Chapter 98: The Pirates Raid
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"I hope you are prepared for a spanking!" called out Bonney who started charging at the young boy who had a confident aura around him, as he also walked to meet this young Princess.
She arrived in melee range and began the fight with a mid kick that was parried by Vlad using his arms in a cross shape, but what delighted him was that he got pushed back two steps which had the pink-haired be filled with courage, for she didn't expect for the mysterious black-haired boy to even be forced back.
What followed from the first clash was her step back to create some space to snap with a fast leg kick towards Vlad's legs, only to stop midway when the boy raised his knee as if ready to check on her attack, resulting in Bonney shifting strategies in attacking with a high spinning kick targeting the head of her adversary.
Again Vlad raised his right arm toward his head to block the fast kicking leg, pushing him one step toward the left, and following the well-executed kick, Bonney continued her attack by sending a combo of fist attacks, connecting with his guard.
The first minutes of the sparring was only reserved for Bonney to let go of her offensive while Vlad was making sure not to disrupt her until the pink-haired girl got brave and started thinking of chewing more than she could handle by sending a leg kick targeting his balls.
"You enjoyed your spanking, little boy?" taunted Bonney after Vlad dodged her attack which might end the fight with a win for her.
"My, my, it seems I am really a great instructor to turn that meek little girl into a ferocious young lioness."
His remark made Bonney to grin at him with an excited smile granted by the thrill of combat, however, before she could even continue taunting Vlad, the young boy laughed and appeared before her with speed unbeknown to a child only 10 years old.
"Bau."
With a playful scary sound, Vlad instead of punching the little girl, he used his two-finger technique without a lot of force which landed straight on her stomach stopping most of her momentum, and continuing with these attacks, it looked as if he was testing her reactions against pressure.
"Ouch! You can do your 'Phantom Steps' even when you are so small? This isn't fair." commented Bonney who started defending from the onslaught of attacks coming in her direction.
"I know, my little hatching. Life isn't fair." added Vlad, who was doing all sorts of fast-paced combos that were parried by the young girl, suddenly finding herself being dropped to her knees by a fast strike to the back of her knee.
Finding herself at about the same height level as Vlad, she grabbed her by the chin and with a smile, it was his turn to taunt her resolution.
"Still slow, Bon Bon. Why let me touch your face so casually? Sigh, if I was a pervert I could do so much to you."
Stroking her chin while her expression remained one of calm, from nowhere, she grabbed him by the back, and pushed her knees on the wooden floor of the Main Deck, which reserved the roles with her getting into a mounting position over the young boy.
"Be gentle with me." teased the young girl who held Vlad by both of his arms, blocking his way out from the ground position.
"Hmmm, you learned something bad from Eleine and I doubt you understand what it means to tease me."
She had a confident smile on her lips, and while strategizing on how to submit this experienced mentor of hers, she suddenly started feeling herself moving around along with some waves that were underneath her, whatsmore there was something that touched down her vulva area.
Realizing what Vlad was doing, she gritted her teeth and did a small jump to raise herself up before descending on her enemy, along with the object disturbing her plans, and to her delight, Vlad released a small sound of a groan.
Not letting go of her position, she continued holding Vlad's hands pinning him down, and after she came up with a plan, she lowered down further so that her pink hair started dancing in front of the young boy while her developing bosom was pressed on his chest, thinking it would distract him and give an advantageous position over him.
Yet, when she went to grab his neck, in a slick movement, the action reversed with the young girl finding herself sent flying by a kick.
'Impossible! I even perfumed myself so it would be hard for Vlad not to be attracted.'
Vlad who was on the ground jumped on his feet, while looking at Bonney who also recollected herself from the failed attempt at submitting him.
"You want a quick way out of the sparring, young lady?"
"Tch, you bet. You were so close to getting into my snare trap." retorted Bonney who took a step ahead while her hands were positioned for an attacking stance.
"All in your head, little girl." gestured Vlad as he tapped his head, making the pink-haired girl to scoff, doing something that took him aback.
With incredible agility that couldn't be compared to the girl he met four months ago, she punched him in the chest blasting him until he was stopped by the wooden railing of the Caravel.
The audience who watched the fight between Vlad and Bonney were taken aback by the ability the girl used to reach her enemy, especially Titania who started applauding and cheering the young lioness.
"OHOO! That was such a great punch Bonney! You even managed to learn his 'Phantom Steps'!"
"Hehe, now that you no longer have your agility to surprise me. You are all mine."
Eleine had a wide evil grin on her face as she watched Bonney's display of talent and progress, making her remark to Titania.
"You better watch carefully, Fairy. This is the progress of me working with little Bon Bon to level her up. She is really a hardworking girl, and even talented with a high fighting intelligence."
"How can I not know this? I've watched her carefully all this entire time." commented Titania who watched with a wide smile as Bonney used again the Phantom Steps to appear in front of Vlad, sending out a punch that unleashed some strong winds, only to be dodged at the last minute by the young boy.
She pushed the gas pedal and didn't give the young boy any chance of recovering his momentum, and from all the techniques she was taught by him and Eleine, many of them didn't connect, and the ones who did were parried masterfully.
"You better don't use your Haki!" shouted Bonney who saw the way Vlad dodged her attacks.
"I am not even using my Echolocation ability. But, here I'll show it to you."
As if mocking the girl based on what she questioned him for, he closed his eyes and even activated his Observation Haki which nullified each of Bonney's attacks that were dodged, leaving her to suffer all sort of petty harassment from him, such as slaps on her buttchecks.
"Stop it!! It's embarrassing!"
"Oh yeah? But you didn't think about your teacher's feelings when you questioned him about cheating."
"Damn it. Jerk! If I don't kick you in the nuts, don't call me Jewel."
After saying that, she saw Vlad appear in front of her locking his stance to be face to face with her, which gave the impression he was about to steal a kiss on her even though he was smaller sized.
"I am sure you'll dodge this anyway."
"Yeah."
Without hesitating even a second, she raised her knee to hit him where it hurt the most, only to miss the target, and later find herself getting touched on her nape, sending the impulse to withdraw and rethink her strategy against this untouchable young boy.
"Come on, and I wanted to play a bit with your ears. Why retreat so quickly. Is not as if Sensei would try to hurt you."
"That's submitting to you. Which I don't intend. I still have one more trick on my sleeves."
"Then show me, what else you got."
Bonney took a deep breath, and with her right leg tightening up as if building up a strength she kicked in his direction releasing a horizontal blue aura blade wave that travelled with a high speed toward Vlad, who had a surprised look into his eyes, especially when hearing the girl's confident voice calling out the name of his own technique.
"Dragon's Tail!"
The blue aura blade morphed mid-air in the shape of a drake's tail ready to lash on its target, and it just so happened that the small Dracul was the perfect target to hit.
He didn't sit idle, countering the same strike with his own mastered technique, after doing a small jump where he did a whirlwind, sending out a tempest of dark-reddish aura which blasted Bonney's technique, scattering as the winds pushed around the various decorations on the Caravel.
"What was that technique?" asked the young girl looking at the lights visible even in the dark sky, scattering away.
"A new addition to my repertoire. I call it "Leviathan's Descent"."
"Does it work like Dragon's Tail?"
"Curious as ever, my little hatching." called out Vlad who placed his small hands on his waist, while walking with a prideful stride, reserved only for the Conquerors of the World.
"You told me that you borrowed the method from an interesting guy, what was the technique called …. Rankyaku."
Hearing the obvious which didn't sound so grandiose when his own student was telling him, he started clicking his tongue while doing a "No" "No" with his index finger.
"Our technique, besides the similarities with this Rankyaku of the Cipher Poll, has nothing to do with their weak methods. Our method is the 'Ways of the Dragon' and each technique emulates the state of the Mythical Being."
"So, our technique is stronger than those Cipher Poll people you've told me?"
"Of course. Afterall, we are always working on improving our methods, while they are stuck with trivial old fashioned techniques."
Bonney nodded, and with a pondering expression she kicked once toward Vlad sending another slicing wave that was this time by Vlad's punch after he formed his hand in the shape of a dragon's mouth combining the force of each of his fingers into clashing against the pink-haired girl's attack.
She sent two additional attacks in his direction that he effortlessly destroyed, but what followed next had him widely pleased since Bonney did a small wheel jump in an attempt of copying what Vlad did with his second alteration of the Rankyaku, only for her precious to misfire, with some of her slicing waves being sent in random directions of the Caravel, that might result in damages to their ship.
"Achaaa. Hatchling, are you trying to sink us? We only got this ship to take us forward." complained Vlad with a devilish smile as he used more of his capabilities to arrive and block a wave targeting his Cabin.
The onlookers also didn't stay idle and Dalyon blasted away the slicing wave using only his wings, as he defended his cabin, while Eleine used her slender right arm akin to a sword as she blocked the slicing wave.
Still, there were some slicing waves that hit some parts of the ship, causing minor damage.
Bonney stopped from attacking when she realized she misfired and caused unintentional damage to her new home.
"Sorry!! I never expected this technique to be so complicated."
"What do you expect, young lady? That you just watch once and learn? You need to train your coordination with your legs further, since this version isn't all about strength and speed, but it combines something we think is unnecessary, leg coordination."
Stepping toward the pink-haired girl facing her, she could read in his black eyes that he expected something from her, and realizing she had the advantage in this matter, she couldn't help but grin widely and play around with his black hair.
"Vlad, I was thinking … Can you teach me this technique right away? I feel it fits my fighting style more than Eleine's. If you do, I will turn you right away into your adult form."
"Interesting. Sure, I don't mind it. Just give me a moment."
Receiving his confirmation while the young boy started changing into the large clothes, barely managing to strap them on his body, it gave a comical sight for the onlookers and Bonney.
Following his signal, she moved forward and touched his face, the only part of his body that wasn't drowned in cloth fabrics, and moments later the metamorphosis of the young boy started with Vlad getting larger and larger, with his clothes beginning to arrange by themselves.
"Even after we trained your Devil Powers by using me as a test subject, this transformation still remains uncomfortable."
"Hehe, enjoying good things comes with a price." added Bonney who had to adjust her view, and raise her head a bit higher to look at the giant Vlad who was patting on his clothes, before she was watched with serious eyes.
"Soo, what do you think of my progress?" inquired the young girl looking after the teacher's approval, with her cockiness mellowing down now that Vlad was in his adult form, who only gazed into his purple eyes making her question if she managed to impress him.
Tension built up in her body, until Vlad placed his large hand on her head and started caressing her silky hair.
"Excellently done."
She beamed with a satisfied smile, especially when feeling his warm comment, and with curious eyes expecting something, Vlad delivered when he scooped her by her waist making her "Kyaa" and in doing so triggering a small jealousy episode in Eleine.
*Smack*
"Stop being petty. She is one among us, and deserves affection that she lacked since the troubles in her life."
"Don't touch me, stupid Fairy." murmured Eleine while her tone grew colder.
The spectators out of curiosity followed after Vlad who jumped off the ship, moving toward a location on the shores of Rósande where he settled down the young girl who couldn't contain her rosy cheeks.
"Let me show you the extent of my technique, so you can get an idea where you can reach in the future if you continue training under me."
Nodding like a chick, with only the moon being their source of light Vlad distanced away from Bonney who could feel the pressure around him shifting.
Sparks of crimson-red energy started bouncing around his body like the flares on a dark star, and with his arms being covered in Armament Haki, while his legs also got covered in the black coating, he jumped with such force that destabilized Bonney.
"Remember this, my little Hatchling. This is the full extent of the Leviathan Descent." remarked Vlad with his voice spreading out, that it was picked even by the spectators who noticed a figure in the sky close to their town.
While kicking on the sky to keep his altitude stable, he allowed himself to fall while beginning to spin like a whirlwind from a horizontal and even vertical position, while striking with his legs sending out aura blades that were morphed by the twisting of his legs to take the shape of a tempest.
Him doing it in such an intense manner, revealed for everyone watching the night sky in the Isle of Gardens an apparition that never happened in their lives, a tempest of a crimson-red aura whose winds affected all of the people of the island.
Dalyon who was up close could feel the intense haki released by Vlad, as if he was proclaiming to the Young Lunarian to not underestimate him. A boasting, that might be triggered by a small hostility in the Lunarian's eyes when he was fighting in his Chibi Form, thinking he might have a chance to kill him in his weakened form.
With the Tempest going strong, when Vlad descended to the ground it created a quake that was felt even in the Rosande City.
"AMAZING!!" shouted Bonney from the side while her purple eyes shined like stars in the night sky.
*Cough* "I think I went overboard by disturbed the townspeople."
"Vlad!! Teach me that. I only understood the first steps, the rest is still a mystery." said Bonney as she rushed toward him, getting straight in his face, acting needy.
"Okay, but we'll not do it too much because we might disturb people. Also, I got to sleep a bit."
"Wait … you said you had to sleep?" asked Bonney with a confused expression since she knew Vlad to always be up, giving the impression to her he was never sleeping.
Finding her reaction adorable, he pressed his index finger on her forehead and gave her a dark humor remark. "What's with that reaction? Have you thought I was some strigoi, who would only recover his energy by hanging upside down like a bat, and drink the blood of young maidens."
Then ending his remark, he lowered his head down at Bonney's face level and did a scary expression, something he imagined a "Devil" would do to frighten the naughty children, showing off his well-kept teeth as he was about to bite into the young girl's neck.
"I don't mind it …"
"What, you don't mind?" asked Vlad, perplexed, reminding himself of a scene where the innocence of this young girl showed up in their first interaction when she "understood she needs to place more meat on her body."
"Letting you drink blood from my neck."
Withdrawing slowly, not knowing if he should laugh or scold her, he just ruffled her head, telling her something he believed to be obvious. "There's no such creatures, so you better don't get some weird ideas."
"Still, I wouldn't mind it if it was you."
"Okay, okay. This discussion goes awry again. Let me resume explaining to you about Leviathan Descent and how I came up with its creation. Maybe it will make it easier for you to understand how to use it."
"Aha, finally."
Returning to normal with his "favorite" student, he also had Eleine and Titania to approach while ignoring Dalyon who simply flew back at the Caravel, then his night lesson started being helped by the moon who offered free light.
Only after one hour did he return to the Caravel with the girls who weren't in the mood to train, but instead it was Vlad who started showing them various improvements that he completed since the time in Athkatla Island where he "borrowed" certain techniques from a young friend of his.
Then without forgetting to pick-up his syrup and to feed Nihiloor's Seed with another small dose of his blood, he used his Laboratory to sleep, since his Cabin was also his residence and people might wake him up, from a probably deep sleep.
A spoonful of the syrup, and with him resting on a decent bed which far outshined any of the beds he had in his lifetime back in Wallachia, he closed his eyes, and calmed his body on a systematically level, relaxing himself and shutting down each part of his body from head to toe.
It was a method he acquired from an Serbian Janissary Commander, which proved helpful for him when on the battlefields needing to sleep, and it was centered on the idea of numbing down one's body that one achieved in their muscles.
Yet the biggest key for this sleeping method to succeed was to "NOT THINK" about anything while drifting into sleep. Something we as humans think as trivial and banal, but many struggle with insomnia based on the fact they can't comprehend such simple proven facts.
With Vlad not thinking about anything, and while feeling his body numbing down as if blood flow to his right hand he used for a pillow support stopped circulating, he was out for good in only 2 minutes.
Such was the method used by the infamous Impaler, that many generations later would utilize it in the Military, to deliver important sleep to the soldiers.
'Here, we go. See you tomorrow or after tomorrow.'
Days passed even faster with Vlad actually sleeping like a human, not some alien, and with his daily schedule looking about the same with his attempt at finding the Devil Fruit of the pirate Rackham helped by Titania, Eleine and Bonney, there was no success which made Vlad believe the theory was accurate.
Nonetheless, in his mixed thoughts of placing on pause his search, a new impulse was delivered to him, on the 8th day of his stay inside Isle of Gardens, thanks to a group of pirates who attacked with the intent of gaining booty from the famed island.
However, he still had to find out that such pirates attacked the island because his syrup acted like a sedative which put him deep into sleep that he would go for about 10-12 hours uninterrupted.
It just so happened that with this new day, a lot of chaos and panic was triggered for the simple townspeople of Rosande who thought the pirate raids would be over with Rackham, only to be misled by their own set of beliefs.
The cannon fire was roaring, shocking the entire sea and island, yet only an individual was deep in his sleep, unbothered by some fools attacking this island, a sentiment not shared by all in his crew.
*Knock* *Knock*
"Vlad! Wake up! The island is attacked, we are in danger!"
Titania's voice could be heard inside the Laboratory where Vlad made it his temporary bedroom and relaxing room, of whose bed was resting a large man who was sleeping profoundly.
*KNOCK* *KNOCK*
"Sleeping asshole, wake up already! Ahh, it was so much better when he was awake all the time."
Eleine's voice also spread inside the laboratory, in a moment where the gunfire and cannon shots sent by the pirates not far from the island was on break, only for them to be resumed, silencing their attempts at waking him up.
"Let's not disturb, Vlad. We have to understand that he wants to recover by sleeping. How he does it to go so deep into sleep, I have no idea, but it's a great thing. It's our job to protect the Caravel and give a hand to Catherine in fending off those pirates."
"Well said, Bonney."
"Mhmm, let's just break the door and wake him up."
"Don't try it. Vlad told me, he placed all sort of murderous traps to block anyone trying to get in his Laboratory without his permission. Knowing him, those traps are by his standard, not ours."
Eleine rolled her eyes when she heard the Fairy, not believing that Vlad would hinder his room with traps.
She pushed her hand on the door harder than normal, in an attempt to open forceful the door, and a bad feeling run on her spine as she stepped back the instant an swift swing of a blade was released from a hidden pocket of the ship, with the capability of cleaving off Eleine's hand and even body.
"... How serious can he be about this?"
"You know him… He is that type of guy."
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A/N: Let the man sleep. Don't disturb him whenever you have a problem.
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