The horn of battle sounded across Valhalla.
Brave warriors proved their glory on the battlefield, and the Giant warriors who had gathered there had only one opponent—
Thor, the future king of Elbaph.
Thor stood barehanded, without his weapon.
This was a battle, not a slaughter.
His fists were enough.
“Come at me together!”
“OOOOOH—!”
The Giant warriors roared their battle cries.
The seven-year-old Giant child before them had long since come to be regarded as the future greatest warrior of Elbaph.
Prince Thor was the Giant who had conquered the Underworld.
The next moment, a fierce battle erupted in Valhalla.
Twenty Giant warriors charged Thor at once, roaring as they attacked.
Despite being only seven years old, Thor was already as tall as an adult Giant.
Such was the terrifying power of Ancient Giant blood.
Faced with the weapons swinging toward him, Thor didn’t dodge.
He simply raised his arms and used them as shields.
Blades struck his arms as though they had hacked into the main trunk of the Treasure Tree Adam.
Thor’s arms remained completely unharmed.
The Giant warriors’ weapons, however, snapped in two from the impact.
Back in the Underworld, Thor had often sparred with his twin brother Loki.
Loki liked using a kanabo as his weapon because it was particularly convenient for beating up the Underworld’s beasts.
Thor was different.
He had always trained in combat barehanded.
Loki had never understood why.
“Thor, why don’t you use a weapon?”
“For us Giants, our bodies are the greatest weapons. I want to temper mine.”
Whenever Thor thought of Linlin’s nearly impervious “Iron Balloon” body, or Garp’s fists that could shatter mountains, he felt that he still had a long way to go.
Compared to the true natural-born monsters and training freaks of the One Piece world, he was nowhere near enough yet.
“Come on, Loki! Don’t hold back.”
“You said it.”
Since Thor himself had asked, Loki showed absolutely no mercy.
He raised his kanabo and smashed it straight at Thor.
Thor blocked the strike with his arm.
It hurt!
Loki’s strength was almost equal to his own.
Even Thor struggled to withstand such a brutal blow. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
But that was exactly what he wanted.
If he wanted to become one of the strongest people in the One Piece world, there was no way to avoid suffering.
He would slowly temper his body like this.
Slowly become stronger.
And so, starting at the age of five, Thor frequently went down to the Underworld to spar with Loki.
Whenever Ida saw Thor returning home covered in injuries, she grew extremely worried and eventually told Harald about it.
Harald, however, wasn’t worried at all.
He might have been Elbaph’s king and somewhat naive in his hopes toward the World Government, but he wasn’t stupid.
He understood that only with sufficient strength could he lead Elbaph in surviving in this world.
Thor wanting to become stronger was a good thing.
By the time Thor reached seven years old, the results of those two years of brutal training were finally becoming apparent in Valhalla.
The swords and blades of ordinary Giant warriors could no longer break through his defenses.
His skin had become as tough as the Treasure Tree Adam itself, difficult for ordinary weapons to wound.
“My turn!”
After enduring the Giant warriors’ attacks, Thor answered with a punch.
His counterattack sent an adult Giant warrior flying with ease, launching him all the way to the edge of Valhalla’s arena wall.
“Thor’s so strong!”
Watching from above the arena, Hajrudin couldn’t help exclaiming in amazement.
He knew his little brother was powerful.
But he had never imagined Thor was already this strong.
He was only seven years old!
“Bojajaja! Looks like these young warriors alone aren’t enough to put any pressure on little Thor.”
Elder Jarul laughed.
Thor’s displayed strength was astonishing.
His future was undoubtedly limitless.
But the boy was still far too young.
It was time to show him the true strength of Elbaph’s warriors.
“Raideen! You and the others join in too!”
“Yes, Elder Jarul!”
Raideen, Hajrudin’s teacher and a former member of the Giant Warrior Pirates, leaped into the arena alongside several Giant warriors over a hundred and fifty years old.
Whether in strength or combat experience, they were nothing like those young warriors in their fifties.
Raideen and the others’ hands turned pitch-black.
Armament Haki coated their weapons.
They attacked!
“Ghh—!”
The Haki-coated weapons struck Thor’s body.
Wounds opened across his skin, and blood began flowing.
But instead of frightening him or making him retreat, it only excited him.
Finally!
There were warriors who could actually break through his defenses.
Only scars could make a warrior stronger.
“Master Raideen, again!”
“Good!”
Raideen’s own fighting spirit ignited.
It had been far too long since he’d enjoyed a proper battle.
Today, he was going to fight to his heart’s content.
Above the arena, Hajrudin stared in disbelief.
Even Master Raideen had to cooperate with several other warriors just to barely fight Thor?
“Don’t be discouraged, Hajrudin.”
A gigantic hand settled on Hajrudin’s head.
Without even turning around, Hajrudin immediately recognized the warmth of that hand.
“Dad!”
Harald had arrived at Valhalla at some point.
Watching his seven-year-old son fight with such ferocity, already far surpassing what Harald himself had been capable of at that age, Harald couldn’t help feeling that he was getting old.
Of course, he couldn’t focus all his attention on Thor.
Hajrudin was his beloved son too.
Harald picked Hajrudin up and placed him on his shoulder.
Then, as a father, he told him,
“Thor is very strong, but part of that comes from the advantage granted by his Ancient Giant bloodline. As long as you continue training tirelessly, Hajrudin, one day you’ll become even stronger than me.”
Harald certainly wasn’t going to say that Hajrudin could become stronger than Thor.
The most terrifying thing in the One Piece world was a natural-born monster who also trained relentlessly.
And Thor was clearly exactly that kind of person.
“Dad, really?”
Hajrudin trusted his father deeply, but even he couldn’t help doubting those words.
Could he really become stronger than Elbaph’s strongest warrior someday?
“Of course. I know a human named Rocks. Even though he’s human, he can fight me on equal terms. He’s an exceptionally rare powerhouse.”
“Then I’m definitely going to become stronger than you someday, Dad!”
Hajrudin’s eyes lit up.
There was actually a human who could rival his father?
As a Giant, Hajrudin was naturally many times larger and stronger than humans.
Suddenly, his future seemed full of possibilities.
Of course, Hajrudin probably hadn’t realized that Charlotte Linlin—the girl who had once knocked down a Giant warrior with a single punch in Elbaph and had required Thor and Loki working together just to barely restrain her— was, fundamentally, human as well.
The natural-born monsters of the One Piece world really were terrifying.