Chương 8: This is child abuse!
Standing at the port of Mock Town, a man covered in blood stood. Hearing footsteps come his way, he turned his head, looking at the source of the footsteps. However, he only found a child, seemingly younger than 10, walking towards him with a bright grin and an oversized katana.
Arriving in front of the man, the child, Sou, spoke up. "Hey, you're a marine, right? Are you strong?"
Extremely puzzled, the man responded with a simple, "Yes." At his words, the boy's grin seemed to grow.
"That's good," Sou replied. Still extremely confused by the existence of a child in pirate town, the man was completely caught off guard by the blindingly fast punch headed for his face. Completely unprepared for the strike, he was unable to dodge. Only because of his Observation Haki was he able to harden his cheek with Armament Haki before being thrown back by the punch to his face.
Managing to keep his balance after being thrown back, the man, Vergo, quickly put himself in a fighting stance. 'Who the hell is this kid?" he thought. After all, while he was no stranger to young children being able to fight, with him and Doflamingo in their younger years as an example, he had never met a child as strong as the one in front of him. Even though he was caught off guard, the child's punch was strong enough to throw him back even after he used Armament Haki on himself.
"Kid, who the hell are you?" he asked Sou, who nonchalantly stood, katana drawn.
"Silvers Sou. And you're Marine Captain Vergo, am I correct?" responded Sou. While normally, it would be unwise to give your name to a potential enemy, especially if your name included the surname of one of the most notorious pirates of all time, Sou had his reasons.
First of all, Sou wanted his name to be known throughout the seas. A bounty would help attract stronger people to him, allowing him to further strengthen his skills and have more fun. The second reason was for Rayleigh. By giving away his name and having it put on a bounty poster, Rayleigh would be able to know that he was currently fine. Third, he already had insurance. If he were to be attacked by someone beyond his current capabilities, he had Sasaki Kojiro, who was stronger than most New World Pirates. On top of that, no one truly strong such as Admirals or Yonko would go after him personally, in fear of breaking Rayleigh's current neutrality, as well as the fact that it would be too much of a hassle. Anyone else would likely be able to be handled by Kojiro or Sou.
The fourth reason was to hide his true name. While the surname 'Silvers' already puts a target on his back, if anyone found out that he was Roger's son, it would be the equivalent of covering himself in bright paint and asking everyone to hunt him down. However, if he already had the name Silvers, people would be less inclined to be suspicious that he was Roger's son, as he already had an established family and surname.
Finally, was because of his current System notifications.
[Mission issued: Win.]
[Requirements: 1. Defeat Marine Captain Vergo; 2. Force Marine Captain Vergo to use his full strength (Optional)]
[Rewards: 1. 25 Summoning Points; 2. 25 Summoning Points]
[Mission issued: First Bounty.]
[Requirements: 1. Gain a first bounty above 10 million; 2. Gain a first bounty above 50 million (Optional); 3. Gain a first bounty above 100 million (Optional)]
[Rewards: 1. 25 Summoning Points; 2. 25 Summoning Points; 3. Servant Skill Upgrade Coupon]
When he first saw the Mission Rewards, his first thought was, 'Holy shit.' This reaction was understandable, as the rewards given were incredibly useful for the current him. If he managed to fulfill every condition, he would be able to get 100 Summoning Points, enough for another Servant. Not only that, but he was offered a Servant Skill Upgrade Coupon.
While he didn't know exactly what it did, based on the title it seemed incredibly useful. If it was able to upgrade the Skill grade of something, it would be able to boost his strength by a good margin rather quickly. To put it into perspective, the difference between a B-ranked Observation Haki and an A-ranked Observation Haki was the difference between prediction and Future Sight. While Sou's low leveled skills would likely be unable to experience as big of a jump, it would still be an incredible boon. Even the Skill upgrades were only for those inherited from Servants, as the title implied, he had many skills that definitely needed this boost.
In summary, he definitely needed to get these rewards. And the most straightforward way he could think of was kicking Vergo's ass, as well as revealing his name. If he used the name 'Silvers', it would likely influence Vergo to be more prone to unleashing his full power, as well as making the government give him a bigger bounty, killing two birds with one stone.
Snapping back to reality, Sou noticed Vergo rushing towards him. A bamboo stick clad with Armament Haki in his hand, Vergo quickly reached Sou. Swinging the bamboo stick at Sou's face, Sou blocked it with his katana. 'Shit! He's powerful,' he inwardly exclaimed.
Jumping back, Sou began to strategize. 'While he is powerful, I have a few distinct advantages. With Ten Image Defense and Complete Mind's Eye, I'll likely be able to dodge most, if not all, of his attacks. On top of that, my Presence Concealment and Knowledge of the Sowa means that it'll be extremely hard for him to dodge me. I should just slowly whittle him down with constant attacks while dodging his attacks. Once he's exhausted, I strike.'
Following up his thought, he rushed straight at Vergo, in a move seemingly completely contradictory to his line of thought. Arriving in front of Vergo, he slashed downward. As he expected, Vergo put up his bamboo stick to block. Sou's attack traveled down, completely bypassing Vergo, striking the ground and blowing up a cloud of smoke. Feeling Sou's presence vanish from his Observation Haki, Vergo's eyes widened in surprise.
Inwardly smirking, Sou thought, 'Ah, what a classic. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.' Hiding in the smoke, Sou delivered rapid slashes to different parts of Vergo's body, causing blood to spurt out of each wound.
'Damn, this kid is tricky. Where the hell is he?' thought Vergo. Suddenly feeling a vague presence behind him, Vergo lashed out with his bamboo stick. However, the only thing he hit was air. 'Shit! That was intentional! A decoy?' As soon as he thought this, Vergo's eyes snapped forward, finding a blade heading straight for his neck.
Caught off guard, Vergo managed to once again guard with an Armament-hardened arm. However, while the blade wasn't able to cut his arm, the sheer power behind the katana caused a loud crack to resound from his arm. Lashing out once again with his bamboo stick, he once again only hit the air, as Sou had already fled and suppressed his presence as soon as his attack had failed.
However, when he went to strike Vergo's body once again, he was met with Armament Haki. 'Fuck! He already learned full-body Armament Haki this early into the story? Now I won't be able to whittle him down with weak strikes since his whole body is protected. Only if I fully commit to my attack, will I be able to deliver any lasting injuries. But that'll leave me vulnerable to counterattack. Damn it!'
Of course, Vergo chose this time to monologue, likely in an effort to decrease Sou's morale. "This is a technique I've recently developed. With my full-body Armament Haki, there's no way you'll be able to cut me with those weak strikes.'
Inwardly, Sou shot back, 'No shit, dumbass! How the hell am I going to get past this? Would I be able to win in a full head-to-head confrontation? Fuck it, I'll do it.' Sending a full-powered strike to Vergo's neck, Vergo was unsurprisingly able to block it with his bamboo stick. Vergo immediately followed up with a punch from his fractured arm.
Sou was able to dodge it due to his Ten Image Defense, but his dodging freed up Vergo's bamboo stick, allowing for yet another follow-up. 'God damn it! I can't keep dodging this guy forever!' With this, Sou decided to turn up his aggression to another level.
With Sou sending slash after slash, Vergo was forced to block and dodge. As Sou was attacking, he noticed something. While Vergo would block his weaker attacks with his arms or his bamboo stick like he normally did, he noticed that with any of his stronger attacks he would dodge, which he hadn't normally done before he had used full-body Armament Haki.
'I see! Due to having to spread his Haki, his Haki likely isn't as when it's concentrated in one spot. Meaning that any of my full-strength strikes would be able to do a significant amount of damage without me having to catch him off guard,' Sou thought. Rushing in, Sou was immediately met with a strike from Vergo's bamboo stick. However, rather than dodging it like he normally had, he let it hit his shoulder, causing him to wince in pain at the cracking sound produced. This had a purpose, though.
Since he didn't dodge, he was still in extremely close quarters with Vergo, giving him a perfect chance to deliver a full-power strike to Vergo at the cost of some damage to his shoulder. Due to the speed of his strike, it seemed as if his katana had disappeared, reappearing near Vergo's neck.
Vergo raised an Armament-clad arm, intent on stopping his strike. However, due to the spread of Haki all over his body, he felt the sword dig in and cut his arm. Sou, however, did not withdraw his sword after feeling it sink in. 'Come on! Just a little bit more power and I can deal a potentially fatal wound to him! Damn it! So close! I need more strength!'
At this thought, it seemed like everything around him slowed down. Adrenaline pumped through his body, his focus intensifying, and he was incredibly aware of Vergo's bamboo stick once again heading for his body. However, even so, he did not withdraw his sword, instead choosing to pour more power into it. 'Come on! Cut!'
The extreme urgency and extreme focus caused his 'will' to respond to his pleas. It traveled from his body into his sword, reinforcing it. A black sheen began to cover the blade, providing just the extra power Sou needed. His sword cut through Vergo's flesh and bone, completely lopping off his arm. At the same time, Vergo's bamboo stick impacted his body, throwing him several feet back.
However, even so, Sou clearly dealt more damage in this confrontation. Blood spurted out of the Vergo's stump where his arm used to be, and Vergo clutched his arm in extreme agony. He looked at Sou with extreme rage, before speaking, venom lacing his tone. "You... I'll remember you. For now, I'll retreat. But I'll be back."
While most people would be unhappy about their opponent escaping, Sou was instead happy. 'Perfect. I'm counting on you, buddy. Get me a BIG bounty, alright?' he inwardly responded. Of course, he didn't say that out loud, or Vergo might really double back to fight him, not caring about his severed arm.
As he sat on the ground, his whole body in extreme pain, the only thing he could do was laugh maniacally. Why? Because he had finally checked his System. And the results were great.
[Mission Completed: Win.]
[Requirements: 1. Defeat Marine Captain Vergo; 2. Force Marine Captain Vergo to use his full strength (Optional)]
[Rewards: 1. 25 Summoning Points; 2. 25 Summoning Points]
[Optional requirements completed]
Sou felt extreme glee as he checked the Summon tab, his previously zero Summoning Points now a hefty 50. 'It's all up to you now, Vergo!'
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A/N: Double-length chapter? Not even I expected this. I got kind of carried away, and now I'm here, with a chapter double its normal length and being awake at 5 am. Nice. Some people might not have liked my decision to have Vergo escape, but who else would have been able to spread the word of Sou's strength and give him a bounty. No one else was watching, so Vergo was the only option. Also, this might be a bit rough around the edges since it's 5 am, and unedited. As always, leave comments, suggestions, concerns, and questions in the comments. See ya.
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