Learning About Fire

Marine Headquarters · Roy's Residence · Early the next morning

"Boom!"

A tremendous explosion shattered the morning quiet. Thick black smoke billowed from the kitchen, and shards of window glass flew out amid a burst of flames.

"Fire!!!"

In the living room, Nami cried out, clutching her toothbrush. Nojiko covered her ears and instinctively lunged toward Bellemere. "Sis!! How did you blow up the kitchen?!"

"I didn't make that breakfast!" Bellemere hurriedly disclaimed responsibility.

Roy, who had been drinking tea in the courtyard, vanished in a flash and teleported into the wreckage of the kitchen. He grabbed the culprit: Ace, whose face was covered in soot and whose hair looked like fried chicken.

"Cough, cough... I didn't mean to!"

Ace waved a smoking hand and explained, looking thoroughly disheveled, "I just, just wanted to toast some bread..."

"You turned the whole kitchen into a volcanic crater trying to toast bread?"

Roy glanced at the overturned oven and the half-melted ceiling, his voice utterly calm.

"I couldn't control it!"

Ace crouched down, clutching his head, his face full of anguish. "The flames listen to me too well... but sometimes they don't listen to me at all!"

Roy's mouth twitched. He sighed. "Looks like we need to step up your training."

Marine Headquarters · Training Ground · Morning

"Fire Fist!"

Ace roared and thrust out his right fist. Fierce flames erupted from his knuckles, surging like a burning mountain as they formed a gigantic fist of fire that roared toward Zephyr.

Waves of fire rolled forward, radiating searing heat.

Zephyr simply stood his ground, his gaze cold. A layer of Armament Haki, black as iron, slowly coated his right arm.

"Hmph."

He raised a hand and swung it with an apparently casual motion.

"Bang!!"

The blazing flames shattered with a roar and dispersed like smoke struck apart. Even the air rumbled from the impact.

The recruits watching from the sidelines all stepped back, exclaiming in amazement.

Ace gritted his teeth and kicked off the ground, charging forward again. "Then how about this? Flame Whip!"

He flipped into the air, flames coiling around his right leg. It traced a scorching half-moon through the air and lashed down like a burning whip!

"Hmph, flashy tricks."

Zephyr gave a quiet snort and drove a fist straight at him.

The flames exploded, and the blast sent dust and sand flying. Ace was knocked out of the air and landed hard, rolling several times before he came to a stop.

"Argh...!"

He braced himself against the ground and struggled to his feet, teeth clenched as cold sweat poured down his forehead.

Zephyr walked slowly toward him, his tone stern. "Your attacks have a wide range, and they're certainly impressive."

"But your flames aren't hot enough or dense enough, and their concentration is abysmal."

He pointed to his arm, where the fiery attack had left only a faint scorch mark. "You can't even make my skin turn red from the heat. Who are you hoping to burn?"

Ace's face turned bright red at the criticism. "I... I'm still getting used to the fruit!"

Zephyr frowned slightly. "That's no excuse! Your control right now is like a three-year-old using a match to light gunpowder. It could blow up in your face at any moment!"

"If you don't learn to 'refine' your flames and just keep piling on 'range' and 'flashy tricks,' you'll never beat Law."

Ace lowered his head and clenched his fists, flames dancing quietly in his palms.

Though they were scorching hot, they left him feeling powerless and restless.

"...Then what should I do?"

He finally asked in a low voice, his tone more serious and unwilling to accept defeat than ever before.

Roy stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "Start by learning 'Ignition.'"

"Flames aren't meant to be flung around wildly."

He looked Ace in the eyes, his voice slow and steady. "They're a blade, not fireworks."

Hearing this, Zephyr nodded and continued, "Control the temperature, control the output, control the trajectory... Start by practicing how to light a flame on one finger without hurting your skin."

Ace froze and opened his mouth. "Huh?"

Roy casually picked up a twig and tossed it to him. "Here. First, char it without burning it in two."

Ace looked at the twig in his hand, thinner than his finger, then looked at them and complained, "...You adults really know how to torture kids."

"Wrong!"

Roy and Zephyr spoke almost in unison. "This is teaching you control!"

On the other side of the training ground, the recruits had gathered in a circle to watch.

Drake stared silently at Ace, her fists clenching without her realizing it;

Law narrowed his eyes, his gaze growing a little more solemn.

"Just as I thought... Mr. Roy's teaching isn't simply about cramming knowledge into people."

Just as Ace was struggling to control his flames without burning through the twig, Roy, who was beside Zephyr, spoke again. "Ace, come here."

Ace hurried over at a jog. Roy sat down cross-legged and pointed to the spot beside him.

"Sit."

He casually drew a diagram in the sand, with a string of numbers beside a simple picture of a flame.

"Ace, which Devil Fruit power do you think has the greatest offensive strength in the Marines right now?"

Ace blurted out, "Vice Admiral Sakazuki's Magma-Magma Fruit, of course!"

"That's right." Roy nodded and held up three fingers.

"But his strength isn't solely because of the Magma-Magma Fruit."

"First, Vice Admiral Sakazuki's Armament Haki is ridiculously strong too."

"Second, his Observation Haki lets him predict movements with incredible accuracy, allowing his magma to strike through gaps in an opponent's defenses."

"Third..."

He wrote a line of numbers in the sand:

Magma temperature: approximately 1,200°C.

Ace's eyes widened. "Only a little over a thousand?"

Roy chuckled, his gaze falling on Ace's flames. "The theoretical upper limit for flames, on the other hand, is close to five thousand degrees."

"Do you know what that means?"

Ace held his breath.

"If you can precisely control the temperature of your flames, say, raise it to 4,000°C and concentrate it on the tip of a needle, you could melt through the keel of an entire warship in one second;"

"At five thousand degrees, a single strike would be enough to burn through an armored steel wall, evaporate the moisture in an enemy's breath, and even instantly defeat a formidable fighter with limited mastery of Armament Haki."

He paused and looked at the training dummy by the distant equipment room. "Its material may be hard—it's a composite steel specially made by the Marine science department. But if you used high-temperature flames to burn a concentrated point..."

He pointed to Ace's hand. "Like a needle."

"You could reduce an enemy to ashes before they even had time to scream."

Ace's pupils contracted, and the flames in his palms trembled involuntarily.

"So..."

Roy looked at him, his voice low and firm. "Don't treat the Flame-Flame Fruit like a giant lighter."

"What you wield within you is the power to destroy and reshape."

Zephyr spoke slowly from the side. "Starting today, you'll report to the Science Unit every afternoon. Lieutenant Fireworker will guide you through Thermodynamic Model Training."

"Before you start clamoring for another fight, learn to control your energy."

The two of them had expected Ace to complain about studying being a hassle, but instead they found his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

"Whoa...!"

His eyes shone as if he had just heard some sacred scripture of combat. "So that means I'll be able to evaporate a pirate fleet with one finger someday?!"

Roy put a hand to his forehead. "That wasn't the point, all right?"

Zephyr, however, laughed. "Leave him be. As long as he understood."

Ace sprang to his feet and thumped his chest. "I'm ready! We can start right now!"

Roy narrowed his eyes and chuckled softly.

"...He really is a battle maniac."