Shes a damn transmigrater!
Regan wasted no time. He left the stand and followed the woman. She was speed walking now, not daring to look back at the boy who had uncovered her secret identity. It was much too strange how his gut had dragged him to this very moment. In fact, to Regan, it no longer felt like a gut feeling, but like something intrinsic that allowed him to sniff out transmigraters.
The woman--or Tina as she was called--was much too distinguishable. Regan didn't find it hard to follow her through the crowd, cutting and shoving through many people who scowled and glowered at them as they went past. Her pink hair could be spotted from a mile away.
When the crowd was finally behind them, Regan and Tina began cutting through alleyways, market streets, and even neighborhoods. The woman was persistent, much too adamant on getting away from Regan. But then again, Regan was adamant on following her until the very moment she grew tired of it.
After almost half an hour, Tina had finally looked back. There was a bead of sweat trickling down her face, and a deep frown that curled her lips downwards. She thought that Regan would have gave up by now, but she did not know how stubborn a teenage boy could be. Especially when they were chasing a woman.
''Are you finally going to talk to me or are you going to keep walking away!?'' Regan huffed.
She gave no answer to that. She turned away and continued walking, ignoring the two hazel-brown eyes that were boring into her back.
Fine. Let's keep playing this weird game of cat and mouse
Some twenty minutes passed, and Regan was at his limit. The woman was more stubborn than him it seemed. Instead of finding out what the boy wanted, she opted to continue ignoring him like some petulant child that hadn't gotten their way.
Dammit! Why won't she talk to me? We're both from the same world!
Regan had crashed into a muscular man who was carrying a bag of apples and berries. He quickly side stepped and continued walking, not a single word of apology leaving his lips. The man had grabbed Regan's arms and intended to make him pick up all of the food he had dropped. Regan grabbed his own arm with his other hand and snapped it right then and there, drawing a cry of anguish from his lungs.
He had no time for games today. He had played enough games with the woman who was still walking ahead of him and ignoring him. Regan began shouting at her, various profanities passing through his lips. He picked up the pace, meaning to begin walking by her side, but somehow the woman had observed this without even looking back and began walking even faster.
Is she fucking serious!?
Regan considered the options that he had. He couldn't get her to stop, and he most definitely couldn't get her to speak. For reasons unbeknownst to him, she was afraid of even the slightest interaction between her and another transmigrater.
Perhaps I do know, Regan thought. Morgan had warned him about those who had already transmigrated into the world. The pirates who were situated at the grand line, those who murdered other transmigraters.
Maybe she thinks I'm one of them?
Regan wanted to shout reassurances at her, where he would swear that he was not one of the men who were killing people at the Grand Line. But he thought better of it, for who else could be a secret transmigrater in the crowds of people that surrounded them? It was much too risky.
So he took another risk. He clenched his fist and brought up his stats.
[Dedmond Dantes Stats]
Rank: Novice [24/2000]
Melee: 2000[MAX]
Defense: 1500
Sword: 105
DF Power: 0
Gun: 60
Well, shit. Here goes nothing. Hopefully this will force her to talk.
Regan lunged at the woman, his fist pulled back to build up momentum for a right hook. He swung at her back, and much to his surprise, the woman dodged as if she had eyes in the back of her head, jumping up into the air and back-flipping to land gracefully behind him.
Holy shit! Does she have observation haki!?
Regan quickly spun around and found that the woman was now lunging at him. She herself had made a fist, and to Regan's horror, her entire hand was covered in haki. Regan raised his arms up to defend himself, gulping and hoping his defense stat was enough to mitigate some of the pain that she would inflict.
Her fist connected, and Regan could feel his bones cracking and screaming. His defense stat was in fact not enough. He was sent flying, whirling backwards into a crowd of people who had no time to dodge the human-bullet that crashed into them.
Dammit! Shit, shit! This hurts like hell!
[You have Gained 500 Defense Points]
Regan wasted no time in depositing the defense points. His defense stat now read 2000[MAX]
The woman was still onto him. She leapt forward, both her fists now coated by haki. She shoved aside a woman who was in her way, and then kicked away a food stand, the force of the kick sent it up into the air where it then crashed into a building.
Regan managed to dodge one punch, and parried another with his broken arm. This made an opening for him, where he ignored his shrieking bones and swung his left arm around and struck the woman in the face, the force of which sent her reeling back into a building.
[You Have Gained 100 Melee Points]
Yes!
Regan gripped his arm, his eyes searching through the smoke cloud that curled up into the air. The crowd began gathering around their fight, loud gasps and deafening mutters could be heard all around him. Regan simply ignored them, his eyes locked on the figure that came stumbling out of the debris.
''So, you finally going to tell me who you are? Or am I going to have to beat it out of you?'' Regan said, biting his lip as his arms were swarmed by pain. He could almost hear them pleading for him to run.
''Why don't you start first, Dantes?''
So she finally speaks!
''Not my real name, I'll have you know. But let's not speak too openly here. We don't know who is watching or listening.''
''Agreed.'' She nodded. ''Tell me, Dantes, are you one of them?''
One of them? Ah, the transmigraters at the Grand Line.
''I'm going to destroy them.''
The woman scoffed at that. ''You have no idea what you're up against. If you can't defeat me, you can't defeat them. Do you even have haki?''
''No,'' Regan shook his head. ''But it doesn't matter. Everyone has haki, and it only blooms and flourishes under the heat of battle.'' As he said this, Regan continued his assault on the woman. His arms were agonizing him, but he persevered through sheer will.
He threw a feint which the woman fell for, and then brought his leg up to bury it into the woman's side. She dodged this, and many of his other attacks with ease. It was growing frustrating and exhausting for Regan every time his attacks either missed or didn't land. It felt like the strike he had made earlier had only landed because the woman allowed it to.
Damn observation haki! I have to learn this thing!
She came at him with both of her fists, jabbing and swinging them around, piercing through the air with every strike she made. Regan found it hard to dodge each one, and her fists had almost caved in his face, but a lucky side-step had made them brush against his nose instead.
Shit! Focus. Focus!
In Regan's crazed, enervated mind, he had concocted a plan that would sound absurd to any reasonable man. But it made sense according to the logic of the world. He recalled how Luffy had learnt haki with Rayleigh. He had been blindfolded, and was forced to predict any incoming attacks. Perhaps, Regan thought, the same logic would apply and be augmented in his situation.
And so, he closed his eyes, his heart thundering in his chest as the woman's footsteps grew ever so loud as she closed the distance between them. He could feel it, her presence, along with the souls that surrounded him. And he could even see them.
They looked like motes of light at first, but those lights were soon shaped into humanoid souls that looked like the the physical forms of the people whose likeness they embodied. He felt a fist coming his way, and dodged it with the same accuracy one would have if their eyes were open.
He dodged another fist, and then another, and felt the woman raising up her leg. Before she could carry out whatever act of violence she had planned, Regan leapt forward and punched her hard in the throat. She was sent whirling backwards, crashing into multiple buildings that had men and women alike screaming from within them.
Shrill and panicked voices pierced through the air. Regan heard another voice. it was all too familiar, and it slithered into his ear with words that he had never heard before. Or, at least, words that it had never said before.
[You Have Acquired Observation Haki]
[Loading Observation Haki Stat...]
[Dedmond Dantes Observation Haki]
Stage: Intent/Emotion Sensing R1
Dodges Available: 5/5
Dodges Needed Until R2 Of Stage: [7/50]
Dodges Needed Until Next Stage: [7/150]