Location: Island of Eltheris – Day Two
The jungle had gone quiet.
No birds. No insects. No breeze.
Only the faint hum, buried deep beneath the earth, resonated with Toni's bones.
He stood before a half-collapsed stone archway at the edge of a sunken temple. Moss clung to its ancient carvings. The symbol at the peak—a dragon curled around a blade.
Roger, Rayleigh, and the others remained at the surface, having sensed that this was not a place they should intrude.
But Toni stepped forward.
His cracked wooden sword vibrated faintly, as though urging him ahead.
Inside the Temple
The corridor narrowed, descending into darkness. Old murals lined the walls—depicting sword-wielders battling celestial beings with halos of flame.
Toni's Observation Haki flared automatically, illuminating shapes in the dark.
Statues. Dozens. Each one held a sword with a different stance.
"Guardians," he murmured.
As he walked, the hum grew louder. The cracked blade on his back heated, glowing with pale blue light.
Then suddenly—it shattered.
The pieces turned to dust in his hand.
Yet Toni did not panic.
Instead, he looked forward.
At the end of the corridor stood a single dais.
A black sword hovered above it, suspended by invisible force, humming in rhythm with his heartbeat.
The Trial Begins
A voice echoed from nowhere—and everywhere.
"To wield the blade, you must bare the truth of your will."
The air thickened.
Suddenly—Toni was no longer in the temple.
He stood in a void of sky and stars. Alone. Barefoot. Blade-less.
A figure appeared before him.
His mirror.
But older.
Wearing armor of flowing black and silver, a cloak billowing with celestial winds. His eyes burned like suns. On his back, the same blade that hovered above the dais.
"You are not ready," the other Toni said flatly.
"You hesitate. You fear what you might become."
Toni clenched his fists. "I don't want to kill."
"Then die," the echo snarled, unsheathing the Mythblade.
The fight began.
Memory Duel – Astral Plane
Steel flashed through the stars. The older version fought like a force of nature—fluid, merciless, precise. Every strike tested Toni's spirit more than his strength.
He dodged.
He countered.
But he couldn't keep up.
Each slash whispered doubts into his ears.
"You are just a shadow."
"You are a vessel for forgotten pain."
"You have no name of your own."
Toni dropped to one knee, breath ragged.
But then—he remembered Shanks' voice.
"You're Toni. That's all that matters."
He stood.
Eyes burning.
And for the first time—he roared back.
"I am NOT a shadow! I am the one who REMEMBERS!"
The astral blade that had defeated him again and again suddenly bent mid-swing, as if resisting its wielder.
The older Toni froze. Then smiled.
"Good."
"Then take it. It's yours now."
Back in the Temple
Toni opened his eyes.
The sword hovered above the dais no longer.
It rested in his palm.
The Mythblade.
Pitch black, smooth like glass, but lighter than air. A single white line ran down its center—like a crack of light in the void.
Its name burned into his mind:
Tenryūzan – The Sky-Splitting Memory Blade
Outside the Temple
As Toni emerged from the ruins, the air shimmered around him.
The blade pulsed once, and suddenly the sky cracked with thunder.
A storm formed instantly over the island.
Roger looked up, grinning. "Well, well. Looks like the boy found it."
Shanks grinned wide. "You feel that, Buggy?"
Buggy shivered. "I feel my bones trying to run away…"
Rayleigh narrowed his eyes. "That sword… isn't just a weapon. It's a record."
Roger nodded. "A will too strong to die."
Toni stopped at the temple entrance, now different.
Straighter.
Calmer.
Stronger.
Tenryūzan hummed softly at his side.
But it was no longer leading him.
It was following him.
That Night – Aboard the Oro Jackson
As the crew feasted, Shanks sat beside Toni, who now had a fresh band on his hilt and a sharp, steel gaze in his eyes.
"Feel any different?" Shanks asked.
Toni nodded. "I remember… too much."
"Too much?"
"Names. Places. Faces I never met. Battles I never fought. And one phrase that keeps repeating."
Shanks raised a brow. "What's that?"
Toni looked up, eyes glowing faintly blue in the firelight.
"The war isn't over."