7 Chapter 7
The four of them ran away together. The further they got from the Buggy pirates, the less Markus let Nami help him and the more he moved on his own. He didn't want to slow them down too much and with Zoro not being hurt they moved much faster. Once Zoro felt they were far enough away, he dropped Luffy's cage and turned to look at Markus and Nami. Everyone looked concerned as they looked at Markus. Zoro was the first to speak, "How are you?"
Markus waved Buggy's hand around dismissively, "Fine. It'll take a lot more than that to take me down."
Everyone's eyes bugged out of their heads when the saw him waving around the dismembered hand. Luffy shouted, "What's that?! When did you cut someone's hand off?!"
Markus laughed, "It's Buggy's. I figured if he didn't want it then I might as well keep it."
He'd tried to store the hand inside of his inventory during their escape, but he couldn't. His best guess was that living items couldn't be stored away. Even now the hand was struggling to get away and go back to Buggy, but Markus was holding it firmly and wouldn't let it go no matter what. It not only disabled Buggy but it let Markus fuck with him from far away.
Luffy quickly lost interest and looked around, "Ah! A dog!"
When everyone else looked at the small white dog sitting in front of a store, Markus surreptitiously bent one of Buggy's fingers back until there was a quiet cracking sound. He was surprised at how tough it was to break Buggy's index finger. He liked to imagine that he could hear Buggy screaming in agony. When he turned to look back at Luffy and the others he saw Luffy fighting the dog and screaming about the key to the cage. Markus groaned internally. He'd been so focused on hurting Buggy that he missed the chance to stop the stupid dog from eating the key.
Right after Luffy and the dog started fighting an old man came out of nowhere and started yelling at them. The old man introduced himself as the village chief and since Zoro wasn't injured and Markus had already recovered all of his lost HP, no one was hurt. Instead they started talking. The village chief talked about Shushu, the dog's, dead owner and how Shushu was guarding the store since it was his treasure. Markus found it touching. As the conversation continued there was a loud roar behind them followed by shouts from people telling them to run away.
The Chief looked towards the roar and paled, "It's the beast trainer Mohji!"
Markus grinned and turned to Zoro, "I've got an idea. We need to hide for a moment."
Zoro frowned, "I didn't take you for a coward."
Markus rolled his eyes, "If this works it will get Luffy out of that stupid cage. Just shut up and follow me."
He didn't need to tell Nami or the Chief to go hide, they'd already run away. Nami actually was a coward. He'd work on that with her later. For now he needed to get himself and Zoro out of sight so that Mohji's lion could break Luffy's cage and free him. No way in hell was he going to wait for the key to come out of Shushu! He grabbed Zoro by the arm and dragged him away, "Just trust me and the Captain, he'll be fine."
Zoro glanced at Luffy and just saw him grinning. Markus managed to drag Zoro around a corner and not a moment too soon. Mohji appeared coming down the street riding on the back of his large lion Richie. Everyone stuck their heads out around the corner of various buildings to watch what was happening. They couldn't really hear what was being said but before long Richie, the lion, had ripped the cage to shreds. Zoro looked impressed until Richie slapped Luffy into a building. Zoro turned to glare at Markus. Markus just looked back, "You honestly think a rubber man is going to die from hitting something?"
A look of realization dawned on Zoro's face as he realized what Markus meant. Markus pat Zoro on the shoulder, "Alright, now I can go have some fun."
Zoro frowned, "Why do you get to fight?"
Markus scoffed, "If you fight him am I going to fight whoever uses a sword? Or are you planning to take them all on and I just get to watch and act like a cheerleader?"
As they argued there was a loud yelp. Markus growled, "That jerk is mine."
Without waiting for Zoro to say anything else, Markus started walking out of their hiding spot and moved toward Mohji and Richie, "Hey you with the funny hat!"
Mohji growled and spun around to stare at Markus, "It's not a hat it's my hair!" As he looked at Markus and saw what he was holding he became furious, "So you're the one who stole Captain Buggy's hand! Give it back! Now!"
Markus waved Buggy's hand around, "What? This old thing? I figured if he was throwing it away like that, then someone should keep it and take care of it. Kinda like this..."
Markus gripped Buggy's hand in both of his and broke his middle finger while Mohji watched. Mohji was infuriated and a bit afraid of what Buggy would do to him for letting Markus hurt him. He leaped off Richie and pointed at Markus, "Richie! KILL HIM!"
Richie let out a deafening roar to try and intimidate Markus. Which was ignored. Markus spent his time while Richie roared to use his Analysis skill on the pair of them.
--------------------------------------------------
Richie the Lion
Level: 9
Hit Points: 450/450
Mohji the Tamer
Class: Beast Tamer
Level: 14
Hit Points: 150/150
--------------------------------------------------
Markus wasn't very impressed. His best guess was that Richie, as an animal, had a high Strength and Vitality giving him a decent pool of hit points. That was to be expected. Mohji, though a higher level, was weaker. Markus assumed that Mohji had a higher Charisma with a skill that applied his Charisma to animals and made them easier to tame and communicate with. He made these assumptions based on what he could see and what he knew from various games from his old world that he had memories of. Richie posed a higher threat to him than Mohji did.
Markus analyzed both of them and came to his conclusions before Richie finished his roar. The instant Richie started to move, he activated his observation haki. It now reached out to a range of forty feet and was a little more accurate than in the past. Still, it was only level four so it's not like he would be predicting the future anytime soon. For now, it just gave him a decent edge over his opponents. Before the second half of the Grand Line, Haki was rare and almost unknown. If he could train his observation Haki even higher he would be nearly invincible until the second half of the Grand Line.
Markus focused on Richie as the giant lion charged at him. He gripped Buggy's hand tightly in his left hand while curling his right hand into a tight fist. His knuckles cracking under the pressure. He'd never had a chance to go all out against anyone yet. He was looking forward to seeing what the results of all of his training had led to. Zoro watched from behind, curious about his crewmate's capabilities. As Richie closed in he opened his mouth baring his fangs at Markus. Seeing and feeling the straightforward bite attack coming at him, Markus bent his legs and sprang straight toward Richie. For a moment it looked like he was running straight into Richies wide open mouth. At the last moment, he ducked as Richie's jaws slammed shut where Markus had been. Richie looked confused while Zoro smirked from his spot. Richie's confusion only lasted a moment before a powerful blow slammed into his throat with enough force to shove his large frame several feet back.
Mohji's jaw dropped as Richie coughed and hacked trying to breathe through his damaged throat. Markus glanced at his fist and smiled. That blow felt... good. He turned to see Richie still struggling to breathe while looking at Markus with a hint of fear in his eyes.
--------------------------------------------------
Richie the Lion
Level: 9
Hit Points: 405/450
--------------------------------------------------
Markus wasn't sure what to make of the damage he'd dealt to Richie. Forty-five points was a fair amount and almost exactly matched his Strength attribute. He didn't think it would be that simple though. Most games gave bonuses for hitting weak spots and he had punched Richie in the throat. He needed more information to come to a proper conclusion.
He wasn't going to waste any more time letting Richie recover to go over his thoughts. Markus charged at Richie and jumped into the air while cocking his fist back. Richie's eyes widened just before a heavy blow slammed directly into the top of his head and knocked him into the ground. If he hadn't been suffocating he wouldn't have been so easily knocked around!
--------------------------------------------------
Due to showing proficiency in a skill, you have gained the 'Brawling' skill.
--------------------------------------------------
Markus landed on the ground and quickly glanced at the description of the skill. Thanks to his increased Spirit he could read much faster and retain information better than before.
--------------------------------------------------
Brawling
[Passive, Level 1, 0.0% Experience]
Brawlers are not martial artists but they are fighters in their own right. Rough and undisciplined, brawlers trade blow for blow and aren't afraid to fight dirty! As a brawler, you gain a bonus to damage dealt while unarmed or when using improvised weapons.
+1% Unarmed Damage
+1% Improvised Weapon Damage
--------------------------------------------------
Seeing his new skill brought a smile to Markus's face. There was no flood of information like when using a skill book but he could subtly feel the skill guiding him in how to more efficiently move his body to deal a little more damage to his opponent. Things littered around the street like broken pieces of wood, chairs, and even flower pots suddenly looked like useful weapons to him. However, he already had a weapon in hand. Markus grinned wickedly as his tightly gripped Buggy's arm in both of his hands. Since he was using a severed hand as a weapon did it count as both unarmed and an improvised weapon?
It didn't matter, just the thought of slapping Richie and Mohji around with Buggy's hand caused Markus to laugh out loud. He wasted no time and stepped toward the still downed Richie. When he planted his foot on the ground it felt more firm, his body moved in a more efficient way to build up more power for his attack. Instead of just using his arm strength he put his whole body behind his attack. His arms whipped out like he was swinging a bat, though the bat was Buggy's arm in this case. With a resounding crack, he slapped Richie in the face with Buggy's arm! The blow threw Richie's head to the side before his entire body followed. Markus continued to laugh maniacally as he watched the scene in front of him.
Behind Markus, Zoro frowned slightly. As a trained swordsman he saw the slight change in Markus's movements after he'd punched Richie in the head. Suddenly Markus had a firmer stance and was fighting better than before. The change was subtle and most people might have missed it but it didn't escape his eyes. Markus had become a better fighter in the middle of combat. Zoro wasn't suspicious, instead, he was somewhat jealous, wanting to fight a strong opponent like Markus was so that he too could become stronger. The Buggy pirates better have a damned good swordsman or he was going to be pissed!
Still laughing, Markus chased after the rolling Richie. He didn't miss the look of shocked horror on Mohji's animalistic face as he watched Richie getting slapped around with Buggy's hand. Mohji's shocked look caused Markus to laugh even harder. This was the best! As he arrived next to Richie, he lifted Buggy's hand above his head and swung it down with the entire weight of his body behind the blow. As Buggy's hand slammed into Richie's head there were two simultaneous loud cracks. The first from the powerful impact that slammed Richie's head into the ground once again. The second from Buggy's wrist breaking from the impact.
--------------------------------------------------
You have defeated Richie the Lion, an opponent more than five levels above you. Experience x400%, +3,600 experience.
You have leveled up! Hit Points and Willpower fully restored. You have gained 5 attribute points.
--------------------------------------------------
Markus continued to grin as he saw the notifications. He could get bonus experience by defeating people more than five levels above him! He decided that he needed to do that more often. He also leveled up! Finally! He'd been stuck at level one so long that he felt like he would never level up. He looked at Richie laying on the ground, he didn't look dead.
--------------------------------------------------
Richie the Lion
Level: 9
Hit Points: 295/450
Unconscious
--------------------------------------------------
Markus shook his head in disappointment. He hadn't even shaved off half of Richie's hit points and he was already unconscious. Then again... he had been hammering on the lions head and at least partially collapsed its throat so... eh, whatever. He dismissed the lion and focused on the panicking Mohji. Seeing Markus looking his way caused Mohji to panic further. He immediately lifted his hands up in a subconscious defensive way, "Th.. there's no need for us to fight... right?"
Markus glanced over at the injured Shushu. He didn't know it before but it seemed like he was a dog person. Seeing Shushu hurt filled him with sadness and rage. It was a good thing he had someone to take that rage out on. He turned to look back at Mohji, all signs of his playful joking demeanor gone as he got serious, "It's the job of the pet owner to teach their pet right from wrong. When a pet is bad it's not their fault, it's the owner's fault."
Mohji started to sweat heavily as Markus walked toward him. He wanted to run, to get away and tell his captain what happened but his legs wouldn't listen to him. He stared at Markus as he approached, his whole body trembling. Markus stopped less than a foot away from Mohji, "Don't you agree?"
Without waiting for Mohji to reply, Markus swung his right arm, his hand gripping Buggy's hand tightly. With a loud cracking sound, he firmly slapped Mohji across the face with Buggy's battered, bruised, and broken hand. The force of the impact sent Mohji spiraling through the air to slam into a building on the side of the street.
--------------------------------------------------
You have defeated Mohji the Tamer, an opponent more than five levels above you. Experience x600%, +8,400 experience.
You have leveled up! Hit Points and Willpower fully restored. You have gained 5 attribute points.
You have leveled up! Hit Points and Willpower fully restored. You have gained 5 attribute points.
--------------------------------------------------
Markus turned away from Mohji and Richie to see Zoro, Luffy, Nami, and the village Chief all looking at him. Zoro and Luffy looked normal but Nami and the Chief looked shocked. After all, they'd just witnessed him taking out a giant lion barehanded. Markus just grinned at them all, "That was fun."
