Hiro watched her approach, his eyes alight with savage amusement.
As she launched herself into the air, club raised to strike, he whispered, "Foolish. And fatal."
He twisted his body, gathering every ounce of strength and momentum into his arm.
Taiho.
The air compressed in front of his fist, forming a concussive force that distorted the air around it.
Puchi.
There was no thunderous impact.
Instead, Hiro's fist sank directly into her flesh, his hand plunging into her stomach with brutal precision.
Alvida's eyes widened, disbelief flickering in her gaze as she felt the blow reverberate through her insides.
Blood trickled from her mouth as she coughed, her gaze locked on Hiro.
She then looked at her own stomach that was embedded with Hiro's arm as blood flowed out of her mouth.
"Too… strong…" she choked out, the strength draining from her limbs.
"Nah," Hiro replied, his tone almost bored. "You're just too weak."
He withdrew his bloodied hand, letting her body slump backward onto the deck.
Hiro barely glanced at her fallen form; already certain she was no longer a threat as he once again shook his head.
It looked like he had grown a little too strong, sure he might have taken advantage of the situation and played on the opponent's emotion, but that's what fighting to kill was.
With his strength and the use of the six skills, Hiro was now certain that he could take care of anyone in the east blue, even if it was Arlong.
His own crew's ship was drawing close, their torches visible through the smoke and flames.
Moving with purpose, Hiro began to rummage through the pirate ship's hold, searching for anything of value.
To his satisfaction, he found bolts of high-quality silk, barrels filled with rare spices, and a chest overflowing with gold coins.
He tossed the waterproof barrels of spices into the sea to be retrieved later and secured the gold in a sturdy chest.
As he neared his ship, his NCO called out, "Hold fire! The captain's coming!"
Stepping onto the water, Hiro walked back as casually as if strolling down a pier, the chest perched atop his shoulder.
His Marines looked on, a mixture of awe and fear plain on their faces. When he leaped onto the deck, he gave a satisfied nod.
"Collect Alvida's body. Arrest any survivors and retrieve the loot floating in the water" he ordered, his tone light and almost dismissive.
His Marines sprang into action, each of them avoiding his gaze, unwilling to draw their captain's unpredictable ire.
Hiro, dusting his hands off, strode to his quarters, eager to shed his blood-stained coat. After a quick change, he noticed a sudden flicker of text in the corner of his vision.
[A minor change in the timeline due to Host's actions has been detected]
[Hidden conditions fulfilled. Host has been rewarded!]
"Receive rewards," he murmured, intrigued.
A book materialized in his hands – How to Wield a Sword: Swordsmanship Vol-1.
Hiro's eyes lit up with excitement. Swordsmanship! A skill he'd been meaning to develop for a long time now.
It was one of those skills that had been eluding him ever since he had started training.
Although he might be able to defend himself using a sword, Hiro possessed no familiarity with the weapon except knowing a few basic things.
But with this, he could finally start learning the blade!
The book was comprehensive, covering the basics of grip, stances, footwork, and the three primary strikes.
It outlined both one-handed and two-handed techniques, allowing him to train with a cutlass or katana, depending on what he could find.
Storing it in his safe, Hiro smirked, his mind returning to his earlier musing as he changed the password to the lock once again.
Nami's face flickered in his memory.
She might be weaker than him in strength but her stealth capabilities far exceeded any he had seen till now.
Hiro was no heavy sleeper, he knew it; usually he gets awaken by the smallest of sounds, but Nami not only evaded his sharp perception, she did so while emptying the safe kept in his room, kept to the side of the very bed he was sleeping on.
"Thankfully, that was as far as she went" Hiro muttered under his breath as he thought of a much darker scenario that could have taken place.
She could have easily slit his throat in the dark of the night if she wanted to do so.
Although he wouldn't have died due to his durability increasing from his training, he wouldn't be fine either and would most likely be incapacitated for a few weeks even after immediate medical attention.
'Maybe that's why she's an important character!' Hiro thought as Nami's beautiful face entered his mind.
If he could compare, she was an extremely talented Assassin/Thief class character that games in his previous world had.
'And if my connection is correct, that leads me to another conclusion, that there are multiple of these "Main Characters"
And these characters that were important to the 'Timeline' must be of different 'Classes', like how Nami was.
'Fighter, Swordsman and Gunman... Maybe I'm thinking too much' Hiro thought in his mind as he shook his head.
There were still too many things that Hiro did not know.
'But at the very least there should be at least 6-7 more of these "Main Characters" connected to this "Timeline" I am changing' Hiro thought, laying back into the mattress of his bed as his mind wandered to the start of it.
"How did I trigger Today's reward?"
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