Roma sat quietly in his room for a while, the pendant still in his hand as his thoughts kept circling around the same idea, until finally he stood up with a firm expression as if he had made a decision. If he wanted to test his theory, he needed a real spiritual fruit, and right now the only place to get one was from the leader.
He walked through the camp steadily, keeping his expression normal as he approached the center where Dharan set looking at a map with his usual calm demeanor, his tall figure straight, his strong aura naturally radiating, and the faint pressure of his Stage 6 cultivation spreading subtly around him while a few bandits stood nearby reporting or showing the small items they had gathered. Roma stepped forward and called out, "…Boss."
Dharan's gaze shifted toward him as he responded simply, "…What?"
Roma didn't waste time and directly took out the pendant, holding it up as he said, "…I want to exchange this."
Dharan's eyes flickered briefly as he recognized it as a spiritual artifact, even if it was damaged, before asking calmly,
"Where did you get it?"
"The injured man- arun gave it to me, he had it"
"Tsk, so lucky…What do you want?"
"…Spiritual fruit."
There was a brief pause as Dharan stared at him, then after a moment he replied, "…Fine," causing Roma's eyes to light up slightly, but before that excitement could settle, Dharan added, "…but only two."
Roma froze for a moment. "…Two?"
"…Take it or leave it."
Roma's expression twitched slightly as he cursed inwardly, "…Cheap…," though he didn't say it out loud and instead nodded, "…Fine."
Dharan gestured, and soon two fruits were brought over, both looking similar—long, yellow, resembling bananas. Roma stared at them for a second. "…Bananas?" he muttered, but still took them anyway, thinking to himself, "…At least he had the decency to give something…" while inwardly adding, "…still cheap."
Back in his room, Roma placed the two fruits in front of him and stared at them quietly as his expression gradually became serious. "…Let's test this," he murmured as he picked up one of the fruits, focused, and slowly began injecting chakra into it.
Though just injecting charka into anything does not make it a spiritual fruit, he had to know the right amount and time where to inject and how to inject- the ability given by food maker.
At first, everything seemed normal, but then the fruit began to change as its surface twisted, strange patterns appeared, and its shape distorted slightly. Roma's eyes widened. "…This…" he muttered as the fruit transformed into something completely different, something unnatural, resembling a bizarre fruit covered in swirling patterns like something out of legend.
"…This looks like a devil fruit…" he whispered, but what truly caught his attention wasn't the appearance, it was the energy. "…The chakra…" he sensed carefully, and his breathing became heavy as he realized the overwhelming amount contained within it. "…Too much…" he muttered, feeling the pressure even without eating it. "…This nearly drained me…"
His legs weakened slightly as he sat down immediately. "…I need to rest…"
Time passed slowly, four or five hours slipping by before Roma opened his eyes again, now fully recovered with his chakra back at its peak. He looked at the fruit again, silent for a moment. "…No turning back now," he said under his breath before picking it up and taking a bite without hesitation.
At first, he smiled. "…It's working…" he said softly as he felt the energy inside him and the bottleneck loosening. "…Good…" But then his expression suddenly changed. "…Wait…"
The energy didn't stop.
It surged violently.
"…Too much…"
Roma's body trembled as panic set in. "…No… no… no…" he muttered as the chakra exploded within him, rushing uncontrollably through his meridians while his entire body began shaking.
"…I'm going to burst…"
He collapsed to the ground as his muscles convulsed and his breathing turned erratic. "…This is bad…"
Amid the chaos, something shifted. "…Stage 4…" he realized, but almost immediately after, "…Stage 5…" and his eyes widened in shock. "…What—"
But it didn't stop.
The energy kept rising.
"…No…"
His skin felt like it was about to tear apart. "…I can't control it…"
Time lost meaning as pain consumed everything, and Roma clenched his teeth tightly, forcing himself not to scream because he knew that if anyone heard him, everything would be exposed. "…Endure… endure…" he repeated to himself again and again as he fought against the energy, against his own body, against collapse.
For twelve hours, he endured.
Finally, it stopped.
Silence returned.
Roma lay on the floor, completely exhausted, his body soaked in sweat as his breathing slowly stabilized. "…Alive…" he whispered, not moving, not thinking, just existing.
After some time, his body began recovering at an abnormal speed as the massive amount of chakra within him accelerated the process, and by the next morning, when Roma opened his eyes, he felt completely normal—no pain, no weakness. He slowly sat up. "…I'm fine?"
He looked around the room, and then his gaze fell on the floor.
Blood.
Dried.
Roma froze. "…So, it wasn't a dream…"
Still fear lingered with him
F*** I will never do it again.
He closed his eyes briefly before checking himself. "…Stage 5… peak."
His breathing slowed. "…I… I jumped three stages…"
He sat there in silence as the realization settled in slowly. "…Right now… in this camp… there might be no one except the boss who can match me…"
The thought lingered, but Roma didn't move or show any excitement. Instead, he exhaled slowly. "…Calm down… in the real world… Stage 5 is still nothing…"
His eyes became steady. "…And I don't even have attack skills… no experience…"
He clenched his fist slightly. "…I'm still weak."
Roma looked at his hand quietly.
"…But…"
"…now I finally have the right to survive."
[End of Chapter 7]