The earth trembled beneath my feet as I woke to the sound of titans clashing. Through my Observation Haki, I could sense two massive presences locked in combat across the island. This was it—Little Garden, and those had to be Dorry and Brogy, the legendary giant warriors.
I followed the smoke rising from what had to be Dorry's camp, the scent of roasted meat drawing me forward. When I emerged from the treeline, I found myself face-to-face with a living legend. The red ogre sat beside a massive bonfire, tending to what looked like an entire sea king on a spit.
"Gegyagyagya! What do we have here?" Dorry's booming laughter shook the trees around us. "A tiny human brave enough to approach a giant's camp?"
I raised my hands peacefully, offering a respectful nod. "Good morning. My name is Rouge. I'm... well, I'm stranded on this island until I can find a ship."
Dorry's eyes twinkled with interest as he gestured for me to sit on a nearby tree stump. "Rouge, eh? Tell me, little warrior, how did you come to be on Little Garden?"
That was the tricky part. I scratched my head, putting on my best confused expression. "That's the strange thing—I honestly don't remember how I got here. I remember my hometown, my life before, but everything about how I ended up on this island is just... gone."
"Very strange indeed," Dorry mused, stroking his beard. He carved off a massive chunk of meat and offered it to me. "Eat first. Food makes all conversations better."
The moment I took a bite, my stamina bar jumped from 20/30 straight to full. Interesting—eating completely restored stamina. As we shared the meal, I worked up the courage to ask about their situation.
"If you don't mind me asking, why do you and that other giant fight every day? I saw your duel this morning—it was incredible."
Dorry's expression grew thoughtful. "Ah, you mean Brogy. We are... were co-captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates. One hundred years ago, we began a duel to settle a dispute." He paused, looking almost embarrassed. "Neither of us can quite remember what we were fighting about anymore."
"A hundred years?" I couldn't hide my amazement. "That's incredible dedication."
The conversation drifted to the island's dangers, and I mentioned my encounter yesterday. "This place is incredible. Dinosaurs everywhere—I had to kill some T-rex just to survive my first day."
Dorry's eyebrows shot up. "You killed those great lizards? How did such a small human manage that?"
I grinned and raised my ring hand. "I ate a Devil Fruit. Want to see?" At his enthusiastic nod, I pointed toward a distant boulder. "Confringo!"
The fireball erupted from my hand, striking the rock with explosive force. Steam rose from the smoking crater left behind. "Incredible!" Dorry roared with laughter. "A Devil Fruit user! That explains how you survived."
We talked for another hour before I finally took my leave. I saw my opening and asked casually, "Have you seen any pirates with straw hats recently?"
Dorry shook his head. "Straw hats? No, can't say I have. Many pirates pass through these waters, but none with distinctive straw headwear."
As I walked back toward my cave, I completed my daily system tasks—one hundred pushups, one hundred pullups, one hundred sword slashes. Each completion brought that familiar rush of power, the satisfying sensation of growing stronger. But as I practiced my sword work, I couldn't help but sigh. "I'm really not cut out for swordplay. If only I had a bow here instead."
The next morning brought another earth-shaking duel. I positioned myself at a safe distance as Dorry and Brogy clashed again, their weapons creating sparks visible for miles. When they finally separated, both breathing heavily, I approached the blue-bearded giant.
"You must be Brogy," I called out respectfully. "I'm Rouge—I met Dorry yesterday."
Brogy turned his attention to me, curiosity evident in his massive features. "So you're the human Dorry mentioned. Brave of you to approach during our sacred duel."
"I hope I'm not intruding. I just wanted to introduce myself properly." We talked briefly about the island and their eternal duel before I headed back to my routine.
From that day forward, I fell into a pattern. Daily training, conversations with the giants, exploring the island while filling out my mental map. I spent my mornings hunting dinosaurs for food and magic practice, afternoons learning about giant culture and Elbaf.
The giants found my abilities fascinating but admitted they knew nothing about training humans—their methods were designed for giant physiology. So I stuck to my system tasks and self-directed practice.
Two months passed in this routine. I grew stronger, more skilled with magic, and more familiar with Little Garden's geography. But something continued to bother me during training sessions—my swordwork felt clunky and unnatural compared to my magical abilities.
One evening, while reviewing my system interface, I noticed something I'd never seen before. In the corner of my status screen was a small "Edit" option with "(1)" in brackets beside it.
Curious, I selected it and found I could modify Info, Items, or Age. There was a warning that this was a one-time use feature.
"My name is way too edgy," I muttered, looking at "Slytherin D. Rouge" displayed on my character sheet.
I started editing, deleting "Slytherin D." first, then paused to think of something cooler. Maybe something from anime I'd watched, or—
Suddenly, a timer appeared: [15... 14... 13...] "What the hell? Since when is there a timer?"
I frantically tried to think of a good name, but panic set in. [5... 4... 3...] I was still staring at "Rouge" when the timer hit zero. [EDIT CONFIRMED]
"Are you kidding me? Why wasn't there any warning about a timer? This system is a complete scam!"
I spent the entire next day lying in my cave, wallowing in frustration over the wasted opportunity. "One time only, and I completely botched it. Just... Rouge. That's it."
But the morning after, I forced myself to get up. "Alright, let's see what I can do next. And this time, I'm going to be careful. No mistakes."
I pulled up the system again, noting that I could still edit Items or Age. My age was twenty, which seemed fine—I was in my prime. That left Items.
"The sword has been bothering me for months now. Bows are more my style anyway." I selected my sword and chose to edit it.
The system didn't allow for descriptions or specifications, just the transformation. Anxiously, I clicked submit.
My sword began to glow and shift, transforming into a sleek red rod with the same elegant design. But there was no string, no obvious way to shoot arrows. "Did I get scammed again? Please tell me this isn't just a stick."
I picked up the transformed weapon—it felt like a wand, similar to how my ring channeled magic. Experimentally, I tried casting magic through it.
Instead of a fireball, an arrow of pure energy materialized beside my hand. When I released it, though, it simply dropped to the ground and exploded in a small crater before fading away.
My daily tasks updated automatically: "Arrow Shooting: 0/100" replaced sword slashes. A leather sheath also appeared, designed to be worn across my back. "Well, at least that's something."
I spent the rest of the day learning to control the energy arrows. When I mimicked drawing a bowstring back with my free hand, another arrow appeared, this time stable and ready to fire.
I aimed at a distant target and released—bullseye. "What the hell? Am I using some kind of aim assist? I mean, I did archery in my past life, but not at this level."
From that point on, my training transformed. Days blurred into weeks, weeks into months. I practiced archery religiously, spent time with the giants, explored every corner of Little Garden, and steadily grew stronger.
The routine became second nature: wake up, complete daily tasks, hunt dinosaurs, practice magic, socialize with Dorry and Brogy, sleep, repeat.
Two months ago, I'd unlocked access to a new spell through my probability system—Episkey, a healing charm. It wasn't flashy like Confringo, but its utility was incredible.
The first time I used it on myself, watching old scars and calluses disappear, I nearly cried with relief. Pain relief, wound healing, even some stamina restoration—it was exactly what I needed for this harsh environment.
Now, eight months after arriving on Little Garden, I paused in my archery practice to check my status. Strength had climbed to 268, Stamina to 408, and Vitality to 655.
The numbers were satisfying proof of my growth, but more importantly, I felt the difference in every movement, every spell cast, every arrow fired.
That's when I heard it—the distant sound of a ship making harbor. My heart jumped as I enhanced my hearing with Observation Haki, trying to determine who might be arriving.
Could it finally be the Straw Hats? Or was this just another random crew drawn to Little Garden's unique challenges?
I shouldered my bow and started moving toward the shoreline. One way or another, I was about to find out if my long preparation period was finally coming to an end.