— — — — — —
"Is Haki an ability that only natives of the One Piece world can unlock?"
"There… shouldn't be any restriction like that, right?" Veyron said as he thinking about it.
...
A moment later—
The fight between Hancock and Gwen had come to an end.
The crimson eye with the tomoe pattern—Hancock's Sharingan—gradually faded back to normal.
Hearing Veyron's question, Hancock thought for a moment.
Then she returned to the place she'd been living for over a year on this island, grabbed two training manuals, and handed them over.
"Wanna give it a try first?"
"…You're just giving these to me?" Veyron was surprised. He thought Hancock would put them in the group store.
"The method to train Haki isn't exactly some top-secret thing on Amazon Lily. I asked Elder Nyon a while back if it was okay to share it, and she said it's fine as long as it's someone I trust."
Hancock added, "Actually, I already uploaded the contents of these manuals to the group back before you even joined."
Veyron flipped through them. The training methods weren't too complicated, but he still glanced toward the expert for confirmation.
"You should be able to learn it," Merlin said. "I was watching Hancock use Haki just now too.
"From what I've seen in those manuals you're holding—yeah, I read them before—it seems like Haki in their world is a fusion of belief, willpower, mental strength, and life energy.
"And belief, will, spirit, life… those are all things humans fundamentally have."
"Then how come I couldn't learn it?" Fujiwara Chika raised her hand with a frustrated look.
"…Well, first of all, not just anyone can learn Haki even in its native world. Even on Amazon Lily, where they have generations of Haki users, only qualified warriors are able to grasp it."
Merlin looked at Chika with a thoughtful gaze. "When you were trying it before, ask yourself honestly—did you truly believe, from the bottom of your heart, that you could learn Haki?"
"Uh…"
Chika scratched her head awkwardly, smiling sheepishly.
Gotta be real—she was super envious of that awesome ability, but when it came to actually believing she could learn it? Yeah… she'd always kinda doubted it.
Which was exactly what Merlin just said—faith, will, belief… those were the key components of Haki.
Wait a second!
"So you're saying we can actually learn Haki?!"
Realizing this, Chika's eyes lit up as she stared at the Haki training manuals in Veyron's hands.
"Wanna try Armament Haki first? Or Observation Haki?" he asked, holding one book in each hand.
"Let's go with… Armament?"
After thinking for a second and remembering the difference between the two, Chika—who wasn't all that confident—chose the one that felt a little less abstract.
Compared to the sixth-sense-like nature of Observation Haki, the idea of Armament Haki—forming invisible armor to boost defense and attack—just felt a lot more real to her.
"Wanna do this together?"
Veyron handed her the Armament Haki manual, while holding onto the Observation one himself.
He felt a pair of eyes still lingering on him—Selina was clearly more interested in Observation Haki—so he extended an invite.
"Let's check it out together."
The catgirl nodded.
---
Observation Haki is all about sensing "presence"—a kind of super-sense that develops once your regular senses get sharpened to the max.
So, the first step to learning it? Training your basic senses—sight, hearing, smell, all of it.
For example: blindfold yourself, have someone throw random stuff at you from random directions, and your job is to dodge it all as best you can.
---
Veyron: "…"
He watched Selina, eyes blindfolded, dodging water balloons tossed by Merlin with magical precision. She even had the spare focus to throw in some fancy, gymnast-level flips while at it.
Veyron, completely soaked, let out a long sigh. "Damn… so this is talent?"
Chika, who had been struggling with her own Armament Haki training and felt like she was falling further behind Gwen (a natural talent), wandered over to the Observation training area.
When she saw Selina's performance, she muttered loudly, "Ughhh, why is she so good?!"
By now, it had been about half a month since the group arrived at Rusukaina Island.
Thanks to a support function called "Space-Time Gap," they didn't need to worry about time passing in their original worlds. Everyone was fascinated by the Haki system, so they decided to stay longer and really dive in.
Every day they ate beast meat—which was super good for the body—trained in Haki, and deepened their bonds with the other group members. Honestly, life was feeling pretty damn good.
According to the manuals—packed with a hundred years of Amazon Lily's experience and research—both Selina and Gwen were now nearing the entry level of their respective Haki types.
"Chika~ I heard that~," Selina chirped with a smile as she gracefully dodged three water balloons from different directions on one leg, pulling off a fancy spin in mid-air.
Then she got smacked right in the face by a fourth water balloon from above.
Observation Haki is closely tied to one's emotional state. Even experienced users need to stay calm to use it properly. If they get too emotional or lose focus, it's common for even veterans to lose access to it.
Selina, a total beginner, obviously wasn't an exception.
"Phew~ let's take a break."
Selina straightened up and raised her hand for a timeout. After untying the blindfold, she walked over and started pinching Chika's cheeks with wild abandon.
"Soooo~ Veyron?"
Merlin raised her staff, and dozens of water balloons floated up from the sea, suspended by magic. She looked over and asked if he wanted to take over.
"…Give me a sec."
Veyron scanned the area. His gaze landed on the island's other Haki mentor—Hancock—now free after wrapping up her session with Fubuki. Seeing an opportunity, he strode toward her.
Time to cheat.
"I wanna feel Haki."
Hancock tilted her head. "How?"
"Let's try Armament Haki first," Veyron replied. "It can harden around the body like armor, right…?"
Hancock nodded and raised an arm toward him.
Veyron reached out, keeping his fingers just two or three millimeters from her skin, carefully feeling for that invisible yet tangible layer of armor.
...
A few minutes later…
[You've acquired a new Trait — Armament Haki (Lv.1)]
[ Armament Haki (Lv.1) | (0/100) ]
One of the three forms of Haki. Converts belief, willpower, and spiritual energy into a physical armor-like force around the body.
This is Armament Haki.
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(50 advanced chapters are available at: patreon.com/_Coreal)