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Chapter: Weak...? To be strong? Train...ing?
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I reached the Upper Yard after some time by following the holographic map projected from the watch. After climbing the Upper Yard, the smell of forest opened the pores on my skin and stimulated adrenaline secretion.
"It's been a long time," I breathed, licking my lips eagerly and warming up for jungle Parkour after a long time of not practicing it.
On my way, I saw many fights between Shandians and Skypieans. I thought about looting them before discarding the idea. "Now is not the time," I mumbled and continued on my way.
As my speed increased, I feel excited, as the adrenaline coursed through my body. I started trying difficult parkour movements, because of this body I can jump higher and longer, and I can control my movements mid-air using my wings and tail,… which is a new feeling.
I'm controlling myself from shouting out loud in excitement to prevent attracting, the attention of anyone nearby. In excitement, I wall-climbed a tree to reach higher. I caught hold of the edge of a huge branch, then pulled myself up.
I stood up on the branch after climbing it. Before I could relax, I felt an attack coming from my right. I quickly defended myself by crossing my claws *clang* the attack was heavy as I was thrown from the impact *smack* hitting the tree.
*Groan* the sudden attack disoriented me; I looked up at the attacker, who was surprisingly a praying mantis. I somehow blocked its attack with my claw. *Hiss* I hissed in pain and looked at my left claw, as blood flowed out from the cracked nails.
"Fuck! Did you sneak an attack? Asshole," I cursed, glaring at it, with red eyes and sharp teeth. The mantis looked unnerved by my image, but it quickly got its wits together.
*Grr* a growl escaped my mouth as I charged at the mantis; it swiped its scythe-like forelegs. I slid under its swipe getting near it *Crackle* I clawed at its other scythe leg with electro - even though it's a spark, it can numb the part, it touched- which numbed its leg, stopping it from slicing me.
I kicked hard at its neck, stumbling it back; I jumped on its back and punched its head, disorienting it, *sling* I took my burn blade and held it on its neck.
"Don't move," I warned. It looked frightened, looking at the fire just in front of its neck. Now I observed this mantis closer. He looks smaller, after comparing it with Scyther's photo I saw earlier.
*Thud* *crunch* *swish* Suddenly I heard some fighting sound nearby, it differs from a human fight. "Go! that way…! or get roasted," I ordered my new mount, who reluctantly started moving after feeling the heat near his neck.
The mantis carried me, jumping clumsily from tree to tree, reaching the fighting place. I saw a mantis cornered, and defending against five mantises; these five were slightly bigger than the cornered mantis.
I looked carefully at the severely beaten mantis and recognized it. To my surprise, it's Scyther. 'Ah! My student is here,' I became excited about finding Scyther; I quickly calmed down to analyze the situation appropriately.
'What is he doing?' I frowned, looking at Scyther, who is only defending or dodging without attacking back.
On the other side, Scyther dodged an attack 'Why is this happening to me?' cursing at his bad luck. 'Where did it go wrong?' he thought in despair.
'Ever since the human left me I have been struggling to stay alive,' Scyther thought 'Is this what it means to appreciate their use only after losing it,' he thought, missing the days with the Human.
'Except for 'that' human, everything is trying to kill me,' he sighed, *clang* blocking an attack from a mantis. 'I only realized the increase in my strength after leaving him,' he thought, seeing how easy it is to block this big Mantis' attack.
'That human is really trying to strengthen me,' he realized 'and not torturing me for fun,' he lamented getting away from their range.
'Only when I'm alone did I realize 'He' has done no harm to me', Scyther thought, circling to prevent them from approaching his flank. 'Only my fear of humans made me paranoid,' he realized just as a mantis rushed towards him.
'Even though I'm stronger than before I don't know how to fight,' he *thunk* blocked the attack *smack* but got hit by another mantis. *pant* he dodged another attack 'I only started to fight for the past three months,' Scyther thought, dodging the next attack.
'So how can I fight five of them at once?' he despaired. 'I wish that human is here. He will somehow save me,' he sighed, deflecting an attack. 'I decided to not leave that human anymore if I escape from here,' he vowed, jumping over the claw swiping at him.
"He is stronger," I looked impressed, As I was appreciating Scyther's strength and his inhumane..-er-Insect reflexes, I saw from the corner of my eyes that the stupid mantis I'm sitting on, is looking hopeful after spotting the bigger mantis.
It suddenly clicked to me "Oi! Who is your Guardian?" I hissed, nearing the blade to its neck in warning. It shivered in fright and pointed at the biggest mantis among the five. I started interrogating further answers from him.
From the info, I gathered difficulty from the mantis, using guesses and head nods. This Mantis is an inexperienced kid who tagged along with his dad to gain experience, but this group came across Scyther, so they left this Mantis behind to catch him.
So I just lost my left claw to - A Mook's MOOK!, I concluded to my horror, then I became even angrier at the Mantis. The mount shivered after feeling the murderous intent focused on it.
I took a deep breath, controlling my anger. "Hey! Big Ass mooks," I yelled, gesturing the mount to step out from the hiding.
"Stop whatever you are doing or this one loses its head," I threatened them. They stopped attacking Scyther and looked toward the voice.
The biggest Mantis panicked after seeing my mount -his kid being held, hostage. Other mantises looked distraught at the biggest Mantis, which I assume to be their leader.
Scyther looked surprised then became happy 'He really arrived to save me, he thought then hid his emotions.
I appreciated Scyther's reaction; he didn't rush toward my side to show that we are the same side. Since we need to get out of here without them pursuing us, this is the best course of action.
The leader screeched at me, "Are you an idiot? How do I know what are you saying?" I rolled my eyes.
"And what are you six playing at?" I interrogated them, especially Scyther.
Then Scyther shrieked towards the leader, who looked slightly doubtful and then relented, so Scyther moved in front and started signing with his legs [Where were you? Are you Okay?] he asked.
"Why you ask? I was returning to my home minding my business, but this asshole attacked me out of nowhere and broke my claw," I explained, showing my bloody claw and answering Scyther without making others suspicious.
"While you guys are happily playing around," I Jeered at Scyther whose eye twitched in annoyance, 'I even got worried for him,' he thought.
[What now? These guys are strong. They have outnumbered us] Scyther signed in worry; the other five mantises looked nervously not knowing what Scyther is saying.
"What!? I should return him quickly or face the wrath of mantis," I yelled in rage, moving the blade near my mount's neck, which is already blackened because of the heat from the Burn blade.
"Like hell, I will care. I have many tricks up my sleeve," I intimidated the Mantises.
"I can beat all of you so much that you can hardly move anymore" I threatened, signaling Scyther. The leader got panic and screeched angrily at Scyther for antagonizing me, who smugly shrieked back. The leader looks hesitant and looked towards my mount, then nodded, gritting his teeth.
"Hey, what are you six up to?" I demanded, confused at the five Mantis lined up in front of Scyther, who started hitting them using the back of his legs; he only stopped after they can't move and looked at me.
'That's all I can do to weaken them. The rest is up to you,' Scyther signed at me.
"Oh! You guys don't want me to kill a kid, so exchange him for one of you," I proclaimed, scrutinizing the beaten-up mantises. They shivered in fright as I gazed at them, thinking that I will choose them for the exchange.
"Ugh..., I'm too lazy. You guys select one among yourself." I waved dismissively. Everyone looked dumbfounded including Scyther. 'Stupid human, why didn't you select me?' thought.
"Hurry, I only want to torture a mantis for my injury. I don't care who it is," I urged them as the Five mantises looked at each other and pointed at Scyther in sync.
Scyther started screeching angrily at them, continuing his act of an unwilling mantis. They stood up despite their injuries and ganged on Scyther, throwing him to the front. The leader looked at me with expectation.
"Oh! You guys have finally chosen. I will reluctantly accept him," I pardoned, to their relief. I made eye contact with Scyther and threw a small Ball cloud filled with smoke. *Puff* it burst, covering the area with smoke.
After the smoke cleared, the five looked around to find Scyther and that devil missing. They rushed towards the Kid Mantis to find him alright.
"Mwahaha! You got caught so easily, you idiot," they heard the evil voice of the devil from a distance and suddenly felt sorry for Scyther.
As Scyther carried me away to some distance, I scolded him for getting caught easily and he retaliated by pointing me out for getting injured easily. We bickered continuously until we reach a safe place. I treated my injured claws and bandaged them.
Then I inquired what he was doing these past months. It turns out that our hero went to apologize to the princess after I left. But it didn't go well, so he tried to escape since he can't control his strength after removing the weight. He accidentally pushed the princess, but reacted quickly and saved her from falling.
And he has been on the run ever since and the previous five mantises attacked to offer him to the princess, so they have been holding back.
"So the Villain doesn't accept your apology," I sneered. "You should not apologize to the villain-looking person, look what we have gotten into," I scolded Scyther after understanding.
[What is with you and villain-looking face?] Scyther signed. 'How did he get a villain face from her?' Scyther thought of the princess's face.
"That's it, follow Plan B, overthrow the Royal family," I declared, bringing Scyther out of his thought.
[It is impossible] Scyther signed. 'Even though I don't know how to fight, I know about the rules, he thought.
"You are very weak and can't even defeat a mantis," I mocked him in disdain.
[Asshole, there were five of them but you even got hurt by some stupid kid] Scyther signed scoffing at me, which infuriated me.
"Oh! Really, I have decided to start your training," I declared, grinning crazily.
"You prepare for hell, Huhuhuhuh," I laughed madly, scared the shit out of him, who started apologizing.
'I forgot that, Even if he doesn't kill me, he will torture me,' Scyther shivered, recalling the two months' stay with him.
"We will start tomorrow," I announced to Scyther's despair,
"You will be stronger by the end of this training," I promised Scyther, grinning malevolently.
"I thought it will be boring for a few days because of my injured hand," I smiled, looking at my injured hand. "but now I got a better thing to do," I smiled, looking harmless, but my eyes have a crazy glint.
Scyther already started sweating heavily; we returned to our golden city by evening as I started filling tomorrow's timetable. Scyther despaired at seeing me updating the timetable before a memory attack, crashing his last hope. I had a very good sleep without any intrusion.
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I woke up early in the morning in confusion before finding the blinking watch and let out a devious grin as I continue to read the details on it. I excitedly freshened up and went to find my lab rat *ahem* discipline.
"Scyther! In front! 10 sec," I ordered. "or you don't need to know the consequence," I shouted out, standing on the stairs. With a green blur, he arrived in front of me, looking nervous.
"Ok! Now you are so weak," I pointed out, "I will train you for two months and strengthen you," I declared, as Scyther sighed in relief. 'it's only for two months. I already survived two months, he thought.
"Don't be happy that I will only train you for two months," I dashed his relief. "These two months will be hell," I informed, as Scyther paled. "You will feel the worst pain of your life, understood?" I yelled. He saluted in panic.
"Um! There are two options for you to get stronger," I suggested. "One is easy but very painful, the other is hard but painful," I revealed the two options.
"I hope you can choose option two," I opined earnestly, smiling calmly, but Scyther nearly selected the first option after seeing the crazy glint in my eyes.
[You explain them] Scyther signed finally overcame his fear.
"*Tsk* fine, option one is to cut your forelegs and replace them with swords," I explained, smiling genuinely recalling a mantis in Impel down. Scyther suddenly had a cold sweat and moved his forelegs protectively away from me.
"Oh! From your reaction, I conclude you choose the second option," I confirmed, grinning widely, not waiting for his reply.
"We will prepare and move out tomorrow from this place to avoid destroying anything," I ordered, thinking about what to pack.
[Hey, what is the second option? You didn't explain it] Scyther blocked, demanding an answer from me.
"What's fun with that? If you know everything," I grinned evilly as Scyther became pale. "Don't worry, you have been fighting in the forest for many years so you can survive this training," I comforted, patting his leg.
'Fighting for many years? I only know about fighting for the past few months,' Scyther thought dreadful. 'I'm gonna die,' he concluded, following me in despair.
We arrived at our usual training ground. "Since you have chosen not to replace your legs, we need to make it as strong as a sword," I informed him. Scyther nodded, looking at his forelegs 'I can't block real swords with this,' he thought.
"Finally, learn to use a real sword fight," I revealed, confusing him. [Where can I hold a sword] Scyther gestured.
"Obliviously your useless mouth, Other than eating, what is its use?" I mocked in disdain; he looks taken back at this reply.
"Coincidently, you are the only insect that can turn your head 180 degrees," I pointed out.
"You can easily block the attacks aiming for your back," I informed as Scyther turned to look at his big back.
"So you are going to learn three swords style before a directionless idiot," I proclaimed at Scyther, who looks thoughtful.
"Now pick it up," I ordered, pointing at a dumbbell made of stone. As Scyther moved to pick it up, "With your mouth," I corrected him, grinning evilly. Scyther's eyes widened, looking at the heavy dumbbell.
"Well, we don't have all day long," I urged him to pick it up; he relented at last and picked it up with his mouth.
"First lesson, you should not drop the sword in your mouth when in pain," I informed taking Staff using my healthy hand.
"Let's start," I informed rushing towards him and starting my first spar with him. It is also helpful in improving my reflexes because of his speed.
We continued to spar until we got tired, Scyther got beaten mostly as punishment for dropping the dumbbells, and this day went on like this with some hiccups due to my memory loss.
The next day, I was tying a bag on the back of Scyther, "These are some supplies for our two months," I informed Scyther, who is carrying a dumbbell in his mouth.
[I can't fly with these things on my back] he informed me. "Who asked you to fly? You can't fly until I say," I ordered him; he compiled sighing helplessly as it became frequent.
We got out of the city and escaped God's guard's difficulty. We proceeded toward the destination in my mind. Scyther looks confused at the reason for heading to that place. We reached the destination with difficulty due to avoiding the war; it's starting to get annoying at the fight between them.
"Assholes, why don't they fight somewhere else? It is becoming a pain in the ass to avoid them," I complained, walking toward my destination- Grasshopper's capital. Only insects cannot enter the capital of other insects, since I'm not an insect, so no one can stop me.
Grasshoppers are mild compared to other insects in this forest. I met the insect-in-charge and negotiated/threatened to let us stay here, and help us when needed.
"We will stay here for a while," I informed Scyther looking around the capital, which is nothing but grassland with sparse trees around, 'what is there to marvel at?' I looked around in confusion, seeing Scyther's expression.
[What torture did you plan for me here?] Scyther signed in confusion and paled at seeing the grasshoppers surrounding them.
"Well same as yesterday, with them replacing me," I grinned, pointing at gathering grasshoppers, Scyther's foreleg twitched as he sweats, "And no forelegs," I ordered, tying his forelegs together from moving.
'What? How I'm going to fight without it?' Scyther complained but didn't have the guts to voice out.
"I finally decided the weapon you need - a double-blade sword," I revealed, taking a staff.
"So, no three-sword but four-sword style," I stated, disappointed at not being the first one to make three-sword style
"Hold it in the middle," I instructed, tossing the staff, which smacked him in the face.
"Put down the dumbbells idiot," I yelled at him, who grumblingly picked up the staff, biting it horizontally in his mouth.
"Hmm...!" I nodded at the posture. "You imagine it having blades at both ends and fight," I instructed, pointing at the staff.
"By the time we leave, you must be proficient with it," I ordered. He eyed the staff critically, then nodded.
"Oh!, you must also learn to jump like them," I continued pointing at the grasshopper.
"You also have six legs similar to them, but you can't even jump properly," I mocked, looking at his legs with disdain.
'Are you blind? Whose legs are similar?' Scyther grumbled. 'I have two huge forelegs, they have two huge hindlegs,' Scyther compared their legs. 'But I will jump without those huge legs,' Scyther decided as his eyes burned in fighting spirit and provoked the grasshoppers.
The grasshoppers got angry and attacked him, starting his first day of torture. The Grasshoppers stand on their muscular hind legs and use their other two pairs of legs to fight. Their foreleg looks like a claw/hand shape.
I also started fighting with an aggressive-looking Grasshopper; I fought him even if it is one-sided getting my ass handed by him.
After some hours of the spar, I even tried to incorporate their fighting style, jumping around constantly and punching, etc, but it was very tiring.
I looked at Scyther, who is still hanging on after getting beaten severely 'His endurance increased,' I noted. I stopped the practice to have lunch.
After lunch, I brought Scyther to the next torture place. There is a huge hollowed tree stump filled with sand; I placed a heat dial inside, heating it.
"You can cut trees easily now, but you need to at least cut steel to be a proper swordsman," I informed. 'Steel? Who wants to be a swordsman?' Scyther blinked, forgetting that he was training for a rebellion.
"So your foreleg should be as strong as steel," I implied.
[There is no way it can be done] Scyther signed in disbelief. I grinned.
"Oh! Really, insert your forelegs into this sand 100 times each," I ordered, pointing to the sand; Scyther gulped, looking at the hot sand.
'Insert what into it?' Scyther scoffed [It's funny] he glanced at me; to his horror, I just stared at him. He realized I'm serious and gulped nervously, then began his torture.
I observed him for a while, then moved nearby to train my electro and tried to control the flame. Likewise, we spend a week and a half in this place; now Scyther can use the staff efficiently even with weights tied to them, and he can jump higher than before.
I became friends with the aggressive grasshopper. I named him 'Crashhopper' but I call him Crash. He also punches sand when Scyther is not using it.
Since Scyther can dodge their attacks easily, I decided to change places, so we bid our goodbyes to them as they thanked us for training them.
I allowed Scyther to fly, carrying the bag and me to strengthen his wings; it took a day to reach the next place because of crossing through Lady bug's capital.
I excitedly observed the huge thing in front of me. "This is 'also' your training don't think I'm doing it for, fun," I implied. "I'm going to steal honey from there," I declared, pointing at a huge honeycomb. Scyther gulped, looking at the dense bees surrounding their capital.
"Your job...*ahem*...training is to avoid getting stung and stay in there as long as possible," I instructed, pointing to the honeycomb.
"How much longer your get rest, depends on how long you stay in there," I droned, Scyther's eyes brighten. 'Rest! Finally, there is rest after a long time,' he thought, throwing his fears and looking at the bees as his rest time.
"You can use all your weapons," I added, as he took the staff holding it in his mouth. I smirked at this display.
Scyther charged at the honeycomb, getting swarmed by thousands of bees. It is a mind-numbing scene, but he miraculously avoided getting stung by them. 'His training is worth it,' I sighed in relief at the progress he made.
I sneaked around the fight nearing the honeycomb holding two halves of the broken staff as a weapon. I swatted any bees approaching me with it.
"If you want to attack me, you need to shoot your stingers like a bullet," I taunted the approaching bees.
I stole some honey with some difficulty and escaped from there. It's good my claws are healed or it will be impossible to complete it. I waited in a place I had chosen to regroup with Scyther, drinking the honey dripping from the piece I took after sometimes I started filling them inside a bottle.
Suddenly a green creature stumbled here, startling me. "Stop right there," I warned, pointing my staff at it. It stopped nearing me. "don't underestimate me, I'm very strong," I growled at the creature from doing anything funny.
[Asshole, it's me Scyther] the creature signed with its puffy hands. I blinked dumbly at the bulging creature and compared it with the slender Scyther.
"Hahaha, you look funny hahaha," I burst out laughing loud even forgetting to hide from the bees.
[I'm going to kill you] Scyther pounced on me. I dodged easily because of his swollen body.
"Hey fatty, you can't catch me hahaha" I taunted, laughing at him, dodging his attacks.
"I decided to do it for the next two days," I declared, rolling from an attack.
[What!? you said I can take a break] complained pudgy Scyther stopping his attack.
"You can take a break after spending some time with the bees," I grinned. "It is your talent whether you can enjoy it looking like this," I snickered at his situation.
"You can also avoid getting stung by bees," I suggested, leaving the thoughtful Scyther.
A «BEEP» originated from my watch "Where Am I?" I shouted. "Gaa! You ugly Green monster get away from me or I will kill you," I shouted, pointing my broken staff at Scyther, who sighed, pointing at my watch.
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«REMINDER NOTE »
» Phew, You FINALLY found the watch, at last. It seems the blink setting is working fine. Don't worry, it will only be visible when you look directly at it and won't attract others' attention if seen from a distance. I will clear your other doubts now.
» All of this is written by YOU..., What! you can't recall it? That's because You have short-term memory loss. This Note is a backup prepared by 'You' for you.
» Do you know where you are? You must have already said the annoying 'Where Am I?'. That sentence can be used as a Title if this is written as a story... Psh!...let's not think about it...where were we now? Yeah, your situation, You are in One Piece World. Yeah..., THAT One Piece you are thinking of now.
» You can explore on your own or read this note fully. From here on, you are alone! And update the Note if you are alive, Good Luck. p.s. Read Log Book to know more details.
« P.S- Kick God's Ass if you see him »
«Year:- 1510 » «Age:- 03 » «Location:- SkyPiea: Upper Yard » «Time:- January-End »
«Main Task: Get stronger and avenge Scyther»
»Instructions:
«Previously: » Started a training journey to increase Scyther's strength and decided for Scyther to learn weapons.
» Stayed in Grasshopper territory for one and a half weeks, training Scyther to use a weapon with their help. Left grasshopper's capital, moving towards next destination.
» We passed through Ladybug's capital to reach our destination. I hang below having two batons in each hand as Scyther carried me using the rope tied to me.
» The ladybugs attacked us as soon as we entered by falling from a high place, rolling towards us, or bouncing back using leaves after falling. Scyther expertly maneuvered them as I hit or kick the ladybugs near me, making it difficult for Scyther. We hit, dodged, etc., for an hour before we got out of the ladybug rain»
«Train Scyther in handling weapons»
«Strengthen Scyther's forelegs »
«Try to visit all capitals»
«Next: » Prepare a plan to overthrow Royals after learning about the Kingdom's situation »
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We stayed near the honeycomb for two days; I also went to fight the bees on the edge of Scyther's fight and got stung by bees. It trains my reflexes and endurance.
After that, we journeyed around the island visiting the capitals of the insects. On our way, we looted dials from war; I got more impact, ax, flame, and jet dials from them.
"It's been a month now, so I think you are ready for the next stage," I informed excitedly. Scyther looks numb from his past month's training.
'What is going to be more difficult than this past month?' Scyther despaired numbly. 'Is that even be called training?' Scyther doubted recalling the torture he experienced the past month.
"I was planning on doing this Experi-….*ahem* training to find whether insects can also use IT," I revealed vaguely of my next training plan.
"Before we start, we need to find a proper weapon for you," I suggested, diverting the topic from my slip of the tongue.
Scyther perked up, successfully ignoring my blunder. "Consider this as a break from training," I revealed as Scyther has happy tears on his face.
"Let's raid God's Shrine" I declared. Scyther fainted in shock 'What!? There? Near humans,' were his last thoughts. I looked at his prone form with disdain. "Coward," I scoffed.
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