In the blink of an eye, two skills had awakened.
And even in its cub stage, the power was already this impressive.
And this... was merely the beginner-level bloodline talent.
People versus wolves, it really made you want to curse—Shano looked at the tiny little thing in front of him, and for a moment, he truly felt a bit envious.
Unlike it, he couldn't comprehend techniques directly. He could only improve through grueling hard work.
"We'll use that move, but if you keep spraying like that, you'll probably shut down after a few shots. So just use the lowest output, save your strength, and keep your speed up. Got it?"
"Awoo!"
Ayin nodded vigorously and gave it another try, spitting out a finger-thick stream of pale blue electricity from its mouth.
This time, it didn't even punch through the nearby tree trunk, but its speed was still noticeably faster than a flintlock bullet.
"That's it, smart little guy!"
Shano smiled and gave a thumbs-up in praise. "Then let's officially begin!"
An excellent and obedient training partner like this—where could you find another one? And the daily cost was just a dozen boxes of strawberry milk.
…
The cold wind carried scattered snowflakes over the mountaintop, but in the next moment, a warm spring breeze gently blew across his face.
Just like that, six months passed in a flash.
With Ayin's support, Shano successfully trained "Paper Art" to mastery.
At the same time—
His Armament Haki had also progressed significantly. At first, he could only vaguely sense the power by recalling his battle with Garp.
Now, he could already apply a small-scale coating and hardening.
At the mountain peak—
Boom!
A heavy steel plate in front of him was suddenly blasted open with a massive dent. Shano slowly retracted his fist, now surrounded by swirling black Haki.
"The destructive power added by Armament Haki's coating is seriously terrifying."
Shano grinned. Without the Haki, at most, he could only dent that heavy alloy steel plate by a few dozen centimeters.
Two or three months ago, he'd already started to feel that the mountaintop of Cocoyashi Village couldn't withstand his training anymore.
So he had Manba and the others go to a nearby town and purchase a batch of steel plates. Once they wore out, they could be sent back to be reforged into heavier and thicker ones, repeating the cycle.
Shano glanced at the system panel. Under the skill list, his Armament Haki was now rated as "Beginner."
For someone who only practiced it every afternoon over the past half year, this was already quite an achievement.
But to reach the "Minor Mastery" stage, to truly wield Haki with skill, Shano estimated it would still require a long period of bitter training.
He wasn't in a rush though—he was already very satisfied with the current progress.
After all—
Even the laughing fellow Nika took two years to master Haki under one-on-one guidance from a top teacher like Rayleigh.
As for that "200x-effort king"…
Well, that was a once-in-a-millennium top-tier genius. Way too rare.
…
In the following few months—
A few items popped up in the system's trading market that made Shano's heart race.
First up—
[Enhanced Brain Lock Technique]
Type: Cultivation Manual
Price: 4000 points
Description: Through meditative training, greatly enhances mental strength. Once mastered, it automatically forms an invisible barrier around the consciousness, blocking all forms of mental control, mind reading, or bodily possession.
Seller's Note: Stole it from the principal's office. I'm not familiar with this world. A teacher named Chrollo asked me to visit his room tonight for a private talk. Should I go?
Since obtaining the system—
Other than the Wonders, this was the most expensive item Shano had ever seen.
But there was no doubt—it was worth the price. No, more than worth it!
For a transmigrator full of secrets, this was one of the most desirable skills of all.
Especially in the world of One Piece, where Devil Fruit abilities that can mess with your mind and body were everywhere.
Not to mention what he'd already witnessed, like the Puppet-Puppet Fruit. Just casually counting off a few:
There was Big Mom's Soul-Soul Fruit, Viola's Glare-Glare Fruit, Pudding's Memory-Memory Fruit, Sugar's Hobby-Hobby Fruit, and Doflamingo's String-String Fruit…
So many types. So many weird and tricky powers.
Even top-level Haki masters could get caught off guard.
So he didn't hesitate for a second and bought it on the spot. After reading through it, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the learning threshold wasn't high.
All it required was to wake up early each morning—at your most mentally refreshed—and meditate for an hour or two. Keep that up for a few months and it would reach mastery.
On top of that—
After "Bronze Head" and "Iron Bones," Shano spent another 1200 points to buy the third volume of the Flesh Furnace Method—"Thick Skin."
As the name implied, once mastered, the outer layer of skin would gain a major boost in defensive strength, like an invisible film, greatly reducing blunt damage.
Very practical in combat. After all, this world had tons of strong people who used blunt weapons—or just fists and kicks—as their main fighting style.
Shano figured that once he mastered this and combined it with his increasingly powerful physique, by the time he headed out to sea…
Tsk.
Maybe he could even take a hit from Kaido-sensei's Thunder Bagua.
All in all—
Shano revised his training plan, bumping the Enhanced Brain Lock Technique to top priority. Every morning, he'd head to the mountain peak to sit and meditate.
Next came training "Thick Skin" and the "Life Return" technique he'd been yearning for all this time.
The plan to improve his Armament Haki continued as scheduled.
As for Tempest Kick, it still ranked last.
In Shano's plans, once he mastered Life Return and had no other new techniques to focus on for the moment—
Then he could carve out a few hours a day to train it casually. No rush.
…
The gears of time slowly turned.
Shano's training continued day after day, never slacking. Except for his annual fall-to-winter trip to "harvest some wool," he barely left Cocoyashi Village.
As the day he would come of age and set out to sea drew closer, aside from continuing to forge his body, he also began spending more and more time with his family.
Sometimes he'd help Bell-mère pick oranges, just like in the old days, clumsily lending a hand in the kitchen;
Other times, he'd laugh with Nami, heads close together, studying nautical charts and playing their geography trivia games;
In the next scene, he'd already be on the coast, putting on a stern face, personally guiding Nojiko in her training...
And so, time quietly slipped away, bit by bit.
Before he knew it—
Over two years had flown by.
From the fall of 1513 to the late spring of 1516.
Out in the vast, boundless sea, many great events had unfolded—some made it into the newspapers, while others happened without a sound.
And yet, all of this—
Seemed to have nothing to do with the remote little Cocoyashi Village in the East Blue.
In this season where summer was just around the corner, the black-haired boy named Shano finally welcomed his 18th birthday—
According to the norms of the East Blue—and the entire world—he was now officially an adult.