Luffy was ready for trouble, waiting for Raoh's signal to engage.

He could either give up against this strong opponent or go full strength. Yoh was definitely too powerful for him to go softly, and his brother giving such a look was a testimony to it. He trusted in him more than anyone.

"What are you waiting for...?" Yoh asked. Luffy had not moved for some time now. He was probably frustrated and wished to relinquish their spar. Yoh sighed in disappointment; he hated people who acted like this. As long as they kept winning, their world was fine but met with struggle, they played the victim. He was the lazy type as well, but once he got into something, he would give his all. People usually had this misconception that he wasn't the reliable type, and he always proved them wrong.

He didn't show disdain or superiority towards procrastinating and inactive people, but he hated those who didn't show backbone and only knew to boast. Luffy initiated this bout, so he had to show something for it, otherwise, he'd lose his respect. Especially since he went easy on the kid.

"I can't wait anymore!!" Luffy's patience ran out. He looked at Yoh and grinned savagely. The latter had an uneasy feeling. Luffy didn't waste any more of his time and closed his eyes in meditation...

Suddenly, the ground below started to shake.

"I'm having mixed feelings about this..." Raoh smiled bitterly.

"Humph! This guy has no self-restraint. I'm totally against this." Ace grumbled.

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

What followed was totally unexpected. Luffy used his full powered punches and techniques against Yoh. But even with a killing intent, he could not change the fight's flow.

The first attack almost caught Yoh unguarded, but as soon as he saw the change, he used his oversoul form. Yoh transformed. His arm was suddenly recovered with heavy eastern armor and the blade grew almost ten times in size. This wasn't visible to the naked eye, and only the two shamans on the side were able to witness the mutation. Yoh only used one sweep of his enormous dagger to rout Luffy's rebellion. The blade was invisible to neophytes, and he wasn't able to shunt or dodge. When he woke up he had a good laugh but didn't forget to request another match after he got fed.

After lunch, they all agreed they needed to hide their trails from the pirates, before coming up with the next plan. They took their luggage and left for another tree far away. This new location was more covert than the other. It was close to a waterfall Ace had come to discover during hunts. It was both hidden and relaxing. They weren't clear on what they were going to do next so they didn't arrange a shelter right away.

After having lunch, Raoh needed some alone time. He wanted to check his new skills and study their functions. His last skill, in particular, stood out from the rest.

In this lifetime Raoh had people he needed to protect, and this skill was tailored for the task. He wasn't worried about anyone dying on him anymore. It didn't matter if the skill diminished his luck; it was really not something someone that just obtained the elixir of life or the philosophical stone should fret over. He understood the risk, however; Raoh wasn't an idiot; he had read stories about such elixirs and mysterious artifacts; there was always a tremendously heavy price to pay when someone went against the laws of nature...He also remembered the system's attitude...

"System, wake up." Raoh suddenly said.

"Does host need help for something?..." The system's response was quick this time. He wasn't this prompt most of the time, as he had misgivings about waking up from his mysterious dreams.

You probably already know what I want to ask, you secretive sloth... Raoh thought.

"I think we need to have a talk about my new skill..." Raoh didn't beat around the bush. He wasn't really in a hurry to use the resurrection ability. But just now; he remembered that he had left Lewis's corpse to rot in the woods. He always found Doctor Frankenstein to be a creepy motherfucker but put inside the latter shoes, he was wavering.

He was recalling something his old master had said to him when he wanted to learn forbidden techniques :

"Raoh, you shouldn't seek absolute power. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts you even more..."

At the time he didn't understand his master, but time proved that he was an experienced man.

"...Before I say anything, I want you to make a promise." The system gravely replied.

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

Several men were gathered around a fountain. You could feel the nervousness at the end of their fingers. At that moment, all the eyes were turned to a tall and heavily armored man. He had just killed one of their crew members. The man who had died just let escape three words before being strangled alive.

"Lewis is dead ..." those words were the last the poor young fellow had said.

Desmond regretted his impulsive gesture, but everyone knew killing just one idiot wasn't considered cruel here...

Their captain returned in a very good mood today, and the peace-loving muscle mountain he was, wanted him to stay that way a little more. Unfortunately, this shiny and hazy newbie spoiled the party.

The murderer looked behind him and sighed when he saw his captain's face.

"Master, did I dream or did we hear the same thing? ..." A ponytail teenage girl, who had everything tied beside her tongue, exclaimed.

Desmond's expression couldn't be darker now.