Chapter 34: The Baptism of Hell and Steel (Part 2)
Abandoned Warship Docking Area.
Garon and Kuzan stood together in front of the armor plating of a decommissioned warship, their fists already wrapped in bandages.
Garp leaned against a nearby cannon turret, leisurely drinking a beverage.
"20,000 times. Full power," he said indistinctly. "You two remember, if your knuckles aren't hard enough, you won't even be able to take one punch from me."
Garon took a deep breath and settled into his stance.
He threw the first punch.
THUD!
A dull impact echoed as a shallow dent appeared on the armor plate. A piercing pain shot through his knuckles, but he didn't stop. The second punch followed, then the third...
By the 300th punch, the bandages were soaked in blood.
By the 500th punch, Garon's knuckles were a mess of raw flesh. Every impact sent a tremor up his arm.
"No Haki!" Garp suddenly roared. "Your Haki right now is just noise! So just yell!"
800th punch. The dent in the armor plate was now two inches deep.
"Bleeding? That just means you're still alive! And if you're alive, you can keep punching!"
9,500th punch. The entire armor plate was beginning to warp.
"When Roger took this punch back in the day, he stood a lot firmer than you!"
20,000th punch...
BOOM!
Garon's final punch blasted completely through the armor and detonated the entire ship.
Watching Garon finish first, Kuzan's eyes flashed with surprise. He had, after all, been training with Garp for much longer.
Garon, panting, retracted his fist. Garp walked over, inspected his knuckles, and nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad. You're finally starting to look the part."
"Remember, a true 'Iron Fist' isn't about brute strength. It's the combination of Haki and will."
Garon looked at his own hands—battered and scarred, yet brimming with a new, thrumming power. He suddenly understood.
"Tomorrow," Garp said as he turned to leave. "We'll try some real sparring."
Garon's smile froze on his face.
...
A cold wind howled. The training ground was covered in a thick layer of frost, and the air was filled with a biting, cold mist.
Garon stood in the center, wearing only a thin, black, sleeveless training uniform. The white breath he exhaled condensed into frost in front of his face.
Opposite him, Kuzan stood lazily, hands in his pockets, a faint smile on his lips.
"So... this is the 'Logia Defense Special Training'?" Garon smiled. "Or... are you just letting me enjoy the cold?!"
"Arara, relax, Garon." Kuzan waved his hand. "I'm just letting you experience it a little."
Zephyr stood on the sidelines, arms crossed. He said in a deep voice:
"The rules are simple. Kuzan will use his ice abilities to control you. You must use your Armament Haki to defend against everything, and even negate his abilities."
"Use Armament Haki to negate Kuzan's ability?" Garon's eyes widened.
"Can't do it?" Zephyr raised an eyebrow. "Then in the future, when you face opponents like Kuzan or Sakazuki, you won't even have a chance to struggle."
"I understand, Teacher Zephyr." Garon took a deep breath, his gaze hardening.
"Here I come, Garon." Kuzan raised his hand, a crystal-clear icicle forming at his fingertip. He flicked it.
Shoo! The icicle exploded in mid-air, shattering into countless tiny ice needles that shot toward Garon like a downpour.
Garon let out a low growl. Pitch-black Haki instantly covered his body. The ice needles struck his skin with a sharp tink, tink, tink sound, but failed to penetrate.
Kuzan smiled slightly. "Not bad. But this is just the beginning."
He clapped his hands together. The cold air spread wildly, and the ice on the ground climbed rapidly up Garon's legs, trying to freeze him in place.
"Can't stop!" Garon gritted his teeth, continuously outputting his Haki to resist the biting cold's erosion.
But he quickly discovered a problem: using Armament Haki to defend against a Logia ability consumed his stamina at a rate far beyond his imagination.
"Armament isn't just about coating your skin," Zephyr's voice came from the sidelines. "It's about making the Haki flow inside your body, forming a 'defensive circulation'."
Garon tried to adjust his breathing, letting the Haki flow like blood through his muscles and bones instead of just rigidly coating his skin's surface.
Seeing this, Kuzan's eyes moved.
"Oh? A quick learner." He chuckled, then suddenly raised his hand. "Ice Ball!"
BOOM! Countless hail-like projectiles of frozen energy smashed into Garon, each one carrying an invasive, seeping chill.
"Ugh!" Garon grunted. His Haki wavered from the impacts, and the cold began to seep past his defense.
"Don't let the cold in!" Zephyr roared.
Garon grit his teeth, his Armament Haki flaring with a black light as he forcefully shattered the ice forming on his body.
Time passed, second by second. Garon's breathing grew heavier. The Haki consumption made him feel like he was burning up inside, but the external cold made him feel like he was trapped in an icebox.
Kuzan's attacks didn't stop. Ice lances, frozen winds, and cold snaps came one after another, forcing Garon to constantly adjust the flow of his Haki.
15 minutes... 20 minutes... 25 minutes...
Garon's arms began to tremble, and his Haki coating started to fluctuate.
"Can't hold on much longer?" Kuzan tilted his head. "Want to give up?"
"Heh..." Garon forced a smile and roared, "Keep going! You ice bastard who likes to steal food!"
As he spoke, his Haki flared again. The pitch-black Armament actually began to glow with a faint, dark red light!
"Oho?" Seeing this, Kuzan's gaze sharpened. "Interesting. You're already grasping the prototype of 'Ryuuou'?"
(Author's Note: I don't know what the Marines call "Ryuuou," so I'll just call it that!)
Zephyr, on the sidelines, also allowed a small smile. "He's finally reached the threshold..."
"Last 30 seconds!" Zephyr yelled.
Hearing the countdown, Kuzan stopped holding back. He pressed his hands to the ground. "Ice Age!"
KRAK!
A terrifying wave of cold instantly swept the field. A thick layer of ice formed at Garon's feet, trying to freeze him solid.
"AAAAHH!" Garon roared, his Haki surging, his body in a constant cycle of freezing, shattering, freezing, shattering.
"Time!"
With Zephyr's order, Kuzan retracted his power, and the frost slowly receded.
Garon, steaming, let his Haki fade. He collapsed to his knees, completely drained, gasping for breath.
Zephyr walked over and nodded, satisfied. "Pass."
"Kuzan... you were definitely getting personal revenge!" Garon said, slumping to the ground with a grin. "You just wait until I get the chance... or else... I'll be sure to 'quake' you back."
"Tsk tsk tsk." Kuzan plopped down on the ground and waved his hand with a laugh. "In that case, I'll be waiting."