Suddenly, two skills awakened, and even in the cub state, their power is this great.
Yet this is merely a beginner's bloodline talent.
People compared to wolves, truly infuriating; Shano looked at the tiny creature before him and couldn't help feeling a bit envious.
He couldn't comprehend things directly; he had to enhance his strength through diligent training.
"Just use this move, but if you keep firing like that, you might shut down in no time. So just apply the minimal power, conserve energy, and maintain speed, alright?"
"Awoo!"
Ah Yin nodded vigorously and tried hard once more, spitting out a fingertip-thick pale blue current from its mouth.
This time it didn't even penetrate the nearby tree trunk, but its speed was still notably faster than a flintlock gun's bullet.
"That's it, smart!"
Shano praised with a thumbs-up, "Let's officially begin then!"
Such an excellent and obedient sparring partner, you can't find such, with a daily payment of merely ten boxes of strawberry milk.
...
The cold wind carrying snowflakes swept across the mountain peak, but in a flash, the warm spring breeze greeted the face.
In the blink of an eye, six months passed.
With Ah Yin's assistance, Shano mastered "Kami-e" to a great success.
Meanwhile.
The progress in Armament Haki was noticeable, initially, he could only vaguely sense that power by recalling his battle with Garp.
But now he could preliminarily achieve small-scale encircling and hardening.
On the mountaintop.
——Boom!
The thick steel plate before him was suddenly blasted out with a huge deep pit, and Shano slowly withdrew his fist swirling with black Haki.
"The destructive power enhancement of Armament Haki entwining is indeed terrifying."
Shano grinned; without the reinforcement of Armament Haki, this thick special steel plate would at most be dented a few dozen centimeters by his punch.
A few months ago, he gradually felt that the mountain peak in Cocoyashi Village could no longer withstand his antics.
So he had Scar and others procure a batch of steel plates from nearby towns, planning to return them for remelting into heavier and thicker ones once they were entirely scrapped, continuing this cycle.
Shano glanced at the system panel, and in the skills section, his Armament Haki was already marked as beginner.
Over the past six months, he only spent afternoons refining and studying Armament Haki, reaching this stage was already quite impressive.
However, aiming for small mastery and truly mastering Haki, Shano estimated it would require a prolonged period of intense practice.
He wasn't in a hurry; he was quite satisfied with the progress rate.
After all.
Even the laughing Nika, under the specialized one-on-one guidance of master Rayleigh, took two years to grasp the use of Haki.
As for the two-hundredfold Effort King…
A top-notch genius that is rare to encounter even in a millennium, ultimately too scarce.
...
In the upcoming months.
Several items caught Shano's attention in the system marketplace.
First were—
[Enhanced Brain Sealing Skill]
[Type: Cultivation Manual]
[Price: 4000 points]
[Description: Through meditation training, greatly enhances spiritual power. Once cultivated successfully, will automatically construct an invisible barrier around the brain's consciousness, isolating any mental control, mind probing, or bodily manipulation abilities.]
[Seller's Remark: Stolen from the principal's office, unfamiliar with this world; a teacher named Quirrell invited me for a night talk in his room tonight, should I go?]
Since acquiring the system.
Aside from those wonders, it was the most expensive item Shano had encountered.
But undoubtedly, it was worth the value, or rather exceeded expectations!
For a traveler full of secrets, it was one of the most desired skills.
Especially in the One Piece World, which is filled with Devil Fruit abilities capable of affecting others' thoughts and bodies.
Aside from the Puppet Fruit he had witnessed firsthand, one could count off the fingertip, like BIGMOM's Hollow-Hollow Fruit, Violet's Glare-Glare Fruit, Purin's Memory-Memory Fruit, Sugar's Hobby-Hobby Fruit, and the Newspaper King's String-String Fruit…
With varied types and bizarre means,
Even those who have mastered Haki to its peak are defenseless.
He purchased it immediately without hesitation, and upon reviewing, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the skill's entry barrier wasn't high.
Just meditate for one or two hours every morning in a most vibrant state, consistently for several months for great success.
Besides.
After "Copper Head" and "Iron Bone," Shano spent 1200 points on purchasing the third chapter of the Blood and Flesh Melting Furnace Technique, named "Thick Skin."
As the name suggests, upon mastering, the defense of the skin surface would dramatically increase, like an invisible film, significantly weakening blunt force damage.
It has high practical use in battles, given this world's prevalence of strong individuals using blunt instruments or simply fists and feet as primary attack means.
Shano contemplated that once he mastered this and coupled it with his increasingly robust physique, when setting out to sea…
Tsk.
Perhaps he could withstand Teacher Kai's Thundering Hakken.
In conclusion.
Shano planned a new schedule, elevating the Enhanced Brain Sealing Skill's priority to the highest, heading to the mountaintop every dawn to cross-legged meditate.
Following this, he started cultivating "Thick Skin" and the long-pursued "Life Return."
And the plan to elevate the intensity of Armament Haki was not overlooked.
The priority of Rankyaku remained last.
In Shano's plan, whenever Life Return reached a great success, and no desired skills emerged during downtime, he would then spare a few hours daily to practice it.
...
The gears of time quietly turned.
Shano's training was day after day, never stopping, except for a yearly chore of collecting a round of wool in late autumn and early winter; he scarcely left Cocoyashi Village.
As the date of adulthood and departure approached, besides continuing to forge his body during the day, he also began spending increasingly more time with his family.
Sometimes helping Belle-Mere harvest oranges like the old days, clumsily assisting in the kitchen;
Or squeezing in with Nami, laughing and studying nautical charts together, competing in geography games;
While with a flick of the scene, he was already at the coast, pulling a serious face but pretending to be stern, teaching Nojiko hand by hand…
Time, oh time, quietly slips away bit by bit.
Unbeknownst to him.
Two years sped by.
From the fall of 1513 to the late spring of Chronology of One Piece 1516.
In the vast sea beyond, one event after another occurred, some made headlines, some were silent.
Yet all of this.
Seemed unconnected to the remote village of Cocoyashi in the East Sea.
In the season where the scorching summer was about to arrive, a black-haired teenager named Shano celebrated his eighteenth birthday.
Formally coming of age, according to the consensus of the East Sea and the world.