4 Chapter 4 - Cocoyase Village Newcomer! Skin Refinement Completed!

With the sword in his hand, Noah walked through the forest while following the same path that Nami was taking in the distance. Since he far from her, she couldn't see him, which was perfect. As he walked, he also thought about various things.

'Now that I'm here, I need to get a ship to go to Grand Line. It would be utterly ridiculous to be brought to such a big and mysterious world as One Piece, and on top of that with a cheat like the PHD (Pocket Hunting Dimension), and just be any tertiary. I completely reject this idea!'

He knew that even if the world was dangerous, as long as he had space and time to grow in the future, the real danger of the world would be him. And his companions too, since a lonely journey is the same as throwing oneself into the abyss and hoping that it is fun down there.

'I need to find a way to keep Nami here and convince her to join my crew. Defeating Arlong is a good start, but I doubt I have enough power for that now. But a week is enough, and I just need to talk to her. I remember she has a sister, so I'm going to appeal to sentimentality!'

While he was thinking about his strategies to get his first crew member, Noah saw that from afar the silhouette of a small village was starting to form. And with Nami's slow pace, it would take her at least about 10~15 minutes to get there.

"Time to speed up..." 

Noah held his sword right when he stepped on the ground hard and felt his foot sink before he started to run at high speed!

Passing through the trees with great skill, Noah was impressed by how much his senses also became sharper and how the obstacles in the small forest didn't seem like a big deal. Maybe the numbing amount of fights in the Hunting Dimension made him not realize this.

In just one minute, he had already arrived at Cocoyase Village and his direction changed to a house that seemed to have an orchard in the yard, which was full of fruits resembling oranges.

The current state of the Village, even though he wasn't in the middle of it, was quite precarious and the houses and posts were very worn out. It was pretty obvious that no one was willing to spend an extra penny to paint the house and end up dead because they didn't have the money to pay Arlong. The mikan orchard was the only place that seemed a bit more alive, and that only because it is a source of income. If it were anything else, it would have been torn down a long time ago.

Seeing that there really was someone inside, Noah stopped in his tracks and calmed his breathing. Stopping in front of the place, he pretended to be lost for a second.

While he was watching the Village from afar, a figure came out of the orchard holding a basket full of mikans, a peaceful smile on the face. This woman, with blue hair and eyes, had a symmetrical perfection on her face that made her very attractive, as well as a tanned mature body that was covered by a simple outfit and an apron. She also has a tattoo that goes from the right forearm to the left shoulder, and surely added a fierce charm to her. She is Nojiko, Nami's sister.

"Oh." Nojiko suddenly noticed Noah, who was distracted looking at the village and looked strangely at him, "Good morning, lad. You're not from here, are you?"

"Oh, good morning. Sorry for intruding." Noah smiled at Nojiko, pretending he had just noticed her. Putting his hand on his belly, he continued while looking at the oranges, "I'm really not from here. I was lost at sea and needed the help of a girl named Nami to get to the island. But I got lost in the middle of the forest and the only thing that saved me was my hunger."

"Nami? She helped you get here?" Nojiko immediately was happy with the news that her sister had arrived on the island, but did not forget the good manners, "Well, since she saved your life once, I can help you save it again with a lunch. I am Nojiko, Nami's sister."

"Pleasure, Noah D. Avery. I appreciate the hospitality, but I don't want to bother too much." Noah introduced himself in the same way he had introduced himself to Nami. Out of pure pride he added the D. in the middle. But he could, since his parents won't complain about it.

"If Nami has helped you so far, it means that she trusts you. And if she trusts you, then I can also trust." Nojiko smiled at Noah and soon after began to go to her house carrying the basket of oranges.

"Since you insist on helping me, I should also do my part in helping." Noah walked to her side and extended his arm to get the basket. And seeing how Nojiko smiled at him and handed it, he knew that it would be easier to convince Nami to stay.

"You are quite chivalrous, thank you." With her hands free, she shook off the little dirt that was on her apron and decided to chat more, "So, Noah, would it be too intrusive if I asked what you were doing to get lost at sea?"

"Well, I think lost at sea is an exaggeration. I was a crew member of a luxury and entertainment ship, which unfortunately was victim of the a group of pirates. I was lucky to survive, and even luckier to find your sister while I was trying to escape. And since we had the same purpose, things just got easier." Mixing lies and truths, he was telling practically the same story he told to Nami. For a lie to become true, it only needs to be told many times.

"I'm sorry about that. It must have been scary." Nojiko didn't particularly fear or hate pirates, but she empathized with the horror of being attacked by one.

"Don't worry, I'm not that weak. And it turned out the ending was worth watching. A boy with rubber powers sent Alvida, who weighed more than the ship itself, flying away. It was quite a punch." Even though he and Nami didn't actually stay to see it, it wasn't as if he didn't know what happened.

"Pfft! A boy with rubber powers? Does that really exist or are you just messing with me?" Nojiko didn't believe him at all and thought it was just a hallucination caused by the terror of being attacked by pirates.

"I'm telling you, you just need to believe..."

As he was talking to Nojiko, the two finally arrived at her house and Noah placed the basket of mikans on a table. From where he supposed to be the kitchen, he smelled a familiar scent of rice and the sound of bubbling water.

"Just a moment, I'll be right back." Nojiko went to the kitchen to check the rice pot, at the same time wondering what she would prepare special for her sister's return.

Left alone in the living room, he stood still while looking through a window there. Even though he had been in the Village for a few minutes, he hadn't seen a single living soul leave the houses. But he was sure that everyone in the village already knew that there was a stranger there.

"Nojiko, I'm here- kyaa!" Nami had just opened the door when she ran into Noah, who was innocently looking at her, "What are you doing here?!"

"Nami, you're here! How are you? Did you arrive well? Did you get hurt?" Nojiko immediately left the kitchen and went to her sister, checking if she had any injuries or something similar. It seemed like the genuine concern of an older sister.

"What is he doing here?" Nami pointed her finger at Noah while ignoring her sister's questions.

"Oh, I invited him for lunch. He said he knows you, so I decided to extend a friendly hand." Seeing that Nami was okay, Nojiko smiled at her and went to the kitchen. Before she left, she gave Noah a wink, as if to say it was his cue.

"Well, hello again, Nami..." Coughing a bit of embarrassment, Noah smiled at her.

°°°

"I really appreciate the hospitality and the meal. I owe you two a life." Noah was at the door of Nami's house, talking to her and her sister.

"You're exaggerating now, Noah. And again I extend the invitation to sleep here if you can't find a place to stay." Nojiko was much calmer than her sister Nami and didn't care much about how strange her invitation seemed, inviting a man to a women's house.

"There is a village to the northeast from here that sells some quality boats. If you're really going to leave, do that within a week or the prices may go up." Nami looked at Noah, observing his sincerity, and warned him again. She really didn't want to see a good person die at the hands of Arlong again.

"Thank you, Miss Nami. Miss Nojiko, it was a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for the company and see you soon." After that, he waved at them and started walking out of the Village, towards the forest.

At the door of the house, Nojiko gave Nami a light elbow.

"Where did you get this stud? It's not every day that such a handsome man shows up here. The last time was..." Nojiko started counting on her fingers and soon gave up, "I don't remember. I don't think there ever was."

"Pfft! I didn't hear all those compliments when he was in front of you. Noah this, Noah that, using his name for everything." Nami blushed at the thought and also teased her sister, who just had a smile on her face.

"Well, I indeed invited him to stay the night, he just didn't accept."

Her look was one of pride on her face, but soon she fell into laughter with Nami. After a while, when they were already inside the house, Nojiko looked seriously at her.

"He seems to be a good guy. If you see him again, kick him off the island before Arlong finds out about him. It's better to earn his dislike than to see someone else die."

"I know, sister..." Nami nodded in agreement.

Despite not knowing him for long enough, something inside her said that she would break if she saw another innocent person dying at the hands of Arlong, someone she could have saved.

'When things couldn't get more complicated... Would he agree to come with me for my last theft?'

°°°

In the middle of the forest, Noah threw all his thoughts and worries behind as he ran between the trees and searched for a nearby natural water source. With his ears on alert, he soon discovered a nearby waterfall, which is less than 700 meters from Cocoyase Village.

Stripping his clothes off, Noah plunged into the stream near the waterfall and swam to it. And after he found a bed of stone that he could use, he sat in a comfortable position and closed his eyes. From the belly button down he was under water, and his toned physique was visible on top.

'If I intend to defeat Arlong and start my pirate crew, I better strengthen myself first. And if I'm going to strengthen myself, I'd rather do it at a breakneck speed.' Noah summoned a red orb in his palm and then tossed it into his mouth, just like that.

As the furious energy of the small red orb circulated in his body automatically, he tried to focus on the sound of the waterfall behind him. Although he had never practiced meditation in his life, he knew it was better to focus on natural sounds than on pain.

As the powerful energy refined his skin, layers of dead skin came off and he could feel his power increasing. Sometimes a little dirt and grease also came out of the skin pores, giving the feeling of a good bath.

While he was consuming the red orbs, his focus in meditation was more on the sounds around him than on the process of refining his body. And with that, in addition to paying more attention to the environment he was in, time also passed more quickly in that state.

As soon as he ingested the third red orb, the energy in his body reached a kind of strange peak and his skin became firm and joined to the muscles. He could feel that even more power was poured into his body, and his strength increased again.

With a black goo being released from his body, he stopped meditating and dove as deep as possible into the stream, trying to get as much dirt out there.

After that, he returned to the surface and touched his skin. It was whiter and more hydrated, and surely Nami and Nojiko would be envious. But besides that, he was happy that he finally completed the Skin Refinement. His power increased and he was one step closer to his goal.

The next step now would be the Muscle Refinement!