Chapter 33: The Baptism of Hell and Steel
In the days that followed, Garon began the first Haki training of his life, a rotating baptism by fire under the alternating tutelage of Zephyr and Garp.
...
3:50 AM. The port of Marineford was still shrouded in thick darkness.
Garon stood on the deck of a warship, his hands and feet bound by heavy chains, the cold metal clinging to his skin.
The salty sea breeze slapped his face. In the distance, the horizon was just beginning to glow faintly—the border of the Calm Belt.
"You scared, brat?" Beside him, Garp's voice was muffled, his mouth stuffed with a large meat bun.
"Scared?" Garon tugged at his chains. "I'm scared you won't be able to keep up with me."
"Hahaha!" Garp laughed, slapping him on the back so hard it nearly sent him into the sea. "You've got guts! In that case, let's ramp up the intensity!"
"I'm used to intensity. But why do I need chains just to go for a run? This is..."
"Because this is the real purpose!"
Before his words faded, Garp grabbed Garon's chains and, like he was throwing a sack of sand, hurled him violently into the ocean.
SPLASH!
The freezing seawater instantly submerged Garon. The suppression from the sea made it almost impossible for him to muster his fruit's power, and his limbs felt as if they were full of lead.
"I thought you said we were running!" he sputtered, fighting his way to the surface and gasping for air. He heard Garp roaring from the bow of the ship:
"I don't like wasting time! You've been training for a while now! If you can use your Armament Haki, I'll pull you up! If you can't... you can be food for the Sea Kings!"
"Dammit...!" Garon gritted his teeth and began to swim desperately.
But a Devil Fruit user truly stood no chance against the sea.
Ten minutes later, Garon felt his muscles giving out, his breathing becoming ragged.
Just then, a massive shadow surfaced beneath him.
Garon's pupils shrank. It was a Sea King, as large as the warship, and it was slowly closing in on him.
"Hey! Vice Admiral Garp!" He snapped his head up toward the ship, only to see Garp leisurely dumping something into the water.
Blood.
The thick stench of it spread instantly. The Sea King's eyes flashed crimson, and it suddenly charged.
"MOTHERF—!" Garon screamed. The Sea King's massive jaws were already open, its bared fangs reeking of a foul stench.
Death was inches away.
In that split second, a scorching power exploded from deep within his body. A dark red Armament Haki, like flames, coiled around his legs!
The Sea King's teeth clamped down, but it was like biting into solid steel, letting out a piercing, metallic shriek.
"Oh?" Garp's eyebrows shot up, and a grin split his face. "See? You can use it!"
With that, Garp leaped from the warship, sent the Sea King flying with a single punch, and then hauled the half-dead Garon back onto the deck. He laughed as he yelled to the ship's recorder:
"Write this down! The kid awakened his Armament Haki in 17 days. That's 2 hours faster than Kuzan!"
"Throwing a Devil Fruit user into the ocean... Vice Admiral Garp, that's got to be against the rules!" Garon collapsed on the deck, soaking wet and gasping for air. "You could be court-martialed for this! I'm telling Vice Admiral Sengoku!"
"Hehe, you've already awakened your Armament." Garp crouched down, patting his cheek. "So, no point in wasting time, right~"
Garon: "..."
...
The blazing sun scorched the training ground on the volcanic island.
Garon, stripped to the waist, his muscles straining, had his hands braced against a ten-ton granite boulder, trying to push it up a steep slope.
Sweat rolled down his spine, hissing as it evaporated into steam on the scalding-hot rock.
"Too slow!" Garp stood at the summit, a blade of grass hanging from his mouth, yelling impatiently. "Where's your Haki? Use it!"
Garon gritted his teeth, trying to coat his arms in Armament, but the newly awakened Haki was incredibly unstable, flickering in and out. The weight of the boulder was nearly crushing his spine, and his knees trembled from the strain.
Just then, a whistling sound cut through the air.
BOOM!!
A cannonball precisely struck the boulder, and the resulting shockwave sent Garon flying.
"Kgh!" He slammed hard onto the ground, his chest tight, a trickle of blood escaping his lips.
"Unacceptable!" Garp instantly appeared in front of him, his fist wreathed in black Haki. "What kind of training is it if you don't even break a few bones? Again!"
BOOM! Another punch. Garon was embedded into the rock wall, stone fragments flying everywhere.
He coughed up a mouthful of blood, but let out a low laugh as he slowly pulled himself free.
"Again... then again."
...
Marine Special Training Ground.
Garon held two wooden swords, facing a thick steel shield. The webbing between his thumbs and forefingers was already a mess of raw, bloody flesh from the repeated strikes.
"Your breathing is ragged." Zephyr's voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Teacher Zephyr." Garon spun around to see Zephyr standing there, his eyes sharp as blades behind his sunglasses.
"Haki is not brute force," Zephyr said, walking closer. He tapped Garon's trembling wrist. "It is precise will."
He took Garon's hands, and his own Armament Haki spread over the wooden sword like ink.
"Feel it." Zephyr's voice was low and firm. "Don't 'shatter' it. 'Let the blade pass through the gaps in the matter'."
Garon held his breath, following Zephyr's guidance. His own Armament Haki coated the wooden sword as he lightly swiped at the steel shield.
Shing.
There was no harsh sound of metal on metal. The steel shield was silently cut apart as if it were tofu, the severed edge perfectly smooth, like a mirror.
"So that's it..." Garon stared at the cut, a flash of understanding in his eyes.
"Tomorrow, 20,000 more reps," Zephyr said, releasing his hands and turning to leave. "If your margin of error is over one millimeter, you start over.
"Armament is the 'will to protect,' not a weapon for slaughter! Control is more important than power. Precision is more deadly than brute force!"
...
Several months later.
Garon stood blindfolded at the entrance to a narrow metal tunnel, its walls lined with sharp spikes. The other end of the tunnel opened to the sea, where Garp stood on a warship deck, casually tossing a cannonball in his hand.
"Rules are simple." Garp's voice was crystal clear in the sea breeze. "Blindfolded, you cross this tunnel. Don't get hit by my cannonballs. Get grazed once, you do ten extra sets."
Garon swallowed, his eyes sweeping over the sharp iron spikes.
This wasn't training. This was torture.
"Ready?" Garp's smile widened. "Begin!"
BOOM! The first shot howled through the air, painting a crimson streak across the sky.
Garon ducked violently. The cannonball grazed his back and slammed into the spikes, the shockwave throwing him off his feet.
"Too slow!" Garo roared, already grabbing a second cannonball. "Where's your Armament?! Where's your Observation?! Use them!"
Garon gritted his teeth and climbed to his feet. He instantly coated his arms in Armament Haki and calmed his mind, sensing.
A moment later, the second shot came. Garon dodged, but the shockwave still slammed him into the wall.
Schlick!
A sharp pain lanced through his right shoulder. A spike had torn through his skin, and blood immediately soaked his sleeve.
"Ten extra sets!" Garp's voice was like a judge's sentence. "Continue!"
Garon panted but stood firm, nodding.
When the third cannonball flew at him, he didn't dodge. He roared and punched it.
BANG! His Haki-wreathed fist collided head-on with the burning cannonball. It exploded in mid-air, showering him in sparks.
Garp's eyebrows shot up, and then he laughed. "Now that's more like it! But don't get happy yet!"
For the days that followed, Garon ran through that hell of fire and steel. His body was covered in scrapes and burns, but his movements became faster, his Armament Haki coverage more complete, and his Observation Haki more precise.
When he finally deflected the last cannonball with a knee-strike, Garp at last put down his ammunition.
"Barely a pass." Garp jumped down from the ship and walked over to the gasping Garon. "Do you know why we train like this?"
Garon wiped the blood from his forehead and shook his head.
"In the New World," Gsrp's expression was uncharacteristically serious, "sometimes you have to advance, even when you know you'll be hurt.
"Pain slows you down. Haki..." He pointed to one of Garon's already-healing wounds.
"Is the armor that lets you forget the pain, and the ability to predict and dodge all harm!"