"And we're back here ..." Lazily opening his eyes, he briefly enjoyed the breeze before getting up.
In the endless grassy field where he appeared every night, he looked around to feel the life of the place. And it seemed different now.
'Everything seems more serious and threatening when you have a goal...' Feeling the peace and tranquility of the place for the first time since he arrived here, Noah took a deep breath of the pure air.
Excluding the first day where there was initial panic and excitement, all the others were an endless and unbridled search for a power that could stand up to Arlong.
The vision he had of the place then was that this is a hunting ground, and he is the hunter. Nothing more than that. But after he achieved his goal, the realization that this was a world like any other, just with different rules, hit him.
"Well, let's leave philosophy for another time..." After feeling at peace for some time, Noah realized that the wind was touching more parts than he remembered it touched. And looking at the sky with an almost dead face, he remembered that he was naked as he came into the world.
Leaving that matter aside, Noah for the first time began to deeply analyze his strength and to what level his wind manipulation had reached.
About his physical strength, the complete refinement of the bone marrow left him with a superhuman strength at the level of the fish-men, where he was about ten times more powerful than an ordinary human. And remember that humans from One Piece are stronger than humans from Earth, mainly due to the presence of a special energy like the Spirit Energy, commonly referred to as Haki.
But he knew that this was a miscalculation for himself, as this level of power would not be enough to defeat Arlong, who was among the upper ranks in strength among the fish-men. Despite having been beaten to the East Blue, he could still be considered strong.
"It seems that my body is more special than I thought..." Noah remembered all the irregularities he had, like being able to naturally absorb orbs and having a more notable body refinement.
He began to speculate that maybe his body either had more strength than it should, or he was able to achieve a higher limit of use of his strength without harming the body, which was a very good thing. And the best hypothesis is that it would be both alternatives. Only monsters like CP9 were able to reach this level of body control with a lot of training.
So if the calculation was adjusted, he would have around twenty times the strength of an ordinary human being from the world of One Piece if he fought as intensely as he did against Arlong. Remember that this was his maximum potential in a state of need, something accessed with a lot of adrenaline and endorphin running through the blood to support this state. At normal operating levels, he speculated a total of fifteen times stronger than an ordinary human being.
And about the amount of Spiritual Energy he had, it was enough to form ten compressed wind blades five meters long. And if you think that this kind of blade could split a house in half, then it could be considered a good amount to start with.
And despite not knowing the exact correlation between Spiritual Energy and Spirit Energy, he was sure that the growth of one could influence the other and he would awaken Haki faster than it would normally take.
And finally, about his Wind Manipulation, if put in Levels to measure the fullness that a Wind Art Orb could offer, he would say he is at Level 5, with about 50% of the technique absorbed and fully understood. He tried not to train too much on it during the last week and focused more on his body, and that's why he was below what he intended.
"Alright, alright, let's get started-" Noah was about to start his hunt when he felt the wind forming around him.
And looking back, he saw that about ten to fifteen green wolves were running in his direction, each one of them forming a wind blade to kill him.
"Oh, how interesting..." Seeing that group of orbs giving themselves up at his door, Noah smiled and raised his arms. And then...
SWOOOOSHH!!
A tornado of wind blades formed among the green wolves, stealing the wind force they were forming and at the same time splitting their bodies with the enormous force of each blade.
And when there were about eight green wolves left, who didn't even understand that half of their group had gone, Noah's figure appeared among them, a sinister smile on his face.
"Let the hunt begin."
°°°
Standing in the middle of some bushes, Noah was observing from afar a Flame Lion licking the blood off its fur, a large number of Black Dogs carcasses around it.
He had already observed that this Flame Lion was female, and therefore it was the weaker version of this species. And the reason he was being so careful, is that he wanted to know if he could already start challenging the local lords.
He knew that his strength and dominion here on the first map were increasing to a somewhat abnormal level. After all, his cultivation was still at the beginning, but green wolves were no longer such a challenge for him. So he wondered if suddenly he would be completely devastated if he tried his luck with the lions.
While he was watching the lion, now completely clean and looking somewhat sleepy, his mind went on alert when he disappeared from where he was and the bushes around his position were cut in half, completely devastating the place.
And when he observed what had attacked him, it was a huge Green Wolf, much bigger and more threatening than anyone he had ever faced. The wind seemed to be commanded by this guy and it was simply scary.
Roar!
And when it couldn't get any worse, the Flame Lion that had been sleeping suddenly became alert, noticing that there were two new creatures in its territory. And with just a wave of its paw, a huge fire tornado lit up the area and burned everything around it to ashes.
Noah looked at the Flame Lion and then looked at the Green Wolf, who also did the same with him. Regret came along with the sympathetic look between the two.
And then the fire consumed them.
°°°
"Son of a bitch..." Noah woke up on the kitchen floor while his body seemed paralyzed with pain. Sweat and tears mixed, wetting the wooden floor.
After a while, he finally recovered from the new sensation of death. Dying by fire was not pleasant at all.
Getting up, even without a watch to know the time, he noticed that the position of the moon was a little higher in the sky, so about an hour had passed.
Taking more water from the fridge, he walked to the bathroom while drinking, and then took a full body shower, enjoying the cold water of the early morning.
As soon as he left the bathroom, he passed Nojiko's room and saw that she had already fallen asleep and into a deep sleep. The night was very intense and she had to rest a lot if she wanted to walk properly tomorrow. So, he went to where his clothes were and just grabbed underwear before dressing and starting to do handstand push-ups with one finger in the living room.
At all times he was eating more red orbs, restarting his training and refinement of the five viscera. Although there was no longer the threat of Arlong, he knew that his strength was now insufficient.
'Now I just need a ship and I'll go straight to Loguetown, and maybe Luffy is already there if he hasn't gotten lost with Zoro...' Noah was constantly devising his plans, taking advantage of what he knew so that he could have a quiet journey.
And when he thought of leaving, he immediately thought of Nami and Nojiko, but he wouldn't bring them with him. He wouldn't even ask them to come, but would leave the decision with them.
Although he did have feelings for the two and wanted to be with them, that wouldn't stop him from wanting to see what's at the end of the world, to enjoy the fun and chaos that is the Grand Line.
As the hours went by, with him absorbing red orbs at a huge speed and his viscera being refined, he noticed some movements behind him.
"Still training?" Nami was the one who appeared, covered by a cold coat while watching him train with half shocked and half sleepy eyes.
"Force of habit..." Noah responded and continued his push-ups. He was almost finished absorbing the red orbs from the Green Wolfs he managed to get.
In the silence that followed between them, with only the cold wind in the room making noise, Nami looked at Noah with a mix of feelings. Opening and closing her mouth several times, trying to think about how she would say this, she finally said something.
"Noah, could you accompany me to a place?"
"A place?" Noah came out of the handstand and looked at her. And upon seeing how her face was, he sighed and nodded, "Alright. I'll take a shower to get rid of the sweat."
"I'll be waiting..." Nami waved with a slight smile and went to her room to get some clothes.
And soon they were already set off the house, leaving only Nojiko there sleeping.
°°°
"Is this the place?" Holding a small lantern in his hands, the flame was illuminating the room where Noah and Nami were.
Completely filled with papers and nautical charts, the place where they were was Nami's room in Arlong Park. The room where she spent long hours drawing maps for them, even if her hands were bleeding and she just wanted to sleep.
"This was the place..." Nami walked to the table where she stood and ran her fingers on the worn and dusty wood. The terrible memories and impression that she had of the place passed through her mind all the time.
"I admire you." Noah suddenly spoke, pulling her out of reverie with a bit of shock, "Being able to go through all of this for so long. Survival is for the few chosen..."
"You seem to speak from personal experience ..." Nami noticed that there was something more in his speech than just sympathy. Even so, she appreciated that he tried to cheer her up at this moment.
"Who knows." Noah shrugged, and didn't answer anything else.
Aware that he was deeper than she could see, Nami didn't try to question him any further. Her feelings were still very confused about this place and she didn't know what to feel now that she was free.
It was like the feeling Noah had with the Pocket Dimension. When the oppression and negative feelings of a place are removed, the emotions felt at the moment begin to become confused.
Before, this was Nami's place of suffering because Arlong, along with his extortion and resentment, existed and the oppression and obligation to serve against her will were reinforced. But now that he no longer exists, all that remained in this place was her hard work for years, the place where she honed and refined her skills day after day, where she became who she was at her best today.
"I'm so lost..." Nami spoke her thoughts aloud. Gently touching her arm, where Arlong's tattoo was, tears began to flow from her eyes as she looked at Noah for answers, "What do I do now?"
"This is the best part..." Noah smiled at her and approached, wrapping her in a hug that she accepted very well. Leaving the lantern on the table, he caressed her tattoo and whispered in her ear, "You are now doomed to be free."
"Doomed to be free?" Among the tears, Nami looked at him strangely. But then she just laughed, understanding what he meant, "I think I quite like choosing everything I want."
"And what do you want now?" With a smile, Noah continued stroking her hair.
She didn't answer immediately, but just enjoyed the affection that seemed to calm her heart. And after the two of them had been like this for a while, Nami thought of one thing and blushed immediately. But still, she continued.
"Come here..." Nami pulled his shirt and her mouth went close to his ear. And then, after waiting some time, she said something that shocked him.
"I want the same thing you did with my sister."
°°°
"Oh, Noah!"
Biting Noah's neck, Nami screamed and moaned in his ear as she felt an unprecedented euphoria. She felt within her his great potency, hitting her deeply and threatening to break her.
Drenched in sweat, Nami and Noah made the wooden table their bed, with her lying down while he was standing on the floor. He could see the point where they were connected, and he felt as if something wanted to explode inside him.
Even though he did not intend to be a scoundrel and sleep with Nami and Nojiko on the same night, it still seemed inevitable.
The chemistry, the connection, and Nami's ferocity inflamed what he was feeling for her even more, causing the two to surrender in this tireless and unstoppable act.
The room was already messy and the sweat stains on the wall in the shape of Nami's thin back showed that they had not been here for a short time. And yet, she wanted more and more of him, as if to rip away the other half that Nojiko left.
"Noah, Noah!" Nami shouted his name again and held his arm, pulling him into a passionate tongue kiss. And then, looking into his eyes, she continued, "I-I lo-"
"After, okay?" Noah pulled her hair with his hands and prevented her from speaking. Not that he didn't want the confession, but now was not the time.
With a smile on her face, Nami also held firmly onto his hair and began to feel his impulses getting wilder. She wrapped her legs around his waist, as if she wanted to prevent him from leaving.
"That's not how it works..." Noah made her look at him and bit her lips, "You will do whatever I want!"
Nami then felt the connection between them go away and a warm liquid being shot on the top of her belly. And before she could complain, she was pushed back onto the table and the warm liquid splashed on her breasts.
Tired and sweaty from the activity, the two were breathing heavily, as they reflected on what they had just done. While he wondered what kind of scoundrel he had become, she was deeply thinking about something while looking at the ceiling.
Nami was the first to stop thinking and leaned on the table, sitting halfway. She looked at Noah with a smile, as if she had won something. And he noticed that, smiling at her too, but in doubt.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" He approached her and stroked her hair, with her pulling him into a kiss. It looked like there was honey on those lips.
"I already know what I want to do!"
¨¨¨¨
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