Hello my friends, how you all been doin'? Good, I hope.
Here I come today with another chapter in our dear adventure in the fantastical world of One piece, truly hoping I'll be able to keep this more consistent flow of updates. Still not exactly up to the speed I wished, but better than before nonetheless.
I've been in such writing mood recently in fact that I had been brainstorming an idea of a new story with a friend of mine that I honestly quite look forward to working on, still not sure if I'll be posting it here but this idea has been keeping me awake this last week so maybe I'll not able to resist and will ending up writing it, even if just casually.
If any of you are wondering the idea is for a DxD fic focused on a Yokai MC, and let's leave at that.
Anyways, let's get thing started. But before that let me thank everyone reading the fic until now, we previously arrived at 1k followers and now we're already quite close to 1k favorite too. You all are going above and beyond here, and to that I truly lack the vocabulary able to express how happy you all make me by doing this.
Thank you all, really.
Here're the guest reviews:
Eddyg125: The idea here my friend is to show that Lucas can get kinda carried away by his emotions and instincts, hence why he may act like that sometimes.
2000str (Ch. 2): He wasn't used to fight, furthermore those are Grand Line pirates, even if 'nobodies' they aren't the some type of fodders Lucas who at the time had zero fighting experience could face.
The form shown in the chapter was his hybrid-form, it of course would be 'small'. Comparing him to Kaido from the get go like that is kinda a low blow, how could a 15 years old who only got his fruit be compared in size to the adult on his prime which is Kaidou?
2000str (Ch. 9): Well, maybe he would? It was meant to be a joke honestly.
Well, thanks anyway for taking the time to read my fic and to leave a review, it's greatly appreciated.
DISCLAIMER: I don't know if I should do this or not but whatever, I don't own anything here apart from my OC's.
May have grammar errors
...
...
...
...
Two Days Later – South Blue
"Go on people, dig in"
"Don't mind if we do!"
It was around noon and in the dining area/kitchen of the ship the crew of young marines could be found enjoying a well-deserved lunch break after working all morning.
With it being originally intended to server a more sizable crew the dining place was probably the biggest room in the ship, simple looking but cozy enough everyone was able to get themselves comfortable on the table and gleefully eat away.
"This is truly amazing"
Said Alvara as she took a bite off a roasted beef, her eyes sparkled and her body twitched as she immersed herself in the genuine bliss that eating that food brought to her. All around the table her reaction was mirrored by the others, with even Khan to the side having a beyond pleased expression as he indulged himself to a glistening piece of meat.
"She's right Lucas" said Torlo to his friend as he happily bite off a chicken leg "Who knew that our leader was also this great of a chef"
"I wouldn't call myself a 'chef', I just learned a thing or two after having helped my Mom all my life in her Bakery Shop"
As he said that Lucas had a somehow bashful look on him, even though that wasn't the first time hearing them compliment his cooking it still made him go bit red.
"Anyways you all helped so much around the ship while I was idle" as Lucas a brief ashamed look flashed in his eyes "Making the dinner was the least I could do"
The young man then thought about the last two days.
…
As they left Mel Island every member of the crew went to work around their ship, the diverse set of skills amongst them put to shine in that moment..
Tashigi for instance did an accounting of all their supplies with immense efficiency, in a way showing a bit of their skills that in the canon would earn her the position of Smoker's second-in-command.
Torlo on his end did a run and checked every cannon and piece of equipment in their ship, which he did with a smile on his face. Though very skilled with all manners of firearms Torlo's true passion lied with heavy weaponry, so to him servicing the ship's artillery was like going back to his element.
In the cabin Alvara obviously took care of helming the ship and making sure it stayed in course, she was still a novice in that but the immense dedication she applied to the task meant that everything went smoothly as it could be, in the cabin alongside her Thomas dutifully sat on his station and kept a vigilant eye on the communication equipment.
Only our white haired hero was somehow idle during all of this.
"Do you guys need any help?"
Asked Lucas around the ship, to which the answer in general was more or less:
"No, not really"
With the others taking care of basically everything Lucas was left mostly without much to do, apart from moving a thing or two that was too heavy for the others.
In the current state of things the others with their skill were enough to manage the ship in its current configuration, Lucas of course didn't like the feeling he got from seeing his friends working while he was just twirling his thumbs, so after some thinking he went ahead and gave himself the task of preparing everyone's meals.
...
Lucas honestly felt a bit embarrassed by the earlier state of things.
All his friends had some sort of great skills that allowed them to greatly contribute to the running of the ship, while he did not as much of his skills lied in combat, and in the absence of it he found himself without much to do. Back in the docks there was at least a constant need to move tons of cargo back and forth, a perfect fit for someone like him, but here in the ship there was was no such need so Lucas truly found himself with little to do.
He was of course far from being useless when it came to other tasks, but as things stood he was some distance away from knowing as much as the others did in regards to the running of the ship.
He always knew of the skills of his friends but never before felt, well, conflicted as he was now, with the early 'ceremony' being the big culprit as to why he feels that way now.
With his group of friends officially crowning him their leader, Lucas began to feel more conscious about things he hadn't before. While he always previously acted as such the very fact they now actually said he was that, even in the playful context of that 'ceremony', made him change a bit the way he went about doing things.
Words, even simple ones, had a lot of power… more than most people even give credit.
If before Lucas didn't saw himself as the leader of his little merry band of friends, now... now he totally did.
During the operation weeks ago he had lead many marines to battle, but back then he was more of a extension of Commander Triscratches who was leading the main group just on the other side of the forest.
But there was not Commander Triscratches on the ship that he could fall to, and that, In way, helped in making him feel more conscious of the fact he was being the leaders of his group.
In his perception of a 'leader' he being idle in the deck merrily doing his training while his 'subordinates', his friends, did the work around the ship would make him a shitty leader. It's this point of view that made him think that he NEEDED to do at least something to contribute to the running of the ship, otherwise he'd be letting his friends down by being a poor leader.
However what Lucas didn't picked up to it yet was that to his friends he was already doing one of most important duties of a leader just by virtue of being there. By its own definition a 'leader' or a 'captain' is, amongst other things, someone that servers as a pillar and source of inspiration to others, something that he definitely was.
From D-14 to now Lucas has being the driving force pushing his friends forward, it was he that fearless lead both Torlo and Tashigi into the cargo hold to fight the Ravenous Wolves, the one that first acted during the jewelry robbery, or that made the first step towards what lead to the crazy operation they all took part in.
Take Torlo for example, the young marine has been in the organization for more than a year already before meeting him, and in all that time he 'only' rose to a 'petty officer'. But after meeting Lucas he in less than a month already rose to 'Chief Petty Officer', same thing with Tashigi who in the same amount of time rose to that rank from 'Apprentice'.
In fact one can wonder if they would even be friends if not for the white haired marine for common point for them all to interact, Alvara and Thomas for instance only really started to talk with them after Lucas pushed the other two to save the others from the Ravenous Wolves.
Lets' not forget about Lucas's strength.
Despite their calm front they all deep down still had misgivings about going in a mission like this alone without having any more senior marine alongside them, which is really crazy when you stop to think about it.
All the possible dangers they might face alone out in the sea were really renting a space in their minds, however the fact that Lucas, someone that can literally turn into a Dragon, is on the ship is a great source of relief for them. In any moment when any form of doubt springs up in their minds, they'd only need to recall the image of the gigantic dragon that saved them from the hideout's explosion and all worriers would just melt away.
So what if Lucas is just training all day? In all honesty he could even sit on his chair scratching his balls all day and the four of them wouldn't care a bit!
Besides, in the current situation with only they five there (plus khan) there wasn't really much to do, they all themselves would have a lot free time in their hands after doing their respective tasks around the ship.
These 'conflicted' feelings of Lucas were really just an ol' case of overthinking, something that happened due to one of the 'quirks' regarding the way Lucas was reincarnated in this world.
His soul technically lived some thirty-five years already, making Lucas older than his own mother, but the truth of the fact was that contrary to what one'd believe his soul's mental age hadn't changed much at all with the years.
His soul tries to stay close to his physical body, in that one of the results was that his mentality wouldn't stray too far from what his actual physical age was. So while sometimes you get Lucas acting with maturity of someone that already experience death, in others you get situations like this one, where he overthinks things just like any other person with sixteen would.
In fact later things would just get resolved with a simple talk after Lucas has a slip of tongue and allow his friends to know of his thoughts.
Again, overthinking.
"Say what you will man"
Replied Torlo before going back to eat, to his left Lucas having put his thoughts about the 'leader' thing aside took a cursory glance across the table, his lips curving into a soft smile and his eyes gained a warm glow as he took in the image of everyone happily eating away.
As his mind moved away from what happened in the past days he started to think about what lied ahead in their future, turning to their ship's helmswoman he asked.
"How far we're from on our destination?"
The blond marine sitting on the opposite side of the table first finished savoring the food in her mouth before answering "Quite close actually, if we keep moving forward in the current pace you can expect us to be arriving in Bullfrog Island in a couple hours, around 15:30-16:00 give or take"
"Good"
Lucas nodded at her with smile, the others around the table hearing her gained relieved expression with Torlo even yelling 'Finally!' in an enthusiastic tone. To the side Thomas who has been silent all this time saw the change in topic and decided to join in "I've been looking into some new info about our assignment and I actually learned something quite interesting. Apparently we're one of the main reasons that made Bullfrog Island unable to do this escorting mission on their own"
That surprised everyone there. Both Alvara and Tashigi looked at him with raised brows with Torlo almost choking on his food as he got caught off guard by that.
"What do you mean?"
Asked Lucas, all his attention now focused on his orange haired friend.
"After we crushed Michael's empire a good deal of important documents and such got secured in the following cleaning operation" explained Thomas , his voice clear and with a certain pleasant rhythm like that of a broadcaster "Some of that info pertained to business partners Michael had in other islands, with one of these islands being Bullfrog Island. Said info allowed the marines there to speed up some of their investigations and catch some of the 'big fishes' in their island"
Lucas's eyes glinted as a look of realization appeared on his face.
"They can't afford to send anyone to escort the researcher cause they'll probably be facing their own 'cleaning' operation soon"
As he said that the others also came to understand what Thomas meant.
"If I got this correctly… we basically triggered the fall of crime groups in another island we hadn't even been before?"Said Tashigi with a somehow confused tone, for a few moments silence reigned in the room which ended with Alvara nonchalantly saying.
"Neat"
…
…
…
…
A Couple Hours Later
After lunch everything went normally for the young crew and just like Alvara predicted they found themselves arriving in Bullfrog Island in just a matter of a couple hours.
At first glance when looking from afar the island looked to be roughly the same size as Mel Island and didn't gave off the feeling of being much different.
However as they got closer they saw wrong they were as the place proved to be more bustling, with a city proper the amount of people on the Island was some notches higher than Mel Island from which they came from, which was saying something considering said Island was quite active on its own right.
Still, the young marines didn't dwell much on that as they had to focus on the work they came there to do.
"Glad you guys arrived" Said a black haired marine officer to the group. Probably a 'Lieutenant' the man's face had a look that was the definition of 'weary', the smile of relief when seeing the group however brought some light back to him "I wished we could had gave you all a bigger welcoming, but as you might've guessed we're with our hands full at the moment"
At that moment the group was in the port of the island, while some marines could be seen doing the usual work on the side it was really only this Officer that came to greet them.
"No problem sir, we get it"
Said Lucas with his usual a smile, the Officer said nothing but the look on his eyes showed his appreciation on Lucas not making a fuss or anything 'cause the 'bare bone' reception.
"Here's everything you guys should need to know about this assignment" saying that the Officer passed a clipboard to Lucas "You just need to take these researcher to 'Verdan Island' in the east, follow them around as their do their research and then bring them back. Quite simple honestly, I myself actually lead a couple of similar missions there"
"Sounds simple enough"
After scanning the document on his hand Lucas passed it to Tashigi to his side.
"When can you depart?"
Before saying anything Lucas turned his head around to look at Alvara, the blond marine understanding his silent question answered "We can sail anytime really, our stock still full and the ship is ready"
"That's our answer Officer"
"Good" Picking a communicator the man spoke with someone for some moments, after it he turned to them again "The researcher is being brought over, you guys can leave afterwards. Now if you excuse me I need to go back to work… oh, the joy"
With that dispirited tone the man turned around and walked away, looking at his tired figure walking away Lucas and the others couldn't help but feel some pity for the man.
"I don't envy him" muttered Torlo, the others silently agreeing with him.
"Yeah…" Tashigi's voice was tainted with a clear concerned tone "Guess the workload around here is truly big this season"
After that it only took a minute for the researcher to be brought over by some marines, as they approached the group took the opportunity to look at the person they'll be escorting.
Looking to be in his mid-to-late twenties the man had a dark-brown hair, about average height with white skin and grey eyes. He wore a green vest, the type with dozens of pockets, over a short-sleeved white shirt, a beige color pants and a pair of black boots finished the man's look.
"The name is Oscar Blake, wildlife researcher from the Briss kingdom" As he said that Oscar offered Lucas his hand for a handshake "I heard that you all will be the ones helping with my research"
"MCPO Lucas" smiling the Dragon took on his offer and gave the man a firm handshake, startling the man a bit with his strength "Sorry for keeping you waiting"
"No problems there, just glad I can finally move forward with this project" as he took his hand back Oscar playfully shook his hand as he exclaimed "You have quite the strong hold my friend, it seems they truly didn't lied when saying that some 'strong young marines' would be escorting me"
To that Lucas said nothing and only kept smiling.
After that Lucas walked to the marines that escorted Oscar over and picked from them the man's research equipment, all stored in two crates that he easily hosted over his shoulder. Behind him the others took the man aboard the ship, when arriving there Khan's majestic figure instantly grabbed the man's attention just like a new toy during Christmas would grab a child's attention.
"What a majestic creature!" with his eyes glowing the man gawked at the tiger in complete wonder "Is he a 'Panthera Tigris Giganteus'? Or would he maybe be a 'Panthera Tigris Magnificus' ? He certainly fits the majestic description of the latter"
Khan looked at the strange man before him with an eyebrow raised, setting the man's equipment on the side Lucas walked forward to the amazed researcher "You guess is good as mine Doc, I met him in a inhabited island in the Grand Line. Can any of these species be found there?"
"The Grand Line? Now that's truly amazing!" When hearing at Lucas said the man gained an astonished look "In that case he may actually be a 'Panthera TigrisTitanes'… they been considered extinct by some though, so can he really be one..?"
Putting a hand on his chin Oscar entered a deep thought, his mind going into hyper mode words matching said speed began flowing out of his mouth, the marines and tiger looking could almost see the endless stream of words flowing around the man and almost covering his entire being in their infinite theories.
" ▅▅ -"
At some point Khan got tired and left, and as the tiger did that his tail flicked and whipped Oscar on the forehead thus ending the man's endless muttering.
"Sorry…" turning around he looked at the young marines with an sheepish smile "I can get lost in my thoughts when amazing animals like your furry friend are in topic"
"No problem Doc" said Lucas "I actually know someone that can be the same way when talking about her passion"
Saying that Lucas turned his head to the side and threw a knowing smile at Tashigi, in response the bluenette turned around in a hurry and walked away.
Swallowing a laugh from seeing what Lucas did Torlo came forward and asked something that was on his mind "Say Doc, is there only you going on this? 'Cause I clearly remember we being told of a 'group of researchers' asking for escort, not just only one"
Once Torlo said that the others also started to realize this small detail, looking at Oscar they waited for the man to explain.
"You're not wrong on that, when making the request a group of researchers was here too, but they got tired of waiting. So about a day or so ago they hired a security group passing by the island to escort them to Verdan Island" explained Oscar "They actually offered to take me alongside them"
"Really?" Torlo was surprised with that "Seeing as you're here you didn't took up on that offer, why though?"
"Not dissing on that security group but I honestly have more faith in the Marine" Oscar's voice was clear as he declared his belief in the soldiers of the sea "I mean they-or you all, aren't the bulwark against evil in the world for no reason"
The man's belief in the Marine's capabilities, and by extension in theirs as well, was quite touching for Lucas and his friends. With a smile on his face Lucas clapped the man in the shoulder and said "Don't worry Doc. We'll get you to your destination in no time. Right everyone?"
"Yeah!"
With that they put themselves to work. Torlo went ahead and took Oscar to one of the quarters in the ship while the others made the preparations for them to sail, some minutes later and their ship was already in the process of sailing away.
In the ship's cabin Lucas discussed with Alvara regarding their next destination.
"How long we'll take to get to this 'Verdan Island'?"
"If we kept the pace from earlier I'd say maybe tomorrow before noon" saying that she clicked her tongue in annoyance "However unfortunately the wind isn't on our sails anymore like it was before, going by this new estimation I'll say we probably will be arriving tomorrow around 22:00 at best"
"Shame"
Hearing that news Lucas adorned a similarly annoyed look, he really did wished they could arrive in their destination sooner than later.
"Bad wind you say…" as he thought about their problem Lucas got struck by an idea "I might have the solution for that"
Walking forward Lucas whispered his solution on Alvara's ear, when hearing his idea the young woman at first had a lost look however it soon changed as her face lit up with a smile.
"You truly have some crazy ideas" saying that she smirked evilly "Let's do it then! Assume your position and wait for my signal before doing your thing"
Going outside Lucas jumped on the cabin's roof, after doing that he actually assumed his hybrid form and spread his wings in a way that made them aim right at the middle of the sails.
"This gonna be fun!"
Back on the cabin Alvara helmed the ship forward, as she did that she made sure to keep a good look at the waves. She was waiting for the perfect moment when the ship would be riding up a wave so they could take the most advantage of Lucas's crazy idea.
"Anddd… NOW LUCAS!"
Up in the roof the Dragon heard her signal loud and clear, smiling he beat his wings in a way that he created quite the strong whirlwind.
Whoosshhh!
Hitting the sails square on the wind created by Lucas's wings pushed the ship forward, essentially gaining a boost of speed the marine ship shot up the wave that it was riding and basically shot away. The duo would then continue this trend until eventually they vanished on the horizon in record time, all the while ignoring the cries of surprise from their friends coming from all over the ship.
…
…
…
…
The Next Day
If you exclude the complains they got from not warning their friends the stunt pulled by Lucas and Alvara was a big success as it allowed them to cover quite the distance in a relatively short span of time.
It was the morning of the next day and their ship was close to their destination, with their target 'Verdan Island' even being within sight in the distance.
"…They serrated teeth are quite the amazing features, jutting from their lower jaws they make the 'Shoalstriders' pack hunting tactics just that more effective"
With their destination already in sight the topic of what type of fauna they'd be seeing in the place got brought up. Oscar, the enthusiastic wildlife researcher that he is, eagerly explained some of the more interesting ones, with a certain type of 'Sea King' that lives in the nearby waters being the current focal point of his lecture.
"That's quite interesting Doc" said Thomas as he listened to the topic with a certain wonder clear on his eyes "I honestly haven't heard much of Sea kings that hunted in groups like that"
"Amazing isn't?"
Oscar nodded at Thomas with a big smile on his face, clearly quite happy in seeing others paying so close attention to this topic "The 'Carinashoalidae', as it's scientifically called, is a species that has quite the strong social hierarchy within their groups, with the largest and most dominant individual often leading the hunting effort. They can communicate using rumbles of low-frequency and clicks, thus executing their hunting strategy with surprising precision. Said hunting strategy being…"
At the moment they were in the ship's deck, Thomas and Torlo were near the mast hearing Oscar's lecture up close almost like two eager students, Tashigi and Alvara are more up the stairs near the cabin chatting, meanwhile Lucas was to the side leaning backwards on the railing of the ship while too listening to Oscar's lecture.
To him learning more about this fantastical world of which he was not part of never ceased to be amazing, furthermore by sailing across the sea while hearing of these almost magic creatures truly makes Lucas feel like he was in an adventure.
'No wonder so many crave for the life in the bow of a ship, this sense of wonder and adventure truly be quite addictive'
Lying on Lucas's feet was the giant tiger Khan, he was just there quietly enjoying the sun when suddenly his ears began to twitch as something strange caught his attention, getting up the King of the Forest gazed at the distance with his big eyes, his sudden movements catching Lucas's attention.
"What's wrong my friend?"
" ▅▅ -!"
"Something in the distance you say?"
Hearing that answer Lucas turned around and looked at the same direction that Khan was looking, it didn't took long for him to spot what his feline friend saw.
"Hey Doc, I have a question"
Oscar who was in the midst of explaining the mating ritual of the 'Shoalstriders' stopped what he was saying when he heard Lucas calling to him.
"What's your doubt?"
"You said this 'Shoalstriders' look like 'a cross of prehistoric reptile and a whale shark' didn't you?"
"I certainly did"
"Is this type of Sea King known to attack ships and things like that?"
"'Shoalstriders' don't see us a food so they don't see any real reason to attack us, their hunting strategy is quite the effective one so even if they did see us as food they probably wouldn't attack a ship as it wouldn't net them the same gains as sticking to their usual strategy would" explained the researcher in great detail "So no, they aren't known for attacking ships"
"Well... it seems that group over there didn't got the memo"
Saying that Lucas pointed at a certain direction in the distance, the others confused by his words followed his finger and as they did their eyes widened in great surprised at what they saw.
There in the distance a white ship of a certain luxurious look was floating in the waters, circling around the ship five serpentine creatures with a stark resemblance to the ones described by Oscar attacked the ship with incredible rage.
"Marines!"
As the reality of what was happening sipped in Lucas took charge of the situation, his clear and resounding voice instantly brought the attention of everyone to him and his glowing, draconic eyes, locked at them as he commanded:
"Let's move out!"
…
…
…
"Shoot them! Shoot them away!"
"Get these monster away!"
"Hold your position!"
" -!"
Aboard the white ship being attacked the situation was, as expected, quite chaotic. Men with a mercenary look ran all over the ship with weapons in hand as they tried to fend off the attacking Shoalstriders, their effort was of little success however.
"Why're being attacked by Shoalstriders? It scientifically makes no sense for them to be doing this!"
Up in the captain's cabin a blond man with quite the respectable mustache was looking at the chaotic scenario happening outside with clear fear tinged with exasperation on his face.
This man was Dr. Victor Sinclair, a wildlife researcher of great renown in the scientific community of the South Blue.
He was also the leader of the group of researchers that requested an escort from the marines of Bullfrog Island, and the same one that according to Oscar got tired of waiting and decided to hire a private group to do that job and sailed off earlier.
Needlessly to say things didn't worked out great well for him.
At first everything went about normal as they came close to their destination without much trouble during the early hours of the day, however seeing at it was still dark the leader of the group Victor hired advised that it was best for them to wait a few hours before moving forward again.
They did that and again at first everything was about normal, but about half-hour ago this group of five Shoalstriders rose from the water and began attacking their ship with brimming rage.
"The number of accounts reporting Shoalstriders attacking civilized vessels is amazingly low, no matter how I run this the chances of our ship running into an anomalous group like this who breaks the previously firmly established perception of their species should be laughably low. Thinking about it now, if not so perilously this situation would rend an amazing research subject…" Shaking his head the man gave a wry smile "In hindsight I probably should've followed that youngster's advice and waited a bit more for the marines"
While Dr. Victor lamented the decision that lead to this current situation outside the members of the group known as 'IronGuard Mercenaries' continue their effort to fend off the attacking Shoalstriders.
"These things are truly persistent!"
Exclaimed one of the mercs as he shot one of the Sea Kings with his rifle, landing on the creature's side the attacks was cleanly tanked by Shoalstrider's scales with barely a mark being left behind.
"▅▅▅▅▅ -!"
"?!"
Negligible damage as his attack did it still seemed to have earned the creature's ire, the Sea King's eyes brimming with feral anger locked at the man in ship's deck. In a swift move the creature propelled its upper body from the water in the man's direction; with maw wide open the pack hunter aimed its sharp serrated teeth at the man.
Despite the size the Shoalstrider's movement was swift and precise, the stunned merc would've certainly went to meet his ancestors in the afterlife if not for what happened next.
Boom!
"▂▂▃▅▅▅- -!"
As the Shoalstrider's attack was about to land his head got suddenly hit by something, the force of this sudden attack basically blasted the creature's head to the side making it miss the attack, the creature roaring in pain as he fell back at the water.
Astonished by what happened the merc looked at the direction from where the saving attack came from, as he did the man was able to spot something that filled him completely with hope.
"Mari-… A MARINE SHIP ARRIVED!"
With that resounding announcement everyone on the ship turned their heads to side and saw one of the iconic marine ships approaching the battle with amazing speed, what saved the merc just now was a cannon ball fired by a certain spiked hair marine on that ship.
SWOOSHH!
Suddenly a big shadow could be seen jumping from the marine ship's deck at their direction, it effortlessly covered the distance between both ships and appeared above the head of one of the Shoalstriders, where it performed a ferocious attack.
"▃▄▄▅▅ -▅▅！"
As the attack landed the people was able to see that the shadow was a tiger of prehistoric proportions, with his fur majestically flicking in the wind like flames the tiger delivered a paw strike downwards at one of the Shoalstriders that blasted the creature's head down with the same, if not bigger, force than the cannon ball that had previously hit the other Shoalstrider.
Swhoosh! Swhoosh!
Following that two figures jumped from the tiger's back; the first one, a young woman with blue hair, swiftly but gracefully flew above the deck and landed before a group of mercs trying to fend off one of the Sea Kings. The giant creature lunged at the bluenette with ferocity, the young woman however swung the sword in her hand and deflected the attack by hitting the creature's serrated teeth and flanging its head sideways.
The Shoalstrider wouldn't relent though, as the creature quickly recovering he locked at the female human before him and lunged forward again. However the same result from before happened, with a twirl for some more power the swordswoman parried the attack and flung the creature's head upwards.
Afterwards taking advantage of the Shoalstrider now exposed neck the young woman jumped forward, in a move that evoked the image of cherry blossom leaves on the wind she performed a slash attack at the creature that threw the beast screeching away back at the water.
"So strong!"
"Wow..."
The mercs couldn't help but gawk in amazement at the display of swordsmanship displayed by the young woman.
BANG!
simultaneously on the other side of the ship the other figure that jumped from the tiger's back, a young man with white hair, could be seen midair punching an Shoaldstrider away with such strength that the creature's entire serpentine giant body was forced out of the water as the Sea King was blasted away by the young man's punch.
"N-no, you can't have this!"
As he landed back on the deck the young man took notice of a group of three mercs ahead in the ship's prow in the midst of a tug of war with the biggest Shoalstrider as the beast tried to drag away a big wooden crate by biting into some cables attached to the crate.
Needlessly to say that was a losing game for the those men, in fact the beast was able to easily throw two of them away by lightly shaking its head, the third and last man still clinging to the crate was slowly being dragged away screaming alongside it.
"HELP!"
Cut!
Thankfully for the man help came quickly, the young swordswoman from before arriving there jumped in the air above the crate and cleanly cut the cables, thus making the crate and the merc fall back on the ship's deck.
"▂▂▃▅▅▅- -!"
The Shoalstrider, however, wasn't too happy with that and with renewed anger lunged at the two while roaring.
Zap!
Before the attack could land though a bolt of blue energy fell from the sky striking the Sholastrider head on, as the creature twitched from the attack the tiger from before arrived before it and delivered a paw strike that would send the Sea King backwards.
Some moments later after surprisingly enduring the attack, a clear testament to that individual Shoalstrider's strength which makes sense considering it was the leader of that particular group, the Sea King turned his gaze to the deck glaring at the white haired human and the tiger that had just attacked him.
"…"
"…"
After some moments of what could only be described as a 'silent battle of wills' between the three the Leader Shoalstrider seems to concede, giving a roar calling the rest of his group away he slowly dived back into the water.
With that the attack came to an end.
"Huff..Huff… Thanks for the save man"
Huffing out of breath the merc who almost got dragged away approached the young man and thanked him. Said young man was, of course, Lucas.
"No problem man" Saying that Lucas gazed at the cause of that tug-of-war, the crate, with some wonder and then asked "Say... what's on this thing worth enough for you three to play tug with a giant Sea King?"
When he did that question Lucas could sense all mercs around him going stiff, the one who he was talking to seemed to be normal but Lucas's senses could still feel him too growing a bit nervous with the question.
"It's our lunch"
That answer Lucas did not expected, with doubt scraping on his voice and suspicion in the depth of his eyes Lucas asked.
"You value your lunch that much?"
"Yep" said the nervous merc "It's premium 'Blue-Finned Elephant Tuna', it's quite pricy and eating it holds special meaning in our culture. So we really, really didn't wanted to let that thing dragged it away"
"Yeah…"
Lucas hasn't believing a single word the man was spurting, thought he did smelled a sort of fish smell from the crate the reaction of the mercs made him suspicious. Still, he couldn't just put him on the spot like that, more pressing matter called his attention.
"Anyway, I'm the marine MCPO Lucas. After making sure everyone is okay I'd like to hear an explanation of what happ-"
SPLASH!
"▂▂▂▂▂▂▃▅▅▅- -!"
"?!"
However before Lucas could finish what he was saying an unusual development that caught even him by surprise happened. From the water the leading Shoalstrider from before suddenly appeared again, going to the crate he was able to catch it on his maw and dragged away in one swift move so quick that no one had time to respond.
When Lucas and the others rushed to the ship's prow all they could see was their reflection looking back at them, the Shoalstrider nowhere in sight.
"DAMMIT!"
While the Mercs took in this sudden development grimly Lucas, on the other hand, couldn't help but look at the spot where the Shoastrider Leader was before with a smile. Smiling his eyes shined a clear look of respect towards the Sea King.
"You lost the fight, but won the battle… Sly son of a gun"
…
…
…
…
Well, that was the chapter.
Quite interesting to write here we officially start the new arc, one that I hope will be fun for everyone to read, especially seeing as now I'm trying to put the story in a more fast pace. Let me know in the review what you guys think of this one.
We started with a look on how Lucas is faring now that he officially took on the role of leader of his band of friends, an interesting bit that I thought was need to be shown in here. Following that we got a some new character introduction, ending with a quick but interesting fight against a group of Sea Kings, one that initially I thought about leaving for the next chapter and actually end this one right when they spotted the attack from the distance, but feeling like the chapter still lacked something I went ahead and included the fight on this one.
Btw this fight, especially the interaction at the end, was inspired by a certain chapter from a famous cartoon from the 2000s. I wonder if anyone will be able to guess which cartoon it is, previously someone was able to guess the reason as to why Lucas can speak with animals, so I wonder if anyone will be able to figure this one too.
Tip: The chapter in particular happens in a swamp.
Well, that's it for now. Make sure to check out my profile, there's a link there to an album with the arts I made for some of the OCs of the story like Torlo or Alvara.
Again, thanks very much for the 1k followers and the almost 1k favorites (We also near 180k views total which is CRA-ZY!)
Thanks everyone for the constant support, you all are awesome.
Constructive critics are always welcomed.
Fiquem Bem!