Chapter 49: An Inexperienced Monkey
Titania, who had a refreshing sleep after reaching closer to the Moon just like her Champion mentioned she would do, and while extending her delicate legs and arms and giving herself a stretch, she began sniffing around the Captain's Cabin only to get panicked.
"He is not at the office? How long have I been sleeping?" asked the autumn leaf-haired beauty, getting up from her special bed, and quickly flying toward the location of the mechanical clock in the center of the cabin.
[12:34]
"It's almost 1 PM! Wow, I never knew I could sleep so much … Really, 12 hours of sleep? I knew that after Vlad's treatment I would be deep asleep but to this extent."
Turning around herself, she noticed that Vlad's boots were missing from the location he was placing them, similarly to his black trousers and the white shirt, he got found to be wearing, giving him a stylish "aristocrat" feeling.
She flew out from the Captain's Cabin, and checked the rooms in the Main Deck, then the Crow Nest, yet his presence was missing. Resorting to also check the laboratory which should still have the aftermath of the radiation battle, she didn't find him there.
"Where is he? No way he goes somewhere alone without my assistance. I am his eyes, ears and voice of reason."
Titania who was wearing a sexy nightgown started scratching her hair thinking of where Vlad might go, and deciding to check around the town, she first went to change into her clothes, a pair of black jeans, black heel sandals, and a white buttoned shirt that matched with what Vlad was wearing.
After all her preparations were completed she took off after closing the Captain's Cabin and hiding the key into a hidden compartment only she and Vlad knew about, beginning to fly toward the sky in an attempt she might get lucky instead of being required to search around the entire Athkatla.
"Maybe he got lost somewhere in the town and I can spot him from the sky. Huh, huh, it's getting harder on me the higher I reach in altitude."
Reaching an altitude of 100 where she could see the entire city and various parts of the island, along with the mountain where Skyfruit Temple was located, she screened around herself only to find her target at a distant side of the beach away from the city's influence.
She could see Vlad fighting against a larger monkey which immediately scared her, believing he got into a mood swing and was readying to kill the kids.
"NO! The children are innocent."
Titania who approached closer to the beach shore, noticed how Vlad's expression looked, being serious as if he was researching something, which started her mental wheels, understanding that Vlad didn't intend to harm Atkhan, but instead, had a deeper motive in this fight.
Finding her way toward Vlad, she sneaked behind the four kids who were watching their friend fight against the adult, and worry began washing over them since Atkhan didn't find any success in landing a clean hit on the tall man since their fight started one hour ago.
Vlad was too clean in the way he maneuvered around Atkhan's attacks, dodging all of the serious attacks, and parrying the ones that didn't place him in danger, while at times when noticing the red monkey being opened he would kick him in the ass, sending him flying head-first on the sand.
At the same, Vlad would remind the inexperienced boy about his mistakes, taking this "fight" like a learning exercise, but because he was learning a lot of new things about the boy's footsteps and long-distance attack called Rankyaku and Soru.
"Don't think just because I am blind, I can't notice the openings in your body."
"How are you doing this?"
"This is called fighting experience, child. Even if I am blind I can pick on your body movements easily. Especially now that I can see a little bit better."
*Click*
Atkhan got up from the ground, and charged at Vlad once again, using everything he learned in Skyfruit Temple to manage to hurt at least once, this towering mountain who grew bigger in his eyes, by how easily he could deflect, parry, block and counter his attacks. It reminded him of the first encounter where Vlad caught him badly, where even his strongest attacks couldn't make a scratch on his body.
"You can do it, Khan-kun!" shouted the blonde little girl, trying to cheer her friend who looked a bit down, disappointed at his inability to do something.
His friends cheered on him, boosting his morale and spirit, into attacking Vlad faster, faster than he could do it.
"Will Khan-kun be alright? I worry that mister would hurt him seeing how he doesn't stay on the ground." called out the blonde little girl with worry watching how her friend couldn't hit Vlad not even after getting emboldened.
The rest of the kids were also worrying, having the same thoughts as Mariegold, except for Akam who watched everything Atkhan was doing, and he could barely hide his shock when seeing his friend's growth in power since eating the Secret Fruit of the Temple.
'He is better at Rankyaku and Soru than me, but he doesn't know Shigan and Tekkai.'
While the young boy was contemplating Atkhan's abilities, the voice of a woman spooked him and the rest of the kids, giving her mind as she watched her Champion playing around with the monkey boy, similar to when they first encountered each other in the Skyfruit Temple vicinity.
"There's no need to worry about your friends. Surprisingly, that kid managed to get him into a good mood. Right now he is passing some of his teachings to him."
"AHHH! A ghost spoke to us." cried the brown-haired boy, Sanzo, not knowing from where Titania's voice came, but then he felt his nose hurting before noticing a tiny gorgeous woman flying watching him with her golden eyes.
"Hey, who are you calling a ghost? I am a Fairy, not an ugly ghost. Anyway, calm down you kids, it is not as if I want to hurt you. Instead, I am that man's partner, right little boy?" mentioned Titania, while pointing at Akam who turned to look at the tiny lady, grabbing onto Sanzo's nose, scolding him for calling her a ghost.
"She is right."
Receiving Akam's confirmation, the rest of the kids lowered their guards when facing Titania, especially when they heard her calm and warm tone, mellowing down their stance, finding her presence comfortable, unlike the black-haired man who had a cold, menacing atmosphere around himself, as if he was an evil spirit.
Seeing how she was ignored by Vlad, the Fairy couldn't help but get straight for some answers from her roommate, who left without even telling her.
"Vlad, why didn't you wake me up early?" shouted Titania at Vlad, who was dodging Atkhan's attacks.
"Weren't I supposed to guide you around until you regain your sight?"
Various questions were thrown by Titania who observed Vlad's facial expression shifting a bit, as he opened his black eyes to "gaze" at her, before a scoff could be heard followed by his sarcastic remark.
"Wouldn't it be a waste of my hard work put in last night? I allowed the beauty to have a peaceful sleep since she worked a lot the past couple of months."
When Titania heard his answer, she blushed a bit remembering all the things he did to her back last night, and since then she kept quiet not interjecting to distract Vlad. Nevertheless, her distraction was enough for the red monkey to take advantage.
In the moment Vlad was distracted by Titania's appearance and comments taking his opponent's focus off him, he morphed his body into a larger shape, becoming a red gorilla which a long tail, giving off a strong impression of strength.
From nowhere, Atkhan tightened his long tail into a coil and in an instant, with a burst of speed and agility he extended his tail to catch Vlad off-guard.
"I got you! Nowhere to hide now!"
Vlad hummed, impressed at how quick-witted the monkey boy was, trying to move his leg that was tied by Atkhan's tail, without success. Still, he remained calm, unwavering in the face of a possible danger.
"Hehehe, I really got you." celebrated Atkhan who tightened his right leg, preparing for his specialty, the Rankyaku Technique.
"You think so?" added Vlad in a cold irony, as he started moving his hand in a peculiar form the inexperienced fighter had no idea what it would lead to.
Thinking about all possibilities he continued on with charging his Rankyaku attack, but just when he was about to strike with his leg, Vlad pulled on his tail and rolled to the floor, downing him as consequence.
"Your leg attack is still slow, boya. Even if you managed to "catch" me with your tail, it wouldn't be enough to keep your enemy down. For example, here you could have used that staff of yours in combination with the tail, and pin me down, giving you leverage and enough time to prepare your Rankyaku.
"Can you actually do that by rolling your own body? How? I never got taught such a cool trick."
Atkhan found himself being grabbed hard on his tail, before feeling his back being touched by some large hands, where Vlad continued on playing with the boys' mind.
"Heh? I feel sorry for you boy, this is something I learned when I was 9 years old, where I had to roll to the ground with various potential knights of the Boyar Families. This is why you'll be hundreds of years away from defeating me, child."
"Hmph, I know what you are trying to do by saying those mean words. Demoralize me to have an easier win."
"Do I even need to go to my Psychological Game to defeat you boy? Here, I'll teach you something interesting. Open up your little head, so you can experience it better."
Before Atkhan could retort back, he felt Vlad transition from his back, to quickly grabbing his arms, launching himself to, later on, take captive his arm and shoulder by entering an armbar hold.
Everything happened so quickly that Atkhan got captivated by such a technique, and then he started feeling the pain generated by Vlad's armbar, placing a lot of strain on his joints as he reached a full extension of his arm.
"OUCH! HEY! Mister, are you trying to break my arm?"
"Huhuhu, don't worry kid, even if I break your arm, it would be me placing it back on the socket."
The red gorilla continued crying a bit in pain and started thinking how to get himself out from the peculiar moment, only to have a lightbulb starting.
'Right, I can do that trick and escape from this bad situation. It always works on my enemies.'
Suddenly Vlad felt that his hold collapsed and his arms not holding anything in particular, for the only reason Atkhan transformed himself into a smaller monkey form which managed to escape.
He quickly took distance from Vlad who was humming interested in the extension of abilities the monkey boy had.
"Pretty interesting ability of shifting to various forms. From the gorilla which gives you strength, to the small monkey which gives you agility, and I guess you also have a Hybrid one which balances both attributes."
"... How do you know about this, minster?"
"It's common knowledge. This is how the general Zoan Devil Fruit works."
"Do you even know about the Devil Fruits?" asked Akhan shifting his body back in the gorilla form, later on beginning to spin at a fast speed.
"Socking, right?" chuckled Vlad who felt the winds generated by the red gorilla's momentum.
Atkhan didn't respond back, but instead released a wind slice attack of a blue color, having a decent size about it.
"Take this!"
*Humm*
Vlad couldn't help but humm even louder, as he started analyzing this technique that interested him, and to taste the power of this attack, he only created a small dagger after taking the hairpin from his long hair, which he used to block the Rankyaku
And then from nowhere Atkhan used a weaker version of Soru to quickly get to Vlad's body and release another Rankyaku using his leg in a melee range.
"If the long-ranged attack doesn't work, I'll be damned if the melee one doesn't work."
His attack was stopped by Vlad who kicked Atkhan's main leg before he could unleash his attack.
"Not a chance boya." commented Vlad, who put a stop to Atkhan's attack, later on sending a spinning kick which landed perfectly on the boy's furry and muscled chest.
Titania couldn't help but notice the patterns of the fight, it wasn't as if Vlad was playing with the red monkey, instead he was inviting the boy to showcase his abilities. Then the thought he starts learning the techniques from the kid makes her understand his reasoning
'Could it be? The reason he fights this boy is to learn those strange techniques of sending wind slices with one leg and also the movement technique which almost makes him disappear.'
'But he can't see those effects of the strikes, so it must still be hard on him.'
Atkhan was also aware that Vlad was going slowly with him, not even using his sword, and in a close exchange he whispered to him coldly "Show me your movement and leg attack, and we'll see later on."
"Satisfy me, and I will be open to help you."
*Hah*
*Hah*
Atkhan could feel the burden of fighting against an enemy he had no chance of defeating, where he experienced the frustration of not being able to land anything substantial or make Vlad get serious with him.
However, he was conscious of his limitations, something that Vlad pointed out when he told him casually "There's no reason to be angry at yourself boy, the difference in our age is far greater than you can expect. In fact, you are rather decent for a kid."
'Mister should be aware that I can't share the techniques by word of mouth, and instead made me spar with him so I could showcase those techniques in the fight. By doing so, I must have started having an understanding of Soru and Rankyaku.'
'Damn it! I feel used right now. Yet at the same time I also feel helped because mister made me realize some mistakes I've been making in my combos and fighting strategy.'
'My strategy only works on enemies who are at my level and age, like Akam. But for someone with strength like misters, it exposes me a lot. … I would be food for the fish if he was serious by attacking me with his sword like yesterday.'
Vlad waited for the boy to recover his breath and energy, time he spent analyzing in his mind the process of utilizing Soru and Rankyaku and everything he could pick from Atkhan. Surprisingly, it wasn't without fruits as he found something which clicked in his mind with regard to Soru, a type of ability which in fact wasn't truly a technique.
'Soru, if I understand it correctly, is just a bluff to mask the true ability of a user to move faster than others. It's a technique where one is supposed to kick the ground 6 to 10 times in a short span, and the force generated by the push would be converted into movement.'
With another hour of fighting against Atkhan, he finally had enough of torturing the young child, having a general understanding of those two abilities the child possesses and feeling proud about it.
They were a set of techniques based on the agility and strength of one's body, in order to unleash attacks and movements that wouldn't seem a mirage.
"Okay, this will be enough." said Vlad who pushed Atkhan with a palm strike on his chest, gaining plenty of distance from the two.
"B-But … I still can fight." replied Atkhan who barely had the strength to push himself up, believing Vlad wasn't satisfied with him after noticing him getting colder in his approach with him.
"No need boy. Your performance satisfied me. Meaning? I will keep to my given word. I'll see you and your friends on my Ship. Titania, no need to worry about the boy, I didn't harm him.
Let's move back to the ship, I want to discuss something with you."
Saying that Vlad without even breaking a sweat in the spar against Atkhan began walking away from the location of the spar, leaving the boy to breathe exhausted surrounded by his 3 orphan friends who touched some of his bruises with worry.
"Khan-kun, why have you done that? Look, you've got hurt now because of me … Also, that mister feels cold. He just played around with us, and will probably be like those bad people in the city."
"No, you are mistaken, mister is a person who wouldn't do this."
"How can you know what is inside his mind, Khan-kun? Have you seen his black eyes? They are so scary that I fear even looking in his eyes."
"Marie-chan, mister is blind. He can't see with his eyes, so anything that you might feel is you acting scared because he is a stranger. However, after I clashed blows with him, I can tell that deep down he is a kind person who puts a cold front."
.
Titania who landed on Vlad's shoulder couldn't help but notice him smile a bit, which made her ask away. "You seem to be in good mood."
"Heh? It's nothing. I just liked what I saw and felt in that monkey brat. If he keeps up with the teachings I've parted today, he will grow into a fine young lad."
"I see. And, what did you want to talk about with me?"
"I want your opinion on something. What should I do with those three kids that came with the monkey brat? They are orphans."
"Let me think a bit. Still, before that. What's the change of mind? Didn't you say you aren't a saint? That you'll not help anyone?"
"Titania, they aren't just anyone. They are orphans, still, little kids fighting for their survival day and night, constantly forced to be on guard. Always on the run, to protect themselves.
I am also a human, Fairy … at least what rest of humanity I still hold inside me. What unfortunate they experienced I fully know that feeling, and because of that I want to do something for them."
"Hmm, this is some new information." remarked Titania calmly, only to dissuade from answering what she meant by that.
"What do you intend to do for the kids? Maybe if you tell me some of your ideas, I can also come up with something good."
"Food, A Clean Bath, a Medical Check-Up, money to survive for 2 years."
Hearing Vlad's plan, Titania frowned a bit, slapping him on his earring which took the black-haired man aback, especially when her angry comment followed suit.
"Isn't this simply, just cheap? A method that would sound like "Here you peasants, take this and continue with your lives." While what you plan for the kids sounds okay, there's something big missing. Their security."
"... I don't plan to become their caretaker and be stranded on an island for I don't know how many years. Nor do I plan to take them with me on the journey, since they wouldn't even agree to separate from their homeland."
*Slap*
Titania once again slapped Vlad's ear, which in itself hurt a bit, but the young man kept composed and listened to the young woman's remark.
"You really are stupid when it comes to those things, as if you really mean it when you say you lost some of that humanity in the accident you've suffered."
*Pat*
*Pat*
Following her angry outburst on Vlad's earlobe, she began patting it gently, telling him in a soothing tone.
"However, you have me to guide you, and I am really proud you've chosen to consult yourself with me. And because of this, I will be lenient this once, and tell you a simple method to solve the security of the kids."
"I am all ears."
"Ufufu, it's simple, Vlad. Why don't you bring them to Grabert? Or at least try to see if he is willing to help? Hehehe, I am sure he will not decline if it's you asking if you give him another jar of ointment for his disease."
Vlad couldn't help but release an evil grin, while Titania also had a cheeky smile, thinking about the old blacksmith who was retired without much on his hands as when he was active, aside from his grandson.
"My, my. What a cheeky Fairy. Placing all the work on an old man? This is exactly as you said "Here peasant, see those kids? Take care of them.". It's not like your approach is fair, but nothing in this world is fair."
"Hmph, at least my solution will keep the children safe."
"I guess, I will visit Grabert tomorrow to check if he is open to this proposal."
