Storm

After a nights rest, Gilgamesh and Enkidu return to the deck of the ship. Dark circles surround Gilgamesh's eyes thanks to the worst sleep of this life.

Last night four ships came within his 500km EM field detection range, causing him to wake up every time. Even though he was looking forward to going out to sea, being in the middle of the ocean during the night for the first time was terrifying. If he didn't focus his detection range on a horizontal plane every fish in the sea or bird in the sky would make him jump.

While sleeping on the island he never worried about anything, but at sea he can die at any moment.

Unlike Gilgamesh, Enkidu's whole body exudes youth as she slept on a full stomach for the first time in her life and wasn't awoken by hunger pains. Because she is still ignorant to the world she slept with no fear of death.

As Gilgamesh raises the anchor and drops the sails Enkidu returns to her square from yesterday and continues to train.

Looking at the sky Gilgamesh sees dark clouds rolling in from the south and can't help but frown. "A storm? Should I try and collapse the clouds by disrupting the updraft?" Catching a glimpse of Enkidu from the corner of his eye he can't help but smile.

"Today we are going to train together." While the ship begins to move he walks towards Enkidu "By training together we can better improve."

Tilting her head to the side she looks curious. "Together?"

"Right" Nodding his head Gilgamesh holds up a finger "Close your eyes and I will poke you with my finger, when you feel me make contact with that part of the body turn it into swamp."

"Oh, Ok" Enkidu closes her eyes and waits. A few seconds go by and she feels nothing, just as she is about to open her eyes she feels a finger poke the side of her waist.

"Eep!" Surprised she jumps towards the side and looks at the smiling Gilgamesh.

"Don't be impatient, you need to concentrate and not get surprised so easily." Holding up his finger he takes a step forward to get into range.

"I'll try harder." A determined look appears on her face and her brows wrinkle. Closing her eyes and clenching her fist she waits again.

Looking at her determined face Gilgamesh nods. After waiting a few seconds, his fingers points at her body and he chooses a place to poke. Settling on her right shoulder he pushes lightly on her shoulder blade.

Feeling the pressure on her shoulder it takes a moment for her to react. After a couple of seconds, her entire right arm transforms into a swampy state, causing Gilgamesh's finger to sink into her body.

Feeling his finger sinking in causes his brows to rise in surprise. As soon as his finger was caught he could feel a force trying to pull him deeper into the abyss. Exerting force he easily retrieves his finger and looks at Enkidu deeply.

"That's one scary ability, let's continue but try and be more precise with your elamentalization. If I touch your shoulder there's no need to transform your whole arm, but that's a good start so keep it up."

"Hmh hmh" Nodding her head vigorously a bright smile forms on her face.

As hours go by the dark clouds move closer and closer, and with it comes a curtain of rain. Even though the rain is moments away Gilgamesh hasn't even noticed. His face is blank as he pokes Enkidu's body with both hands. Each poke only takes a second or less to sink into her body.

Looking at her terrifying progress he can't help but be upset with himself. Even though he has the body of a four-year-old, his mind is almost thirty. Learning new things as you get older is hard to do, it's not that his brain is damaged in any way but he's constantly thinking about everything as he trains.

But Enkidu, a real child has nothing else to think about except the moment she's in right now. As far as she is concerned this training is the only thing she needs to focus on and that's the reason kids learn so fast. Giving her the devil fruit at this age was probably the best choice in this life so far.

By the time he notices the storm, rain is already pouring on their heads. Focusing on his iron sand to steer the ship in the fierce winds and rain he continues to jab his fingers.

Faced with the rain it's harder to feel where she's poked and takes longer for her to transform her body, but Gilgamesh hasn't told her to stop so she bites her teeth to concentrate harder.

Looking at the water sink into the body parts she transforms causes Gilgamesh's eyes to widen for a moment, but he quickly brushes it aside as he picks up speed.

The ship begins to rock as the waves crash into the sides of the ship. Fearing something will happen to his box he increases the chains and covers it in a dome. "Enough, good job now let's rest."

Hearing his words Enkidu finally collapses to the ground panting. As she lays on her back with the rain washing over her body she can't help but smile.

"Your talent is amazing, you have no problem transforming your body now. The next part of your training will be even harder."

"Haaa haaaa, What's next." Enkidu turns her tired head to look at Gilgamesh.

"Transforming your body on reflex when anything you don't expect even grazes your body." Looking towards the black clouds overhead Gilgamesh mumbles the answer. Looking at the palm of his hands Gilgamesh frowns.

"A child's simplicity" Whispering to himself Gilgamesh continues to stare at the overhead clouds. "Even when I reminded myself, I still fell into the trap."

Looking at Enkidu on the ground Gilgamesh thinks for a moment before waving his hand. The metal box breaks free of the iron sand and floats in front of Gilgamesh. "Enkidu take this box and go below deck to keep it safe, whatever you do don't open it and don't return to the deck till I come and get you."

Hearing his words Enkidu looks deeply at Gilgamesh before nodding. "Ok, you can count on me." Grabbing the box from mid-air Enkidu enters the navigation room.

Taking a deep breath Gilgamesh flies into the storm cloud. The moment he enters all his electromagnetic control over the iron sand is released and the rain washes it into the sea. Without the sand to control the ship the winds and waves begin steering it off course.

Floating in the storm cloud lightning constantly strikes his body but does nothing. Sitting cross-legged he closes his eyes. "Even though I told myself my ability is not metal control I still fell into the trap."

Feeling the constantly changing EM field all around him Gilgamesh clears his mind, focusing only on it.

Twenty Minutes go by as lightning constantly strikes his body. "I control one of the four fundamental forces of the universe, controlling metal is a parlor trick!" His eyes open fiercely as he feels the change in the EM field around him.

Holding out his right hand in a seemingly random direction his face is tranquil like the calm seas. In the next millisecond, a bolt of lightning strikes towards his hand. Right before it makes contact with his body it encounters a strong electromagnetic field, causing the bolt of lightning to veer downward towards the sea.

Without celebrating he points his left palm downwards, and right as he does another bolt shoots right towards his palm. Ricocheting this bolt away from him as well causes his eyes to burn with a fierce light "This is my domain."

Drawing a circle with his hands a force field visible to the naked eye forms a large sphere around his body. Suddenly another bolt of lightning strikes the forcefield, instantly shattering it like glass.

An explosion goes off in his head and blood trickles from the side of his mouth and ears as he begins losing control of his body.

"Crap." His vision begins to fade as he drops from the cloud like a rock. Using his last bit of consciousness he locates Enkidu's EM field and launches himself as a bolt of lightning.

The ship vibrates violently as an earth-splitting explosion sounds just outside the room. Enkidu panics as the ship continues to shake but continues to hold onto the iron box. "Did something hit the ship?"

Her face begins to warp and twist as she doesn't know what to do. "Gilgamesh said to guard the box and stay below until he comes back, but what if something bad happened to the ship?" Biting her lip she looks between the box and the door. Placing it down carefully she pushes it underneath the captain's bed before running to the door.

As soon as she opens the door she's shocked by what she sees. A giant hole in the deck above her head with half the crew quarters and hallway destroyed. In a pile of splintered wood, Gilgamesh lays covered in blood from the impact.

"Ahhhhh! Gilgamesh!" Enkidu screams and rushes forward into the curtain of rain pouring from the hole above. Looking at Gilgamesh's battered body she doesn't know what to do.