"So Otoru decided to join us, huh?" Kori crossed her legs, sitting on top of a barrel, refusing to address the 15 knocked out men in the room. "Yeah, but what happened to them?" Pablo looked around the room.
"They were like this when I got here." She looked away.
"I'd beat you up for fighting my friends, but I guess it's fair because we attacked first. And I'm not even in this crew right now. I'm in… uh… what was our name again?" Otoru scratched the back of his neck. "I'm working on it." Pablo looked away as well.
"Even if Nasaki is departing from us, we make a strong trio. Maybe we'll recruit more on the way, hm?" She tilted her head and got up. "We'll see." Pablo went to leave the room.
"Hey, I got an idea for a name. How about Otoru and friends?" He smirked. "Oh, so we're friends now?" Pablo raised an eyebrow and smirked as well. "Huh- what- that's not what I- AGH!" Otoru yelled.
They got enough supplies, several maps, weaponry, and most importantly,
"A prosthetic?!" Pablo looked at his left arm, now equipped with a flashy prosthetic.
It was almost pure black, but had a little bit of grayness too. It looked very smooth like a cue ball, but had a 'spiral' pattern in the middle.
"It's ethical Manasteel. Very high purity too." Otoru had a cocky smirk. "Who feels indebted now, huh?"
"Ethical manasteel, how does that work?" Even the idea of it being Manasteel ticked him off, almost enough to take it off. He was pragmatic, but he thought the whole Manasteel thing was very fucked up.
"The forger of this consensually forged it with their own blood. They were a Magiborn. It listens to your mana to move so you constantly need to fuel it. It doesn't have any tricks, it's just a durable ass hand. But it should allow you to input mana without hurting yourself."
"Damn." He moved it around like a child getting a new toy. "This technology is unlike anything I've ever seen before. Feels like magic."
"It is magic, doofus. These are called Relics. Or as some call them, 'Treasures of Magiborns.' Anyone can forge a magical item, but only a few can forge a Relic. The creator of this was very close to Captain Infamy and gave him this as a gift. I never met them myself, though. Even though it doesn't have any special magic unlike most Relics, the purity of the Manasteel is in another class. This thing is hard to break, is what I'm trying to say."
"What's up with this spiral thing?" Pablo couldn't take his eyes off of it. "Probably the forger's signature. These are their pride, you know? Their own flesh and bone. Their proof that they created something in this world, and-"
"Okay, okay, it's badass, I get it." Pablo rolled his eyes, then left the vault. "We got everything we need."
"I have a question, though." Otoru's words stopped Pablo. "Yeah?"
"What did you and Captain Infamy talk about, just a second ago? He wanted to talk with you alone. What was so special that even I couldn't know?" He didn't ask out of malice, really, just curiosity.
"Don't you trust his decision? If he only wanted me to hear it, that means he had a good reason." He waved the idea away and left the room. Otoru hummed in acknowledgement. "Fair."
As they double… no, triple checked their inventory (this was Otoru's idea), they finally got on the ship they came with. Otoru, Kori and Pablo.
"We're off, everyone." Pablo waved. Nasaki chose to stay and hang out with Infamy for a little while. Nasaki still had a cocky smirk on his face. "You still don't have a name for your crew, huh?"
"No, I came up with one, thanks to my crewmates." Pablo smiled. "Wait, did you seriously take my idea?!" Otoru got excited as well. "Oh?" Nasaki's eyes widened in curiosity, but no one could see that because of his blindfold. "We will be called…"
He took a deep breath.
"...The Rejected."
Silence was all everyone could hear.
It was punchy, it was short, it felt clean but…
…it was also humiliating.
"HUH?! Then what did you imply when you said 'thanks to my crewmates'?! That's humiliating! I've had it with you!" Otoru tried to charge, but Kori held him off while chuckling. "I'm sure he didn't mean it."
"Humiliating?" The smile didn't go anywhere. "All I'm saying is that we're rejected by the world, but that doesn't mean they are the ones that decide our value." He sat in his ship, ready to sail off. "We're the rejected, the ones that they cast off as worthless. So it's only fair if we bite back, right?"
"Alright, you've had your moment, goodbye!" Nasaki pushed the ship away, refusing to let Pablo have this one badass moment. "Oh fuck off!"
"He really loves to have the last laugh, huh?" Kori chuckled and hid her smile with her hand.
The ship sailed at insane speeds, but Otoru controlled it immediately. "You only have the greatest helmsman in the sea! You think I'm his right-hand just because I'm strong, handsome, badass and the man who will defeat Nasaki Ryuko once and for all?" He laughed.
"You forgot to mention how you're humble as well!" Pablo held on to the ship to not lose his balance. "See, you now get it!" Otoru felt complimented.
"Where are we going, by the way? I'm just sailing to a whole bunch of nothing." As the momentum Nasaki gave them calmed down, so did the atmosphere.
"We're going to Briochea! Never heard of it, but we have a map, right?" He rested his back on the ship's body.
"Yeah, but why Briochea?" Kori searched for the Briochea map alongside the other maps, and once she had it, she passed it to Otoru. "Just trust me on this one. I'm improvising as well, but I'll tell you once my plan is done. Otoru, do you know anything about Briochea?"
"I do. It's also referred to as 'Sweet Tooth Island' by some. It's an island entirely made out of sweets. The floor, the buildings, the decorations, furniture, food, which isn't surprising now that I think about it. It's also the home of the crime family 'Caedis' who hunts Magiborns for their blood and trades them to the United Government." He said the last part out loud.
"We'll be fine. Tell me more about this Caedis family." He blocked his eyes from the sun. "They are officially allied with the United Government. So technically it's not a crime. They are the biggest suppliers in the Magiborn market and basically rule the island as if they are the government. They are treated as royalty there, which makes me even more curious as to why you want to go there." The sea was calm, perfect for travel.
"Like I said, we'll be fine. We have a strong fighter like you. And you have connections. I made a deal with Infamy. He would officially recognize our crew as a core ally and friend. I cannot tell you what my end of the deal was, but just have a little faith in me." He looked at his prosthetic and took a deep breath. "It feels like we're finally moving again. It would be stupid of us to not take advantage of these 9 months. We don't even know where they are keeping Tsuyoi now, but I'm 100% sure it's not Hades."
"Right, I need to get stronger if I want to defeat Nasaki." His smile faded. He was serious once again. "You were serious about that?" It obviously surprised Pablo. He thought it was just a joke.
"Of course I am. No matter what, I will defeat him. I cannot forgive him for taking down my Captain." He clenched the ship's helm. "The next time we meet, it'll be a battle to the death."
"It was nice knowing you, I guess." Pablo rolled his eyes. "Hey, now that we are allies… Why don't you tell me about your Treasure? I'll reveal to you what I can do, and so will Kori."
Kori nodded in response. "I never saw it, but if it allowed you to defeat Pablo, then I want to hear about it."
"It didn't allow me to defeat him. My hard work did. My Treasure is a D-Grade Glitcher-Type that allows me to release ghosts of myself within a short duration and a short range. Right now, it's 2 meters and a single second. My range was just a meter a year ago, but I improved it through training. The ghosts are not controlled directly by me, but by my fighting spirit. I can summon them as much as I want, but it's tiring to maintain them. They are metaphysical, so you can't see or fight back with physical things. All you can do is hope I miss."
"Well, my Treasure is called Gluttony. It's an E-Grade Trader-type and allows me to shoot whatever I eat out of my mouth like bullets. I can also bite really hard, and my teeth and jaw are more durable. I also have a Sorcery that allows me to add onto my body or regenerate it. I cannot change what I already am, though. And once enough time has passed after an attack, my soul treats that as a part of it, so I'm unable to heal it, like my hand. Nasaki also said I had boundless mana or something. He said my reserves were bigger than this."
"Mine is a B-Grade Elemental that allows me to create Ice and manipulate it. …That's it, really." She chuckled at the simplicity of her own Treasure compared to theirs.
"Damn, so your Treasure sucks ass even more than mine." Otoru let out a snort. "And you called me a Prodigy." Pablo groaned in annoyance.
He stared into the sky and thought of his dialogue with Infamy… he remembered the most important part of it.
"So, kid. Aside from saving that son of a bitch and curing your disease, what's your goal?" He poured a drink for him, but Pablo kindly refused it. "I don't like to drink. And I haven't made up my mind yet. I'm not that much of a dreamer. But if what you said about the 7 Families is true, I guess I'll start with them." He said it like it wasn't that big of a deal.
"Start with them? As in…?" Infamy paused.
"What else? I'll stop the 7 Families all by myself."