[Note:
" * " : Indicates abilities that can be upgraded with practice, experience, or unique opportunities.]
> System inner voice ["speaking"] <
> Ash inner speech "speaking" <
{}
NAMI'S TRAIL:
Blinding light swallowed Nami the moment she stepped forward, forcing her to shut her eyes. As her vision slowly adjusted, she opened them—only to be met with a dark, gloomy atmosphere.
The sky above had dark clouds swirling, thunder booming, and lightning crackling across the sky. In front of her stood a massive wall, so high it seemed almost endless. Between the two towering stone walls was a narrow gap, dark and ominous.
"…Uh, guys? Where are we?" she called out.
Receiving no response, she looked to the side and no one was there beside her. She was alone.
"Where did they go? Didn't we enter together?" she muttered, trying to call again, "Ash? Nojiko? Guys?" But there was still no answer.
Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself. Then she turned to look for the portal they all entered from, only to see that the portal they had entered through had also vanished.
There was no way back. The only path was forward—into the passage between the walls.
With a sigh, she said, "It seems I'm on my own."
Gathering her courage, she walked toward it. As she neared the entrance, she noticed markings carved into the stone.
On the left, a pair of wings were etched. On the right, a slender staff coiled with twin serpents, with tiny wings near the top.
Nami didn't recognize the symbols from anywhere, so she left it in the back of her mind—not caring for now.
With nowhere else to go, she stepped into the path between the walls.
As Nami stepped into the passage, she immediately activated her Observation Haki, her senses sharpening to their limits. Her muscles tensed as she reinforced her body with Tekkai, her skin hardening, and layered it with Armament Haki.
Then she drew her Stormflow Staff, spinning it once with practiced ease. She moved forward cautiously, eyes scanning her surroundings.
Soon, the straight path began to break into multiple branching corridors, splitting off on either side. Nami paused for a moment, then picked one of the left paths and followed it—only to meet a solid stone wall at the end.
"What the... This way is blocked," she muttered, turning back and retracing her steps.
She took the opposite route next—again met with a dead end.
Unfazed, she returned once more and tried the third option. This time, the path continued onward.
She walked carefully, but as she moved deeper, the pattern repeated—twisting passages, some leading nowhere or circling same place, others circling back to where she started.
Eventually, she stopped and looked around, realization dawning on her.
"…Wait. Am I inside a maze?" she said, her voice echoing faintly.
Her gaze rose to the stormy sky, but the massive stone walls loomed far above her, enclosing her in this labyrinth.
As the realization of the maze settled in, a loud moo-like roar echoed through the maze.
The ground shook with heavy thuds—Nami staggered slightly, then quickly steadied herself, immediately going on high alert.
From the shadows of the next corridor, a looming figure emerged, easily several times her height.
It walked on two powerful legs that ended in thick hooves, its tail lashing behind it like a whip. Two sharp horns curled from its head, and its blood-red eyes glowed menacingly.
A sudden crack of thunder and lightning lit up the maze—and for a brief moment, she saw its full face.
A twisted fusion of man and beast, with a bovine snout, thick fur, and muscle-packed limbs. A giant club, thick as a tree trunk, was gripped tightly in one hand.
It stopped, locking eyes with her.
Nami froze, her own eyes narrowed, matching its gaze. Tension crackled between them.
Then, with another earth-shaking roar, the beast charged—its hooves pounding the ground, club raised high.
She vanished from its path instantly using Soru just as the club slammed into the ground where she had stood—shattering stone and sending dust into the air.
For something that size—it sure was fast.
The beast charged again, swinging its massive club like a wild animal. Nami had no choice but to dodge—again and again. Each strike came faster, stronger, more erratic than the last.
Sometimes she had to leap into the air, combining both Geppo and Soru, flipping and weaving through the chaos to avoid the monstrous blows.
If not for her Observation Haki warning her each time, she would've been crushed already. The ground cracked and splintered beneath the weight of the beast's attacks, debris flying in all directions.
The more it missed, the more furious it became—its roars growing louder, and its movements wilder.
Then suddenly—it stopped.
It lowered its arms slightly, its massive chest heaving as hot air began to rise off its body. Steam hissed from its back and shoulders, vapor escaping like from a boiling pot.
Nami widened her eyes, stepping back a few meters as she observed carefully.
"…So, its body gets overheated when it goes wild like that, huh....," she muttered. "It need time to cool down if it goes like that every time then."
She also noticed the red glow in its eyes dimmed slightly. Understanding not waste this kind of opening, she surged forward.
With a swing of her Stormflow Staff, she launched a flurry of strikes each swing, slamming into the beast's thick hide.
The damage wasn't deep, but it was enough to make the monster reel back—snarling and mooing in anger. It swung at her wildly—club, fists, even its tail, which lashed out like a whip.
Nami danced around it all, striking where she could. Bruises began to form along its body. But not a drop of blood came from its body.
Just as she dodged a wide swing from its right hand, the tail cracked across the air—and hit her square in the side.
"Ghaa—!!"
The force sent her flying, crashing and rolling across the ground. The impact nearly shattered her Tekkai and Armament reinforcement both barely holding up.
She coughed, a sharp pain in her ribs, spitting out blood as she struggled to stand.
"Ugh… That hurt like hell, you idiot…!" she growled, glaring at the beast. "Who the hell uses their tail like a whip?! Damn you, monster!"
She then noticed the beast remained in place, its massive frame still heaving with labored breaths, steam continuing to roll off its body.
Nami, still clutching her side, took a deep breath and analyzed the situation carefully.
"…Still overheated, huh?" she muttered to herself, her eyes scanning the beast. "Let's see if I can make this quick, then."
With a mental command, she transformed her Stormflow Staff, into three smaller batons. She quickly tucked them securely at her waist for now.
Then, like a gymnast performing a flawless spin, Nami swirled and leaped, using her momentum to whip air around her.
She spun in a series of intricate twirls, twisting and twisting as the air whirled around her, until she could feel the strain building in her legs.
Finally, with a yell, she released her compressed energy released a single massive Rankyaku, a sharp wind blade tearing through the air toward the beast.
The beast, seeing the attack, raised its club in an attempt to block but the wind blade cleaved through the club, slicing it in half before striking the beast's chest.
It howled in pain, stumbling back slightly, a deep moo-like roar echoing from its throat. For the first time, Nami attack had pierced its thick hide and did this much of damage.
But Nami, not giving it time to recover, grabbed two of the three batons from her waist—one in each hand. With a sharp motion, she threw them at full speed, aiming for either side of the beast's neck without actually touching it—just in midair.
As the batons flew, she immediately used Soru, her body blurring with speed as she raced toward the creature's backside.
As she ran, she willed the chains to activate. Instantly, metal links sprouted from the batons, connecting in midair and extending across the beast's neck, trailing loosely behind it as the batons fell toward the floor.
Before they could touch the ground, Nami caught them in each hand just in time behind the beast. With a powerful yank, she willed the chains to retract.
In an instant, the chain snapped tight around the beast's throat, coiling and pulling in a sudden, smooth motion, choking it.
"Gotcha!" Nami shouted, her voice filled with glee as she tightened her hold, desperately trying to choke the beast as the chains continued to retract parallelly.
The creature roared, thrashing violently. It tried to claw at its throat with its hands, desperately reaching for the constricting links. It clawed and yanked at the chains with growing desperation, like a person struggling to free themselves from choking.
Nami gritted her teeth, yelling as she fought to stay steady, trying to maintain her grip and continue choking the beast, even as it thrashed.
But to the beast's luck, it managed to grab hold of the chains. With a powerful pull, it yanked them forward with all its might.
With the force of the yank, Nami was pulled along with the chains. The chains were connected to the batons, which were still in her death grip. She was yanked upward into the air. "Ah!" she cried out, her voice a surprised gasp as the force flipped her upside down.
In the next moment, she, who had been behind the beast, was now face-to-face with it, upside down.
Her eyes widened as she saw the beast, furious, released a hot, angry puff of steam air through its nostrils like a raging bull, which almost suffocated her.
Nami's Haki flared, making her act quickly mid-air. She willed the three batons together, and they clicked into place, reforming into a full-length staff just as the beast swung its half-cleaved club toward her.
The staff clashed against the club with a thunderous crack. Nami was sent flying, crashing to the ground and tumbling across it.
As she rolled, she slammed her staff into the ground, using it to anchor herself and grind to a stop, her boots skidding as dust kicked up around her.
The beast wasn't done. It grabbed both halves of its cleaved club and hurled them at Nami with terrifying speed.
Without hesitation, Nami dodge one moving to the side, then jumped over the second with ease using Geppo.
But the beast wasn't about to give up. It immediately charged at her, bellowing like a raging bull, horns lowered and aimed straight at her.
Nami's Haki flared again just as she was in mid-air, and she saw it coming.
Without missing a beat, she combined Geppo and Soru, dodging nimbly to the side just as the beast's horns rushed past her.
The sheer force of its charge caused the beast to slam into the wall of the maze, its body getting stuck as its horns lodged into the stone.
Nami came down a safe distance behind it, watching as the beast struggled to free itself.
A quiet smirk curved across Nami's lips as she spotted the beast's horns still lodged deep into the maze wall. It twitched and strained, trying to free itself, but its massive frame remained stuck.
Her Stormflow Staff pulsed softly in her grip—fully charged with the momentum it had absorbed throughout the battle.
A mischievous glint sparked in her eyes as a wicked idea struck.
She took her stance, planting both feet firmly against the ground. Her fingers tightened around the staff, and the air around her legs began to ripple.
She activated Soru—but didn't move.
Instead, she triggered it again. And again. And again—compressing the technique into a single point beneath her feet. Like a spring being wound tighter with each flicker of movement, the pressure built, layering explosive force beneath her.
The ground cracked beneath her soles. Then, with a sharp battle cry—
BOOM.
Nami launched forward like a cannonball, the stone beneath her erupting from the sudden burst of speed. A thunderous shockwave echoed behind her as she vanished in a streak of motion.
"TAKE THIS, YOU OVERGROWN COW!!" she shouted, Stormflow Staff aimed straight at the beast's rear.
In that split second before impact, she willed all the stored momentum inside the staff to surge to its tip—compressed kinetic force and accumulated energy concentrating into a single devastating point.
CRACK—BOOM!!
The staff slammed into the creature's exposed rear—and the result was explosive.
"MMMOOOOOOOOHHHHHH!!"
The beast let out a strangled, guttural roar, its body jerking violently as the shockwave blasted through it from behind. Its glowing eyes rolled back, limbs convulsing as the kinetic eruption knocked the breath and strength out of it in an instant.
Still stuck in the wall by its horns, the creature slumped with a heavy, defeated groan falling unconscious.
A moment later, Nami landed behind it with feline grace, steam rising off her body mainly legs from the exertion.
She smirked.
"…That's what you get for trying to trample me," she muttered, wiping a streak of blood from her lip and flicking her hair back with practiced flair.
Nami coughed and stumbled back a step before collapsing to the ground, landing hard on her rear. She winced, clutching at her thighs and calves, her muscles trembling from the strain.
"Tch… damn it…" she hissed, massaging one leg carefully. "Ash did warn us—holding that much Soru pressure in place would be a pain."
It had only been a theory Ash once mentioned them offhandedly—compressing multiple Soru bursts in place to unleash a single, focused explosion. She never imagined it would actually work so well. Or hurt this much.
But she had no choice. Her regular strikes, even with the Stormflow Staff, weren't enough to pierce that monster's thick hide.
This only made it clearer—she needed to improve her Armament Haki coating to her staff, and learn it fast. Next time she faced something like that, she couldn't afford to rely on risky moves alone.
After pulling a fresh pair of shoes from her inventory bag, she slipped them on slowly, still rubbing the soreness from her legs.
She avoided using any recovery potions, choosing instead to take out some food and eat while letting her body cool down naturally. Even though the damage she'd taken wasn't light—but it wasn't beyond what she could handle.
Once she finished her snack, she stood up, rolling her ankles to test her footing. With a breath, she focused again.
Her Observation Haki stretched outward as she started moving again—this time, in the opposite direction of where the beast had struck the wall.
The maze remained mostly silent. Aside from the occasional distant thunder and flashes of lightning, nothing approached her.
Guided by her Haki and reading the shifting wind in the air, she made quick progress deeper into the labyrinth.
As time passed, Nami noticed the air around her beginning to change.
A thick fog began to roll in, slowly swallowing the maze in a pale, shifting curtain. Within moments, she could barely see a few steps ahead. The walls, the floor, even the path blurred into a ghostly haze.
"Why is there fog all of a sudden? I didn't sense any change in the weather either…" she muttered, gripping her staff tighter, just in case.
With her vision compromised, she had no choice but to rely fully on her Observation Haki. She focused, letting her senses stretch outward as she moved forward cautiously with her staff at ready.
Then—she heard it.
"Nami!"
Her heart skipped a beat.
That was Nojiko's voice.
"Nami, over here! We're here!" Nojiko called out again, the sound drifting in from just ahead.
Nami's eyes widened and she broke into a run. "Nojiko?! Is that you? Where—where are you?!"
She followed the voice—only to slam face-first into a solid wall of the maze.
"What the…? I clearly heard Nojiko calling from this way. Why is there a wall here?"
Before she could recover, another voice echoed through the fog.
"Nami! We're here, come this way!"—this time, it was Lucy.
She spun and sprinted toward it, but again was met with another dead end.
Again and again, it happened—Selina, Uta, Ace… even Ash's voice called out to her, each from a different direction, each pulling her deeper into confusion.
"Nami!"
"Help!"
"We're here!"
"Come on!"
The voices overlapped, louder, more desperate—echoing from every corner of the fog-covered maze.
"STOP IT!!" Nami screamed, clutching her head and dropping to her knees, hands pressed tightly over her ears. "Just shut up!!"
Her breathing was ragged. Her heart pounded in her chest as the world seemed to spin around her.
She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing herself to think. "This isn't real."
"That's right… I was alone when I entered. I came in alone," she whispered. "They're not here."
Slowly, she started to breathe deeper. Calmer.
"This fog… it must be dulling my senses. Messing with my head," she growled through gritted teeth.
She forced herself to her feet, steadying her breath. Her Observation Haki surged to full power. The voices still echoed faintly, trying to pull her attention—but she ignored them.
Step by step, guided by instinct and focus, she pressed forward. And then, after what felt like hours…
The fog finally began to lift. The thick mist rolled away slowly, revealing the maze ahead once more.
Nami let out a slow breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "…Finally," she whispered, eyes narrowing with renewed clarity.
But that didn't last long.
Before Nami could get her bearings, another problem came stomping into view—a beast, similar to the first one she had faced, its heavy footfalls echoing through the clearing fog.
Her eyes narrowed as she spotted the towering figure emerging from a side path, a massive club raised in its hand.
"Oh, come on—give me a break," she groaned.
The beast roared and charged.
Nami instantly activated Soru, vanishing from her spot and reappearing to meet it head-on.
In a flash, she willed her staff into two batons connected by a chain, dodging the beast's wild swing as the club crashed down.
She slid low between its legs, skidding along the ground as she whipped the chained batons around its thick limbs.
In one fluid motion, Nami popped up behind it, planted her feet, and yanked the chain hard—sending the beast stumbling forward, crashing face-first into the ground.
Not giving it a moment, Nami launched herself upward with Geppo, soaring into the air.
Still mid-flight, she spun the chain and hurled it toward the beast's club that had slipped from its grasp. One of the batons wrapped around it, helped forming a tight knot.
With a grunt, she yanked it toward her.
The weapon was heavier than she expected. She had to use all her strength just to keep it in motion as she stayed airborne.
Spinning mid-air still using Geppo to afloat, the club followed the momentum, twirling with the chain.
Below, the beast groggily shook its head, trying to rise.
Nami didn't give it the chance.
With a fierce cry, she brought the club crashing down onto its skull, the sound of impact sharp and sickening.
CRACK!
The impact echoed like thunder. Even one of its horns snapped clean off as the beast collapsed, fully knocked out from the brutal blow.
As she landed, Nami recalled the batons back into their staff form. The knot loosened, releasing the club as the chain retracted smoothly and the batons clicked back into her Stormflow Staff.
She took a deep breath. "I need to find a safe place to clear my mind. The lingering effects of that fog are still there… and I need to finish this maze soon."
Without wasting time, she used Soru to dash forward, letting her Observation Haki guide her path. After a while, she found a quiet spot where the air felt still.
She waited for a moment, alert in case anything followed—but nothing did. She sighed in relief and sat down.
Settling into a meditative stance, just as Selina and Ash once used guide her during training, Nami closed her eyes.
She wasn't like the others—she couldn't maintain a perfectly calm mind during battle. Even though her Observation Haki was sharp, she hadn't reached their level yet.
But here, now, she could clear her thoughts.
After some time, she opened her eyes again and stood, ready to continue her journey.
Letting her Haki guide her once more, she finally emerged into a view of the lightning range. From where she stood, even at a distance, she could clearly see it: bolts of lightning constantly striking in a specific area, never outside that range.
Just then, the sharp sound of wings flapping reached her ears—followed by a screech that sounded like steel scraping against stone.
She lifted her head and saw them—creatures soaring through the fogged sky.
They looked like twisted birds, but their bodies were roughly human-sized. Their wings beat the air with sharp gusts, feathers tattered and limbs too long.
Their faces were warped mockeries of human features—beady eyes, hooked beaks, and shrill screeches that scraped like metal on stone. Their talons gleamed as they circled above, scanning the ground like predators ready to strike.
Nami muttered, "What the heck are they?" just as the entire flock suddenly dived at her from the sky, their screeches loud enough to nearly rupture her eardrums.
She gritted her teeth and bolted, using Soru to dart through the maze, her Observation Haki guiding her path. But they were unnervingly fast—and caught up in moments.
Realizing she couldn't outrun them forever, Nami made a split-second decision. She skidded to a halt and turned to face them just as one of the creatures slashed at her with a razor-sharp claw.
She barely brought her staff up in time to block the blow.
The creature flapped its wings wildly, latching onto her weapon. Nami grunted, struggling to keep her grip. Then—thinking quickly—she willed her staff to separate.
The batons split, breaking the creature's hold, and with a snap, she reconnected them into a full staff again.
Using Geppo, she shot upward, spun in the air, and slammed her staff into the creature's torso. It screeched in pain, staggering mid-flight.
But being in the air proved a mistake.
The shriek drew even more of the creatures. Her Haki flared—danger was everywhere. Claws slashed toward her from all sides.
She combined Soru and Geppo in a desperate dance through the air, dodging and weaving, but it wasn't enough. Multiple talons raked across her body, tearing fabric and flesh. Only her Tekkai and Armament coating saved her from being torn apart.
Realizing staying airborne would only make her a target, Nami dove back to the ground and landed hard, immediately using Soru again to retreat.
But the monsters didn't give her a moment's rest.
They followed—relentless, matching her speed, shrieking for blood.
Mid-run, Nami noticed something through the chaos that made her blink. Her staff was repairing itself.
Cracks along its length sealed over, dents slowly smoothed out. It was the first time she'd actually seen it happen.
Sure, Ash had told her about its functions when he first gave it to her—that the Stormflow Staff was indestructible, capable of self-repair.
She'd believed him, of course. But it had never taken this much damage before.
The fact that it needed to repair itself now... that alarmed her.
She understood immediately—those creatures' talons were sharp enough to scar even her staff. That alone made her tighten her grip. She knew what she had to do.
She began channeling her Haki into her staff mid-run, focusing hard—trying to extend her Armament coating into it, to become one with the staff. Just like Uncle Dragon had taught them in their brief sessions.
She didn't achieve it right away, but she kept trying.
Then—the piercing screech of wings yanked her back into motion.
With a sharp twist, she launched into a backflip using Geppo, soaring up above the pursuing flock. As she passed overhead, the creatures lost track of her for a split second.
They crashed together midair, feathers and limbs entangling in a mess of wings and screeches—before falling in a heap toward the ground.
Nami spun mid-air and unleashed a barrage of Rankyaku in rapid succession, the slicing wind blades crashing down on the fallen creatures below.
Some of the attacks clipped their wings clean off, rendering them unable to take flight. Without wasting a moment, she used Soru, blinking into their midst.
Her staff slammed down hard on the remaining wings of the grounded creatures, making sure they couldn't get airborne again.
Seeing the damage wasn't enough, she immediately shifted tactics Using Shigan her fingers struck with precision at the shoulder blades of the creatures, and though its hide was tough, her own body was reinforced with Tekkai and Armament Haki, letting her pierce through.
It wasn't lost on her—the difference was clear.
Her attacks landed harder when her body was coated, but her staff… not yet. It still lacked the coating, and that needed to change.
"This just proves it," she thought, gritting her teeth. "I have to learn fast to coat my weapon."
With that, she leapt back, putting distance between her and the remaining creatures.
But this time—she didn't run. Since they couldn't fly anymore, and she had an opportunity.
She narrowed her eyes, her grip tightening. She decided to use them as punching ba— ahem, training partners.
After all, Uncle Dragon did say Armament coating sharpens best in real combat.
The creatures, wounded and furious, let out sharp screeches of pain and rage as they glared at her. Their wings now useless, they charged toward her awkwardly on two legs.
Nami also dashed in, twirling her staff and slamming it against one, then two more in quick succession, staggering them. As her Haki flared again, she sensed danger—just in time to raise her staff and block a vicious beak strike.
She countered with a crushing blow to the creature's head, pivoted, and caught a talon swipe from another—only to leave herself open. A second set of claws raked across her back, making her hiss through gritted teeth.
If not for her defensive techniques—Tekkai layered with Armament Haki—she would've been gutted or torn to pieces.
But she fought through the pain.
She focused her will, trying to extend her Haki into the staff—again and again, during the whole fight.
Normally, Nami avoided battle whenever she could. But not today.
"If I want to grow stronger… If I ever want to face Arlong again—I have to push past my limits." Nami thought in her mind.
Even amid the chaos, she felt something shift. Her breathing steadied. Her thoughts cleared. She was beginning to find calm even within combat. Her Observation Haki sharpened—she could feel that it was getting strong.
These creatures might look like birds, but their bodies were absurdly tough, their bones like iron. At times, Nami even wondered—"do they know Armament Haki too?" The idea was absurd, and she scoffed it off.
Then after sometime, when she slammed her staff into one of their talons, she heard a crack. And saw that one of the creature's talons shattered.
Her eyes widened when she felt it a pulse of power racing through her limbs and into the staff for a brief moment.
She finally extending her Armament Haki into her staff and becoming one.
Not wanting to forget the feeling she continued to strike the creatures again. And again. It flickered—unstable, but it was there. She clung to it, holding it as best she could.
The creatures' numbers thinned. Only a handful remained.
But fate had other plans.
Suddenly, a deafening screech tore through the air. It was deeper and more guttural than any of the others—like a lion's roar fused with the shriek of metal ripping apart. It echoed across the maze.
To be continued...
Hey everyone! I'm always looking for ways to make this story even better, and I'd love to hear your ideas. What powers do you think should be available in Ash's store? Maybe you have some cool concepts for abilities, weapons, or items that could make the adventure even more exciting!
Feel free to drop your suggestions in the comments, and if there's anything specific, you'd love to see in future chapters, let me know! I might even integrate your ideas into the story.
Also, don't forget to give some Power Stones if you're enjoying the journey! Your support means the world. 😊