"Every time I see Aaron practicing that set of body techniques, I can't believe my eyes. Doesn't it hurt? Just watching makes me feel pain all over."
From the edge of the courtyard, Williams spoke while watching Aaron twist his body to the left—almost a full 360 degrees—his face twitching slightly.
Shuma didn't reply immediately. He waited until Aaron effortlessly placed both feet on his own shoulders, head still twisted nearly all the way around, before sighing and saying, "Didn't that crazy woman Hancock say it herself? This body technique isn't something normal people can train in. In the beginning, Aaron couldn't do it either—it's only thanks to his freakish regenerative ability that he's come this far. Anyone else would've died long ago."
Williams nodded in firm agreement.
The two of them had long since grown accustomed to Aaron's terrifying recovery speed. It was precisely because they'd witnessed it firsthand that they had pledged themselves to follow him. Both firmly believed that Aaron was destined to become a formidable force in the future.
And after spending day and night with him, getting to know his personality and way of handling matters, they were even more certain of it.
Exceptional talent, unyielding willpower, a clever mind, and an unmatched knack for navigating human affairs—when all these qualities exist in one person, Shuma and Williams had no doubt he would be the one capable of leading them in exacting vengeance against the Celestial Dragons.
Aaron, unaware that his two companions' resolve to follow him had just deepened further, remained entirely focused on training in the rare and precious body technique he had obtained from the future Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock.
It was the Kuja Body-Refining Technique—an ancient and extreme martial art Hancock had taught him during their time in the Holy Land of MaryGeoise.
Perhaps it was fate: Aaron and Hancock had both been slaves to the same Celestial Dragon, spending four years in cages side by side.
Naturally, during those years they had interacted. Due to her personality, Hancock often offended the Celestial Dragons and suffered brutal punishments—several times coming close to death. More than once, Aaron had quietly helped her survive, and their relationship had grown close.
In a place like MaryGeoise, where you could never be sure you'd live to see the next day, nothing really mattered anymore—not even life itself.
But Aaron had been determined to survive and grow stronger for the sake of his future freedom. He seized the chance to learn whatever he could from Hancock, and the Kuja Body-Refining Technique was the most valuable skill she passed on to him.
This ancient art was originally created by the very first empress of Amazon Lily, based on the unique physiology of women. She had modeled it after a species of immensely powerful ancient serpents that once inhabited the island.
When mastered to its peak, it allowed the practitioner to control every muscle in their body at will, concentrate all that power into a single explosive point, and contort themselves like a snake to perform incredible, unpredictable maneuvers in battle.
Most importantly, completing the full sequence of movements in one go could repeatedly stimulate the body's latent potential, rapidly enhancing the user's physical abilities.
But it was notoriously difficult to train—only those with truly exceptional talent could succeed.
Hancock's own overwhelming strength came not only from her natural gifts, but also because she was the only person in nearly five centuries of Amazon Lily's history to master the technique in human form.
When she had taught Aaron, she hadn't thought he had any chance of mastering it. In her eyes, the fact that he was male made it impossible.
Yet, against all odds, Aaron had relied on his freakish regenerative ability, spending four long years painstakingly mastering all 108 movements—each of which severely violated the normal limits of human anatomy—eventually learning the Kuja Body-Refining Technique in its entirety.
Half an hour later, Aaron finally completed a full sequence. His body was drenched in sweat, his breath ragged, skin flushed crimson like a furnace, radiating intense heat. Steam poured from his pores, wrapping him in a haze.
At the same time, his stomach began to growl in protest.
Aaron ignored it, closing his eyes to focus entirely on the changes in each muscle, and on the strange energy that had begun circulating within him after the training sequence.
When the energy finally faded, he opened his eyes and shifted his attention to something only he could see—a status panel.
Name: Aaron Age: 16
Stamina: 15.52
Strength: 15.22
Agility: 16.12
Innate Talent: Regeneration
Specialized Abilities: Night Vision, Enhanced Hearing, Blood Scent, Danger Sense, Flexible Body
Combat Skills: Basic Observation Haki, Basic Kuja Body-Refining Technique, Intermediate Marksmanship, Basic Swordsmanship
This status panel was the so-called "system" Aaron had gained after transmigrating. After four years of study, he had concluded it was only good for precisely recording his physical stats and abilities—it was otherwise completely useless.
"This time it's only gone up by 0.02 in stamina, strength, and agility. As expected, the stronger my body becomes, the less attribute growth I get from this training."
Aaron sighed inwardly at the changes in his stats.
It had been two months since he escaped MaryGeoise. In that time, his steady rise from an average human level (around 10 points in each stat) to his current numbers was almost entirely thanks to Hancock's ancient body technique.
But as his stats increased, the gains from each session of the Kuja Body-Refining Technique had naturally begun to taper off. The explosive growth of the beginning was gone.
Though slightly regretful, Aaron understood this was only natural—it couldn't be forced.
A minute later, fully recovered, he quickly accepted the black bread, roast meat, and hot milk Shuma brought over and devoured them, silencing his stomach's complaints.
The Kuja Body-Refining Technique consumed enormous amounts of calories, and because it forcefully stimulated the body's potential, it could only be practiced twice a day, with a three-to-four-day rest period before resuming.
This was because each session left the body extremely fatigued and sore; forcing a third session risked rupturing fragile internal organs.
Only Aaron, with his regenerative talent, could safely push to two sessions a day without worrying about lasting damage.
Still, even for him, proper food was essential—without sufficient nutrition to replenish the body, training would cause serious harm.
That was why, despite learning the technique from Hancock, he had never trained hard in it while in MaryGeoise.
For a slave there, even a single full meal was a rare stroke of luck.
The Celestial Dragons and their lackeys deliberately kept the vast slave population half-starved to prevent rebellion—sometimes even withholding food for days, ensuring the slaves were too weak to resist or escape.
In such harsh conditions, Aaron would never have been foolish enough to train this technique. In fact, the first time he had ever completed the full sequence was after he escaped—on the very day he finally ate his fill.