One Piece: Path to Power

Chapter 15: [15] Red Metal, Black Shadows

[2545 words]

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[Three Weeks Later]

Clang!

BOOM!

Short yet powerful explosions went off as flickering slashes rained upon the red-eyed youth. He was currently standing in the center of a large clearing under the dark clouds of Yozora Island.

Damien had his eyes closed as he instinctively dodged and blocked the onslaught of attacks.

He had begun to anticipate attacks from more than just their intent, this included the slight changes in air current or the vibrations of the earth below him, the variations of heat and so on.

He allowed his Observation to flow from the entirety of his body as the combat instincts had been drilled into each pore.

Damien had quickly grown under the deathly scenarios imposed on him by the one-armed swordsman, leaving his Haki far sharper than ever before.

The main thing was that he had conditioned his body against the attacks and intents of intelligent persons, something he couldn't do back at Renaissance Island. 

A gruelling schedule of pain and suffering, having bled many times only for it to heal away in seconds.

.

A black-clothed man soon appeared in front of Damien, shaking his head with a sigh.

"I take it back, your combat talent is simply beyond my understanding."

Damien let out a small chuckle as he took off his blindfold, "If you had both arms then I'm sure I would have been in much more trouble."

The one stern man seemingly incapable of joy was now beaming a thin smile.

"I'm sure you'll grow beyond my level in a matter of years."

The man then sheathed his weapon with a click as the two walked back to the castle, all under the veil of the endless night.

.

A near-meter-tall toddler came running from the cliff as he trailed behind the two.

"Father, when can I start training too?"

The child's voice which was usually devoid of much emotion was showing great desire and even a bit of desperation.

Vlad shook his head, "Maybe in a few more years."

The hawk-eyed child clicked his tongue and ran off into the dark forest.

Vlad sighed with a defeated smile, "That child has spoken more in the past few weeks than since he was born, it feels odd to see him act like his age."

.

They eventually reached the castle gates where Mina was waiting with some cool drinks.

"Did he run off again?" she rhetorically asked with a sigh.

Damien smirked from the side, "You can't blame a kid for being impatient."

Mina glared at the teenager, "You are a kid in my eyes too, fighting so much at a young age, kids are in such a hurry nowadays."

The woman then looked at her husband and said, "Dear, take Damien-kun to the treasured ore, I'll go get Hawk-chan."

…

Vlad and Damien soon made their way into the heart of the castle.

It was a worn-down room with the same green candles that never ran out.

Cobwebs decorated the corner of the room as the center was awfully clean.

There were columns and rows of rather distinct metal, every single one of them was blood-red in colour, glistening with mystery.

Vlad walked up and picked up a chunk of the metal, "It does not rust or break up from the passage of time, hence, Eternal Ore."

He then squeezed the metal with his only arm.

*Crack*

The piece of metal shattered like glass and clattered onto the ground.

Damien blinked in confusion.

Vlad smiled a little and then slashed a Haki-clad dagger that was hidden in his jacket on a huge chunk of the metal.

Clang!

The blade creaked as a piece of reflective metal fell to the ground.

Yet it wasn't from the ore but from the blade!

Vlad showed Damien the shattered weapon and said, "The ore is weak in small amounts, but nigh-unbreakable at high quantities."

He continued to explain, "It has the ability to perfectly store and slowly and uniformly release the forces imposed upon itself, this way the larger its body the more absurd force it can intake."

"Even if hit with a mountainous weight on one side, it will equally divide it all over the area of the ore, effectively cancelling the stress," Vlad finished.

Damien slowly nodded with appreciation.

"Where does such metal even come from?"

Vlad threw his blade onto the ground and gazed back at the hill of red metal.

"It was oxidized by the blood of an ancient creature centuries ago, it gave it this special characteristic, that's all we know."

Damien picked up a tiny piece of the ore, 'Sibyl, any thoughts?'

[I thought you forgot about me, Damien, let me check…]

[Yes, the bath of blood seems to hold as I detect high levels of hemoglobin and iron in the ore. Most likely the blood was that of a fruit user of sorts in which the user could control the forces applied.]

She continued, [In other words, any force, even that of devil fruits, applied over a small space will be evenly distributed all over a larger body and in all directions in a controlled time.]

[The fruit user would need to have Awakened their power to lead to such a change.]

*Huuuu*

Damien took a deep breath to let the information sink in.

Another normal day with abnormal revelations—perks of being in an anime world.

.

"How much exactly can I take from this?" he asked.

Vlad shrugged, "Our mission was to protect it till its rightful owner arrived, from what I know, it's all yours."

Damien took out his tiny red pouch, "Well, don't mind if I do."

He then pointed the enchanted pouch at the hill of metal.

*Fwooo*

A huge vacuum soon awakened from the bag as the metal was slowly but surely sucked into the palm-sized bag.

Vlad blinked, his surprised face was a little comical as his facial features had difficulty showing such emotions: "You have some interesting tools."

Damien smiled in return.

Naturally, he didn't intend to give all the ore to Shakky for the ship; keeping a decent amount as commission.

.

He then eyed the older gentleman in front of him.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Vlad-san, I'll pay back the debt with whatever you need."

Damien gave him a transponder snail that had his appearance on hit.

A mass of black-red hair, a tiny diagonal scar above one eye, and equipped with a stylish attire.

"You can contact me through this."

Vlad accepted the snail but then casually said, "I enjoyed the company of a fresh face after all these years, I will surely call you if I need your aid."

The two nodded at the thought and went outside.

…

Mina now stood in the greenly-lit lounge with a slightly annoyed Mihawk by the doors.

She glanced at the red-eyed youth with a smile, "Damien-kun, it seems you got what you came for."

"Yes, thank you for your hospitality," Damien thanked as he made his intent to leave clear.

Mina slightly smiled, "You've helped Hawk-chan become so much more energetic, as a mother I can't thank you enough."

Damien then looked at the hawk-eyed child and gave him a small smirk.

He then began to walk out of the castle and yet came to a stop.

A tiny hand grabbed his cloak from behind and tugged at it.

Damien turned back and saw the one-year-old grasping his attire.

He then crouched to his eye level and gazed into the piercing hawk-like eyes.

"The seas await for someone like you, train hard and look after your parents."

The boy nodded a few times.

His eyes darted around and then finally asked, "Will you come back?"

It was a little odd to see the future Strongest Swordsman acting like that but at the end of the day he was but a child.

Damien ruffled his jet-black hair, "I'm sure our paths will cross again someday."

He then stood up and his towered figure left a shadow over the boy.

"That blade is calling out to you, it's a fitting weapon for the future Strongest Swordsman."

The words left a small smile to appear on the child.

A sharp glint passed the boy's eyes as he resolutely declared, "I will hold that sword one day, so wait for me!"

Damien almost froze in his steps but could only respond with a chuckle, "Rahahaha! You've got a nice fire in your eyes, make sure to never let it extinguish."

He then waved to the older couple and disappeared into the nightly forest.

A short whisper of Vlad echoed in his ears, "Stay prudent, young man." Alongside a goodbye from Mina.

…

[A While Later]

The ship anchored by the edge of the island soon woke up as Damien unfurled the sails.

He took out the piece of paper, a Vivre Card that began to point in a specific direction, inching forward.

Damien soon set the ship in the direction and began to sail.

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[Sabaody Archipelago]

It was the last 'island' before the New World!

A massive mangrove forest growing out from the middle of the ocean. Since it is only made of wood, it has no magnetic pull to affect a log pose.

Sabaody was made up of 79 separate trees known as Yarukiman Mangrove. Each tree is called a grove and serves as an island on which people live.

Sabaody Layout:

Grove 1-29: The Lawless Area

Grove 30-49: Tourism and Amusement Area

Grove 50-59: Shipping Area

Grove 60-69: Marine Base Area

Grove 70-79: Hotel Area

[Images of Sabaody (in Discord)]

.

The other difference between most islands and this is the fact that you may find certain astronaut-like people walking around.

The Celestial Dragons!

They are the aristocratic descendants of nineteen of the Twenty Kings who established what is now known as the World Government.

They can give any order and it must be followed through.

Their words dictate all others around them.

They are the LAW.

They can simply point their finger out and demand you to become a slave.

What would the World do in front of this absurd and dehumanizing act?

They must simply look away as families are ripped apart.

What will happen if you try to stand up to them?

You will be killed on the spot, heck they might even deploy an Admiral to escort these Nobles.

.

So what are the Celestial Dragons?

They are the Gods of this world!

…

*Thuck*

Damien closed the thick book of records that detailed well-known islands of the Grand Line.

"Gods? I suppose with such rights and authority, it would make just about anyone a god."

Though his deep-red eyes flashed with determination, "I wonder if these 'Gods' can bleed…"

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[Six Days Later]

[Grove 41, Sabaody Archipelago]

It was a pleasant area with a large population, the sounds of kids scrambling about alongside the occasional popping bubbles resounded everywhere.

A warm sunlight bathed the grassy land, further enhancing the joyful atmosphere.

[Image of Grove 41 (in Discord)]

"Damn annoying fleas," a young man muttered as he made his way through the crowds of people.

The person in question was a little over 10 feet in height with messy black hair and red streaks running down the left side.

Damien had met some nuisances along the way to Sabaody.

Terrible weather on the first day.

Meet a pirate crew looking for a quick sum off his head on the third day.

Damien's ship sank at that time so he had to take the pirate's ship.

Another random storm on the fourth day.

Marine attack on the fifth, looking for the crew he killed.

Left the ship broken again from cannon fire and the previous storm.

It seemed the stormtrooper aim of the marine ships wasn't as prevalent as shown in the show. Or perhaps the Rocks Era had a higher level of marines.

Eventually, he made it to Sabaody on the sixth day, hitching a ride on the marine ship and abandoning it at Grove 41.

.

Damien checked the clock on the tower nearby.

'It's only midday, there's still half a day left till the meet-up time,' Damien surmised.

His eyes were then drawn to a rather conspicuous poster attached to the wall nearby.

"Public Employment Security Office Monthly Postings."

It was almost like a flyer for goods but the name implied something more despicable.

'I guess the Human Auctions were around even before Doflamingo's sites,' Damien thought as he read over the post.

It was essentially written in 'legal' terms but in layman's terms, it was a poster for a slave auction happening tonight.

"!!!" However, at that very moment, Damien's senses spiked.

*Whizz*

A sharp whistle erupted as a dagger-like object shot at Damien's open neck.

Damien didn't even move as the blade hit his skin.

Clang!

The sound of metal hitting metal broke out as the dagger failed to pierce Damien's hard skin.

The red-eyed pirate looked around and surprisingly saw nothing. All he felt was a cold air whistle.

Soon his instincts fired one more as the attacker reappeared, this time with a purple coat of energy around their body.

Damien raised one finger and shot out a bullet of air.

'Flying Finger Pistol.'

The pocket of air travelled supersonic and into the body of his attacker and yet it then hit the wall, leaving a deep crater.

"Logia?" Damien narrowed his eyes. "You ate quite the rare devil fruit."

The figure was caught off-guard by the quick reflexes of her prey and chose the quick-second of Damien's admiration of their power to disappear.

Naturally, it didn't escape Damien's senses as he saw the assassin merge themself into the shadow of the tree 10 meters behind him, disappearing into its darkness.

"..."

A few quiet minutes went by until his Observation spanned and eventually felt a slight movement, but it was from an odd location… from his own shadow?

Suddenly the dark-clothed figure shot up from under Damien's chin with the same daggers aiming at his carotid artery.

And yet even at such a distance, the daggers somehow missed and only cleaved the air.

The shadowed figure was stumped as its body trembled at the sound of a voice from behind: "Bounty hunter?" 

The figure turned around but was met with something painful.

*Crack*

Damien's left fist adorned with Haki drove into the core of the assassin's chest as the sound of a broken bone echoed through the empty alleyway.

A muffled groan followed as the figure was shot into the wall.

And yet right before the crash could occur, the figure simply dissolved into the shadows of the wall.

However, the clean hit left an odd feeling.

"Soft chest?" Damien murmured as he recalled the sensation. "But that would have broken the sternum and punctured a lung at the least."

"Though I guess bounties aren't just for show, there really are people actively on the hunt for the quick buck," he chuckled.

"Looks like learning Armament Haki before leaving Renaissance was a good call."

.

Damien then looked at the poster that was still in his right hand and smiled.

"Quite the coincidence for this auction to happen on the one day I have free," He muttered. "It would be a shame to miss it…"

To Be Continued…

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Author's Corner.

Images: https://discord.gg/aJHHHPvb6q