A Different Power System

Tap, tap, tap~

With a series of footsteps, a man wearing a pure white military uniform and a cloak over it walked out and stood there.

"What's that? Did he change clothes just for this? Is it some kind of pointless ritual?" Charlotte Linlin curled her lip, finding him pretentious.

He was indeed putting on airs. That much was true.

Kaya had created an outfit modeled on the Quincy attire he remembered: a pure white knight's uniform symbolizing purity.

It wasn't just for appearances. He had also used it to test how much control he had over his power.

His Quincy powers had come from nowhere.

Just as a Devil Fruit needed to be developed, even with the changes to his body, adapting would take time.

Kaya had noticed that the world had changed, possibly because of his arrival. Something extra had appeared upon this vast sea.

Strictly speaking, it should be called a "power system."

People tempered their bodies and trained their Haki and swordsmanship, while Devil Fruit Users developed their abilities to greater depths.

Those were the paths people in this world could choose to grow stronger. All in all, there weren't many options, and Haki was practically mandatory for the strong.

But Quincy were different.

Quincy fought using the Reishi in the air, manipulating spiritual power to battle.

Reishi was power, a kind of energy.

The world of pirates naturally had no such thing. So when Kaya entered it, an entirely new power system had come along with him.

That was right! It was just that overbearing! From this moment on, this world was different.

The Quincy were a race and a group of exorcists who used weapons formed from Reishi to destroy evil spirits.

So, in the world of pirates, who were the evil spirits?

Whoosh~~

Blue light gathered in Kaya's palm, turning from insubstantial to solid as the energy materialized into a long cross-shaped sword.

"So that's your sword?" Rocks drew his sword and stepped forward, and the air grew a little more solemn.

"A Reishi sword, a basic weapon made by drawing Reishi from the surrounding environment and converting it." Kaya nodded lightly and raised the sword upright.

"What's that?" Rocks asked.

"That's how Quincy fight." Kaya had no intention of hiding it and openly revealed the existence of the Quincy.

"That's what I'm asking... what the hell is that?!" Rocks raised his hand and unleashed a great slash, black-and-red lightning coiling around its powerful sword energy.

Swish!

Kaya's figure blurred, and he vanished from where he stood.

The sword energy flew past an instant later, like a meteor streaking across the horizon. It soon disappeared into the distance, leaving only a deep gash torn through the earth!

Kaya appeared out of thin air high above, standing on empty air beneath the blue sky.

"You can fly too!" Rocks laughed.

Rumor had it that Rocks's swordsmanship was like a heavy hammer, even comparable to cannon fire. It was famous throughout the world for its overwhelming power, enough to blast away everything around him.

That much was obvious. One only had to look at the spectators, who had already retreated who knew how far.

After Rocks's successive sword strikes, a pirate had already been caught in the crossfire, his body torn apart on the spot.

Unless the guy was a Chop-Chop Fruit user, he was probably a little dead.

Being a spectator wasn't easy. At a battle of this level, at least, spectators risked their lives.

Swish! Swish, swish, swish~

Kaya darted about at high speed, moving like a soaring dragon, quick as lightning, and dodged every one of Rocks's attacks.

Rocks didn't seem to be in a hurry, acting as a swordsman who fired blasts, launching flying slashes one after another in a crackling barrage.

"What kind of footwork is that? I've never seen it before." Rocks even had the leisure to ask.

When he first saw Kaya dodging, he thought Kaya was using something like the Six Powers. After all, Kaya could even stand in the sky.

But he soon realized something was wrong. It couldn't be explained by footwork alone.

"Hirenkyaku!" Kaya said in a low voice.

He vanished once more. This time, he appeared directly above Rocks and swung his sword down, using gravity to accelerate the slash.

Clang!!

The two swords collided head-on, sending sparks as bright as welding flashes spraying out. The force that scattered outward pierced the ground in every direction!

"Aren't you used to using your power?" Rocks looked at Kaya up close, keenly sensing something. "How strange. You're like a baby swinging a heavy hammer!"

Kaya tightened his grip on the hilt. A layer of black spread over the blade, as though it had been forged onto it.

Haki?! Rocks's pupils contracted.

Rocks naturally wasn't surprised by Haki. But until now... until this very instant, he hadn't sensed the slightest trace of it from Kaya!

"You learned Haki a second ago? While I was just talking? You actually thought you could use me as a whetstone!" Rocks was certain in an instant.

He immediately exerted his strength and sent Kaya flying.

Kaya didn't fly very far. After adjusting himself in midair, he steadied his body.

Hirenkyaku: a Quincy high-speed movement technique that achieved rapid movement by adjusting the flow of Reishi beneath one's feet!

Simply put, some athletes claimed they could run very fast, but could you catch someone sent flying by a big truck? No, right?

That was the principle behind Hirenkyaku. Rather than moving with the feet, it directly applied acceleration.

Since he could manipulate Reishi to move at high speed, it was no wonder he could adjust it beneath his feet and walk on air.

Looked at that way, spiritual power really was versatile.

But Rocks had gotten one thing wrong. Kaya hadn't just learned it; he had learned it a little earlier.

The pirates on Hachinosu were of fairly high quality.

Kaya had first shared his power. Not many people had received it, perhaps a few pirate crews.

Some of those people could use Haki, so naturally, after they died, it would return to Kaya's body along with their soul fragments, allowing him to master Haki.

If he could use Auswählen on Rocks, that would be quite a potent dose for him too...

I've more or less got the hang of Hirenkyaku. I might as well try something else next, Kaya thought silently.

He was now like a foolish rich kid with a vault containing a fortune, yet no idea how to use it.

Many abilities were already in his head, but actually using them wasn't as simple as playing a game, where he only needed to press a button.

Even so, he was mastering them fairly quickly.

Buzz, buzz, buzz~

Kaya clenched his fist, and a bluish-green light resembling a branching pattern lit up across his clothes.

Suddenly, Rocks appeared out of thin air before him, his long sword already raised. It came crashing down over him with boundless pressure!

Bang! Kaya was sent flying.

"Rocks had better not kill that guy," Charlotte Linlin said as she watched from afar.

"Oh? You love having children. Don't tell me you've got your eye on him because he's handsome?" Buckingham Stussy said with a laugh.

"Is that guy some kind of special race?" Kaido craned his neck and looked into the distance.

"Someone who can take a sword strike from Rocks can't be a nobody, but..." Newgate was secretly surprised.

"But he couldn't possibly be that young, right?" Shiki shrugged. "Like Kaido, when he first joined, he hadn't even grown all his pubes yet!"

"That was five years ago!" Kaido said angrily. Now twenty, he was very different from when he was fifteen. Linlin could vouch for that!

"Look!" Gloriosa cried, pointing ahead. "Rocks knocked that guy down, but..."

Kaya stood straight in a deep crater, with Rocks right in front of him. Rocks had put away his sword, however, and was now staring at Kaya in astonishment.

"I hit you with that sword, and you weren't even hurt? Your clothes aren't even dirty? Could this get any more ridiculous?!" Rocks complained.

Kaya brushed his left sleeve, and the sword in his hand dissolved into specks of Reishi and dispersed. "No, you're wrong. It actually did pick up a little dust."