Chapter 7

Adrian brought his sword down hard on Kumadori Yamamba's blade once more. A feverish flush flashed across her face, and she could not hold back a muffled grunt.

In raw strength, she was still no match for Adrian.

Kumadori Yamamba shoved his sword away, furious and alarmed. "Adrian, when did you get this strong?"

In Kumadori Yamamba's memory, Adrian had been nothing more than a slightly clever brat. Apart from learning things absurdly fast, nothing about him had stood out. His head-on fighting ability, in particular, had only reached the middle ranks of the reserve squad after two years.

Seeing Adrian defeat Dawson head-on had surprised her enough. She had never imagined that even she would fail to bring him down—and find herself on the losing end of the fight!

"Has anyone ever told you how awful your voice sounds, Instructor Kumadori Yamamba?"

After holding that in for two years, Adrian finally said it. He felt as refreshed as if he had taken a huge bite of ice cream on a scorching summer day.

"Dawson! Attack with me!"

Kumadori Yamamba finally ordered Dawson, who had been watching nearby, to join her. She had seen clearly that only his favored right fist was injured; he had lost little of his fighting ability.

With Dawson in the fight, they might be able to take down Adrian, the traitor, quickly!

So it's finally come to this?

Adrian's eyes shifted.

His original plan had been to get a map of the nearby waters and some basic supplies from the local underworld, then quietly sail away alone.

He believed the World Government would not make a public spectacle of issuing a wanted notice for him if he did that.

Being a pirate isn't nearly as wonderful as people imagine, all right?

But before Adrian could even put his plan into action, Dawson had followed him here.

Worse still, Kumadori Yamamba had come after him too.

This has to be the worst-case scenario, right?

Adrian tried to find some humor in it.

Fortunately, he had a contingency plan for this situation.

During the month before they reached Xilian Island, Adrian had not spent his days aboard the ship idling away his time.

After advancing to Professional Swordsman, he had gained more than a basic boost to his attributes: he had also unlocked the advanced form of Basic Swordsmanship Training.

Advanced Swordsmanship Training awarded far more experience. Each session earned him between 80 and 100 experience points, depending on how well he completed it.

Over the past month, Adrian's relentless training had earned him 2.6 million experience points.

That was not enough to raise his profession level, but it was perfect for raising his skill levels right now!

After a split second of thought, Adrian commanded silently, Put experience into Soru and Kami-e! Add seven points to Strength and fourteen to Agility!

The panel responded at once.

Six Powers: Soru Lv. 8 (0/1,000,000)!!

Six Powers: Kami-e Lv. 6 (240,000/500,000)!!

Strength: 70. Agility: 70. Remaining Free Attribute Points: 59!!

By then, Kumadori Yamamba and Dawson had closed in from opposite sides, trapping Adrian between them.

"If you want to escape with Geppo, go ahead and try," Kumadori Yamamba taunted.

Dawson said nothing. He simply watched Adrian and blocked his retreat.

Adrian replied with something neither of them understood. "Escape? I don't have a log-out-and-run skill. Besides..."

You have triggered the C-rank emergency quest [Freedom]!!

Quest hint: Freedom leads the people!

Quest objective: Escape successfully.

Quest reward: Draw one skill or Specialty from an enemy.

I really, really want to see what a Specialty looks like!

This is my first time coming across one!

Adrian took a deep breath and focused on the fight.

"Rankyaku: Lotus Blossom!"

Unable to hold back any longer, Kumadori Yamamba attacked first. Rather than clash with him head-on again, she unleashed a rapid series of kicks. Visible waves of compressed air split into hundreds of tiny wind blades that swept toward Adrian, covering the area behind him where Dawson stood as well.

"Finger Pistol: Fist Cannon!"

At the same instant, Dawson charged without dodging and attacked Adrian's back.

They struck from both sides!

"Soru!"

Adrian moved like a ghost, appearing behind Kumadori Yamamba. With Soru's sharply increased level and an almost twenty-five-percent boost to his Agility, he easily evaded an attack that had seemed impossible to escape.

"Impossible! That speed!"

A bone-deep chill from behind made Kumadori Yamamba's scalp prickle. She had never expected Adrian's speed to leap so dramatically in the space of a few minutes. She could barely react!

"Take this! Life Return: Hair Bind—"

"Surging Stream Slash!"

A cold flash burst into the corner of Kumadori Yamamba's vision and vanished. It was the same scene all over again.

Kumadori Yamamba had no time to think. Following her body's instincts, she bent sharply at the waist.

Slice!

The luxuriant pink hair floating around her was not so lucky. Adrian's merciless blade sheared away a great swath of it, sending strands drifting down to the dirt.

Kumadori Yamamba had no time to mourn her precious hair. Gritting her teeth, she lunged forward. If she had dodged a moment later, her head might have been cut off with it.

Adrian slid his sword back into its sheath and said coldly, "If you don't take this seriously, you'll die, Kumadori Yamamba."

Damn brat!

Kumadori Yamamba said nothing. She could feel cold sweat soaking her back.

Dawson stepped up beside her, ready to face their common enemy. He understood now that he was no match for Adrian alone. He had to fight alongside his instructor.

Just then, Adrian drew his left foot back, bent his right knee slightly, and lowered his upper body. His left hand held the sheath; his right rested on the hilt.

"One Sword Style..."

"Iai..."

"Maple Leaf Cutter!"

Power erupted. The lingering trace of a cold blade seemed to hang in midair.

Kumadori Yamamba felt a chill against her neck.

She turned her head. Adrian stood behind her, sword in hand, its edge resting against her throat.

"How? How could you be so fast?" Kumadori Yamamba murmured, unable to believe what had happened. "I couldn't even see..."

Dawson was stunned. He could not keep up with Adrian's movements at all. His vision had blurred for an instant, and now Adrian's blade was at his instructor's neck.

"Well? Do you want to keep going?"

Adrian had no interest in fighting them any longer.

Iai was a sword technique built around drawing the blade and cutting down an enemy in an instant. Level-eight Soru had pushed the speed of that strike beyond anything they could match. Combined, the two would have left Kumadori Yamamba headless if Adrian had not stopped himself in time.

Still, this was his first time testing the technique on a person, and his control had not been perfect. The sharp blade had left a shallow cut across Kumadori Yamamba's long, pale neck. Beadlike drops of red blood slowly welled from it, lending her a fragile, striking beauty.

"Stand down, Dawson. We're stopping." Kumadori Yamamba waved a hand, her voice thick with frustration. "What do you want, Adrian?"

"Nothing. I just want to leave. If you hadn't suddenly shown up to block my way, I'd probably be off this island already." Adrian withdrew his sword and turned around. "You can pretend nothing happened, or report the unfortunate news that 'reserve trainee Adrian died on a mission.' I'd rather not see my photo on some ridiculous pirate wanted poster. That's why I spared you. Remember what I said."

"Adrian!" Dawson growled angrily, though he did not know why he was angry.

"Congratulations in advance on becoming a full member of CP9. Try not to die on your future missions." Adrian waved and left the alley. "Goodbye, Dawson. Goodbye, Instructor Kumadori Yamamba."

Five minutes later.

After "borrowing" a map of the surrounding waters and some Beli for expenses from the local Mafia, Adrian returned to Xilian Island's docks. He picked an unattended fishing boat that looked to be in decent condition and sailed straight off the island.

When he was about thirty nautical miles from Xilian Island, the system panel finally responded.

D-rank quest [Field Assignment] failed!

No reward.

Huh?

What?

When did I accept that quest?

Adrian blinked. Come to think of it, he had accepted it so he could leave the island.

Whatever. A failure's a failure. It was only D-rank.

The other one is what matters!

[Freedom] completed.

You have earned a reward: Draw one skill or Specialty from an enemy.

Drawing at random... Draw complete.

Choose one of the following five abilities as your reward:

1. Concealing Presence — Skill: Suppress your presence, evade enemies' notice, and become harder to detect.

2. Six Powers: Tekkai — Skill: Tekkai! Ha! Ah!

3. Low-Level Toughness — Specialty: Converts Stamina into additional health and energy at a ratio of 1:10.

4. Basic Marksmanship — Skill: Pew pew pew.

5. Life Return: Hair Binding Technique — Skill: Ninja Art: Wild Lion's Mane.

"Did the system cut loose because I'm finally free?" Adrian scratched his head. "What kind of skill descriptions are these? And two of them overlap with skills I already have. No, three!"

Tekkai, Basic Marksmanship, and Life Return were all skills Adrian had already mastered. He had no need for another copy.

Concealing Presence was a good skill.

So I'll choose Low-Level Toughness.

It's a Specialty!

You have acquired Low-Level Toughness!

A tingling sensation ran through his body like an electric current. It grew steadily more intense, then turned painful, as though thousands of needles were stabbing every part of him.

After what felt like an eternity, the agony slowly receded like the tide. Adrian's eyes were bloodshot. He felt as though the system had cruelly ravaged the tender flower that was his underage self.

"Nobody said getting a Specialty would hurt like that! What a scam!" Adrian let out a heavy, ragged breath. "Wait. This Specialty came from Dawson. I'm not going to turn into a muscle monster too, am I?"

Alarmed, Adrian immediately sat up in the boat and checked his reflection in the sea. Thankfully, his body had not changed. He was still as handsome as ever.

"My first Specialty really packs a punch!"

Relaxing, Adrian clenched his fist. He could not see the exact values of his health and energy, but with 64 points of Stamina, the conversion would give him 640 extra points. That was no small amount.

Adrian activated Life Return. Sensing a substantial surge in vitality, he nodded in satisfaction.

The Specialty would grow stronger as his Stamina increased, continually granting him more health and energy.

Looking at it that way, those monsters who'll roam the seas in the future must all have similar Specialties, right? Adrian pondered. Every last one of them is practically impossible to kill...

Today's unexpected quest had also given Adrian an idea.

If he could obtain such a valuable Specialty from Dawson, who had never even appeared in the original story, the monsters who had appeared in it might have far more valuable abilities to offer!

If Low-Level Toughness existed, there had to be Mid-Level Toughness and High-Level Toughness too. And Kaido, the "Strongest Creature," probably had health and energy beyond measure...

"Being able to gain power from one enemy after another—it's like I'm being pushed to challenge the whole world!"

Adrian felt no fear. If anything, his confidence soared.

If I don't stir up trouble or make enemies and just focus on getting stronger, what kind of transmigrator am I?!