Chapter 22 Captain Black Root

"KLANG!"

The dagger had been barely deflected by Black Root. His arm shaking from the deflection, as he landed on the floor of the shack. 'What bastard would sneak attack me just as I exit the basement?' Black Root couldn't believe it, his eyes darting around the room before locking onto a figure.

This figure was cloaked in black, his fist growing bigger and bigger in Black Root's view. Naturally Black Root slashed towards the fist, after all no one would punch a dagger. And Black Root was correct in his assumption. Twisting his foot Rak rotated in such a way so that his punch would miss Black Root, his fist hitting the air.

Because of this, the 2 were now back to back. Rak's punch having missed, and likewise Black Root's dagger had nothing to slash at. This situation was good for Rak. Due to his superior agility which had now reached a whopping 68, Rak was much faster than Black Root.

Rak then turned around and using his right hand punched towards Black Root's back once again. On the other hand Black Root was no slouch. He too turned around less than a second after Rak had, his dagger slashing towards Rak.

Just as the dagger and fist were about to collide, Black Root suddenly faltered. 'What's wrong with my stomach.' Black Root felt queasy causing his dagger to miss Rak altogether. Because of this Rak's fist easily passed by Black Root dagger.

Rak's fist then struck Black Root's abdomen, causing the man to fly back about 2 meters, but before he could land Rak abruptly accelerated appearing behind him. Before Black Root's back could even touch the ground, Rak once again punched him. He proceeded to play ping pong with himself using Black Root for about 10 more seconds before stopping.

"Thud!"

Black Root's body landed on the ground, he was obviously unconscious. 'I hope that wasn't too much noise.' Rak thought, before swiftly retrieving his dagger which Black Root had deflected. Rak wasn't in the business of leaving evidence.

Entering the basement, Rak placed Black Root's body on the floor. He had made sure to keep the shack as spotless as possible, it wasn't all that well kept to begin with so Rak assumed he was safe. 'Now I can begin my next plan.' Rak pondered before punching both of Black Root's shoulders and knees.

"CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!"

"AHHH!" Black Root roared, waking up from the pain. Luckily Rak had closed the hatch to the basement or his plan would already be ruined. "Who are you!?" Black Root questioned, he was in so much pain yet still wanted answers.

"No one important, just the man you have to listen to if you want to live." Rak replied, to which Black Root could only nod in fear. He was already no match for the figure in front of him before, and now with both his arms and legs seemingly disabled he had no chance. 'If only my stomach didn't act up.'

"...So what do you want from me?" Coming to terms with his situation Black Root wanted to know how he could live. While he may now be a cripple he didn't want to die, and who knows maybe he could find a doctor who could save him.

"I heard you're fond of poisons. Show me what you have." Rak demanded to which Black Root simply nodded. "Well, I don't have many poisons only 3 in reality." Black Root replied his head motioning towards a chest.

Opening the chest Rak found 3 different containers, each holding a different liquid. "The clear one can make one feel unbearably thirsty, I call it Drought." Black Root explained. "Its not exactly lethal but I had made it just incase I ever got into a crew war. Unfortunately when I fought Grip it was too abrupt to make it effective." He continued.

Obviously if one felt thirsty, they might not function at 100% so Rak understood the concept, not to mention if they constantly drank and drank to stave off the thirst funds would deplete rapidly.

"That green one is also not all that lethal only making one feel somewhat dizzy. But what's special about it, is that burning it produces a gas which can spread rapidly. While its effectiveness is lessened, it can affect many more people. I call it Nausea." Hearing this Rak was once again intrigued. It seemed as though Black Root was opening quite a few avenues for him.

"Lastly, the black one is where my name comes from, Black Root. Its actually a venom not a poison, by slicing an opponent it will enter the bloodstream and leave ghastly black marks. For normal opponents one slice is enough but the more physically fit an opponent is the more I'd need to slice them." Black Root gave his explanation. He could see how happy Rak was.

'Whatever, I've lived a long life I can endure this.' Black Root sighed. He just wanted to get out of this situation. As long as he could live he'd have hope for the future.

"Seems you'll be useful Black Root, I look forward to working with you." Rak smiled, locking eyes with the crippled Captain. "What do you mean working with me?" Black Root asked wearily. "Of course you're going to teach me your recipes." In Black Root's eyes Rak's smile at that moment was the scariest sight he had ever seen.