"... Huh? Why are you giving me that thing?" Yami had to question his sanity at the moment, doubt filled him about the shrewd man's intentions.
" Just eat it, yellow kitten, it's not every day that I show such courtesy. We had a deal the day before, I promised you and the other kittens safety, power and other things. Consider this one of the many tokens of our partnership…" The man in question kept his hands and feet posed and tight, the thick cloak and the eye pad shrouded his figure in ambiguity. They were standing right beside the corpses of the massacred lawless group.
'... When you approach a wild unsheltered kitten, patting it's head with a friendly smile isn't what you should do' one of the worst things one can do to an orphan, especially a smart one like Yami, is meeting at him with those pair of warm glistening eyes, filled with pity and compassion. It's as if those pompous eyes understood all their feelings, hardships, dire losses… every orphan has faced his own fair share of tough times, acting this way will make you a target of untrusting eyes and suspicions.
Matthew didn't look down on them or their desperate ways of living, nor did he show the slightest displeasure at their hollow appearances and thin bodies. The brunet just asked for their services and offered them one of his enticing deals, in the process of treating the bunch as if they were comrades in arms. His words, so alluring and undeceitful, charmed most of the kittens, thus he earned their wholehearted trust. Whether undeserving of that belief or not, the brown haired devil frankly didn't pay the subject any care.
'... My future spymaster, eat your fill and grow stronger. Maybe one day you will learn to stand against the world government and that overgrown bird of theirs' Matthew held the fruit in hand, his expression seemed uncrackable to the young Yami, the latter knew that he shouldn't trust the devil's sweet words once again. The last time he did, he made an enemy out of every Portelinian underworld figure. God knows what the future holds for them if they continue on this path, one that the devil carved for them.
'... Is it power that I desire?' Yami often questioned his own desires and what they held in secrecy. He was inspired to do good for the whole world. He wished to see no other child go through the same experience he and his sibling faced, but such ambitions won't be realized if he stayed as powerless as he is currently. There was a limit to what he and the four vice leaders could do without outside help. They forged their whole careers from blood and theft. Staying as low-key as they needed to be, away from prying eyes and suspicions, won't let them fulfill those goals in the long run.
"... Don't shy away, this is a one time experience"
'Damn you…' Yami silently cursed the tall man, his hesitancy will not bear any fruits... So he decided to put an end to it. He walked forward with unsteady steps and shaky hands, and took the devil fruit. Closely, he examined the weird shape and decided to dig his teeth into what was considered to be the treasure of the sea.
" Wait, what will happen to the peels we sent?" Yami suddenly remembered something very important. Shall he take a bite of the thing, what will happen to the evidence they shipped? Won't it alert their customers that the devil fruit has been seized by someone?
"... Once you eat, the fruit turns to a normal one, however I used something very special to stop the same from happening to those pieces of skin we sent, you needn't worry" the cold voice of the man responded to him.
Matthew pondered, haki was truly a miraculous power, one that he frankly didn't know much about… armament or imbuement is described as coating your body with an inky black thick layer of spiritual energy, in the process of hardening your muscles or basically anything you touch as long as you let it flow freely from your body. Which brings Matthew to question, is haki a physical substance? Perhaps it was something we were born with from the beginning, thus why some can use hardening since birth. A theory that he came to is that everyone possessed their own haki, when they grow and live their daily life, they release this mysterious substance in the air from skin pores or simply from breathing out, which allows it to roam the world freely, hence why it's called world energy. Another theory is that it already exists in the air, and we consume it on a daily basis, but then that also causes way more questions to appear than answers, because how come people control it so easily? Or even have access to use it in such large quantities if it exists wildly in nature?
Matthew remembered that particular day when he fought William. The latter's attack, despite being able to cut through steel and bones so easily, was only able to pierce his skin and flesh, without scratching any of his shoulder bones. That encounter often brought him to wonder, maybe that day, in a rush of desperation, his body used its own spiritual energy subconsciously as a mean of self defense... It was what he assumed to be a very basic and early version of armament haki. Thinking back to it, that made some kind of sense, so he took it upon himself to research and experiment on his own body… as a result he was now able to enhance things with his own spiritual energy. A very basic and thin layer that should prevent those fruit peels from aging or changing their color or structure.
As for that inky black coating he remembered from the show… well that would have to wait, adding many layers of spiritual energy and controlling them with such precision will cause Matthew to go mental… patience is what one needs.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
" *crunch*... Uhhh" Yami finally took a bite, the horrible flavor caused his skin to turn to a shivering blue color, just from the Vile taste alone.
'how could something taste this bad?!' he looked at his body, slowly taking a frog-like shape. Skin receded and took a rough gray-in-color build, with the limbs turning into a frogs. Feeling quite uncomfortable about the sticky, transparent substance that glued his fours to the floor, he took notice of how large and strong his tongue became. he also noted that he kept his previous handsome features. The gorgeous blond hair in particular, certainly didn't match his newfound hybrid form.
' hoh, how interesting…' his haki picked up on every small detail here and there. He checked Yami's stats…
{name: Yami Yugure
Race: human
Str: 15
Agi: 18
End: 28
Wis: 16.7
Luck: 10
Current state: excited, perplexed, fearful, well fed, cold…
—--skills: passive—--
Frog-frog no mi model Treefrog (B-rank/ can be further upgraded): a basic zoan type devil fruit. Allows the user to change his cellular structure at will to what resembles a treefrog's, user is granted access to two forms (hybrid and beast form).}
"... So this is what it feels like to have a devil fruit ability" Yami seemed unbothered about the change, which amused matthew to no end.
" why don't you go and test your new powers, I'll keep a close watch from the roofs" after saying that, Matthew kicked the ground and swiftly jumped, safely landing on top of a building. The slums were packed to the brim with old dusty houses, the walls and roofs were moldy beyong salvishing, with the stinky smell being a big turn off for any daring visitor. His nose has long since gotten used to these horrid scents. Taking off the eye patch, a red crow sigil was left for the world to see in its entirety. Until now, he has kept his left eye open for two weeks. The pain caused a loss of feeling and a string of numbness in the left side of his face, which left him to wonder whether or not he was half blind. He kept the right one closed just in case his normal vision doesn't overlap with his headache-inducing haki. Matthew certainly didn't need to experience more pain Than he already has.
'... Here it comes, tomorrow, Portelin will know of the massacre, caused by the devil Matthew Roberts. That will hasten up my plans' he saw as some beggars caught sights of the butchered bodies. The women screamed in fright while the men ran as far away as possible from whoever was psychopathic enough to commit these deeds. It wouldn't take that long for the higher ups to note the long absence of their spies. Slowly, excitement flew like a river and filled his mouth with a sweet taste. He couldn't wait to show this city what he had in store… perhaps, a way bigger piece of art…
"say, yellow kitten, it seems you got the hang of it…" his crow's eye noticed the silhouette of a gray skinned frog, the size of a horse, sneaking behind him. '... it seems he can blend well in the surroundings with that weird skin of his' thought Matthew while sitting in a meditative posture. Both legs were crossed in a lotus like form, spine upright and hands fondled gently near the stomach.
"it's uncanny how you can see me in this state. I can even mask my smell and hold my breath mind you, which makes this beast form perfect for camouflage…" said the gray frog Yami with the same youthful tone despite the beastly appearance. The man before him was truly dangerous, since his instincts have improved with the devil fruit, he now clearly felt that ominous aura the man in question emitted.
"... I'm glad you are satisfied. One of the kittens is approaching our place, 350 meters to the south…"
"well, it should be brother kayn. I seldom told them if I'm not back by midnight, they should send someone to track my whereabouts. It's a bit weird for him to come in person…" Yami thought interestingly. He approached Matthew and, in a display of good manners, kneeled in his frog form behind the latter's back.
"... what is it now kitten?" Matthew's iconic voice seemed undisturbed by the action.
"please tell me how to get stronger…" the polite tone of Yami, fell on Matthew's ears from behind. Kids were strange in this world.
"Why do you want power? Is it a selfish desire that you hold, or is it something that you seek…" Matthew asked in his meditative pose, although they were both smart enough to know the answer.
"I want to be stronger, I want to shelter my siblings form the evildoers. I want to present them with a better lifestyle…" Yami said with a faint trace of quivering in his voice.
"hmm, the best advice I can give you is to fight people who are tougher, mightier, wiser than you… the experience from the your losses and victories will eventually fuel your drive to become stronger"
"..." after a long pause... "I'm curious sir, do you fear losing? What will my siblings think of me if they see their 'strong', 'capable' leader fail in something" this time Yami asked a question that caused the spear wielder to slightly flinch… but he still answered.
" yellow kitten. It matters not the opinion of the judges and their critiques, nor the people who point out how the weak prevailed and strong stumbled, nor those who present the doer of the deeds with other supposedly better options. The credit belongs to the man who actually fights with dignity and pride, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who keeps trying with no fear of failure, who strives valiantly, because there is no merit or effort without error. The one who matters is the one who shows great enthusiasm, even greater devotion to his own beliefs. Who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and if he fails, at least does so while daring greatly, so that his place will never be with those timid souls who never tasted victory nor defeat in their lives, those who seek power and fame with only cowardness to show for their character. How can we grow as human beings without facing hardships and shortcomings along our path to power…"
"I see… I think I understand now" Yami turned around around, readying his new body for a long jump.
" if you truly did, then you should go on your way"
"thank you sir for the gift, I will treasure it greatly…" their polite conversation finally ended with the departure of Yami.
' we will meet sooner than you would expect Yami Yugure' on the other hand, Matthew noted the new figure that appeared in his vision field. dull cheeks, small hooked nose, a neck scar that was kept hidden, a pair of unmoving eyes covered by a curtain of tight black curls that surrounded his body in an air of mystery.
'Tomorrow will be interesting' Matthew kept the same posture for that whole night, not caring a tiny bit for the chaos he caused. This was his own creative way of resting or relaxing.