I sat at a small café and read the newspaper before blindly staring at the words as visions of my false past surfaced.

Gol D. Rogers- a pirate I had heard of who was called the Pirate King. His crew hadn't been seen in over a year. A man declared public enemy number one but known across the oceans as the richest pirate around. He was also called one of the strongest.

I blinked and refocused on the pages; perhaps I ought to go see the execution and honor the greatest pirate. It felt… right. It felt like it was something important for me to do; something from before this life that mattered. Like his death needed to be witnessed and his life honored. Weird… but it felt right so I decided to do so. Plus Logue Town was supposedly a good place for East Blue Pirates to pass through on their way to the Grand Line. Perhaps I'd find people there to join? East is supposedly the weakest so I ought to find people my level there!

I reached into my bag to pull out the log book I'd taken from the pirate I'd defeated during the tutorial. Something I'd read there was important though I couldn't recall what: something about an entry town to the Grand Line. My studies of the world map had indicated that the world was bisected by two lines; the Grand and Red Lines. The Red line went north to south and was made up of land; it was also the only real continent on this world. The Grand Line was a line of strange islands with a calm belt on either side of it; weird weather, strange magnetic fields, and even odder residents lived there. Where they crossed at one point was a strange mountain that was apparently the entrance to Grand Line. Otherwise you had to go through the calm belts or a Marine Base in the Red Line to reach Grand Line.

Portal Town. I smiled as I found the page. Bloody Bergaher had made notes on it since he wanted to one day go to Grand Line. It was the Logue Town for West Blue; I would have to pass through it to get to Reverse Mountain to reach both Grand Line and East Blue and Logue Town.

Well first I need to reach Portal Town! My musings were broken by the sudden silence descending upon the street. I looked up and noticed a group of Marines passing by—a group of blank faced Privates following some arrogant looking Captain as he swaggered through. The silence came from the villagers as they all parted ways and looked the other way; tightened lips and glares following the men's backs. I had good experiences with the marines so far but something held me back from calling out or approaching. Why would the villagers act this way?

Taking some time I observed the town and listened in on some conversations. The street and the buildings looked worse for wear: several of the shops were boarded up and had what looked like burn scars along their sides. The yards all looked slightly wilted, like the owners just didn't have the energy or cared to water them anymore. The people looked gaunt, scared, and angry. It looked like they were barely scraping enough food to make it; the state of their clothing only emphasized it. They were angry about it too, but too scared to do anything apparently.

"Can't believe people like him exist." One shop owner hissed to another. "Not only do we have to pay pirates to not hurt us, the marines don't do anything and take pay offs!"

"Some honor… I'm disgusted my son left to join the marines years ago…" The customer scowled and the other woman quickly reassured them.

"Oh I bet John is the right sort! The sort who would actually stand up to those thieving pirates and fake marines!"

I approached and offered a harmless smile.

"I couldn't help but over hear you… any trouble I might be able to help with?"

"Oh lass… best you be moving on," The shop keeper sighed. "Wouldn't want to get you all wrapped up in our mess! One day that Captain's corruption will be found out and we'll be safe again."

"Ah—but I am trained to fight. And I would hate to leave behind some situation where I knew I could help." I responded calmly. Looks like the marines were not all shiny and sparkly like Alyna made it look! There was corruption too; made me feel a bit better about not joining them. "At least give me some details; if it is too dangerous I promise not to start anything." Ha, yeah right! But it calmed the older woman down so a white lie was okay right? "And if nothing else I need to investigate so I can report it in the next town!" That settled it and they spilled the beans.

Quest: Free Kellbar!

The Island and Town are under the control of a pirate gang that is paying off the marines in the area. Solve the issue one way or another and save the town!

Optional: Personally defeat the Pirates!

Optional: Personally defeat the Marines!

Rewards: +1 Stat Point, +100 exp, Reputation bonus, + optional quest rewards

Oh nice! Not only would I get some extra experience but a free stat point! Reputation I could care less about; I needed levels if I was to survive Grand Line! First things first; take out the bandits and steal their stuff. Turn over the beri's to the town so they can rebuild and survive. Then take out the marines and do the same. Also call Hilik from the tutorial island since his denden mushi number had been scrawled on a piece of paper among the beri bills he'd handed me- along with a note that had been washed away when some water had gotten on it. That ought to get them a non-corrupt officer and get the captain brought to justice!

Planning and Preparation is half the battle! +1 Mind for thinking actions through.

Stashed my stuff in the inn I was staying at and took an empty duffel bag with me; I would need some way of storing any items I found and the money after all! Then I asked the front desk if they had a denden mushi I could borrow.

-brrrriiinnggggg-bbbrriiinn—

"Sergeant Hilik speaking." Came the familiar voice.

"Hello Hilik. It's Jasmine! Just calling in to report you have a corruption issue in Kellbar Island. The marine captain and a pirate crew have an extortion scam running. "

"… You know when I gave you my number this was not what I expected…"

"I know. But yours is the only one I have and I'm about to go in and do something rash. I figured if I die best someone knows about it so this town can get saved! I'm off—time to go be a dashing hero once more." I chuckled as he tried to dissuade me and hung up. If nothing else it'd get them moving; something would be done even if I failed.

+40 experience for ensuring the safety of the Village

Wait really… ensuring that they get saved no matter what nets me stuff NOW? Well.. I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth! Made me that much closer to leveling up. I took a deep breath and grinned; full up on all three bars, people to save, and some experience to win!

I crept through the late afternoon towards the far side of the bay where the bandits had set up camp in one of the caves. I would need to deal with about 15 people right now; two of which had bounties. Iron Morty for 5,000,000 and Gladwin 'Foul' Rogue for 8,000,000. Apparently real bounties were in the millions rather than the silly tutorial bounty I got! I can see my brewery ship funds increasing already!

I sat down and waited, eyes and ears focused as I checked the surrounding light woodlands that covered this side of the island. Plenty of tree growth and lack of shrubbery made it easier on my fighting style; I could start off with an attack from above after I took out some of their sentries. The sounds of laughter and revelry made me think they'd just had a good haul in or were planning on going into town soon.

I waited a bit to see where all the sentries were; there were two facing me and only one facing the sea. The sea sentry I probably couldn't be able to take out with someone in the cave noticing; but the two near me would be easy! The fact they were drinking and dicing might have something to do with that.

I crept close and paused, gathering my spirit and stamina for a strong double blow; aimed at the back of their heads. I felt the spirit leave my body and surge through my arm into my staff; almost like it was aiding my aim… was that… an aspect of Luck? If you used your spirit you could get a critical hit off or something? I would have to investigate once I was in a safe area!

+30 exp for taking out 2 pirates.

+10 for a well-executed ambush.

Level up! Stat bars refilled.

+50 to health, spirit, or stamina. +1 Stat point.

Two down; 13 to go! I cannot believe I leveled off of THESE. I was hoping to do so in the fight with the bountied pirates but looks like I was out of luck there. Apparently an ambush was almost as much experience as a weak pirate! I would have to keep using this tactic.

I dragged the unconscious men off behind some trees and used their belts to tie their feet and hands together. Then I waited for the next two guards shift change and took them out the same way as they looked around in confusion for their missing friends.

+30 exp for taking out 2 pirates.

+10 for a well-executed ambush.

Rinse and repeat! I wasn't sure how long it would last but so long as it worked I wasn't complaining. I had to go back and knock the earlier ones unconscious again as I was waiting for the third shift. Then I got bored; surely they would notice no one had returned?

…

…

Two hours later….

"Hey Isobe! Kris! You guys going to come join in the celebration?" A drunken call echoed in the night as someone finally came to check! They were too drunk to actually pay attention apparently. He fell just as fast to a hard blow from behind. I moved slightly closer after repeating my tying up process.

+15 exp.

+10 for a well-executed ambush.

Then I paused and looted them all; taking anything of value I found. It wasn't much, but there was some nice pieces of stolen jewelry, a few wallets that hadn't been emptied of beri's and a nice knife. One had this cute hat; it smelled clean unlike the rest of him; he must have stolen it recently. Or bought it… It was a jean blue grey color with a small slightly floppy brim to keep out the sun. I decided to add a cute ribbon to it to make it even cuter.

And I waited…

…

And waited…

…

An hour later a group of 4 came stumbling out. You know how when you think of a fight with evil tyrants you think lots of shouting, lots of blood, lots of chaos? There was none of that. Just.. lame lame pirates. Lame pirates who didn't appear to be thinking about WHY none of them came back! Uh hello people; if your guards don't report in SOMETHING'S WRONG!

I fumed in silence as I glared down at them from my perch in the trees.

"Guuuyyyyyssssss. Why're ye ouuutt heeeerrreee? Is there a good game of dice goin' on?" One of them called as he stumbled over to a tree to relieve himself. Him I left alone so he could finish and pull his pants up; the rest I attacked from the tree tops.

Jumping down silently I landed in the middle of them, my staff swinging in a wide circle to trip them all up. Then I bashed them over the heads one by one before they could get up. Then I approached the pissing man who was staring at me dumbfounded with his pants half off.

"You are a disgrace to pirate's everywhere." My tone was disappointed as I slammed the staff end into his chin and knocked him out. This was ridiculous! Note to self; do not drink when you are expecting danger; it apparently makes you dumb and slow. Which makes sense but why was this going too easily?

+ 60 exp for taking out 4 Pirates.

+10 for a well-executed ambush.

6 left to go and dusk was falling; time to end this. Waiting was too boring and I didn't want to jinx myself. So I crept over to the sea side and took out that guard by the same way. The sounds of drunks made me a bit less worried about being spotted, but I kept an eye out anyways.

+ 15 exp.

+10 for a well-executed ambush.

5 to go.

Slipping inside, I peered into the flickering light of the large bonfire. 3 were dancing around it; that left 1 in unknown locations. I was guessing from the looks of the dancers they were more weak ones. If I take out them then all that is left is the boss battle so to speak! But if I took them out; I glanced at my experience quickly: I would level up and I needed to save that for the boss battle.

I shrugged; better to take them out now then fight a large group! I was on my own and didn't have a group of marines to watch my back this time.

I charged in, silent and focused, activing my simple monkey style so that once my blow hit another on the back of the head I leaped to the next foe, burning extra spirit to ensure the shot hit. I grinned as once more my staff shifted as if guided and thwacked the startled pirate right between the eyes.

+ 30 exp for taking out 2 pirates.

+10 for a well-executed ambush.

"Intruder!" The last one at the fire called out.

"I've taken out all the others except you and one other." I replied calmly. "They will not come to aid you."

He snarled and grabbed a rolled up piece of paper from his belt.

"Don't you know who we are? We're the Foul Rogues! Our captain's worth 8 million beri and I'm Iron Morty! 5 million!" He held it out proudly, as if the piece of stained paper would make me flee or bow down in awe.

"That's 13 million extra reasons to take you out." I said as I finished charging my leaping smash and launched myself at the smaller man. He was covered in a lot of small iron plates—it would do nothing to protect his head though! Armor only works if you wear it everywhere.

He cursed wildly and braced himself for the blow, much like Alyna had except he had no shiny black haki to protect him like she did. I heard him cry out in pain as I broke one of his arms as I bounced back slightly and went in for another lunge, hoping to get a strong shot off so that I could end this and look for the last one, the Captain probably. Unless one of the weaklings was the Foul Rogue… in which case I was disappointed!

My distracted thoughts caused me to be slow on dodging, and his axe slammed into my thigh and cut deeply into it. Gritting my teeth so only a hiss escaped I pushed aside the pain and panic that hit and threw half of my spirit into this next blow; it needed to hit! It needed to take him out! Thigh wounds were dangerous; they could bleed out too fast if the major artery was hit!

Charging up my attack with Spirit, I flipped my staff end upwards as I lunged and used my other hand to smack the axe blade aside as it came in. The staff end connected with a loud snap and threw his head backwards. My breath caught for a moment; I hadn't killed him had I? As he fell I quickly checked to make sure he was breathing before I tore my shirt to bandage the thigh wound.

+50 exp for defeating First Mate Iron Morty

I stood up again as I heard someone stirring beyond the light down a tunnel. I checked my bars; I was at half everything except for spirit and I had the boss to go. Lovely.

"Morty! You had better have a good reason for calling me! I was having a good dream…" The large disgusting man pouted as he came into the light. My nose wrinkled as the stench hit; he apparently had never bathed in his life! Rotten food, stale sweat, blood, and other smells all combined and made me want to puke. He wasn't a pretty picture either; large and bulbous his muscles were hid beneath a thick layer of fat, his swarthy skin was covered in thick dark hair and stains. His barbaric attire was made of stinking uncured hides and poorly stitched together metal plates. Foul Rogue indeed!

"… You… what have you done, woman?!" He roared after a few seconds of blinking and taking in the scene before him, the fallen bodies and the splatter of my blood upon the ground near Morty. I had to use those few seconds to recover from the stench that rolled off of him and couldn't take advantage of his pause.

"Took out some idiots." I stated blandly, pushing the pain aside as I prepared for another strike. "Morty was the only one to even lift a blade or see me coming."

His lower lip started to quiver and I recoiled in shock. "You… you hurt my family? You.. you think they're idiots? My boys?" Despair and sadness filled his voice and large tears gathered at the corner of his eyes. Oh dear lord- no… no!

"They- they were terrible at keeping watch. Maybe drunk. It was rude of me to call them idiots. I apologize." I stammered in a futile attempt to stop the tears; large grown men who looked like they were half bear half trash can did not get to cry like a little boy and make me feel guilty!

He preys on the villagers, he preys on the villagers. I repeated the mantra in my head as he sat down and started wailing.

"You.. you're so mean!"

Oh gods…. I ran a hand down my face and sighed.

"Can we get to the fighting part? You know... where you valiantly avenge your family? They're all alive you know. I just knocked them out."

He stared at me, face even with mine even though he was sitting on the ground, and blinked.

"My boys are alive?"

"Yes…. I don't like killing. Though Morty might need a doctor soon since his neck might have gotten hurt in that last fight."

"My.. my boys!" He charged at me with a turn of speed I was not expecting. I braced for the impact of his fist and rolled with it, using his strength to get me space to breath. The damage to my health bar made me grateful that I'd leveled up after Morty… though apparently my spirit bar had taken a hit from the guilt attack! Is that even possible?

Ack! Think later, fight now! I ducked under another punch and lashed my staff out at his knee, doing my very best not to think of the smell as my head got a bit too close to his arm pit.

He grunted with pain and twisted to try and grab me. I leaped away, wincing as I landed on my wounded leg. We ducked and dodged and fought for several minutes; him trying to grab and grapple me, I dodging and hitting his arms and legs, trying to break something so I could take him out. I couldn't keep dodging though, I could feel my leg starting to tremble and knew I had to end it fast before it gave out.

In the end he made a mistake as my stamina and health bars were getting dangerously low; he stepped into the embers that had spread from the fire pit during our pit. Howling in agony he hopped on the uninjured foot, dropping his weapon to grab the smoking foot. I took the opening and smashed with all my strength the other foot, toppling the large man. As he wailed on the ground about mean shadow ladies who hit him with sticks, I used another huge chunk of spirit to guide my strike to knock him unconscious.

Optional Quest: Personally Defeat the Pirates Completed!

+50 exp for quest completion.

+50 exp for defeating the Captain Gladwin 'Foul' Rogue

+50 exp for capturing the entire crew alive

+20 Prestige

Level up!

All status bars refilled.

+1 Stat point

+1 Skill point

+1 New Legendary Feat, Skill, or Item

Assign at next rest.

I stood gasping over his limp body and took the opportunity to do some first aid on myself before tying him and the other pirates up. Then I went and dragged the other pirates into the cave and used more rope and the handy chains I found to make sure they were well tied up and wouldn't escape.

Then I did what every good adventurer did: loot the place dry!

I found only one large chest of money; they must not save a lot I thought with a frown before lugging it outside and hiding it so I could deliver it to the villager later. This was for the villagers! The other chests all held various items a pirate would need; food, clothing, weapons etc. I only took some of the food that looked good, the rest I left. Then I took a torch and headed into the stink of the cave, into the darkness Rogue had emerged from. There had better be something after this smell and the guilt attack!

There were two tunnels with dirty hangings acting as doors. I entered the nearest one that didn't smell so bad. It was… a brewery?! I gasped with delight at what I found in one room. It was a jury rigged one sure, and poor quality but it was a brewery! Except... I HAD NO SHIP TO PUT IT ON! I had found some actual transportable tools and couldn't even take them with me! Sure it was just a simply large cauldron like fixture where you mashed, boiled and stirred it in before you filtered it out and fermented it but still! I sighed and looked for recipes I could take or even just some bottles. Luckily they did have some of those; with poorly written labels.

'Foul's Rotgut.'

…

…

It sounded disgusting and the man who'd made it was disgusting… but maybe it would be okay? I took the recipe and some bottles just in case. Then I moved deeper and found the captains room.

Gross! Gross! NOOOOO~ I don't want to enter the evil den of stench and grime! But… for the loot! I took a deep breath of cleaner air and pulled my shirt up to cover my nose and mouth before I ventured inwards, watching as the torch flickered and grew slightly larger. Nasty… Holding my breath I could still smell it. The stench, it was almost visible it was so strong! If it actually became visible I was fleeing! No way was I taking on a stench so strong it cam alive!

I used my combat boots to kick open his chest and spill out the contents; jack pot! I grinned and quickly shoveled the rolling gemstones into my bag and looked at the rest. He had.. Molotov cocktails? These were…dangerous and I wasn't sure I wanted to take them; explosions were never a good thing but just in case….

The nicely carved set of figurines I pocked as well; they were a lovely pale red wood and looked to be of various princess's, knights, pirates, and even one dragon like one.

I felt rather bad taking them; the child like act of Foul Rogue made me think they were his toys... but he was being turned in anyways! He was extorting the villagers! It was… okay for me to steal from him…. Oh who am I kidding. I sigh and leave the room. It wasn't okay and I felt like a cad. I found a denden mushi sitting in the corner and grabbed that as well, it looked almost relieved to be leaving that room.

Once in the main cave I put the figurines in a bag and tied them to the large man's belt. I couldn't take them from him: I already felt guilty enough as is!

Then I tasted the rotgut cause… I might as well. And I felt like alcohol was needed. I needed something to help me forget the smell!

I sat by the beach and rested a bit, drinking my stolen brew and watching the moon set over the dark ocean.

It was surprisingly not bad.

"Could use some almonds… maybe some vanilla." I muttered as I swirled it around. I made some notes on his recipe, copied it down on another paper and slid that into his bag with the figurines as well. Then I finished it off, making more notes as I did so as ideas came to me.

Then I gave Hilik another call. It'd been about half a night since I called him and said I might die.

"I feel absolutely terrible, disappointed and disgusted!" I start off without introducing myself. "The pirates were… weak and unprepared and their leader is a large child man who cares for them like a family and cried when he thought they were dead. They were a shame to all fighters! All pirates!"

"… Jasmine?"

"They didn't notice anything! I was expecting danger and epic fights not… taking out an entire crew without them even noticing me! The only fights were at the end with the first mate and captain. That Foul Rogue has carved toys! Lovely things! He brews! Rather decently too… He cried for his crew when he thought they were dead—I fell so guilty…."

"Jasmine…"

"He smells though. Like a stench from hell. A stench rejected from hell! It's BAD! Like I-want-to-go-burn-my-nostrils-off bad. Chop-it-off-and-cauterize-the-opening-so-I-can-never-smell-him-again bad... but he makes a decent brew."

"JASMINE!"

"Yes?" I say awkwardly, realizing that his brew was either highly alcoholic or I was a light weight. Or both.

"Are you drunk?"

"Not yet but getting there apparently." Was I drunk calling someone? I only had this one number so it wasnt like I had a lot of people to call. And I felt the need to vent.

I hear a sigh from the other end. "So what happened? I take it you have taken out the pirates?"

"13 pirates captured with no deaths. Iron Morty unconscious, though I'm worried about his neck. Gladwin Rogue captured as well. He'll need some medic to take care of the burns since I don't know how to do that."

"… Any wounds?"

"Nasty thigh cut but it's not bleeding anymore and I can still use it. Is there any way to get non corrupt marines here? I want my bounty!" I chirp brightly as I opened another bottle.

"The caravel that was with the Gilded Lily has turned back with a crew on it to come clean up and back you up. They'll be there mid-morning, wait for them to arrive—"

"Maaaaybe I'll wait. Maaaaybe I'll go in swinging! Think you can talk to LT Alyna and convince her to get Rogue to take a bath? And maybe open a brewery instead of being a pirate?"

"Jasmi—" I hung up and stretched. Right. I had only a few hours to rest before I went after the pirates! I mean… marines.

I sat outside by the beach and pulled up my screen, squinting as the words seemed to move, creating doubles of the words. Stupid screen needs to stay still—how's a girl supposed to level up if she can't read! Despite the terrible guilt and pathetic showing on their part, the pirates had given me two levels! It helped make up for this night. I noticed a small sentence on top of the screen.

New Skill Discovered:

Guilt Attack: saps the opponent's spirit.

New Skill Learned:

Critical Strike: Spend 100 Spirit to double the damage dealt and aid in striking your target in a critical location.

You could weaponize guilt? Cool! I grinned and scrolled through my character sheet to level up.

First things first: legendary stuff… hmm... feat, skill or item… Since I was only level 5 I doubted I'd be able to use a legendary item so I tossed that out. I think Feat. Feats were cool! I didn't want more skills, I wanted cool things! I tap that one and frowned when I saw how small the list was. Maybe I had to be higher level before I could even see more of the feats? A bit disappointing that; I wanted to know what I could work towards! I almost hit back when I noticed one that really caught my eye:

Legendary Water Affinity: You have an affinity for the element water. While in water you can swim faster, attack as per normal, and regenerate faster. Elemental Martial Arts(water) is doubled in effectiveness. Can have only one major or Legendary affinity feat and one minor affinity feat.

I grin: now this is what I'm talking about! Now I need elemental martial arts and I'd be bad ass! I could be a mermaid! Without the tail but oh well.

I assigned my +50 to health; I needed to be able to take more damage and I knew increased my mind and body would grant me greater increases anyways. The stats I placed in spirit and speed. Spirit so I could reach Observational Haki, speed cause I needed it. My entire fighting style was based off speed!

For my skill I tried to use to grab Elemental Martial Art but I ran into a message

Requires a teacher to learn. Requires level 10 Martial Arts to Learn.

That sucked. I pouted and then spent it in Brewing. I could probably grab something else but I wanted to raise that up! I was also tipsy and not thinking too straight.

Then I went to take a nap in the ocean; I needed to regen a bit and water would speed that up! Probably not my brightest idea….

[[Jasmine bio 1]]

AN: and the faceoff with the marines is next chapter! This went… totally different than where I was planning XD In the end I like it better. Jasmine needs to not level up while tipsy. Or sleep in the ocean.

I had to recalculate and edit things after I realized I had done my experience tracking wrong! Oh math.. you do so love to throw wrenches in my plans.

I have this idea that Jasmine will keep drunk calling Hilik after something major. Cause it's fun and I think she'll be out int eh area alone and feel the need to talk to someone.