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Chapter 11: Let It All Burn III

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"Huh? Yeah, I have no idea where or what that... Hmm?" Yovan halted his words, his instinct honed by not only the dangers of the woods but also by his devil powers were triggered as he instantly turned around.

His spear seemed to shake, seemingly excited to take action. In fact, without doing anything, the air pressure around it was rising as if the entire air flow was being controlled.

Not far behind Yovan walked out a very elderly man, seeming to be at his deathbed. He had a very long white beard falling below his waist, but unfortunately, nature stated that thou shall be bald at the cost of the beard.

He was attired in a long emerald robe, but even that wasn't able to hide his bountiful belly. Strangely, however, the elderly man seemed to be faintly sweating while eyeing Yovan.

'Am I stronger than I thought? I mean, If I try my hardest with the Airflow technique, I can destroy a tree or more with ease, but that's nothing. Yeah, I'm weak feeble boy, so remain cautious Yovan.'

He didn't want to risk his life just yet. He had an opportunity, and he doesn't want to lose it, especially after all he had gone through.

He hugged life's legs like glue, and he plans to continue doing that until he can finally be free from all limitations.

"N-no need for all of that okay? I'm very friendly, I swear." The old man was fidgeting like a liar, and even his words were screaming of lies, so Yovan lowered his stance a bit, increasing his wariness a few hundred times.

"Aghh, so predictable. Please just shut up will ya??" The granny behind Yovan facepalmed, screaming at the old man.

"Huh? I was just trying to make friends?? But his spear frightened me."

Yeah, Yovan didn't believe that for a second. He can assume that the old man is the one living in the middle of the forest, so he should be strong in his own right.

"Please excuse his manner of speech, but you are a stranger, so bear with us... Is there anything we can help with?" The granny shook her head, moving the conversation forward to get to the most important point.

"Yeah, I understand... Can I have an extra map or directions if possible?" Yovan found himself to be quite paranoid. He felt a bit afraid to stay among humans, especially with so many risks crawling into his shadow.

His paranoia however was reciprocated, "We don't have a map, but we know the directions to the capital... However, they're very complicated."

"Ah, how about you go with me to my house until you get okay? It's not that far from here, and the place is very beautiful, you'll definitely like it." The old man continued in her place.

Yovan frown. The old man had a way of words that can make a person doubt if drinking water is healthy if he was trying to convince them just that.

"That's a good idea. The rain is heavy now anyway, so better have a roof above your head while you heal. I'll prepare the directions for you in the meantime!" The granny hurriedly nodded, liking the idea.

'This is scripted.' Yovan mused in his mind. No matter how much they try to convince him otherwise, he firmly believes that a village close to the shore would be so weak.

The old man must be a protector of source, and they must be vying for time because he'd believe the earth is flat before believing their nonsense about no maps and complicated directions.

So Yovan smiled and performed a small bow, his eyes never leaving the old man and the granny just in case the latter was also strong.

"Thank you all for your generosity, but as you said, I'm but a stranger, and I don't want to cause any of you trouble, so I'll return to the woods and come back in two weeks for directions."

Yovan then started walking away, keeping his distance from them, 'In a world where pirates run amock, how can its common people be just a bunch of fools waiting to be slaughtered, some may but most must have precautions.'

He definitely noticed he was being too paranoid, even ignoring a faint hidden instinct telling him he can defeat the old man, but he'd much rather be paranoid now than be a corpse later because he listened to an ephemeral feeling.

Yovan returned to his usual routine after saving up a lot of rainwater through large leaves. He went hunting first thing in the morning before doing a bit of workout.

He then changes his location and trains his beast form though at the end of his first week his hunting targets changed to forest beasts.

And here he is now, standing face to face with a gigantic beast for a tiger, the latter growling at him, spit dropping off its mouth as it showed its massive predatory fangs.

He wasn't just faced with the tiger, he was also faced with the reality of his strength... He was much stronger than he assumed himself to be.

Yovan could see traces of fear in the tiger's eyes as it felt the air change around him, flowing strangely around his spear.

They both moved at the same time, knowing that escaping is useless, 'An animal's instinct huh.' Yovan mused as he propelled himself forward just as the tiger jumped at him with its jaw wide open.

However, much to the beast's dismay, Yovan's legs came in contact with the ground, propelling himself backward this time, letting the beast land right before him as his arm muscles tensed, the spear vibrated, and the air howled.

He was far away enough that the spear couldn't come directly in contact with the tiger, yet the beast's left still found itself absolutely decimated, leaving a bloody hole in its place.

And so, a roar reverberated throughout the surroundings as the battle continued. The tiger's endurance and leaping speed were exceptional but so were Yovan's, even faintly being faster than the beast.

'I watched some of the villagers on the hunt for food... Deers and such. Why the fuck are they so weak? I'm confused.'

Indeed, he was because the tiger's bloody body was beneath him, filled with holes while he remained unharmed.

'Like, I feel like I'm more than ten times stronger than them. With the addition of my devil fruit powers, I can...'

He shook his head, getting rid of those destructive thoughts for now. Yovan stood up, grabbed the tiger by the jaw, and walked back home, with it being a small shelter.

At the end of the second week while coming back from the hunt with a wild cattle being pulled behind him, he found a guest next to his home, the old man.

The old man looked nervous, this time more than ever, looking at all the beasts' remains lying around.

Most of the meat usually becomes spoiled in just a day or two, so he had to go hunt every once in a while, satiating his hunger more than ever because he found out that his need for food had increased his he ate the devil fruit.

"Hi..." The old man finally opened his mouth as he reached out for his belt, pulling a piece of paper out, "T-this are the directions to Kano's Capital, please be careful on your way."

"Oh? Well, thank you." Yovan took the paper with a smile. He can read between the lines, and he understood thoroughly that they want him to leave, but they seem afraid of him.

"Also, take this," The old man handed him a large bag, "It has plenty of food and water within, so have your fill."

"Hmm, thank you." Yovan nodded at the old man, waiting for him to leave without much of a reaction until he disappeared from his sight at least because the first thing Yovan did was looking through the bag.

He smelled everything in it, especially the water, unfortunately, he found that his sense of smell can't detect anything just yet.

It's certainly strong, but he couldn't differentiate between poisons, so he threw the entire thing in the ocean.

Yovan already had a lot of collected water prepared, and a bit of smoked meat. He added a bit of the wild cattle's meat on top of that and set off, giving himself a last warning.

"Yovan, you'll have to do it. You have wings. You can be free. Let it all go and fly."

To a stranger's ears, there may not be much to pick up in his words, but that's only he lifted to the last part to himself, 'Be extreme like you always were, just up it a few dozen times... No difference. It's all for survival.'

He was feeling pressured by time, by Limitless's countdown, and what do humans fear most if not the Unknown?