Armament Haki??!! Scars Belonging To The Wolf!!

WHAM!!

Max was slammed onto his back for the fifth time that day, but stood back up almost immediately, glaring at the white haired female in front of him.

Him and Emily had decided to have his first sparring session early in the morning, just before breakfast. She was very clear on the time and had even taken the initiative to wake Max up from his sleep when there was around 3 hours before Nalla was to get up and make breakfast.

Max had some hesitation in the beginning as he didn't know the reason why a girl as cute as this one would even bother training him in anything. However he learned two things that immediately changed his mind, and it was Yggdrasill who made him realize these things.

"Haven't you seen it yet brat?" Yggdrasill aksed while was preparing himself fo the fight against her. "This girl loves to fight, and you can tell by the way she carries herself that she's either damned good at it and/or has an insane amount of confidence in kicking your ass. It's probably the only reason she agreed to let you live inside the house."

"So what? Am I just supposed to let her abuse me the whole time and not fight back?" Max asked with a hint of irritation.

"Of course you moron," Yggdrasill replied. "You have an ability that comes with the Form Form fruit I gave to you. Call it a blessing in disguise. Whenever you get the shit beaten out of you, not only will you recover slightly faster then normal, but the more beatings you take, the stronger youll become."

"So your basically saying that this fruit will make me the next Super Saiyan?" Max asked with a touch of amazement.

"Sure kid, but just remember that though this is an OP side effect, it has its limits." Yggdrasill's tone held a hint of caution, clearly letting Max know what to expect. "In order for you to see any marked improvements, you'll have to get beaten over and over again to a monstrous extent. I hope your used to pain, because thats what its gonna cost if you wanna use this ability to get stronger."

"Do I have any other choice?" Max asked, stretching his muscles. He was still in the guest bedroom but he was getting ready to go outside.

"Well you could actually try training with her," Yggdrasill replied matter-of-factly. "I have no doubt that she'll end up kicking your ass so if you also work your almost nonexistent muscles to their limit in tandem with getting beaten, it'll make you stronger even faster. This will give you a solid foundation before you reach your first transformation."

"First transformation?"

"Doesn't matter for now, you just focus on getting your ass handed to you a few hundred times. If you can be praised about anything, its your perseverance and your will to never quit."

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Back At The Present-

Emily smiled as Max stood up once again, obviously enjoying herself. Though she wasn't exactly trying to abuse him, she was relieving pent up stress against him, so it could be said that she was training him to be her punching bag. However, even though she had hit him with full strength, he had gotten back up every time which had greatly impressed her.

She had been training for nine and a half years, almost when the Arlong pirates had set foot on the island. She was stronger than ten of the adults put together, so for this kid to get back up after taking more then four of her hardest hits was pretty intriguing. It made her feel genuinely happy for the first time in a long time.

"Is that all you got?" Max asked, wiping a bit of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Cause I can take so much more from where that came from. You hit like a weak ass girl!!"

He wasn't bluffing about being able to take more hits, but he was lying about her blows. Even though he had gotten lucky and blocked all five of her hits, he could still feel tremendous inhuman power in each strike. If he took a hit of that caliber head-on then he would be all set for another hospital trip.

Emily laughed and took a fighting stance, ready to make another charge. "In exchange for amusing me, I'll take you down with ny strongest punch. I'm sorry in advance if you get hurt."

She bent her knees slightly and raised her fist. Her fist began to darken until it became pitch black, giving it an intimidating look as she leaned forward. She wasn't very far away from Max, but despite that, she pushed off the ground and broke out into a full on sprint.

'Armament haki???!!' Max exclaimed silently in his head as he took a step back. 'When did she learn armament haki? Is she a natural born talent? She clearly figured it all out herself.'

"Max, if that connects with you head-on, even if you block it, the force will still be enough to shatter bones." Yggdrasill warned quickly. "You need to find a way to dodge or lessen the impact."

Max nodded as Emily neared ever so closer, her quick stride and raised fist giving off a sort of suffocating pressure as she finally threw her punch. Gritting his teeth, Max prepared for pain as he leapt backwards just before the fist made contact. The idea was to go along with the force of the impact as he was far slower then she was and unable to dodge.

By jumping backwards, the force of the blow was mitigated by at least half followed by blocking with his arms brought the lethality of the incoming strike down even further. However, even with these actions taken, Max was still sent flying backwards, crashing into a large tree before landing on the ground.

Max could feel his head ringing and something warm and wet running down his arms and back, soaking into his bright whit hoodie. He was sure the wounds he had recieved were the best case scenario but even so, he couldn't help but curse himself.

If he were stronger, then he could've withstood the punch or if he were quicker then he could have dodged and counterattacked. However, he lacked the motivation to get stronger in the life he had lived not to long ago. It was only now that he desired to get stronger, which was why he cursed himself for not trying to change sooner.

Max grunted as he pushed himself up to his feet, coughing up blood in the process. However, he merely wiped it away and stood up. It took a great deal of effort, but he stood tall once again, walking over to stand face to face with Emily, who appeared to be out of breath.

Emily was a bit amazed, but only slightly. She had never used that move before in actual combat so she was mainly surprised that it had connected. What truly amazed her though was the fact that even after a blow that could easily make a hole in concrete the young man simply stood back up again.

"That punch was impressive, but I've taken much worse beatings than that over the course of my life." Max's eyes seemed void of any life to it as his golden eyes focused on Emily's red one. Blood ran continuously down his arms at a rate that was cause for concern, but he paid it no attention. "Your gonna have to do better than that."

Emily shook her head. "That was just my strongest punch, but its nowhere near my best attack." She relaxed her breathing as she started to regain some of her stamina. Using that technique took a lot out of her as she had only just recently discovered it. "Your endurance is pretty amazing but its nothing that can't be worn down."

"Well if your coming then bring it," Max reached down and grabbed the hem of his hoodie and shirt, pulling them up and off his body. "I can take whatever you got!! Even if I fall, you can be sure as hell that I'll always get back up."

"We'll see about tha....eh?" Emily unconsciously took a step back after she got a good look at his bare chest, stomach, and even near the top of his jeans. To say that she was surprised, stunned, and confused would've been an understatement.

It wasn't the first time she had seen a guy shirtless so she wasn't exactly shy about him taking off his hoodie and tshirt, nor was she into the way he looked. In fact, the guy had no muscle definition to speak of so she couldn't exactly say she was impressed as his body was pretty plain. At least that would've been the case, if it wasn't for the scars.

The young man's body was lined from neck to waist with a plethora of scars that crisscrossed one another in various patterns. Some looked deep and some shallow. Some looked rather old while others looked almost fresh as if he just gotten them. That was only a small part of what shocked her, what really made her do a double take was the burn mark in the shape of a wolf dead center of his chest. It looked like it had been etched onto his skin by an expert.

"Like it?" Max asked, snapping Emily back to the present. It was only now that she realized that she had been openly staring. "I got forcefully put on me by a group nasty females who had gotten mad when I called them out. They were all shallow women who cared only about looks, and the moment I said anything about it was the moment they decided to get revenge. They ambushed me after school along with three gang members and forcefully put this symbol on me. It was very painful."

Max's eyes contained a hint of sadness. "Its funny how a beating brings back my memories. Its also funny how its only the unhappy ones that seem to return." He still had to play the role of an amnesiac, however it was true that revealing his brand had brought back a lot of painful memories

The wolf mark would no doubt look super cool to anyone else, but to Max it was just a constant reminder of how cruel the world was and just how weak and insignificant he truly was. It represented shame and pain, two things that he had become very familiar with over the course of his life.

Emily stood up straight, dropping her fighting stance completely. She was unsure of how to respond to everything he had said. It was clear that he wasn't a fan of his scars and the wolf shaped mark, completely despising them, completely detesting them.

However, she didn't have to say anything as just before she got ready to open her mouth, a shout rang out in the direction of her home.

"Emily, Max, breakfast is ready, take a shower and then come to the table." Nalla's voice could easily be heard despite the distance fhey had put between them and the house. "If you don't hurry then the food will get cold."

Max gave a small smile and picked his tshirt and hoodie up from the floor. "Looks like we're needed, we should head on inside. I'll even let you get shower first. By the way, I only showed you this because I'm going to be seeing you around here for a while so I figured I might as well get it out the way."

With those words, he turned around and walked away, revealing an equally scarred back and large burn mark shaped like a lightning running across his back. Even though Emily had only met him yesterday, she felt sorry for the young man as she followed in step behind him.

Nalla stood by the door as the two of them approached and she happily waved to them as they came closer. However, her smile began to fade and her hand slowly came to a stop the moment she could see Max clearly. The scars on his body and the enormous wolf shaped burn mark on his chest made her take a large step away from him as he walked past her.

"Max, how did-" Nalla really wanted to ask him how he got them.

"Sis, it's best not to ask," Emily interrupted as she stopped next to her sister. She watched as Max disappeared into back door of the house. "I feel like he's already been reminded of enough pain."