Chapter 15: Ring of Protection

Third Person's PoV:

"Wow.. it's a Caravel!" An orange headed girl muttered. In front of her is a ship. Although on the smaller size and a bit older in build, this ship is different from ordinary ships that people would use to sail the seas. The passion and effort the builder put into her can clearly be seen. The ship is predominantly brown and white in color, completed with a mast and sail. The special thing about this ship is that her figurehead is a smiling sheep.

"Yes, I named her the Going Merry. I built her myself." Puffing out his chest, a sheep man in a butler suit was standing in front of the ship as he proudly showed off his creation. This man's name is Merry, so obviously he named the ship after himself.

Merry is the head-butler working for the mistress Kaya. After Luffy and his crew helped save herself and the island, she decided to give them the ship they had previously requested.

"Oooh... we've finally got our pirate ship!" Luffy happily cheered beside Nami. Zoro was also sporting a smile, which somehow looked like a grin or smirk. It seems that whenever he smiles, genuine or not, he still looks like a devil.

After the whole debacle with the Black Cat Pirates, our favorite crew spent a few days in an inn. They spent their time talking and getting to know each other even more. Nami also became much less detached as she happily told everyone about herself, except for the whole Arlong ordeal. Deciding to confront Nami again later in private, Josh looked back behind him to see a giant bag rolling towards them.

Luffy and Zoro stepped up and lazily put their feet in front of them, effectively stopping the charging mass of clothes, daily necessities, food, and everything else Usopp owns put together in one giant bag. When the dust cleared, the scene of two men stepping on the face of another could be seen, with a nose poking in between the two feet.

Nami snickered at the sight of the long nosed man thanking the two for stomping on his face.

Dusting off himself, Usopp got up with a shaky leg. The bag on his back was just too much for his scrawny legs. "Well...I'm going on a journey." He said, with a bit of melancholy and expectation. "Maybe we'll see each other again on the high seas."

"Just get on already." Luffy told him. Somehow, everyone was already on the Merry. Usopp looked around in confusion, "What are you surprised about? We're already friends." Zoro added.

"I'm the captain!" Usopp jokingly shouted to which everyone just deadpanned.

Finally, after everyone got on their newly acquired pirate ship, they celebrated. Celebrated Usopp's joining of the crew and the Going Merry.

Josh's PoV:

Settling the whole Black Cat Pirates by myself without even moving was not within my expectations. Although I promised Nami to show my powers, all I did was stand there which left me a bit dissatisfied. The only thing I can look forward to is meeting Hawkeye Mihawk.

Nami took a room all for herself which nobody really minded. All of the boys, including myself, had to share a room but it was spacious enough so it was fine.

I plan on training the group a bit earlier than I originally wanted. My plan was to train them after the Arlong Park debacle, so that I wouldn't have to explain to Sanji again but there's really nothing else for me to do besides lounge around on the Merry.

Deciding to first settle everything with Nami, I went out of our shared room and made my way towards her. On the way, which isn't even a few minutes, I briefly thought about what I wanted to say to her and how I should convey my honest intention to help her.

Understandably, Nami wouldn't want us to risk interfering with Arlong until she really runs out of all options. I sighed as I came to the conclusion of having her experience so much hopelessness that she would have no other choice but to trust us.

It isn't impossible for me to just barge in there and settle everything in a moment, but the thought of my actions resulting in Nami hating me or worse, no longer wanting to continue being a Strawhat scared me.

The reason Luffy didn't just storm Arlong Park without Nami asking for assistance is partly because he trusted her, but he also wanted her to trust him as well. A girl like Nami who experienced such cruelty would not so easily trust another person. Part of the whole reason she did, was because she didn't want her fellow villagers and sister who she had been enduring all this time for, to die.

After Nezumi took all of Nami's hard earned money and finding out that it was on the orders of Arlong, the villagers couldn't hold it in anymore and all of their suppressed anger and hatred flew out like a raging storm.

"System, can you tell me exactly what the 'Ring of Protection' does?" I realized I hadn't actually checked out what that darned thing can do, so I asked the System. Hopefully, it'll be something useful. I doubt it would be of any help to me so someone from the crew might be better off with it.

[Ding!

Ring of Protection: A ring capable of blocking physical attacks to a certain extent. If worn, the wearer will be able to activate a barrier around themself to withstand physical attacks.

Warning: The barrier is only able to take a certain amount of damage before breaking.

Duration: 1 minute.

Cool down: 1 hour.]

"Hmm... I wonder how much the "certain" amount of damage is. I doubt it'll be able to continuously block physical attacks up to Yonko level." As I heard the system's description, I pondered on what to do with it. I could first test out exactly how much damage it can take or just give it to the person I have in mind.

It can be somewhat useful to me in a very dire situation but the circumstances that I would need this ring is very limited. For example, after a fight which leaves me badly weakened and am being pursued. Situations like that will be very rare just because I'm a careful person when it comes to strong opponents. I could also just get myself something way more useful from the system.

I stopped my inner thoughts as I reached the door to Nami's room. After a rhythmic sound of knocking, the voice of the girl in question spoke up. "Come in. The door's unlocked."

Upon hearing Nami's voice, I slowly opened the door. Inside the room are a bed, table and chair, a bookshelf filled with books, and Nami standing near the door, looking at me curiously.

"What is it?" She asked with a bit of panic in her voice. I guess she must've already digested the feats that I showed her a few days ago... I hope she isn't scared of me or something.

"I just wanted to talk to you. May I take a seat?" I gestured towards the only chair in the room. With her consent, I heavily sat down. The tension in the room was a bit high for my liking, but when thinking about the topic of discussion, it's better that way. Nami also sat across from me on the side of her bed.

"Is.. is it about Arlong?" Seeing that I was a bit hesitant to speak up, Nami started off the conversation with the most likely and dreaded question. I nodded silently. I knew how much this whole situation meant to her... it's basically her life and the lives of her loved ones we were talking about.

"I won't force you to ask us for help, but I need you to keep an open mind that we are more than willing to." I told her. Speaking up for the first time since I went into her room.

There was silence again for a few minutes. Nami must be mulling over my offer to her. I sighed as I knew I wasn't getting through to her. Instead of continuing, I took out the ring which I previously pocketed. "Here, I want you to have this."

Examining the expensive looking jewelry in my hands, Beli signs could be seen in her eyes and she clapped her hands side ways. Jeez... I guess it's just one of the things that make up the woman known as Nami.

"For me? Why thank you. I might forgive you if you gift me expensive things more often." The red head happily cheered. All the heavy tension in the room disappearing along with her voice. This is actually what I wanted because pressuring her to ask for help isn't my job... it's Nezumi's.

"That ring is special so don't be selling it off or losing it." I warned her sternly. Handing the ring over as I said this. I got the ring from a mission concerning about her so it's only right that I give it to her. Besides, I got a cool 500,000 points so I'm satisfied.

"Special? What do you mean? From the looks of it, it might be worth a few hundred thousand Beli."

I shook my head at her ignorance which I really can't blame her for. After all, an item such as this should not even exist in this world.

"That ring is called the 'Ring of Protection'. The wearer has the ability to create a barrier that lasts around 1 minute and I believe it should be able to block all physical attacks against...maybe a vice-admiral? I don't really know because I haven't tested out it's full potential." Nami nodded. Not even bothering to be surprised anymore after the things she saw me do. "It has a cool down time of an hour so be careful."

When she asked how it was able to do such a thing, I decided to put the blame on devil fruits. After all, even objects are able to eat a devil fruit, which she doesn't know yet by the way.

Nami took the ring and put it on her middle finger on the right hand after looking over it once more. She must've decided to test it as I can see a green transparent barrier around her. In order to prove that it can really block attacks, I punched the barrier a few times, slowly increasing my strength as I did. By the time I used about 50% of my full strength, it started showing cracks before vanishing. The 1 minute time limit was up.

I couldn't really say whether or not it can take attacks from Vice-admirals as I haven't tested myself against them yet. The girl was amazed with her eyes widening a little. Man.. looks like I'll have to find more mind blowing things to show her to.... well, blow her mind again. She's getting used to it already and we haven't even hit Paradise yet.

I asked her to gather the other guys on the deck for an important discussion while I remained in her room. She stares at me uneasily, "you think I'm gonna steal your panties or something?" I teased her a bit. She walked away with a huff but not before hitting me over the head and giving me a silent warning.

I'm not a pervert like Sanji, Brook, or... Franky? I'm not sure about Franky.. let's just say he's a special type of pervert and move on.

Usually, asking the group to gather and the like should be the captain's job but as everyone knows...Luffy isn't exactly a normal captain.

The reason I stayed behind is to purchase something from the system. It's nothing important but ever since I got to the One Piece world, the one thing I severely lacked and missed is... good food.

On the island, I had to tough it out with smoked or roasted wild beast meat, and they aren't exactly mouthwatering. I haven't had the chance to taste anything remotely delicious other than the restaurant and bar we've been to on the previous islands.

So my solution to this is... learning to cook good food for myself. Reaching the Baratie will take us about 2 more weeks and we haven't met Johnny and Yosaku yet so the rest of the crew doesn't even know about the place.

"System, is it possible to buy the cooking knowledge and skills of Saiba Joichiro from Shokugeki no Souma? It isn't technically a power." I asked with a bit of hope in my voice.

I didn't want to do this at first in fear of Luffy making me the official cook and no longer needing Sanji, but I figured I could bullshit my way out of this by saying I didn't know how to cook food needed to survive on the sea. Besides, if worse comes to worse, I will just adamantly stick with being the crew's combat trainer and refuse to cook for them unless they get an actual sea cook.

There should be a difference between normal cooks and sea cooks. I believe it has something to do with the needed nutrients, but I honestly don't know because I haven't even been out at sea before in my previous life, let alone live on it.

[Ding! Normally, they would be considered the "power" of that world, but System can make an exception for Host just this time as a reward for completing Host's first mission.]

"Why thank you, System! So how much do they cost!?" My excitement can clearly be heard within my voice as I asked this. Saiba Joichiro is considered a legendary figure in the food industry... at least in the world of Shokugeki no Souma.

[Ding! Both the knowledge and skills of Saiba Joichiro costs a million each. Does Host want System to proceed?]

"Oh.. that's a lot more than I expected. How many points do I still have left?" Damn me and my negligence. I haven't exactly kept count of my system points, mainly because I forgot and partly because I didn't want to be too reliant on them. I'm guessing I either do not have enough or will be flat out broke after this.

[Ding! Host has a total of 2,500,468 System Points left.]

Yep... I'll be broke after this. Looks like I need to somehow get another mission or kill a lot of beasts to get more points. I have a feeling in my gut that I might need them and besides, who died from being prepared? Actually someone might but that's besides the point. The point is that I might need them for the future.

"Please buy them." I commanded the system with a bit of sadness. It's always better to have more than you need rather than need more than you have. With that out of the way, I made my way up out of the room and up to the deck of the Merry.

A/N: Sorry for the delay. I had a few extra days off from school because of the weather and snow, so I decided to catch up on my favorite TV shows and movies and read the novels on this site.

I know those aren't exactly good excuses but I don't want to lie to my readers. As I've said before, I'm not obligated to produce a chapter per day.

I've decided on a workable schedule but be warned, I might not always keep it. For now, I wanna do 3 chapters a week and anything else extra will depend on you readers. What I mean by this is for you guys to actively give me workable ideas to further the story, therefore me being more motivated to write more chapters.

I thank those who commented, voted, shared with someone, and reviewed this story. I know the story is still in it's early stages but please write a review and leave a comment so that I will know what you think.