Disciple

I fended off Cal's attack, they had been on the open sea together for a week, and Cal had finally recovered. And ever since then, she had been badgering me to fight, I eventually collapsed, and now I found myself receiving a leg sweep.

Growing an arm from my back, I saved myself flipping over and kicking Cal in the chin. Stumbling back, Cal licked her busted lip and grinned as she tasted her blood, "It's been a while since I met someone who could beat me in hand to hand."

"Don't worry. I'm sure if we were on equal ground, you would kick my ass." Cal let my words pass over her unaffected, "Just because I only have one arm doesn't mean I can't beat you." Cal laughed as she ran at me, attacking with her legs, aiming for my upper torso and head.

As she lashed out again with a high kick, I grabbed her muscular leg, but Cal was already moving to counter. Cal brought her other knee up and around in a feat of core and upper body strength, hitting me on the right side of my chest just below the ribcage.

But the blow had little effect on me, and I could see the confusion in her eyes. Letting go of her leg, Cal jumped back before looking at me, "Why didn't that affect you. I put enough force behind that strike to take a man twice your size beg for mercy."

Changing my stance, I extended my arm, my hand clenched into a fist, "That would have been an excellent liver shot if my liver was still there." Cal frowned, "Would it have even mattered in the end."

"No, not really. I could have dealt with the attack any time I wanted to. Instead, I wanted to show you." Cal raised her fists, "Show me what."

"How weak you are." Cal stiffened as my words struck a cord, "I don't know what your past was, but the things you will face in the New World have powers capable of destroying whole islands. If you want to follow me, you will have to get stronger."

I looked over to Leana and Evos, who was watching the entire time, "I won't always be around to save you though I wish it weren't so. To stay in my crew, you have to pull your weight. I offer training sessions to anyone who wants them."

"If I can be helpful to Captain, I'll do anything!" Leana shouted from the sidelines, snapping to a salute, "Being strong doesn't equal usefulness. Other skills are valued."

Evos raised his hand, "I'd like to try as well." It was rare that the boy would ever speak. He wasn't shy either, I guess, old habits. "Okay then, well, start tomorrow, but now lunch is ready."

Leana was the first one moving as she sped to the double doors leading to the rest of the ship. Sighing, I followed behind Evos and Cal. It was still a strange feeling walking through my own boat.

There was a similar connection between Sanguinem and me. I could distantly sense everyone inside the ship and where they were with a slight delay.

In the dining room, Leana and Ace were competing on who could eat a rack of ribs faster, "Oh, I was wondering where you guys were. There was just all this food out." Sighing, I grabbed a seat at the head of the table, "You could have waited on us."

"Why?" Knowing trying to explain basic table manners to Ace was pointless, I started to eat. The meal was light-filled with pleasant conversation, mainly between Cal and me. When my stomach was complete, I retreated to my workshop, I still didn't have all of the necessary equipment, but I did have a few specialized pieces.

One of my newest projects was a synthesized IQ plant. It was the critical ingredient in the SIQ serum. When ingested by animals, it caused their DNA to mutate. I was more interested in the science behind the medical rather than its actual effects.

If I could figure out how such radical changes could happen in DNA, it opened a whole new world of possibilities. "Let's see, test #127 trying a new series of base pairs to enhance protein production."

Using a pair of tweezers, I plucked out a strand of tRNA and mRNA from a vial combining it with a mixture of specialized cells. I placed the vial in a centrifuge and stepped back, "What are you doing?"

I jumped and turned around to see Evos looking around my lab in wonder. I shook my head, getting everything running again. I don't know how the little guy could sneak up on me. I didn't even hear him with my enhanced hearing.

"Oh, just testing a few experiments of mine. Nothing that hard." Evos looked around, "What is all this stuff." Figuring why not, I gave Evos a little tour showing him a few vials and equipment to sate his thirst for knowledge.

"Can you teach me how to use this stuff?" I was about to reject Evos harshly, but I stopped before I rummaged around a cabinet and pulled out one of my old textbooks. "Here the deal. If you can read through that entire book and pass my test, I'll make you my lab assistant."

Evos's eyes glimmered, and he grabbed the book before running back out the door, and I noticed that even running away, his footsteps didn't make any noise. Keeping that in mind, I returned to my centrifuge and took out the vial.

The materials had separated, and I frowned the RNA strands hadn't been adopted by the cells, "Another failure." Emptying the contents into a disposal unit, I sighed. Walking onto the deck, I visited the as I need more ingredients.

But it turns out I wasn't the only one looking for a place of solidarity, "Well, I didn't expect to find you out here, Leana."