The Blacksmith's Anvil

Note: check chapter number, might have some useful info about something coming up...

[Kuzan POV]

I walked slowly up to the caveman, discarding my intentions to use that attack, not wanting to scare him further for absolutely no reason. Although he might believe in God, there was no need for him to meet Him today.

Pickle didn't move.

He was a proud man. I was sure that even the sight of meeting his maker wouldn't be enough to dissuade him from retaliating if I really put him up against a corner, but I knew better than to forget my original intention for such a meeting.

There was no need for me to prove to myself of my superiority to the man, just like how there was no need for me to challenge other animals to have some fun.

'It's no fun.'

I had gotten my fill of pride when he had slowly escaped from my grasp. I had already won the 'contest' of might, there was no need for me to do more harm to my new best friend.

Although he might have the body of a beast, at the end of the day, he had the heart and common sense similar to that of a 'child' from 'our' perspective at least. That wasn't meant as an insult to the primitive man, it was just that there was not a lot more that I could 'steal' from him. 

He had grown up in a different world, with rules and common sense different to that of our own, fighting those beasts with his powerful body alone. Unfortunately, I already had the potential to match his physical strength, maybe even surpass it. 

Plus my mastery of martial arts made the fight redundant, as we both knew that I would surely win if I really used all of those tricks.

Luckily for him, I wasn't planning to train my martial arts here today.

[Pickle POV]

'{not god}'

'{beast}'

[Kuzan POV]

It seemed that Pickle finally understood what I wanted to do to alleviate some of my boredom. It was simple really, I just wanted to continue where I left off when having to abandon that fight with that beast to 'save' my family.

I held out both of my fists in front of me, showing the primitive man just how much I valued his help.

[Narrator POV]

Despite not being familiar with modern sensibilities, this act was one that even Pickle recognized, used since the dawn of time to indiciate only one true acknowledgment between fights.

A test of strength.

[Katsumi POV]

'Stupid.'

That boy, challenging that beast into a pure contest of strength. 

However, it seemed that I underestimated the boy's growth, as he stood there, his body getting more crushed by the blows by the second, still he stood, under the incipient, unrelenting blows of that beast.

Against all odds, he stood there, realishing in the beating he was delivering but especially so in the one he was receiving, with a horrid grin on his face.

[THUCK]

[TWACK]

[THUICK]

'Ah, I get it.'

I finally understood why the boy went through all this time to create this arena and not even paint it, leaving it fully silver from head to toe.

This arena was the anvil.

That boy the sword.

And Pickle the blacksmith.

As he continued moulding that boy's body into one that could take on his carnage.

It hurt just watching the bloody scene in front of me. Not because of the gore or sheer violence that was being inflicted onto that boy's body.

No.

It hurt to watch that boy's growth.

'Damn you kid.'

I deeply despised that boy.

'First stealing away from me my ego, and now taking from me my opportunity to blossom.'

Still, I knew now better than to hang on to an opportunity that I had missed.

'Especially when I've got the chance to try something better.'

[Kuzan POV]

He smashed, punted, and beat his turth into me.

The truth that he was not afraid of my tricks.

The truth that he was not afraid of me.

The truth that he was strong.

Still, I held on, his beatings being not nearly enough to fully stimulate my growth. 

I knew well that perhaps the strongest innate ability that humans possessed, was their ability to adapt. Whether it be out of necessity or want, their bodies would welcome the chance to grow, striving more to take greater and greater amounts of damage in effort to fight back twice as strong.

And unfortunately, just one beating wasn't gonna cut it if I wanted to fully tap into the inherent potential within that demonic body that I now possessed.

[Katsumi POV]

Just when I thought the boy would finally fall, his state looking like something out of a horror film, bruised and damaged in every place that I could see with my naked eyes, the caveman stopped.

He stopped exchanging blows with the boy, forcing Kuzan to do the same, as he 

He looked at the boy, assessing just the amount of damage that he had done, before patting the boy on the shoulder as if proud of how much of a beating he had been able to take before finally succumbing to his injuries.

The boy, in-turn, looked into Pickle's eyes, as if requesting for him to continue his training session, only to receive a firm head shake in rejection.

Instead, he picked up the kid by his leg, dragging him out of the arena as if satisfied with the first session of their match, taking the boy back with him following a familiar path.

[Kuzan POV]

'Come on Pickle, there was no need to take a break so soon.'

However, despite my constant attempts to continue provoking my friend into resuming our 'fun', he took my insults as if they were the tantrums of a kid, forcing me to eat some more and rest before we could continue our play session.

'Really Pickle, I really underestimated just how well we'd get along.'

[12 hours later]

"Ahhhh-hhaaaaaa" Pickle let out a loud and tired yawn while stretching his arms, as if announcing his refusal to continue our 'match' as it was nearing bedtime.

I could tell that he wanted to continue, thankful still not having grown bored of my strength, as I continued to show him more and more tricks in return for every strong punch that I received.

Still, even he knew when it was time to call it a day. I knew, just by the sound of that yawn, that he was planning to have an amazing sleep tonight, considering the workout we had just been through. 

However, what kind of a friend would I be if I didn't at least look out for my friend.

Although I had learned to communicate pretty well with the caveman, there was simply no way to integrate him into modern society within just a day. It would certainly take, at the very least months if not years, for the caveman to find his place in this strange new world. 

Fortunately for him, I wasn't gonna take my role as his best friend lightly. I was going to do my best to help him understand this new world slowly until he finally got reasonably adjusted.

And fortunately for me, Pickle was highly open to adapting to this new situation. He might be older than the stone-ages, but that didn't mean that he was dumb, in fact, Pickle was one of the most highly intelligent people I had ever come across.

His talent for the martial arts rivalled even Baki's, with his ability to adapt perhaps even surpassing the boy by a large margin. All that he needed was a helping hand, to grow and nerture, a hand that I was going to provide as his friend, especially when he'd helped me already so much out of the goodness of his heart.

He heart was purer than even Diana's in a way, and I would have to be a sociopath to not want to preserve that purity of heart.

Thus, tonight, I was going to give him my first lesson into the 'way's of modern humans'.

"So Pickle?" I asked the man my question, speaking directly to heart as I did so, "Wanna go out and find a girlfriend?"

And if his excited face was anything to go by, it looked like he was more than ready to really, 'blow off some steam.'

[Note]: DO NOT READ REST OF CHAPTER if you are uncomfortable with topics relating to 'consent', nothing happens, but I know that the even the suggestion of such things can be hard for some people when mentioned.

[1 hour later] 

I walked with my friend to the outside world, explaining everything that I could think of to the caveman to ensure that he didn't commit any 'major' crimes before I had more time to get accustomed.

But if there was anything especially urgent that I had to explain to the caveman before me, it was the idea of 'consent'.

'I swear I wouldn't wish this task on my worst enemy.'

Despite how many different times and different ways I tried to approach the topic, it just seemed that there was a 'language' barrier between us, which I knew was impossible considering I was attempting to speak directly into his heart.

'Really, having to explain to him about the birds and the bees while not even having had that talk from my parents is certainly an interesting experience.'

Still, somehow, I was finally able to come to an 'agreement' with the caveman to prevent him from getting into possible trouble due to this reason. I even went so far as to make sure that a certain news reporter got relocated out of the country due to a promotion she suddenly received at work.

It was a non-issue really, especially when I knew just the perfect guy who would be able to help my friend here find partners that would be more than happy to handle 'Pickle'.

'Hehe.'

Finally, we made it to our location, a building located at the heart of downtown Tokyo, a building that I was very familiar with, having been 'thrown put' of it before.

"I'm here for your boss."

At least this time I didn't have to wait, as it seemed that they remembered our previous meeting, not delaying our reunion any further.

I saw the man, in his pristine white suit, coming down the stairs slowly, exactly in the same manner as before, without so much as a concerned look in his eyes despite the clear danger my friend and I were obviously permeating to his senses.

However, despite how much he tried to hide it, I could see just how shocked he was seeing Pickle for the first time in person. I was aware that Mr. Tokugawa, despite my clear instructions, had already informed his prized 'champions' of Pickle's existence.

Thankfully, at least the man still had some sense left in him, not yet having the opportunity to blabber about his presence to the Ogre, thus preventing this situation from becoming even more complicated than it already was.

"How's it going Hanayama?"

"Would you mind helping my friend here in finding a good girlfriend?"

"Let me warn you though..."

His eyes narrowed, as he waited for my words to finish given the tension that had overtaken the room in just a moment.

"He's a bit shy.'

[Note]: You can continue reading the next chapter when it comes out, don't read the rest of this note if you skipped the previous section. Read the author's note if you still have concerns about the morality of Kuzan's actions. I just want to mention again, that Kuzan is in no way supporting non consensual s*x, I wanted to make that very clear.