Loki's Homework Completion

"Alright!"

Little Loki nodded, hoisted a snow-covered mountain rock beside him onto his shoulder, and carried it in front of Annus.

The rock was over ten meters tall, cold, hard, and solid. As Little Loki set it down, it kicked up a cloud of snow dust.

"Now try using Armament Haki to Coat this rock."

Annus looked at Little Loki, a trace of expectation in his eyes.

Under Annus's gaze, Little Loki grew a little nervous. He fixed his attention on the mountain rock before him and slowly placed both hands on it.

The world fell silent. As the two of them stopped speaking, this frozen wilderness seemed dead, with only the howling wind and snow passing through it.

"Ha!"

Little Loki suddenly let out a shout and clamped both hands tightly around the icy rock. Cracks gradually spread across its surface.

Then, as Little Loki exerted himself, an invisible current of Armament Haki extended from his body. Starting from where his hands touched the rock, it slowly wrapped around the entire boulder.

"Look! Annus! I did it!"

Little Loki beamed with delight, but at the same time, the Armament Haki Coating the rock rapidly faded away.

Annus shook his head slightly, clearly dissatisfied with Little Loki's performance.

"It seems you still haven't fully grasped the essence of Armament Haki Coating, Loki."

Haki was a power that existed within every person in this world, merely waiting to be discovered by its owner. Only special training could awaken and strengthen it.

As a member of the Ancient Giant Tribe and the son of Harald, the strongest Giant in the world, Little Loki's talent for Haki was undoubtedly exceptional. But perhaps because he was still too young, he had yet to master this power.

Ever since Annus had met Little Loki, he had consciously helped him awaken the Haki latent within his body. Little Loki's ability to briefly Coat objects in Armament Haki was Annus's doing.

"Ah..." Little Loki lowered his gaze in disappointment. "So I still can't go to sea with you?"

He had originally thought he had completed the assignment Annus had given him, only to discover that this was not the case.

"I'm afraid so." Annus nodded. Seeing Little Loki's dejected expression, he smiled again. "But don't lose heart, Loki. The day you completely master the power of Haki will be the day you can sail with me."

"As for now... you're still too weak."

"Damn it!" Little Loki gritted his teeth, deeply unwilling to accept it.

But he also understood that Annus was telling the truth. Annus had shown him time and again through his own strength what true power meant.

Setting aside the terrifying sight of lightning swallowing everything, merely wielding a golden staff not even as thick as one of his fingers to cut through a snow mountain in the Underworld was not something an ordinary human could possibly do.

Even from a Giant's perspective, the snow mountains of the Underworld were towering and enormous.

Compared to them, tiny humans were practically no different from ants.

"Don't underestimate the power of humans. There are far more beings among humans who can be called strong than among Giants."

Seemingly noticing Little Loki's disdain for humans, Annus spoke as he walked toward the mountain rock Little Loki had placed on the snow and extended a hand.

A vast surge of Haki instantly engulfed the entire rock. After contracting, it clung tightly to the rock's surface, turning the whole boulder pitch-black.

The quality of this Haki startled Little Loki.

"Armament Haki is the most common form of Haki in the seas of the New World, but only a very small number of people can reach its end."

"The assignment I gave you was only to master the most basic Coating. Beyond Coating, there are higher realms..."

As his words fell, Annus thrust a palm forward. An invisible impact burst forth, scattering the snow filling the sky.

"The outward flow of Armament Haki is also called Ryuo by the people of a certain country of samurai. By making unnecessary Armament Haki flow through the body and releasing it while Coating one's hand or weapon, it can directly become a tangible attack."

"I prefer to call it qigong—Air Strike."

After saying that, Annus gently pressed his palm against the mountain rock. A cold sensation traveled into his hand.

"Watch closely, Loki. This is a realm beyond Ryuo!"

The mountain rock, over ten meters tall, suddenly exploded from within with a thunderous BANG. Fragments of stone shot outward and fell into the snow.

"This is..." Little Loki's pupils contracted slightly.

"Armament Haki's Internal Destruction! When facing enemies with tough hides and thick flesh, this is the most useful technique. It is an advanced application of Ryuo—releasing Armament Haki through an object's surface to strike directly at its interior!"

"The effect is just as you saw. Powerful Haki explodes from inside the object like a cannonball. If it were a human body, the impact in that instant would be enough to destroy any internal organ."

"I call it Mountain-Piercing Strike. As the name implies, once cultivated to a profound level, you can kill a bull through a mountain."

"That's way too outrageous!" Little Loki clicked his tongue.

In Little Loki's understanding, having never left Elbaf, both mountains and bulls were massive beings far beyond humans.

Killing a giant bull through a snow mountain in the Underworld? No matter how he thought about it, it sounded like pure fantasy.

Just as Annus was carefully instructing Little Loki, a "Buru Buru" ringing sound suddenly came from his clothes.

Annus took out the Den Den Mushi from his clothes. After answering it, the Den Den Mushi took on the face of someone completely wrapped in black bandages.

"Lord Annus, this is Diumil. Where are you? Please return to Hachinosu as soon as possible."

"What happened?"

"We have a lead on Hachinosu's treasure!"

Annus froze slightly at those words.

Had there finally been news of Shakuyaku, who had been missing for an entire year?

"Treasure? What treasure?" Little Loki had heard Diumil's words as well.

"A woman who drives the entire world mad."

Annus gave a simple explanation, already transforming into lightning and flying above the Underworld.

"Loki, I have to go. Remember what I just demonstrated. I hope that when we meet again, your Haki will have improved."

"You're leaving already? Take me with you!" Little Loki sprinted through the snow, trying to catch up with the lightning.

"You're still too weak, Loki! It isn't time for you to take the stage yet!"

Annus's voice gradually faded into the snowy wind. Little Loki stopped and watched the golden lightning vanish into the distance.

Several hours later, Annus returned to Hachinosu.

Unlike the somewhat subdued atmosphere of the past year, Hachinosu's pirates seemed to have come back to life now that Shakuyaku's whereabouts had finally been found.

"She's alive?!!"

"Hey, is this true?!"

"Great! Where is she now?"

"God Valley? What kind of place is that?"

These were the discussions Annus heard among the pirates as he made his way back to the Heaven-Piercing Tower.