11 Intelligence raised
|Pell's POV:|
...
"That kid is really something else..."
Standing on top of a building while directing my attention to the brief fight that was happening inside the alleyway, I couldn't help but mutter in astonishment seeing how easily that Farid kid had handled such a strong pirate.
I had originally followed them both, Vivi-sama and this Farid kid, to make sure nothing bad happened while both of them strolled around the city, and to decipher whether this kid was approaching Vivi with evil intentions or not.
I didn't really think a kid of his age would try to do such evil things, but it was a completely different matter if there was a mastermind behind him. Maybe they planned to fool Vivi-sama to kidnap her when she lowered her guard around Farid, or maybe whoever was controlling this kid had done it to form ties with the royal family secretly...
However, my doubts were dispersed immediately when I saw the enormous strength that this kid carried with him.
The pirate he knocked out was by no means weak... No, even I, in my Falcom form, would have to fight fairly seriously to knock him down in just one hit like the kid had done so effortlessly with one hit.
Moreover, he had shattered a whole sword hitting it only with his kick... Something that was almost impossible to do, even for me.
Whoever was this kid, he possessed a humongous strength beyond common knowledge... I wonder, where the hell had a monster like this come from...?
However, despite how bewildered and cheated I felt whenever I saw his enormous strength despite being only a kid of 8 years old, a certain thought of mine couldn't help but make me smile whenever I looked at him.
"He would surely make of a good Royal guard when he becomes an adult... Maybe even the strongest Royal guard that there has ever been... Moreover..."
Looking at the laughing and joyful expression of Vivi-sama, I couldn't help but be happy as well. Right now, what Vivi-sama lacked more, was a friend of her age that would allow her to enjoy her infancy fully.
I knew that she was supposed to be the princess of this Kingdom... However, seeing her so alone at the palace, always remembering her friends that were now far away in Yuba, constantly broke my heart. I wanted her to live happily, and I'm sure that Cobra-sama and everyone at the palace wished for the same.
However, despite the fierce flames of hope burning in my heart, I was still a Royal guard. Thus, I had first to make sure that he was someone worthy of becoming one of us, and after that, and only after that, I would ask him to join us personally.
Whether he would choose to join us or not when that moment arrives, only he would know.
However, that would take a few years at least, and during that time, I would make sure to observe him well and make my judgment about him.
Besides, even if he doesn't join the royal guard, he can still become an important figure here in Arabasta on his own...
Maybe he can even become a Pirate-hunting Hero, just like the Shichibukai Crocodile.
-Sigh...-
Either way, there's no need to rush things for the time being... After all, I don't think anything bad will happen to Arabasta during the next few years... We still have Crocodile to protect us from any dangerous pirate, after all.
...
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|A few hours later...|
|Farid's POV:|
...
After a long day of work, I was finally back here in the orphanage.
Today was a really fun day.
After I caught the first pirate, Vivi continued following me around the city while speaking to me every now and then, asking me different things about being a bounty hunter.
She seemed really curious for some reason.
Either way, since I didn't have anything else to do while I was catching more pirates, I also decided to teach her some of my techniques for uncovering pirates, which I had discovered through these few weeks as a bounty hunter... And let me tell you, she had quite an absurd talent for it.
She learned most of my techniques in the blink of an eye and easily started pointing out pirates that even I had not noticed amongst the crowd.
It made me wonder whether this girl would become a bounty hunter in the future or not... Everything she needed was a tad more strength, and I was sure that she would become an amazing bounty hunter.
I even increased my record of how many pirates I can catch in one day thanks to her.
Leaving that aside, both of us continued catching pirates left and right across the whole city, until that Pell guy appeared again from who knows where, and told Vivi that it was time for them to leave. I also noticed that it was getting late and that I needed to go back or sister Elena would notice, so I just bade them farewell and started running hastily back here.
In the end, It was really a nice day.
However, there was one thing that had made me dissatisfied... Something that I realized during one of my conversations with Vivi.
Even remembering it now brings me shame to no end...
...
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|Flashback...|
...
"And there goes another pirate" Patting my hands to shake the dust off, I smiled satisfactorily seeing the unconscious pirate lying down in front of me, and walked back to Vivi, who was just chuckling in her spot while looking at me.
"You didn't even let him present himself!" Saying so between laughs, Vivi looked at me rather funnily, before she turned around and pointed forward with her finger enthusiastically.
"Now, where do we go next?"
She seemed to be having a lot of fun doing this.
"Let's go to the main square, I'm sure there will be pirates there" Pointing forward with my thumb, I started walking rapidly with Vivi following after me and started crossing the crowded streets of the city once more.
-Grumble...-
However, as I was about to do it, a rumbling sound suddenly came from my stomach and made me stop in my tracks.
-Sniff... Sniff...-
Furthermore, the appearance of an incredibly delicious smell also helped to make me stop immediately, much to my confusion about Vivi.
When I turned to look in the direction of the delicious smell, I saw a man grilling some skewers in the middle of the street, and immediately noticed that my stomach was rumbling once again.
'Damn, I'm getting hungry...'
Seeing my troubled expression, Vivi looked back and forth between me and the skewers, before she raised an eyebrow while looking at me with confusion in her gaze.
"Are you hungry...?" Vivi asked me suddenly, seemingly not understanding something.
Hearing her ask me with such an expression, I answered honestly while rubbing my belly with a wry smile. "Yeah, it has been a few hours since I last ate... Normally it wouldn't even affect me, but I guess I spent more energy than usual today"
I expected her to nod in understanding after my explanation, but for some reason, her frown only deepened after my response.
Her next words baffled me.
"Then why don't you buy some?"
...
What is this girl talking about?
"Vivi, I'm from the orphanage, I don't have any money" Looking at her with a frown, I grabbed my own pockets and then turned them inside out to expose their contents to Vivi, showing that there was nothing inside them. However, that only made her look even more confused than before.
"...?"
Why was she looking at me like that? She already knew that I was an orphan, right? Where am I supposed to even get money?
"Hey, Farid..."
Suddenly, as if something had clicked in her mind, her eyes widened for a brief second, before her expression turned into a mixture of nervousness and pity.
Thinking that I had done something wrong, I listened to her curiously... However, her next words sent a shiver down my whole body as soon as I heard them.
Words that would haunt me to the end of my days...
"Farid... Did you not claim the bounties of the pirates you have caught until now...?"
"..."
Claim... What...?
...
|Flashback end...|
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|Back to the present...|
-Sigh...-
I didn't know that you could claim bounties from pirates and become a millionaire that easily. For me, who had only learned to read a year ago, the numbers on the bounty posters were only a measurement of how strong the pirate was, not the money you could win by capturing them.
Of course, I knew what Bellys were. However, until yesterday, I had yet to truly understand what the symbol [฿] in the bounty posters meant.
Goddamnit... I wanted to punch myself so bad... I would be rolling in money now if I wasn't so stupid!
The only positive thing that I could see in this situation was that at least I discovered it only a few weeks after I began working as a bounty hunter, and not months later... Who knows how much money I would have lost until then?
I think I have to thank Vivi for helping me in this regard.
She even bought me some skewers after that...
-Sigh...-
I guess angels do exist in this world, after all...
However, this situation made me realize how desperate was my condition... And how I couldn't allow this to continue any longer.
"I have decided!"
If I didn't want to continue being like this, I had to be ready to make sacrifices!
Touching the screen in front of me, I opened my status window and looked at my status points with a determined look in my eyes.
『Status points remaining: [47,537.3]』
All of the status points I have been saving up... Are going straight down to one Cerebral power!!
▽
『Body abilities:』
▸Psychomotor ability: [Lvl 1/1000]〈0/1000〉[+]
▸Healing speed: [Lvl 1/1000]〈0/1000〉[+]
▸Cerebral power: [Lvl 1/1000]〈0/1000〉[+]
___________________
Status points remaining: [47,537.3]
△
...
[Cerebral power], You better be what I think you are! Or else... I'm gonna cry!
Moving my finger towards the [+] button, I resolved my will and soon started pressing it at superhuman speed, watching how slowly but surely, my cerebral power stat was raising enormously.
When I had leveled it up once, I hadn't even felt the slightest change inside me or my brain. Unlike strength, which effect was quite notorious when I first used it. So, I could only theorize on whether this stat really increased my intelligence or not.
Whether I was making the right choice, or not, I didn't know... However, it was deeply necessary.
It was my only hope... For a better future.
The tapping continued for a while, with me doing nothing but continuing to watch as the stat raised repeatedly. However, after a while, my status points finally ran out.
"Fuuuh...~"
Letting out a sigh of exhaustion, I sat on my bed and looked at my stats with a strange expression.
▽
『Name: Farid』
-Age: 8
-Species: Human
-〈STATUS〉-
『User characteristics:』
▸Strength: [300]〈0/10〉[+]
▸Defense: [300]〈0/10〉[+]
▸Stamina: [300]〈0/10〉[+]
▸Internal Defense: [35]〈0/100〉[+]
▸Soul Power: [0]〈0/1000〉[+]
『Body abilities:』
▸Psychomotor ability: [Lvl 0/1000]〈0/1000〉[+]
▸Healing speed: [Lvl 0/1000]〈0/1000〉[+]
▸Cerebral power: [Lvl 47/1000]〈537/1000〉[+]
『Senses:』
▸Eyesight: [Lvl 0/100]〈0/10,000〉[+]
▸Hearing: [Lvl 0/100]〈0/10,000〉[+]
▸Touch: [Lvl 0/100]〈0/10,000〉[+]
▸Smell: [Lvl 0/100]〈0/10,000〉[+]
▸Taste: [Lvl 0/100]〈0/10,000〉[+]
▸Gut's feeling: [Lvl 0/100]〈0/10,000〉[+]
『Special skills:』
▸Armament Haki: [Lvl 1]〈0/1000〉[+]
▸Observation Haki: [Lvl 1]〈0/1000〉[+]
▸Conqueror's Haki: [Lvl 1]〈0/1000〉[+]
▸Voice: [Lvl 0/100]〈0/100,000〉[+]
___________________
Status points remaining: [0.3]
△
Seeing how the stat had risen by 47 whole points, I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in confusion.
It had risen so much, yet... There was nothing different with me.
I tried feeling anything new within my body or inside my head. However, all I got was the usual way my body feels, not changing in the slightest.
I even tried thinking of difficult mathematical problems from class... But I was still unable to answer them...
...
Was I scammed?
...
"Goddam-"
-Bzzzzzz...!!!-
Suddenly, as I was about to vent my frustrations on the floor by stomping my feet angrily on it, a violent buzzing sound reached my brain, and soon, my whole body and senses started turning dizzy, as if I was losing control of my limbs.
Completely unable to move, I fell to the ground, and suddenly, the whole world around me started shaking violently as if the worst earthquake in history was happening right now. Furthermore, out of nowhere, blinding lights started coming from everywhere, covering my eyes with white several times as I watched everything unfold.
-Ba-dump!-
-Ba-dump!-
-Ba-dump!-
The sound of my heart, being the only thing I could hear, seemed to be the only thing that assured me that I was still alive. However, even that sound seemed to blend well with the extremely chaotic and scary situation that was unfolding in front of me.
It was... As if the world was ending...
-Ba-dump!!-
However, in the blink of an eye, as if everything had been a lie, suddenly everything stopped, and reality went back to normal. The only thing that remained was my lack of control over my body.
It took a while before suddenly my fingers started twitching, and soon, my whole body started moving once again.
After a while, I was finally able to move once again. Of course, I was very confused about what had just happened out of nowhere...
"W-what in the world was that...?"
My back was covered in sweat, and my face had gone pale because of the fright... However, I could feel that something was different.
A sudden memory buried deep in the depths of my mind suddenly resurfaced again...
"Vivi... Wasn't that the name of the princess...?"
...
-To be continued...-
...
(A/N: Fun fact: What Farid just felt it's an actual anecdote from me that I decided to include because it fitted quite well. I was just calmly sleeping one night when I woke up for no reason at all and started checking my phone out of curiosity, only to be assaulted by what happened to Farid, and then recover the control of my body after a minute or so...
I think it might have been sleep paralysis or something similar, but I'm not sure. And unlike Farid, I'm still the dumbass I have ever been, so no improvement in stats here)
