Chapter 6: Pretty Strong!
Harlen ducked under another powerful hook and stepped back before kicking Basion's liver. Bastion grunted in pain. He gripped his side and swung at Harlen but missed by a mile leaving Harlen to move in and rain a barrage of punches into his jaw, liver, kidneys, and neck causing Bastion to kick him away and huff heavily.
Harlen shook off the pain and looked at Bastion with a dead look. Bastion felt a chill but just got angrier as he charged again. Harlen huffed in annoyance but quickly dodged and kicked Bastion's liver again before jumping back. He was mid air when Bastion caught his wrist and pulled him in for a powerful punch.
"GOT YOU BITCH BOY!" *BANG* Harlen felt his ribs sink as he coughed blood and rebound back just to get stopped by Bastion's grip on his wrist. Harlen cursed but dug his feet into the ground and started hammering into Bastion with fast and painful strikes while Bastion held his wrist and kept hitting him with even stronger hits.
Harlen spat blood and cursed as his bones broke but he didn't stop. He needed to win. He needed Markus's approval. He needed a reason to keep living. He hit Bastion as hard as he could, imagining his mom smiling behind him telling him it was going to be okay. He ignored his hallucinations and focused on hitting Bastion, no longer caring about weak points and just trying to hurt Bastion.
Bastion huffed, getting tired, annoyed at Harlen's endurance so he grabbed Harlen's other wrist but was quickly met with a kick in the groin and headbutt. Bastion let go for a second that Harlen pulled his arms back but stayed close as he kept punching Bastion. He eventually kicked his leg and heard a crisp snap making Bastion collapse.
Harlen smiled cruelly, looking terrifying covered in blood and a bloody smile. He started punching wildly into Bastion's neck and face before kicking his groin again and grabbing his head before bashing his knee into it. Bastion collapsed but Harlen followed with punches into his face. Harlen sat atop Bastion bashing his head in repeatedly. He kept punching before his wrist was caught with surprising absolute strength.
Harlen looked back at a smiling Markus crouching down.
"Heya buddy! He's already dead! You shouldn't hurt yourself more man! I ain't got a doctor yet HAHAHAHAHA!" Harlen looked at his hand that Markus caught and was surprised to see his broken knuckles thinking he knew which bones were broken.
"Oh!" Harlen realized his body was heavily damaged as he was about to collapse but Markus caught him while laughing.
"Damn you got, got! But hey you gave even worse! HAHAHAHAHAHA! As expected of my Vice-Captain! Don't worry once you learn Haki and this fancy little thing I "found" fights like this will be much easier!" Harlen smiled at Markus's enthusiasm and slowly got up with Markus's help.
"Thanks Cap'n." Markus patted his back lightly while laughing.
"Hahaha! Anytime Vice-Cap'n! Now come on Harlen you've officially joined the crew and we just had an awesome pirate adventure! So let's get these slaves out of here and throw a giant fucking party!!!" Harlen seemed confused.
"Why a giant party? Shouldn't we leave?" Markus looked at him like he was an idiot.
"Obviously. But we have to celebrate now and I don't have a ship! That's a future us problem so let's go party damn it!" Harlen shook his head. 'Such a childish captain.'
"So what is it that you found?" Markus chuckled darkly making Harlen regret asking.
"I won't tell ya how I got it unless you really want to know, kinda hope you do, but we now have the Six Powers of the Marines and World Government! I'm gonna start training in it soon and you can too! I'll also show you Haki since it's awesome and a lot of fun!" Harlen was stunned hearing his captain but quickly remembered who he was and just sighed.
They hobbled through the caverns slowly building up a large group of slaves that were following him out. Word spread quickly about what he had done to Tadado amongst the slaves causing them to look at him with admiration. They had suffered so much so any revenge before freedom brought them smiles.
They quickly got out of the caverns thanks to Markus's Observation with Harlen taking note how handy knowing where to go was. He let Markus lead them out towards the town where people were surprised to see all the slaves and even some of their family and friends. Markus pushed past the parts he declared annoying and boring and dragged Harlen to a doctor before heading to a bar.
He came back to see Harlen wrapped like a mummy and started laughing much to Harlen's annoyance. He stuffed some food into his mouth getting the doctor's anger but Markus laughed and dragged Harlen away to party. They walked through bars and restaurants trying different alcohol and food while laughing and even singing karaoke.
"Come on Harlen! I'll sing with ya!! PLEASE????!!!! For me?!" Markus was kneeling in front of Harlen trying to get him to sing next but Harlen was fighting him.
"Really Captain I don't know." Harlen finished another cup of sake and looked at the sad looking Markus before sighing. "Fine… just stop looking at me like that…"
Markus's demenor shifted completely as he jumped up with a huge smile like he wasn't just groveling to hear his Vice-Captain sing.
"Ahem! Now I'm not much of a musician." Markus laughed.
"Neither is anyone else that went so far but that hasn't stopped us!!" Everyone in the bar laughed as Markus raised a cup of Sake before drinking it quickly. Markus stumbled slightly over to Harlen and pulled him onto the bar.
"Now a 1… a 2… Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho, Gather up all of the crew! It's time to ship out Bink's brew!" Everyone sang in joy while Harlen smiled without realizing it, continuing to sing Binks Sake. Markus took Harlen across the entire town and even checked out the others partying with the citizens and now freed slaves alike.
The sun started rising on the fourth day when Harlen realized how long they had been partying but just smiled while eating omelets with Markus and some slaves that wanted to thank them.
"So we're leaving tomorrow?" Harlen questioned while stuffing his face, still drunk from four days of partying. Markus shoved three omelets down his throat before nodding at Harlen.
"Yea! Still don't know how we're getting a ship but we'll figure it out!" Harlen sighed at Markus's foresight or lack thereof.
"Well I'm sure we can take one from the pirates we beat." Markus looked at him like he was a genius, greatly disturbing Harlen though he didn't notice.
"You brilliant bastard! Come on! Let's go get us a boat!!" Markus stuffed a few more omelets in his mouth before running out dragging Harlen. Markus was about to head into the caverns but Harlen smacked the back of his head and asked a few slaves how they got here.
"Well we were always brought in cages or boxes so we never saw the ship but a few slaves found a few familiar ships on the fourth island under its Eastern beach. They walked across a dock and found a simple dinghy. Harlen was about to head back to the village but Markus threw him into the boat and pushed it out before hoping in himself.
"Wait!? I thought we were leaving tomorrow?!" Markus laughed and laid back with his feet up.
"Nah too much work! We're already here so let's go find more crew members!" Harlen sighed but sat back down.
"You have any idea where we are going?" Markus smiled and gave him a thumbs up.
"Nope!" Harlen almost fell into the ocean as he deeply regretted agreeing to being Markus's Vice-Captain. He slowly fell asleep. Markus smiled at his Vice-Captain before looking out at sea and his status.
[Name: Markus
Level: 47
Primary Class: [Adept Swordsman - Level: 9]
Secondary Class: [Beginner Marksman - Level: 4]
HP: 100%
SP: 100%
HK: 100%]
[Skills:
[Adept Swordsmanship - Level: 67 [89,225/210,000]
[Armament Haki - Level: 6 [75,102/200,000]
[Observation Haki - Level: 7 [2,944/300,000]
[Conqueror's Haki - Level: 2 [10,324/200,000]
[Beginner Marksmanship - Level: 22 [188/360]
[One Sword Style - Flow - Level: MAX]
'I need to work on my marksmanship, but first.' Markus stood up and unleashed his Haki making sure to not disturb Harlen's sleep before he started practicing his Swordsmanship. He didn't gain much experience while they drifted but any progress was progress to him. He opened another screen and scrolled through the Legacy Store.
[Legacy Market:
Berri Exchange - 1 Legacy Point → 10,000,000 Berri
Perk: [Unyielding] - 5 Legacy Points
Perk Upgrade: [Extreme Recovery] - 10 Legacy Points
Perk: [Iron Ballon] - 25 Legacy Points
Skill: [Tekkai] - 1 Legacy Point
Great Grade Sword - 1 Legacy Point
Perk: [Enhanced Strength] - 2 Legacy Points]
Markus looked through for a while but only had 8 Legacy points so he bought Unyielding and Enhanced Strength.
[Perks:
[Advanced Recovery]
Increases HP recovery from 1:1 to 1:20! Increases SP and HK recovery from 1:1 to 1:10!]
[Better Endurance]
Increases Endurance multiplier from 1x to 2x!
[Unyielding]
Increases physical stats and Mental Fortitude closer to death one is!
[Enhanced Strength]
Increases Strength multiplier from 1x to 2.5x!
Markus smiled and felt his body getting stronger. He finally opened his last screen.
[Pirate Crew:
Celestial Dragon Pirates - F
Captain - Markus Lv. 47
Vice-Captain - Harlen Lv. 27
Increases all stats of crew members by 1%!
Increase Crew rank by recruiting members and reaching higher levels!
E-Rank Requirement:
0/2 Crew Members Level 50/ 2/20 Crew Members!]
Markus laughed loudly feeling excited before remembering Harlen and seeing him grumble in his seat. Markus scratched his head sheepishly and quietly apologized. He let Harlen sleep in peace before getting back to training.
****
Markus huffed as he let his sword down before looking at an angry Harlen paddling the boat. He had learned Markus knew how to sail but didn't actually know much about navigation letting the boat drift around. Markus finished his training for the day and laid in the boat looking out at the sea. He smiled, feeling peaceful.
"Land Ho!" Markus looked to where Harlen shouted and smiled seeing a basic island with a large port with a Marine Ship docked. "Should we go around?"
"Hm? Why?" Harlen looked at the confused Markus before remembering what he knew so far about his Captain and just shook his head, "Right. Docking!" Harlen got closer while Markus tied the boat to the dock before jumping up and down in excitement. "Alright, calm down, cap'n."
"I can't! We might meet a new crew member!! Come on! Let's explore!" Harlen sighed and started running to keep up with Markus. Markus for his part explored the island with interest, finding it to be surprisingly busy.
"From what I heard this is Top Hat island just a few minutes from a Marine base and a big merchant island."
"Lame~! So boring! Wonder why it's called Top Hat island though?" Harlen shrugged, not too concerned with the name.
"Founder of the place was probably just wearing a top hat or something." Markus put his hands behind his head and laughed loudly.
"No way! That's so dumb! I bet there's some super secret top hat made of gold on the island!" Harlen rolled his eyes.
"And you said my idea's dumb?" Markus stopped and literally butted heads with Harlen surprising him.
"The hell ya say bub?!" Harlen looked at Markus like he was an idiot before getting pushed back.
"The fuck you think you're doing in my face huh?!"
"You wanna go?" Harlen was going to reply in the heat of the moment when a loud cough caused both Crew Mates to look at a group of Marines. "Whatcha want?! Can't ya see we're busy you fucking retard?!"
Markus spoke first, completely shocking the Marines and surrounding civilians. Most started running seeing an inevitable fight while some stayed wanting to see what would happen to Markus. Harlen sighed, coming back to the situation and getting ready for the brawl.
"Who are you and why are you causing problems in this town?!" The Marine Markus shouted at shouted back while gritting his teeth. Markus smiled and looked down.
"I'm Markus. Captain of the Celestial Dragon Pirates. Whatcha gonna do about it?" Markus leaned forward and smiled condescendingly while everyone present shutdown and rebooted.
"RUN!!!!/GET OUT OF HERE!!!!/HE'S A MAD MAN!!/WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!" The once angry Marine was now completely bamboozled, not understanding the situation anymore. He thought the two were just trouble makers but from what he can understand they are actually pirates named after the gods. A blasphemous duo!
"Absolutely crazy! You're insane! I'll capture you and show the REAL Celestial Dragon's you fakes!" Markus chuckled.
"Please try~ make this interesting for me won't you~ I've been soooo~~ bored lately!" Markus set his hand on his sword's handle and leaned forward with a mocking grin.
"Please stop teasing the trash Captain." Harlen sighed, deciding to play along not liking this Marines attitude. The marine got even angrier.
"Marines! SEIZE THEM!" The Marines charged Markus and Harlen in the Eastern part of Top Hat island while civilians ran for it. Markus shook his head at their stupidity but quickly went for a Draw slash before following up with a whirlwind taking out tens of pirates at a time.
Harlen ducked under a blade before throwing brass knuckle haymakers into two marines making them instantly collapse. He jumped over a fallen Marine before kicking the legs out of another one before throwing a wide hook into a pirate's jaw. He was about to be shot in the back when Markus appeared to block it with a Haki covered blade. He unleashed his Conqueror's Haki before grabbing Harlen and laughing as they ran away.
Harlen huffed and rolled his shoulders as they walked into a bar.
"What was that all about?" Markus shrugged.
"Didn't really care honestly. Only fought them cause that dick insisted he needed to be humbled." Harlen smiled softly at his Captain's arrogance.
"Well we have the Marine's attention now so we should be careful."
"Meh." Markus sat at the bar and ordered a large amount of food before sliding a few bills to the bartender. "So got anything or anyone interesting around here?"
The bartender looked at Markus before taking the money and walking away. Markus was about to come across the bar when Harlen stopped him with a sigh.
"Why did you think that would even work?" Harlen sat down and started eating while talking to Markus.
"It worked with you…" Harlen was dumbfounded. He went silent as he ate his food much slower. Markus patted his back aggressively with a laugh.
"No need to be so depressed! I'm sure we'll get more Crew soon! Just you wait!"
"Let's just hope they're half normal…"
"No way! I don't want someone boring on my crew! Well… I guess if I like them but still that'd suck ass!" Harlen shook his head and sat at the bar. They ordered a drink when Markus started laughing, making everyone look at him like he's crazy.
"It seems we got some company~!" Markus grabbed his sword and felt his Haki whirl, waiting to explode. Harlen focused up and slipped his brass knuckles on before grabbing a gun Markus took from a Marine. They walked out of the bar to see a large group of Marines standing with their guns raised.
"Markus! You and your Celestial Fakes are under arrest by order of the World Government! Give yourselves up!" Markus smiled and looked around smugly.
"This it?" The marines were all stunned since over two hundred guns were pointed at them. Harlen was scared but kept himself calm to match his captain.
"It is an army vs. 2! SURRENDER!" Markus looked at the arrogant Marine from before like he was an idiot.
"It's just a small army of fodder. They don't even deserve to be on the same stage." Markus raised his head to look down on the Marines as an intense wave of Conqueror's flooded an entire four block radius. Marine's dropped like flies causing fear to spread rapidly. Harlen looked on in awe at the purple lightning seemingly causing the devastation.
After a few minutes none of the Marine's were standing, making Markus click his tongue with contempt.
"Pathetic." He sighed and walked towards the annoying Marine and killed him with a blank look. He looked back and walked past Harlen. "There isn't anything interesting here so let's go."
Harlen nodded, not minding the murder and followed Markus. They picked up a few supplies that the civilians tried to give them for free which confused both pirates but they insisted on paying before they left. Markus and Harlen left before the sun could set.
3,000~ Words