'Sacred Haki is the tangible light of a shared soul, a hallowed force that restores, empowers, and preserves.'
This was the first detail that entered Mihawk's mind as the Fate Parchment between him and Zora materialized.
"You dirty bastard!"
Zora's outburst was justified. The procedure required to circulate and train with Sacred Haki would no doubt rattle her and others to come.
What exactly was this power?
Sacred Haki represented a unique form of life force with three primary purposes: restoration, longevity, and power. Its restoration function mended physical damage and restored any part of the recipient that their body and soul recognized as 'self' – from torn muscle and shattered bone to genetic enhancements. This healing extended beyond the physical, also erasing unwanted mental commands to restore a person's true psychological state. However, this powerful restoration had limitations: it could not neutralize foreign agents like poisons or complex diseases, but it could repair the harm they inflicted once the affliction itself was addressed.
The longevity aspect slowed aging, granting extended lifespan with potential for immortality at the highest level, while the enhancement component permanently enriched existence by increasing physical strength, speed, durability, reflexes, and natural senses.
Now how does one use Sacred Haki in the first place? The answer lay in intimate connection.
Sacred Haki isn't a conscious power to be activated at will. It generates and cycles automatically through acts of physical intimacy between covenant partners. The energy flows back and forth between their bodies in continuous exchange, creating a shared circuit of power.
This exchange requires more than mere physical contact. Genuine affection forms the foundation of the process, along with full consent from both parties. Insincere, unwilling, or purely transactional acts yield no Sacred Haki whatsoever.
Once these emotional requirements are met, different types of physical intimacy produce varying degrees of Sacred Haki. An act like hugging would yield a minor amount, whereas deeper acts of intimacy unlock superior tiers of restoration, preservation, and empowerment.
As Mihawk observed Zora's reaction – her retreat to the skiff's bow, her unsheathing of Wado Ichimonji, the blade raised toward him – he struggled to envision the day the emotional requirements might be met.
Her resistance wasn't the only obstacle, however. His own sentiments toward the Sacred Covenant proved troubled. A path to greater strength had revealed itself, but obstacles emerged that he wasn't sure how to surmount. But challenge had never deterred him before. And accomplishing his ambitions would prove far more gratifying if earned through adversity rather than bestowed without effort. Naturally, he wouldn't forget the advantages his transmigration had provided: the body he now inhabited and the gifts he'd inherited.
Yet these gifts couldn't remedy his inexperience with human connection. A lifetime of adopting different personas had left him uncertain of who he was beneath the masks, shifting identities so often that his authentic self felt distant and unfamiliar. The concern lingered. What if he struggled to show his true self, even when his heart wanted to?
"Unsheathe your sword." Zora placed Wado Ichimonji in her mouth and bit down, then simultaneously unsheathed her other two katanas. "I'll make good on the promise I made to my dear friend!"
Mihawk's focus shifted from her to the island ahead. Rolling green hills swept across its expanse, their gentle slopes stippled with patches of forest.
"We have arrived."
Zora did not move, and her expression hardened. "The only way you're getting off is if you defeat me."
He had not drawn Yoru or Kogatana yet. Since this kind of duel would surely happen every day from now on, Kogatana would see plenty of use.
Mihawk slipped the crucifix-knife pendant from his neck, lifted it past the brim of his wide hat as if the hat were not there, then raised it and removed the pendant's sheath with his left hand.
"What kind of joke is this?"
"Unfortunately, I do not carry a smaller blade than this one."
"Let's see if you still wear that haughty expression after I kill you!"
☠ ☠ ☠
Mihawk placed Zora's three katanas neatly beside her and stepped back. He then observed her unconscious form sprawled face-first on the skiff's floor, her hips raised, enabling her fitted black pants to highlight her toned, ample bottom.
"Let this serve as a reminder."
Mihawk raised his palm and summoned her Fate Parchment, its portrait still absent. An absence about to be filled.
The portrait, he learned, worked like a photograph he could capture at will and replace whenever he wished.
To take it, he peered through the blank portrait area, which acted as a live lens. Moving and angling his hand, he adjusted the composition while aiming the levitating parchment to frame her compromising position. Zora's new portrait would undoubtedly provide ideal motivation for her training.
When he had framed the moment to his liking, a silent act of his will triggered the shot. The portrait space flashed with soft golden light as her defeated posture was imprinted onto the parchment.
Satisfied, Mihawk sent back the Fate Parchment, then stepped off the skiff onto the sandy shore and dragged the vessel from the water.
Having arrived at the Gecko Islands, where Syrup Village was located, he surveyed the landscape ahead. A broad hill rose from the coastline, its forest-topped slopes divided by a natural passage that cut straight through the center. Steep earthen walls flanked the wide dirt path, which sloped gradually upward through this open corridor before emerging where the forest canopy from both sides reconnected.
The terrain matched what he recalled from the manga as he awaited the Usopp Pirates' arrival. Patience was a virtue he'd cultivated over decades, and he was content to wait. But as a minute stretched into five, then ten, an unpleasant premonition formed in his gut.
With one quick scan of the Gecko Islands using Observation Haki, he learned that Usopp and Merry were nowhere to be found.
Their absence left questions that needed answers. He should head into Syrup Village next to investigate what had happened. However, as he considered his next move, he glanced back at the resting Zora and scrunched his nose. He would need to leave her important instructions on what she needed to do while they were here.