Rai D. Arashi woke up to the sound of waves crashing against jagged rocks. The sun had barely begun to rise, painting streaks of gold across the sky. His head throbbed faintly, the remnants of yesterday's storm still echoing in his body. The salty air filled his lungs as he sat up, brushing off grains of sand clinging to his clothes.
It had been only a day since he had arrived in this strange world. Yesterday's discovery—the glowing fruit with strange patterns—still burned vividly in his mind. His hands trembled slightly as he looked at his palm. Did I really… eat a Devil Fruit?
The memory was clear. The taste had been awful, bitter and indescribable, like swallowing raw electricity itself. But afterward, something inside him had changed. When his emotions had surged, sparks had danced along his arm, and thunder had rumbled from the skies.
Now, as he sat on the lonely beach, Rai clenched his fist. I need to test this properly. If this really is the Goro Goro no Mi… then I hold one of the strongest powers in this world. His lips curved into a faint smile. "Immortality… maybe this is my first step."
He stood and walked inland, leaving behind the quiet shore. The island was small, filled with dense trees and a few mountains at its core. It was uninhabited, as far as he had seen yesterday. Perfect training ground, he thought.
Rai stopped in a clearing. He spread his fingers and tried to summon the same power he had felt before. Nothing happened. He furrowed his brow, focusing harder. "Electricity… thunder… come on!"
A faint spark crackled at his fingertips, then faded.
Rai sighed. "So it's not just about yelling." He sat cross-legged on the ground, closing his eyes. His mind drifted back to his old world, back to the nights he stayed up watching One Piece episodes. He remembered Enel, the arrogant "god" of Skypiea, casually creating thunderbolts that could obliterate armies. If Enel could do that… then I should be able to as well. The only difference is practice and control.
He took a deep breath. Electricity is energy. And energy needs a source. In my old world, nerves carried signals through bioelectricity. If I can amplify that with this fruit… then maybe I can merge it with my body, instead of just throwing lightning around.
He focused inward, imagining the energy within his body flowing like rivers. At first, nothing came. His concentration wavered as sweat rolled down his forehead. Hours passed. But then—just when he was about to give up—he felt it: a faint tingling in his chest. It spread to his arms, a warmth that was both painful and exhilarating. His fingers sparked again, this time stronger, crackling with raw electricity.
The sound echoed in the clearing. There it is!
He opened his eyes, his gaze burning with determination. Lightning danced along his forearm, unstable and wild, but it was his.
"Good," he whispered. "But this is just the beginning."
For days, Rai continued his experiments. He tried shooting bolts of lightning, but they would often misfire, leaving scorch marks on the ground—or burning trees unintentionally. He tried enhancing his movements, focusing electricity into his legs. At first, it only left him numb, collapsing after a few steps. But slowly, his body adapted. He learned to channel the current carefully, pushing his reflexes just a little faster, his strikes a little sharper.
Every failure frustrated him, but Rai reminded himself of his goal: immortality. Not becoming a god, not ruling others. Just… enduring. Living beyond human limits.
On the seventh day, while meditating under the shade of a great tree, Rai stumbled upon something new. He had been practicing visualization, imagining thunderclouds above his head, lightning descending into his core. But this time, when he exhaled, he felt a strange pulse deep within his abdomen—his dantian, as martial cultivators called it in old stories.
His eyes snapped open. Wait… the energy didn't just vanish. It stored itself… inside me?
Excited, he tried again. This time, he directed the flow of electricity consciously, sending it downward, compressing it into the pit of his stomach. A glowing sensation built there, warm and stable. The sparks on his fingers didn't fade completely—they remained faint, waiting for his call.
He laughed out loud. "So that's it! If I can store my energy in the dantian, I won't always have to rely on eating or resting to recover. It's like charging a battery."
That day marked a turning point. Rai began creating mental runes—symbols in his imagination—to stabilize the energy. He pictured intricate patterns of thunderbolts, carved into his consciousness, guiding the flow of electricity like circuits on a board. At first, the images were blurry, breaking apart when his focus wavered. But with practice, they became sharper, glowing golden in his mind's eye.
Each rune allowed him to control a different aspect of his power: one to compress energy, one to release it explosively, one to enhance his physical body.
The training was brutal. Every night he collapsed on the ground, his muscles twitching from overuse, his skin scarred with burns. But he never stopped.
Because every time he pushed his limit, the sparks grew stronger.
One stormy evening, as rain poured over the island, Rai stood at the highest cliff. The ocean below churned violently. His heart pounded. "If I want to master thunder, I need to face real thunder."
He raised his arms to the sky, summoning every drop of power inside him. The runes in his mind glowed. Lightning burst from his body, reaching upward. For a terrifying moment, the heavens answered—an enormous thunderbolt struck down, colliding with his own lightning.
The explosion knocked him flat. His ears rang, smoke rising from his body. Pain seared through every nerve.
But when he opened his eyes, he laughed through the agony. Because for a brief moment, he had felt it—the merging of his will with the storm itself.
"This… this is only the start."
By the end of his second month on the island, Rai D. Arashi was no longer the same man who had washed ashore at age six. His once ordinary body was now tempered by storms, his will sharpened by pain. He had learned the basics of controlling his Logia fruit, discovered the secret of storing power in his dantian, and forged the first of his mental runes.
And yet, he knew it was only the beginning.
Standing once more on the cliffside, watching the sun set over the endless ocean, Rai clenched his fists. "This world is vast. Somewhere out there are pirates, marines, warlords, emperors… and the secret to eternal life. To reach it, I'll have to walk through storms fiercer than any I've seen."
His gaze hardened, the sea breeze whipping his black hair.
"I am Rai D. Arashi. And this is my path to immortality."