Journey

"Whoa, that was incredible! Is this what a battle between monsters looks like?"

"Charge! Charge! Lord Patch, show them your fighting spirit!"

"The captain's swordsmanship is way too strong. I can't see their fight at all."

On the deck, Roy and Patch were fighting fiercely while a large group of pirates gathered nearby to cheer them on. King sat off to the side, wiping down his Sniper Rifle, though his gaze could not help drifting toward the battlefield between the two.

Bang!

As Patch was suppressed once more and smashed through a large section of the deck, Roy hurriedly called off the fight and said irritably, "Stop. That's enough for today. Keep this up and you'll tear the ship apart."

Patch shoved away the planks covering his body. With his beast-like physique, such minor injuries meant nothing to him. Since Roy had spoken, he reluctantly forced down his urge to fight. It was clear that Roy's authority aboard the ship had already taken root deep in his heart.

"You two, come with me. Oh, and the rest of you, don't just stand around. Hurry up and repair this place."

King no longer resisted life aboard the ship. Whether the Dream Seed had taken effect or he had simply resigned himself to it, in any case, he did not disobey Roy's orders in the slightest.

"Patch, what is your Devil Fruit Ability?" Roy had only remembered today that he had yet to gain a general understanding of the two of them, so he called them over to ask.

Patch had no intention of hiding it and answered bluntly, "I ate the Rampage Fruit, so I'm a Rampage Man. When I'm injured or angered, my strength and speed increase dramatically. The worse my injuries are, the greater the increase."

Roy's expression became somewhat strange upon hearing that. This seemed rather similar to the berserker heroes in certain games he had played in his previous life. The more he thought about it, the stranger his expression became. By that logic, Patch was a strength-type hero, while a sniper like King would generally be an agility-type hero. And with the Dream-Dream Fruit's influence, Roy himself could be considered an intelligence-type hero.

After shoving those bizarre thoughts out of his mind, Roy looked at King. "King, how did you train your Observation Haki?"

Roy was extremely curious about this. Haki could be called the standard equipment of the strong in the Pirate World. Few people had even heard of it in the Four Seas, and even in the first half of the Grand Line, it was rarely mentioned, much less trained.

King blanked out for a moment before suddenly realizing. "Oh, the Observation Haki you mean is Mantra, right? When I was young, I once saved a strange man. He said I had great talent, and I learned Mantra under his guidance."

King had no intention of keeping it to himself. After all, once he had boarded this pirate ship, there was no getting off. He might as well demonstrate more of his value.

Yet Roy was startled inwardly. In his distant memories, only a place called Sky Island seemed to refer to Observation Haki as Mantra. And King had said the man was strange. Could it be...?

"Did that strange man have a pair of wings on his back?"

"Eh? Eh?! Captain, how did you know? I remember asking him about it back then, but he seemed to say they were decorations, a local custom where he came from, so I didn't ask any further."

"Sky Island! That's a place hiding enormous secrets. It's also a place I absolutely have to visit on my planned route," Roy said with a sigh.

Though the two were somewhat puzzled, neither asked further questions. Patch was completely uninterested, while King understood that on a pirate ship, one should not ask about matters the captain had not spoken of.

"Tell me how that strange man taught you to train Observation... Mantra."

"Well, the most important part of training Mantra is becoming one with all things and learning to Listen to the Voice of All Things. However, most people find that difficult, so they need to use external methods, such as blindfolding their eyes or covering their ears to isolate the connection between their five senses and the outside world as much as possible. Once you can sense the outside world without relying on your five senses, you've reached the beginner level."

Roy nodded thoughtfully. Blocking out the influence of the five senses while adding pressure from the outside world to stimulate the body's potential—this truly was a very effective training method.

Of course, Roy did not believe this was all there was to training Observation Haki. Mantra training on Sky Island was only half-baked and had not formed a complete system. If one wanted to reach truly advanced heights, such as Charlotte Katakuri's ability to foresee the future, one would still have to learn from the Marines or some other powerful force.

When Patch saw Roy looking at him with ill intent, he guessed what Roy was thinking and could not help shuddering. He hurriedly shook his head in refusal. "No, no, no! I can't learn that. If my eyes and ears were covered all the time, I'd go insane!"

In truth, Roy also knew that even among those capable of learning Haki, most would only specialize in one type. Future Zoro, for instance, specialized in Armament Haki. For Patch, he would likely end up specializing in Armament Haki as well.

However, even if he did not master it, Patch still had to at least get started with Observation Haki. Otherwise, he would be at far too much of a disadvantage in future battles. Thus, Roy still firmly demanded that Patch learn Observation Haki.

Patch could only accept it with a miserable face. Thankfully, Roy said he only needed to reach the beginner level. Otherwise, he truly would have broken down.

Roy would also borrow a thing or two from this method, though he would mainly rely on training in dreams. He had discovered that whenever he trained in his dreams, his Observation Haki continuously grew stronger as well.

Based on that, Roy had some theories of his own. In his previous life, it was often said that human cultivation began with essence, energy, and spirit, the three complementing one another.

After coming to the Pirate World, Roy found that the principles behind Haki training truly bore some resemblance to essence, energy, and spirit.

Essence corresponded to Armament Haki, achieved through continuously tempering the body and strengthening one's physique. Energy corresponded to Conqueror's Haki, emphasizing one's bearing and convictions. Those in high positions or with powerful beliefs possessed their own unique aura. Spirit corresponded to Observation Haki, requiring the continual development of one's soul. Those with powerful souls naturally possessed keen five senses and could even develop the legendary Sixth Sense.

Still, these were only Roy's own conjectures. Only by acquiring the true methods of Haki training could he confirm them. On the surface, the connection between the three might not seem particularly meaningful, but in reality, it pointed Roy toward a path to the heavens: advancing all three types of Haki together, until he eventually reached an unimaginable level.