NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2: Korr
Flamingo island was two weeks away by boat and so, he had a long time to do nothing but fish and be alone with his thoughts. Over this time, there were new bounties in the east blue, delivered in the news. None stood out to him in particular but he noted the new bounties of Arlong, Buggy and Alvida, all had risen by a million berry, "zazazaza, I'll come after you next", he glinted at Arlong in particular. The fishman should be put back in his place for what he did to nami, the poor girl…
Soon, he arrived and spotted three pirate ships docked at the island, each bearing the jolly roger of a horned bear. The only structure on the island was a wooden fortress. Nori docked his boat on the sandy beach and set foot on the island. Birds were chirping, the wind rustled through the leaves of the trees on the island and the sun beat down on him. He walked with purpose towards the fort.
"Halt, state your business!", one of the pirates called, he wore scalemail, with their jolly roger emblazoned on its surface.
"I am here to challenge Korr", Nori smiled, licking his teeth, "As a fellow Oni, he too must feel the call of a worthy challenge"
"I- I will get the boss", he looked about ready to piss himself as he stared at Nori's horns. It didn't take longer than a few minutes for Korr to arrive. He was tall, easily 4 meters tall, almost twice as tall as Nori, though still small compared to Kaido, "You are here wanting to challenge me? My, my, if you are one thing, you are brave but I accept your challenge. It has been so long since I had a good challenge. Come with me to my courtyard"
He guided him inside the fortress which was bustling with pirates. He ordered them to clear the large courtyard in the middle of the fortress, forming a circle around them.
"You are here to witness a duel between two Oni, Look and marvel at our strength, though we all know who will win Mimimimi!", Korr got into a fighting stance and Nori mirrored him. They circled each other, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Eventually, Korr saw his' and lunged at the fellow Oni. Nori shifted to his side and the powerful fist struck the air besides him, there was a wind that followed his blow. Nori took his chance and punched him in the side. He only grunted, not being moved by an inch and swung his outstretched arm, hitting the blue haired Oni in the nose. He could feel the throbbing pain but he didn't flinch, instead, he swung another punch, which his opponent caught with his arm and redirected. Korr thrust his knee upwards, into Nori's stomach, forcing the air out of his lungs. He staggered to a halt and breathed in deep. They were evenly matched, seeing that, Korr transformed, growing even larger and harrier, into a oni-bear hybrid.
"Playing your trump card, eh? Well, let me show you mine, Gum Gum Pistol!" his arm shot out and hit the bear-man in the chest, sending him back a few inches. The claws came for his face but he dodged, releasing another "Gum gum pistol!"
The next attack was another slash with the bear claws, which he dodged but it was a feint for his true attack, the bite into his side, "Argh-! You bastard"
Nori did a double ear clap, making his opponent release from the bite. Both of them jumped back a good meter. Nori could feel the warm blood trickling down his side, whilst the bear looked almost unfazed, 'Damn it, in his bear form, he is way too durable, I'm not doing any damage', he cursed internally, looking around, he grabbed a knife from one of the surrounding pirates, "Ey, give that back!", she moved to get her knife back but Korr growled, "keep out of it, if he wants a weapon, he can have one", before lunging at him again. The claws ripped into his chest, drawing even more blood but he just let it happen, for he grabbed his head with one hand, holding it to his chest and ran the dagger into his eye, "Arrrgh!!", the captain cried in pain. He was distracted long enough for Nori to drive his thumb into his other eye, effectively blinding him completely. The thumb had more penetrating power than normal and, to his surprise, it was colored black. He had just awakened armament haki. The captain howled in pain, swinging wildly. Nori jumped back and let the oni rampage. He attacked in any direction he heard a sound from, which mostly came from his crew, so he slaughtered them, as they ran away. After a bit of carnage, Nori jumped on his back, gathered armament haki in his palm and slammed his palm into the dagger, driving it farther into the eye socked, so far, it penetrated the brain and- after a few more seconds of flailing- he died.
[You have successfully beaten Korr. A skill is randomly selected… Skill: Kuma Kuma no mi, model Grizzly]
As he felt the power settle into his being, he transformed, his wounds closing a bit due to a zoan's enhanced regeneration. Exhausted, he fell asleep in his hybrid form.
Dreams of Korr's atrocities filled his sleep, it was as if he was watching through his eyes as he slaughtered men, women and children alike with his bare hands. He saw gore and rape and so many more vile things and he felt good, knowing he had stopped this monster. Soon, he awoke again and tended to his wounds before collecting his head and walking out of the fortress. The ships were all gone, seems the pirates had abandoned their captain. Too bad, had they stayed, they could very well have ended him but they didn't, so he was free to go back to shells town.
When he presented the head to the bounty officer, they called for their captain, Frolly.
"You have actually killed the demon of the sea Korr? You must be truly strong, what say you join the marines? I can get you a title as a petty officer, no training required"
"No, thank you, I don't want to be in the marines I-"
"What about a Chief petty officer?" He sounded desperate. Nori could only roll his eyes at the greed in his eyes. He hoped that he would rise far through the ranks and be indebted to him, it was painfully obvious.
Nori bought a few new clothes for him and a good amount of booze, partying at one of the bars over taking down his fellow Oni. Over the next few days, as Nori recovered, he could feel the eyes on him and he even heard some of the villagers calling him 'Demon's bane Nori'. He approved. Next, he would go after Arlong and officially hoist his jolly roger, which he had made in preparation for this day, a horned skull with demonic fangs, like an oni from japanese folklore. He bought a small ship, enough for a crew of about 6 but small enough to be sailed alone and he attacked the marine base. This was to openly announce that he was a pirate. He killed a few no name marines and even ax hand morgan and captain Frolly before fleeing the scene and escaping on his new ship, flying his jolly roger.
He upgraded some of his skills through merging double skills.
As he was sailing, the news reached him and his first official bounty was issued, 'Demon's bane Sol Nori worth 21.000.000 berry. This pirate has started as a bounty hunter and has taken down several notorious pirate, with his biggest catch being the demon of the sea, Korr. He has significant strength, enough to rival the strongest pirates in the east blue. He has become a pirate after handing in the bounty of demon of the sea, Korr by attacking and looting a marine base. He has killed 35 marines and stolen a great amount of berry from the marine base in shells town'
"Zazazaza!", he laughed, they had taken a great picture of him, with his face splattered in the blood of several marines. He didn't feel at all guilty, rather, he felt pride, "let us take you down next", he looked at Arlong's poster.
Arlong park was but a few days away and he came into the building, guns blazing, slaughtering fishmen in the base, the fodder gave him basic skills and even fishmen karate of the beginner level but when he met Arlong, covered in his men's blood, the angry fishman attacked using fishmen karate, shooting him with water but he dodged. He had absorbed observation and armament haki from the marines and fishmen he slaughtered, so dodging a foe like Arlong was no problem, as he inched closer, dodging water as Arlong became more and more panicked. Finally, when he was but a few meters away from him, he transformed into his hybrid bear form and did a, "Kuma Gum Pistol!", sending the fishman flying through the walls. He didn't even have to check whether he was dead or not, as the system dinged.
[You have beaten sawtooth Arlong. A random skill is picked… Skill: Fishmen karate(Intermediate)]
He smiled and transformed back out of his hybrid form. He plundered Arlong park of its berry and maps, before walking to Cocoyashi village, holding arlong's severed head in his hand, parading it through the town, "I have killed Arlong! The tyranny is over!"
The villagers were shocked, "Isn't that-?" "Yes, I've seen his wanted poster" "Is it really the demon's bane?"
The first one to actually move towards him was a young man, 19 years old, Tim, kneeling before him, "Thank you so much! I- can I join your crew? You are him, right? Demon's bane Nori?"
"Yes and- you want to join my crew? What are your skills?"
"I am a doctor and I'm not too weak either, I have been working out to one day defeat arlong"
He did look muscular. He may be a boy but he had a lot of muscles, with a sharp jawline and good looks, he had platinum blonde hair and stunning blue eyes.
"Tell you what, punch me, with all your force and if I deem you strong enough to join, you can come with"
"What are you doing, Tim? We were just freed of Arlong, how can you just swear your life to another pirate? Don't you want to enjoy your life as a free man?"
"That's exactly why I want to be a pirate, only pirates are truly free and I have a goal I am working towards, I want to be the strongest man alive, I can only become that by either becoming a pirate or a marine and I don't trust the marines anymore. They never helped us but he, Nori did, being his first mate would be an honor", He turned back to Nori and asked, "So, just one punch, right?"
"That's right, one punch"
He drew back his fist, his muscles tensing as he concentrated every muscle in his arm for maximum force and he let out a punch into his gut. He had expected to not feel anything and dismiss him as just a fool with high dreams but to his surprise, he actually felt that. It wasn't anything like Korr's hits but still, he felt it.
"So? Am I good enough?"
"Definitely, I welcome you as my first mate on the Calamity pirate crew", he turned back to the villagers, "When the marines come here, tell them who defeated Arlong and spread our name. The world has to know that here come the calamity pirates Zazazazaza!"
They bought more supplies and soon were on their way, sailing towards an island near them, Figaro island, the pirate hub, as it was nicknamed. There most east blue pirates sourced their crewmembers from. It was an island teeming with pirates looking for a crew to join. He needed more men if he wanted to succeed in the long run.