Shit, shit!
Regan unlocked the door to his cell, and walked out of it with caution. The transmigrater coated both of her arms in haki, and then summoned a saber from her inventory. Her haki curled around the blade, turning the metal into a deep-black.
Regan weighed his options. He could try fighting her again, but how long would it take for her to sit him on his ass and put her blade through his throat? The fact that it was coated in haki too unsettled him even more.
Regan stretched out his hand and summoned his inventory. He looked at the Holy Grail and then focused on it. With a single thought, he had it materialize in his hand. There was a purple liquid inside of it, and Regan swallowed down a ball of sweat as he brought it to his lips. He took a sip and then gulped down all of the liquid.
[You have Drank From The Holy Grail]
[Changing Race...]
Like before, there was a momentary pause and a brief silence. Regan began croaking, coughing and hacking as gut-wrenching pain inundated him. He could feel his heart palpating rapidly in his chest, his muscles contracting violently, and a stream of blood and saliva flowing out of his mouth.
His teeth were changing, sharpening, and elongating to become razor-sharp teeth that resembled the fangs of a piranha. A light blue colour spread across his skin, and a sharp fin began jutting out of his back, only adding to the excruciating pain that made his entire body tremble.
This hurts like fucking hell!
Regan collapsed to the ground, his breath coming out ragged, his chest contracting rapidly as his body desperately took in the air around him. ''Fuck, fuck! Goddam!''
[You Are Now Of The Fishman Race]
[Loading Race Traits...]
[Fishman Race]
15% Melee Boost On Land>30% Melee Boost Underwater
30% Defense Boost On Land>60% Defense Boost Underwater
Cancel Race Option: Revert Back To Human?
Fishman Karate: Intermediate Stage [0/100]
Skills: Brick Fist I, Brick Chop I, Brick Roundhouse I
''You're a fishman now. Interesting.'' The woman said, her sword pointed at him.
Regan staggered to his feet, his eyes shooting daggers at the transmigrater. He rushed forward, his fist clenched. The woman dodged her punch, and then brought down her saber in an arc. Regan, with knowledge of Fishman Karate flowing through him, brought up his azure hand in a chop.
Her saber cut into his hand, taking off multiple fingers and stopping just before it was about to take off his thumb. Regan reeled his arm away, and grabbed his hand which was throbbing in pain, a copious stream of blood flowing out from the stumps where his fingers used to be.
[You Have Gained 800 Defense Points]
Fat lot that would do me here.
Regan brought up his stats and his points.
[Dedmond Dantes Points]
Total Available Points: 1423
Melee Points: 123
Defense Points: 1300
Sword Points: 0
DF Points: 0
Gun points: 0
Can't even deposit them! Damn, how much essence do I have?
Regan went to his stats and focused on his essence. The stat read [54/2000]. He had gained them after defeating some of the marines outside. But still, he had a long way to go.
Regan took a stance and made a fist with his undamaged hand, ignoring the blood that was splattering on the floor.
Armament haki. I need to learn armament haki. Quick! Fast!
Regan had acquired observation haki in the heat of battle. He wondered if he could acquire armament haki the same way. He was under a lot of pressure, and it wasn't only his life at risk, but the lives of Clam and Rose, too. He thought about the others too of course, but he valued Clam and Rose much more. And Izgrim the least.
Regan took a deep breath and pieced together his knowledge of armament haki. One had to use their spiritual will and manifest it into haki in order to harden their body. Being under pressure and in dangerous predicaments such as his allowed for one to be able to awaken it in the heat of battle as he awakened observation haki during his first fight against the transmigrater.
Regan then thought back to what he wanted the most. It was, of course, to survive this fight and fulfill his ambitions. But then he remembered something, something that he had somehow forgotten during the very moment he believed he was about to die.
Morgan!
Morgan. He was going to help Morgan bring down the transmigraters and find his son! He had people relying on him, depending on him, and for the first time in a while he actually had the strength to help those people.
This spiritual will to keep pushing forward, to advance through his new perilous world, invigorated him. Regan charged at the transmigrater, who simply raised her sword to defend herself against the weak attack. Or so she thought it'd be.
Regan felt something warm wrapping around his fist. He mistook the strange feeling for the air that was around them, and continued charging forward. He swung his fist around and punched the sword. To his shock, the sword began to crack. The crack spread all across the black metal until the sword itself shattered and rained down on the floor like hailstorm.
What? Did I do that?
Regan looked down at his fist and found that it had been swathed by an ink-black coloration.
[You Have Acquired Armament Haki]
[Loading Armament Haki Stat...]
[Dedmond Dantes Armament Haki]
Stage: Coating [R1]
Opponents Defeated With Armament Haki: 0
Opponents To Be Defeated With Armament Haki Until Next Rank: [0/50]
Opponents To Be Defeated With Armament Haki Until Next Stage: [0/300]
Perks: 15% Melee Boost, 15% Sword Boost, 15% Gun Boost, 15% Defense Boost
Note: Opponents without haki will account for 1 armament haki point. Opponents with haki who have been defeated by you are worth 10 armament haki points.
[You Have Gained 100 Melee Points]
Melee points? Oh, that's right! I destroyed her sword
With the fishman karate, his observation haki, and with the armament haki that Regan had just awakened, he was now quite the formidable force. Regan made another fist and readied himself for another brawl with the woman.
''Enough.'' She said, deactivating her armament haki. ''You've proven yourself.''
What?
''What do you mean I've proven myself?''
The woman parted her lips to speak, but before she could, a deep, baritone voice eachoed through the hallway. Regan knew the voice all to well.
Strawberry! He's back!
''Tina. Have you finished speaking to that kid?''
Strawberry's footsteps approached, making Regan's heart rise to his throat. Even with all his abilities and his strength, he didn't stand a chance against the transmigrater, and he most certainly wouldn't stand a chance against a vice-admiral who was just as strong if not stronger.
But wait, what did she mean I proved myself?
''What!?'' Strawberry bellowed, his eyes bulging in disbelief. ''How did he get out of his cell!?''
''I let him out,'' the woman said, materialising another sword in her hand. She then coated it in haki.
''What do you mean you let him o--''
She pounced at him with eye-blinking speed, she moved even faster than she had when she turned into a mink, which meant that the entire time Regan had been fighting her the woman had been holding back.
She raised the sword up and put it through Strawberry's chest, tearing through his flesh with the sharp steel until it pierced through his heart and came out of his back. Strawberry croaked, a deathly croak that drained the colour from his face and brought forth a stream of blood from his mouth.
She ripped the sword out of his chest, and watched on with indifference as the vice-admiral collapsed onto the floor, blood pooling beneath him and spreading to either side of the hallway.
''W-why did you do that?'' Regan trembled.
''He was going to have you killed.''
''So you saved me? But why? I don't get it. Who even are you?''
''Tina Lothbrook.''
''No, I mean your real name. The name you were given on earth.''
''I've abandoned that name, and everything that attaches me to that world. My name is Tina Lothbrook, Dantes. Instead of worrying about my identity you should be worrying about getting off of this island.''
''Oh yeah? Whys that?''
''Because you just murdered a vice-admiral.''
''What!?'' Regan shrieked. The boy was nonplussed. ''What do you mean I murdered him!? It was you who put the sword through his chest! You murdered him!''
''That's not what I'm going to tell HQ.'' Tina smiled. ''What they'll know is that a teenage boy who goes by the name Dantes with aspirations to become a pirate, predicated on his admiration towards the supernova Monkey.D.Luffy, had fought against rear admiral Tina Lothbrook and then murdered vice-admiral Strawberry in cold blood.''
Regan couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had already built up quite the reputation and garnered the attention of the marines on the island through his reckless fight with Tina, but now, if they heard how he had murdered a vice-admiral, he would gain the attention of every single marine from the north blue to the grand line and possibly even further beyond.
There would be marines gunning for his head, arduously searching for him and uncovering every bit of information they could find on a Dedmond Dantes whose origins began in the North Blue. Not only that, but Regan suspected that Tina wasn't the only transmigrater in the marines, there were most likely others that were hiding themselves within the ranks of the navy.
The murder of a vice-admiral who wasn't supposed to die yet or at all in the story would set off alarms in their heads. They'd be looking for him, too. He was truly and utterly finished.
''Is it registering to you now?'' Tina said, throwing her blade at Regan's feet. ''You still got the keys right? You best find your friends and get to running off of this island.''