surprising information. He found Leman.
After equipping some items, together they moved out. While Harald was actively training and gathering energy, he wasn't doing nothing either. He had to source the items that they would use. Utilities, communication, combat. Name and something useful and he would likely have obtained it.
Galadyn's story wasn't anything special. He lost a family member so he strive for revenge. He understood that it was simple and that others might have went through something similar or worse. But this time, he would stake his livelihood and everything he had in his disposal.
He had a nice and small cozy mansion with his big sister and parents in Central. A family of 4 living comfortably off of being one of the first to build a restaurant chain. They expanded to other industries too, it seemed like the cash flow was gradually growing and they were already able to live a comfortable life if they became more modest about it. Life seemed to be going well until the rogue came. He hid under the bed when the rogue came, his sister sacrificed herself and pretended to be an only child. There were no family pictures around, those were all lost in The Great Disaster...
In this post Great Disaster world, memories easily fade things weren't immortalised so easily. There are no cameras, when family members died there was no longer a way to keep a picture to commemorate them. It was one of the less obvious consequences, but it made things unbearable for some to live. That included Galadyn who had lost his family in a single day.
If he hadn't met Harald who he could acknowledge as an equal, he fully understood that his personality could have turned out for the worse. But Harald taught him value, taught him that anything could be used in the right situation. He might become an obsessive hoarder now because of this, but he also view everything as things with their own unique value now.
It was only for a short while, but he felt that he gained so much. Harald had already developed discipline and his own set of righteous values from his days as a blacksmith, but his mind was especially prone to suffering from solitude. He was glad to have a friend that he could confide in, and that was enough. Galadyn was reliable and vital, he had saved Harald's life. A simple but momentous role.
Together, they arrived at their destination in no time.
"We've identified all of her hideouts. She was snaking around and had gathered treasures at multiple bases. Meaning if you go in you could still powerup. It's best to start off with stealing her treasure." (Galadyn)
He bared his greed under the sun, he isn't ashamed of his personality at all.
" Grasp everything that you can get your hands on. Then you can fight with all your heart, hehehehhahahah! " (Galadyn)
Harald whips out his blade, his fingers tightening around the handle. Compared to its surroundings, the hideout may be shabby but it was still much more intact than every house in the vicinity. The houses were practically ruins, collapsed over their supporting infrastructure and filling the roads with debris. Galadyn follows closely behind him but at a diagonal distance away.
" ... You're coming too?" (Harald)
"Of course." (Galadyn)
He won't care to dissuade the fragile human, for a similar fiery ember burns inside him. Together, they stormed through the entrance and a lone hooded figure stood there, waiting. She had long black hair that spilt out of the hood, covering her face, but fierce verdant green eyes glowed from underneath. She wore a black closed hoodie and some dark grey shorts. In her hand was a wooden bat with a few nails lodged into it.
She looked unexpectedly plain and was barefeet. Harald walked forward with Galadyn following behind.
"Don't worry about me, focus on killing." (Galadyn)
Harald nodded to his words without turning back. He eyes fixed firmly onto the magical girl in front of him. His cold sweat dripped down his back, it's low temperature sending a ticklish chill to his skin. He activates the energy residing in his blade, powering himself up to the level of a magical girl. The many days of training and gathering energy has been for this.
He leaps forward with his blade held close to his chest, pointing it straight forward. The girl vanishes...
He didn't even get to see her reappear, she was already in his peripheral vision! Her hammer inched closer to his face, ignoring his blade completely. He uses up most of the word's power in an attempt to give himself a final boost, spinning his entire body to make the sword face the bat. The bat's surface area gives her an advantage as she shoves it head on for a blunt strike while he could only defend with the flat side of his sword.
Sparks fly as the impact tosses his body against the wall, crashing into it with a thunderous boom as a small crater forms on his back. The walls crack and his bones rattle while his flesh screams. He groaned while lifting himself from the Harald-shaped hole in the wall. A few booming sounds resounded in the distance, they were the size of beans but they packed a punch. Galadyn was carrying basic magical explosives that were the size of small beans. They were kept in small paper packets of 5 as he threw entire packs at the Rogue.
Smoke filled their view as they detonate, Galadyn left a few packets on the ground as he retreated. If he got too close, he would be beheaded in no time. Despite having some magic gadgets and failsafes, they were not guaranteed to workout and that the best plan of action was to evade as a result. There's no benefit to testing his own tools in protecting his body against the enemy's magic, that would be meaningless.
With a single movement, the smoke split in half and blew away. While the rogue's strength did indeed help to push away the smoke with sheer air pressure... Her skill had a hand in it. Harald arrived out of nowhere, dealing a heavy swing at the rogue's back, which the rogue blocked by pivoting on her right leg and swinging a high kick at her back with her left. The sole of her foot landed on the blade with enough force that it made his wrist numb for a moment.
He couldn't ignore her, when the smoke enveloped everything, he had already...
All that's left to do is for him to fight, if he wanted Galadyn to have a higher chance of survival, he would have to distract the rogue. With such resolve, he parried her foot and readied himself for the next attack.