The next day, before dawn, the horizon was just beginning to turn pale, and Windmill Village was still immersed in sleep when Shanks knocked on Luna’s door.
Without unnecessary pleasantries, he simply said two words: “Let’s go.”
Luna had already woken up, and after completing her routine brief morning Meditation and standing up from soaking in seawater, her mind was still slightly fatigued from the initial burst of Haoshoku last night, but her eyes were clear and sharp.
She nodded, grabbed the dry rations and water skin prepared by Makino, and silently followed behind.
The two left the village, not heading toward the familiar back mountain forest, but instead following the coastline to a secluded cliff far away from human habitation.
Here, bizarre rocks stood ruggedly, and the waves crashing against the cliff walls produced a massive roar, with the salty, humid sea breeze blowing strongly and freely.
“This place is nice, open enough, and noisy enough, suitable for beginners,” Shanks sat down on a flat giant rock, signaling Luna to sit opposite him.
He did not start teaching immediately, but instead looked Luna over first, his gaze lingering for a moment on her still somewhat pale face.
“How is your body?”
“I’m fine,” Luna moved her shoulders slightly; the dull pain in her flank had greatly eased after Meditation and rest.
“The Rubber Fruit has recovery-type skills, and after one night, I’ve almost learned it.”
“Recovery-type?” Shanks raised an eyebrow.
“That’s right.” Luna did not explain too much.
The system was her biggest secret, and even to Shanks, she did not intend to tell him everything.
Shanks did not press further; everyone had their own secrets and paths, and he knew this well.
He cut straight to the point: “What you burst out with last night was Conqueror’s Haki.
This is an innate aptitude that cannot be acquired through acquired training, and can only be enhanced and controlled by honing one’s willpower.
Your current situation is that you have the top-tier’seed’, but your control is zero, and your bursts rely entirely on emotions; you cannot control the range or the targets, harming others and yourself.”
Luna nodded, recalling Makino and the villagers who fainted last night, as well as her own spirit which was almost hollowed out afterwards, feeling it deeply.
“How do I control it?”
“Start by feeling it,” Shanks’s voice sounded steady in the sea breeze.
“Close your eyes, calm your mind, and ‘touch’ that unique ‘Qi’ within your body—that very willpower that makes you want to deter everything when angry and allows no violation when protecting.
It is right there, like a ball of fire, or a patch of thunderclouds.”
Luna closed her eyes as instructed, shifting her attention away from the system interface and the fatigue and pain in her body, sinking deep into her consciousness.
Aided by the Meditation skill, she quickly entered the state.
Different from perceiving the warm elasticity of the flow of Rubber Ability, what she was searching for was a more illusory yet truly existing source of ‘pressure’.
At first, it was a blur, but when she recalled the momentary fury and resoluteness when the jaws of the Lord of the Coast bit toward Shanks’s arm last night—
Hum.
A subtle throbbing, seemingly from the depths of her soul, was captured.
It was an extremely faint, dark red flowing flame lurking at the bottom of the sea of consciousness, quiet yet containing a heart-palpitating majesty.
Just by’seeing’ it, Luna felt a slight stinging and swelling in her spirit.
[Acquired new skill: Conquerors Haki Control (Rudimentary) LV1 (15 / 100)]
The system prompt arrived as promised.
“Found it?” Shanks seemed to be able to perceive the change in her state.
“Mn, a very small cluster.” Luna opened her eyes.
“Very good.
Remember this feeling, usually restrain and nurture it, and guide it to release when needed.
The first step of control is not release, but containment.
Today, your task is to try to actively ‘touch’ it and become familiar with it while keeping your emotions calm, but under no circumstances allow even a shred of it to leak out of your body,” Shanks said seriously.
“This is much harder than stretching your body; it is fighting against your own innate instincts and emotions.”
Luna closed her eyes and tried again.
This was indeed difficult; that ‘fire’ seemed to have a temper of its own, and whenever her consciousness approached, it easily triggered fluctuations, affecting her emotions in tandem.
She had to use powerful willpower ([Willpower Resistance LV50] played a role at this moment) to maintain absolute calm, acting like the most patient artisan, gently stroking the edges of the restless flame over and over again to familiarize herself with its ‘temperature’ and ‘outline’.
This process was tedious and mentally draining, far less satisfying than beating up bandits or fierce beasts, but the calmness and planning nature from her past life in Luna’s personality played a role.
She knew this was a mandatory course leading to the peak, and impatience was useless.
She regarded this tedious “pacification” and “perception” itself as a form of cultivation.
Half a day passed in silence, accompanied only by the sound of the waves.
When Luna opened her eyes again, a trace of extremely faint exhaustion flashed in her eyes, but there was more of realization.
Although she was still far from “withdrawing and releasing freely”, she had at least found the way, and the experience bar of [Conquerors Haki Control (Rudimentary)] climbed slowly and steadily to LV17 (75 / 100).
“Not bad, you can sit still longer than I thought,” Shanks handed over the water skin.
“In the afternoon, let’s switch to something ‘hands-on’.”
The teaching location in the afternoon was changed to a gravel beach below the cliff.
“Armament Haki,” Shanks extended his right hand and clenched it into a fist.
A layer of deep, flowing black metal-like luster instantly covered his fist, and the surrounding air seemed to grow a bit heavier.
“It is known as the ‘invisible armor’, which can enhance defense and attack power, and especially capture the physical bodies of Logia ability users.
It is an indispensable power when dueling with powerhouses.”
He dispersed the Haki: “Its essence is to condense and harden one’s own willpower and vitality, attaching them to the body or weapon.
Feel the power flowing within your body, not just the elasticity of the rubber, but a deeper ‘energy’ that supports your life existence.
Try to guide it and condense it onto your fist.”
Luna concentrated, mobilizing the introspection ability brought by [Meditation].
She’saw’ that besides the Rubber Ability, there was indeed a more universal and basic energy circulating in her body, closely related to physical strength and energy.
She tried to use her mind to capture and drive these energy flows toward her right hand.
The first time, there was no reaction at all.
The second time, her right arm grew slightly warm.
The third time, she felt a swelling sensation under the skin of her fist, as if the blood flow rate had accelerated, but there was no visual change at all.
[Acquired new skill: Armament Haki Condensation (Attempt) LV2 (7 / 100)]
“I can feel it, but I can’t see it,” Luna reported truthfully.
“Normal, many people don’t even have a feeling at first,” Shanks nodded.
“Keep practicing, making this feeling clearer and clearer until quantitative change leads to qualitative change.
You can practice it combined with your Rubber Ability; for example, when stretching your fist to attack, try to gather that energy to the fist tip, imagining that your fist not only grows longer, but also becomes indestructible.”
Luna began practicing as instructed, throwing a standard “Rubber Pistol” toward the cliff wall while trying her best to condense that energy during the punching process.
At first, there was no bonus at all; instead, her punch speed and accuracy dropped due to distraction.
But she was neither impatient nor impetuous; once, ten times, a hundred times…
The system skill experience grew slowly, and her perception of the energy flow within her body became clearer and clearer.
By evening, when one of her punches shattered a reef, she seemed to feel that the instant her fist surface made contact, a trace of an extremely faint “hard” feeling flashed and disappeared, and the destructive power also seemed to be half a fraction greater.
[Armament Haki Condensation (Attempt) LV20 (27 / 100)]