The cliffs rose sharp and jagged, torn by years of salt and wind.
Nox stood at the edge of the trail, fists clenched, eyes narrowed. Below, waves hammered the black stone like they wanted in.
The kid had run straight into a nest of armed thugs.
[MAIN QUEST ACTIVE: Clear the Smuggler Nest]
[OBJECTIVE: Rescue Lenny. Infiltrate the cliffside camp Survive.
REWARD: Skill Tree Access + ???]
"Great," Nox muttered. "I've been alive for twelve hours and I'm already on babysitting duty."
His feet moved anyway.
Smuggler's Bay reeked of rust, gunpowder, and spilled blood.
The shoreline was packed with wrecked ships, their hulls charred and splintered, names scrubbed off or replaced with crude warnings.
Iron chains snaked through the debris. Half-buried cannons pointed at nothing.
One ship had been split in two and turned into a black-market warehouse, crates of contraband spilling from its hollowed out hull.
This place wasn't abandoned. It was a smuggler's paradise part scrapyard, part storage depot, all illegal.
At the center stood the largest wreck, a black-sailed brig embedded into the cliff wall. Its mast had snapped and now hung like a broken limb.
And on that mast?
Lenny.
Tied up Bruised Awake.
His eyes tracked everything. Teeth grit. Rage shaking through his spine.
"LET ME GO, YOU ROTTEN BASTARDS! I'LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!!"
A voice chuckled below him.
"Loud little bastard," said the smuggler captain, a jagged toothed hulk of a man with red stained gums and a massive spiked mace slung over one shoulder. "The loud ones always scream the most when they break."
From the edge of the smuggler's camp, a voice rang out.
"You string up every kid who mouths off, or is today special?"
All heads turned.
Nox stepped into view.
Sunlight caught the curve of his horns. His shirt fluttered open in the breeze. He walked barefoot, slow, like he had all the time in the world.
But inside?
He was stalling.
He raised his voice.
"Hey! I'll make this simple let the kid go, and no one gets hurt."
He meant it, because if things went south, he wasn't sure if he'd win or what it would cost if he did.
The camp went still.
Then laughter erupted.
Red Tooth stepped forward, grinning.
"You threatening me, horn head?"
Nox didn't blink, but his pulse kicked hard behind his ribs.
"Let's just say I'd really prefer not to test how many of you I can break."
Red Tooth spat in the sand.
"Then let's test it anyway."
Then they charged.
The first thug lunged Nox moved.
He ducked, fast. Slipped behind the man and drove a fist into his spine.
The smuggler crumpled.
Another swung. Nox twisted, caught the wrist, and snapped it clean.
Three more came in screaming.
He sidestepped, elbowed one in the throat, spun a second into the dirt, then used the third as a battering ram to knock down a fourth.
Each move came without thought. Fluid. Brutal. Natural.
He wasn't thinking, just reacting.
Like his body had done this before. Like it wanted this.
He ducked a punch and slammed a knee into someone's ribs. Spun. Caught a blade mid-swing. Headbutted the wielder so hard the man dropped like a sack of bricks.
He blinked.
"…I know kung fu?" he said, baffled, breathless, a grin creeping in.
Another smuggler rushed in. Nox's fist hit like a cannonball. The man's jaw snapped sideways. Teeth flew. He dropped without a sound.
A musket was raised.
Nox crushed the barrel in one hand, then drove a fist into the man's ribs. There was a sickening crunch, and the man vomited blood before dropping.
"HE'S A DEVIL!" someone shouted. "KILL HIM!!"
Eight came at once.
Blades. Pistols. Screams.
Nox didn't block. He crashed through them.
He kicked one into a mast. Wood cracked on impact. He ripped a plank from the ground and smashed two more aside like bowling pins. Blood sprayed.
Then a blade slashed across his chest.
Nox flinched at the sudden pain.
More blood than he liked, but his body had soaked most of the impact. On anyone else, that slash would've split them wide open.
The thug stared, panicked.
Nox kneed him in the gut and hurled him across the ground.
Another raised a pistol.
BANG!
The shot slammed into Nox's shoulder. It burned.
He staggered, not from fear but from impact. His shoulder throbbed, skin torn, muscle bruised deep. The bullet lodged just under the surface, shallow but real.
He flexed, and it popped loose.
Nox hissed, shook it off.
"Still bleeds… but damn, I can take a hit."
Another smuggler screamed and charged.
Nox didn't dodge. He stepped in.
Caught the wrist. Broke it.
Slammed the man to the ground.
The fight surged around him. Gunshots. Steel. Shouting. And for the first time he felt alive.
Seven down.
One turned to run.
Eight.
From above, Lenny stared, eyes wide.
"…Holy shit…"
Red Tooth cracked his neck, mace resting on one shoulder.
"…You're not bad."
Nox wiped blood from his mouth. His eyes were calm. One already blackened. Lip split.
"You talk too much."
The captain grinned wide. Red gums. Rotten charm.
BOOOOM!
The mace slammed down. Nox caught the shaft barehanded. Wood cracked. His palms bled. He held anyway and wrenched it sideways, dragging Red Tooth off balance like he weighed nothing.
The captain roared and grabbed Nox by the throat.
Wrong move.
Nox didn't budge.
He lifted the man clean off the ground and spiked him into the ground. Boards split. Dust flew.
Red Tooth coughed. Rolled. Swung again.
Nox ducked, came up low, and drove a punch into the man's side. A brutal blow that made the bigger man stagger.
They clashed again.
Red Tooth bashed Nox into a mast.
CRACK!
Nox slumped. His ribs screamed. Not broken, but close. He stood anyway. Spat blood.
Then he kicked.
BOOM!
Red Tooth flew five feet, crashed through a railing.
Nox followed, grabbed him by the collar, and drove three punches into his ribs. One. Two.
CRUNCH!
The mace came again. Nox ducked and shattered the handle with a rising elbow.
Red Tooth went for a backup blade.
Too slow.
Nox grabbed his face.
WHAM!
Slammed it into the ground.
Then again.
WHAM!
Blood sprayed.
WHAM!
The floor cracked.
Red Tooth stopped moving.
Silence fell.
From above, Lenny croaked out.
"…That was the coolest thing I've ever seen."
Nox didn't look up. He rolled his shoulder once, wincing. Blood still trickling.
"You're lucky your father gave me food."
[QUEST OBJECTIVE COMPLETE: Rescue Lenny]
[BONUS UNLOCKED: System Access Granted]
Nox glanced at it. Grunted. Dismissed it with a thought.
"Later."
He climbed the mast.
Cut Lenny free.
The kid landed rough but stood. Shaking. Unbroken.
Nox exhaled hard.
"Come on. I've already had to save your life once today. Start moving."
⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻
Nox's Character Stats (End of Chapter)
[Name:] Wil D. Nox
[Race:] Oni
[Level:] 2
[Status:] Stable
[Memory:] Locked
[EXP:] 20 / 200 [▓▓░░░░░░░░░░]
⸻
[STATS]
STR: 20
AGI: 14
STA: 22
INT: 11
AWR: 14
WILL: 23
⸻
[TRAITS]
Onihada (鬼肌) – Lv.1
A racial trait of the Oni. Passively reduces physical damage by 10%. Grants minor resistance to knockback and piercing attacks. Evolves at milestone levels.
⸻
[SKILL TREE]
[HAKI BRANCH]
• Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation) — Locked
• Busoshoku Haki (Armament) — Locked
• Growth nodes available upon combat experience
[DEVIL FRUIT BRANCH]
• Status: Inactive
• Access Denied – No Devil Fruit Acquired
• ??? — Connection pending…