One Piece Dragon King - Chapter 42
Half an hour later…
“Your return flames can bend, track, and expand their attack range, but they don’t seem to have any other uses.”
A golden, three-meter-tall creature with large wings flapping in the air looked down at the exhausted blue-haired girl lying on the ground, scratching its chin.
The blue-haired girl, of course, was Ain, and the golden creature was the half-beast, or dragon-man, form of Hals.
Ain had been throwing fireballs for half an hour and was completely spent. Hals was quite surprised that Ain could sustain throwing fireballs for so long, but he managed to deflect every single one.
Yes, he deflected them.
Hals used his water magic, [Water Arrow] and [Water Blade], to explode the fireballs. Though he wasn’t entirely sure of the principle, it might have been the interaction between Devil Fruits and water or some other reason. In any case, Hals wasn’t hit.
But it was exhausting.
The fireballs tracked their target, so simply running wasn’t effective. Although being hit wouldn’t harm him, Hals didn’t want to reveal that his Devil Fruit power could ignore these special negative effects. He’d already inadvertently exposed his water magic.
Hals had to expend magic to use his water abilities to explode the fireballs. He had secretly drunk a bottle of [Energy Potion] to avoid running out of mana.
Losing physical strength would make one tired, and extensive exercise would produce enough lactic acid to cause soreness. Massive mana consumption, on the other hand, would lead to dizziness due to soul fatigue.
Hals walked towards Ain, reverting to his human form, ready to carry her.
She was out of strength and couldn’t move, and leaving her here to catch a cold wasn’t an option.
Good thing his clothes didn’t burst.
Hals bent down, ready to lift her in a princess carry.
“You scumbag, take this!”
Ain’s hand ignited with another flame, which she threw at Hals.
“Useless. I’ve been prepared for this. Muda muda muda muda muda!”
Hals agilely jumped back, wearing the same Jojo expression, and the pink flame dissipated in the air.
Now Ain was completely out of energy.
“Negative emotions from Ain +700”
Not bad, kiddo—no, young lady.
Hals picked Ain up. She was drenched in sweat.
Even though she was a beauty, Hals didn’t think “scented with sweat” was a suitable description for Ain now. After all, even a beauty’s sweat wasn’t fragrant.
Ain, like a fish without a dream, let Hals carry her.
“So smelly.”
Hals turned his head away, full of disdain.
Ain’s eyes widened. She had been despised.
Wait, she had already been despised many times.
You’re a steel-hearted man. I hope you never have a girlfriend.
“Negative emotions from Ain +650”
Seems she’s too tired to be angry.
Hals wouldn’t let it end there and continued his verbal assault.
“Remember to take a good bath later. You’re the first smelly girl I’ve met.”
“Really smelly, and weak too. You have such a powerful fruit that can rewind objects and lives by twelve years—completely unblockable.”
“Weak and smelly, you need to train hard, otherwise…”
“I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want to hear it! La-la-la-la!”
“Negative emotions from Ain +600”
Perhaps she didn’t have the energy to be angry anymore.
Ain started shaking her head but lacking strength, she couldn’t cover her ears with her hands.
Just in time, I ran out of words.
Hals didn’t say anything more, putting her down at the entrance of the girls’ dormitory and then leaving. It was late at night, and everyone was bathing, so no one saw. Even if someone did, they wouldn’t say anything.
Ain had regained some strength and could walk by herself. Hals put her down, letting her go wash up, and left.
The dormitory had a bathhouse, quite large, and bathing was free.
Hals, also sweaty, took a bath and resumed training.
The next day.
Combat training.
Hals’ combat training wasn’t with the others; he had one-on-one sessions with former Admiral Black Arm Zephyr. Not everyone had that privilege.
“What did you do last night?”
Zephyr looked at Hals curiously, his expression somewhat subtle, showing a bit of Hals’ own demeanor.
“Nothing much. Why, Zephyr-sensei?”
Hals felt a bit uneasy seeing Zephyr’s expression.
He wouldn’t think of something weird, would he? We’re still kids.
“That girl Ain came back all sweaty and stinky. What were you doing to end up like that? And the place you were is still damp, with the ground looking strange and nearby plants shrunk.”
“Were you fighting?”
Zephyr’s guess was pretty accurate.
This news wasn’t surprising for Zephyr to know. He would naturally be concerned about his students, and a girl returning all sweaty would raise suspicions if not for the absence of anything odd on her.
“Yeah, but…”
“But you started it, right? I never realized you were so mischievous.”
Zephyr sighed. This student was great in every way but loved causing trouble, and making people furious.
“Seeing you still lively, you must not have been hit. But this time, I won’t have her write anything or punish her. Even if you were hit, it would be the same. After all, you started it.”
Zephyr covered his face and sighed.
“Negative emotions from Zephyr +15000”
“Do you like Ain? If you do, I can help.”
Zephyr suddenly leaned close, whispering to Hals.
“Zephyr-sensei, there’s no one here. You don’t need to whisper.”
Hals looked at Zephyr’s face, showing a [we’re all men, we understand] expression. Hals felt like he had crossed into another world of One Piece.
“Um… isn’t this to leave you a bit of dignity?”
Zephyr seemed at a loss for words, finally speaking in a tone he wasn’t even sure of.
But there’s no one else here, Zephyr-sensei.
“Like, huh?”
Hals looked at the sky, seriously thinking.
Ain was good-looking, but compared to Nami, Robin, Hancock, and Shirahoshi, she wasn’t as impressive. Plus, he didn’t feel anything for Ain right now.
He just wanted to annoy her.
And honestly, he wasn’t particularly fond of any of these characters.
Maybe he would like them in the future but for now…
Negative emotions were his main focus.
“I don’t like her.”
A firm answer.
“Tch~”
Zephyr looked disbelieving.
“Negative emotions from Ain +800”
Hals: “…”
Meow meow meow?
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