Headway/Nexus Quest 1.13
Location: Loguetown, Naval Protectorate of the Polestar Islands, Sekai Seifu (World Government), Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth-Mayim, One Piece Multiverse, One Piece-jcw3
Date: Monday, April 4, 1532
Hiking. That...wasn't what you thought you would be doing with superpowers, and yet, despite that previously held conviction, here you are, traipsing through the Loguetown Island forest. You aren't stupid. You know Mayim's a dangerous world. You asked the locals ahead of time about what exactly was in this forest.
It honestly sounds pretty boring. Smoker's predecessor cleared the place out fourteen years ago or so, and there aren't any extraordinarily dangerous animals there anymore. Captain Smoker himself leads expeditions into the forest once every few months to root out mountain bandits, hiding criminals too dumb to flea to sea, or the odd rabid animal. So you aren't expecting incredible danger, which is both a blessing and a curse, in that you're unlikely to face danger, but you're also unlikely to face danger.
The locals say that there's nothing really interesting around there, but you want to check, just to be sure. From what you can tell, Smoker and his men just made a lot of noise and killed anything big that tried to attack them, so they clearly didn't try the subtle approach. Which is why you're here, hiking.
After about forty-five minutes of nothing, you begin to realize that this is just forest waiting to be chopped down and turned into another part of Loguetown itself. It's already been cleared, so why are you even here? You've found utterly nothing, you start to leave- you hear a rapidly increasing noise, an animalistic grunt coming from the cave you passed earlier. Gragh. Gra! Gurr. Graaughaul.
It's a bear. More specifically, it's a grizzly. You aren't good enough with survival to tell what kind, but- oh, it's angry anyway. Fuck. You could run, but you don't know how long bears can run for, and more importantly, whether they can outrun you. Therefore, you stand your ground when it comes plowing towards you.
It lunges towards you, almost flying off of the ground. You have to act fast here, but you manage to make it work. You grab one of its claws, and then, with all of your strength, you push. The bear, instead of using its massive force to land on top of you and push you to the ground, is shoved into the dirt and weeds itself. You almost feel bad about hurting an animal, but this thing is hardly harmless, and you jam your elbow into its neck for all it's worth.
You see it starting to move again, and you're ruthless and pragmatic enough to know to strike again, in the same spot, with even more force. It lets out a grunt that's more pain than anger, and you feel a pang of pity, until you see it start to shudder again, trying to get back up. "Oh for the love of-" you mumble, striking again. And again. And again. After eight quick blows to the same spot from behind, the bear finally goes down.
Ugh. Mother Nature is a bitch. You shakily rise, the adrenaline fading from the fight. You're almost tired from that. Emphasis on almost, since you feel the Headway power tingling in ways it never has before. Is this...is this your first power? Oh hell yes, you hope it is. You'll make time to figure out what exactly you got later, but you're going to get out of here first.
You leave the area as quickly as possible, leaving towards the local swimming hole. Like with the forest, you made sure that there weren't any particularly nasty beasties lurking around. The answer's no, not anymore, as with the forest.
So for about an hour and a half, you wind down with some mundane swimming, seeing moderate increases. This tropical weather is very nice. Brockton Bay only ever got this warm in July or August, and that's with global warming in mind. Plus the water's perfectly cool, and the fish are more afraid of you than you are of them.
After that, you explore the docks, the third and final part of the island. You visited Brockton Bay's docks all the time when you were little, but both you and your Dad got tired of that pretty quickly, and you haven't been since you were, what, nine? Anyway, Loguetown's docks are pretty similar to the bay's, except much more prosperous and primitive in equal measure. Tired, brawny men shoving crates into ships, transferring loads, being instructed by a yard manager, yep, it's basically what you remember from when you were a kid.
Of course, the wooden ship with an obese jolly roger...isn't. You see a small sailing ship with around nine men of disrepute standing around. Pirates. Eventually, one of them pulls out a sword. Oh, dear. "Peons of Loguetown!" an overweight man in a suit of rusted steel armor, loosely clinging to his flabs, shouts while waving around a cutlass. "Where is your skinny god, Smoker?" he demands, pronouncing Smoker in an odd way, like soo-moh-KAH. "You may kneel and grovel, before your new god, Fatty Boy!" Again, he pronounces his name in an odd way, fah-TEE boy-oi-oi. Also, that can't be his real name. It just...can't.
Christ, he's over the top. When the dockworkers subtly edge away from him, he turns to you. You're still a bit bemused by this entire situation. "You!" he shouts, again. "Little girl, take me to Smoker!"
Do any of his men have guns? You quickly scan the pirate ship and his assembled minions- no. Well, one guy has a flintlock, but he currently has two longswords out rather than using it (why?), but aside from him, they're all melee fighters. "Did you hear me, brat?" Fatty Boy demands, expounding the word 'brat' to sound like 'boo-RAH-to.' Not even waiting for an answer, he turns to his men. "Tch. Men, kill her. She's not even curvy enough to be a good slave."
Well. That's your cue. Really one-dimensional, these guys are. You rush them, at peak human speeds, taking them clearly off guard, and with your boxing knowledge, you land a quick blow right in one pirate's face. He stumbles backwards, paving the way for his buddies to enter the fight. You aren't terribly concerned about them, they're malnourished, inexperienced brawlers. The guy with the flintlock, however, needs to go down. Now.
You sprint towards the marksman, and sweep him right by the ankle, kicking with enough force to break his left one. He yelps, and you stomp on his chest, making sure to take him out. By now, Fatty Boy is just sort of standing around, while his men surround you. You sidestep a few efforts at swordplay, and eventually, you grab the downed man's longsword and take a swing at one man's arm. You don't quite cut off his hand, but you do manage to make him drop his sword and take out his dominant hand.
Let's see...that's still six men in the fight. Two get the bright idea to attack you at once, one not even using a sword, but a bo staff, so you go for him. You use his momentum against him, and trip him right into his friend, letting him land on the other pirate's sword. You don't think he's dead, but he's certainly out of the fight. You take advantage of his friend's shock to punch him right in the jaw, and he goes out like a light.
You use the longsword to block two more swings at you, doing your best at a parry, but really just mashing two metal sticks together. You manage to make the next attacker slip up by quickly sweeping him, and he slams headfirst into the ground, with a little help from you stomping his back while he's in midair.
From there, you can focus on the remaining two swordsmen. It's really easy enough. While these guys are surprisingly spry for malnourished and brutish pirates, you're a superhuman. You can essentially grapple them into submission, and from there, it's a well-placed stomp or kick.
You turn to Fatty Boy, who's been watching you with interest, with another man, who's only just a bit skinnier than he is. "Fa-teeteeteetee," he laughs. Oh, right. Earth-Mayim has those weird people who have the weird laughs. "Not bad, skinny girl. You want to join my crew?"
After he just tried to kill you? "Fuck you," you reply lamely, not really having a better comeback. The man next to him is unarmed, not as much of a threat, so you dash towards the captain, and he goes down cleanly, with a single hit. Huh. Glass jaw for a pirate. "You...you bitch!" the man next to him shouts, reaching for something in his jacket. Haha, nope, you aren't going to let him get that so easily. You deck him, and he stumbles backwards, enough for you to slip your foot in behind his, pull back towards you, and he yelps as he falls backwards. You stomp on his gut as a finishing move.
Heh. Heh. You won. Wow. You just won your first real fight against a group of humans. Heh. You pause for a moment to catch your breath, before making sure that all nine pirates really are unconscious. You take a moment to collect their valuables all in one spot. Two flintlocks, three cutlasses, one longsword, and one dagger, as well as a bag filled with 50,000 beri from the captain. The rest are off too poor of a quality to even consider taking. No money or anything...you're still looting when a man in Marine uniform walks up.
"Ah...ma'am, did you defeat these pirates?" he asks. You look closer, and recognize him as an officer. He's a white male of moderate height, with shaggy brown hair and his Marine cap wrapped around his neck.
"Yes."
His serious demeanor disappears, and a satisfied grin appears on his face. "Not bad. I've heard of these assholes. Their leader got off a lucky shot last month, killed Lieutenant Tooraweenah. Oi, Ensign, how much has she won?"
A taller, lankier bald woman looks at a sheet of bounty papers, skimming through them at an almost impossibly quick rate, before looking to him. "'Fatty Boy' Alicc Lumsden. Captain of the Fatty Boy Pirates, 750,000 beri bounty. 'Big' Farron, first mate of the Fatty Boy Pirates, 20,000 beri," she recites robotically, in almost a monotone. "Seven other mundane pirates, standard pirate bounty of 10,000 beri each, adding up to 70,000 beri for the lot."
The Marine officer runs his fingers through the air, taking a few minutes to come to the same conclusion you just did. "840,000 beri. Not bad at all, kid. I'm Commander Yorkville, with the Marines."
"Taylor Hebert. I...guess I'm independent."
Yorkville arches an eyebrow. "Kid your age? You probably should join the Marines. Hunting pirates on your own is a good way to die."
"Ah...no thank you."
He directs his men and women to cuff the Fatty Boy Pirates, before turning to you. "Too bad. Marine pay for badasses like us is pretty good."
"Not interested in being tied down."
Yorkville nods. "Fair enough. Alright, come by the base in a few days or so, and we'll have your money ready for you. We'll be repossessing the ship and all of its valuables, but you can feel free to keep those weapons you're holding," he says, pointing out your arm full of swords and old guns.
"So, I can just take these? There's, like...you're not going to stop me from carrying these, are you?"
The Commander blinks. "Why would we? That'd be a huge waste of time."
"So...people can just sell whatever weapons they want? Or carry?"
He nods, confused at your choice of topic. "Er...yes?"
Your cheeks redden. It was a reasonable question, but his response made it significantly more awkward. "Thank you."
You leave Commander Yorkville on that note, and go to a private alley, before transitioning to Earth-Bet and back, dropping the weapons off in your room. You grit your teeth and bear with the momentary sickness that comes from a transfer back to Earth-Mayim.
What to do next...relax, for one. You just had a hellish fight, technically two, no way in hell are you spending the next hour training or something like that. You're going to come down a bit first. So you spend the next hour or so going through stores and marketplaces all around Loguetown, essentially window shopping and playing tourist. It's sort of like visiting a primitive version of the Boardwalk, with just a bit less tackiness. If you had more money to spend, you might have bought some new clothes, or food, or something like that, but for now? You're enjoying your bit of window shopping.
You grab a few samples of seafood delicacies, which are to die for. They're amazingly delicious. You also visit the scaffolding where the Pirate King was executed. It's...an impressive wooden tower, you guess, but you aren't terribly impressed.
You leave to turn around, having sort of zoned out, and you suddenly bump into a group of Marines, and by bump into, you mean the two of you literally ram into each other. The four or five of you collapse to the ground, caught off guard by each other. The man they were chasing, a pale man with spiky green hair, and a ridiculous pink outfit with the shirt open in the front, stops just for a second, pulls down his pants, and moons the Marines, also giving them both fingers from behind, before running off.
"Dammit, men!" their leader shouts. "Get up and get after that fucker! Bartolomeo can't run forever!"
The Marines grunt in agreement, before getting up and chasing after him. What...what just happened?Ugh. Never mind. You head to the library, intending on reading up on several things. You start with the local islands, which is simple enough. The Polestar Islands have several atlases dedicated to their makeup. There are eight islands in the chain, four of which are inhabited. Loguetown is the largest one, Fort Whittemore being the second largest, due to being a prominent Marine supply base for the Calm Belt. There's also Shigeki Island, a small fishing town, and Furskin Island, a small fishing and skinning town.
For uninhabitable islands, there's Perrault Rock, a small collection of floating rocks that's managed to form an impromptu island. There's no soil, and it's too dangerous for ships to get near, so the World Government had Smoker drop off a flag, and has ignored it since. The Grimbly Islands, two standard sandy islands with one or two palm trees, with the larger one having room for a single cabin. Finally, there's Quorf, which was a World Government colony until the Marines realized that the soil itself was littered with diseases, and the cause of numerous plagues in the East Blue. The Marines mostly just glassed the place, with a few unfortunate casualties.
Phew. That was a bit of reading. There's still more to do, however. You crack open a book on Rokushiki, a Marine superpowered martial art. Disappointingly, the Marines have censored the texts, and the book is mostly scribbled or torn out with the relevant bits for training. Haki is more rewarding, and you learn about the three types of Haki.
Busoshoku Haki, where you reinforce parts of your body or weapons to be able to hit with greater force, or even break through Devil Fruit powers. Kenbunshoku Haki, which allows you to predict your enemy's attacks. Finally, the rarest type, Haoshoku Haki, which allows you to unleash your aura and easily disable weaker opponents. Gol D. Roger was the most famous user of this ability. Haki seems to be a very difficult skill to train or get, but it also seems like it is the perfect counterpart to Devil Fruit abilities, particularly Logia.
Speaking of Devil Fruits, you learn of the three types. Logia, which lets you turn into a particular composition, like smoke, magma, ice, or in one case, light. Zoan, which lets you assume the form of a hybrid between a human and a certain animal. Paramecia, which seems like an all-inclusive category for anything that doesn't fit into the two previous types. Luffy and Buggy were both Paramecia, if you recall correctly.
There's a short section on Fishman Karate, as well as other varieties of martial arts, but you don't find anything worthwhile in them. A pity. You move on to a more boring research assignment, figuring out what exactly is rare in Earth-Mayim. There's the obvious. Rare materials, silk, and spices, but you quickly figure out that good quality salt is also pretty valuable, at 100 beri per gram. Exotic fruit, wines, and foods are also rare items which you could fetch a pretty price for.
You transition home after finishing your research, and head to sleep almost immediately after a long day.
Location: Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, United States of America, Earth, Sol, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth Bet, Worm Multiverse, Worm-jcw3
Date: Wednesday, November 24, 2010.
You're just a bit more grounded today, since you plan on staying on Earth-Bet today. You have your GED today, which is annoying, since you'll have to make Dad take you to school. Still, you should probably study for it, and you do, with a bit of science practice. There's a small increase in chemistry, but aside from that, nothing.
Law Studies is a bit more productive, but still a bit slow, with only one increase. Survival is a bit better, especially with your walk in Loguetown's forest yesterday, but you see an increase in both survival and naturalist.
Dad takes you to school to take your GED. He wishes you luck, and you laugh, saying that you don't really need it. You're right. The paperwork and waiting on the other students takes up most of your time. You're confident you scored within the 96th percentile, by your mental math.
Heh. So this was your last experience at Winslow. A boring, tedious necessity. Almost fitting. You're amazed that the trio didn't try anything, but to be honest, you getting to the stage where you really couldn't care less about those petty bitches anymore. You have superpowers, good ones, and you're only getting better as time passes.
When you get home, you have an unsuccessful session with tactician, before you start on Japanese. You don't get as far as you'd like, but you continue advancing. You finish the basic worksheet, before going to sleep.
+2 Naturalist (3)
+1 Chemistry (3)
+1 Law Studies (2)
+2 Survival (3)
Skill Unlocked! Swimming (1)
Skill Unlocked! Japanese (0)
Skill Unlocked! Combat Instincts (0)
Skill Unlocked! Reflexes (1)
Skill Unlocked! Swordsmanship (1)
Skill Unlocked! Marksmanship (Primitive) (0)
Skill Unlocked! Pirate (4)
LOOT: +3 Cutlasses, +2 Standard Flintlocks (8 total rounds), +2 Longswords, +1 Dagger, +50,000 Beri
Headway/Nexus Quest 1.14
Location: Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, United States of America, Earth, Sol, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth Bet, Worm Multiverse, Worm-jcw3
Date: Thursday, November 25, 2010
Whew. That was a fulfilling run. You're going to have to stop running on Earth-Bet, you think your superpowers might be getting too obvious. You just surpassed the peak human level of fitness in running, and people might start to notice. Too bad, you were liking the cold resistance training. Still, Loguetown is large enough to do your jogging without much difficulty. Both cold resistance and running increase by one level.
Dad's about to leave for work by the time you finish your run, and you stop him ever so quickly. "Hey, Dad?"
"Yeah, kiddo?" he asks, looking in the kitchen sink's mirror, fumbling with his shirt collar.
"You know how I was talking about Mayim trading last night at dinner?"
He nods. "Yeah, the fabric, salt, and stuff. I'll stop by Walton's after work. Thanks for reminding me."
You grin at him. "Thanks!"
He finishes with his collar, before grinning and ruffling your hair. "No problem. It'll be nice having you do something on the other world that doesn't involve wrestling bears."
You have the decency to blush. "I didn't get hurt!"
Dad rolls his eyes. "Not for lack of trying, obviously."
He heads off to work, and you resume training. First aid is next, but it's less successful than running was. You get a bit more detailed in your knowledge of the human body, but that's about it. After your talk with Dad and your first aid practice, you decide to transition to Earth-Mayim for your next bits of training.
Location: Loguetown, Naval Protectorate of the Polestar Islands, Sekai Seifu (World Government), Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth-Mayim, One Piece Multiverse, One Piece-jcw3
Date: Wednesday, April 6, 1532
So...you have a new power now. Like, not a mundane skill you've trained up to near-superhuman levels. A legitimate, honest-to-God, superpower. It's...shapeshifting into a bear. Okay, that's both more and less awesome than you were expecting. Let's try this out...ah. Training this power proves to be incredibly difficult.
By the end of the session, you've reached a rather pitiful first milestone. You can generate small bouts of fur over your body, as well as a snout and sharper teeth, if you focus incredibly, incredibly well. It's going to need some work. After that, you enjoy a bit of swimming to wind down. It goes very well, and you see two increases in a short period of time.
After that, you leave the interior of Loguetown for the Marine base. The Marine by the door arches an eyebrow at you. "Ma'am, what's your business here?" he asks, as if he's annoyed by your presence.
"I defeated the Fatty Boy Pirates two days ago. I'd like my bounty."
He narrows his eyes at you, before nodding. "You're...Taylor Hebert, then?"
You reply in the affirmative. The Marine continues. "Lieutenant Klatt will see you. Go to the second floor, and his name will be clearly labeled on his office."
You feel like you're going to the front office of Winslow to pick up school papers. Klatt's office has his name and rank in both English and Japanese kanji, with a World Government pin on the door. You knock on the door. "Come in, come in," an annoyed male voice says.
"...I was told to come here to collect bounties?" you hesitantly state/ask, entering the room. Klatt, an older tan man in a casual Marine outfit, arches an eyebrow at you.
"That's right. You a bounty hunter?" he asks.
"I...guess. The Fatty Boys were sort of standing around and shouting about how great they were, then they tried to kill me, so I fought back."
Klatt nods, but he doesn't look terribly interested. "Huh. Well, I got your check right here. Stop by the bank, it's got the flag on it, so they should accept it right quick."
You take the check, thank him, and leave the room. You're about to leave when you bump into someone familiar. A fierce-looking white man with shaggy, pale hair, wearing a Marine uniform with cigar straps lined across his chest. His shirt is unbuttoned to reveal impressive abs for a man his apparent age, and he's currently got two cigars in his mouth, leaking a constant stream of smoke.
"Captain Smoker," you murmur. Okay...you don't think this is bad. Sure, he's the most powerful person you read about in the manga (besides maybe Hawk-Eye Mihawk), but he seemed like a real stand up guy. The thing with the girl and the ice cream comes to mind.
He nods. "Ah. Looks like neither of needs to have any fancy introductions. Nice job with the Fatty Boys. That captain of theirs oughta get a good reception in Impel Down."
"Um, you're wel- no, I mean, thank you," you say, your tone rapidly changing pace as you stare at his chest. Why doesn't he button up his shirt? And what's Impel Down?
A ghost of a grin crosses Smoker's face. You think so, anyway. Hard to tell with the cigars. "Don't suppose I could convince you to join the Marines."
"No, sir. I, uh, just don't want to be tied down," you explain. He's wearing a wristband of cigars. Focus on that, not the heaving of his abs when he breathes- hng. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out.
He almost shrugs. "Hn. Pity. Well, anyway, thanks for the help. You're already more of an asset than most bounty hunters."
"How's that?" you frown, caught a bit off guard.
Smoker keeps a completely straight face with his next statement. "You bathe regularly," he says simply, before walking away with a wave. Well. Alright then.
You leave the Marine base 840,000 beri richer. By the math you've done, that's...a little over eight thousand dollars. Still, pretty impressive. With the money you got off Fatty Boy, that's almost nine hundred thousand, and who knows how much you'll get from trading.
That's why you don't feel particularly bad about stopping at Middle Musashi's Dojo for the Aspiring Swordsman, and submitting a ten thousand bill to the man at the front desk. It's...a surreal experience. Middle Musashi is completely mute, and as such, just shakes his head whenever you make a mistake, and then forcibly adjusts your body to the right form. It works, but it's ever so slightly odd.
You find an alley and transition back to Earth-Bet. Dad's got the supplies for tomorrow, and you're preparing yourself for becoming a bazaar woman, to reference a recent television show. After looking over the goods, the two of you enjoy an ordinary Thanksgiving dinner, with food you cooked yourself over the course of the day.
Location: Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, United States of America, Earth, Sol, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth Bet, Worm Multiverse, Worm-jcw3
Friday, November 26, 2010
You start the morning off with a boxing session, and to your surprise you not only get a new level in boxing, but an entirely new area of expertise to train up. The Headway power's begun to understand the concept of martial arts and as such will work to make it easier on you in general with a type of Martial Arts Mastery. To add onto that growth you reach new strides in first aid, seeing increases in the skill itself, as well as medicine and anatomy; two of its subskills.
Perception, though, that's your personal favorite of the day, because it means that you officially don't need glasses anymore. Oh, you can still see fine with them, you aren't sure how that works, but you can see things perfectly clear without them, maybe even a bit better than the average human. You do transition to Earth-Mayim several times for the benefit of looking through new and interesting sites on Loguetown.
Your bear transformation ability is ultimately stagnant today. That's bearly a problem, though, since you can easily move on to more bearable tasks, such as Japanese. You advance further and further with it, seeing impressive strides thanks to the online language program you're using. You have a few ideas for designing your own, since Rosetta Shards, the website you're using, has quite a few bugs, but it would have to wait until you actually know more foreign languages.
Location: Loguetown, Naval Protectorate of the Polestar Islands, Sekai Seifu (World Government), Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth-Mayim, One Piece Multiverse, One Piece-jcw3
Date: Thursday, April 7, 1532.
You transition to Earth-Mayim for most of the rest of your day, planning on doing quite a bit of trading. If you do say so yourself, you do quite a good job. You stop by a fruit vendor, who's absolutely ecstatic to see your exotic fruit, mostly imports from South America. Dad griped about them costing him around forty dollars, well, you just made 55,000 beri off of them.
The iodized salt that Dad had stored in the question is apparently fairly low quality for Mayimites, who consider stuff like Sea King blood mixed with Calm Belt sea salt to be the ideal, but they're still willing to pay one-fifty thousand for the sheer quantity alone, and to be brutally honest, you're perfectly happy with that.
The bolts of fabric you had Dad pick up were exceptionally useful. There are quite a few clothing stores on Loguetown, and their section of the marketplace almost immediately targeted you with prices the moment you entered. You managed to cut a deal with one store for one hundred thousand beri. All in all, you made a little over two hundred thousand beri, which is obviously very pleasing. Even if it's not really worth a million American dollars, you've become a millionaire in less than half a week.
Your good mood is dashed by a fruitless swordsman session, but only slightly. Middle Musashi still gets his money, and you'll probably end up trying again tomorrow. You return to Earth-Bet and head to sleep. You have to say, you're loving your new life as a cape.
+1 Running (6)
+1 Cold Resistance (3)
+2 Medicine (3)
+1 Swordsmanship (2)
+1 Boxing (6)
+1 First Aid (4)
+1 Anatomy (3)
+1 Perception (5)
+2 Japanese (2)
+2 Swimming (3)
+1 Cooking (4)
Power Unlocked! Shape Changing: Bear (0)
Skill Unlocked! Barter (0)
Skill Unlocked! Martial Arts Mastery (0)
+55,000 Beri (Fruits)
-20,000 Beri (Swordsman Training)
+840,000 Beri (Fatty Boys redeemed bounties)
+100,000 Beri (Fabric sold)
+150,000 Beri (Salt sold)
Headway/Nexus Quest 1.15
Location: Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, United States of America, Earth, Sol, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth Bet, Worm Multiverse, Worm-jcw3
Date: Saturday, November 27, 2010
You start off the weekend with a bit of exercise and fitness. You haven't done either in a while, since both being at an already high stage. This makes them a very difficult set of skills to level, but you think you might be able to make them a bit better despite of that. That thought is, unfortunately, proven inaccurate. You manage to get a bit better with weightlifting, quite a bit in fact, but it's still not enough to successfully raise fitness or exercise.
First aid is next, with you seeing a moderate success, with both first aid and its subskill medicine seeing an increase. You might even become a doctor soon at this rate, rather than just a support medic. After that, you have a conversation with Dad about some more stuff to purchase, from Lionshare, a bulk store rather than a department store. You'll cover the exacts of that conversation once you receive the materials.
Obviously, though, training your bear power was a lot more fun. You can sprout fur over the entirety of your body now, and you're beginning to be able to form claws. Your teeth can become jagged and rough within ten seconds of concentration, and you're ever so slightly stronger in the quarter-bear form, as you've taken to calling it. Unfortunately, your finesse is a bit off, even though you're not even using the full form. Still, it's good for sheer savagery, and it seems to work well with Boxing.
Location: Loguetown, Naval Protectorate of the Polestar Islands, Sekai Seifu(World Government), Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth-Mayim, One Piece Multiverse, One Piece-jcw3
Date: Friday, April 8, 1532.
You already stopped by Rebecca Hanberg a day or two ago when you were selling Bet goods on Mayim. She was happy to purchase some of your rare fabrics for her own designs, and you were happy to sell them. Now, however, you're looking for something different from her. She's said to be one of the best tailors in the East Blue. You're hoping for lessons.
A shorter, old woman, with round glasses with almost (key word there) gaudy red frames, in a loose fitting red coat and white undershirt, is standing at the counter. "Miss Rebecca," you smile as you enter the store. You have to remember that on Earth-Mayim, last name comes first, first name comes last. Roronoa Zoro is Zoro Roronoa, Monkey D. Luffy is Luffy D. Monkey, and so on.
"Taylor, darling," the designer smiles as she sees you enter. "What did you need, dear? Did you have more rare textiles to sell?"
"Yes, ma'am, but I...actually wanted to ask for something different. Would you be willing to give me an apprenticeship?"
Miss Rebecca arches an eyebrow. "Mmmmm..." she muses aloud, pausing dramatically as she looks up at you. "Okay! But I want a discount on your next shipment of fabrics."
What ensues next is you learning the very beginning stages of tailoring (no jokes), sewing, and...fashion. God, by the end of this month, you'll be a diva. You see moderate increases in terms of tailor, as well as learning the very basics of sewing and fashion.
Next is...shopping. Man, you're really feeling like a stereotypical teenage girl here. Luckily, the actual contents of what you're looking for quickly eradicate that particular feeling. A survival knife costs 2,000 beri, two cheap pairs of clothes from a used merchant stall costs 800 beri, a used drawstring bag costs 200 beri, and a yearly subscription to the World Government's sponsored newspaper costs 25,000 beri.
The clothes and a bag are a bit ratty, but you can fix those up fairly easily, and it's a good way to use your tailoring skills in the field. Plus, it gives you motivation to level that particular skill faster. Finally for your shopping spree, you stop at a jeweler's, and buy some stuff to sell for Dad. It costs 500,000 beri, which really hurts your wallet, but you can grin and bear it.
Lastly, you head to Middle Musashi's dojo, out of the way in the back end of nowhere. You largely found the place entirely by accident, and you think the fact that you're the only customer he's had in ages is half the reason he's even training you in the first place.
A tired-looking mute man with long, shaggy hair with a knot in the back, Musashi's the spitting image of the popular samurai. He possesses an instinctive knowledge of swordsmanship, with him largely using a nodachi in combat, and seems to see every blow you make ahead of time, no matter what surprise tactics you try going for. He's mute, so asking him exactly how he can predict you that easily isn't really in the picture.
Despite his condition, he's still a spectacular teacher, and you're rushing through swordsmanship at an almost alarming rate. Either in spite of that or because of that, however, your looted longsword is coming close to breaking. "Musashi?" you ask, to get his attention. He lays a lazy green eye on you as he sheathes his nodachi. "Ah...tomorrow, I'm going to Ippon-Matsu to buy a new sword. Would you mind coming with me? To make sure I get a good one?"
He looks at the wall-mounted clock, before looking at you expectantly. "Oh. Sorry, um, how about noon tomorrow?"
The trainer nods. You take that as permission to leave. You find an alley, and transition back home for another night's sleep.
Location: Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, United States of America, Earth, Sol, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth Bet, Worm Multiverse, Worm-jcw3
Date: Sunday, November 28, 2010
This morning, rather than exercising, you continue studying Japanese. It sees a single increase, nothing spectacular, but still, it's something. Tactician is much more rewarding, as one of your most potentially useful skills has finally surpassed human limitations. Well, Bet human limitations. Mayim humans seem to be a lot better at...everything.
You practice first aid with the new kit Dad bought you at Lionshare yesterday. You reach peak human levels with first aid, and also a moderate increase in anatomical knowledge. Your only power so far, the bear form ability, sees no increases today, but you think you can make up for that pretty easily over the next few weeks.
Location: Loguetown, Naval Protectorate of the Polestar Islands, Sekai Seifu(World Government), Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth-Mayim, One Piece Multiverse, One Piece-jcw3
Date: Saturday, April 9, 1532.
You meet Musashi at his training center, and he's already prepared to help you search for a sword. The two of you make your way to Ippon-Matsu's, and the shopkeeper, a shorter man with the weirdest hair style, sort of a literal wing style with his black hair connected to his eyebrows, respectively nods towards the two of you.
"Middle Musashi. A pleasure to see you once more."
The trainer bows slightly in response. "How can I help you?"
You speak up. "I'm looking for a sword."
Ippon-Matsu walks out from behind the counter, and waves his arm at the barrels filled with swords, as well as the blades mounted on the wall. "You've certainly come to the right place. How much are you willing to pay?"
"Up to five hundred thousand beri," you respond.
The man seems surprised, but he recovers quickly enough. After looking through the shop's contents, you and Middle Musashi settle on two swords.
One, a heroic looking zweihander, is a brilliant looking blade with a wide hilt guard on the pommel. Kishi-ko. Knightly Steel. This is the sword of the champion, of the wandering hero. The other is a shorter blade, but one more suited to speed and savagery. A scimitar called Kiramekureisho, or Glinting Snicker. Both cost 100,000 beri. One is a bastard sword with a steadfast growth and style, and the other is a scimitar that focuses on sabotaging your enemy.
You choose one, spend your money, and say your goodbyes to Middle Musashi and Ippon-Matsu. Now, it's time for a selling spree to get rid of some of the stuff Dad bought you. Banana by the Bay, a restaurant for the wealthy of the Polestar Islands, is your highest bidder for exotic fruit, as they're willing to pay 75,000 beri for a few bags from Lionshare. You establish a sales deal of sorts with Ramuzei, the head chef, an angry blonde man with an odd accent.
Salt is your real money maker, with you selling off ten pounds to various Loguetowners for 320,000 beri. You also get rid of your wooden dishes, which are just a bit better than the native Mayimite sets, but not enough to be worth the extra price. You make an extra 500 beri there.
You also stop by Rebecca Hanberg's shop, selling two fine bolts of fabric for 275,000 beri. You're keeping the plainer and more exotic styles for yourself, but that's still more than enough for what the bolts cost. After making your sale, you continue with your designer training, seeing a level gained in tailor, sewing, and fashion alike.
Finally, you stop by Middle Musashi's dojo, and cut loose with your new sword. He's still beating you soundly, using his non-dominant left hand to wreck you at every turn, no matter what tricks you use or how you approach the situation, but you're getting more and more creative, and he's clearly beginning to notice. At least, that's what you're telling yourself to feel better.
You changeover back to Bet, and head to sleep.
+2 Weightlifting (4)
+2 First Aid (6)
+1 Medicine (4)
+2 Shape Changing: Bear (2)
+2 Tailor (2)
+2 Swordsmanship (4)
+2 Reflexes (3)
+3 Combat Instincts (3)
+1 Japanese (3)
+1 Tactician (7)
+1 Anatomy (4)
Skill Unlocked! Sewing (1)
Skill Unlocked! Fashion (1)
Skill Unlocked! Geology (0)
-20,000 Beri (Swordsmanship Tutoring)
-100,000 Beri (Kishi-ko or Kiramekureisho (Knightly Steel or Glinting Snicker), make the players choose, reminder to GM)
-2000 Beri (Survival Knife/Marine Stiletto)
-800 Beri (Cheap Local Clothes)
-200 Beri (Cloth Bag)
-25,000 Beri (Newspaper Yearly Subscription until May 1533)
-500,000 Beri (Jewelry, with a focus on jewelry that looks inherited. +7500 dollars for Hebert family, thanks to pawn shop)
+75,000 Beri (Selling Exotic Fruit to Banana by the Bay (Restaurant))
+325,000 Beri (10 pounds of salt sold to varying vendors)
+275,000 Beri (2 Fine Fabric Rolls sold to Rebecca Hanberg)
+80,000 Beri (Selling perishable foods)
+500 Beri (wooden dishes are of moderately higher quality, but cost more than you get)
First Aid Kit gained
+20 Pounds of Sea Salt (Crystals) in plain packaging
+10 Plain Fabric Bolts
+2 Exotic Fabric Bolts
+1 Fine Fabric Bolt
+2 Sets of Wooden Cutlery/Plate/Bowl Set
+1 China Set
+170 Canned Foods, bought by Dad from Lionshare
The next update will cover Monday-Tuesday, November 29-30, 2010, and Sunday-Monday, April 10-11, 1532. You have seven actions for two days. The usual thing.