Ch 2

I waited patiently for a week for the Marine ship to arrive and pick me up. The excitement I felt was unexplainable when I finally saw the giant ship waving the marine flag approaching the docks. I hurriedly grabbed my very few possessions and waited patiently. After around 10 minutes, the ship had arrived and I was greeted by a tall man, around 298 centimeters tall (9'9" for my fellow Americans)

He was tall, but not broad. He was slim but you could tell he was a muscular man, he also had curly hair cut to chin length, and tanned skin. He was wearing a white suit with a blue undershirt and a yellow tie, wearing a coat over all of it that read 'Justice' on the back, the only thing that really stood out was he had a sleep mask on his head.

He saw me waiting on the docks and approached me, "Are Charlotte D. Gaulden?" He said with a lazy tone, perhaps because he already knew the answer considering I was wearing standard marine attire. I immediately saluted "Yes sir!"

The tall man waved his hand, "Don't bother formalities, I'm Vice Admiral Kuzan. Board the ship, Rear Admiral Glubbin will show to your cabin. Afterwards meet me in my cabin so I can ask you a few questions." And with that, he was off onto the sea vessel.

I followed suit and headed onto the boat. I was lost at first before a tall man, something I had noticed to be a reoccurring theme so far. He was around 8 feet tall with a large muscular body, he had no hair on his head besides a little tuft and a blonde handlebar mustache. He wore similar attire to many other marines.

"Hello, young man! I am Rear Admiral Armstrong Glubbin and I have been tasked with guiding you around on this ship and getting you familiar with the rooms." He said in a deep voice, not deep deep, but still it sounds more like an accent than anything.

I nodded and smiled, although he couldn't see it through the mask I had made to not inhale the toxic smog that filled the island, "I will be in your care then, Rear Admiral Glubbin."

He laughed when I said that, "Just call me Armstrong, everyone else does. Rear Admiral Glubbin is too formal for me." and with that said, we began our little trip around the ship. He showed me all the rooms, where the mess hall was, the training room, and the library. The library isn't common on ships but apparently Vice Admiral Kuzan liked to read so he had a empty room made into one, something I appreciated as I enjoyed reading and learning.

As the tour came to an end, Armstrong and me stopped in front of door. "Alright, Cadet Gaulden. This is Vice Admiral Kuzan's room which means this is where we part ways, I wish you a good night and I'll see you tommorrow."

He said good night because at the current time, it was around 11 P.M. and the sun had long gone into hiding from us. "I will see you later, Armstrong." I replied as we shook hands. With a pat on the back, the bald marine had left. This left one obstacle left in my day.

The Vice Admiral Kuzan.

I walked into his cabin and he motioned for me to sit down. He was currently reading a book by candlelight and I waited for around 3 minutes for him to finish his chapter as he put a bookmark in and closed it. He began observing me through reflective glasses he didn't have on earlier, in fact he was wearing more casual clothes now.

After another few minutes of him observing me, he finally spoke up.

"What is your justice?"

This question alone, it seemed simple but I began to really think about it, "My justice is to capture the ones who do wrong, be it pirate or marine."

He raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Pirate or marine? Why not arrest every pirate?"

This was a question I could answer easily, "Not every pirate is bad. Not every marine is good. In my time bounty hunting there were some pirates who were pirates just for the fun of exploring and experiencing new things, while other pirates live to cause hell and wreak havoc. And on the flip side, there are marines who are only marines so they can get away with committing heinous crimes with no consequences."

After that last line, Kuzan looked like he had remembered something that fit that. But he also let out a smile, "That was a very good answer, however there is one more question left." the curly haired man added in a serious tone.

I began wondering what he could possibly mean by there being a last test, "What do you mean, if I may ask?" He now had a smile.

"We will test your strength, follow me." I noticed the ship seemed quiet as everyone slept. We opened the door to the training room and I noticed a figure, which wasn't hard due to the fact the room was well lit.

"Armstrong!? Are you my opponent?" I noticed a large toothy smile on his face. I felt a push on back which sent me into the arena.

I quickly got into a fighting stance as I channeled the racial ability of the minks, Electro. The electricity wrapped around my hands as I approached Armstrong. He hadn't moved yet, seemingly waiting for me to make the first move. I was now even more cautious and decided to do a test attack.

I lunged forward and cocked my arm back, but instead of swinging I leaped backwards and gently landed. My instincts screamed danger when I closed in and I felt a burst of wind as Armstrong had launched a punch, "Ah, I missed. You're much faster than you look." He was right, I was 7 foot 1 due to being a half giant. I didn't speak, not willing to lose focus for any time at all.

I decided to bite the bullet and rushed in towards the burly marine, I was committed this time and aimed for his trachea. His fist landed right on my side but went through me as I turned into a black gaseous void and landed my punch, but I didn't land it. At the last second he grabbed my hand and tried to judo slam but I landed and nimbly got back into a stance. "Wahahahaha! You're good kid." Armstrong said.

I could tell I would lose this fight, he was much physically stronger than me and the only way I would win is to catch him off guard, so I imitated the first move I did and ran in, faked an attack and leaped back out. This time he followed me as I jumped back, which I was hoping for, and I leaped again to go over him while he was still in movement. As I was right above him I summoned to Pulling forces aimed at different parts of his body, I pulled his back right leg towards 2 o'clock and his front left arm at 8 o'clock and began to descend into a hit on his neck.

As I was about to land the attack, I felt the air freeze. Even time seemed to die of frostbite in this cold. "The fight is over." I hear Kuzan say, which triggered something in my mind. I wasted too much energy on the attracting forces and I was running on fumes, which didn't go very well with the fact that I was already tired.

And with the fight over, I blacked out.