《One Piece Character Roulette》 Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land I grabbed into the nearby desk to steady myself. I couldn¡¯t recognize the surroundings. I was in some sort of cave. But there was some furniture around, some lamps hanging from walls. The area was dark, with the most of the lamps being broken, but few still brightened the room with faint glow. On the edges of the walls were boxes, lined up randomly. The whole place looked like a bandit hideout. Behind me was a large map. It took good part of the wall, being around two meters in the both proportions. The map¡­ wasn¡¯t of earth. There were few continents that resembled Africa and Australia, but they were upside down. But for some reason, despite how strange it was, something about it arose a vague sense of familiarity. In front of me was an office desk. There was a chair behind it, but I hadn¡¯t been sitting in it when I opened my eyes. Rather, I had been sprawled on the ground, with an unhealthy amount of vertigo. Standing up properly, I tried get a clue of where I was as my eyes gradually adapted to the dim environment. Slowly, I regained a sense of reality. That was when I saw it. A torn off leg laying in a puddle of blood. Following the trail of red, I spotted the body that it belonged to. It was in the mangled state, with its clothes in tethers. There was another body to my right. Despite the man not being in the same bloody state, his head had been smashed against the floor. Next to him lay an assault rifle, covered in blood. I tried not to vomit, desperately pushing down the sick sensation that was rising up inside me. What the hell? What happened here? What could even do this to a multiple man armed with assault rifles? What if the thing was still here, somewhere? The thought sent shivers down my spine. If whatever caused this was still here, I couldn¡¯t simply walk out of this cave. I needed to find a way to survive. First thing I did was pick up the firearm and check the ammunition. I sighed in relief. The clips weren¡¯t empty. I wasn¡¯t certain if it could defend me from whatever killed those man. It probably wouldn¡¯t. But at least I wasn¡¯t completely defenseless. Could a bear have done this? What else could? Holding a weapon gave me some sense of security, causing some of the shock to dissipate and I finally noticed something concerning. My grip felt off. Then I realized, my entire body felt strange. I looked down at my hands, not recognizing them as my own. I blinked. Approached the nearby lamp to see my body¡­ this body more clearly, only to see myself covered in blood. Yet, I had no wounds. There were scars though. I lot of them. Neither posing a threat any longer, but that didn¡¯t make them any less concerning. I was wearing large overcoat, which alongside rest of my clothes were turned into rags. Clothes I never remembered wearing. This wasn¡¯t my body. How did it take me this long to notice? What had happened? How did I end up into a body not my own? And what was this strange sensation enveloping me whole? It felt like a warm steam surrounded and danced around my body. It cycled around me, until converging in the top of my head and leaking out into the air. It strangely reminded me of¡­ Struck with the realization, I whirled around, gazing at the map one more time. No way¡­ I dug into the desk shelves, taking out random papers I found in it and placing them around the luminescent light near the map. I took a shaky breath. Those symbols¡­ I couldn¡¯t read any of them, yet their pattern was unmistakable. They were writing system of HunterxHunter world. Taking a deep breath, I willed myself to calm down. It wasn¡¯t time to be consumed by shock and confusion. I had to concentrate, lest I wanted to die. So I forced myself to gain control of the aura around me. I didn¡¯t know if this was real or a fever dream. But if this was real, I was about to die before even coming across whatever monster was looming around here. I could feel the aura leaking off of me that soon lead to an exhaustion, and than to death. Few more minutes passed, and I heard footsteps coming towards me. But I couldn¡¯t stop now. Taking control of my aura had turned out to be surprisingly hard. It annoyingly eluded my grasp. Just a little more. I needed some more time. But I wasn¡¯t done yet. ¡°My, my. What¡¯s this?¡± a feminine voice slowly approached the cave. ¡°So I wasn¡¯t imagining things. A rare. You¡¯re brimming with life. How did I even miss you?¡± The creature stepped into the cave, crossing her eyes with me. She was a mix between a human and an insect. Short blond hair, thin build. But her arms and legs were long, segmented like ant''s, and ended with three insectoid claws. Two insectoid wings extended from her back. She was wearing a white mask, and was dressed like a hooker.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°The queen will be pleased If I bring you to her.¡± It was a chimera ant. There was no doubt about it. Quite familiar one as well. But there was no time to be lost in panic. I needed to survive. To find a way to avoid being goddamn dinner. ¡°But maybe I can¡­¡± she paused, seemingly conflicted about something. ¡°No, I can¡¯t. Yonju would kill me. Damn it, he can surely feel that as well. He¡¯ll be headed this way.¡± Somehow, I could understand what she was saying. A rare, she called me? Chimera ants called the nen users like that. Ones that had more aura, life-force, and therefore a rare¡¯s flesh was more nutritious for them to consume. In a way, a delicacy and a priority for the queen that wished to give birth to a strong king. I tightened the grasp on the gun. Would this be enough? I doubted that. Those guys had emptied quite lot of bullets. Yet, I couldn¡¯t even see a scratch on her. What to do. How do I deal with her? Best way would have been to avoid her in the first place. Bullets would be useless. With barely any control over my aura, defeating her would be close to impossible. On the other hand, escape would be impossible as well. Fuck it. I raised the riffle, emptying the last few bullets onto her. She didn¡¯t even try to dodge. The chimera ant simply raised her arm and let the exoskeleton deflect the bullets. There was barely a scratch left. ¡°How futile. You think you¡¯re safe for now just because I can¡¯t kill you?¡± she laughed. ¡°You know, a broken arm or leg wouldn¡¯t really make you any less presentable.¡± Fuck. I¡¯m screwed. Taking another deep breath, I decided to turn back to only remaining weapon in my possession; The aura around me. Goddammit! Only if it stopped leaking off me already. ¡°Hmm? Cat got your tongue? Are you that scared that you can¡¯t even attempt to run?¡± A way to beat her. I needed to find that. The chances were low. Most newly awakened hunters would not stand a chance. I could only hope that whatever situation resulted in me ending here meant there was something special in this damn body. Did only I die? Or this guy? Or both? If most-mortem nen was valid in this situation, maybe it could result in something useful for me. Maybe I could draw power with some sort of nen restrictions. Would that be even possible? What if I could awaken ability to teleport? However slim the chances were, they were only ones I had. I felt a grip around my shoulder. ¡°How boring. Maybe this will get a reaction out of you?¡± She tightened the grip, and pain shot through my arm. I screamed, lost balance, and fell backwards. I hit my head, sending another bout of dizziness through me. My head throbbed, but it at least distracted my from the pain. ¡°Now that¡¯s little better. I like those sounds.¡± Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. It hurt. But knowing what was about to come was seriously shaking up my sanity. Desperation was assaulting my mind. I forced myself to focus. Right. Aura. The chimera ant kicked me in the shoulder, worsening the pain even more. ¡°I never tasted a rare, you know?¡± The ant kicked me again. ¡°What I would give to just take a bite out of you, you can¡¯t imagine.¡± Then, Out of nowhere, her mood abruptly began to worsen. She kicked me again, right in my broken shoulder. ¡°Do you realize how fucking unfair that is?¡± And again. ¡°I work so hard. Hunt all those humans. Make sure I don¡¯t kill all of them to fill up the quota.¡± And again. Again. And again. ¡°And what do I get? I catch something delicious and can¡¯t even get a bite out of it in return?¡± I grasped the aura desperately. The pain was too distracting. I was breathing heavily. But I couldn¡¯t give up. Not yet. Exhaustion was already setting in as my energy was constantly leaking. This was my only chance. ¡°Maybe¡­¡± The chimera ant gulped while mindlessly pressing into my broken shoulder. ¡°Maybe I can eat just this one. I could just find another rare to bring back. It should be fine like that, right?¡± I could see it. Just beyond my reach. A sweat dripped from my forehead. I forced my mind, with all the willpower I could gather, to concentrate onto the flow of aura. To grasp something ethereal, yet gradually becoming easier to perceive. ¡°Hmm¡­ What to do. What to do.¡± The ant tapped her leg into the ground, going around the circles. Finally, I did it! Breathing fast and heavy from the intense concentration and exhaustion, I resisted the urge to relax. I got ahold of my aura. It no was longer escaping me. But this wasn¡¯t enough. I evaded the immediate death by closing off my nodes, but there was still- The burning sensation on my right arm awoke me from my thoughts. What was that? The chimera ant wasn¡¯t the one that did it. I opened my eyes, bringing my arm towards my eyes and gazing at the source where the sensation originated from. There, on my arm, right bellow my palm, was a tattoo, something than neither me nor this body had just a minute ago. It was a skull. Wait, no. Not just a skull. It was a Jolly Roger, with a straw hat on its skull. What was this? === [Character Inventory: One Piece] Description: Manifest strength and abilities of a random character by rolling a roulette. Roll requires a sacrifice in the form of a corpse. Quality of a sacrifice influences chances of getting better rolls. While a character is manifested, the maintaining the state will require constant aura expenditure. Character Marks: 0/9 === I stared at the window that had appeared from the thin air. Ability description? Did I manifest the nen ability? How? ¡°Ugh, goddammit, why do things have to be this complicated?!¡± the mosquito woman exclaimed. Okay, fuck. Whatever. I had to just get something to sacrifice, right? A corpse, it said. I looked around, my eyes landing on the corpse of the bandit. ¡°Now, now, where do you think you¡¯re going?¡± I grinded my teeth as the pain flared up from the mosquito''s kick. But I had already made contact with the body with my right hand and willed the ability to activate. As I did, the body of the henchmen distorted, and got absorbed into the mark. I urged the slot to roll. [Draw Pool: East Blue saga; Romance Down arc.] Chapter 2: First Roll A semi-transparent roulette replaced the window with the note. There was a slot with a picture of a pirate I couldn¡¯t recognize. Then, the slots began to roll, rapidly picking up speed to the point that it became a blur. Until suddenly, it stopped, landing on a profile picture of a middle-aged man with an iron jaw, and with the words written on the bottom. [Axe-hand Morgan (E-)] Suddenly, my body jerked. Second later I realized I was raised by the Mosquito woman by the neck. ¡°I should just throw you at Yonju, before I lose control.¡± she said reluctantly. ¡°I doubt he¡¯s going to bring you to the queen though. Not that it matters. My life¡¯s on the line either way. And you¡¯re not worth the trouble. He¡¯s probably be here at any minute now.¡± With that, she started to drag me from the room. My only choice was to get this ability going. Fortunately, I didn¡¯t have to wait, as the simplified drawing of Morgan¡¯s head appeared on my arm, below the Jolly Roger. I focused on it, and the prompt appeared asking me if I wanted to manifest the character. I pressed yes, mentally as that seemed to be all that it needed, and I could feel the aura around me intensify. The mosquito woman jumped back in alarm, releasing me as she drew her hand back like she had touched a hot stove. ¡°What was that?!¡± she asked as she narrowed her eyes. ¡°What kind of tricks are you pulling?¡± I could understand why she would say that. The aura didn¡¯t simple stay in place. It whirled around me, flowing into my body. My appearance began to change. Most noticeable one was size. I grew little over a meter in height, almost reaching the ceiling of the cave. My build had broadened as well, while my musculature becoming more defined. I had turned into a goliath of a man, towering over the chimera ant before me. I felt stronger than ever, and this body was overflowing with vigor. In the end though, the size didn¡¯t matter that much in the world with supernatural powers. That wasn¡¯t the main cause of alarm of the chimera ant before me. Rather, I guessed that it was the increase in aura intensity that her instincts could sense, despite not being awakened to nen. It wasn¡¯t only my physical appearance that changed, but also my attire. Nen had washed over my clothes as well, replicating Morgan¡¯s normal attire starting from the large overcoat down to the trousers with the stripped pattern and the boots. Yet, the most bizarre change was the huge steel axe bolted through the bones of my forearm, replacing my right arm. Now what? Was I stronger than her? I had no idea how our strengths compared. Though, considering that running away wasn¡¯t a choice, I just had to go for it and hope that I wasn¡¯t hopelessly outmatched. Not finding any reason to give enemy time to recover, I moved, attacking with my right arm. She dodged, but the wariness she was showing was enough clue to know that she had been forced to put a real effort. To my surprise, there were cracks on the wall opposite me. I hadn¡¯t even touched in, there being few meter distance between the thing. Hot damn. That was some power. Definitely more than I thought.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. I whirled around, blocking Mosquito¡¯s claws and trying to counter-attack. Still, she barely managed to escape, her wings granting her just enough boost and maneuverability to slip through my grasp. She had scratched my forearm. A small cut. Not a serious damage, but she could get through my skin. If she used that poisonous stinger of me, it might be enough to take this body down. Unlike Killua, I doubted Morgan possessed sufficient poison resistance. ¡°Damn you! Stop struggling already!¡± she screamed as she attacked once more. I raised one arm to block, while keeping close eye for the extra appendages. Her claws clashed against my axe, the collision strong enough to generate sparks. She targeted my shoulder next, delivering small cuts and narrowly dodging my strikes. She was in a hurry, yet not reckless enough to waste her trump card. She seemed to be waiting for a moment. A moment where I let my guards down. This pattern repeated few more times, her cursing me and diving for an attack, while I tried to land a hit and adapt to her speed. Finally, I managed to deal some damage. After a small feint, I pretended to lose balance, and when she was about to land another strike, I aimed for her wings instead. The blade connected, slashing off chunk off of her left wing. She quickly lost balance mid-air, her path got forcefully shifted and she collided with the wall head-first. At this point, I was covered in cuts. My anger was boiling from the earlier helplessness and desperation I felt. The situation hadn¡¯t changed much. I had gained a potentially powerful nen ability, but I was still in the middle of nowhere. This was country with that forbade the use of technology. A worst place for the chimera ant queen to take her residence. This state was nowhere near to guarantee my survival, seeing as I was already struggling with this random chimera ant. Not to mention, it wasn¡¯t even going to last for long. My aura was gradually expended to maintain this state. But another hour or two, and I would be completely drained. Considering that this was Morgan we were talking about, duration for stronger characters would be much shorter. So, I had to get sacrifices and get stronger to survive. And it would start with this annoying mosquito. My fist flew forward. Despite aiming for her head, she managed to shift enough to avoid instant death, her shoulder taking brunt of the force behind the punch instead. To my glee, the exoskeleton cracked, followed by her flesh being squashed, spurting the green blood around. Another punch, and she would be dead. Dodging would be impossible for her at this point. Instead of dealing the finishing blow, I drew back, moving towards the spot that I woke up. I could see the look of surprise in her eyes, and a sense of disappointment. I knew why. I would be dead otherwise, alongside her. ¡°How?¡± She tried to stand, uselessly, as her back hit the wall she had been lying against. Wordlessly, I lifted the metallic desk and turned towards her. ¡°Haha. Oh well,¡± she muttered as she saw the table flying towards her. ¡°I guess I bee the weaker one.¡± I had never met a mosquito that persistent before. But finally, she was dead. The metal table had squashed her body against the wall of the cave. Blood spurted out of her, painting the wall behind her in green. I took a step to approach her corpse, and winced. Walking hurt. She nabbed my leg in a bad spot. I was bleeding from all over my body. There was no single wound that could be considered life-threatening, but I was in a heavy need of bandaging. But first, I had to get an idea of how the ability worked. The mosquito woman wasn¡¯t here alone. And she had mentioned about yojon or someone coming here. Probably that centaur guy. A squadron leader; someone much more dangerous than this one. I doubted Morgan¡¯s strength would be enough to deal with that. ¡°Man, that was a close one. You got lucky.¡± I turned around, searching for the source of the voice. Who? How did something managed to sneak in without alerting me at all? There was no one standing behind me. Not directly anyways. There was, however, a small white-furred creature hanging in the air. It was about size of a child. Its head resembling the Going Merry¡¯s figurehead, while its body was replica of Chopper¡¯s. This¡­ definitely wasn¡¯t a chimera ant. And with the same theme going on as the mark, I could make a guess of its identity. Chapter 3: Nen Beast The strange creature continued to hover in the air, gazing at ne expectantly. I couldn¡¯t detect any hostile intent from it. ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked. ¡°Hey, relax. I¡¯m here to help. I don¡¯t bite.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t answer my question.¡± ¡°Sheesh, how impatient. Well, I¡¯m not exactly sure who I am either.¡± the creature said. ¡°But I know what I am. Pretty sure you figured it out already. I¡¯m a nen beast. Brought into this world from your aura. If you focus, you should be able to see the nen link.¡± Now that he mentioned it¡­ after focusing, I could sense that this guy was connected to me through nen. I remembered some of the nen beasts. They weren¡¯t really that talkative from what I remembered. Though, there was Kite¡¯s crazy slots. So, he was part of the Roulette ability. Then there was no reason to doubt him now. His life was literally linked to me. My death would spell doom for him as well. ¡°You got a name?¡± I asked as I approached the corpse of the human. ¡°Not really. I was just born, after all.¡± He answered. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll go with Merry. Seems fitting.¡± ¡°You know about the Going Merry, then?¡± ¡°Yep. I inherited your memories. And it seems I was modeled after the ship¡¯s symbol. Don¡¯t ask me why. I don¡¯t know.¡± I squatted down, placing my hand on the dead man. I willed the ability to activate, and the body got absorbed into the main mark. I noticed that it glowed red for a second. ¡°Interesting. So, do you know anything I don¡¯t? Got any tips?¡± It took me simply focusing on it for the slots to began rolling. Merry floated down next to my shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s finish the roll first. I got all the rules stuffed into my head. It¡¯ll take a while to go through everything. Give me a second.¡± [Draw Pool: East Blue Saga/Romance Down Arc.] Semi-transparent screen appeared again. I could hear the generic sound that usually accompanied the rolls. Once again, dark slots replaced each other with rapidly as the rolling continued. It gradually slowed down, landing on the slot that, after the veil shattered, revealed a face I unfortunately knew all to well.
[Helmeppo] Grade: F- Stats Strength: F- Agility: F- Constitution: F- Perception: F- Equipment [Hammer Gun (4th Grade)]
Damn. This would be useless against pretty much anything. Morgan¡¯s son would reach greater heights in the future, but this version if him was simply unlucky roll. ¡°Bad luck. But you can¡¯t really expect much with a normal human.¡± Merry explained. ¡°Several things affect the outcome. But generally, stronger the sacrifice, more likely that the strong character will come out.¡± ¡°Figured. But there''s quite a difference between this one and Morgan, despite sacrifices being pretty much same.¡± Speaking of Morgan, I looked down at the small tattoo on my arm, depicting his Jolly Roger beneath the straw hat¡¯s. Not that he even had one in the story, being a navy man before encountering Luffy, getting arrested and then sailing off from the story. But it was clear who the mark represented from the metallic implant of the skull¡¯s jaw, as well as axes on top of the bones behind the skull. Earlier, I didn¡¯t have time to pay attention to it, but the stats seemed interesting. Focusing on the mark was all it took to pull up the status screen.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
[Morgan] Grade: E- Stats Strength: E Agility: F+ Constitution: E Perception: F+ Equipment [Steel Axe (3rd Grade)]
Not that strength gap between the two needed be stated, but it would prove useful for the future reference. I would need more characters to make comparison between them to see how much gap between each grade or sub-grade was. ¡°I¡¯m not really sure. You just got lucky first time. Or maybe luck wasn¡¯t all that it was. You could make an argument that the imminent death affected the outcome, your aura resonating with your will, nudging the outcome in your favor while still within the rules. Oh, and that¡¯s why I didn¡¯t show up immediately. That chimera ant seeing me could alarm her beforehand.¡± With the third and last human corpse as a sacrifice, I rolled for it again.
[Alvida] Grade: F+ Stats Strength: F+ Agility: F Constitution: F+ Perception: F Equipment [Iron Mace (3rd Grade)] [Flintlock Pistol (4th Grade)]
Not a great one. Weaker than Morgan. Not to mention, this was her without a devil fruit. ¡°Death seems pretty imminent right now too.¡± I replied to Merry. ¡°But Alvida won¡¯t be pulling me out of this mess.¡± ¡°Yeah, she won¡¯t. But it¡¯s not that simple. Mindset affects nen. And your mindset right now is different than it was against the mosquito. I mean, where do you think the ability got created from?¡± ¡°They¡¯re quite personal, from what I remember.¡± ¡°Yes, they are. Nen responds to desire, after all. Nen abilities don¡¯t represent an individual wielding them as a whole, but they do say something about them as a person. I can¡¯t give you a proper answer though. I know how it works, not why.¡± ¡°Got it. We¡¯ll figure that out as we go, then.¡± Finally, I stood before the chimera ant. And after pushing away the crumbled desk, my hand came in contact with her remains. The slots started rolling.
[Ronora Zoro] Grade: D- Stats Strength: E+ Agility: D- Constitution: D Perception: D- Equipment [Wado Ichimonji (1st Grade)] [Katana (3rd Grade)] [Katana (3rd Grade)]
Lucky strike! ¡°What do you think? Would this be enough to bring down the squadron leader?¡± ¡°Maybe. The difference in the strength of the squadron leader and regular chimera ants is not much different than what we¡¯re working with, here.¡± Merry said thoughtfully. He seemed to be analyzing the outcome. ¡°Well, do I have any other choice?¡± I asked. ¡°You do, actually.¡± Merry said, still deep in the thoughts if his furrowed brows were any indication. ¡°I do?¡± ¡°Yes. But there¡¯s a problem. You¡¯re running low on aura. You can probably maintain that form another hour or so with the reserves you got right now. But Zoro¡¯s form would last less than ten minutes. We¡¯ll be on a strict time limit. And the squadron leader isn¡¯t only problem we¡¯ll be facing. We¡¯re in NGL. This place is swarming with chimera ants right now.¡± ¡°Yeah, I noticed. The awakening took a quite the toll on my reserves.¡± I said. Lot of aura was wasted into the literal thin air before I took control of it. Not to mention the constant drain that maintaining this form required. I had kept it up as a precaution, but now that something good had come out, it might be better be a bit frugal with my reserves. With how numerous the chimera ants were, endurance posed a great issue. ¡°I should probably dispel the Morgan¡¯s form. I can do that right?¡± ¡°Wait, don¡¯t.¡± Merry hurriedly said. ¡°Once you cancel, that¡¯ll be it. You can no longer get the same character again unless we advance an Arc. Morgan¡¯s one of the better choices for the Romance Down. Don¡¯t waste him just yet, we might need that form.¡± ¡°You sure? He¡¯s not going to be useful against the big guy. Not with how his form fared against the mosquito.¡± I said, wondering what Merry might be getting at. ¡°What¡¯s the other option you mentioned?¡± ¡°Alright. So, here¡¯s the thing. You remember when the mark, the big one, showed the ability¡¯s description?¡± Merry explained. ¡°Do that again, and then make it go to the main screen.¡± At first, the same semi-transparent screen appeared like it did before, but when I tried what Merry suggested, it got replaced by the one I hadn¡¯t seen before.
David Moore Grade: F+ Stats Strength: F Agility: F Constitution: F+ Perception: F Aura: C- Nen Abilities [Character Inventory] [Stranger in the Strange Land]
¡°Oh, I have my own stat sheet.¡± I said, reading over the screen. ¡°And I have a second ability. Is than what you had in mind?¡± Focusing on the ability, its description revealed itself.
[Stranger in the Strange World] A teleportation ability that can lead to the various worlds through the pocket dimension. Cooldown: 24:00:00/24:00:00
¡°The ability seems interesting. Teleportation¡¯s going to be useful and what we need right now. But,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s it? The description doesn¡¯t really explain how it works.¡± ¡°Usage of most nen abilities are instinctive. Probably why it has the brief description.¡± Merry explained. ¡°Also, that¡¯s why I¡¯m here. And c¡¯mon. You want to read those dry descriptions instead of having someone amazing like me explain it? Don¡¯t be such a bore.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got quite the ego. Doesn¡¯t really much that face.¡± I said. ¡°But I better get out of here before¡­ oh fuck.¡± Two chimera ants stepped into the cave, alongside two humans, if they could be considered as such any longer. Of the two chimera ants, one was short, bald and green skinned humanoid centipede with a goatee. This one was a weak match-up against Morgan. Unlike Mosquito that specialized in speed, Centipede was more of a brawler. He would be easier to deal with than the Mosquito. Same couldn¡¯t be said about the chimera ant resembling a centaur. He couldn¡¯t control nen, yet I could feel the killing intent radiating from him. He was dangerous. Morgan would stood no chance against this monster. ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± the centaur asked with a tome full of arrogance. ¡°You are trespassing my turf.¡± I concentrated one the second ability. And a dark portal appeared in the air. I entered it, teleporting the hell out of here. Chapter 4: Paradise A medium sized, old-fashioned room. Thick carpet on the floor. No windows. An unlit fireplace and armchair in front of it. A queen-sized bed in a corner. Everything looked like a standard cottage room, apart for the lack of windows, and a wall opposite of fireplace sporting nine wooden doors lined next to one another. Clang! ¡°That was a close call.¡± Merry noted. ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve returned to normal.¡± ¡°What do you-¡° I looked down on myself, noticing lack of absurdly large muscles. The ability¡¯s effect had ended without my prompt. ¡°Oh. How?¡± Damn, I needed a rest. And maybe some time to process this. Beneath me lay the steel axe that was lodged into Morgan¡¯s arm, alongside the steel jaw. The cape was still draped over my shoulders. The conjured clothes hadn¡¯t disappeared either. I had kept the equipment. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that was going to happen. The manifestation got dispelled automatically from activating the second ability.¡± Merry explained, seemingly puzzled by something. ¡°It seems not every detail of the ability is known to me.¡± ¡°Shame. There seems to be lot of conditions in play.¡± I mused. Then again, maybe that was the point. ¡°Though, if limiting the versatility results in more potent effect, it could be worth a trouble.¡± ¡°That should be the idea behind it. More restrictions result in stronger application when it comes to nen.¡± Merry nodded. ¡°When it comes to ability this absurd, you would need tremendous amount of aura to make it work without any caveats. I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a feat that Meruem himself could accomplish with no restrictions.¡± ¡°And yet, it¡¯s still seems insane of an ability.¡± I said. ¡°It makes me wonder what its limits are.¡± I took my time taking in the interior, searching for anything special that I might have missed. But aside from the doors, nothing was really out of the ordinary in the room. ¡°So, this is my very own pocket dimension?¡± I whistled. ¡°I quite like this place.¡± ¡°Well, your subconsciousness was the one that build it, after all.¡± Merry said as he too observe the place. ¡°Is that so?¡± I asked. ¡°It¡¯s more of an assumption. But seems most likely.¡± That would be great. It was much better than possibility of some higher being dropping me in this place for God knows what reason. I guess I would find out sooner or later. Or maybe not. That would be just fine by me. ¡°Hey, does this place has time limit or something?¡± I asked Merry. ¡°No. But time does pass normally, here and as well as outside. And you have no food nor water. As long as you don¡¯t starve to death, you¡¯ll be fine.¡± That was all I needed to hear before throwing off the cape and oversized boots before plunging into the bed. ¡°Great. I¡¯ll be dozing off for a bit. Wake me up in a hour or so.¡±
¡°David, hey David.¡± I heard Merry¡¯s voice as I was being shaken awake. ¡°Wake up already.¡± I stood up, taking a minute or two to wash away the grogginess. ¡°How long was I asleep?¡± ¡°Not too long. But we better get going.¡± Merry said and pointed at the row of doors. ¡°We need supplies.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m parched.¡± I said as I looked down at the mark, bringing up the stat window to check something. ¡°Like you said, the cooldown¡¯s frozen.¡± It was showing [00:00:00/24:00:00], and not budging a second. I couldn¡¯t just wait for the timer to run out, step into the door and come back immediately. If I decided to go through, I had to spend a whole day in the unknown territory before I could go back to safety. Walking the one of the doors, located leftmost and only a few inches away from the corner, I asked. ¡°So, what¡¯s behind them? How does this world travel work?¡± Merry floated right next to me. ¡°Now isn¡¯t that a million dollar question. I have no idea which one leads where aside from the one you¡¯re standing in front of.¡± ¡°Back to HunterxHunter world?¡± I asked. ¡°Yep. Right back into the small island in the Lake Mobius. Exact same spot we crossed to here from.¡± Merry nodded. ¡°If the time¡¯s passing like normal, the centaur is probably still holed up in that cave he¡¯s treating like his royal palace. I''ve recovered enough for the transformation to last enough time. But will Zoro that can¡¯t yet cut through the steel be enough to defeat the squadron leader?¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. It was not easy to calculate the outcome from the hazy recollection of what I could remember those characters¡¯ limits were. Fortunately, Merry was here to refresh my memory. Zoro could cut through the stone easily from the very start of the series, but not steel until reaching Alabasta Arc. The centaur guy hadn¡¯t really shown much of anything, but I¡¯d rather not underestimate an enemy poke that. Merry and I went over what we could remember. Kite had decided to take care of the centaur chimera ant himself while leaving Mosquito and Centipede to Killua and Gon. The centaur was a squadron leader. Despite the varying strengths between each leader, they should be stronger than those bellow. The rabbit chimera ant Gon and Killua fought was Colt¡¯s subordinate, yet took Gon¡¯s strike and received no lasting damage. Much weaker Gon, during the Heaven¡¯s arena, upturned the stone tile bigger than him and shattered it without much trouble. The rabbit didn¡¯t have nen then, though neither does the centaur right now. How much damage can he absorb? Was there anything I was missing? Not to mention, speed was most problematic stat to compare. ¡°I don¡¯t like our chances.¡± I said. ¡°He doesn¡¯t have nen.¡± Merry said. ¡°I might be able to reach some hypothesis if I could calculate his aura. But there¡¯s no such thing. Just our guesswork.¡± ¡°Guess I¡¯m choosing the unknown, then.¡± I said, moving forward to open the second door, determining that it would be better to risk exploring a new world. ¡°We¡¯re not gonna get dropped right into the active volcano, I hope.¡± Behind the door was nothing but dark void. I pressed the hand onto it, and it passed right through without resistance. Aside from ominous feel it had, there seemed nothing dangerous about the portal itself. I stepped inside. My environment changed in a blink, from a cozy, warm room to a forest with numerous tall trees. A cold breeze passed through me. It was morning, sun had yet to reach the peak. I looked around, observing the area. I expected something more familiar. Some signs of one of the worlds from various media I had consumed. But there was nothing unique about this place as far as my eyes could see. Then again, I hadn¡¯t seen much yet. That was when I felt it. The vibrations passed through the earth. The deep sound of thud, and then a giant humanoid creature, well over half-dozen meters, appearing among the wood. ¡°Is that a goddamn titan?!¡± Merry exclaimed. ¡°Wow, that thing¡¯s massive. You need to transform, David, like right now. It¡¯s heading towards us.¡± My eyes stared widely at the towering creature moving towards me. Quickly willing the ability to activate, I selected Alvida¡¯s mark. Wasting Zoro here would be such a¡­ waste. And a bad idea. Zoro could easily deal with the titans, but his form had a stricter time limit precisely because he was strong. And then what? I would be out off steam in not long after, and if I came across another titan, I would be defenseless. I needed that reassurance to pull me out of a really shitty situation. One titan wasn¡¯t that, no matter how scary it looked. ¡°It¡¯s picking up speed, David. Do something about it!¡± The titan began to move faster when it noticed us. But it¡¯s movements were simplistic. Thankfully it wasn¡¯t an abnormal. I didn¡¯t want that in my plate right now. My body grew, slightly in height and bit more generous in the width department. An iron mace appeared in my hand. While not comparable to Morgan, my strength stepped past the limits of human capability. I could sense it simply with the strength flowing through my body. There were now several meters between me and the titan. The creature towered over me, casting a shadow that loomed over us. Were we regular humans, no doubt that would be a sign of death, with no chance of escape. I could try to run. But that would simply put me in worse situation. Without knowledge of where exactly I was, or how many titans were in the area, reaching the safety was a pipe dream. That simply left me with an obvious choice. Before the titan could fully cross the distance between us, I pocked up a sizeable rock nearby, with surprising ease, and threw at the giant''s leg to test out what I was dealing with. The rock tore off a chunk of flesh from the creature, but it barely halted it¡¯s advance. I drew back, creating distance between me and the titan, while looking for the suitable target. The mace had too short of a reach for me to comfortably swing it around. There! It was a tree that was relatively small than others, yet still half the width of my torso. Thick enough to do the job. I charged at it, swinging the mace at it. The tree snapped, and after the second swing, it began falling just as the titan was upon me. Before the tree could fall, I dropped the mace and grabbed its end with both of my hand and swung around with all the force I could muster, hooking it from behind the titan¡¯s feet. In a comical display, the titan fell on its back, granted without much damage. But that wouldn¡¯t matter anyway. I had to target it¡¯s weak point, and now I didn¡¯t need to go through all the trouble of climbing the tall bastard. It obviously tried to stand, and continuously swinging this tree wasn¡¯t something I could easily do either. Instead, I threw the tree on top of the titan, grabbed the mace, and run towards its neck, my target in sight. The creature was clumsy, simply acting on an instinct. It awkwardly tried to push the tree off, and slowly began to rise its torso. I had to move fast. If it stood up, I had to repeat this all over again. One titan might be doable, but if the noise attracted more, the odds would be staked against me. The titan pushed the tree off of him and began to stand, but I was already upon its neck. I jumped, grabbing back of its head as I was lifted in the air. I tightened my left grip around handful of hair to steady myself, and began pummeling the titan¡¯s neck, rapidly swinging the mace at it with my right. The titan roared, tried to grab me in most inefficient way possible while dumbly spinning around the place. Before I realized, the titan¡¯s neck snapped, and soon after, it began to fall, and me alongside with it. It fell headfirst to the ground, its body cushioning my fall. To my surprise, the fall barely hurt. I regained my footing, looking down at the massive pile of flesh in front of me. I couldn¡¯t believe that I had killed that. It was less of a challenge than mosquito chimera ant, yet the feeling was completely different. The size of the creature made it painfully clear that this was a world different from mine. Despite my being mostly physically unharmed, looking at me might leave a different impression. The clothes I wore were mess after that maneuver. My body was covered in blood rapidly evaporating off of me. Thank god for that. Having to clean off that mess would be a pain in the ass. ¡°You might want to absorb the body before it¡¯s too late.¡± Merry said, ¡°It¡¯s evaporating.¡± Right. There was steam rising from the corpse, and it¡¯s muscles were beginning to slowly shrink. I placed my hand on the titan¡¯s head. ¡°Also, more are coming.¡± Fuck. Chapter 5: Arc Advancement This forest was full of those big bastards. The first titan¡¯s roars attracted more of them. And not long after its death, I was facing another titan, a four meter-one. Then two appeared after I killed that one. Neither was as tall as the first, one around six, and another eight meters tall. But taking care of them together was a pain. Making one fall wasn¡¯t enough, as the other one would quickly lunge at me. I had to take both of them down at the same time, and use that small window to break one¡¯s spine before other was clumsily trying to stand. While I defeated the group, I hadn¡¯t come out unscathed. My shoulder was bleeding. There was teeth marks on me as a memento when the smaller and faster bastard tried to bite a chunk off of me when I went for the other. It stood up quicker than I was expecting and lunged at me head-first, like it was participating in a diving competition. I managed to break its jaw and throw it off before it could gnaw my arm off. After that, I tried to look out for the sudden change in their movements. I couldn¡¯t even imagine how much pain the abnormal ones would be to deal with. The wound hurt, but this body was more durable than I imagined. It didn¡¯t affect my strength much and the bleeding was slowing down on its own. I still ripped of my shirt off and wrapped it around the wound and secured it tightly to slow down the bleeding. Just in time for another set of titans to approach. After that, it became a chase. The titans attracted more titans, and before the new batch died, they caught attention of others. With five more titans dead, and more than a dozen chasing me, I had to make a run for it. I able to quickly quench my thirst when I found a stream on the way. I saw a deer or two running for their lives as well. But with the titans on my trail, there was no time to hunt them. I found a shallow cave and took a momentary shelter inside, while titans kept clawing at the entrance trying to get to me. They didn¡¯t show any desire of falling back. I was tired, but that wasn¡¯t the only reason why I stopped the hit and run game with titans.
[Character inventory] Marks: 9/9 [Ronora Zoro (D-)] [Helmeppo (F-)] [Heppoko (F-)] [Peppoko (F-)] [Poppoko (F-)] [Lord of the Coast (E+)] [Higuma (F)] [Ripper (F-)] [Koby (F-)]
Most of the rolls were duds. The poko trio were triplets in Alvida¡¯s crew. And as one would expect, they were nothing special. They only had single stat, each different, that was better than Helmeppo¡¯s. Higuma was somewhat better. Around the ballpark of Alvida. A bit weaker. But enough to not be completely helpless against the titans. Ripper was the officer at Shell¡¯s Town. A good man, but not much stronger than the triplets. And Koby¡­ was Koby. A kid with a great potential, but a potential wasn''t very useful in the current circumstances. But one of the rolls was a jackpot. Lord of the Coast. A massive sea monster that could swallow a man whole better than any titan could. A creature that towered over even the Colossal Titan in size. Only downside was that I couldn¡¯t make full use of its capabilities due to lack of water. But that barely could be considered an issue, as the giant eel could simply crawl like a snake. It would at least to a better job with that than Reiss¡¯s titan. With another trump card at my hand, I could save Zoro¡¯s mark for a deadlier encounter. Using it now would be an overkill, and it would last less than an hour. But Alvida would no longer cut it. Dealing with dozen titans at the same time was beyond her. Nor was there point to it. ¡°Merry, how long am I stuck in the first arc?¡± I asked. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem that I¡¯ll be getting anything better from this pool.¡± ¡°Oh, you have to kill a boss.¡± Merry said with stars in his eyes. ¡°Each Arc has one. You summon it, you kill, and boom! You move on to the next arc!¡± ¡°Summon a boss? How?¡± Merry¡¯s expression turned serious, like he was telling a story in front of a campfire. ¡°Basically, you kill something strong enough to be a vessel. In this case, one of those bigger titans should do the job. You place your hand on the vessel, activate the ability, and the vessel will be transformed into the main bad guy of the arc. When the boss dies, your pool changes to the next arc.¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°I¡¯m going to be fighting Morgan, then?¡± I said, thinking over my options. I needed some stronger characters, and if the weak extras kept popping up, I would not survive for long even in this world. ¡°I guess I have to use the Lord of the Coast. This form has no chance.¡± ¡°Here¡¯s the thing, though.¡± Merry said as he kept hovering in front of me. ¡°You don¡¯t have to directly kill him. He just has to die. It doesn¡¯t matter how that¡¯ll happen.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± I realized what Merry meant. ¡°That¡¯ll be fun.¡± ¡°Right? Right?¡± Merry asked me with an adorable grin. ¡°Can you imagine when he wakes up in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of titans trying to eat him? Don¡¯t you just want to see how he reacts?¡± ¡°You just want to relish in his misery.¡± I sighed, yet my mouth cracked into a dumb grin as well. Merry didn¡¯t deny it. Rather, he kept dancing around me with an excitement written across his eyes. ¡°C¡¯mon, it¡¯ll be fun. I wish I had some popcorn.¡± I shook my head in disbelief. I had such a handful of a partner. Probably what kept me from completely losing it. ¡°There¡¯s something else as well.¡± I said as I looked down at the nine mini tattoos bellow the main Jolly Roger. ¡°It says that the nine¡¯s the limit. Does this mean there¡¯s no point in hunting more down unless I use one of the nine?¡± ¡°No, unfortunately. You can¡¯t stack up more than that.¡± Merry said. ¡°You don¡¯t have to just use it on yourself though.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t? Wait,¡± I brought up the ability description again. ¡°Oh. I can choose targets. Does that mean¡­¡± I glanced at the group of restless titans still desperately trying to get inside. ¡°Probably.¡± Merry nodded. ¡°Yes, you can turn others into the characters you rolled. But they need to be unconscious for the ability to work. Otherwise, you need their consent for that. Normally.¡± ¡°What amounts to normal?¡± ¡°They need to be considered human. Or something that has mind that can be considered self-aware.¡± Merry continued. He seemed to be enjoying explaining things. ¡°In their current state titans do not possess conscious mind. Do you consider their existence to be comparable to a human¡¯s?¡± ¡°Is that a philosophical question?¡± I blinked. ¡°I would say there¡¯s some complications. There a human inside there, not yet dead. There¡¯s chance for them to regain their human bodies. But chances of that are so low, that they are as good as dead. So, I guess not.¡± ¡°Then there¡¯s your answer. Your judgement determines the nuances in application of the ability.¡± Merry said. ¡°If what you¡¯re saying is what you believe, then those titans are viable target. I mean, you do remember Chrollo vs Hisoka, right? Chrollo mentioned something about that.¡± ¡°Right. I get what you mean.¡± I said. The rules with nen abilities were subjective, and the user¡¯s worldview had a great effect on them. ¡°I just have to transform them. And then I can kill them, right?¡± ¡°Keep in mind, though,¡± Merry added. ¡°The corpse¡¯s value will change into what you turned it into. So you can¡¯t transform something strong into something weak, and then expect to get good rolls out of that corpse.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s a bummer.¡± ¡°David, there are no loopholes. You¡¯re not fooling yourself.¡± Merry laughed. ¡±Also, I don¡¯t think you will want to go for the kill.¡± I gave Merry a puzzled look. ¡°Why would that¡­¡± I blinked. ¡°Oh, they won¡¯t stay mindless.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Merry looked at me with a complicated expression. ¡°Will they awaken like Ymir? What about the time limit?¡± ¡°Probably. And it will require a constant upkeep of lifeforce. Same with you.¡± Merry said. ¡°But it can either come from them, or you can shoulder the nen expense, if you choose to. When it comes to weaker characters, like the triplets, it won¡¯t really be a problem. Your nen recovery is more than the cost they require. If you choose to keep the burden on the regular humans, though, it¡¯s going to start chipping away their lifespan.¡± That made sense, in a way. The form required constant energy to maintain it. Nen basically was the life energy, so if someone didn¡¯t have ability to control it, my ability would take a bigger toll on them. And stronger the form, more energy it required in exchange. That also meant I could gather allies and give them powerful bodies. Despite being temporary, it was still a boost well worth its price. ¡°But despite the titans once being regular humans, they are no longer.¡± I noted. ¡°The titan bodies can survive without any food for seemingly no limit. They¡¯re clearly getting energy somehow. How will that interact with the Roulette?¡± ¡°You think that their regeneration will be enough to sustain the form indefinitely?¡± Merry asked while nodding his head. ¡°I think so too. But there will be a limit with the character¡¯s strength. We just don¡¯t know where that limit is.¡± If this worked out, I could see the situation I could end up with. If titans could indeed turn back into the humans they once were and be able to live a normal life, it would be better to establish a new settlement somewhere. It didn¡¯t mean I could afford to not kill titans. But I could save some of them. And if I could gather some competent subordinates along the way, it would just be a bonus. ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking.¡± Merry said with a grin. ¡°This could be really, really exciting.¡± I stood up, this possibility blazing a fire of determination within me. There was a tangible goal I could aim for. An option much better than anything I expected. It wasn¡¯t without problems, of course. The past of the titans had been tragic. Without anything connecting to this world anymore, would many still keep the will to live? How many would be willing to fight again? But some challenges were meant to be faced. I wouldn¡¯t know the outcome of my decision before I went through with it. ¡°Let¡¯s deal with the boss first, get done with this arc.¡± I said as we moved towards the cave¡¯s entrance, towards the jaws of the frenzied titans. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll see about saving those who I can.¡± Chapter 6: Captain "Axe-Hand" Morgan The fascinating thing about the titans was how different their behavior could be from one another. Some of them chased after me like their life depended on them, with that creepy smile plastered all over their faces, while some just followed me like they were on a morning stroll, and I was a snack they were about to pick up from the nearest convent store. The moment I flew out of the cave and trough the titan¡¯s grasp, they began to chase me. One thing that may not need to be clarified, was that this body wasn¡¯t really cut out for running. If I could see myself right now, I would probably have hard time keeping myself from laughing my ass off. For now though, I was running for my life. There were two titans barely keeping up with my cartoonish run, and others falling not to far behind. There were several meters between us. I was actually slower then the two. The only reason I got ahead of them was from me taking advantage of the terrain and zigzagging between the trees. With their massive bodies, maneuvering around here slowed them down enough for me to create some much needed distance for the main show to happen. For the first step, I needed to single out one of them. Then kill it before other titans were upon me. Not an easy thing to do. But that was where Merry came into the plan. ¡°Are you ready, buddy?¡± I asked at the hovering Merry next to my shoulder. ¡°Take care the left one for me.¡± ¡°You can thank me for my genius later.¡± Merry nodded back as he turned around, changing his course and flying towards the smaller titan. ¡°I know it can be frightening sometimes!¡± I laughed at how unserious he was about the situation, and kept going forward. Merry was going to distract the other titans while I took care of preparing the vessel. Merry was about to collide with the titan, when he suddenly began growing in size. Merry was also the viable target for the Roulette, and since he was linked to me via nen, there was no reason to make the contact during the transformation. He rapidly transformed into a tall, black-haired man with a goatee. it wasn¡¯t only his body that went through the change, but also his attire. He wore a red coat over white t-shirt, black pants, and a golden necklace, along with a sword holstered around his hip. At the same time, Higuma¡¯s mark vanished from my arm while my aura expenditure doubled. With the speed he had picked up during the flight, a body of a fully grown adult man smashed into the leg of a titan. The titan¡¯s lighter weight worked against it, and the force proved sufficient to trip over the creature, sending it smashing headfirst into the ground. Meanwhile, Merry was flung backwards, he too crashing against the terrain. But neither of the two sustained any injuries. The titan stood up in seconds, but its attention was no longer on me, like the rest of its kin that had finally caught up with it. After making sure all eyes had shifted on him except the one closest to me, Merry made a run for it, and titans gave chase, leaving only one of them tracing my steps. When there was sufficient distance between me and Merry, I planted my right leg into the ground to halt my speed and turned around, rushing at the titan running towards me. The moment distance between us shortened to the point where only few meters separated us, I lunged at the titan''s leg. The same scene repeated again, and the titan fell head-first to the ground. I activated the ability, marking titan as the vessel for the summoning. Before it could stand, I retreated, charging towards the tall but a thin tree that I had spotted earlier. I left the mace behind as it would slow me down, but I didn¡¯t really need it. A body slam and one punch was all it took for the tree as thick as my arm to tear off from its trunk. I quickly grabbed the bottom end of it, my muscles bulging from the effort, but I managed to raise the tree around a dozen meters horizontally above my right shoulder. The titan roared, having just stood up and started to run towards me. I responded in kind, picking up pace. Before we clashed, I planted other end of the tree into the ground in an angle, tightened my hold around my end and leapt into an arc. Before I reached the highest point, I threw myself forward, using the tree as a leverage. The tree snapped, but I had already launched myself off of it, hurling towards the big guy¡¯s face. I had intended to grab its hair, use it to secure myself around its nape to break it. I miscalculated a little, flying off bit lower than intended. The titan roared in pain as my hands dug into its eye sockets, temporarily blinding the creature. Blood splattered outwards, and sensation I got from my hands was repulsing. I moved, shifting to my left and digging out my hands from the steaming flesh. Then, grabbing edge of the titan¡¯s right eye socket with my right and keeping a tight hold, I jumped, swinging around its head until my left hand grabbed at the hair, barely dodging the giant hand from getting ahold of me.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. With that, the hardest part was done. In the distance, I could see Merry drawing the titans back. Just in time. When the vessel fell after I punched through its nape, Merry had almost reached my location. I stood up, trying steady my breath while drawing back from the corpse of the titan before finding the tallest tree around and climbing it. After reaching high enough, I dispelled the transformation and sat upon a branch. It was better to conserve my reserves, especially now that the Alvida¡¯s form would not be of much use with dealing this situation. Plus, I had a plan. The titan that I had chosen as a vessel began to transform after seconds of its death. Its body began to rapidly shrink until it became third of what it was. The summoning was complete. The captain Axe-hand Morgan was right in front of me, in the flesh. He was in his normal attire, with ornate overcoat and all his modifications; his axe hand and metallic jaw present. His eyes shot open, observing the surroundings in puzzlement for a second. Then he sensed it. The vibrations through the earth. He quickly stood up and looked around. And froze. His eyes landed on the dozen or so titans running towards us. I¡¯m pretty sure Merry had picked up few more along the way. Morgan didn¡¯t immediately run. He also spotted Merry running ahead of the titans. But before reaching Morgan, Merry transformed back, flying past him and up until hovering next to my shoulder. I raised my hand. We high fived The titans changed their target, going after closest human in their vicinity; Morgan. ¡°That was perfect.¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s enjoy the show.¡± ¡°Haha, this is fun.¡± Merry laughed. Looking down bellow us to see what Morgan would do. ¡°I wish I had some popcorn.¡± ¡°He has no plans of running away.¡± I noted. ¡°He¡¯s pride won¡¯t let him back off.¡± He could probably survive if he made run for it. There were animals roaming around the island. And since the titans showed no interest in anything not human, it wouldn¡¯t take too long before coming across one. But the great captain Morgan knew no retreat. At least that was how the man viewed himself. ¡°Halt, Now!¡± Morgan called out with an authoritative tone. ¡°What are giants doing here?¡± There was no response, of course. The titans simply charged at him. The man probably thought them as the giants of Elbaf. ¡°You dare ignore my order?!¡± Morgan said with irritation, shifting into a defensive posture. ¡°Disrespecting an authority, especially me, is a crime punishable by death! I will not give out another warning!¡± With the first titan upon him that began bending down and bringing its giant hand upon the man, Morgan simply swung his axe, splitting the palm from the wrist up to the index finger. Two thirds of the titan¡¯s hand slid of from the rest, burst of steam immediately coming out off the wound. But the titan showed no reaction, its creepy smile unchanging. It tried to bring its hand forward again, but second titan crashed into it, making the both sending falling at Morgan. The man simply jumped sideways, avoiding impact area altogether. He brought his axe down at the intervened titans, cutting the. bellow the waist. He then dealt with the next titan by cutting its leg off. ¡°He¡¯s doing quite good.¡± I said. ¡°How long do you think he¡¯ll last?¡± ¡°He¡¯s a One Piece character. I don¡¯t think his stamina is going to run out any time soon.¡± Merry said. ¡°Unless he realized they got a weak spot, I don¡¯t see this ending today.¡± ¡°Fair point.¡± I nodded. ¡°We might need to intervene sooner than we though.¡± Morgan had easy time dealing with titans one on one, but now that more then dozen of them surrounded him forced him into a less aggressive fighting style. I could hear him cursing under his mouth. He was caught off guards when the fallen titan than he had cut in half suddenly grabbed at him. With the hand coming from Behind, Morgan failed to react in time, resulting in the titan quickly snatching him up and throwing him into its mouth. Of course, that was far from enough to bring Morgan down. The titans lower jaw was sliced off, and Morgan threw himself out from the mouth. Morgan seemed unharmed from it, but the distraction allowed rest of the titans to gather around him. With multiple of them going after him simultaneously, Morgan began to struggle. He found himself against endlessly regenerating enemies that paid no mind to any of their injuries. Every time he cut them up, they healed right back up. Even going for the head did not put an end to those things. They disregarded everything but the desire to eat him. At this point, being swarmed by the titans, escape seemed to be no longer an option. Gradually, Morgan began to accumulate wounds. Continuous assault from the titans left him covered in bruises, and the few times that they managed to get their teeth on him didn¡¯t leave him unscathed either. His axe was steaming from the evaporating blood. His clothes were in tethers, his jacket and shirt being ripped apart by the giant hands. There were numerous teeth marks on his body, threatening him of succumbing to the bleeding. Without knowing how to kill them, Morgan had no choice but keep slicing up the giants until they run out of steam. The battle between a man and titans continued, until Morgan finally landed a lucky strike. When one of the titans, forced to crawl up to him due to lack of lower body, got struck on its nape just in the right area by Morgan¡¯s axe. For a while, Morgan hadn¡¯t realized what had happened, simply going after the next titan after accidentally landing a killing blow on the previous one. But he did notice. Rapidly burning up giant was hard not to. ¡°Guess that¡¯s my cue.¡± I said, bringing up one of the character marks and activating it. Now that Morgan had figured out their weak spot, the fight wouldn¡¯t continue for much longer. I needed to make a move before then. ¡°Let¡¯s see if Morgan''s bulletproof.¡± Chapter 7: Orange Town Taking form of a certain character, apart from their physical strength and abilities, came with another bonus. Namely, their equipment. It wasn¡¯t just their appearance that was replicated, but also their attire; their outfit and accessories. But most importantly, it also included the weapons and any other items they carried. There was a condition, of course. The Roulette wouldn¡¯t conjure something that a character had picked up once. Rather, the items must be associated with the version of the character in the arc that the rolling pool accounted for, to be considered part of them. Morgan¡¯s axe and Alvida¡¯s club, or even Higuma¡¯s sword and jewelry could be considered such examples. That said, there was an important distinction between a character and the item they carried. That being, the item wouldn¡¯t disappear alongside the transformation. And unlike with maintaining a character¡¯s form, it didn¡¯t need a constant influx of energy to continue to exist, only the initial expenditure of aura to conjure the item. Probably since they were inanimate, and didn¡¯t have a biological mechanism. Of course, I could choose to not have transformation accompanied by certain items associated to the character, and save my aura reserves instead. Missing out on the equipment would be a shame, but sometimes I might not be in a situation where I could afford that cost. But most important thing, at the end of the day, was that it worked. And I was holding a rifle in my hands. Ripper was a navy man under Morgan¡¯s command, and the one that replaced him as the head of the Shell¡¯s Town after his abolishment. And while his strength wasn¡¯t anything outstanding, standard marine loadout did include a rifle. The one I was aiming at Morgan right now. Morgan himself wasn¡¯t smartest of the bunch, clearly taking his time before finally locating the exact spot that he needed to strike. After he did though, the titans began to fall after one another. Bringing the titans down hadn¡¯t been a problem for Morgan, who simply slashed their leg off of them, and when their napes came within his reach, a swift strike was all it took for the enemy numbers to dwindle. Eleven, ten, nine¡­ four titans remaining. I exhaled, steading my aim and sharpening my focus as the calmness overcame me. Before he could kill the last three titans, I pulled the trigger. I wasn¡¯t much of a marksmen. Times I had held and shot a rifle weren¡¯t many. Not to mention, I was firing from an awkward position. Therefore, armed with an unfamiliar firearm that looked to be more suited for a prop in a history museum rather than modern day combat, it was not hard to conclude that my chances of hitting the bull¡¯s-eye was not looking great. However, same couldn¡¯t be said about the body I was controlling right now. I didn¡¯t gain any memories nor experience from Ripper, but with Character Roulette replicating a character¡¯s physique, along came the muscle memory, instinctively guiding me into more refined form. It didn¡¯t turn me into a master in the field, nor perfectly replicated skill and style of the character, but it made handling the new body and the abilities the character possess more natural. So when Morgan paused momentarily, in order to meet the charging titan head on and bring it down, I went for the shot. Had the distance between us been more than dozen meters, I would have missed. But since the target was not far away, Ripper¡¯s talent as a marksmen was more than enough to guarantee success. The bullet hit Morgan in the back of his head, going through his eye. A chunk was blown off from his head. Blood, flesh and bones, and part of his brain splattered in the air. His body froze, the axe-hand he was readying for a slash slumped.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Morgan died without realizing how. And next second, his body was swallowed up by a titan. [¡°Axe-Hand¡± Morgan is eliminated] [Updating Rolling Pool] ¡°Welp, he¡¯s dead.¡± Merry said. ¡°There¡¯s no coming back from that.¡± ¡°He was stronger than I thought. I expected him to loose.¡± ¡°Well, he¡¯s a One Piece character.¡± Merry shrugged. ¡°Yeah, makes sense.¡± The titans didn¡¯t leave after that. Once one of them swallowed Morgan, they started moving toward us. At the same time, a notification popped up that the pool of the Roulette got automatically updated. ¡°Guess that¡¯s our cue.¡± I said. ¡°Can¡¯t have all of those bodies evaporate.¡± First, I dispelled Ripper¡¯s form, tossed Merry the gun I was holding, and started to climb down. Half of the corpses had already turned charred, while there was no trace of the first titan that die by Morgan¡¯s hands. Rest were to soon follow. Aura flowed through my body, and despite my lack of skill in its applications, I could use it to enhance my body enough that I didn¡¯t have to worry about falling. My hand dig into the bark, and I quickly reached the ground before the first titan was upon me. It tried to grab me, but I dodged the giant hand writhing hairs breath and rolled. Finding myself between the titan¡¯s feet, I quickly made contact with its flesh, flowing aura into its body and activating the Roulette. I selected one of the triplets. Merry also rushed forward, his hand holding Higuma¡¯s blade. In his regular form, Merry wasn¡¯t designed for combat. His main role was more of a guide, explaining ins and outs of the ability as well as giving me suggestions. Normally, he wasn¡¯t even strong enough to lift Alvida¡¯s body. We tried. It was funny. But it made clear that he wasn¡¯t strong in his base form. That said, there could be something done to somewhat remedy the issue. That being, obscene amount of aura. Since Merry was a nen beast originating from my aura, we were also connected through it. And when I went into Zetsu, he would dematerialize. On the other hand, I could also flow my aura through that link and temporarily enhance his strength. That said, there needed to be large quantity of it for it to matter. Sizeable chunk of my aura reserves were depleted as I used it to strengthen Merry. Around 10%, if I had to put a finger on it. And he rushed towards a titan, the one that had eaten Morgan earlier, and slashed across its stomach. The titan roared as blood, stomach fluid, and a corpse separated form its body. Meanwhile, I had neutralize the second titan. The third one managed to grab me, and for a moment I watched in horror as the giant opened its mouth to reveal massive teeth all eager to bite through me. Fortunately, there wasn¡¯t much needed to be done as titan was already within my reach. It froze as I activated the ability. Its body began to shrink, and I jumped down to meet the fourth titan. As the final one began to transform, I absorbed Morgan¡¯s body and used it to roll the roulette. ¡°Hell yeah, it works.¡± I said. Merry wasn¡¯t sure it would. There were gaps in his knowledge that left certain aspects vague. So I had to make do with fucking around and finding out. ¡°Merry, you lucky bastard!¡± [Rolling Pool: East Blue Saga ^ Orange Town] Merry was next to me in an instant, gazing at the slots rolling until it stopped.
[Richie] Grade: E- Stats Strength: E+ Agility: F+ Constitution: E- Perception: F
Richie? Oh, the giant lion in the Buggy¡¯s crew? Not bad. Not as good as Morgan though. Was this an unlucky roll, relatively speaking? At least it was physically stronger. For it, dealing with titans wouldn¡¯t be a problem anyway. Morgan was already tearing through their flesh like butter. I went through the remaining corpses, absorbing them and exchanging them for rolls. [Tightrope Walking Funan Bro #1 (F-)] [Tightrope Walking Funan Bro #2 (F-)] [Tightrope Walking Funan Bro #3 (F-)] [Superhuman Domingo #1 (F)] [Superhuman Domingo #2 (F)] Bunch of extras. I meant no offense. That¡¯s just what they were. They didn¡¯t even have names. Anyway. With that out of the way, I shifted my attention towards the titans that I had transformed back into humans. It was about time for them to wake up. ¡°Where¡­ where am I?¡± one of them, the one with Helmeppo¡¯s form, asked while looking around in confusion. He seemed utterly lost. His eyes were wide open, and tears of relief flowed from his eyes like a tiny stream. Rest of then weren¡¯t better either. One of them stood frozen and hadn¡¯t moved from the spot. He seemed dazed, not entirely awake from the state of mind that being a titan caused. It was understandable. Who knows how long they had spent roaming around the earth as titans. ¡°My name is David Moore.¡± I stepped forward, introducing myself and grabbing their attention. ¡°I know this must be incredibly confusing. You all went through hell, after all. I will explain everything. But first, we need to reach safety.¡± Chapter 8: To you, From the Discarded Past ¡°My name is Darios.¡± Said the man that had taken Helmeppo¡¯s form. ¡°I was a doctor in a small town once. One day, I sheltered and treated a man that I shouldn¡¯t have. Marley declared me a traitor. Then they made an example out of me.¡± We were sitting in the cave I had found earlier. The four followed me after briefly explaining the situation. They didn¡¯t trust me, of course. And were reluctant to follow a stranger. But fear of titans and an unknown territory made them grasp the first hand that offered help. How long had they been roaming around as titans? Could be years. Could be decades. It would be a nightmare either way. Something that would leave anyone in an emotional wreck. I shifted my gaze to the man seating next to Darios. ¡°I¡¯m Dante.¡± After some hesitation, the one transformed into Heppoko spoke up. A tanned skin man with a large forehead, short hair and a goatee. ¡°I was a revolutionary. Someone snitched us out. Our entire group got shipped off to the Paradise, alongside our families. Last thing I remember is¡­ my wife, siblings and comrades being turned into titans right before my eyes.¡± That caught my attention. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a rough thing to go through. My condolences.¡± I said. ¡°Dante, if I may ask, what year was that?¡± ¡°Year? Well that was¡­¡± Dante said. ¡°God, everything¡¯s hazy. It felt like a forever ago and yesterday at the same time. It doesn¡¯t make any sense. I think it was 778.¡± ¡°Merry, does that mean anything to you?¡± ¡°That was few years before Ymir and cultists got caught. Grisha wasn¡¯t even born yet.¡± Merry said. At least we know we aren¡¯t too far from the plot. I can track down timeline by which one got turned earliest. Not the most precise method, but it was only one at my disposal. I didn¡¯t even know what direction the walls were. Blindly roaming the area would be foolish endeavor. There was a minute of silence before anyone said anything. ¡°My name is Maxwell.¡± Said the one with Peppoko¡¯s body. The one with blond hair and a goatee. ¡°I¡¯m a deserter. I was called into the frontlines. Marley sent me on a suicide mission. I run. I got caught, of course.¡± I turned to the last man. ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°I fucked a noble¡¯s wife.¡± The main said like that should¡¯ve explained everything. ¡°My name¡¯s Hugo, by the way.¡± ¡°You did what?!¡± Maxwell asked. ¡°Can¡¯t say I''ve heard that before.¡± Darios said. ¡°How does an Eldian seduce a Marleyan woman, a noble nonetheless?¡± Hugo just shrugged. ¡°Anyway,¡± I said. ¡°We can worry about that later. For now, we have some things to figure out.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Darios said. ¡°It appears we¡¯re indeed in a tough predicament.¡± ¡°So, you were the one that turned us back into humans?¡± asked Dante. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°How?¡± Maxwell asked next. ¡°I¡¯ve got some strange powers.¡± I answered. I planned to bring them under my wing. Becoming allies, without some trust, was something only a fool consider. They were going to find out anyway, as we would be working together. ¡°I can take form of certain individuals, as well as turn others into them. There¡¯s a limit, of course. I don¡¯t know full extent of it. But it works. And it can save people like you. Turn you back into humans. Not in back to your original bodies, unfortunately. But it will spare you a fate of a titan.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ I¡¯m not sure how to react to such information.¡± Darios muttered. ¡°Turning a human into a titan is already something beyond my comprehension, but transforming someone''s body into another human being, in the middle of nowhere without any equipment, is something that leaves me speechless.¡± ¡°That at least explains this strange body.¡± Hugo noted. ¡°Can we ask some questions?¡± ¡°Go ahead. I¡¯ll answer what I find appropriate.¡± ¡°Can you turn me into someone better looking?¡± he asked. ¡°Not right now. But later? Sure.¡± ¡°Can you turn us back into titans?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll need to make skin-to-skin contact for that.¡± I raised my hand, waving it at him. ¡°We¡¯re at your mercy, then?¡± Hugo narrowed his eyes. ¡°Pretty much. Though, you can try your luck out there.¡± I pointed at the forest. As if on cue, a roar echoed throughout the area. ¡°I wont stop you.¡± ¡°Nah, I¡¯m fine.¡± Hugo said as he returned into his relaxed demeanor. ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯re that bad.¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather avoid being eaten alive.¡± Darios said. ¡°Say, mind showing that power in action? I would very much like to see how it works despite defying logic.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind. I¡¯d rather we travel together for now. We¡¯ll settle once we have more members to support us.¡± ¡°Are you planning to turn back more of the titans back, then?¡± Dante asked, ray of light shinning through his eyes.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Is there a limit of how many?¡± ¡°No. But there is a requirement. I need to kill one titan to turn back another.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ so you can¡¯t save all of them.¡± Dante sighed. Still, it was not hard to guess source of his worry. ¡°Do you still remember their titan forms?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes¡­ the events of that day, being forced witness something like that are hard to forget.¡± ¡°Be on the lookout. Make drawing of them if you can. If your family and comrades still roams this island as titans, I¡¯ll bring them back.¡± ¡°Thanks¡­ I- wait, what do you mean, if?¡± ¡°If someone hadn¡¯t killed them already. You do know that people live in this island, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°The so called devils.¡± Hugo noted. ¡°You¡¯re saying they can kill titans?¡± ¡°They can. Some are pretty good at it too.¡± I replied. ¡°They¡¯ve got interesting gadgets, I¡¯ll tell you about them later.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Dante nodded. His expression wasn¡¯t as dark as before. ¡°I¡¯ll follow you.¡± ¡°I will too.¡± Maxwell said. ¡°It beats being on the menu. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a hard choice.¡± Maxwell and Darios answered the same. ¡°I do have one question, though.¡± Darios said. ¡°Those bodies, are we stuck in them forever?¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to know that too.¡± Maxwell said. ¡°Can we ever get our bodies back?¡± ¡°For now, yeah, you guys are stuck with them.¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s possible to bring you back in your original bodies.¡± ¡°So, what happens now?¡± Darios asked. ¡°I need to rest first.¡± I answered. ¡°Then, We¡¯ll be going out to find more titans.¡±
Next few hours were spent to recover my aura while also answering any remaining questions that the group had. Dante described the titans that I would try and avoid killing, however low chances of encountering them were. But considering the size of his group, at least one of them was sure to show up sooner or later. When the night fell, I had Merry stand on the watch. Next day, After my reserves fully recovered, we exited the cave. The 24 hour cooldown still hadn¡¯t expired, but I wasn¡¯t in enough danger to warrant standing around. I led the group in front, while others kept lookout for unexpected attacks. Merry hovered in the hair. It took us more than hour until we came across the first titan. ¡°Northeast, seven meters tall.¡± Merry announced. ¡°Doesn¡¯t appear to be an abnormal.¡± ¡°What¡¯s an abnormal?¡± Maxwell asked. ¡°It¡¯s a titan that doesn¡¯t act like a regular titan.¡± Merry explained. ¡°They¡¯re unpredictable, and therefore - more dangerous.¡± The titan slowly entered into our line of sight. I could see the men becoming anxious at the creature towering above us. It was their first time gazing at it from below, instead of overlooking them from the wall while waiting for their turn before getting injected with the serum. ¡°Can you really deal with that?¡± Maxwell asked. ¡°All I need is a single touch.¡± I replied. ¡°Stand back.¡± They did. And I sprinted forward. The titan shifted its attention towards me. It bent down, moving its hand towards me. I simply high-fived it, sending aura coursing through its body. That was enough to activate the ability. I selected [Superhuman Domingo #1 (F)]. The titan froze and the four watched in disbelief as it began to shrink, and take form of human again. ¡°It¡¯s safe!¡± I called out. ¡°Come here, I¡¯ll need you to help me with this.¡± Darios was the one to take a step closer, curiosity getting better of him. Hesitantly, others followed. Just in time for the man too come to his sense, and stare us wide-eyed in confusion. This would take some time. After some explanation, I was shaking hands with the newcomer, Mike. He was a tad elusive about his previous occupation. He only said that he had offended a Marleyan officer and the issue escalated until he had been framed as a traitor. Truthfully, I didn¡¯t really care if he tried to hide anything. I wasn¡¯t picky about their past, as long as they got along. As long as he didn¡¯t bring the group down. And Mike seemed like a good fella. He still, understandably, found this situation overwhelming. All of us could empathize with that. Especially the four that hadn¡¯t even had a day to come in terms with their situation. ¡°I can¡¯t even find words to describe how I feel right now.¡± Mike said. ¡°Thank you, truly.¡± We took a half an hour stop to give the man much needed piece, as well us others to catch a break. ¡°So, you¡¯ll be turning other titans back.¡± Mike said. ¡°What¡¯s the plan next?¡± ¡°Once the sufficient number of people are gathered, we¡¯ll find a place to build a settlement.¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s when things will get serious. Marley will not leave this place alone. We¡¯ll have to be ready.¡± ¡°But¡­ How? We can¡¯t leave this island. Is there anywhere safe here?¡± Maxwell asked. ¡°I would love nothing more than putting those arrogant bastards in their place, but can we fight them?¡± ¡°I will show you that possibility. It¡¯ll be your choice whether you decide to trust me or not, when that time comes. But for now, that¡¯s not a matter worth mulling over.¡± I answered. ¡°You guys don¡¯t believe that I¡¯m simply doing this out of goodness of my heart, right? We¡¯ll be working together. At least, I hope so. I¡¯ll give you safety and strength. And you¡¯ll help me when I¡¯ll need you to.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair.¡± Dante said. ¡°Despite your reasons for saving us, I owe you my life. Last thing I could do, is to not doubt you for no reason.¡± ¡°But, I have to ask.¡± Mike chimed in. ¡°You¡¯re strong. What can any of us do to help?¡± ¡°Are you worried about not being strong enough?¡± I asked. Then I picked up a rock size of a tennis ball and threw at him. ¡°Think fast.¡± Mike caught it, startled by my sudden action and gave me a confused look. I didn¡¯t leave my eyes off of him as I picked up similar rock and tightened my grip around it. Using aura to enhance my strength, the rock shattered into pieces. ¡°Now, you do it.¡± I gestured at him. ¡°Um, I don¡¯t think-¡° ¡°Stop overthinking it. Just do it. I know you can.¡± Mike sighed in frustration, but tried it anyway. He jumped a little when the rock actually broke into pieces. ¡°Wait what?¡± Mike gawked at the display of strength he failed to understand. ¡°How?¡± ¡°Hey,¡± Maxwell said. ¡°How come the rest of us can¡¯t do that?¡± ¡°Not all of them are equal. I¡¯ll get stronger bodies for rest of you later. Though, you can easily become that string as long as you train.¡± I said. ¡°Those bodies aren¡¯t normal. Can¡¯t you feel the difference?¡± ¡°Huh? Now that you mention it¡­¡± Maxwell replied as he flexed his arms. ¡°I do feel a bit stronger than before.¡± ¡°You just noticed?¡± Hugo asked. ¡°Same here.¡± Dante said. ¡°It¡¯s really not a wonder, though, considering how long we have been in the form of mindless monsters.¡± ¡°I¡¯m actually weaker than before.¡± Darios said. ¡°Well, your starting point is lower.¡± I said. ¡°That said, that body has much better potential, Darios. It¡¯s weak now, but it can get stronger than any of them here.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Darios asked with interest. ¡°Does that mean I can bring down titans?¡± ¡°Easily. In a single strike, even.¡± Merry chimed in. ¡°You need to train though, really, really hard.¡± ¡°Hear that folks?¡± Darios laughed. ¡°I¡¯ll be leaving you in the dust if you laze around. Try to catch up.¡± That at least brought out couple of chuckles. Merry then explained the rest of them how to train. In short, very, very recklessly. It was nothing complicated, as long as you drove your body to its limits. I planned to give then better forms later down the road. I couldn¡¯t afford that for now, though. First, I had to raise the number of the group, earn their loyalty, and make them strong enough to be useful for the future plans. Only after solidifying my position here, would I pay visit to the Survey Corps, as well as Grisha Yeager if he was still alive. Though, I couldn¡¯t simply act without caution. The power that the founding titan possessed was not something I could deal with my current abilities. Not in a longshot. For now though, I simply had to kill more titans. Chapter 9: New Members We kept going soon after that, mostly encountering titans moving alone in intervals. After transforming next two titans into [Superhuman Domingos (F)], and then into [Tightrope Walking Funan Bros (F-)], we ended up with five more members. The group now consisted of eleven members. Darios and Maxwell were the ones that mainly helped the newcomers. Maxwell and Mike, and occasionally Dante would show their support if the person was in a worse than expected mental state. Like with the last transformed, Charles, who had fallen in psychotic episode. I didn¡¯t know what had happened before he got transformed to a titan, but whatever it was, it was traumatic enough to cause the man enough distress that he tried to kill himself. We had to restrain him before he calmed down and came to his senses. There was Wilhelm, in the body of one of the superhuman domingos, who appeared to be stoic man at a glance, yet turned out to be a great mediator. He was calmest of the five that recently joined us, and had a knack for soothing others¡¯ panic. The next to join us was Daz. The man had barely said a word after coming to his senses. He simply followed us along. The only time he showed a proper expression was of shock when he first saw a titan turning into a human. Martin was complete opposite of Daz. He was a charismatic man who made a great effort in getting to know the rest of us and to lighten up the mood. Sarah was a woman with an observant gaze. She was quick to notice things around her. She was the one to rush at Charles, grabbing a hand than held a knife, and held him down until his nerves calmed down. Wilhelm took over after that, keeping an eye for the man to not to do anything foolish again. Without her, it might have been too late to stop him from killing himself. Speaking of Sarah, there was a certain issue she faced. Everyone did, with different bodies and all, but for obvious reasons, she had most trouble with getting used to it. There was no way for me to change any of then into their original appearance, but there was no reason to make their lives worse by forcing them to stay in the bodies they would not want to live in. Even if I could increase the number of the group much faster otherwise, it would be foolish way to lose any goodwill the existing members might have had developed towards me. If I could get few trustworthy followers, it would be all I could ask for. Quality over quantity, so to speak. If I wanted to lead people that wouldn¡¯t stab me in the back, least I could do was take a good care of them. Some of Sarah tension eased after learning that she wasn¡¯t trapped in her current vessel. The absurdness of our situation as I explained what she needed to know simply left her in the state of confusion at first. But somewhere along the line, she just gave up trying to understand and accepted it. Seeing the ability in action didn¡¯t leave her with much of a choice. That wasn¡¯t first time I received that sort of reaction, and I was sure it wouldn¡¯t be last time either. We took a break. Merry led us to a river nearby. Then we spotted a small deer. Wilhelm hunted it. Martin, Maxwell and Daz skinned it. Dante and Sarah set up a fire. Darios field-dressed it and then cooked it. We stayed there for an hour or two before we began to move again, letting the people get used to each other¡¯s company as we ate together and the people up about their past. With the expandable rolls running out, I decided to start killing the titans again. Merry and I also had to be more alert now that there was larger group with us. So when the next titan appeared, I didn¡¯t move forward to transform it. ¡°Um, should we give you some space, boss?¡± Mike asked with hint of nervousness in his voice. ¡°You¡¯ll be killing that one right?¡± ¡°Well, yes. Technically. But actually, Merry''s going to kill it.¡± I replied. Frankly, fighting head on was an unnecessary risk, and however inefficient this attack was, it was better than wasting a good roll on a single titan. ¡°Don¡¯t be worried. It¡¯s going to end in a second.¡± Like I said, Merry finished the titan with a single blow. I charged him with aura, and he accelerated towards the titan¡¯s nape, shooting past through it. It took around 5% of my total aura, but it would be fine as long as I could rest in between. And with the pace we were encountering titans, it shouldn¡¯t be an issue. Just in case, I would keep at least half of my aura in reserve. It should be more than enough to deal with anything unexpected here, unless Ymir herself decided to unleash her wrath on me.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Merry¡¯s display certainly impressed and gave a sense of security to the group. Knowing that any titans could be dealt with within seconds helped their anxieties to somewhat settle down. Next rolls weren¡¯t great, set of same-themed pirated from Buggy¡¯s crew. But I was fine with that as the group kept gradually growing. [Acrobatic Fuwa #1 (F-)] [Acrobatic Fuwa #2 (F-)] [Acrobatic Fuwa #3 (F-)] [Acrobatic Fuwa #4 (F-)] Acrobatic Fuwas weren¡¯t that much physically stronger than average human athlete. Characters graded F- were still witching the reach of theoretical limits of human physiques, even if some of them came somewhat close to pushing that line. Of course, as they were pirates in a fantasy world, they could overpower most humans without much struggle. But their true talent lay in, as their name suggested, in their acrobatic skills. They were fast, nimble, and had inhuman sense of balance. And that talent transferred to the transformed humans as well. And when we took a brake to test out their capabilities, it left the group in awe. Similar effect was with the original four, except for Dario for obvious reasons. I was quite curious in how well they would handle the ODM gear in their current state. As for the superhuman domingos, while their acrobatic skills were lacking, their strength was something else altogether. Even with the bodies of the extras, they were beyond capabilities of what human physique should be able to do. After that came lucky rolls.
[Cabaji] Rank: E- Stats Strength: F+ Agility: E Constitution: E Perception: F+ [Mohji (E-)] Equipment [Tricycle] [Blade] [Circus Props]
[Mohji] Rank: E- Stats Strength: F+ Agility: E Constitution: E Perception: F+ Equipment [Whip]
As I stopped the group for another break, I sat down alongside them, thinking over my options. With Merry watching over the are from above, there was no threat of titans sneaking upon us. So I shifted my attention back to the new marks. As the first and second mate of Buggy the Clown, Mohji and Cabaji were big deal in East Blue, considering the average strength of its inhabitants. They were same grade as Morgan. They were physically weaker compared to him, but more agile. In a way that was better. They still packed enough power to bring down a titan, and their agility would allow them to outmaneuver the titans, giving the two more flexibility instead of standing and waiting to cut them down. If I choose to manifest them, dealing with titans would be much easier and faster. But I had a better option. Instead of the manifestation lasting less than a day, I could have power of titans shoulder the energy expenditure, hopefully granting me a subordinate that could fend off by himself among the titan infested territory. So far, the transformed showed no signs of being critically drained of their life-force. Merry¡¯s theory seemed more valid with each passing second. Despite that the humans in front of me were no longer titans in their appearance, they still had that ability that supplied them with energy. I wasn¡¯t sure how far that could be pushed. But even if this only worked with the low tiered characters, it would still give me an army of superhumans followers at my disposal. My choice of who would take those forms were obvious. Using them in the random titans would be risky. And the ones that I trusted most were the initial group of four. Though, Darios would be out. I wanted to know if he could grow stronger, and if he could, it would be foolish to waste the potential of his new body for short-term and small bump of power now, where patience could result much better result. That left Maxwell, Dante and Oliver in the picture. But it wasn¡¯t just my decision to make. The circumstances needed to be taken into account, as well as their compatibility with those characters. For that, I had gathered the group already consisting of eleven members and explained what I was thinking and asked the tree about their opinions. ¡°So you¡¯re saying,¡± Maxwell said. ¡°That I can be raiding unicycle and wielding a sword and the same time?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Sign me up.¡± There was no room for argument. That decided, and the rest coming in agreement that Dante would be taking the form of Mohji, I instructed everyone but Maxwell to move out of the way, as for another manifestation to take place, the current one had to be undone. Maxwell turned back into his titan form as I dispelled his current vessel. Before turning him into Cabaji though, I did try to get through his mind, see if he retained any consciousness in the titan form. He didn¡¯t. He simply chased after me as a normal titan would. An expected outcome. Still, I wanted to know if there was any side-effects of my ability. Maxwell took form of Cabaji with all of his glory, with his clothes, a sword, hidden knives, and most important of all, the majestic unicycle that materialized right beneath him. Next was Dante, but Mohji¡¯s form only came with a whip as a weapon. When Maxwell saw Dante¡¯s new appearance, he began to laugh. ¡°Pffft- oh gosh, what is that awful hairstyle? You look like you belong to a circus, man.¡± Dante raised a middle finger at him. ¡°Look into the mirror, fucker. You¡¯re not one to talk.¡± ¡°You got a problem with this beauty?¡± Maxwell proudly moved the unicycle back and forth, barely holding himself from breaking into another fit of laughter. ¡°Dante, my friend, you wish you were half as stylish as me right now.¡± ¡°Well boys,¡± I patted the two on the back, halting their bickering for a moment. ¡°Aren¡¯t you itching for some action? How about we test what you two are capable of with those upgrades?¡± Chapter 10: Buggy D. Clown ¡°We¡¯re killing a clown?¡± Dante asked. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I¡¯m more interested in why.¡± Maxwell said. ¡°What did this clown do, exactly?¡± ¡°I mean, a clown to deserve a death sentence,¡± Mike chimed in. ¡°Means that he wasn¡¯t very good clown. Or maybe I¡¯m wrong and he was good. Too good. And other clowns want him gone.¡± ¡°I think you all are ignoring the most glaring question.¡± Darios said. ¡°Are you doing well, David? Where did you sight this clown?¡± I sighted. They weren¡¯t letting me explain. ¡°Darios, you too? Aren¡¯t you supposed to be the eldest among us? Don¡¯t encourage them.¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯re in the middle of nowhere.¡± Darios said with a knowing smile. ¡°We''re quite short of entertainment and you brought up a clown. We¡¯re ought to be left with some questions. It¡¯s only natural.¡± Despite his current appearance, Darios was an old man. A wise and kind old man, judging from the short time I had spent with him. And he cared great deal about others. I knew what he meant. The team needed some distraction. To take their mind off the past long gone and focus on the future ahead. The one that, hopefully, wouldn''t be as grim and cruel. I wished to make that better future the new reality. ¡°You idiots are joking, but this seems serious.¡± Oliver turned to me. ¡°Are you going to transform a titan into a clown?¡± ¡°Wait, really?¡± Mike asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t he going to end up like us, then? Why kill him?¡± ¡°Friends, how about we let the man explain.¡± Wilhelm said. ¡°And David. Are you intentionally starting those speeches in the most absurd way possible? You get some twisted amusement with making us listen those geniuses bicker, don¡¯t you? Please just get it over with. Thank you in advance.¡± ¡°Alright, fine.¡± I raised my hands. ¡°You got me, I¡¯ll explain it properly.¡± And when the group finally calmed down, I began. ¡°What do you guys know about piracy?¡± --- ¡°Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!¡± Maxwell screamed as he sprinted through the forest on his unicycle, with a titan in tow. ¡°Why the hell did I sign up for this!?¡± ¡°Why is he screaming?¡± Wilhelm asked. ¡°Can''t he just turn around and kill it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± Darios shrugged. ¡°Maybe he has yet to process how unbelievable stronger he is now. And superhuman or not, not faltering when something that large chasing you down takes a man with a certain character.¡± We were standing in the direction that Maxwell was running, near a small pond that was deep enough to submerge an average man above their waist. The plan was simple. Bring a titan near the pond, mark it as a vessel and make sure that its corpse was in the pond after we killed it. All of this, to make sure Buggy wouldn¡¯t pull something on us. Despite Buggy being a joke of sorts for the straw hats, he was a more than enough threat to us. His subordinates¡¯ forms that Dante and Maxwell have taken were obviously not enough to overcome him, and even Zoro''s form would be incapable of killing him due to his Devil Fruit. He was a tricky opponent, and therefore the best way to go around defeating him was to incapacitate him from the get go, before he had chance to activate his ability.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Maybe I was being paranoid and overestimating him, but I didn¡¯t want to take chances with someone like him. If he somehow slipped away from my grasp, next thing we knew, he might end up overthrowing the government of the Walls and become the next founding titan. I was definitely being paranoid. Probably. It didn¡¯t matter. The plan was already in motion. ¡°Move your asses, guys!¡± Maxwell shouted. ¡°Some help would be appreciated here!¡± As Maxwell approached closer, and the titan¡¯s body became more distinguishable, I realized why Maxwell was so freaked out. ¡°It¡¯s an abnormal!¡± I shouted and stepped forward to intercept the titan earlier than planned. ¡°Dante, cover me. Those guys can be especially troublesome to deal with.¡± The titan was running on its fours, and Maxwell could barely stay out of its reach. It would leap at him from time to time with a rapid speed, and would collide with trees. If not for that impatience, Maxwell would have probably been caught already. ¡°Maxwell, get ready!¡± When the distance between us became half a dozen or so meters, I had Merry make his move. Charged with aura, he shot forward, going through the flesh and bones, ripping off the leg of the titan. It fell, and Maxwell turned around, maneuvering his unicycle with an inhuman level of skill, and drawing his sword. His strength wasn¡¯t enough to cut off the titan¡¯s wrist in a single slash, but it was enough to definger its right arm. When the titan mindlessly brought its hand forward to grab him, Maxwell jumped, meeting it head on and cutting three of its fingers in a single strike, followed by index and a thumb with a downward slash. At that point, I was already upon the creature with Dante next to me, when it jumped once again, almost swallowing Maxwell whole. He managed to dodge, but the suddenness of the attack made him fall of off his unicycle. ¡°Now!¡± Dante moved the moment I gave the sign, cracking the whip towards the titan. The giant face that was about to descend on the frozen Maxwell was slapped away. The strike drew blood, and shattered the giant teeth it came in contact with. It gave enough time for Maxwell to stand up, and for me to charge Merry with aura again. While the titan was about to turn its rage towards Dante, I had already reached its torso. Quickly, I touched its side and flowed aura into its body, marking the titan as a vessel for Buggy. ¡°You two, get back!¡± I shouted the moment I was done and immediately drew back. Then, Merry descended, breaking through the bones of the titan¡¯s second leg. ¡°We need it in the water!¡± All three of us retreated while the titan crawled after us. Meanwhile, Merry followed right behind it, flying near its head. You¡¯d expect for the thing to struggle with no longer functional legs, but the bastard was dragging himself forward with surprising force and anger. It was glaring at us with exaggeratedly furrowed brows and furious gaze like we had committed a grave sin against it. I jumped into the water, while the two went sideways; far enough to not bring the titan¡¯s attention to themselves while near enough to jump in in case something unexpected happened. Fortunately, that didn¡¯t happen. The titan merrily followed me in the water, and Merry choose that moment to descend once more with great force and tear through the titan, this time though, through its nape. The hunt for the vessel was finished. With the titan dead, the mark on it automatically activated and its body began to shrink. The vessel slowly took the form of the man and the legend himself. Meanwhile, I climbed out of the pond. Other members of the group approached now that we were clear. Buggy wouldn¡¯t be able to pull off anything like that. ¡°So, we just wait?¡± Maxwell asked. ¡°You can jump in, if you wish.¡± Dante said, before turning to me. ¡°Just how strong is that guy that we had to go through all this length?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not as much about his strength. He¡¯s just too much of a trouble to deal with.¡± I replied. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, compared to us, he is strong. If you two fight him in your current form, it would be like kids taking on a grown man. But like I said, the main problem is that he¡¯s got a tricky power.¡± ¡°The situation¡¯s that bad huh?¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s good that we don¡¯t have to worry about taking him head on.¡± Darios said. ¡°He¡¯s that strong, yet he still carries a moniker of a clown.¡± Wilhelm noted. ¡°I can¡¯t even imagine what sorts of monsters we might encounter in the future.¡± Mike was about to say something, but his words were cut short by a sudden scream. ¡°What the hell?! What have you imbeciles done to me?!¡±