Creating His Own Kind

"Quincy" Kaya's name shook all of Hachinosu!

By now, everyone knew that Hachinosu had gained a man who could hold his own against Rocks.

Rocks might not have fought all that seriously, but it was shocking enough.

The man was young, but his strength was astonishing. The abilities he used also left countless people who witnessed the fight unable to make sense of them.

Most notably, he had turned down Rocks's invitation and declined to join the Rocks Pirates.

The Rocks Pirates had been formed through the Davy Back Fight, a game that had long been passed down among pirates.

It was a cruel game in which pirate crews competed in multiple contests to steal each other's crewmates and flags.

In a Davy Back Fight, members of the losing crew chosen by the winners had to immediately become subordinates of the winning captain.

Back then, Rocks had used the game to challenge multiple pirate crews in succession, ultimately recruiting numerous powerful fighters through it.

From this, Rocks was clearly an overbearing man, yet he hadn't forced Kaya to join.

He gave no reason, saying only that Kaya was an interesting man. To everyone else, however, it was plainly a sign that Rocks held Kaya in high regard.

Hachinosu was enormous. Its name signified that pirates would pour out of it endlessly like bees, and nearly all of them were vicious criminals.

Even in such a place, there was a food chain.

The Rocks Pirates were the undisputed overlords. The island had already been full of powerful criminals before Rocks led his men to seize it.

And in this place full of villains, only immense power could make them tremble.

"Spare us... Please spare us, sir!"

"Let us go! We were just passing through!"

"We're willing to submit!!"

A group of battered pirates lay on the ground, begging the figure before them for mercy. Their captain's corpse had gone cold not far away, which was why they had admitted defeat.

Kaya stood before them, looking at them with only one thought in mind: expanding his forces.

"Raise your heads," Kaya said calmly.

The pirates raised their heads. Some had blood covering their faces, and their gazes were filled with terror as they looked at Kaya.

They really hadn't provoked Kaya; they had indeed only been passing through. But Kaya hadn't wanted to waste his breath explaining, so he had beaten them down before talking.

"I grant you the power to roam the seas unchallenged." Kaya produced a glass of wine. As it swayed, deep crimson ripples spread across the liquid.

The pirates froze, their minds going blank.

A silver pentagram pendant appeared in Kaya's hand. He squeezed it hard in his palm, and blood ran down the thin silver chain and dripped into the glass.

With another casual wave, he tossed a number of small glasses onto the ground, then poured the wine into each of them.

"Drink, and welcome your new life." His expression was indifferent, and his tone left no room for refusal.

The dozen or so pirates' expressions shifted, but seeing Kaya's "obey or die" expression, they had no choice but to accept.

Soon, each pirate held a glass. The tiny amount of wine wouldn't normally have been enough to wet their whistles, but now their hands were trembling.

It was as though they were holding not wine, but a glass inhabited by some demon, staring eerily at them.

Finally, under Kaya's gaze, the pirates tipped their heads back and drank the blood-mixed wine, swallowing it in great gulps.

Clatter!!

Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!

Several glasses shattered on the ground. The pirates went rigid, frozen in their drinking poses like a paused recording.

Kaya silently took a few steps back. The very next moment, the pirates let out heartrending screams.

They frantically clawed at their faces until they drew blood. Their mouths hung wide open, emitting raspy sounds, and their bodies shook ceaselessly as if they were being electrocuted.

After an unknown length of time, their voices died away, and the commotion resembling a cult ritual subsided.

"Th-this is..."

One pirate looked at his palm, as if he could sense that his body had changed.

Other pirates clutched their heads tightly, their eyes bulging as they muttered something under their breath, looking as though they were possessed.

"Quincy." At last, one pirate spoke the name, marking the end of the transformation ritual.

They raised their heads in unison and looked at Kaya.

They had seen it. In that instant... their souls had seemed to hover in the gap between life and death, and a flood of information had poured into their minds.

It was the fundamental essence of the existence known as "Quincy," transmitted through blood.

At the same time, they also learned exactly what kind of being the man standing before them was.

"Your Majesty!!!" ×N

The pirates prostrated themselves, pressing their foreheads to the ground. The stirring in their blood made them incapable of harboring even the slightest thought of defying him.

When they raised their heads again, Kaya was gone. He might have left right at the start.

But they all understood that from now on, they were no longer just pirates. They had another identity as well.

"Quincy!" One man slowly stood up.

"This kind of power is unbelievable." Someone took several deep breaths, then suddenly raised and opened his hand. A blue Reishi Bow appeared in it.

This was only the beginning. The others soon followed suit, each holding a Reishi Bow.

It was a perfectly natural reaction, something their bodies did of their own accord. Their minds could clearly perceive a substance drifting freely in the surrounding air.

It was something they had once been completely unable to perceive, yet it was now intimately connected to them.

That thing was called... Reishi!

They could control this power called Reishi and construct Spirit Bows and arrows from it. It was a power entirely unlike anything they knew.

"Just what is that man...?"

The pirates swallowed, examining the Spirit Bows in their hands. Some couldn't wait to try them out.

One man placed his fingers on the bowstring, and the Spirit Bow seemed to light up faintly. As he pulled hard, a blue arrow took shape.

Reishi Gathering: the power to gather Reishi from the surrounding air around oneself. It was also the most basic ability of the Quincy.

He continued pulling until the bowstring was drawn all the way back, then raised the bow and aimed at the wall ahead and to his right.

Without much hesitation, he released the string. The newly formed arrow shot forward, fleeting as a bolt of lightning.

All that could be seen was a dark blue trail streaking through the air before the Reishi Arrow pierced the wall ahead with overwhelming force.

With a thunderous crash, the load-bearing wall exploded, and the building shook violently before collapsing in turn.

The Reishi Arrow that had caused it all had already vanished into the air.

The man was somewhat dazed. He looked down at the Spirit Bow in his hand, as though he still hadn't come to his senses.

It was the most basic Quincy ability: making a bow and arrow from Reishi, then shooting the arrow.

Quincy were known for fighting with bows and arrows.

"What on earth is going on with this world? What's Spiritual Power? How come I never knew there was stuff like this in the air?" he couldn't help saying.

"Why worry about all that? You can't get power like this just by training!" More of them were focused on the fact that they had grown stronger.

"That's right! I'm not even going to train in Haki anymore!" another said.

After playing around with their bows for quite a while, they put them away in satisfaction, perhaps because they were tired.

As the Spirit Bows vanished, something appeared in their hands, cool to the touch.

They were silver chains, like necklaces, with silver-gray cross pendants attached to the ends. The crosses were joined at the center by a ring.

The mark of a Quincy: the Quincy Cross.

It was an ornament, and they could also transform the Quincy Cross directly into a Spirit Bow for combat.

"It feels like there's a lot more in my head, but it's all fuzzy," a pirate said, scratching his head.

"Where's that man? He left us here... So what do we do now?" One man's words left the others silent.

Kaya hadn't told them to do anything. He had simply given them power and left without caring what happened to them. Did that mean they were supposed to fend for themselves?