"First of all, what are your stats?"
"My stats!? What do you want to pry into my stats for? Nosy!"
"Just to see where you're at. I'm curious. I can bring my own up if you want—"
"Agh, no need, no need. I'll bring them up." He said, waving him off. "Hey, voice. Bring up my stats."
One blue window materialised in front of the drunkard.
[Manora Banji Stats]
Rank: Novice [456/2000]
Melee: 2000[MAX]
Defense: 2000[MAX]
Sword: 0
DF Power: 0
Gun: 2000[MAX]
"Manora Banji, huh? What's your real name?"
"Morgan. Morgan Miller." Morgan replied, glaring at his stats with disappointment.
"You don't seem too pleased by your stats, Morgan. They far surpass mine. Why does it say max next to the numbers?"
"I won't be able to surpass those numbers until I surpass my rank. I'll still gain the points, I just won't be able to deposit them."
"What!? That's absurd!" Regan complained.
"That's just how it works I'm afraid." Morgan said nonchalantly. "And it's not really that crazy once you think about it. Gaining essence lets you advance through the ranks, if you defeat a strong opponent, you don't even have to kill them, but if you defeat them you'll gain a large amount of essence."
"I see," Regan nodded, recalling the boar. "So then, the max my stats can reach is like 1000?"
"Exactly 1000. You're pretty close with your melee I'm assuming?"
"Yeah, I'm at 647. 353 more points to gain."
"That's good, but you want to be prioritising your defense stat too."
"Speaking of my other stats, how do I gain points for them?"
Morgan cleared his throat to begin his tutelage. "Gun and Sword points are gained the same way you'd gain Melee points."
I thought so
"And as for defense points, they're gained by incurring damage at the hands of another person or creature."
Damn, so only when fighting can you gain them. Makes sense. Things aren't entirely like those Roblox one piece games.
"I guess you're going to have to hit me with everything you have."
"What?" Morgan said, puzzled by his sudden masochist expressions.
"You heard me. Wait, do you have haki? I hope you have Haki."
"I do…wait, no. You can't mean that. By everything you want me to use all of my strength and haki!?"
"That's exactly what I mean!" Regan grinned, bracing himself for the punch by raising both of his arms.
"But what if you die!?"
"I won't die." Regan affirmed. "My gut is telling me I won't. I can't. Not before I meet Luffy. So go ahead and do it!"
One could see the gears in Morgan's head turning, wrestling with multiple different decisions in his mind. He'd allow Regan a glance before he went back to musing. Finally, as the wind wind whistled and hissed to fill up their moment of silence, Morgan spoke.
"I'll do it. With all my strength, but not with haki. I don't think you're ready for haki."
"Fine," Regan sighed. "C'mon, let's do this."
Morgan nodded, and then lunged forward, his fists clenched. He pulled his arm back, building up momentum for a devistating right hook.
As the fist came towards him, Regan balled up his own fist and threw a punch that collided with Morgan's own. The impact shattered Regan's arm as if it was made out of glass, and sent the boy whirling backwards at unprecedented speeds.
Regan crashed and skipped against the ground like a pebble across the sea, moaning and crying out in pain as his mangled, distended arm flopped like some strange fish.
"SHIIIIIIIT," Regan screamed, biting back the tears that escaped from his eyes. "This hurts. This hurts like hell! Goddam, goddam!"
[You Have Gained 1500 Defense Points]
[You Have Gained 1000 Melee Points]
A wry smile appeared on Regan's face, wrestling with the pained countenance that found its way more so than the amusement he felt towards his stat gain.
Damn, at least it worked. I gained Melee and Defense points!
"B-bring up my stats and my points!"
[Dedmond Dantes Stats]
Rank: Small Fry [50/1000]
Melee: 647
Defense: 0
Sword: 0
DF Power: 0
Gun: 0
[Dedmond Dantes Points]
Total Available Points: 2500
Melee Points: 1000
Defense Points: 1500
Sword Points: 0
DF Points: 0
Gun points: 0
Deposit them all…
[Points Deposited Succesfully].
[Dedmond Dantes Stats]
Rank: Small Fry [50/1000]
Melee: 1000[MAX]
Defense: 1000[MAX]
Sword: 0
DF Power: 0
Gun: 0
Great. So the other points are left over, which means I have 647 left over in my melee stat, and 500 in my defense.
"Regan!" Morgan shouted, rushing towards him at great speed. "You good? Jesus, your arm…"
Regan looked at his bloodied arm and groaned in horror. There was a bone jutting out of the flesh, with blood pooling underneath his elbows, mingling with the grass beneath him.
"D-doesn't look too good, huh?" Regan chuckled.
"No," Morgan agreed. "You look like shit. I'm glad I didn't use haki. You would've been dead."
"Damn…g-glad you didn't use it either." Regan croaked.
"Let's get you up, and let's get you some medical attention."
"Medical attention!?" Regan complained, shoving Morgan's hand away with his only good arm. "It'll heal on its own! Let's continue training."
"Are you nuts!? You keep going at your rate and you won't get to meet Luffy at all! That wound will ensure you die before you do!"
Dammit.
Truthfully, Regan knew he was right. But the boy was too adamant on rushing things, he wanted so badly to leave and venture off into the world without worrying about death lurking in his corner.
But wait, when Luffy left he knew that there was a chance he could die too. He was willing to die for his dream. Am I not willing to die for mine?
Regan concluded that he would gladly die if it meant having the chance to meet his hero, but he had ensure that he didn't pointlessly throw his life, as he was doing now if he continued training with his grevious wound.
"W-whatever, get me a doctor. Shit, this fucking sucks."
"I'm glad you have some sense." Morgan sighed, pulling Regan up to his feet.
***
Morgan had taken Regan back to a humble abode that Dedmond Dantes had been familiar with. It was a small bungalow that wasn't too far from the premium inn, and during their journey, Morgan had to wrap his jacket around Regan's arm to hide the injury.
Morgan knocked on the door and the two waited patiently.
"Girl behind this door is a doctor. She's one of Dante—well, she's one of your neighbours. Her father passed a way at sea and she's been the one treating people here ever since. Even pirates."
"That's very interesting and all," Regan, grumbled, rolling his eyes,"but I just want her to fix me up quickly. This is a major setback, I don't care about no doctor."
"Hey, hey. No need for the attitude. You're the one who gave yourself the setback by asking me to hit you." Morgan reminded him.
Regan worked his mouth for a petulant complaint, but before he could, the door swung open, revealing a radiant figure that had made Regan's heart thunder in his chest.
"Oh my gosh!" She beamed, wrapping Regan in her arms. She smelled like flowers, honey, and perfume, making Regan's heart flutter tenderly like the sharp wings of a butterfly.
Her hair was long, brown, and curly, draping past her shoulders like curtains. Her hazel-brown eyes were narrowed in excitement, and her pink lips curled upwards the more she spoke.
She was much shorter than Regan, and so Regan could see her even though she was now pressed against his chest, pleasant scents curling up from her hair.
"H-hey," Regan stammered, swallowing hard.
She pulled away, to Regan's dismay, and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. "What brings you here? And you are?" She said, turning to Morgan.
"Manji." He replied. "Best we talk inside."
He pushed Regan into the home lightly, and the woman quickly followed after them, shutting the door behind her.
"Is everything okay?" The woman asked, gripping the simple green tunic that she was wearing.
Manji shrugged and pointed at Regan. "We're still breathing. But he won't be soon."
"W-what do you mean?" She panicked. She was already quite disturbed by Morgan's appearance. He looked and smelled just like a pirate after all.
Morgan unwrapped the coat from Regan's arm and pulled it away, revealing a mangled and bloodied arm slick with warm blood.
"Oh my! Oh!" She gasped, almost reeling away. "W-what happened!?"
"He got into a fight, that's all. Can you help him or not?"
"That's all!? He might die from this! I'm going to need more hands. Regan, lay down on that couch over there."
Regan did as he was told, the woman's radiance masking the pain he had once felt.
"More hands? What do you mean more hands?" Morgan said.
"Trainees," the woman answered, running about the place frantically. Collecting sanitized tools and blue gloves everywhere she went. She had grabbed a belt too, and threw it at Morgan who quickly caught it in the air.
"They're people I'm training to become doctors. I'll be needing their assistance for this. Wrap the belt and then the coat around his arm tightly and hold it firmly. And stay here. I'll be back!"
With that, she rushed out of the home, her green tunic flowing behind her.
"Morgan." Regan said, his breath returning to him. He didn't realise he had been holding it the entire time. "Who was that woman?"
"What? Oh, her? That was Rose. Why?"
"Rose," Regan repeated, cupid shooting arrows through his heart. "Morgan, I think…I think I may have another goal in mind."