--
"Big sis...I'm here to help you out."
Gilly had successfully sneaked around the back of the camp and found himself right where the tied women were. He saw the fear and hollowness in each of them. He first went for his sister, noticing how she wasn't even looking at him, as if she was seeing nothing. He touched her face, crying a bit.
"Big sister, I'm sorry you have such a weak brother. I won't ever be weak again. I swear on it."
He managed to get the ropes untied. Once he untied one, all of them would come untied since the women were tied together in line. Some women had light return to their eyes upon seeing escape, but some remained still, and the same.
"C-Come on, we have to get going while big bro Nixon is fighting!"
A loud crash sounded, jolting Gilly back to reality. He turned, seeing a brutishly huge man. His muscles popped and veins bulged, in one hand he held an axe, and in the other was a spiked wooden club. He glared at Gilly with mighty red eyes, his gaze not letting up one bit, no matter how much Gilly seemed to shake in his boots.
"Who's this little brat coming to take my women?"
Gilly remained still and silent, he didn't want to move, thinking he'd be killed. He didn't want to talk back, also thinking he'd be killed. His mind in a race for a final decision, 'What do I do? Am I gonna die? Should I run? He's scary. He's big. He's gonna kill me. I'm gonna die.'
In a deep, bassful tone, the mighty brute said:
"Don't go pissing your pants just yet. We haven't even introduced ourselves. I'm Rorgun, the blood bandit."
But Gilly remained silent, and out of fear, he passed out. The women also looked up in fear, cowering and groveling beneath the man. They had been untied and freed, yet they still felt like they were trapped. Rorgun looked up to see half of his men sprawled across the camp, a tree destroyed and fallen, all by one man.
An indissoluble anger welled up in Rorgun, "I want to see the brat that's done this. Where is he?"
Then one lone bandit ran up to Rorgun, "B-Boss, he's beating all of us. Once he got a sword, it was a different game! And no matter what we do, he just seems to keep getting stronger and stronger! Please help us!"
A fist was sent to the bandit's face, sending him crashing back into a tree unconscious. He squeezed the weapons in each hand, veins popping through his forearms. He walked, going to look for the one who did this to his camp and men.
"I'm gonna kill the runt who did this, and feed him to some cattle. And you 3 better not move, or else you're next!" He said in a sense of fatality to the 3 women.
.
.
Nixon sliced down bandit after bandit that came to challenge his strength. He didn't bat an eye before using the cutlass to dice up the horrible people before him. Nixon noticed that his swings with the sword became sharper, quicker, and stronger. Compared to when he first picked up the sword, he was like a dinosaur compared to an ant. The same went for the bandits; their fists and their swords seemed to get further away from ever landing on him.
'Haha! So, my infinite potential or growth also works with swordplay and martial arts? That's amazing!'
Nixon swung the blade with precision and speed, the bandits never saw any of it coming.
"GAH!"
"Why can't we get him?!"
"G-Guys! Get up!...why...why am I the last one standing already?"
Nixon smiled, a quirky grin and arrogance escaped his lips:
"My, my, you should've known better than to fight someone like me! From looks alone, you should've known I was far beyond you!"
And with one slice, the bandit clutched his bleeding throat.
Nixon sighed, flicking the cutlass to the side to remove the blood while also wiping the blood that had landed on his face.
"And that's the way the cookie crumbles!" He jokes as he walks with the cutlass swung on his shoulder.
But his snappy jokes and unbothered smile were wiped away when he heard a loud crash and stomp right behind him. Nixon felt the hair on his neck rise a bit. He wasn't expecting much when he turned around, mostly just some forest animal looking to nab a quick snack. So, his smile returned, and he quickly spun around.
"Well- Holy hell, you're huge."
His gaze raised to see the brutish Rorgun, his face was contorted into anger, and nothing else. His hands squeezed his Axe and spiked wooden club, ready to turn this runt standing before him into mincemeat.
"You're a strong kid, I'll give you that. But you're not ready to go against me yet. I've ruled over these forests of Victory Bell for years now."
"Well, get ready to rule over a grave," Nixon retorted.
Rorgun clenched his jaw, his teeth rattling and grinding together. "You sure know how to piss someone off, kid."
Rorgun continued, "I don't like hurting kids, but you've forced my hand. I can't believe you're doing all of this for some random women you don't even know. Who cares about them? Just get over it."
"It doesn't matter if they're strangers to me. Nobody should be tied up or be a slave of anybody in any world. It's not about the women, it's the principle...you meathead."
"Ah. I see. Then, die!"
Wasting no more time, Rorgun swung his axe down. Nixon saw this and dodged, but waiting for him was the spiked club. Nixon didn't have enough space to dodge and was hit by the club. Sprawling backward with pierced, swollen, and bleeding arms and forearms after blocking the spiked club, Nixon was having trouble thinking.
'He's strong, damn strong, that's for sure.'
"Sorry, but I'm not gonna give up from a weak hit like that, you brute!"
[+20 Durability]
[+5 Agility]
[+5 Power]
[+10 Willpower]
Growing stronger through experience alone, Nixon was determined to win. Rorgun was stronger, much stronger. Yet even he noticed that as the fight dragged on, the troublemaker known as Nixon got better at a rapid rate.
'What is this? It's like the more he got hit, the more he evaded, the more he fought, the stronger he's becoming! I can't land a single hit on him anymore. Has he grown beyond me already?'
"Impossible!!"
Rorgun swung both his club and axe down, but was startled as he saw both of his swings being stopped. His axe and club were grabbed, and in a single squeeze of Nixon's fists, were crushed.
"How is this..."
Nixon looked up at him through half-lidded, determined eyes, "Don't question it, just die."
Rorgun's axe was taken from his own hands, and in a precise cut, the stomach of this mighty brute was slashed open.
"Well, that's that."
[---------------------------]
└[Name: Nixon D. Havok]
└[Age: 17]
└[Title: N/A]
└[Bounty: $0]
----
└[Power: 135]
└[Durability: 146]
└[Agility: 140]
└[Willpower: 75]
[---------------------------]
Nixon's stats were also constantly growing during the entirety of when he was slicing down bandits. Combining that and when he just finished fighting Rorgun, he was already incredibly strong.
"At this rate, I might just be the strongest in the world before I make it to the grandline."