Kapitel 44: Stronger
"Lightning Chain!"
Imai brought forth her hand as lightning came down from the sky and shocked numerous lemurs who were about to pounce on her. Their eyes rolled back and fell onto the ground.
"HAHA! FLAME ERUPTION!" Rei enthusiastically yelled as she slammed her flaming fist onto the head of the alligator.
An icicle had pierced the head of the alligator from the top to bottom. Its body moved slightly before becoming a corpse.
As for Uta, she wasn't able to use her devil fruit abilities due to the effect it would have on her two comrades. That was why she was using a katana Imai had given her. She was confident in her abilities and that was why the praying mantis was her perfect target.
The praying mantis was arrogant, it looked down on her for being such a small creature, and it also had blades on each of its arms that could cut through Uta like butter.
"Then let's fight, insect."
The praying mantis let out a loud screech before charging towards Uta and swinging down one of its arms. Uta quickly dodged and tried to strike at the area that connected its joints together.
"Eh?" Uta was dumbfounded, the area was as hard as steel.
"EEEEEEEEEEEK!" the praying mantis screeched.
Uta repelled the blade but was struck backwards from the immense physical strength from the praying mantis. It was strong and quick on its feet too. But the same could be said for Uta.
She struck at different parts of the praying mantis, but every part she struck was as hard as steel. But still, she didn't give up. No matter how strong someone or something was, Uta believed there was a weakness.
That was why Uta's eyes wandered all over its body, analyzing which area it deemed important, and was trying to protect the most. As she fought the praying mantis, the more she started to realize something.
It didn't matter when it attacked or defended, the praying mantis only moved backwards, and hardly ever moved forwards unless necessary.
"The back? It can't be…that area is just as hard as its arm." Uta muttered when her eyes widened. "The neck? Its eyes? Hmm, there's a chance."
A chance and a timing was all she needed.
After training with Imai, Uta started to see a battle more clearly. It was hard to explain, but in simpler words, she was just starting to understand. She noticed the attack patterns, the slight twitches in their movement that revealed what they were going to do, and mostly the awakening of her Observation Haki.
For a split second, Uta saw the praying mantis swinging its blade at her horizontally. Suddenly, she was snapped back into reality.
"What the-"
Uta didn't have time to finish what she was going to say when the praying mantis swung its blade at her horizontally. She quickly ducked under it and widened her eyes in surprise at what just happened.
"I see, so that's it." Uta muttered with a grin.
She quickly dashed to the side of the praying mantis where it turned its body to face her.
"Nope, that's not going to happen."
Up, down, left, right.
The attack pattern of the praying mantis was instilled into Uta's brain. None of the attacks reached Uta and that was starting to frustrate the praying mantis.
All living creatures had emotions, but it is their choice whether to act on it or not. Uta knew the praying mantis was starting to become frustrated, its actions were starting to be revealed much easier.
"You're getting desperate."
This was exactly what Uta was aiming for. When emotions start to cloud one's judgment, the person on the other side has already won the battle.
"Goodbye."
Uta slid under its body and jumped onto the back of its body. She ran up its long neck and raised her blade up high before swinging it down onto the nape of the praying mantis.
The blade cut through the nape cleanly and its head dropped onto the floor.
*CLICK*
Uta sheathed the katana and placed it back on her waist.
"As expected, a spear might fit me better." Uta muttered as she noticed green blood on white thigh high socks.
As for the others, they were finishing up the battle. Rei could feel her veins flowing with adrenaline and happiness. All the monsters that came after her allowed her to use her devil fruit abilities freely without consequences. She was finally able to relieve the tension that was built up.
Imai defeated the monsters easily with her precise lightning control and her battle experiences. The giant lemurs were nothing to her, they weren't even considered enemies.
"Animals should just stay as animals."
The trio easily wiped out the monsters and didn't receive a scratch at all.
"So? How was it?" Imai asked.
"It was great! I feel much more flexible and free now." Rei said as she stretched.
"It was nice, I learned a lot of new things." Uta replied.
Imai nodded her head and noticed the refreshing aura that Uta radiated. She smiled to herself knowing Uta had reached a new realm of strength and had become even better.
Despite the lack of control Uta had in the beginning, Imai was confident Uta was going to be quick to pick up on things. After all, Uta was a genius even if she herself didn't realize it.
Truly, Imai had recruited a rare gem into her crew.
"So then, now what?" Rei asked.
"We're going to follow the trail and hope that it'll lead us somewhere." Imai replied.
"Are you sure about this?" Uta questioned.
"What other choice do we have?" Imai said. "Moreover, these animals weren't like this before. There might be a chance there's something wicked lurking here."
"This calls for an adventure! I'm getting excited! Aren't you excited too, Uta?" Rei asked with sparkling eyes.
Uta, who was stunned by the amount of energy, could only nod her head.
"Well then, let's go!"
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein