“Observation Haki,” for the third day of teaching, Shanks had Luna stand in the center of the gravel beach and close her eyes.
“Predicting opponent actions, perceiving auras outside the line of sight, and even peeking into the short-term future—this is the power of ‘Listening’.
Listen with your heart, and perceive with your intuition.”
He picked up a few small pebbles.
“I will throw pebbles from different directions, with different speeds and strengths.
You cannot use your eyes to look, and can only rely on perception to dodge.
At first, you can try to use your ears for assistance, but ultimately you must transcend hearing and use your ‘heart’ to capture ‘intent’ and ‘trajectory’.”
Luna closed her eyes, and [Listening LV80] was fully activated.
The surrounding sounds instantly magnified: the sound of the wind, the waves, Shanks’s breathing, the friction of clothes…
The first pebble came piercing through the air with a clear sound, and she easily tilted her head to dodge it.
But soon, Shanks changed his method.
The pebble throwing became silent and traceless, or interfered with fake moves, or even threw more than two at the same time.
Luna began to be hit frequently.
Although it didn’t hurt, it was very frustrating.
She realized that relying solely on physical hearing was not enough.
She forced herself to relax, no longer intentionally ‘Listening’ to sounds, but spreading her attention across the entire space to feel the subtlest disturbances of airflow and capture that invisible ‘line of sight’ or ‘malice’ directed at herself.
This was very difficult, even more abstract than condensing Armament Haki.
Hit time and time again, adjusted time and time again, her habit of calm analysis from her past life helped a lot once more.
She began to summarize patterns: the subtle tightening of Shanks’s shoulder muscles before throwing?
The hidden trajectory in the angle of arm swinging?
Or even that trace of almost imperceptible “pressure” in the air that existed before the pebble even left his hand?
Gradually, the number of times she dodged increased, not by hearing, but by a vague “premonition”.
At a certain moment, when she was fully focused and almost self-forgetful, she “felt” “fluctuations” attacking from both the front-left and rear-right simultaneously, subconsciously making a distorted avoidance movement as two pebbles brushed past her body.
[Acquired new skill: Observation Haki Perception (Rudimentary) LV21 (8 / 100)]
[Aura Perception LV55 (70 / 100)] experience surged greatly.
“Very good!” Shanks did not stint on praise.
“You have already touched the threshold.
The strength of Observation Haki is related to the perception range, clarity, and the length of foresight time.
Continue to hone it; this is crucial for you to deal with complex combat situations in the future, especially surprise attacks.”
Over the next few days, Luna’s life became extremely regular: morning seawater adaptation and Meditation, sitting quietly in the cliff in the morning to nourish and perceive Haoshoku, alternating practicing Armament Haki Condensation and Observation Haki Perception on the gravel beach in the afternoon, and continuing to soak in the seawater barrel at night, using Meditation to recover the whole day’s consumption while reviewing and summarizing.
She pushed the “infinite proficiency” trait granted by the system to the extreme.
Every attempt, successful or not, was converted into skill experience.
Although progress was not a thousand miles a day, that clearly visible feeling of making tiny progress every day made her indulge in it.
[Conquerors Haki Control (Rudimentary) LV32 (42 / 100)]
[Armament Haki Condensation (Attempt) LV31 (5 / 100)] – An extremely brief, almost invisible light black luster could occasionally appear on the surface of her fist.
[Observation Haki Perception (Rudimentary) LV37 (31 / 100)] – In a closed-eye state, her dodge rate against Shanks’s slow bare-handed attacks was already close to fifty percent.
On the evening of the seventh day, training ended.
Luna sat on the edge of the cliff, watching the setting sun dye the sea surface golden-red, silently running Meditation, feeling the three newly born, weak yet infinitely potential power seeds inside her body—majestic red (Haoshoku), deep black (Armament Haki), agile transparent (Observation Haki)—intertwining and coexisting with the originally warm and elastic Rubber Ability (white/transparent).
On her system panel, the skill list became richer by another section, and the framework for future development grew clearer and clearer.
Shanks walked to her side, not looking at the setting sun, but looking at Luna’s calm profile.
Over the past few days, he had witnessed with his own eyes this girl absorbing knowledge about Haki with astonishing concentration and comprehension.
That calmness beyond her age and the unyielding recklessness occasionally revealed during training bottlenecks (such as trying to forcefully stimulate Armament Haki and almost spraining her wrist) combined so naturally.
“Luna,” he suddenly spoke, his voice calm.
Luna exited Meditation and turned to look at him.
“I’m leaving,” Shanks said, casting his gaze toward the distant sea horizon.
“I’ve stayed here long enough.
Over in the New World, there are some things that need to be dealt with, and the partners are also waiting for the next adventure.”
The sea breeze suddenly seemed to grow a bit stronger, whipping up Luna’s black hair.
She was silent for a few seconds, her face not showing too surprised an expression.
The Red Hair Pirates could not stay in the small village of the East Blue forever; she had understood this principle from the very beginning.
“When?” she asked, her tone equally calm.
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Oh.”
Another period of silence followed, with only the sound of waves remaining.
There was no sentimental farewell, no lingering questioning; both seemed accustomed to facing parting in the most direct way.
“You have already mastered all three types of Haki, and even mastered them faster and more steadily than many people,” Shanks continued, his tone turning serious.
“But this is only the beginning.
The control of Haoshoku requires a long period of willpower honing; the hardening, infusion, and internal destruction of Armament Haki; the foresight of the future and perception of the voice of all things in Observation Haki…
Every single one requires you to explore and break through yourself in future battles and cultivation.
All I can teach are the direction and the foundation.”
“I know,” Luna nodded.
“The path must be walked by oneself.”
“You are very special,” Shanks looked at her with deep eyes.
“Remember, the greater the power, the responsibility…
or rather, the greater the storm it brings.
What kind of pirate crew you want to build and what kind of path you want to take are entirely up to you to decide, but no matter what, do not lose your original intent.”
He paused, then suddenly grinned, his smile reverting to the carefree and unrestrained Red-Haired Shanks of usual: “Of course, if one day you hear my name on the sea, or need help, you can come find me anytime.
After all, you are the brat I ‘bet’ on the new era!”
Luffy also smiled, a clean smile with a Luffy-style heartiness, yet her eyes were clear and firm: “I will.
But before that, I will become very strong, strong enough not to need your help.”
“Hahaha, that’s more like it!” Shanks laughed loudly, vigorously ruffling Luna’s hair and messing it up completely.
“Then, let me give you one last piece of advice.”
“What?”
“The East Blue is still too small.
After laying a solid foundation, don’t hole up here all the time.
The Grand Line is the real stage.”
Luna’s eyes lit up slightly, and she nodded heavily: “Mn!”
The setting sun finally sank completely, the sky grew dark, and the stars began to emerge.
“Let’s go back, Makino must be getting anxious,” Shanks stood up.
Luna also stood up, patted the dust off her body, and the two walked one after another along the path they came, silently returning to the village where warm lights had lit up.