"Test of Resolve"
Baam had vanished into the depths.
The room was quiet — too quiet — except for Yuri's furious breathing and Headon's delighted amusement.
Crow stood between them, the freshly downloaded Pocket humming at his wrist.
He rolled his shoulders once.
"So. What's my test?"
Headon tapped his staff.
The chamber began to shift.
Stone peeled open.
Pillars rotated.
The floor collapsed inward until a massive, circular basin formed in the center — identical to Baam's.
Crow stared into the shimmering surface.
"…This looks like water."
Yuri scoffed.
"It's Shinsu, genius."
Headon smiled pleasantly.
"Correct. Shinsu — the essence of all living things in the Tower."
Crow studied the way it rippled.
No flow patterns.
No predictable disturbance.
No temperature shift.
"…That's not liquid behavior."
"Precisely," Headon said.
"This is your test."
A low rumble echoed from the depths.
Crow frowned.
"A monster."
"The Silver Eel," Headon said lightly.
"The same one the boy faced."
Yuri exploded.
"HE ALMOST DIED! WHY ARE YOU USING THE SAME MONSTER?!"
Headon bowed politely.
"Consistency."
Crow ignored the bickering.
"…How do I win?"
Headon tapped his staff.
"Remain in the basin until the eel rises.
Then face it.
Survive."
Crow rolled his neck.
"Easy enough."
Yuri paled.
"NO IT IS NOT—YOU—OKAY STOP—CROW LISTEN—"
But Crow was already stepping forward.
"I've fought worse."
"You have NOT fought THIS!" Yuri yelled.
Crow shrugged.
"We'll see."
He stepped off the ledge—
and fell silently into the basin.
UNDER THE SURFACE — FIRST CONTACT
The world constricted instantly.
The Shinsu squeezed around his ribs like a band of iron — intense pressure, no cold, no wetness. His lungs spasmed on instinct, but nothing entered.
Crow floated there.
"…It's not drowning."
He exhaled.
The Shinsu rippled in response.
As if it recognized him.
Pressure folded around his chest — not crushing, but shaping.
His body — star-blooded, Ki-torn, Devil-Fruit-ruptured — reacted instantly.
Something inside him pulsed.
A heat. A flame. A Sun.
Shinsu was NOT Ki.
But it was close.
Very close.
Crow inhaled — and Shinsu surged inward.
Up above, Yuri was screaming.
"EVAN HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO—HE'S—IS HE—IS HE BREATHING SHINSU?!"
Evan fainted in real time.
Headon smiled.
"Astonishing compatibility…"
Crow didn't hear them.
He felt the warmth spreading through torn muscles.
Bruised organs tightening.
Cracked ribs reknitting.
"…You fit me."
Shinsu vibrated.
Like a beast purring.
Like fire meeting fuel.
Crow raised a hand—
and the Shinsu parted around it.
No water behaved like that.
This substance accepted him.
He rose to the surface, steam rolling off his shoulders.
"The pressure obeys me."
Yuri screamed:
"THAT'S NOT HOW SHINSU WORKS—!!"
THE EEL RISES
Below him, something massive moved.
A predatory instinct.
A hunger older than floors.
The monster surged upward, the water-like Shinsu bending violently around its body.
Crow took a breath.
Here it comes.
The Silver Eel burst upward, jaws wide, teeth glinting.
Crow didn't dodge.
He pressed his palm forward.
Heat pulsed from his chest up through his arm—
golden, focused, instinctual.
FWOOOOM
The Shinsu boiled around him.
The eel's head smashed into a wall of steam and heat.
Its scales cracked.
Its roar distorted in the pressure.
Crow moved once.
Palm → Snout.
Heat → Bone.
Golden Crow Instinct → Shinsu medium.
The eel screamed in a single collapsing shriek as its form shattered, dissolved, and vanished into vapor.
Silence.
Crow inhaled.
Shinsu filled him again, knitting the last of his wounds.
He walked out of the basin, steam rising like a cloak.
"…Better."
Yuri was frozen with both hands on her head.
"WHAT DOES 'BETTER' EVEN MEAN?! YOU JUST KILLED A FLOOR MONSTER WITH AIR—!!"
Evan twitched on the ground.
"I…I…think I saw god…"
Headon gave a light clap.
"Marvelous. You succeed."
Crow looked at him.
"My reward?"
THE NEUTRAL-TYPE SWORD
A sigil lit.
A long, wrapped shape rose from the ground — plain, unadorned.
Crow sensed its weight immediately.
Not physical weight.
Energy weight.
Pressure.
He grasped the hilt.
The cloth burned away.
Silver-black steel.
Simple.
Soundless.
Deadly.
Crow drew it.
Pressure collapsed around the room.
He sheathed it.
"…Neutral-Type."
Headon bowed.
"Correct.
A blade that amplifies its user — but consumes the exact same amount of energy."
Yuri panicked.
"THAT MEANS ONE SWING CAN KILL NORMAL REGULARS—!!"
Crow shrugged.
"Good thing I'm not normal."
THE TIME REQUEST — THE FINAL TRICK
Crow turned to Headon.
"I need time.
To study.
Understand Shinsu.
This sword.
Myself."
Headon nodded.
"Of course."
Yuri jumped in front of Crow.
"WAIT—You CAN'T stay—Baam needs you on the Second Floor!"
Crow nodded calmly.
"I'll go."
"WHEN?!" Yuri demanded.
Crow pointed at the Pocket.
"After I understand this."
Yuri's eye twitched violently.
"Headon, PLEASE tell me he won't be late—"
Headon smiled.
"Oh no.
He will arrive precisely when needed."
Crow blinked.
"…So time won't matter?"
Headon spread his arms.
"This floor exists outside the Tower's temporal flow."
Silence.
Evan rose with horror.
"Oh—Princess—no—No—NO—"
Yuri backed up.
"DON'T.
TELL.
ME—"
Headon bowed deeper.
"You and your Guide, however…
must leave in the normal fashion."
Yuri dropped to her knees.
"THAT'S THREE TIMES! HE PLAYED ME THREE TIMES IN ONE DAY—!!!"
Crow blinked.
"…Three?"
Evan held up fingers.
"One — Baam's test."
"Two — the artifact trick."
"Three — the time trap."
Yuri screamed into the void:
"HE PLAYS ME LIKE A DAMN FLUTE EVERY TIME!!"
Headon looked deeply satisfied.
Crow just shrugged.
"I'll study."
Yuri pointed at him helplessly.
"JUST—DON'T—DIE—YOU—YOU STAR-BREATHING MENACE—"
Evan grabbed her.
"PRINCESS WE HAVE TO GO—THE PORTAL—!!"
A golden doorway opened.
Yuri forced out:
"CROW—
KEEP.
BAAM.
ALIVE."
Crow nodded.
"I will."
She vanished through the portal.
Evan jumped after her.
The portal snapped shut.
Silence returned.
Crow glanced at Headon.
"I'll start reading."
Headon smiled.
"Enjoy."
Crow sat near the basin, pulled up the Pocket's files, and opened the first Shinsu manual.