Freaks! Freaks! Freaks! 2

The beanpole youth who looked no older than Ace looked at me with a challenging demeanor; his sentence from before only serving to accentuate his pride and intimidation tactics. He did not act at all; it was a natural take on life that he possessed. He seemed as if all lifeforms were supposed to bow in awe and appreciation, due to his sole presence. I was amazed that someone living in such a shithole could demonstrate such confidence and authority.

Previously, when I felt an itch when they appeared, I was not sure what was exactly up, but now...It was as clear as day. This little tyrannic boy in front of me was obviously not a natural existence from this world. The system rang at the same time he announced his name.

“Ding!”

“Alien life form discovered: Transcender (Asakura Hao).”

“Profession (Shaman): Shamans can enter a perpetual and permanent trance state that allows them to communicate with the dead, ghosts, evil spirits, and demons. They practice divination and healing, but also can use the occult to inflict harm and combat.”

“Asakura Hao-current skills/abilities :

Summoning (Spirit of fire) Dead Link (Can communicate with the unseen) Spiritual Pact (Can bind the occult by a contract or a pledge) Spiritual Haki (Furyoku, an application of observation Haki and conqueror’s Haki. Host can ask for further details later) Oversoul (The shaman manifests the spirit’s abilities inside his body with a fusion. Oversouls forms evolve with experience.) Shamanic magic (Uses the occult to perform magical actions)"

“Wow…” I was stunned for a moment. What was that transcender thing? And Shamans? It seemed like the system did not lie when it warned me not to feel too privileged. I was nothing special…

Was this the so-called adjustment the world had to make due to my hazardous birth? If that was actually the case, maybe I would meet more of those so-called transcenders in the future? Damn! This was really exciting…

“So what’s a transcender?!” I asked the system curiously inside my head. I was suddenly pumped up for some reason.

“Transcenders come from another dimension, just like Host. They sometimes are born with memories from their previous life and thus possess alien skills.” The system answered logically. “However host should know that he cannot mention this to them. While some of them have previous memories, some of them don’t. Host could be punished if he awakens their memories forcefully. The skills the Shaman Asakura Hao possess can be talked about, but host cannot elaborate on his existence, that is unless host wishes to experience the retribution…” He finished very sternly.

“What? So I can’t have a serious talk with any of those so-called transcendents?” I was pouting a bit. What a shame…

“No. Host needs to wait for them to talk about it. The initiative cannot be taken. Also, Host cannot mention the system under any circumstances.” The boring fellow replied truthfully.

“Oh...Guess that makes it better. I can roll with this.” I smiled and concentrated back on the long-haired boy facing us.

“So, what’s the deal? Why do you guys want us out of here? We’re just passing through. I can assure you we’re not marines.” Usually, I would not give face to this guy. I was the kind of person who just acted irreverently. I had strength so I did not function by people’s standards. But today, I was interested, so I would play with the boy a bit…

“...” Ace just stared, not knowing what to do. I could see he was eager to fight, but he was acting calmly, waiting for my instructions. He was definitely itchy for a signal…

“...Hmm.” Hao scanned the two of us and was hit with an insidious idea. He smiled swiftly for a second as if preparing a perfidious stratagem. I was crept out for a moment and a chill ran through my spine. What was that guy trying to do now?

“Yoh! I think those two are actually little nobles. Let’s capture them and use them for ransom. I bet we’re going to get a great sum out of this.” He said confidently.

“Aniki...that’s not really good, is it?” The younger twin said hesitantly. Apparently, he was not a complete idiot.

“Don’t worry, I have a plan. We will do this outside of here and anonymously. Those annoying world nobles won’t be able to track it to Gray Terminal. We’re already in enough deep shit as it is…” He frowned and squinted his eyes when saying this. “Anyway, we need money for your sickness, don’t try and dissuade me.”

“Okay…” The boy wearing the headphones withdrew a small wooden dagger from his pocket and came forward.

The two boys got in position and suddenly, flames appeared out of nowhere from Hao. Some kind of fiery wasp was dancing inside the bright red flames. It must have been that "Spirit of fire" thing... My observe skill allowed me to perceive most invisible things, but I was not able to see its perfect form. It was some kind of ghost after all…

“Ace, stay here. I’ll take care of this.” I said without leaving him a choice. I was not sure about those two’s strength, and if anything went wrong, I could not attend to Ace and protect him.

“Eh? Don’t order me…” He wanted to continue but he remembered something Sabo had said.

“Okay, but I’ll definitely interfere if it’s appropriate.Hmph!” He agreed reluctantly.

“Sorry…” I was a bit remorseful, but drastic times called for drastic measures...

I got in close range and showed a provocative look to the two little monsters. “So you think we’re pushovers huh? Do we look like nobles to you? Haaa…” I sighed in resignation. Even if tried to explain they would believe whatever they wanted. I wanted to do things silently when coming here, but I had already provoked a commotion. Crooks had flocked the surroundings, and I could indistinctly spot some underground scouts in the spectating crowd. Those guys were laughing and talking about some evil stuff evidently.

This was a setup...It probably had something to do with the same guy who alerted the children duo.

“Come at me!” I said insolently and loftily. I wanted to anger them so I could mess up their coordination. I did not know the extent of their power, so it was better if they were not focused and going at full regime.

“Hmmph! Yoh, seat back a bit, I’ll show this guy what’s up.” Hao fell into my trap. He was too proud to let my provocation slide.

“Aniki don’t be reckless, this guy seems strong…” Yoh tried to warn him. It seemed like he could assess some of my strength...Things were getting fun on this Island.

“Spirit of Fire!” Hao bellowed and formed five fireballs behind him. He controlled one with his palm and launched it towards me with a scary speed.

“...”I frowned. The pressure resulting from the momentum exerted a pull on the air around me. My movements were instantly restricted and I could not avoid in time. I had to take this attack head-on. My two arms started to shine and vapor came out, due to the coating from Haki.

I crossed my metallic arms in a defensive stance and welcomed the onslaught frankly and uprightly.

“BOoom!” The fireball exploded on me and to the onlookers, it appeared as if I had been blown up. The place was recovered with smoke and dirt.

“Haha! You’re only this.” My opponent said victoriously.

Ace looked at him disdainfully not worried the least bit. Yoh was looking at the mess and realized something ominous.

“Bro, be careful!” He yelled with caution.

“Huh?” Hao frowned and got back in position.

“Not bad...My turn.” I came out of from the flames at frightening speed and people could only see a blur with the smoke enveloping the area.

“Not good!” Hao murmured and directed two more fireballs at my silhouette. It was difficult to aim at me since I was not running in a straight line. Somehow he managed to direct one ball towards me.

“Bang!” This time I had the initiative so I had invested more energy and dexterity in my attack than the latter. I slapped the fireball towards the sky and climbed on Hao’s position with a devastatingly fast elbow blow.

“Oversoul!” He fusionned with that wasp of fire and his appearance changed. His white tunic disappeared and he was now shirtless. Even for a kid, he was fit; even more than me… I trained a lot but for some reason, my metabolism got stronger from the inside. It did not manifest externally.

This little guy looked like he was on drugs and intense bodybuilding training from the womb.

He was still lean, but that six pack was not something you’d get from playing with toys all day long.

Anyway, I had met a freak today, and I was happy...Hehe.

He welcomed my attack with a fiery kick. The impact of our two blow left a deafening sound floating up the buildings. Fire took over the place and it looked as if Hao possessed small meteorites in each of his blows. they were heavy, fast and burned everything they touched. Upon impact, the blows would cause explosions and craters were formed. We looked like two madmen fighting and the people were absolutely terrified.

“Who’s this kid? How can he fight toe to toe with Hao?”

“We need to report this to the captain. Damn it! yet another freak.”

“He’s only a kid I bet he has a weakness like that fire monster.”

Noises were circulating and I did not really pay attention. But apparently, Hao was one of the top existences here…

We continued to exchange blows consecutively. I had received a lot of hits; we were about the same strength and unless I used killing techniques, the duel would last a long time. But I did not want to kill the kid after all. This was just a friendly duel and I had discovered two gems hidden in the trash.

After a while, my "survival instincts" took over. I could not control the activation of the skills properly, the requirements were tricky. First of all, I had to face a life or death situation and secondly, the system would automatically activate it. I guess it judged I was in danger now, so it kicked in.

My senses were instantly heightened by three times and I could think more clearly. Everything became easier and slower. I started to land a few critical hits on the poor boy and with the frequency of the blows, he lost some spunk over time.

After a while, he ran out of energy. It seemed like he lacked stamina even if his spiritual energy reserves were almost infinite.

“Damn..How do you still stand tall after so long?Huff..” He exhaled totally washed.

“Secret! Boo!” I punched the exhausted young boy in his abdominals and he crumbled finally.

“Bro!” Yoh ran to pick him up and he looked at me savagely and grudgingly. Scary...Actually, I was more afraid of this one for some reason.

“Don’t worry he’s fine. I like you two, I also have a twin brother so I can relate to you two. Maybe that’s why I went easy on him.” I started to talk nonsense. My plan was clear right now. Recruit those two for Luffy’s crew. Some of their abilities were convenient and I had to make an experiment with one in particular...If it came to be true. Well, that would be totally broken for instance…which is cool.

“...” He did not say thanks but he smiled in relief. He held his brother and lifted him on his back. He lazily made his way through the crowd and snuck away from the crowded area. Everything seemed like a chore to this guy and I liked it. It was just hilarious.

*******************

Ten minutes later. The young boy had arrived behind a collin. There was a small house made inside a tree surrounded by mountains of old metallic machines and dirt. He opened the tree door and put his brother on the bed.

“Yoh right? What’s that sickness he mentioned before?” I appeared out of nowhere, accompanied by Ace before he could close the door. I referred to the sleeping Hao concerning the sickness.

“Nothing….??!Eh?” He suddenly jumped. “What are you doing here? Did you follow me...What do you want now? You guys won already, leave us alone…” He was freaked out.

“I'll help you with that sickness. I’m kind of a doctor, so you can tell me.” I replied honestly. Ace was looking behind not sure of why I wanted to help people who tried to kidnap us before.

“...Seriously? How can you be a doctor at your age?” He did not believe me. “Anyway, why would you want to help for no reason?We don’t have money, just go away…”

“...I’ll be blunt with you. You guys are really interesting. Be my friends is all I will ask for now, in the future I’ll also need your help with something….How about that?” I smiled evilly.

“...” Yoh did not know what to answer. His sickness was deadly but he could jeopardize his brother’s future like this.

“Yoh...Just accept it.” Hao said awakening from his knockout.

Raoh's Stat Sheet after the duel :

General Information Attributes Job Information Name Monkey D Raoh Name Value Name Value Name Level Advancement Race Human STR 37 SENS 59 Martial Artist 1 77% Sex Male END 52 INT 64 Slayer 1 5% Age 6 AGI 22 WIS 89 Organisation Pirate Kid Alliance REC 52 LUCK 7 HP 451/451 (26%/minute) DEF 35 CHAR 1 Haki 77/77(174%/minute) DEX 25 FUN 4 Skill List Name Level Advancement Observe (+Sens+wis+int) 36 45% Nerd Kit (+wis+int) 19 43% Move Kit (+Agi+Dex) 8 12% Savage Kit (+Str+End) 6 4% Tools Mastery Kit (+Dex) 2 12% Hokuto Shinken (+Str+Def+End+Rec+Haki) 15 42% Hardening Haki (+Def+End+Haki) 5 98% Pain Resistance (+HP+End) 2 63% Survival Instincts (+Sens+Dex+Int+Wis+Luck) 1 57% Spartan Metabolism (+Hp*5) 4 18% Cutthroat (+wis+Dex) 1 12% Sanguinary rule (+Def*5+End*5) 1 19%