"Yeah. And since these battle techniques were created specifically for giants, it's much harder for a normal human to learn them," Brogy added.
"In the past, we've had friends from the outside world come to Elbaf to train. A few even managed to learn our techniques, but they were basically giants among humans, at least three or four meters tall."
He glanced at Shanu.
"But you, Shanu lad… even if your physique isn't inferior to those monsters, your size is just too… uh, compact and tiny. You probably can't meet the minimum requirement to learn giant combat arts."
So that's what they were worried about!
They should've said so earlier!
Shanu blinked, and in the moment his eyelids lifted and fell, his body suddenly ballooned like an inflating airbag, swelling dramatically in an instant.
Huh?
He hadn't switched back to his real form in a while.
Only now did he realize: his true height had grown again… another twenty centimeters or so?
He had been 3.7 meters.
Now he was close to 3.9, almost hitting four meters.
He looked up at the two giants.
Both Dorry and Brogy were staring at him, eyes wide.
"This is actually my real form," Shanu said with a grin. "So… am I qualified now?"
"Qualified! Absolutely qualified!"
The two giants snapped out of their shock and answered in unison.
In Elbaf, even naturally gifted warriors who started training from childhood were often only four or five meters tall. Shanu's height had just reached the bare minimum.
"Then training starts tomorrow?" Dorry stood up and stretched. "You must be exhausted today. Tonight you should rest and...."
"No need to worry about me."
Shanu casually rolled his shoulders. The bruises on his body were already fading at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"My stamina is fine, it's not even fully dark yet. We can keep training tonight. Worst case, we just light a campfire."
"…uh." Dorry froze mid-stretch, almost pulling his lower back.
"…" Brogy rubbed his sore arms, dumbfounded.
"Alright then! I don't want to waste your time. Let's start now!"
Shanu cracked his freshly recovered joints, eyes practically glowing.
"So, where do I begin?"
In the last glow of sunset, the two legendary giants exchanged a glance and swallowed hard.
For the first time ever, they felt what true teaching pressure was like, staring at this black-haired youth who didn't seem to understand the concept of fatigue.
"What's wrong?" Shanu tilted his head. "We're not continuing today?"
"G-gah… gahahahaha!" Dorry's laughter was noticeably weak. "O-of course we'll continue!"
Brogy quietly wiped cold sweat from his forehead.
"Elbaf warriors… never retreat!"
…
That night, beside the campfire,
Dorry and Brogy lay sprawled on the ground, absolutely exhausted.
Meanwhile, the one who should've been dead tired, Shanu, was cheerfully grilling meat while practicing air-punches between turns.
Hearing the whooshing wind generated by every casual swing, the two giants exchanged a helpless look.
Originally, they were supposed to subject Shanu to a brutal hell-training, worried he might not last more than a few days.
But now…
It sort of felt like they were the ones being tortured by hell-training instead.
Four days later — Little Garden
The scorching noontime sun baked the entire island like a furnace. Heat waves twisted the air.
Shanu stood shirtless in the clearing between two massive bones.
He remained in his real form, 3.9 meters tall, towering like a small mountain. He flexed his fingers, muscles drawn tight like bundled steel cables.
"Oi! Everyone back up! If you get caught in the path, you'll be in real danger!" Dorry's voice boomed like distant thunder.
The group who had been watching while eating ice cream jumped in fright and scrambled backward.
"You ready, Shanu lad?"
Shanu took a deep breath and nodded.
In an instant, all the power in his body erupted like a volcanic blast, surging into his fist.
The air around him warped and hummed from the pressure.
"Spear of Elbaf!!"
With a thunderous roar, Shanu punched forward.
A crimson shockwave burst from his fist, tearing through the world as it raced toward the towering mountain ahead.
Crack… crack… crack…
The ground splintered wherever the shockwave passed. The air ripped open into a vacuum tunnel, shredding trees in its wake.
And when that shockwave collided with the mountainside,
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
The entire mountain convulsed, its stone walls tearing like thin paper.
A massive cavern, over a hundred meters wide, burst open straight through the mountain.
Through the hollow, they could see the clear blue sky on the other side.
Shattered rocks rained down like a storm, piling into a new hill at the base.
"???!"
The crew instantly turned to stone. Their eyes nearly popped out of their skulls.
What the HELL?!
He punched a mountain apart from hundreds of meters away?!
Is that… something humans can DO?!?!
"Haa… haa…"
Shanu dropped to one knee, chest heaving, sweat dripping from his chin and hissing into steam on the superheated ground.
That one strike drained more than half his stamina, yet he couldn't stop grinning.
He did it.
Spear of Elbaf. He'd finally mastered it.
He didn't want to waste the giants' kindness, so for the past four days he'd trained relentlessly, barely sleeping.
Only four hours a night. His muscles often went numb from pain, but he forced himself onward with willpower alone.
When he truly couldn't continue, he devoured food, using Life Return to rapidly refuel his body.
And it worked. Hard work and sweat never betray you. With the support of the giants, and the buff from the statue, he mastered a giant-tribe ultimate technique in just four days, to the complete disbelief of both Dorry and Brogy.
"Heh…" Shanu smirked, standing back up.
Yeah, the consumption was high. In a real fight, he could probably only use that attack twice.
But once he refined it?
Once his body adapted and his control improved?
The "Spear of Elbaf" would only grow stronger, while the stamina drain would drop lower and lower.
Coming to Little Garden had been the right choice.
In just five days, he gained Observation Haki and learned a trump-card technique, far more than he ever expected.
"Hmm?"
Shanu suddenly frowned, turning toward the forest.
He wasn't sure if it was an illusion.
But in the gaps between his training sessions these past few days… he kept feeling a hidden gaze watching him from the jungle.
Before, he never would've noticed. But with Observation Haki awakened, that faint sensation of being observed became impossible to ignore.
Strangely, though…
His Observation Haki couldn't locate anyone near the sensing range. And whenever he used Soru to rush over, he found absolutely nothing.
Some weird Devil Fruit ability?
Or just a false alarm caused by his newly heightened senses?
Shanu soon shook his head, dismissing it.
He didn't care enough to investigate. His mind was fortified with enhanced brain-closing techniques, he was immune to a ton of mental-type Devil Fruits.
And physically?
Anyone skulking around like a coward wouldn't have the guts to take even one punch from him.
After mastering the Spear of Elbaf, his confidence had skyrocketed to unprecedented levels.
Crocodile? Some creepy spider?
Bring them on, ONE punch and they're done!
They can't compare.
Not even close!
Hell,
Go call Kaido! Call Big Mom too!
Bring Whitebeard and Red-Hair while you're at it!!
…
That afternoon
Another massive feast unfolded.
Everyone laughed and drank happily, draining every last drop of the alcohol they'd saved up.
But no matter how lively the feast…
Every banquet must come to an end.
And even the closest friends must eventually part ways.
The Curtainfall crew were ready to depart.
In these few days, Shanu and the two straightforward giant uncles had built a bond through fists and training, one that felt like decades of friendship.
At the harbor, the two giants, who had already been sniffing with red eyes the whole walk, watched Shanu's back as he boarded the ship,
And burst into full-on bawling.
Their tears fell like waterfalls, instantly raising the water level of the entire river.
Everyone spent a long time comforting them before they calmed down.
Shanu carefully wrote down everything he knew about the Giant Warrior Pirates and Elbaf's recent history, handing the letter to Dorry. He told them to open it only after he'd left.
Inside were things they would find hard to accept, things that might make them cry again.
Such as:
— The old king of Elbaf, Harald, had been killed by Prince Loki.
— The legendary Elbaf warrior and former captain of the Giant Warrior Pirates, Jorl, had been killed by Charlotte Linlin.
— The giants who were supposedly "rescued" during their execution had actually been secretly sold, with many giant children turned into Marine HQ war weapons.
— And their two former crewmates, Kashii and Oimo, were deceived into guarding Enies Lobby under threat of Dorry and Brogy's lives.
As for what they would decide after reading all this…
Whether they would remain on this ancient, isolated island to finish their duel, rr return to sea, rescue their comrades, and protect Elbaf. That was no longer something Shanu could decide.
The choice belonged to the two giant uncles alone.