Chapter 3: The Weight of the Sun
The sea was a flat, merciless mirror, and I was a speck of dust adrift upon it. The small caravel, The Purgatory as I'd bitterly nicknamed it, drifted aimlessly. The storm that had birthed my escape was a distant memory, replaced by a suffocating, windless calm.
I was alone. Truly, utterly alone. The adrenaline of the escape had faded, leaving behind a 15-year-old in a stolen, damaged ship, with the ghosts of an erased island burned into his memory.
I'd spent the first 24 hours in a haze of terror, patching the hull's most immediate leaks and navigating on pure instinct, away, just away. But now, on the second morning, the sun rose. And with it, he returned.
It started as a warmth in my chest, a familiar echo of the agonizing integration.
But as the sun's disk cleared the horizon, the warmth became a fire. The gnawing hunger in my stomach vanished. The exhaustion weighing on my limbs evaporated.
My body, small and wiry from 15 years of my father's "training," began to thrum. I felt... stronger. Taller. The world, which had seemed so terrifying and overwhelming in the pre-dawn gloom, now seemed... manageable.
The power of the Sun Sun Fruit, Model: Escanor was back. And with it, a creeping, unfamiliar confidence that bordered on arrogance. This was my power.
"System," I commanded, my voice no longer the cracked whisper of a scared boy, but a clear, steady baritone. "Show me my status. Show me everything."
The blue screen shimmered into life.
================================
Name: Monkey D. Luthor
Age: 15
Affiliation: Pirate (Self-Proclaimed)
Combat Power: (Fluctuates with time of day)
Unallocated Stat Points: 25 (10 from Q1, 15 from Q2)
EP (Essence Points): 20 (from Q1)
Strength: 10 (Ordinary Human)
Stamina: 8 (Below Average)
Will: 2 (Low)
Agility: 10 (Ordinary Human)
Body: 18 (Trained Human)
Haki:
Armament Haki: None (0/100 EP)
Observation Haki: None (0/10 EP)
Conqueror's Haki: Unawakened (0/1000 EP)
Skills:
Swordsmanship: Basic
Shooting: Intermediate
Devil Fruit: Sun Sun Fruit, Model: Escanor (Passive)
Sunshine: Host's physical abilities and energy reserves are tied to the sun's position. Power increases from sunrise, peaks at noon, and fades to zero at sunset.
Night Form: At night, Host's stats are reduced to their base level, and Host's personality reverts to a state of fear and self-doubt
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Active Quests:
[Quest: Get Wanted]
Task: Get a bounty poster for yourself.
Reward: 10 Stat Points, 50 EP, Unlock System Shop.
===================
I stared at the screen. My base stats were pitiful. Stamina: 8? That was less than an ordinary human. No wonder I was always exhausted after Father's "warm-ups."
My Body: 18 was the only thing holding me together, a result of my desperate point-buy and a lifetime of being Garp's punching bag.
"Night Form..." I muttered, a shiver of dread running through me despite the sun on my skin.
The terror of the previous night, the absolute, crushing loneliness and fear—that was a symptom of my fruit. I was a god by day and a coward by night.
"Unacceptable."
I had 25 stat points. I needed to be able to survive the night. I needed to be able to contain the power of the day.
"System," I ordered. "Allocate my points."
"10 points into Strength."
"7 points into Stamina."
"5 points into Agility."
"3 points into Will."
===================
[Allocations Confirmed.]
Name: Monkey D. Luthor
Age: 15
Affiliation: Pirate (Self-Proclaimed)
Combat Power: Marine Ensign Level (Base) | Fluctuates
Unallocated Stat Points: 0
EP (Essence Points): 50 (20 base + 30 from Will)
Strength: 20 (Pirate Captain of East Blue Level)
Stamina: 15 (East Blue Marine Soldier Level)
Will: 5 (Average)
Agility: 15 (East Blue Marine Soldier Level)
Body: 18 (Trained Human)
========================
A jolt ran through me. My muscles didn't just feel strong; they felt denser. My lungs expanded, my breath coming easier.
The 15-year-old boy's frame was still there, but it was now packed with a new, solid foundation. Strength: 20. Even at night, I would no longer be helpless. I would be a base-level East Blue captain. It wasn't much, but it was a start.
The sun continued to climb. It was nearing 10 AM. My power swelled in accordance.
My base Strength: 20 was now amplified by the Sunshine ability. I felt like I could punch a hole in a mountain. My Combat Power was rising by the hour.
The sea, as if sensing my new power, began to churn.
[Proximity Warning: Large Biological Entity Detected.]
The water to the starboard side exploded upwards.
A Sea King, a serpentine monstrosity of green scales and red, hateful eyes, towered over my tiny ship. It was easily 80 meters long, its maw opening wide to swallow the caravel whole.
A month ago, I would have wet myself. A day ago, I would have been paralyzed by terror.
This morning, I just felt... annoyed. How dare this... thing... interrupt my first day of freedom?.
"You're in the way," I said. My voice was my own, yet it was not. It was deeper, filled with a resonant pride that vibrated in my very bones.
I walked to the bow of the ship, my hand
outstretched. The sun was not yet at its zenith, but it was enough. I focused on the new, blazing energy in my core. I willed it to come forth.
"A taste of the sun, beast," I commanded.
A pinprick of light appeared in my palm. It swelled instantly to the size of a cannonball, a miniature, blazing star of pure, unbearable heat. It wasn't just hot; it was heat. It was the sun.
[Skill Unlocked: Cruel Sun]
The Sea King lunged.
"Hmph."
I casually tossed the Cruel Sun upwards. It sailed in a gentle arc, landing directly in the path of the beast's descending jaw.
There was no explosion. Only a sound, a piercing FSSSSSHHHH!, as the Cruel Sun made contact.
The Sea King's head didn't just get burned; it vaporized. The top half of its colossal body was instantly incinerated, cauterized, and erased from existence.
The rest of its massive frame, now just a steaming, headless corpse, crashed into the sea, sending a tidal wave that rocked my ship violently.
I stood on the deck, my hand still raised, watching the steam rise from the boiling ocean.
[+10 EP]
"Pathetic."
I turned away... and promptly fell to one knee, my chest heaving. A wave of dizziness washed over me.
"Wha... what?" I panted, the deep, prideful voice gone, replaced by my own gasping, 15-year-old's breaths.
[System Analysis: Host's
Body: 18
Stamina: 15
are insufficient to wield Cruel Sun without significant physical backlash. Recommend immediate Body and Stamina upgrades.]
I gritted my teeth. The power was there. I had the soul of a god, but the body of a boy.
The vessel was too weak for the power it contained. I could use my ultimate attack, but it would cost me. This was a vital lesson. My base stats were my foundation. Without them, the sun's power would burn me alive from the inside out.
The sun set.
The fall from power was a physical blow. The divine strength and pride bled out of me, replaced by the shivering, cold reality of the night. I was a 15-year-old kid again, with stats just good enough to be called "competent."
The trauma of God Valley, the image of Dragon being blasted away, of my father's face... it all came rushing back.
I retreated to the captain's quarters, barring the door. I found the 500,000 Berries in a small chest, just as the system had promised. I also found the ship's Log Pose. It was a simple, one-needle Grand Line model.
The needle was pointing, unwavering, to the next island in this chain.
My goal was clear. I needed to get to that island. I needed to get supplies, find a way to get stronger, and... and I needed to get a bounty. The system's Shop was locked, and I desperately needed what was inside.
I clutched the Log Pose, my body trembling in the dark, my mind racing. I was two people. The terrified boy who hid in the dark, and the avenging god who walked in the light.
"I will not be this weak," I swore to the darkness. "I will not be a victim of the night. I will grow strong enough that my base power is a force to be reckoned with. When I'm done, the world will fear me even in the dark."
I set my course, following the needle. My journey had truly begun.
(To be Continued)