Whether that last punch had truly been a "serious punch" or not, Darren wasn't entirely sure.
Garp's training thods had no logic to them whatsoever—bizarre, eccentric, and far beyond anything Darren could comprehend.
He followed along anyway, simply because he trusted this "strongest Marine." Step by step, he trained in Garp's unorthodox style.
After all, training was training. At his current level of strength, those punishing exercises that pushed his physical limits no longer did much to raise his "stats."
But in the instant he threw that final punch, Darren felt as if he had glimpsed sothing.
It was a fleeting spark of inspiration—a sensation he couldn't chase down or force, a montary union of body and mind.
For that one breath, it felt as though everything around him vanished.
His senses tightened, as if he'd suddenly peered through a powerful telescope—his focus sharpened to a razor's edge.
The noise of the world receded, and his mind fell utterly silent.
Though his body was worn to the bone, power surged up from within him with perfect, natural ease, like a spring bursting from the earth.
In that instant, there was nothing else.
Only the punch.
A strike to win—an indomitable blow!
By the ti he returned to himself, the battleship before him was already shattered, reduced to ruin and scrap.
What kind of power was that?
As he made his way toward the training camp, his thoughts kept turning over and over in his mind.
If he had to describe it, that punch hadn't been about so special technique or stacking different abilities together. It wasn't even raw, brute-force power. It was sothing deeper—a state he could barely grasp.
—A perfect unity of mind, body, and technique!!
Maybe... that's the key to mastering Conqueror's Haki infusion?
The idea struck him out of nowhere.
He'd awakened his Conqueror's Haki so ti ago. He could control its outpouring at will, intimidating his enemies.
But he'd never figured out how to wrap that power around his strikes.
He ntally replayed the sensation and mindset of that last punch, trying to recapture that elusive flash of insight.
He knew it was only an accident, a fleeting mont.
The true mastery of that kind of control over his entire body was still an incredibly distant goal.
But Darren wasn't in any rush.
He was patient by nature, always understanding that so things can't be forced—they need ti and steady effort to take shape.
Lost in these thoughts, he stepped through the training camp gates and into the courtyard.
Zephyr was already there, draped in his Justice coat and waiting.
"Finished Garp's training, have you?" Zephyr asked gruffly, a cigar clamped between his teeth.
Darren gave a small smile and nodded.
"Yes, Zephyr-sensei."
"Hmph! That bastard Garp, dragging you off without a word!" Zephyr spat, anger flickering across his face.
"He doesn't even think—how much can you possibly learn from that half-assed teaching style of his!?" he rumbled. "Even his own kid didn't want to train under him!"
Clearly, Zephyr had no love for Garp's so-called thods.
Darren just smiled and let it go. He still rembered the day he'd first started training with Garp, how Zephyr had stord over in fury. The two of them had nearly co to blows right then and there.
Well, actually... they had.
"You know nothing about teaching!"
"I know everything, you old fart!"
"Even your own son won't learn from you!"
"Bullshit!!"
"I'm the head instructor here!"
"I could beat you with one arm!"
"Bullshit!"
"You wanna settle this?"
"You're out of your damn mind!!"
Then they'd stripped to the waist and gone at it like wild animals, turning the entire port upside down.
In the end, the commotion had grown so loud that Sengoku and Tsuru had to co down personally to drag the two of them apart—both of them bruised, bloodied, and cursing like sailors.
The final compromise? Darren would train under both of them.
Mornings with Garp, afternoons with Zephyr.
Of course, even deciding who got which ti slot had been another drawn-out argunt.
After all, everyone knew mornings were when the body was fresh and strong—training would always be more effective.
Zephyr gave a dismissive grunt, then turned a sharp look on Darren.
"Tell the truth, kid. With all this high-intensity training, are you really holding up?"
Darren hesitated for a mont, then nodded calmly.
"I don't feel there's much of a problem."
Zephyr's brow furrowed slightly as he opened his Observation Haki to sense Darren's presence. Satisfied, he gave a small nod.
"Good," he said. "If anything starts to feel wrong, say it imdiately. Don't let your body end up paying the price later."
Then his expression shifted, and he added abruptly:
"And watch yourself with... you know... that."
That?
Darren blinked, then realized what Zephyr ant, and his mouth twitched.
"Ahem... Anyway, today's training will be light. Consider it a half-day break," Zephyr said, moving briskly to the real topic.
"You're already far ahead of the rest of the recruits here. Given your current level, the usual drills are basically aningless."
"Rather than just piling on more exercises, it's better to fill in the gaps in your skills—shore up your weaknesses."
"So tell , Darren—what do you want to work on? Anything you want to learn?"
Darren fell silent for a mont, thinking. Then he looked up, his voice steady and firm.
"Zephyr-sensei, I want to learn Observation Haki."
"Observation Haki, huh? That's certainly a useful— Wait. You an... you haven't awakened it yet!?" Zephyr's words stumbled out in surprise, his eyes snapping to Darren.
"That's right..." Darren said with a wry smile.
He rembered more than one awkward mont in the past—facing off against monsters without the power to truly read their moves. His eye twitched at the mory.
"But... that can't be right," Zephyr murmured, frowning deeply. "If you didn't have Observation Haki, how the hell did you fight guys like Byrnndi World and Kaido? You shouldn't even be able to see their attacks coming."
"It's because of this..." Darren raised his hand, electricity crackling between his fingers.
"My Devil Fruit is the Magnet-Magnet Fruit. I can generate a magnetic field strong enough to sense the magnetic signatures of living things. It's similar to Observation Haki in effect... though in actual combat, it's not as precise."
He paused, then added with a faint smile:
"And even if I can't dodge, I can still take a few hits from them head-on. I'm not going to die."
Zephyr: ...
Well... he had to admit. That did make sense.
---
To be continued...
Reviews
All reviews (0)