Dangers Abound

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"Speech"

'Thoughts'

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It had been a good three days since Yuzuki had saved the village from the attack from those ridiculous Lovestruck Pirates. He had found out they were a group that usually dealt with stealing attractive slaves to sell them off for a good price.

In other words, human traffickers.

Yuzuki had quickly tied up all of the pirates that he had defeated before having made his way over towards their ship. He had decided it to be a good idea to explore and see if they had anything useful that he could take from them. Alas, there really was nothing of value.

The only real thing in it that he actually decided to take was a map that was located within the captain's quarters of the ship. It was a map of the entire ocean, so he definitely did find that to possibly be useful in the future if he decided to go exploring at some point.

As he had been exploring the ship, he of course came across the iconic cannons as well as the anchor of the ship as well. His eyebrow had twitched in some anger when he had come across the room where slaves were probably held, they were completely empty though.

Yuzuki was now presently resting in what appeared to be a room within one of the houses within the town. It was an empty room with a bed, a wooden desk, and a wardrobe. It wasn't much at all, but it was lore than enough for him personally.

A room was a room.

Over the course of the three days, not too much had happened aside from a group of marines that had come to take away the pirates after having heard about the attack. He was glad he didn't need to deal with the pirates afterwards, he didn't exactly know what to do with them.

Aside from that, he had spent the first day exploring around the town before utilising most of his time to try his best to train with the limited enemies that he managed to find. The only ones he managed to find were pirates, though they were really not that strong at all.

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[Character Status]

Name: Yuzuki Aoi

Age: 12

Level: 19

Race: Human

Balance: $429,722

Health Points: 2,120/2,120 [20 Per Vitality Stat Point]

Special Points: 1,760/1,760 [40 Per Special Points Stat Point]

Status Points: 0

Gacha Coins: [Copper: 0] [Silver: 0] [Gold: 0]

[Strength: 102 <+10>] [Speed: 100 <+0>] [Vitality: 91 <+15>]

[Special Points: 44 <+0>] [Wisdom: 53 <+0>] [Luck: 75 <+25>]

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"Y-Yuzuki, are you awake?"

"Hm?" Yuzuki heard a small stutter in a voice coming from behind the door of the room he was currently in as sat up from the bed and kicked his legs off of the bed before standing up. He stretched a few times as he stretched his muscles to loosen them. "Yeah, I'm awake. You're free to come in if you want."

"O-Okay!"

With that, Yuzuki watched as the door opened up slowly before the head of a familiar person poked through before they walked in. The person that had come in was none other than the girl that Yuzuki had saved from Haji three days ago.

"Is there something you need my help with, Fran?"

"N-Nothing like that! Mom wanted me to tell you that breakfast is almost ready..."

"Oh, I see. I'll be out in a bit." Fran nodded her head before exiting with a small blush on her face, though Yuzuki didn't notice at all as he continued his stretches. After he had finished exploring the Lovestruck Pirate's ship, Fran and her mother were kind enough to actually allow him to stay with them. They wanted to thank him for saving Fran.

[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]

Yuzuki could now be seen sitting down at the wooden dining table next to Fran as her mother was seated across from them. Fran appeared to be fidgeting quite a bit, though Yuzuki remained clueless to it as Fran's mother just giggled with amusement at the two.

Yuzuki just rose an eyebrow slightly at the giggle as he kept his usual stoic look.

Fran's mother had curiously asked him where he had learnt his skills of utilising a sword from, though he made sure to just say that he taught himself. It was a lot more believable compared to saying that a system called the Gamer gave the skills to him.

He could have said that he was taught by someone, though that would require to give details on the person who taught him, and that was troublesome as they didn't exist. So, he had to go with the route of saying he was self-taught, bit harder to believe but more efficient.

"Fran, you said that you wanted to show Yuzuki the church up on the hill, right?" Fran's mother, Veronica, had asked her daughter. Yuzuki looked at Fran when Veronica had stated this as the girl in question flinched a bit before nodding quickly. "Then you better quickly finish up. Don't want the sun to die out too quickly now."

"Mom, the sun isn't going to down in such a short time..." Fran frowned deeply as her mother just shrugged in response, not really caring. Fran just gave a small sigh as she then looked towards Yuzuki, the boy was calmly eating the breakfast her mother had made with his eyes closed.

While she wouldn't admit it aloud, Yuzuki was probably the most good looking person she had ever seen. She had heard and seen about guys from other females that they had considered to be handsome, but Yuzuki certainly took the cake.

Right now, she couldn't help but stare...

"V-Veronica!"

"Eh?! Is something wrong, Julie?" Fran's mother was surprised when the door to their house was suddenly pushed open. Fran heavily flinched as she was knocked out of her trance, Yuzuki didn't appear surprised but kept his stoic look and turned to look.

The person that had just rushed through the door was someone that Fran's mother had ended up introducing him to not too long ago, that person being Julie. A woman that worked at the local inn in the town, she worked there as one of the waitresses.

Julie was a decently tall woman with a curvaceous figure and was wearing a simple green coloured waitress uniform along with a white cloth headpiece. She had long brown hair reaching her waist along with a pair of purple rounded eyes.

"Is Yuzuki here?!" Julie panicked as they looked confused. She then looked to see the boy in question blinking in confusion at the mention of his name. She then quickly ran up to him and began shaking him back and forth as he just kept his usual expression. "Yuzuki, you need to come with me!"

"Excuse me...?"

"Julie, what has gotten into you?" Veronica questioned with a frown as the waitress stopped shaking the boy and looked at him seriously in the eye. Julie then proceeded to talk. "Yuzuki, there was a pirate ship that was spotted coming straight towards our shore. We need your help!"

"More? Sixth time in the past three days then..."

"Not just any pirates!" Julie panicked as Yuzuki blinked. "It's the Lovestruck Pirates again!"

"Wait, what? Didn't I deal with them not too long ago?"

"Yes, but that was the right-hand man of their leader! The true leader of those pirates is coming now!" Julie quickly explained as Yuzuki gave a small 'hmm'. He then nodded before picking up his sword and attaching it to his waist.

"I should have expected the leader to come at some point, his right-hand man was gone for a while after all. You all stay here, I'll be back." Yuzuki stated with his usual tone as he began walking towards the door. He stopped when he felt someone grab his arm. He looked back to see that it was Fran that was looking at him with a worried look.

"B-Be careful..."

"I will." Yuzuki replied simply before walking out the door.

[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]-[o]

"It's only one kid, get him!"

"How did Haji lose to him?"

"Who cares? Kill him!"

The cries of a number of Lovestruck Pirates were heard as they all exited the ship that had landed on the shore of the island, the ship being twice as big compared to the ship that Haji had come in. A great number of pirates storming out.

Yuzuki didn't falter though as he easily cut his way through each and every one of them with a single slash, he made sure the slash wasn't fatal but painful enough that they were knocked out from the amount of pain they felt and were unable to endure.

"The First Divine Blade: Shimmering Steel - Vibrant Flash..." Yuzuki declared simply before he mowed them down even faster than before. He then stopped the attack sequence as he used the handle of his sword to block a slash from one of the other pirates and elbowed them in the head, knocking them out instantly.

The number of pirates that he could estimate them being was probably around probably sixty or so, it was around that number. If he were to include the number of pirates from three days ago, this crew was probably around one hundred members strong.

"Enough!"

A loud voice boomed through the area.

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[Major Bloodlust Signs Detected]

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Yuzuki turned his head to see who had shouted, the shout having shaken the air around them all greatly as Yuzuki narrowed his eyes when he saw the source of it. The person revealed to be a large man reaching easily over seven feet tall with a majorly muscular body.

The man had a bald head along with slightly tanned skin, his upper body was bare and had on baggy black pants and brown leather boots on. On his front chest was also that same pink insignia all of the members of this pirate crew had.

All the remaining members of the crew that have yet to be knocked out all cheered when the man jumped down from the ship and onto the sands of the beach. Yuzuki could see the villagers up on the cliff watching with worried looks down towards him.

"Men, return to the ship! Leave this pest to me!"

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[Name: Captain of the Lovestruck Pirates, Jakaal] [Crew: Lovestruck Pirates]

[Health Points: 20,200/20,200] [Special Points: 2,500/2,500] [Devil Fruit: Tetsu Tetsu No Mi]

[Strength: 340] [Speed: 80] [Vitality: 200]

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"So, you're the brat who took down Haji. You don't look like much."

"What of it?"

While Yuzuki appeared calm, he inwardly was worried about the opponent in front of him. While most of the pirates of this crew were jokes, this guy was obviously a veteran as he could see the guy had some great power to back up him being the captain of this crew.

He also noticed the new info on this Devil Fruit, that being the Tetsu Tetsu No Mi. If he was correct, Devil Fruit were rare items that allowed people special powers but prevent them from having the ability to actually swim in the ocean. Also, if he was right, Tetsu meant Iron in Japanese, though he could be completely wrong.

"I just don't see how you did it. Though, I'll test you personally." Jakaal grinned before his arms suddenly turned into iron and shifted into what appeared to be more like blades instead of normal arms. "Surprised? This is the power of the Tetsu Tetsu no Mi, the fruit gave me the power to turn my body into iron and do stuff like this!"

"Hmph."

Yuzuki narrowed his eyes as he unsheathed his sword and focused entirely on the target in front of him that held an arrogant smirk on their face. This guy was definitely not going to as easy a target as the other Lovestruck Pirates were.

"The First Divine Blade: Shimmering Steel - Vibrant Flash." Yuzuki charged forwards as his rapid slashes went against Jakaal's arms. The older man just grinned before swiping as he Yuzuki back, though the boy caught himself and landed on his feet.

"That's not going to work on me!" Yuzuki clicked his tongue as the iron that Jakaal's arms were stronger than normal iron, that's for sure. The blade he was using said that it could cut the strongest of steel, but didn't even appear to make a dent on Jakaal's arms. "Here I come!"

This was a nuisance...

Yuzuki gritted his teeth as he was forced to parry most of the slashes that Jakaal sent at him as he knew the man's strength would be far too much for him to try and block. The man clearly outclassed him in the strength department.

"What's wrong, brat?! I'm honestly disappointed that Haji lost to you!" Jakaal laughed as he sent Yuzuki flying with a powerful swipe, though the boy managed to block any completely seriously damage with his sword.

He slowly got up from the ground and held his left arm as he noticed a decently deep cut was made from the bladed arm that Jakaal had blood was streaming down his arm and onto the ground. Yuzuki didn't scream from the pain though as he just gritted his teeth and glared at Jakaal.

"Ohh~, scary kid!" Jakaal scoffed as he saw Yuzuki. Yuzuki then rushed in quickly and began slashing quickly, Jakaal easily blocked the attacks, though widened his eyes when the boy disappeared from view suddenly. "Where is he...?"

"The Second Divine Blade: Heavenly Peaks..." Jakaal heard Yuzuki's voice and looked up in surprised as Yuzuki glared down at him with a narrowed gaze as he was above the devil fruit user. Yuzuki then widened his eyes. "Divine Pillar...!"

Yuzuki then suddenly dropped down like an anvil at fast speeds while leaving a trail of white light, having swung his sword downwards as he struck Jakaal. He could definitely feel that his blade made contact with Jakaal.

That was when Jakaal was sent skidding back due to the force behind the hit.

"Geh... not bad. I was caught off guard there, brat." Jakaal growled a bit as he looked up to show that he had changed his head to iron as the blade had put a small cut to the man's head. That was when he saw the cut repair itself. "I was worried there."

"You regenerate..."

"Surprised? That's one of the perks of having this devil fruit power." Jakaal grinned as Yuzuki saw Jakaal's health having regenerated back up to full already. This was already getting on the young swordsman's nerves, he didn't expect it to be this damn annoying. "Perhaps you should just give up while you can-!"

Yuzuki didn't let him finish as he appeared in front of the man and delivered a fast slash, though Jakaal managed to block it in time and grinned at Yuzuki. The boy didn't stop as he continued to circle around the man while delivering devastating slashes.

"The Second Divine Blade: Heavenly Peaks - Divine Pillar!" Yuzuki had jumped up and performed the same attack as prior, though it was blocked just like before. Though he didn't let the chance up as he landed and quickly turned towards Jakaal. "The Third Divine Blade: Gate of Demons... Scorching Stigma!"

Yuzuki focused his attack on a single spot as he rushed forwards and appeared behind Jakaal. The man had covered his entire body in iron. That was when a number of slashes suddenly appeared on Jakaal's left arm before it completely shattered.

"Tch. Impressive, you actually cut through me." Jakaal scoffed as he then grinned. "Too bad it's useless."

True to his words, Jakaal completely healed up his arm quite quickly. Yuzuki gave a small scowl as he saw this, he managed to cut through the man's incredible defence, but he was able to just regenerate it back in a couple of seconds.

"You should really give up, kid. There's no chance of you beating me."

'I guess I have no choice...' Yuzuki thought as he frowned deeply as he glared at Jakaal. They then watched in confusion as Yuzuki backflipped backwards before holding a finger up in front of him, gaining confused looks from the villagers and the pirates.

"What are you doing, brat?"

"Spelling!" Yuzuki declared as they then saw his hand produce a light before he began to write something in a strange language unfamiliar to them in the air. The villagers gasped at the action as the pirate crew members did the same. That was when Yuzuki began some kind of chant. "Purgatory in the netherworld. Wildfires on the ground. The flames are impartial and consume good, evil, and chaos alike. They purify all with fierce charity..."

"I don't like the sound of this... I'm taking you down now!" Jakaal had a bad feeling as he quickly rushed in and began sending slashing towards Yuzuki. The boy didn't stop his chant as he used his sword to parry the attacks as he jumped back and away from Jakaal.

"All must die, and return to dust. God has forsaken mankind...."

"Stay still damnit!"

"The age of decadence shall not end. Let the trumpets sound. The time of judgement has come!" Yuzuki shouted as Jakaal backed away as the writing in the air in front of Yuzuki was glowing brightly. "The time of judgement has come! The time of judgement has come!"

They all watched as the text that Yuzuki had written all then gathered together as Yuzuki held his left arm up as a burst of golden energy gathered into the palm of his hand, streams of power radiating off of the orb as he held it up high.

"Level 5 Dark Art: Black Gehenna!" Yuzuki declared as he then smashed the orb of golden power straight into the sword he was holding. Strangely, the sword was then covered by a raging black fire that covered the entire blade. Yuzuki didn't have access to prana, so he understood why it didn't have the white colouration that Moroha had when he did this spell. "Prepare yourself, Captain of the Lovestruck Pirates."

"Wh-What is this? Are you a Devil Fruit user?!"

"Hmph. I don't know, am I?" Yuzuki scoffed as he then charged forwards with a narrowed glare. "The First Divine Blade: Shimmering Steel - Vibrant Flash!"

"It won't work!" Jakaal grinned as he remembered how it failed the first time that Yuzuki utilised the skill. Though, when Jakaal used his arms to block the incoming barrage of slashes, he widened his eyes when the sword sliced through his arms with only small resistance. "Wh-What?!"

"Boss?!"

"Don't think my little chant before was for nothing." Yuzuki stated in an emotionless tone as he charged forwards, the black flames on his sword still flaring menacingly as he charged. "The Third Divine Blade: Gate of Demons..."

"W-W-Wait! We can talk about this!"

"Too late." Yuzuki glared as he then shouted. "Scorching Stigma!"

Rushing forwards, he sent appeared behind Jakaal as the man only remained motionless for a second before his body all fell to small pieces, that was when they all then exploded in a pillar of black flames. The flames having burnt away every single piece.

The crewmates of Jakaal staring with wide eyes full of shock and fear as their captain was killed on the spot. On the other hand, the villagers all soon erupted in cheer after a bit of silence as they cheered Yuzuki on and congratulated him from above.

Yuzuki's sword then returned back to normal as the flames seemed to have run out of power as they died out. Yuzuki gave a small sigh as he was panting decently, that was a more difficult battle then he would have liked. But, at least he won in the end.

He then glared up quickly towards the remaining pirates.

"R-Run! We need to run!"

"Quick!"

Yuzuki didn't let them though as he quickly appeared on the ship and took down the remaining crewmates in an instant. There were only very few left, so it didn't take more than ten seconds for him to do so. They were very weak after all.

'Finally over...'

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[You have levelled up 24 times! You have gained 72 Status Points]

[You have gained $15,700]

[You have gained 5 Copper Gacha Coins]

[You have gained 1 Silver Gacha Coin]

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