20 Alchemy

I stopped sparring after my fifteenth match in favor of polishing my sword. There were a couple of nicks in the back of the blade. I had to see about getting my hand on a better sword, 'I wonder if I should Wano, to learn to smith.'

I put aside that chain of thought as I looked at the fresh coat of polish on my blade, "Sorry, I can't turn you into a black blade. I'll take care of you, though."

"I didn't just catch you talking to your sword now, did I." I looked up and saw Marco standing over me.

I smiled, "Some people say that each sword is imbued with the spirit of the maker so that he can live on even in death."

Marco rolled his eyes, "You don't believe that stuff." He asked as he leaned against the railing. I shrugged, "You can turn into a phoenix and conjure self-healing flames. In this world, anything is possible."

Marco tilted his head, considering the point, "If you don't mind me asking why did you join the crew, you seem more than capable of starting your crew."

I sighed and pulled up my shirt showing the sigil on my back for a split second. Marco's eyes widen for a brief second before he controlled himself.

"You know what the mark on my back means. I needed the protection. I raised my hand against a world noble, so feel free to tell Whitebeard and have me kicked out."

Marco shook his head. "We don't give a rat's ass about the World Government. Most of us have bounties over a million."

I acted like his word relaxed me, "That fine, I'll tell them when the time comes, but you can tell Whitebeard." Marco patted me on the back, and he walked away to talk to Whitebeard.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and deciding to take a nap for a bit. My eyes shot open as someone dumped a bucket of water on me. Shooting up to my feet, I was ready to kill someone when I looked up at the sky.

Pitch black clouds covered the sky as they cried heavy tears the size of cars, and one was on a direct path with us. Groaning, I jumped up into the air and cut the raindrop in two with an air slash.

Falling back to the deck, I looked around. Everyone was climbing the riggings raising the sails, so the masts weren't ripped from the ship.

"Glad you joined the party Leon, not all of us can sleep on the job." I looked over, and Bane was taunting me as he tied down a rope.

"Okay, then boy scout, while you tie knots, I'm going keep this ship from sinking to the bottom of the ocean," I replied as I cut down another raindrop. Bane laughed like he was having the time of his life.

"Have fun then, 'cause things are picking up."

I groaned as more and more raindrops started to fall from the sky, but I wasn't the only one who noticed. I spotted Marco, who transformed into his phoenix form, and the deck started to steam as the water evaporated from his flames.

Marco flew into the air with a cry, firing bolts of bright blue flames to destroy the clouds. Everyone cheered as the storm started to let up.

But in an hour, we were all wishing for the rain as the sun had come out, and it was like God put us under a magnifying glass. Someone yelled out to drop anchor, and the ship lurched to a stop, "Bane, what's going on."

I looked over to see Bane stripping down to his underwear, "When it gets like this, we like to go for a swim too, bad you're a devil fruit user. You better go inside. It's only going to heat up from here on."

Sighing, I missed being able to swim, but I shrugged as I retreated inside, "Fine, go bath in the ocean. I hope you get eaten by a sea king." Walking back to my room, I got a few things before going to the nursery. There was a medical lab with some of the equipment he needed.

Opening a pouch, I took out a handful of dried leaves from the plant I named Lembas. Grinding the leaves to a powder, mixed in a few other dried herbs with medicinal properties.

The result was a dark green powder that smelled of grass clipping. Moving over to a beaker suspended over a burner, I combined the herbal mix and water inside the beaker.

Igniting the burn, I attached a flask connected to the first beaker by a thin glass tube spiraled downwards.

Then he prepared the pill capsules and the over to cook them in. I watched as the liquid in the first beaker started to steam, building up pressure. Then the vapor began to force its way through the pipe, cooling rapidly, turning back into a liquid in the second flask.

Moving over, I grabbed the second vial with the distilled solution and prepared it for cooking, taking a needle, I filled a single pill capsule. Walking over to the furnace, I covered my arm in bone before sticking my entire hand into the flame.

The flames inside only reached one thousand degrees Fahrenheit, and normal bones only turned to ash around three hundred, so I was okay with my improved body.

I counted each second in my mind as the pill started to cook. When I counted a minute, I quickly yanked my hand out of the furnace and dropped the pill into an awaiting flask of water.

After steam stopped rising from the flask, I retrieved the pill. The casing had sealed, so it was only a plain white tablet, which was a good thing.

Now came the moment of truth. Bitting down on the pill, I cracked the casing before swallowing it. Almost immediately, I felt full of energy the kind you get after sleeping off a full meal but multiplied.

Grinning I looked back at the pouch of leaves I had barely dipped into my supply, "Guess it's time to start mass producing."