"Haha, you definitely won't die."
The old man chuckled softly.
The moment his laughter faded, the old man raised the hand holding the wooden staff.
In the next instant.
Like a flying sword leaving its sheath, the staff sliced through the air with a prolonged whooshing sound. In the blink of an eye, the rapidly speeding staff had reached the blindfolded young man.
"Here it comes again, that 'insidious' old man!"
Clearly, this scene was not the first time it had happened. Although he hadn't removed the black blindfold, Xiang En had been on guard while talking to the old man. As for why he was so skilled at this—well, it was the result of a full day of bloody lessons.
As the whistling sound grew closer and the sharp edge of the staff's tip reached the surface of his skin, Xiang En remained seated, only tilting his head slightly to one side.
The sharp sensation vanished instantly. At the same time, Xiang En suddenly shot out his right hand. Although his eyes were covered, it was as if he could see; he firmly grasped the wooden staff that was whizzing past the side of his head.
Feeling the object firmly in his grip, delight immediately appeared on his lips.
Xiang En tore off the black blindfold.
What he saw was the blood-stained staff in his hand—a thick layer of dark red, all his own blood.
He turned his head back to look at the spot where he had been sitting in the courtyard. It, too, was stained scarlet all around.
Xiang En immediately took a sharp breath. He knew that since he hadn't managed to dodge Rayleigh's staff all day, he must have been hit badly, but he didn't realize it was this bad. If a stranger walked in and saw all this blood, they might think a hog had been slaughtered here.
He reached out a trembling hand and pointed at the smiling old man in front of him:
"You old man, are you seriously not afraid of beating me to death!"
Hearing this, Rayleigh showed no guilt. He pulled a small mirror from seemingly nowhere and casually tossed it to Xiang En.
"Little brother Xiang En, your body might be much stronger than you realize."
Xiang En caught the mirror and saw his battered reflection.
He was covered in dirt, his clothes stained with blood, and his whole body was bruised and wounded. Judging by the injuries, they weren't just from the staff strikes but also abrasions from skidding across the ground after being struck, and scratches from tearing through bushes and flowers.
An ordinary person suffering so many injuries simultaneously would have long since turned into a bloodied mess.
But Xiang En was completely different. After his wounds were torn open, the blood would seep out for only a moment before his skin instantly began to regenerate at a visible rate.
Just like the injury on Xiang En's face from his intimate contact with the ground moments ago, it had already healed as good as new in less than a few minutes.
After wiping away the blood, his skin was incredibly smooth, as if newly born.
Xiang En was stunned.
Rayleigh, however, did not seem particularly surprised. After all, he had sailed around the entire world with Roger and had seen monsters with exceptional talent like Kaido and Big Mom. Compared to them, Xiang En's performance was still a small wonder.
The only thing he was curious about was whether Kagura, who had similar hair color to Xiang En and possessed even greater physical aptitude and some intimate connection to him, also possessed this innate bodily talent.
As twilight approached, Rayleigh prepared to leave.
Although the Straw Hat crew's ship was under his watch at Shipyard 53, he worried about leaving it unattended for too long, so he needed to return before dark.
With that said, Xiang En didn't try to persuade him to stay for dinner.
"Well then, I'll come back tomorrow at noon." Rayleigh said, sipping from his liquor flask as he walked away.
Xiang En did not stand up to see him off; he was simply too exhausted.
He was too excited to sleep last night, woke up early to wait for the new summon, and as soon as the summon finished, Rayleigh arrived, leading to nearly a full day of Haki training.
He was now hungry, tired, and sleepy.
"Check character panel."
[Character: Xiang En]
[Age: 24]
[Race: Human (91%), Yato (5%), Elf (4%)]
[Abilities: Haoshoku Haki (Awakening) (%), Pyro Element Control (Mastery) (%), Kenbunshoku Haki (Awakening) (%), Busoshoku Haki (Awakening) (%)]
After a hard day of training and seeing two new abilities added to his ability list, Xiang En showed a genuine smile.
More importantly, after seeing the change in the ability data, he finally understood the difference between [Awakening] and [Mastery] behind the abilities.
[Awakening] was the phase preceding [Mastery]. If an ability was in the [Awakening] state, it meant he was still learning and could not actively use it. Once he reached [Mastery], he could use it easily.
Just like the Pyro Element Control he mastered after summoning Klee.
"Shh, shh!"
The young man leaning against the large tree stretched out his right hand. With a slight thought, the air around him suddenly grew hot. Red energy was drawn in by some kind of force, continuously converging towards his palm.
It continued until a ball of flame, the size of a soccer ball, was condensed.
Xiang En felt the temperature of the flame in his hand. It was intensely hot, scorching the air, and much more volatile than natural fire, as if it would explode if he let go.
However, this volatile flame felt like a part of his body. Even though it was burning in his palm, he only felt a warmth.
What surprised him even more was that by controlling it with his mind, the ball of fire could move freely, leaving his palm and flickering around him within a few meters at a flashing speed, like an ethereal wisp.
But when it moved about fifteen meters away from him, the sense of control, like driving an arm, suddenly disappeared.
The flame abruptly paused. Immediately after, its shape suddenly expanded, like a balloon inflated too much, and then burst into a roar.
"BOOM—"
With an explosive sound, the flame suspended in the air exploded. Like a fire-wrapped bomb, it blasted the air, creating billowing black smoke and leaving a black crater several meters wide in the ground.
"Fireball Jutsu?"
Looking at the black crater created by the explosion in the ground more than ten meters away, Xiang En was stunned. He vaguely remembered the traditional skill of a mage in games from his past life.
And with that thought, Xiang En's mind became active.
"If the Fireball Jutsu works, then…"
Xiang En suddenly took a deep breath, cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone, and focused the Pyro Element power from his entire body. As he exhaled, he released it all at once.
"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu! (火遁,豪火球之术!)"
A rapid fiery breath erupted from his mouth. It was cone-shaped, about five to six meters long. The scorching flame baked the air and the ground like a flamethrower.
The air boiled, and the grass was charred, gradually turning black.
"Cough… cough!"
However, after five or six seconds of breathing fire, the cone-shaped fiery breath abruptly stopped. Xiang En's face was pale, and he was coughing, completely out of breath.
"I actually managed to use it, and the effect is almost the same as the original!"
Although his complexion was poor, Xiang En's dusty and tired face was beaming with delight, happy like a child who had just received candy.