Chapter 5 : Red Hair Pirates

Leaving from my thoughts, the town came into our view and soon we reached it. Growing up, Luffy and I had come to Foosha Village quite a few times to get free juice and food from Makino.

Today we were not coming to play though. I for one, came to confirm and witness the “Red Hair Pirates" appearance. Luffy just idolized Pirates and planned to befriend them if they were cool.

We greeted some of the villagers who we were familiar with and reached Makino’s “Partys Bar”. When we arrived at the front door we heard some boisterous laughter, along with the sound of glass cups hitting one another.

Luffy did not wait anymore and stepped into the place. In conjunction with his powerful entrance, he shouted very blatantly.

“Who is Shanks?” He attracted the gaze of everyone present. The pirates had completely filled the tables and the only few remaining seats were only at the counter.

The place went silent for a moment, and after they had quickly scanned the source of the disturbance, they continued to feast.

I shook my head knowing what was coming next.

“You guys stop ignoring me!” Luffy was mad for being labeled as air.

“Luffy, don’t cause trouble!” Makino scolded him harshly to prevent a disaster. These people were pirates, even if they were nice and polite since their arrival.

“Aniki...I think an introduction is in order.” I said, containing my laughter. This was going to be funny.

“Oh!...” Luffy cleared his throat and got on top of the counter. Next to him and Makino, a straw-hat wearing man was seated. He glanced at Luffy with the corner of his eyes and took another sip of his beer.

“Luffy, get down!...”

But before Makino could stop Luffy…

“My name is Monkey D. Luffy, I’m the next Pirate King, nice to meet you!” He said with conviction and amiably. There was no provocative hint in his tone, he was just stating a fact in his mind.

The pirates spurted their drinks and started laughing after glancing at the unwavering little guy who even put his hands on his waist, showing a chief’s demeanor.

“Oi! Captain, Looks like you got another rival aiming for the One Piece…” The crew joked at the straw-hatted man.

He took another glimpse at my brother and finally opened his mouth.

“What’s your goal kid?” He locked on me and asked with an amused tone.

The other Buccaneers looked at me with a grin waiting for my answer.

“Strongest of the seas.” I replied lazily and calmly with one eye opened.

The room was taken over by muteness for a moment. The red-haired guy looked at the two of us and cracked up after removing his hat. A tanned man with dreadlocks chuckled, while another with a long-barreled gun and a cigarette smiled.

“Haha! Makino-san two cups of milk for these kids on my tab!” The red-haired man ordered.

“I’m the guy you guys are looking for, Shanks! Nice to meet you, two brave warriors. Take a seat next to me...Haha.” Luffy did not act shy and joined him impatiently. He bombarded him with questions.

We partied with them for a while and Shanks told us about his adventures and all kinds of incredible stories. The crew was making jokes about how clumsy he was sometimes. I was surprised because he did not seem like a klutz. He was very similar to Luffy.

Luffy was totally fired up and tried to steal beer every other second. Makino was keeping an eye on him and he failed miserably. I, on the other hand, did not really care much. I liked alcohol but it also dulled the senses. As a practitioner, I was used to restraining myself in my previous life. Not that I did not drink alcohol…

If there was nothing else to drink I would have some, but I was not addicted to it.

That day, Luffy and I became friends with the “Red Hair Pirates” and after a long and clamorous feast, we decided to return home.

Luffy went to sleep after boasting to Ace and Sabo about how he made pirate friends. I smiled and walked to a clearing in the forest, planning to train till very late. I wanted to make my Hokuto level up in one night. I practiced my skills till total exhaustion and got a direct level up.

“Ding!”

“Hokuto Shinken level up! Having reached a small mastery, the system grants you an additional +5 to each of the inherent passive stats related to the skill. (Total additional boost +7)”

“Host has also unlocked the martial artist profession!”

“Accept-YES/NO ?”

I clicked on yes instantly. I did not really have the patience to talk right now...My system had both voice recognition and tactile functions.

“Martial artist (Description): martial artists are energy masters and have expertise in their craft. They perfect various or one style and develop fighting theories to the peak of humanity. They can learn combat skills more easily than other people. Their grappling, kicks and hand to hand techniques are difficult to predict and counter. Inherent passive boosts (+DEX+AGI+HAKI).”

I smiled at the description. I got even more broken and this job was suited to me. I was sure jobs could help me develop new skills and enhance my experience gain rate. I had yet to verify this but I had a hunch…

Now I had even more methods to preserve my life.

“Hokuto Shinken small mastery reached. Host will now gain experience faster and the passive boosts repartition can be allocated according to your choice. Boosts now are of +7 with each level increase. System will go to sleep for now… I leave the rest to you.”

“Thanks!” I said not wanting to debate with my apathetic and sloppy system.

I looked at my stats sheet and I was pretty satisfied. Beside my HP and Haki, my stats had a very good increase. Still, I needed to find a way to enhance my HP a little faster.

An increase of +7 would not really do much for me in combat. As the essential stat and most difficult to enhance, I had left me with headaches all those years.

I thought for a while, trying to find a way to cheat the system…

After a few minutes going over each of the solutions I had thought of before, a dangerous idea blossomed in my small brain.

“What if…”

I stood up from the patch of grass and went home looking for something. Everyone was already long asleep. I sneakily made my way to the kitchen avoiding to wake them up.

My “Sneak Skill” inside the “Move Kit” gained a bit of experience thanks to my performance, but % advancement was still far off. It did not even yield a 1% raise.

I opened a drawer quietly and took out a very sharp knife. This utensil was the one Dadan used to cut the skin from animals the cheeky trio brought each day after their intense practice with me.

It was made up of a very special alloy which my observe skill had yet to identify…

I took it because other ordinary knives were not very effective against me. Not that I could not cut myself with them, but it would require some effort. I did not want to exert too much strength and inadvertently cut an artery or a vein.

I opened my skin with the tool very carefully and waited for an alert…

“Nothing happened?” I was at a loss.

“Wait!” Another theory surged through my mind.

I deactivated all the resistance and stiffness in my body and applied more strength to the wound.

“Ai…” I instantly bled more and felt the pain when I closed on a nerve. I waited two seconds but I was once again disappointed. I went to the sink preparing to clean the knife and go to sleep, but suddenly an alert echoed in my head.

“!!!”

The system was panicked and woke up roaring frenziedly

“Ding!!!”

“Moronic host has developed new skills while attempting on his life!”

“Pain Resistance, Survival Instincts and Spartan Metabolism have been learned!”

“Accept-Yes/NO?”

“Yes!” I was overjoyed and dismissed the system’s nasty remarks.

“Pain resistance (Description): Host sweats like a mongrel trying to shake off diarrhea-triggering ache! Inherent passive boosts : (+HP+END).”

“Survival Instincts: Host’s senses become enhanced during life-threatening situations. Like an injured lion, host becomes very vicious and acquires disgustingly inhumane reflexes. Host’s chances to inflict critical hits increase. Inherent passive boosts : (+SENS+DEX+INT+WIS+LUCK).

“Spartan Metabolism: Having attempted on his life at the expense of sanity, host has now acquired unhealthy tendencies. Pleasure can now be obtained from pain and harm. Inherent passive boosts : (Hp*5)”

“...”

I was speechless but my objectives were attained.

After apologizing to the system for what seemed like an hour, it went back to sleep, not forgetting to grant me the initial enhancements.

I got a +2HP*5; in other words, +10HP with just the skill being level 1. I was shocked and laughed in contentment. This skill would evolve very fast considering its nature; I just had to receive hits.

I also gained a +2HP from “Pain resistance”, so 12 in total.

The other boosts were nice, but I did not really care for them right now. Having reached my original goal I went to sleep on the bed next to my brother, totally sapped.

Gaining 4% in one night was indeed foolhardy even for me.

At the time, I had no clue that “Survival Instincts” would turn out to be a heaven-defying skill…

Raoh' stat sheet going to sleep :

General Information Attributes Job Information Name Monkey D Raoh Name Value Name Value Name Level Advancement Race Human STR 33 SENS 51 Martial Artist 1 0% Sex Male END 38 INT 56 Age 6 AGI 18 WIS 79 Organisation Pirate Kid Alliance REC 52 LUCK 7 HP 419/419 (26%/minute) DEF 25 CHAR 1 Haki 77/77 (174%/minute) DEX 19 FUN 4 Skill List Name Level Advancement Observe (+Sens+wis+int) 35 89% Nerd Kit (+wis+int) 19 41% Move Kit (+Agi+Dex) 7 14% Savage Kit (+Str+End) 5 26% Tools Mastery Kit (+Dex) 2 12% Hokuto Shinken (+Str+Def+End+Rec+Haki) (small mastery bonus : +5) 15 0% Hardening Haki (+Def+End+Haki) 5 18% Pain Resistance (+HP+End) 1 0% Survival Instincts (+Sens+Dex+Int+Wis+Luck) 1 0% Spartan Metabolism (+Hp*5) 1 0%