"You are strong but you can't get complacent", Izu and Luffy were walking deep into the forest, "Neither can I, so, until we set sail, we will train every day. In the east blue your current strength might suffice but not in the grand line. The difference between the blues and the grandline is massive, as is the gap between the first half of the grand line and the second"
Izu created training equipment for the two of them and they began training.
"What is the grandline like? Have you been there?", Luffy asked as they were running laps with weighted vests. He had to adjust the vests twice. The first time, they were so light that it wasn't a challenge for Luffy, the second they were too heavy but three is the magic number.
"No, I have never been there but I have heard stories. Apparently the weather can change from one moment to the next, you need a skilled navigator to navigate through the treacherous waters. I might be able to navigate the east blue on my own but the grandline is another beast. The further you get into the grandline, the crazier it gets. Stronger opponents, more difficult terrain, wackier weather and as you go through the grandline, devil fruits become more common. In the second half of the grandline nearly every captain has one, with a few exceptions", Izu picked up the pace. He would have to increase the weight soon, his body was already adjusting to the weight. One piece physique was ridiculous.
"Sounds like many cool adventures can be had there shishishi", Luffy giggled, "sounds like we need a navigator and a cook and definitely a musician! Music is a must on a long journey!"
"Yeah, we should amass a small crew before we enter the grandline and a proper ship. I can make us one but it won't survive the grandline. I'm no shipwright. I know a bit of ship making, just enough to last us until we can get a proper ship. My abilities are limited by the amount of knowledge I have. I have studied plenty of different things but it is just bits and pieces. A ship isn't just a hunk of wood. True shipwrights can create marvelous wonders, far beyond my reach"
"Your power sounds very useful", Luffy grinned as he too was adjusting to the weight, "if we ever run out of something you can just turn the water around us into what we need"
"No can do. My power can only affect solid things. I can reshape things that hold liquids, like the human body but if I try to affect the liquid by itself, it won't work", Izu explained, "But I can turn non edible things into food, which our future chef can then use to cook"
"you can make food? Even meat?!", Luffy's eyes sparkled, looking at him as if he was some kind of god. Of course, that was what he latched onto, not the limitations but the food creation. Luffy was a simple man and he loved him for that.
"Yeah, you won't ever go hungry, as long as we have something for me to transform. Wood, stone, even glass, just one motion away from unlocking untold culinary potential. Though I can only make meat or fruits I am intricately familiar with. Pork, Beef, chicken and so on. If you want more exotic meat, you'll have to get it some other way", Izu stopped, "Here, let me increase the weight a bit"
"You have to show me!", Luffy exclaimed as the weight on his body was increased.
"Sure, let's take this tree stump, what do you want? Pork? Beef?"
"Chicken drumsticks! Giant chicken drumsticks!"
"As you wish captain", He envisioned a giant chicken drumstick, 49 percent fat, 51 percent protein, the bones, hollow, the color, pink, the texture, the weight, the taste, he scratched the stump and instantly, there laid two giant chicken drumsticks. Their stomachs growled, so they sat down to eat, Luffy gathered wood for a fire and they roasted the giant chicken drumsticks above open flame. He seasoned them with paprika, salt and pepper, all of which he knew the chemical make up for.
"Itadakimasu!"
"Itadakimasu!"
The meat was juicy and they enjoyed it a lot.
"You are a godsend", Luffy padded his stomach, "I'm still hungry though, make some more"
"That drumstick was as big as your head and neck and you are still hungry? And here I thought I had a big appetite! Sure thing captain, another drumstick coming up", Luffy truly was a glutton but it was good practice and he would have to do it a lot in the future, so he didn't mind.
"Make that two. I still have plenty of space"
"Two more it is"
They went to sleep that night well fed and exhausted from the constant training. Over the next month, the routine was the same, get up early, breakfast, training till lunch, lunch, more training and finally supper, after which they went to sleep only to repeat that same ordeal again the next day.
On may 5th, the whole village was celebrating Luffy's birthday. There was cake, laughter and overall a good mood. When the festivities were over, Luffy and Izu walked to the pier, where Izu's boat was still waiting, untouched since he had arrived here. They stocked up on lumber, both for repairs and for food and set sail. The townsfolk waved them goodbye, "I'll see you again once I am king of the pirates! Just you wait, I will have the biggest bounty ever and a great nakama"
As they sailed outwards, the lord of the coast, a sea king, the same that ate Shank's arm, rose from the waters but Luffy knocked it out with one swift, "Gum gum pistol!"
'Shell's town is west of here. On the way there, we should encounter Alvida. That woman… I don't like her… let my infamy rise by killing her!'