In front of a two-meter-tall Green Wolf, Noah was exchanging punch after punch with him. Wind Blades were cutting left and right all the time, but all of them seemed to collide and cancel each other out.
BANG!
With a kick, the Green Wolf was sent far away and Noah was breathing heavily on the spot while dodging numerous Wind Blades, not wanting to spend even more of his spiritual energy. But the wolf would not give him that chance.
"WOOO!" Howling loudly to the sky, the wind powers of the Green Wolf were amplified once again, a kind of endless tornado circling in its paws and claws.
And with just one movement of its body, it appeared in front of Noah, the claws already sinking into his flesh.
"Gotcha!" Noah smiled upon seeing this and exploded his spiritual energy into a wind spiral. Temporarily freed, he clenched his fists and attacked while dodging the fatal blow.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
After the first punch hit the Green Wolf's rib cage, he did not stop attacking under any circumstances. His fists seemed to have a supernatural force as he continued to punch the big wolf several times.
With his natural physical advantage, he quickly finished off the Green Wolf, which turned to dust and left some orbs for him.
"Should I really face the lion?" Noah wondered as he panted. At this moment he was slightly tired and injured, as the Super Green Wolf was his most dangerous opponent now.
His back and chest had some huge cuts from the wind blades that he couldn't dodge, but the damage was mitigated with his own wind barrier. His Wind Manipulation was skillful enough for him to consider that he had already learned about 80% of what the Wind Orbs could offer.
"Well, I have nothing to lose." Knowing that he had already made a good hunt and had enough orbs for at least one week for the girls, he decided to go look for a Flame Lion.
After about five hours of hunting, looking everywhere for a female Flame Lion, he finally found one in the same situation as the one he had found before. Super Rabbit carcasses were around and the Flame Lion was almost asleep.
This time checking to see if there were no more damned animals that could lead him to instant death, he waited for the perfect opportunity.
And with his patience, it didn't take long to appear. The moment the flame lion closed its eyes and its breathing became calm, he attacked!
SWOOSH!
Vanishing from where he was, Noah expanded his senses to the limit at the moment he decided to attack, covering all the distance between them in an instant. Under his command, the wind around him immediately began to gather and circulate around the Flame Lion at high speed.
The female lion, who instantly perceived a murderous intent, barely opened her eyes and the fire around her already emerged with a hallucinating intensity. But even with her control, the fire that should attack her enemy actually fell under the manipulation of the wind and was carried away by the tornado that arose around her!
Without saying another word, Noah turned his hands into wind claws as he jumped in the direction of the Flame Lion and tore her flesh trying to cling to it. And using all his remaining spiritual energy, he intensified the tornado around the two, sucking up any flame that the poor female lion wanted to generate.
"ROAAR!" With a roar of fury, the Flame Lion tried to use its powerful physique to shake Noah off its back, even making the flame consume his body. Even so, he seemed unstoppable and the pain of the claws made it even more furious.
With his body covered in flames, but still with his eyes steady, Noah began to repeatedly punch the lion's head, hitting the vertebra as well to stop its movements. The tornado's wind was able to minimize the fire's damage to his body by stealing the flame, leaving him alive longer. But at the cost of feeling like being cooked alive.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
With punch after punch, Noah's fists were bleeding and being torn apart as they collided with the lion's hard bones. Even so, he didn't stop attacking under any circumstances, and his conviction grew even stronger when he felt like he was about to break.
On the twentieth punch, the Flame Lion's vertebra was completely shattered and its limp body fell to the ground, with no control over itself. The surrounding flames grew hotter and hotter and seemed to cook Noah from the inside. Still, he didn't dare stop.
"AAAAHHH! DIE!" The bones in his hand were already showing as he gathered all his strength in one last blow to the lion's head.
BAAAANNG!
His hand went through the skull and his blow hit the brain, turning everything into a pulp and killing the Flame Lion in one fell swoop. The flames and fire disappeared, but the intense, destructive heat was still there.
Not having time to analyze anything, he just picked up the orbs on the ground before his consciousness went dark and he died.
°°°
"Holy-" Feeling a bit more pain than usual, Noah rolled out of something very comfortable and propped himself up on the floor, his body completely tense with agony.
Along with his body that seemed to reject abandoning the pain, a desire to vomit that he had never felt came this time, indicating how much suffering he ignored during the fight. He spent some time having to return to reality and expel the torturous phantom pain.
Wiping the tears and sweat from his face, he finally took a better analysis of where he was. He found it strange for a moment why it seemed to be resting on something soft and fluffy, despite having slept on the wooden floor. And now he understood why.
Still in the training room, he was exactly in the center of a quite soft and peculiar bed. Nami and Nojiko, each on his side, were in a perfect position for him to sleep comfortably. The breeze of the wind passing by them also indicated that they were using their powers to keep the place ventilated.
"You two..." Noah spoke softly to himself and shook his head with a smile. His heart warmed at the scene and all he wanted to do now was to make sure they slept well.
Going to his room, he quickly returned with the pillows he uses and put one for each, and then covered them with the blanket. And after giving a kiss on the forehead of both, he moved away to a safe distance and sat in a meditative position.
'There you are...' Picking up one of the Fire Orbs that fell from the Flame Lion, Noah didn't waste any time, swallowing it along with a Superior Purple Orb.
And suddenly his brain exploded with new knowledge, leading even to a small headache. The mysterious use of fire and all things related to it were being integrated into his mind, and a weak red glow was covering his body, slightly illuminating the dark place.
Concentrated on absorbing the knowledge of the new God Art, he did not notice that Nami and Nojiko moved slightly, opening their eyes and looking at each other.
And without saying a word, the eyes of the two shed a small tear and nodded to each other, understanding what was on their minds.
°°°
"Thank you for the food." Noah thanked as soon as Nami placed a huge plate of rice and meat in front of him. And seeing that she didn't leave to pickup her breakfast, but kept looking at him with a strange face, he asked, "Did something happen?"
'Something?? Waking up in the middle of the night looking like he was going to die was that thing!!'
Nami kept looking at him, trying to control herself not to hit this airhead. Even so, she still put aside the main issue.
"How was the awakening? Did it really work?" Without the courage to treat him badly, she sat next to him, leaving Nojiko to bring the rest of the breakfast.
"Yes, and very well…" Noah smiled at her when he raised his hand and something magical happened.
A small flame ignited on his index finger, and it was hot and red. This little flame then began to circle his finger, moving through his hand. And then it returned again to the index finger and spread to the four fingers, forming four small flames. And to finish, Noah used Wind Manipulation to form four mini flame tornadoes that put out the fire.
"This is something you don't see every day." Nojiko sat in the chair in front of him and put her and Nami's plates on the table. Having watched Noah's little show, she became increasingly interested in their future.
"It won't take long for you to achieve this. As my powers grow, I can teach you." And he was very serious now. With the Red Orbs he got from the Flame Lion, he would quickly make it to the last stage of refinement.
He knew he needed many Red Orbs to finish this specific body refinement, so he had already gathered a few hundred regular orbs. It was impossible not to finish before entering the Grand Line.
Not to mention he was eager to increase his strength soon and go to the Second Map. According to logic so far, Nami and Nojiko should be entering with him into the Pocket Hunting Dimension, but he didn't have the option to pull them in there. So maybe this would only be unlocked when he gained access to the Second Map.
"Don't rush to increase your strength. We have time for that." Nami stroked his leg, remembering the night before. Knowing that she would one day be able to control this made her heart beat strong, and she was very excited, but she still didn't want to see Noah like that.
"Don't worry, just trust me!" He pounded his chest confidently as he spoke. But even so, Noah did not casually accept to relax, remembering the chaotic world that maintains a calm surface that is One Piece.
"Yes, yes, if you say so. Now eat your breakfast, we still have a lot to do." Nojiko was looking at him with her chin resting on her hands, a big smile on her face. Seeing him like this made her heart ache a little, and she used her feet to stroke his feet under the table.
"Sometimes I think you two give me too many orders..." Noah complained a bit and started eating his food with a sulky face.
"It's only an order if someone obeys. And you never bothered, so your anger is invalid." Nami also began to eat her food, putting her legs on top of his. But soon after she became angry, looking at her plate that was missing something there, "Why did you steal my egg?!?"
"For you to learn that I'm the one in charge here."
"But Nojiko was the one who said something!"
"Hahaha- hey! You don't need to steal my bacon too!" Nojiko was about to laugh when she tried to hold the food on her plate against Noah, but failed.
"You laughed knowing the consequences..."
°°°
After a good breakfast, Noah stepped out of the kitchen and walked to the prow. The dawn was cold, and the sun was still rising on the horizon.
Still, he had a big smile on his face, seeing his destination in the distance. It even seemed like he could smell Loguetown from here, even though he had never been there.
"Loguetown, huh..." Staring at the distant city with a firm and mysterious look, Noah felt an intense desire to get there immediately.
"Here we are, in the city of the Beginning and the End..."
¨¨¨¨
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