Gray's Calm Analysis

Unlike Natsu, that "battle idiot," Gray Fullbuster, who had also been defeated, reacted completely differently after waking up.

Instead of immediately rushing over to pick a fight like Natsu, he leaned against the wall alone, silently rubbing his still-aching abdomen while calmly replaying every detail of his battle with Zoro in his mind, over and over again.

He clearly remembered how his barrage of ice lances had all been evaded by the other man with an almost artistic precision.

He also remembered how his ice lances, formed from high-density magic power, had been casually crushed into powder between the other man's two fingers.

That was not magic, nor was it any form of martial arts he knew. It was a higher-level power system that he could not comprehend at all.

After seeing Natsu get effortlessly "suppressed" again, Gray took a deep breath and finally sorted through his thoughts. He stood up and walked straight over to Zoro, who was drinking with Cana.

When Cana saw Gray approaching, she thought he was looking for trouble too. She immediately shielded her drinking buddy and shouted, "Hey, you underwear-flashing freak, what do you want? Let me tell you, Zoro is my drinking buddy now. If you dare lay a hand on him, I won't go easy on you!"

Zoro also raised his eyelids and glanced at Gray, a trace of inquiry in his gaze.

Gray ignored Cana. His eyes remained fixed on Zoro, holding no hostility—only pure curiosity and a desire to explore an unknown power.

"Hey," he said in a low, calm voice. "I didn't come here to fight. I just want to ask you a few questions."

Seeing that he did not seem intent on fighting, Zoro nodded and gestured for him to continue.

"When you took Natsu's flaming punch head-on earlier, that black stuff covering your arm," Gray said, gesturing with his hand, "and that ability you used to dodge all my ice lances... it was like you could see the future. What exactly were those? They definitely weren't magic, right?"

That question instantly drew everyone's attention. Erza, Levy, even Guild Master Makarov, all quietly pricked up their ears. It was the answer they all wanted to know.

Hearing that, Zoro set down his wine cup and, unusually, showed a thoughtful expression.

Fighting was easy for him, but explaining his own power system to someone else was harder than defeating one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

He thought for a moment, trying to describe it in the simplest and most direct way possible.

"The black one is called Armament Haki." He pointed at his arm. "It's a type of Haki. Think of it as invisible armor. It can grab those guys that float around, and it can strengthen your attacks and defense. If you use it well enough, it looks like this."

"Haki? Invisible armor?" Levy immediately pulled out the little notebook she carried with her and began jotting it down at lightning speed, her eyes gleaming with a thirst for knowledge.

"Then... what about that ability that was like seeing the future?" Gray pressed.

"That was Observation Haki," Zoro continued, explaining in his extremely plain manner. "It's also a type of Haki. It lets you sense the presence of living things around you and predict an opponent's attacks. If you use it well enough, you can see a short stretch of the future in advance. Dodging those slow ice chunks of yours isn't pretty basic?"

"B-basic?" Gray's mouth twitched violently. His Ice Make, which had struck fear into countless enemies, had somehow become "slow ice chunks" that could be dealt with through "basic" techniques in this man's mouth.

Zoro seemed completely unaware of the terrifying "damage" his words had dealt. He took a drink, then added one final remark that utterly shattered the common sense of every mage present.

"Haki is something that most capable people in even slightly stronger seas know how to use. Aren't Armament Haki and Observation Haki pretty basic? Above those, there's the rarer Conqueror's Haki."

"..."

The entire guild hall fell into eerie silence once more.

A power system they had never heard of, called Haki, had been mentioned so clearly in this world for the first time. And according to this man, a power strong enough to effortlessly crush an S-Class mage was, in his world... merely "basic"?

Then just how terrifying were those "capable people" he spoke of?