The unknown island: The guardian and its treasure

This journey took them longer than the previous ones since the island was further away than the others. Thanks to this they had plenty of time to train on the ship while the other crewmembers took over in nagivation. In that time Rina had learned how to use her magic at will and Arata trained in dual wielding to improve his accuracy. Furthermore, since the crewmembers just joined them on the previous island, it gave them plenty of time to be able to get to know each other and strengthen their bonds. Luckily, the townspeople were kind enough to give them more rations to cover this amount of people and when checking out his room he also found a large amount of money. It was a very kind gesture and one that would definitely be needed but on this island money was something that was their least concern.

They set foot on the island and stretched out. It was a medium sized island that was not named on any maps but was still shown. All that was visible was a forest and green grass. A place full of nature,’It doesn’t look like it would be inhabited. It’s a good break from all the towns and cities.’ Arata nodded,’That’s true, but we know that at least one person lives here.’ A guardian that was protecting the treasure. What the treasure was they did not know but they would soon find out,’Do you know where the treasure is?’ He shook his head,’Nope, all that’s marked on the map is the island itself. We will have to explore and find it ourselves. A small adventure is always nice.’ He then faced the remaining crewmembers,’Alright, you guys stay here and look after the ship. Don’t go in the forest. We don’t want to get split up when we don’t know what might be hiding among those trees.’ Arata and Rina were the strongest of the crew so it was obvious that they are the ones who should go. They don’t know how strong this guardian is and he didn’t want to risk losing any members.

The duo then stepped into the forest and walked onwards,’It’s so green here. Not even the forest back in Goa City was that green.’ He agreed,’With a scrapyard so close to it, I’m not surprised. If someone burned the scrap then the smoke would go towards the forest. With the addition of pollution from the town you have the result.’ They walked carefully avoiding any branches or roots that were in their way,’That’s quite sad. I think that if I was to settle down then there must be some green. Maybe it’s just because I’m a village girl but a big city feels like it’s suffocating me. Towns maybe a bit less since they are smaller and stuff but still.’ Since Arata wasn’t quite used to it himself he definitely agreed,’Well, at least while we are young towns and cities are the places to be. Villages would be better for older people since it’s calmer and quieter.’ She let out a sigh,’We certainly wouldn’t achieve much by going from village to village that’s for sure. The point of this journey is to explore all kinds of places too.’

They continued walking until Arata saw an apple tree. It was a forest so there was bound to be some kind of fruits growing in here but he didn’t expect apples,’You want an apple?’ She looked up and smirked,’As long as I don’t have to get it then I don’t mind.’ He let out a sigh and climbed the tree to get two apples and jumped back down to give one to Rina and he started eating the other one,’Finally, something different to canned food and fish.’ He too was slightly getting bored of such food but it was part of the journey,’Hmm…On the next island let’s stock up on some ingredients. Now that we have a fridge and kitchen on the ship we could cook food instead of having the same thing.’ She seemed happy at this,’That might be the best idea you’ve had so far.’ He chuckled and they finished eating their apples to continue walking.

Eventually, they reached the end of the forest or more like an opening. This was actually the dead centre of the forest. Immediately, what they saw was some kind of ruins. It was hard to tell what they used to be but they were definitely old,’Did someone use to live here?’ Arata inspected the bits that remained carefully,’Maybe, but this was definitely not a home. It resembles the type of architecture that a church or something would have. However, that wouldn’t make sense here. Maybe a castle then?’ Rina also looked around for a closer look,’Maybe this wasn’t always a forest either.’ It was impossible to tell for sure so they gave up on that and went in further. Since there wasn’t much left it didn’t take them long to see it all apart from one room. This space was more open, due to less rubble lying about, and in the middle of it all was a treasure chest on a pedestal. It must have been what they were looking for. Though none of them approached it. One piece of the puzzle was missing. The guardian. Behind the pedestal was a giant greatsword stabbed into the ground. It was easily at least twice his height. Behind the sword was what seemed to be a small room or what used to be one anyway. It has eroded and was full of holes but the square structure still stood.

Arata and Rina both armed themselves with their swords and carefully approached. Slowly, step by step they got closer to the pedestal. Suddenly, their advance was halted when they heard a loud howl. They backed away to where they were before and what seemed to be out of nowhere a giant gray wolf leaped out and took the sword with its jaw. The wolf was also abnormally giant and taller than Arata’s and Rina’s heights combined. The angry yellow eyes looked down at them. This was the guardian protecting a treasure. A giant wolf wielding a giant greatsword. Both of them became tense,’Lovely. I don’t know what I was expecting but definitely not a giant wolf! Be careful. This one is really strong.’ The wolf was growling the whole time. A natural hunter and in his territory, were two preys to be hunted. The odds were definitely against them. The giant wolf charged.

WC: 1,087

The both barely dodged the oncoming attack with a well time roll though Arata had it worse since the greatsword was on his side. At this point, dodging was their only salvation since blocking an attack with such pure force was impossible. They would be cut in half. Using the fact that he was now behind the wolf and to its right, the pirate launched a Sanjuroku Pound Ho at the torso of the wolf. The attack did some damage but it was mostly effective at making the wolf even angrier. The gray giant charged at him and using the sword he unleashed a downward slash. Arata dodged the attack as best as he could but just the sheer force of the sword slamming the ground his right side was cut and he was pushed back into a tree.

With the opportunity at hand, Rina used the fact that the wolf was now focused on her Captain so she circled the wolf to get behind him and slash at its hind legs. She got in a good few hits before the wolf got angry. He wouldn’t be able to get there in time so instead he used his Kenbunshoku Haki to predict the wolfs next move,’Drop to the ground!’ From where the sword was dug into the ground the wolf pulled it out and did a 180 degrees spin with the sword being the main focus of the attack. If Rina hadn’t dropped to the ground then she would have been missing a head at this point.

Arata, who now recovered from the previous attack, started moving again and re-joined the battle,’Keep moving! Circle it.’ The wolf was using the sword as it’s weapon and since it was wielding it with its jaw then it’s range wasn’t perfect. By circling it the wolf would have a harder time to aim its attacks. The pirate now found himself on the wolfs right side so he launched a horizontal Yakkodori and its legs. The slash wounded the wolf causing it to attack. With its right front paw, the wolf slammed it down trying to crush Arata. He wouldn’t be able to dodge in time with normal means but instead he fired a Sanjuroku Pound Ho at the ground to propel himself backwards just out of range. After the paw hit the ground, the pirate would leap and stab both his swords into the paw.

The aim of his battle was not to win but to immobilise the wolf. That way the battle would hopefully stop. Rina, who was on the left side of the wolf, turned into her Nephilim form and flew at the wolf’s jaw. She imbued her left fist with blue flames and punched the jaw. In this form, she was much stronger so the impact of the punch plus the fire was bound to hurt. She followed this up with a sword slash and then backed away to shoot a few fireballs at it. The power was not originally hers so she would probably never be able to use its full potential but she had some degree of control of the flames.

In this situation, ranged energy attacks were their best bet as it let them keep their distance and it hurt their enemy. However, they wouldn’t be able to keep this up forever. Eventually, they would get tired or make a mistake. He was the reason that they came here so they all had to make it out alive. While Rina kept it distracted it was time to make his move. He raised both his swords above his head and then swung them in a circular motion. It was the same move as he did using one sword but with two swords it was twice as powerful. This time he aimed it at the torso instead of the legs. It was simply a bigger area to hit. The wolf then turned to him to swing at him but he ran and slid under the wolf. It was an area where the sword could not reach him. This would give him time to slash away at the legs while Rina kept it busy. By himself this wouldn’t have been possible.

Arata got a few slashes at its front legs before the wolf jumped away and moved making both of them to be in front of it. At least from this little expedition he discovered that the wolf was actually a female. The wolf charged at them so Rina quickly picked him up and flew up where they could not be reached. She was always the agile type and that was even more so when she had wings,’I’m going to throw you at it. Get ready.’ He sheathed both his swords but held onto one of them. Rina then did a 360 spin in the air and threw him straight at the wolf. With his strength and the additional momentum the attack should be pretty effective. When Arata got in range he unsheathed his sword and slashed the right side of the wolf’s torso. The wolf whimpered from the attack and lost grip on the sword while Arata backed away. He was getting pretty tired from all the running around and energy attacks so it must have been the same for Rina since her stamina was lower than his.

The wolf was no longer fully gray but now its fur was stained red around his legs and torso. There were also patches of black fur from all the fire. It was such a shame that they had to fight it. The wolf was probably one of its kind. It was definitely a beautiful wolf,’Let’s retreat!’ He shouted as Rina came down to him and reverted to human form,’Good idea.’ He could see that she was out of breath too so it was the perfect time for a retreat. The wolf didn’t stay down for long, only a few brief moments, before it picked up the sword again and was ready to continue. Even though it seemed like it had lots of wounds, in truth for its size they were very minor and only the one on its torso was more severe. If they kept wounding it bit by bit then it would eventually tire out too.  They however, had different plans and ran back towards the forest.

WC: 1,057
Nanajuni Pound Ho: 1,057/250

By the time they returned to the ship it was almost evening. They’ve only been on the island for a mere few hours and they already got into a fight. Their bodies were full of minor cuts but luckily there were no major ones and apart from the fact that they were tired from all that running around they were just fine. The crew members were all spread out in smaller groups doing their own thing. Some were just plainly drinking, some were playing cards and betting, some were cleaning the ship while some enjoyed idle conversation,’Oh, you guys are back! How did it go?’ One of the crewmembers asked and Arata let out a sigh,’As you can see, we return empty handed. However, there is certainly some kind of treasure there. Guarded by a giant wolf but still.’

They were all surprised to hear that since wolves could get pretty big but being a ‘giant’ meant that it was one of its kind,’Did you fight it?’ This time it was Rina who let out a sigh,’We did, but we ended up retreating. It is no easy opponent. We might not even be strong enough to beat it.’ The pirate then asked,’You guys eaten already?’ They shook their head,’Nah, we were waiting for you guys to come back.’ He smiled,’I see. Thanks. I’ll make dinner then.’ They started heading up into the ship,’I’ll take a shower while you do that then. Then I can finish off making dinner while you shower. We need to keep our wounds clean and we don’t want to use our supplies on minor cuts so this is the best way. Deal?’ He nodded,’Sounds good. Just leave some hot water for me.’

The duo split up and did as was said. Dinner was cheerful as usual with everyone joking and messing around. Arata and Rina were now used to the bigger number of people eating with them so everyone enjoyed themselves. They were a fun bunch. Eventually, night came and everyone went to sleep. Apart from one person. Arata sat on the steps to the quarterdeck and sipped on his hot cup of tea while thinking about what happened today. They escaped with no major injuries but the same couldn’t be said for the wolf. It was very likely that it would be weakened for their next encounter. However, that didn’t make it any less formidable. He couldn’t get the rest of the crew involved either so it was something that the two of them had to do.

His train of thought was then interrupted by the sound of someone approaching,’You still up? What are you thinking about?’ It was none other than Rina. She sat beside him and looked at him,’The wolf.’ She was probably thinking about it too hence the reason to her being awake,’I see. What have you thought of then?’ He let out a sigh,’I don’t know. I don’t want to kill it but it won’t let us do anything without a fight either. That’s why the best solution would be to make it unable to fight. We need a strategy but it seems that the best option is to do the same as today.’ She listened quietly and then looked up into the stars,’Indeed, it is a hard opponent. Sneak attacks won’t work. It can probably hear and smell us from here. I think that the next time we fight it we need to push it as much as we can. It’s very strong but I think that it is quite old. It must have lived here when the castle or whatever was still in one piece. The problem is that its stamina is still much more than ours.’

He nodded,’That’s why we need to aim for its feet. If it can’t walk then it can’t fight. Hmm…I might have an idea though I don’t know if I can pull it off.’ She looked at him intrigued,’I’m listening.’ Arata took another sip before speaking,’If we can get it to drop its greatsword then I might be able to use it against itself. If it’s only one swing then it should be possible.’ Rina looked at him surprised,’Well..that’s one way to do it but after battling it for who knows how long you will be tired. If it comes down to it then we can swing it together. With my demon strength, it should be more than enough to wield it together. However, I can only keep my form for somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes.’

It would definitely be hard to pull off but it wasn’t impossible. She then took his cup of tea and sipped it. Nights could get pretty chilly so he didn’t mind,’Anyway, we should go to sleep. We can plan all we want but in the heat of battle things won’t go our way. As long as we have an objective I think that’s good enough.’ She was right. A lot could happen in a battle and they haven’t seen the full potential of the wolf yet. Anything could happen. He nodded,’Alright, we need our energy.’

The next morning, a bit after breakfast they headed out into the ruins again. This time the wolf was right there in plain sight. It was waiting for them because it knew they would come back. It didn’t look like it’s wounds healed but at least on its front legs it tried to lick the blood off its fur since it couldn’t reach the other places. The wolf got up, sword in jaw, and the yellow eyes looked down at them. He let out a sigh,’No choice.’ He armed himself with two swords and Rina took her demon form. They couldn’t retreat anymore. If this was a test then they had to prove the worth. Though the question was: is the treasure worth fighting for?

WC: 974

The battle started once again but this time they took the initiative as Arata ran at the wolf while Rina took flight. Since the wolf was wounded then aiming for those wounds would make increase its pain. He began circling the wolf but their opponent was now also familiar with their strategy. That’s why this time the wolf was much more aggressive and swung its sword whenever it had the chance. This made dodging much harder than it should have been and not only for him but for Rina too. She was trying to limit herself to physical attacks in order to extend the time she could use her powers for. However, the more it would swing the faster it would tire out which was good for them. The wolf may have been fast but because of the greatsword it was much slower. Furthermore, one thing that he noticed is when the wolf was moving it was slightly limping on it’s right front paw. The same one that he stabbed in their previous battle.

When he got to the wolfs right side he set eyes on his target: the big stab wound from yesterday’s jump attack. Arata launched a Yakkodori at the wound but quickly followed with a thrust attack. The force behind the thrust broke the wave and made it split into several smaller waves. This meant less damage but over a wider area. Unfortunately, the wolf turned around and blocked some of it with its sword so it only ended up getting hit near the rear. The angry wolf then did a swipe attack with its left paw from the left to the right. Arata dodged it by rolling the left but that was what the wolf wanted as it followed up with a horizontal swing. He had no time to dodge so the only option left to him was to block. He held out and crossed his swords to brace himself for the oncoming attack. He was sent flying a good couple of metres into the forest. His arms were numb from the pain and a large horizontal wound appeared on the mid of his torso. Luckily, no vital organs were hit and it felt like his ribs were broken but he couldn’t be sure of that.

The wolf then focused on Rina by squatting her like a fly with its tail making her fall to the ground. Before she could get up the giant enemy made its next move by raising its left paw and trying to crush her. However, she wouldn’t let herself be crushed so she stabbed the sword into its paw and cloaked it in blue flames to be more effective while with her other spare limbs she was trying to push back the paw. It was definitely a hard struggle but eventually the wolf gave out. There was nothing more painful than flames burning your flesh. As soon as she had the chance, the demon girl flew up out of range to get her breath back.

Arata got up and ran back to the fight. Since he was able to do so it meant that his ribs weren’t broken but it was simply the impact of the attack that he was feeling. When in range, he swung both his swords to unleash a Nanajuni Pound Ho at the wolf’s head which made it flinch and create an opening. The duo acted as quickly as it could and cut both of its legs with their swords. The wolf jumped back away from them. At least 5 minutes have passed since the start of the battle meaning that Rina’s magic would run out soon and they were nowhere near the end of fight. In the first place, he knew that beating the wolf in 10 minutes was impossible.

They couldn’t waste any more time idle. The wolf charged at them and they dodged in opposite ways. Arata went to the left and Rina went to the right and slashed at the wolf's sides. The giant opponent quickly did a 360 spin with its sword and blew them away. Luckily, they managed to just block in time but that wasn’t near enough to prevent being wounded. Blood ran down Arata’s forehead while he coughed up some blood and the wound on his chest started bleeding even more. Meanwhile, Rina received several bigger cuts all around her body. This once again created some distance between them.

The wolf then focused on Rina, as the weaker opponent, and swung at her with the sword. However, surprisingly it used the flat blunt side instead of the sharp edges. She wasn’t able to dodge in time and was hit by the attack sending her flying into the tree. Her demon form wore off and she lost consciousness. It was all up to him now. He fired a Sanjuroku Pound Ho at the wolfs head to get its attention. The wolf turned to face him,’I’ll be your opponent now,’ he said so pointing his sword at the giant beast. The wolf nodded its head and he activated his Kenbunshoku Haki. If he held back now then he would surely die. It was all or nothing.

The fierce battle raged on as both sides showed no signs of giving up. Arata stuck to his strategy and kept moving at all times to make himself a harder target. The wolf also kept up his assault at all times. As the battle went on, more wounds appeared on the pirate and now he had even more smaller cuts and even new larger cuts across his left shoulder, torso and right thigh. Especially, the wound on his thigh made him slow down a bit and thanks to the blood loss he was getting dizzy. Furthermore, from going all out and using his Haki he was really tired. The battle would have to end very soon if he wanted to stop it. Overall, the battle was going on for around 20 minutes now and Rina has been out for about 10 minutes or so.

The wolf was also full of wounds and there was practically no body part that did not have wound on it. With all those wounds, even the giant enemy was beginning to get tired. Both of them were resolved to win. His opponent then swung his sword and Arata was unable to dodge due to the positioning of him, the wolf and the trees. He was forced to block it and sent flying into the forest. Some trees fell because of this and both of his swords broke from the impact of the greatsword. He lay there on the ground and coughed up some blood. He no longer had a weapon to fight back with, his body was screaming out in pain and he was tired. He felt that was the end of the battle. He turned off his Haki to preserve some stamina while the wolf waited for him.

Eventually, he raised himself to his feet and staggered along towards the wolf. His vision was blurry but it was hard to miss something so big right in front of him. They both stared at each other. A hand was the placed on his shoulder. It seemed that Rina was up now and joined his side,’You need to finish this.’ She said so as he felt heat enter his body and spread throughout it. She must have transferred her magic to him. Magic in its purest form was simply energy and even his body had energy in it though in the form of Haki. He felt energy fill his body though it wasn’t much. Just enough for one last ditch effort. The wolf didn’t seem to believe that would help them so it simply stood still,’Thanks. I’ll need your help. Prepare yourself.’

Rina stood back while Arata headed into battle again. As best as his body allowed him, he jumped up onto the greatsword and ran up it towards the wolf's head. Naturally, the wolf tried to get him off but when he was near enough Arata jumped and punched the wolf in its right eye. The wolf cried out in pain and sword fell out its jaw. Unlike a human, the wolf couldn’t rub his eyes or even hold it closed. It just had to deal with the pain. This was their opportunity. As soon as Arata’s feet reached the ground he and Rina headed straight for the greatsword. Although it wasn’t easy, they picked it up and readied for an attack. Their bodies and wounds screamed in pain under the weight of the sword but all the needed was one swing.

The duo brought the sword to their left and swung it horizontally at the wolfs front legs. The attack was successful and as soon as it was done they dropped the sword, unable to carry it any longer. The wolf fell to the ground due to its legs not being strong enough to support it anymore. Rina supported Arata to help him stand. The battle was over. They managed to immobilise their enemy and put the fight to an end. They didn’t have much time to celebrate as Arata’s vision got worse and worse until all faded to black and he fell to the ground.

WC: 1,547

When he regained consciousness, the first thing that he saw was Rina’s face. Under his head was a soft feeling unlike the feeling of the hard ground that used to be some ruins. He smirked,’I could get used to this.’ She chuckled,’Don’t count on it. This is a one off. Unless you will keep on nearly dying to try and get another lap pillow.’ He let out a sigh,’How long have I been out?’ His body still hurt from all the wounds but not as much as before. She shrugged at the question,’More than an hour I guess.’ Arata raised himself to see that his wounds have been treated and so have Rina’s,’I brought the crew here to get us patched up. You really are reckless.’

Upon looking around, everything was still the same. The wolf was still in the same spot that the fight ended in and there was only the two of them here. The other crewmembers must have gone back to the ship,’You did well for a human,’ suddenly a voice appeared in his head. There was only three of them here though. He looked to Rina,’Did you hear that?’ She looked at him weirdly,’No?’ He looked at the wolf but doubted it. Wolves couldn’t talk or any animals for that fact. The voice continued,’Why have you come here?’ Arata then decided to answer,’We were told there is some kind of treasure here so we came to check it out.’ The wolf opened its left eye and looked at him,’What kind of treasure?’ He shrugged,’We weren’t told that.’ Rina looked at him surprised,’Who are you talking to?’

He turned to her,’The wolf. I can hear it in my head.’ She didn’t really understand but went with it. Thanks to his Haki he was able to perceive and hear things that normal people wouldn’t. That must have been why he could hear the wolf,’Why are you here?’ The wolf let out a sigh,’My name is Sif. I am not from this world. I come from a world of magic. In that world, once upon a time there was a great king. That king was a great warrior but also a powerful mage. His kingdom grew and grew as time passed. Everyone loved him and saw him as the perfect king, not because of his strength but because of his personality and values. However, all of that came to an end one day. He was betrayed by his own kind and civil war erupted. A lot of the kingdom was destroyed and the castle was under siege. It all ended with the king’s death. That king was my master. I am not exactly a normal wolf either. To save my life the king enchanted me with magic causing me to grow to this size over time and giving me a lifespan longer than any could imagine. Upon his death, I protected his body and got rid of any that tried to defile it. Ever since then I’ve been protecting this place until one day I was transported to this world. My duty did not change. I protected this place from any intruders.’

It was a sad story. Sif was a truly loyal wolf. It must have been painful to see his master die but more than that Sif had to live and see the kingdom that his king put all his life into fall. Living such a long time must have been a heavy burden. He could only feel pity and no words would help,’I see. We don’t have anything to do with your master, obviously. I promise that we will leave as soon as we get the treasure. Do you know what it is?’ The wolf answered,’My king’s treasures are underground but even though I have no use for them, I will not hand them over.’ Arata then pointed at the chest placed on a pedestal,’What about that?’ Sif looked at the treasure chest,’That? Hmm, if I remember correctly some pirates left that behind after I scared them off. I do not know what it is but you can have it. It doesn’t hold any value to me.’ He nodded and thanked the wolf.

Arata motioned to Rina to come with him and they stood in front of the chest. It had no lock on it and it was just an ordinary wooden chest. He slowly opened the chest and looked inside. There was only one thing in the chest. It was an irregularly shaped fruit. It was orange in colour and had a pattern of small flames,’A Devil Fruit.’ He said so without thinking. This was one of the rarest treasures one could find and it was definitely worth more than any kind of trinket or jewel. Rina looked at it a bit worried,’Is this the treasure we came for? Sure, it will give you a lot of power but you won’t ever be able to swim again. You should think it over properly.’ She said so with doubt on her face and voice.

She was right. Once he ate it there was no coming back. Only death would separate him from the Devil Fruit. He picked up the fruit and looked at it in thought,’You really don’t need to do it. I think you are strong enough as it is. There were also many famous strong pirates that didn’t have a Devil Fruit. To me you don’t need to change one bit.’ He shook his head,’I’m weak. Look at the past two battles. We’ve almost died on both. If I want to protect you and the rest then I need to get stronger. I need more power. Besides, you gave up a part of your humanity to protect me. As the Captain, it only makes sense for me to do the same.’ She looked saddened by this,’Are you sure? If you eat it, we won’t be able to go on beach dates.’ Rina said so trying to lighten the mood but it was clear she was concerned for him. Arata let out a chuckle and smiled at her,’There are plenty of better places to have a date at. Besides, if I wanted to see you in underwear then I can do that anytime I want. Though, yes not being able to swim would suck and you will have to save me every time I fall in water so that I don’t drown. However, think of it this way. Now that there is magic and other kinds of forces in this world, there might be a way to lessen that. Only if temporarily but it’s still something,right?’

Rina nodded,’If you made up your mind then I won’t try to change that. Do what you believe is right. Like always.’ She stood back and let him make his decision. Arata looked at the fruit,’If it means that I will be able to save the people most important to me then I don’t mind.’ He bit into it and instantly gagged. There was nothing in the world that could taste any worse than this. It literally tasted worse than dog crap. Although, he didn’t know what that tasted like it was probably a fair comparison. His face was that of utter disgust but he had to eat it. Bite by bite he somehow ate it but that might have been harder than any battle so far. Rina and the wolf both looked at him as he ate it,’And? Do you feel any different?’ He looked at himself,’No…It doesn’t feel like anything has changed.’ Maybe he ate it wrong or something? He didn’t know.

It was then that it hit him. It felt like a sword stabbed him in the gut and heat exploded all over his organs. They were literally burning. It was really painful. Steam started coming off his body until his body too caught on fire. He fell to his knees and needed to support himself with his hands. It felt like a new energy was being born inside of him and the flames were the result of that. This must have been his new power. Now it made sense why the fruit had flame patterns on it. He did feel a bit disappointed though. How could he protect someone using flames which were supposed to destroy?

WC: 1,380

Mera Mera fruit obtained

The burst of flames quickly faded and Arata felt ‘normal’ again. He stood up and looked at the two. Rina was the first to speak,’Are…Are you alright?’ He looked over himself,’Yes, I’m fine. I didn’t get a single burn or anything. Amazing.’ She was surprised at this but accepted it. He didn’t blame her. Anyone who saw someone burst into flames and came out completely fine would be shocked,’How do you feel?’ He thought for a second,’Hmm, I feel normal, I guess? The outburst was unpleasant and I felt like I would burn but now I feel like I did before I ate it. No noticeable differences.’ She listened with clear relief,’I see. That’s good then.’

Arata then looked to Sif,’Thank you. I will surely use this new power for a good cause. I think that we will stay on the island a bit longer to heal up and stuff, but we won’t be bothering you anymore. Will you be fine on your own? Do your wounds need to be looked at?’ The giant wolf just closed its and let out a sigh,’I will be fine. It will take quite some time but I will heal by absorbing the magic particles in the atmosphere.’ He nodded,’I see. Take care then.’ The duo then left to go back to the ship.

Upon arriving, they were greeted by cheers from everyone. They must have been worried too after they saw them in that state but now only signs of excitement and happiness could be seen,’Hey, thanks for the help. Once again, you guys save the day.’ He said so with a smile. Even though they didn’t participate in the fight, they also made a very important contribution. They did what they could and that’s what mattered. That was enough for him.

After they were all done with the greetings and stuff, Arata walked up to the shore while Rina stood beside him,’Let’s get this over with.’ He rolled up his trousers to knee length and took of his shoes and socks. The pirate stepped into the water which was up to his ankles. He didn’t feel much different apart from the fact that he felt like he had a block on his powers. He stepped in further and further very slowly. When the water was up to his knees, it was then that it hit him. He felt his strength being slowly drained from him and he couldn’t move. This quickly lead to him losing his balance but Rina caught him and pulled him back to shallower water,’Is it really that bad?’ He got better in shallower water but land was the best for him now,’Until knee height it isn’t actually too bad. After that though, my strength just starts to get drained and I can’t move.’ She looked a bit saddened by this,’It will take some time to get used to, I guess.’ He nodded,’It sure will.’

He then headed to a more open space a small distance from the ship,’Well, I got these new powers. I need to learn how to control them.’ Rina moved away some distance but kept watching. First things first, he needed to learn how to actually bring out his power and control it. Arata then got into a meditation stance and began clearing his thoughts. Much like Haki, a Devil Fruit had a kind of energy that he would need to draw out. That was simpler said than done though. It took him a while to accomplish it but eventually he managed to change his body into flames but it was in random places.  If he wanted to use it in a fight he had to be able to turn any part of his body into flames at will.

He kept ‘turning’ it off and on but still he didn’t have more success,’How do I make this work?’ He looked at his right hand. He tried to focus on it to redirect his energy there. Arata closed his eyes and lo and behold his arm set on fire up to his elbow. He opened his eyes and looked at it,’Where there’s a will there’s a way, huh?’ It took him a good 30 minutes to be able to do that. The pirate then got up and did the same with his left arm. He punched his fists together,’It’s on!’ Being a man, he couldn’t help but be excited at this new power he wielded. Any guy would like to wield flames or lightning and he was lucky enough to get one of those elements.

He began punching the air with his flame infused hands. It probably didn’t make his punches any stronger but it would burn his opponent so that was still a plus. This was only the beginning. As time would pass he will develop his own techniques to suit him. It would be at that point that there would be a big difference. He then did the same with his legs and tried out some combo techniques. He did this for about two hours before Rina came up to him,’You should rest. You haven’t fully healed yet.’ Arata returned his body to normal and nodded,’You’re right. I have plenty of time to learn about my new powers.’ In order to be able to move to more intense trainings his body had to be fully healed.

Later during the night, Arata did the same as the previous and laid on the quarterdeck with his legs going down the steps and his feet being on the deck. His hands were supporting the back of his head as he looked up at the stars. Once again Rina came out and sat beside him,’Here again?’ He answered,’Yea, it’s been quite a day.’ She smiled,’Another obstacle that we’ve overcome.’ He looked at her,’And many more to come. On the bright side though, matches or candles won’t ever be a problem again.’ He said so as he raised his right hand and set his fingertips on fire before he returned them to normal,’Just don’t set the ship on fire. I won’t help you if that happens.’ He let out a sigh,’I’ll try.’

Arata then told her about Sif and what they talked about. She couldn't hear it so he thought he should at least tell her. This was then followed by silence,’So… You have your beach right here. The sun is down but at least no one is around and the stars are just as good I would say.’ He said trying to tease her a bit but at the same time he was a bit curious as to why she would mention dates at such a time. It was like her to tease him a bit about male-female relations but she never mentioned any dates or anything. They did care a lot about each other but he wouldn’t say they were at that stage yet. Rina blushed at his statement,’Idiot. It seems that in addition to the curse of the seas you are cursed with bad timing as well.’ He just couldn’t pass the opportunity,’Heroes do tend to be late after all,’ he said so with a smirk. She let out a small laugh,’You really are an idiot.’ Arata then sat up and let out a yawn,’I’m tired. I think it’s a good time to sleep. You should rest too. You did get hurt along with me. Don’t push yourself too much. Good night.’ Rina nodded,’I won’t. I’m going to sleep too. Good night.’

WC: 1,246

Mera Mera fruit D rank: 1,246/250

The next morning, some of his minor wounds were better but his body was still quite sore from the fight. At least his fatigue was gone so it wouldn’t stop him from training. He went about his morning as he usually would and was then excited to train more and learn what he could do with his new powers. He started off by asking his crewmembers about the fruits previous users. Arata was raised in a small village so usually they big news would reach him but there was a lot he didn’t know about the famous pirates and the world in general. However, his crewmembers used to be mercenaries so they were bound to know more than him.

It was a lot of information so it took him quite a while to process everything. The fruit that he had obtained was called Mera Mera fruit. Apparently, the first known user was the person known as Portgas D. Ace. He was known as ‘Fire Fist’ Ace because of one of his signature techniques going by the same name. Arata was told about some of the other abilities Ace used but they were rumours as his crewmembers have never met him or anything. After Ace’s execution, it was his brother Sabo, one of the top Revolutionaries, that took over the fruit but the extent of his abilities was unknown. Due to the Great Flash, Sabo disappeared and the fruit returned into circulation. That was the case with all the other Devil Fruits it seemed. What would happen if all those people came back? Would they regain the powers while the new users lost them? Or would they become ‘normal’ again? No one knew that and probably wouldn’t find out. Coming to present day, the fruit now belonged to Arata. Surely, he would attract a lot of attention just by having this fruit due to its previous owners. However, it didn’t matter how its owners used the fruit because he had to figure it out for himself to suit his own needs.

Arata then began his training by going over what he learned yesterday and made sure he was used to it. It was a requirement before he moved onto the next stage anyway. When he was ready he thought about what to do next. The power of a Devil Fruit depended on how one used its powers but even so it was clear that the Mera Mera fruit was mostly an offensive power. This meant that in terms of defence he would mostly have to rely on his own skills like the sword styles. Maybe that was for the better too. He didn’t want to rely too much on his Devil Fruit. It was supposed to enhance his current abilities and not change his fighting style completely.

Since he could set any part of his body on fire it would be most useful in hand to hand combat. He could also set his swords on fire by touching them but he would have to touch the blade itself or the hilt would get damaged. Furthermore, currently he had no swords to try this out with since they were broken in the fight with Sif. He tried out a few things like doing an elbow and once the motion was completed a stream of fire would come out of his elbow, a fiery roundhouse kick and a flaming tackle. Maybe if he timed the fire right he could find ways to damage the opponent but it would depend largely on the situation at hand. At least now he would be able to fight better when it came to hand to hand combat. He would always be a swordsman first but at times like these he also needed to how fight back without them.

Arata then wanted to move on to something more concrete so he stepped closer to the sea away from the ship so that nothing was in the way. Aiming for the forest was also a bad idea so he would have to do without a target and just aim wherever. Being a fire user, he did the first thing a fire user would do. He made a fireball in his hands and threw it like a cricket ball,’Hmm…Lame.’ For his next try he simply pointed his right palm outwards and fired a firebolt out of it,’That’s more like it.’ The pirate did this a few more times. When it came to attacks like these, they didn’t use up much stamina but they weren’t very effective either. They would probably be best as a distraction or a tactical situation.

Before he continued, the pirate took a rest as to not strain his body too much. He wasn’t even tired but he wanted to take it easy. If he went too far his wounds would open up again resulting in taking more time to heal. Once he was ready again there was something he wanted to try. He chose to do this on the sand since he didn’t want to burn the grass. This time Arata would focus on his feet. He turned his feet into fire and with a blast of flames launched himself up into the air. This would let him reach much greater heights than with a normal jump. The only problem was the falling part. If he simply fell straight down like that then he would most likely break his legs along with some other parts. That’s why he developed a way for this to work. After the initial blast of flames faded, Arata used his hands and feet as ‘propellers’ due to the fire. This let him stay in the air longer and eased his fall. It was perfect though in combat situation he would have to use it in short intervals which would dramatically reduce its effect. It couldn’t be called proper flight but it was something.

He would then move on to the offensive again. Due to the reputation of the previous fruit owners, a measly fireball wasn’t enough. What will he do? Arata decided that he would carry on the Mera Mera legacy. He faced the sea once again and turned his fist into fire. He punched the air and launched a pretty big column of fire that covered a decent distance. Fire Fist. This technique was a must if he was going to be using the fruit. However, he wasn’t entirely satisfied with it. This was Ace’s technique. He wanted to personalise it to give it his own style. He prepared to use the technique once again. However, this time he gathered additional flames on his hands and shaped it like a lion’s head. That was the symbol of his crew. That was what suited him the best. When he launched it again the front of the column made it seem as if a fiery lion was coming at someone.

The next ability that he was going to try was Hidaruma. If there was one tactical technique he would have it would be this. The delay between the release and the actual attack could make for quite some good timing and an element of surprise. First, he put his hands together and from his palms a large number of small fireballs was released. With a click of his fingers all of those small fireballs exploded into a decently sized fire. Who would suspect something that looks like harmless fireflies? Sure, it wasn’t as powerful as the Fire Fist but he felt like it was decent. However, from this point on he wanted to develop his own techniques. He didn’t want to do everything at once either since nothing good would come out of that. These two techniques, being stronger, drained more stamina along with the use of his Devil Fruit and possibly Haki he would get tired very quickly. The next step was clear. He had to do some intense training to strengthen his body.

For now, that would conclude his training of the Devil Fruit. He looked around to find his inseparable companion. She had been training in her demon form all that time that he had been training his power. She probably wanted to extend the time that she could use the power for. He didn’t exactly know how these magic circuits worked but forcing them probably wasn’t a good idea either. That means that the best way to increase her magic power and stamina would be to join him in his training. If her body became stronger, then she would likely be able to store more magic power and he wasn’t 100% sure but maybe stamina also played a part of her time limit. Either way it would do her well. The problem was what kind of training should they do? Just doing random training probably wouldn’t get them anywhere. They would need a good system and a goal. Their resources were pretty limited too since the island didn’t have any civilisation and the things that they had on the ship were not suited for training in any way.

WC: 1,510

Mera Mera fruit C rank: 1,510/1,500

For the next three days, Arata took it easy to let his body recover and most of his wounds were gone now. Only a few minor ones remained that were major wounds when he received them. However, he wasn’t just sitting on his ass for three days straight. He and Rina were discussing on what their training should consist of. Once again, he reached out to the knowledge of his crewmembers for some information. He found out that there was a fighting style called Rokushiki which would only be obtained by training one’s body to superhuman levels. It sounded like the perfect thing for him now. The only problem was that this fighting style was used by an organisation called CP9, a part of the World Government, and therefore associated with the Marines. But who would stop him from learning it? Just because this fighting style originated from the CP9 didn’t mean only they could use it.

Weighted training would be very useful but unfortunately, they didn’t have such a luxury. Their main focus would be strength and stamina training so they thought of as many exercises as possible to substitute the lack of weights. This would be accompanied by many spars between themselves but also the whole crew vs one of them. Although his ultimate aim was the Rokushiki, this was not the case for Rina. She was weaker then him and therefore her limits where different to his. That’s why she would be doing the same training as him but at her own level. That was for the best since if she pushed herself too far her muscles might not take it and lead to injury. That is something he didn’t want.

They started off with a simple warm up and then moved on to the planned exercises. Being responsible, they started off ‘easy’ and increased the intensity as they went. Their bodies would take it better that way and make it the safest as possible. This was supposed to be superhuman training so they would definitely need to push themselves to their limits but just like in a fight going all out from the beginning would just exhaust them. That’s why they tried to make it as efficient and systematic as possible.

Their exercises consisted of the generic push ups, sit ups, laps from one end of the island to the other. Even though they were ‘generic’ they were proven to be effective so there was no reason not to do them and besides with the number of repetitions they did it would surely make a difference. After a long while, they took a break before moving onto the spars. The spars were mostly hand to hand combat since he didn’t have his swords and this was supposed to be body training therefore this was the way it supposed to be. However, they weren’t quite normal spars as Rina used her magic and he used his Devil Fruit. Obviously, they were holding back to not injure and kill each other but other than that they were giving their best.

After they were done with the spars, they moved on to doing exercises. This time they were more advanced and ones that were rarely used by normal people. They took turns to make sure that the other was doing the exercise properly since they haven’t done them before. Due to this it took more time but it made sure it was effective. Being done with this, they moved onto fighting again but this time they did one vs whole crew. That way there was more pressure on them and the whole crew got something out of it. He encouraged the other crewmembers to start training too and make good use of their time if they wanted to get involved in future battles.

The cycle then restarted after they took another break. They did cycle two or three times until in one of their spars Rina tripped over and fell right into him making him lose his balance. Arata ended up on the ground with her laying on top of him. Both were pretty tired by this point so he let out a chuckle,’We are going to be so sore tomorrow.’ Rina let out a sigh,’Ugh,I’m not looking forward to it. Maybe if I don’t get out of bed I won’t feel it as much.’ He let out a sigh too,’No skipping after only the first day. You’ll have to put up with it for a few days if you want results.’

The white-haired girl got off him and set beside him while he sat up,’I suppose so. I know this is supposed to be intensive training and stuff but I hope I don’t become too muscly.’ The pirate then asked,’How come?’ She let out a sigh and looked at him,’Because it looks unfeminine, obviously. Guys don’t like muscly girls.’ Arata looked at her from top to bottom and avoided her gaze,’I…um think that you look just fine the way you are.’ He chose his next words very carefully as he didn’t want to sentence himself to another execution. However, he did mean what he was saying. She wasn’t too thin but she wasn’t too muscly either. She was simply in good shape for her build so in his opinion she had nothing to worry about.

She smiled at him,’If you say so. I’ll consider your opinion as valid. You on the other hand put on some muscle since we met.’ Rina said so teasingly and it was true but just like her he didn’t want to be pure muscle either,’Been peeking on me, have you?’ She simply shrugged,’I don’t need to peek to know that.’ Arata chuckled,’Ah, this is one of those woman’s intuition things?’ She nodded,’Indeed. You have your ‘male instincts’ and I have my woman’s intuition.’

Their training continued for another 4 days. Getting up each morning was a challenge and the training also became much harder due to their muscles hurting. They were determined to pull through though. They had to get stronger. They couldn’t afford to be beaten around by their enemies all the time. Even though the point of this journey was to explore the world, with their luck of getting into trouble they needed to be able to overcome any obstacle.

The next day after their training finished, both of their bodies were still pretty sore but at least they wouldn’t have to train. While they were having breakfast Rina asked,’How do you feel?’ He thought for a while,’Well, I definitely feel like I’ve gotten stronger and that my stamina has improved. What about you?’ Although he hasn’t learned any of the Rokushiki techniques he felt that now his body was ready enough to begin learning at least some of them. He felt like some of the six techniques weren’t exactly useful to him so he would only learn the ones that suited him the best. Rina also thought for a while,’Me too. I can keep my demon form on for longer too now. I guess we made progress. It really did pay off.’

He nodded,’With all of that done, I think it’s about time to leave soon. Probably today. We came for the treasure. We got it and we trained together. I don’t think there is anymore that we have to do.’ She agreed,’Seems reasonable. Most of the preparations to set sail are done but our food supplies are running a bit low. We could fish but feeding a medium sized crew like this compared to two is much harder. My suggestion is that we go to the closest island.’ It was a sound suggestion and one that he would act upon. Arata didn’t expect to stay so long on this island and with no stores or anything their supplies were bound to run out sooner or later. They would then begin their final preparations.

WC: 1,314

Rokushiki: 1,314/ 1,200

With the discussions finished, Arata got up and looked at Rina,’Can you help out with the preparations and stuff? I’ll train a bit more.’ She let out a sigh,’You still haven’t had enough? Are you human?’ He let out a chuckle,’I just want to try out a technique that I should be able to do thanks to the training. You know, a sort of concrete result. I’ll decide on a destination when everything is ready.’ The girl simply shrugged,’Well, alright then. Suit yourself. I’ll let you know when we are ready.’ She said so and went off to the ship to help out the rest of the crew gather the stuff that they took out.

Meanwhile, the pirate walked towards a better spot. One of the Rokushiki techniques called Rankyaku was essentially a Yakkodori coming from his legs. He wanted to do something like that ever since he left Syrup Village. Thanks to his training, he did get a bit faster so it was worth a try. This technique relied on the speed and strength of a kick to fire compressed air as a projectile. He was able to do it with his swords so why not his legs? Arata did a few practice kicks to get in the swing of things. Once he was ready, he started doing kicks of various speeds and strengths but it seems the effect only worked when he was using his full speed or near full speed. It was meant to be a superhuman technique after all. This meant that he wouldn’t be able to use it very often if he wanted to save his stamina for other more powerful techniques.

Arata practiced the technique a few more times to get a better hang of it and then went out to help the rest of the crew. However, everything was pretty much ready at this point and only the destination needed to be chosen. He got out his map and studied it carefully with Rina looking too,’Hmm…Going back to Orange Town isn’t an option. It’s too far away with our food supply. We will have to go forward. The closest place would be the Conomi Islands. The best known place around there is Cocoyashi Village. Apparently, it used to be occupied by some fishmen a few years ago. It came up in the news back then but now it should be free and normal.’

Rina smiled at this fact,’We are finally going to visit a village, huh? Maybe we will finally get a break?’ Arata shrugged and took out his compass to get the directions,’With our luck, who knows? A break would be nice though. We’ve been fighting ever since Goa City.’ She let out a sigh,’We can only hope for the best. I am looking forward to see what it’s like though.’ He nodded,’Hopefully, they have a blacksmith there. I really need a new set of swords. The first one I had was from my village blacksmith and I ended up breaking it… If only it could be repaired but you can’t repair a sword that’s in pieces.’ Rina agreed,’That really is a shame but at the same time I think you should be proud. A sword produced by a small village’s blacksmith was able to withstand a few hits from a giant wolf.’ The pirate nodded,’That is true. Anyway, it’s time. Set sail!’

The crewmembers retracted the anchor and unfurled the sails. The ship started leaving and they began getting further and further away from the nameless island. They didn’t look back until their attention was caught by a loud howl. Everyone looked to see a giant wolf sitting at the shore. It’s gray fur was already back in good condition but if it still was wounded they couldn’t tell from this distance. Arata and Rina smiled at it and waved as a farewell. It may have been a tough battle but the guardian was by no means evil. Sif was only doing what she believed was right. It was a sad tale indeed and if they could, they would probably take her along. However, due to her size and determination that was not possible. Maybe things were better off this way but he couldn’t help but feel sad with the knowledge that the wolf will continue living in solitude for who knows how long. Some stories did not have a happy end. He could only hope that theirs will.

WC: 738

Rankyaku: 738/250

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