Training Journal

[Sea Circle Calendar, January 20, 1506.

After that, I also asked about Haki. Given that my physical attributes were already pretty good, Boss Jinbe didn't think I was getting ahead of myself, and gave me a simple explanation: Armament Haki was the combination of willpower and physical strength; Observation Haki was the combination of willpower and mental strength!

As for the "Conqueror's Haki" possessed by one in several million people, it was simply the manifestation of willpower. The vast majority of people couldn't manifest their willpower on its own.

When it came to what "willpower" actually was, even Boss Jinbe couldn't explain it. He only knew that even if your willpower wasn't up to par, as you trained harder and strengthened your body, your willpower would gradually grow stronger too, eventually allowing you to awaken Armament Haki and Observation Haki. Conqueror's Haki, on the other hand, depended on talent.

I felt that this didn't conflict with my abilities. The power of "Wrathful People" seemed to be some kind of force that entered the body when anger arose, while "Reasoning Trainee" and "Telepathist" involved a force that entered the mind!

It was something like an aura, but not quite something that could be reduced to one.

So there were generally two approaches to training. One was to focus on martial arts and, after building a solid foundation, awaken Haki through steady, step-by-step training. The other was to pursue the awakening of willpower from the very beginning...

Since Haki itself was a combination of willpower and either the body or the mind, it was hard to say which approach was better. Fish-Man Karate belonged to the first kind: Haki training came later. The Six Powers system developed by the World Government belonged to the second kind. "Iron Body" directly corresponded to Armament Haki, while "Kami-e" corresponded to Observation Haki.

The first approach had the advantage of building a solid foundation. Once you mastered Haki, your strength would improve by leaps and bounds. And training your body and mind was itself a way of strengthening your willpower, so no time was wasted. However, you'd be weaker in the early stages. The second approach prioritized Haki training, allowing you to master it faster, but the price of a shortcut was that when you first awakened Haki, you might not even be able to control it properly.

A novice who had just mastered the "Six Powers" might not even be able to move while using "Iron Body"...]

[Sea Circle Calendar, January 21, 1506.

I continued with my duties as second helmsman during the day. Boss Jinbe had said that I had to find time to train on my own.

While resting at night, I made a Hanging Cage that could be hung outside the deck. Inside, I could sink into the seawater and practice my punches. Punching made me happy!

Three thousand Air Straight Punches, done! Three thousand Water Straight Punches, done!]

[Sea Circle Calendar, January 22, 1506.

Since it was my first time training last night, and I also had to make the cage, it took longer than I expected, so I got up late...

Luckily, Hachi claimed that I'd told him about it the night before and covered for me for a while. Boss Jinbe didn't say anything.

At noon, I treated Hachi to grilled octopus. I caught it myself underwater. He ate six legs, and I ate two.

I'm on night watch today.

During the day, I completed three thousand Air Straight Punches and three thousand Water Straight Punches!]

[Sea Circle Calendar, January 23, 1506.

Three thousand Air Straight Punches, done! Three thousand Water Straight Punches, done!]

[Sea Circle Calendar, January 24, 1506.

Three thousand Air Straight Punches, done! Three thousand Water Straight Punches, done!]

[Sea Circle Calendar, January 27, 1506.

To be honest, training was more exhausting and difficult than I'd imagined. It wasn't enough to just throw punches. My current requirements were to use the correct form and to clearly "hear" the water rippling with a force of at least five hundred watts for each punch.

I was too tired the last couple of days to write in my diary, but I completed all my training. Starting today, I'm going to raise the intensity to six hundred watts. Actually, half my punches had already reached six hundred watts yesterday!

The raw power of my usual "Turtle Punches" was about the same as a thousand-watt Straight Punch—and that was when I wasn't angry.

When I was extremely angry, my raw power was even greater than that of the high-ranking officer I encountered at Mary Geoise. Arlong's strength was probably about the same, right?

Now that I'm using the proper form, I'm actually unleashing less of my raw strength.

But Boss Jinbe said that this was necessary to build a solid foundation, so I could improve even more in the future!

What I'm doing now isn't making myself stronger. I'm fitting the talent I already have into a proper training system, which is why I'm progressing so quickly.

Three thousand Air Straight Punches, done! Three thousand Water Straight Punches, done!]

[Sea Circle Calendar, January 30, 1506.

I raised the intensity to seven hundred watts, but I got ahead of myself. I stayed up all night and still couldn't finish. The next day, I took the helm like a dead dog and got chewed out by Boss Jinbe.

I cut back on the number of punches but kept the intensity at seven hundred watts. Two thousand Water Straight Punches, done. Two thousand Air Straight Punches, done.]

[Sea Circle Calendar, February 2, 1506.

Today, I "heard" the Voice of the Sea within my body!

I could feel the Water Power in my body!

Being able to control the Water Power in your body was essential for advancing in Fish-Man Karate, and it was even harder for those who weren't of the Fish-Man Race.

According to Boss Jinbe, judging by how quickly I'd mastered it, my talent in this area was already on par with that of a fairly gifted Fish-Man. Being mixed-race hadn't held me back at all.

However, when it came to resonating with and controlling the Water Power in the sea, my talent was a little worse than that of an average Fish-Man. For someone who wasn't a Fish-Man, even getting started was extremely difficult.

But I wasn't discouraged. "Wrathful People" was also known as "Storm Guard," and its power was naturally more focused on enhancing the user.

Once I reached Sequence 7, the next profession in this line would be "Navigator," also known as "Storm Priest." I was sure I'd make up for it in this area then, and maybe even surpass an ordinary Fish-Man!

After learning to control the Water Power in my body, I could put more force behind my punches with ease. I increased my training: four thousand Air Straight Punches, done! Four thousand Water Straight Punches, done!]

[Sea Circle Calendar, February 11, 1506.

I could now throw a Thousand Tiles Punch at my limit, and during normal training I could consistently maintain a pace of over nine hundred watts.

That was about the same power I'd been able to reach when I threw wild punches with all my strength. But now I could change my moves much more easily, and... I still hadn't fully mastered my strength. I was holding back thirty percent!

I estimated that once I'd fully tapped into the benefits of my talent, I'd be able to reach around twelve hundred watts—an extra two hundred watts wasn't just a one-fifth increase in strength. The higher your level, the harder it was to improve.

Over this past half month, my physical condition had improved only a little. The reason I was confident I could increase my punches' power by nearly ten levels in such a short time was basically my proper technique and the boost from my own Water Power.

Of course, more importantly, I'd built a solid foundation!

By the way, according to the Fish-Man Karate ranking system, even though I hadn't fully tapped into my existing talent yet, my rank should already be about the same as Kuroobi's...

Of course, Kuroobi knew plenty of moves and techniques that I didn't. So if we actually fought, he'd probably still win, as long as I didn't get angry.

Boss Jinbe said he'd start teaching me techniques for controlling water and applying force in a few days.

The reason we had to wait a few days was that we'd already reached the waters around Machu Picchu Island...]