Everyday Life at Sea

Based on Rune's experience, the Dark-Dark Fruit truly deserved to be the fruit Teach had waited so desperately for. This fruit could seize another Devil Fruit user's Devil Fruit when they lost consciousness, and through darkness's ability to contain all things, it could also accommodate the power of another Devil Fruit.

Those two special abilities made the Dark-Dark Fruit's minor drawbacks seem insignificant.

After all, it only doubled the sensation of pain, not the damage suffered.

As long as one's willpower was strong enough, it was practically free of negative effects.

"Lord Rune, do I really get this entire floor all to myself? Isn't that... a little too luxurious?"

Just as Rune's thoughts began to wander, Shirahoshi's voice pulled him back to reality. He looked toward her and saw that her pretty face was flushed, as though she felt a little embarrassed.

"We aren't fish-men. We can't live in the water."

Rune spread his hands. "Don't worry about it. This was how the Dream was designed, so just settle in and enjoy it."

Shirahoshi still had no idea just how powerful she was, but that was not something that could be rushed.

"By the way, Shirahoshi."

Rune smiled faintly. "Do you want to become stronger, so that when you return to Fish-Man Island someday, you can protect everyone there with your own strength?"

"Huh? I can go back to Fish-Man Island?"

Shirahoshi blinked, momentarily stunned. Rune froze for a moment, then smiled helplessly.

This child...

Did she think that becoming a pirate meant she could never go back? Was that the resolve she had made when she chose to sail out with him?

That moved Rune a little.

"Of course you can go back. We won't be pirates forever."

Rune smiled. "Once we've all achieved our dreams, we'll naturally have lives of our own. But when that time comes, if we can still live together with everyone, that should be something really wonderful, right?"

Hearing Rune say that, Shirahoshi's eyes held a little more longing. Still, she had yet to decide what her dream truly was.

She only wanted to sail out with Rune and see the sights beyond Fish-Man Island.

As for her dream, she could slowly figure it out along the way.

"Come on. You're a mermaid, so you can't eat Devil Fruits. If you want to improve your strength, you'll have to train your Haki."

Rune beckoned Shirahoshi over. "I'll teach you Armament Haki and Observation Haki."

Conqueror's Haki was innate. Only those who had awakened it could train in how to use it. However, both Armament Haki and Observation Haki could be mastered through training.

"This will be very difficult, Shirahoshi. I hope you can keep at it."

Shirahoshi looked into Rune's serious eyes and nodded firmly. She was a little nervous, but she did not want to let him down.

"Lord Rune, I'll definitely keep working hard!"

"First, physical training..."

Since he was teaching Shirahoshi, Rune's approach was relatively gentle. He could not exactly teach her the way Marco and Whitebeard had taught him—if he failed to learn it, they would beat him up, and after enough beatings, he would learn.

Standing behind Shirahoshi, Rune helped correct the posture of her upper body during training. As for her lower body... Rune was not a mermaid, so he had no idea how a mermaid's tail should be trained.

But after teaching for a while, Rune could not help frowning.

"Shirahoshi, stop getting distracted. You won't be able to develop Haki like this."

Shirahoshi blushed and looked at Rune apologetically. Seeing her like that, Rune could not bring himself to say anything too harsh.

Rune thought it over and felt that teaching Shirahoshi himself was still too inconvenient.

"Yamato, you teach Shirahoshi Haki!"

Yamato's Three Types of Haki were roughly on par with his own. Since she and Shirahoshi were both girls, it would also be more convenient for her to teach.

Most importantly...

With Yamato teaching Shirahoshi while Rune watched from the side, Shirahoshi would not blush and lose focus every time he touched her.

Her learning efficiency improved dramatically.

After assigning Yamato the task of teaching Shirahoshi, Rune headed up to the deck. Sailing across the sea was actually rather boring, and there were not many forms of entertainment aboard the ship.

With nothing better to do, Rune had started practicing swordsmanship.

"Where did that sword come from?"

Seeing Rune swing the odachi on the deck, Tashigi's expression turned strange. As she looked at Rune, her gaze was focused more on the blade in his hands.

"I got it in Wano Country."

Rune smiled. "A samurai was killed by Kaido's men. After I avenged him, I took this sword back from Kaido's subordinates."

Tashigi frowned. Although the explanation sounded rather strange, she did not think Rune had any reason to lie to her. Besides, after being aboard for so long...

Tashigi had come to understand Rune's character. He would not rob someone of their belongings for no reason.

"Take a look at this sword. I think it's quite spirited."

Rune held the odachi out to Tashigi with both hands. However, just as she reached out to take it, the odachi began to tremble, seemingly resisting fiercely.

Seeing this, Tashigi's eyes dimmed slightly. She understood that the odachi had already acknowledged Rune as its master and refused to be held by anyone else.

"Does this sword have any markings?"

"There is a character for 'shadow' on the blade."

Rune knew little about swords. The few famous blades he knew of were only because their owners were more famous. In Rune's eyes, famous swords did not provide much of a boost to combat strength.

"Then it should be the cursed blade, Shadow Severance. Although it isn't among the ranks of famous swords, this cursed blade's quality is no worse than one of the Twenty-One Great Grade Blades."

Tashigi clearly knew far more about famous swords than Rune did. She looked at him with envy. If only she could have a famous sword at the level of a Great Grade Blade. Her Flower Isle was only a Skillful Grade Blade.

"That's pretty good, then."

Rune gave it a couple of swings, then chuckled softly.

"Still, whether a sword is strong mostly depends on the person holding it. No matter how good a sword is, it's still only a sword."

Tashigi blinked, then nodded. She agreed with that statement. After all, even if someone gave her a Supreme Grade Blade now, she still would not be Rune's match.

Holding the cursed blade named Shadow Severance, Rune controlled his Conqueror's Haki Coating around it. As he swung, Rune discovered that coating the blade with Conqueror's Haki seemed to make it more concentrated.

Its power might not increase by much, but it seemed easier to control.

That was an unexpected delight. Although Rune had no intention of becoming a master swordsman, wielding this odachi could still help his Haki training a little.

Perhaps that was why so many people chose to use weapons.