'Oh. Duh.' I thought, resisting the urge to face-palm. 'There's my dumb moment of the day.'
Thankfully Korka just laughed it off after seeing my expression. "Come on. Let's get you introduced to the crew."
After boarding The Marjhan it became instantly clear that everyone was only waiting for the captain to return before making way. The moment Korka and I were aboard the sails unfurled and a group of deckhands started pulling in the mooring lines. Watching the hustle and bustle I took a moment to scan over names and titles. 'Hmm. Most everyone seems to be Lv. 7 or lower, though there are a couple of 12's mixed in. One gal at 14 over there. Those would probably be Korka's fellow R.A. members then.'
I turn my eyes upward towards the bow and spot two extremely different men in the middle of what is either an intense argument or a very animated discussion.
Waldstein, Professional Huntsman, Lv. 37 Guilford, Revenger, Lv. 26 'Ah. It seems I have found my colleagues.' Waldstein was a tall, olive-skinned man in his 50's with muscles that would put most strongmen to shame. Scars crisscrossed over his bare chest and a vicious burn mark had rendered one of the man's eyes useless. A large silver mallet-warhammer-thing was strapped to his back and It took me all of .2 seconds to decide that this was a man I would not want on my bad side.
Guilford could not have been more different by contrast. A slender build, slicked back ponytail, and flamboyant reddish-purple suit all reminded me of the typical anime pretty boy which now that I think about it, isn't actually all that common in the 'One Piece' universe. A matching pair of elegantly designed rapiers were resting in his belt making the man's weapon of choice pretty easy to identify. I'm fairly confident that rapiers aren't meant to be dual wielded but I'm not about to go over there and tell the guy his business.
Well.
May as well go introduce myself.
Aboard The Marjhan
My first 48 hours aboard the trading vessel have been pretty unnoteworthy. Mostly spent on reading, watching the waves, or chatting with some of the people I was sharing this four month journey with.
To name a few, there was Ernest and Satori, the two cooks who ran the kitchen. Claire, a young woman with flax-colored hair serving as an understudy to the ship's doctor. Maken and Iraak, a duo of friendly deckhands who kept the deck clean almost religiously and Cassian, the R.A. member who I could never get to say more than 10 words to me.
My initial impression of Waldstein was completelywrong. Despite his formidable appearance, the guy was downright jolly. It was almost like a mall Santa decided to bodybuild and become a pro mercenary. It seemed like every time I entered a room with him in it the old hand was boisterously regaling someone with a story while everyone around was dying in laughter. Guilford however, I was spot on about. The guy was a snob. He didn't walk anywhere, he strutted. Everywhere he went, an atmosphere of condescension followed. The frustrating thing was...he wasn't even doing it on purpose. There was no malicious intent. This was just how he was. I would never be rude enough to say it to his face but I was glad he was the weakest of the 'big fighters' on board. If he wasn't the guy would've been insufferable.
All things considered, I'd say I was going to enjoy my time on this ship.
Some days were lazy...
"Jack! Jack! Jack! Jack!" The crowd chanted in unison.
"BWAHAHA! It's no use sonny!" Waldstein spouted with a deep belly laugh. "I haven't lost an arm wrestling contest in 16 years." "Shut uuuuuup." I drew out as my face reddened with effort. 'Come on come on come on. Just push harder! Throw me a bone here [Game]!'
[Adrenalin Rush] Activated! STR (125 +70%) → (212.5)
My fellow bounty hunter's arm slowly began to tilt back and joyful surprise flitted across the mans face. "Oh ho! Not bad for a youngster! Guess I'll have to step it up a notch!"
The barrel we were using as a table shattered into wood chips as Waldstein's arm snapped forwards and I suddenly found myself crashing upside-down against the floor.
Ding!
Quest Failed!
Quest: Defeat Waldstein in an arm wrestling match. Reward: +3 STR and 250 Exp.
'Yes [Game]. I know. You don't need to rub my face in it.'
"BWAHAHA! I didn't throw you too hard did I sonny?"
"You wish old timer." I laughed off as I raised my hand. "Now help me up."
Some days were less lazy...
"Ohmygod! Calm down! Calm down! I can explain! STOP SCREAMING!"
Wouldn't you know it? That just made the poor girl scream louder.
'I am instituting a new rule for my life. Next time I decide to do an inventory of my...well [Inventory], make sure THE DOOR IS LOCKED!' Did you know that when my arm is inside my storage dimension it looks to others like the limb is disappearing into a veil of rippling air?
Because I didn't.
I just see the screen containing all my cool shit.
The rapid thumping of footsteps approaching reverberates off the room and soon enough Korka as well as three others burst through the door. "What the bloody hell is going on in here!"
"His arm." Claire cried in a frightened voice, an accusatory finger pointed my way. "His arm was gone..and then he just ...he just pulled it out of nothing..."
My employer turned an inquisitive look my way. "Jack. What is she talking about?"
'Shit. Fuck. Umm. Crap. What was that idea I came up with a while back?' "Storage-Human." I responded dumbly. "...come again?"
"I ate a Paramecia Fruit and became a Storage-Human." I quickly lied. "I can access a separate dimension and put all my stuff in there."
Korka hmm'd to himself and nodded once. "Ok. That's nifty. Wish you'd mentioned that when I hired you. We could've picked up some last minute cargo. We'll need to take advantage of that next time we make port."
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