While Vic was thinking, Koshiro returned to the quiet room and handed him an Eternal Pose.
"Vic, when are you planning to set out?" Koshiro asked curiously.
"Master, I gave it some thought just now. I'm going to wait a while before heading out and finish my preparations first," Vic replied.
"As long as you know what you're doing. Go on." With that, Koshiro resumed meditating and said nothing more.
Vic stood up, bowed slightly to Koshiro, and turned to leave the quiet room.
He decided to put everything else aside starting that day, train his speed, and learn Geppo.
From that day on, a man carrying a huge boulder on his back could be seen running through Shimotsuki Village. The apprentices at the dojo were amazed, while the villagers were somewhat shocked. He was a ferocious beast in human form.
When Vic grew tired of running, he rested, then ran again once he had recovered. He drank water when he was thirsty and hunted and grilled his food when he was hungry. With his proficiency body, he grew faster and faster, and the rocks he carried grew larger and larger.
Kuina admired Vic greatly. When he ran, she watched from the side, and when he grilled food, she gathered around to listen to him tell her stories. Vic told her to eat plenty of meat and train her body properly in the future too.
And so, after three days, his speed met the basic requirements for using Soru. He could now use it reliably.
A month later, Vic finally learned Geppo. When the dojo students saw him stepping through the sky, their jaws dropped. Kuina's face was flushed red with excitement, and her eyes were full of admiration.
Koshiro watched for a while without any change in expression. Clearly, he knew what it was, and he didn't ask how Vic had learned Geppo.
Kuina clamored to learn it. Humanity's longing for the sky was the same in every world. Vic told her, "You're too young right now. Your body isn't strong enough, so you can't learn it. You need to train your body properly and eat lots of meat. I'll teach you when you grow up." Only then did she settle down.
The day after learning Geppo, Vic set out to sea with a backpack, Yubashiri, an Eternal Pose, and a small boat. He had prepared two days' worth of food and water for himself.
With little else to do at sea, Vic spent most of his time training.
He practiced Geppo every day. He wanted to make it faster, take him higher, and last longer. Who could say what the future held? Mastering Geppo could save his life at a critical moment, help him escape, or let him give chase. It was a fairly versatile skill, especially at sea.
His Geppo improved every day. When he grew tired from using it, he would tie a rope around his waist and enter the sea, swimming with only his arms and pulling the boat toward his destination. Whenever he saw a sea beast or a large fish underwater, he would catch it for food.
That was his daily routine at sea. Even Zoro would have shed tears at the sight. "And here I thought I was a training maniac. In front of Vic, even I have to put my barbells away!!!"
He didn't run into anyone foolish enough to provoke him along the way. Then again, he swam as fast as a speedboat, so no one else could catch up to him. To avoid wasting time, he didn't go shouting about fighting and killing. When he came across a pirate ship nearby, he used Geppo to approach it and asked the pirates aboard whether they had heard of Devil Fruits. If they hadn't, he sliced their ship in two with a single stroke and left them to their fate.
If they had heard of Devil Fruits, he asked whether they had any aboard and where they had heard about them. In the end, he still gave them a parting slash. Vic never found a Devil Fruit.
After sailing like this for more than ten days, he finally reached the edge of the Calm Belt. By then, he could use Geppo to leap through the sky for half a day.
He found a small, uninhabited island near the Calm Belt and dragged his boat ashore. There, he found a large tree and used Yubashiri to cut out a plank one meter long, fifty centimeters wide, and ten centimeters thick.
He caught a large argali, went down to the shore, and lit a campfire to roast the sheep after preparing it. He had mostly been eating fish and sea beasts lately, with an occasional restaurant meal when he made it to an island, and he missed the taste of barbecue.
After eating the mutton, he put the plank he had cut beside the fire to dry, then went to sleep in the boat's cabin.
Vic didn't know exactly how far away the small island was, so he had prepared a plank just in case. If all else failed, he could use it to float on the sea. Drying the moisture out of the wood would allow the plank to support more weight.
Nothing happened that night. After resting and recovering his energy, Vic went out in the morning and caught another large argali to roast. Mutton was delicious.
Once he had eaten and drunk his fill, he packed everything up. The plank was almost completely dry, so he tied it to his back, took out the Eternal Pose, and used Geppo to fly toward the island.
Vic used Geppo for half a day and was nearly at his limit, but there was still no sign of the island. Afraid something might happen, he didn't dare use up all his strength. He gently placed the plank on the sea, terrified that too much noise might attract Sea Kings. He carefully set one foot on it, and the plank rocked from side to side as though it might flip. Vic hurriedly put his other foot down, then immediately sat to lower his center of gravity. The plank finally steadied. Fortunately, it was thick enough and had dried out, leaving half a centimeter of wood above the water.
This was the Calm Belt, and there were no waves. The plank floated steadily, while Vic kept a constant watch on what lay beneath the surface.
He had rested for a while, and no Sea Kings had come to play games with him. A little reassured, he guessed there probably weren't any Sea Kings in this stretch of sea today.
Rested and with no Sea Kings appearing, Vic marveled at how lucky he really was. In high spirits, he took out the leg of mutton he had deliberately saved that morning, peeled away the several layers of large leaves wrapped around it, and grabbed the bone to gnaw on the meat. It had gone cold and wasn't as tasty anymore. With two crunches, he tore off a couple of bites and chewed.
Sitting on the sea, gazing out over the endless water and eating mutton, Vic smiled faintly. Life was pretty good. Perhaps even the heavens couldn't stand to watch, for the sea suddenly began to tremble. This is bad, Vic thought.
He hurried to his feet, ready to put the plank away, but saw a huge head rapidly approaching him underwater. The sight jolted him with fright. He didn't dare bother with the plank and immediately used Geppo to rise high into the air.
The instant he left the plank, two rows of serrated teeth broke the surface. Every single tooth was larger than a house, and they were deathly white. They snapped shut in an instant, and the plank vanished. A huge head emerged from the sea, looking much like that of a sunfish. The fish's head was probably as large as a small islet.
Vic continued climbing with Geppo, looking down at the huge fish. Suddenly, another fish head burst out of the sea and lunged toward him. This Sea King had an extremely long neck and had already drawn close. Vic knew he couldn't dodge its enormous mouth by continuing upward, so he hurriedly shifted to the side. He barely managed to evade the long-necked Sea King, only for two more long-necked ones to come after him, fighting over him. Vic darted left and right, struggling to dodge and narrowly escaping death, but more and more Sea Kings appeared on the sea's surface.
Only then did Vic realize that the piece of meat in his hand had caused all the trouble. Nothing had happened before he took it out, but as soon as he did, the Sea Kings had all come. Vic hurriedly threw away the leg of mutton, cursing under his breath.
Vic used Geppo to reach the top of a Sea King's head and lay down on it. The Sea King didn't like moving much. He planned to rest for a while before going to look for the island. Whether he could reach it within half a day would really depend on luck.
The other Sea Kings had all gone to fight over the mutton. None of the fish were paying Vic any attention now, so he seized the chance to rest. That had been truly perilous and thrilling, and he was covered in cold sweat.
The baby beneath him was fairly cooperative and didn't pull the rug out from under him. After catching his breath for a while, Vic took out the Eternal Pose and climbed into the sky, paying no more attention to the fighting in the sea.