7: 7.
The First Hunt—Lessons of Blood and Courage 7: 7.
The First Hunt—Lessons of Blood and Courage = 3rd Person’s POV = Time passed quietly in the small Syrupp Village.
Carried along by the wind that rustled through the fields and the laughter of children that echoed near the forest’s edge.
And in that passing time, Usopp grew.
Not just in height.
Not just in strength.
But in a way that made him stand out even among children his age.
There was something different about him.
Something that made him felt different from normal kids.
He was still childish, but somehow he felt more reliable than adults at times.
He felt more dependable, sharper, and…..
Just awesome.
His body developed better than most kids in the village.
Lean, quick, and surprisingly resilient.
But he wasn’t the only one.
His friends—Bucky, Ghimli, Plats, and Sven—were also growing well.
Thanks to him.
Or more specifically, thanks to the “Usopp’s Legendary Vegetables.” The medicinal herbs had quietly become a part of their daily lives.
At first, the boys complained.
Of course they did.
Those kids hated vegetables.
Most kids were.
They made faces.
They gagged.
They swore betrayal.
But in the end, they ate those veggies.
And once they started noticing the difference, they stopped complaining.
Maybe not completely, but even when they complained, they still ate their vegetables.
They also ate other vegetables their moms cooked.
I knew it from my mom because their moms thanked me through my mom when they had their usual morning gossip.
Their stamina improved.
Their recovery sped up.
Their bodies felt lighter, stronger, more alive.
The herbs worked by improving metabolism and boosting vitality, after all.
And unlike medicine, they had no side effects.
They could eat them every day, and they did ate those veggies every day.
Usopp sometimes looked at the field and thought “I should plant these on a ship someday.” It sounded ridiculous.
A garden on a pirate ship?
But then again… The crew he remembered wasn’t exactly normal either.
Nami planted her orange trees and future Usopp also planted Pop Greens, so he surely could plant vegetables too.
That thought brought him back to something he had been thinking about for a long time.
His future.
Should he still join them?
The Straw Hat Pirates.
In his memories, their journey was filled with danger, pain, chaos.
He got beaten.
A lot.
Sometimes badly.
Sometimes… very badly.
He wasn’t strong.
He was afraid.
He was a normal human among monstrous people.
Even in those memories— He ran.
He panicked.
He cried.
He lied.
But, he also stood up.
Again and again.
Still, was that really the life he wanted?
When he looked around the village, he saw peace, stability, safety.
The adults woke up, worked, ate, slept, repeated.
Everything was safe in this village.
But… Dull.
And then, there were the other memories.
A different life.
A modern world.
A life where he woke up early.
Worked until evening.
Went home tired.
And repeated it all again the next day.
No adventure.
No excitement.
No stories worth telling.
That kind of life, actually felt suffocating.
Usopp didn’t want that in this life.
Yes, being a pirate meant danger.
Real danger.
The kind of danger that could kill you.
But that danger also meant something else.
It meant he would feel alive.
“YOLO: You Only Lived Once!” So in the end, he decided.
He would go.
Not because it was easy.
But because it wasn’t.
And because somewhere deep inside, he knew.
Even if he was scared, he would still move forward.
— As time passed, his training evolved.
It wasn’t just about running or climbing anymore.
It became more deliberate, more focused.
He trained some close combat skills, but his main skill was sharpshooting.
With only a slingshot in hand, he trained relentlessly.
At first, he could only hit targets at close range.
His accuracy dropped the farther the distance, obviously.
But he didn’t stop.
He observed, adjusted, and learned.
He began to understand things most kids wouldn’t even think about.
The arc of a shot, the pull of gravity, the direction of the wind, the weight of the projectile.
Small things, but very important in sharpshooting.
And slowly, his range improved, his accuracy sharpened, his confidence grew.
His friends watched in awe.
“Do that again!” “That was amazing!” “How did you even hit that?!” They tried to copy him.
Of course they did, and of course, they failed.
Even at ten meters they struggled to hit a target.
It was almost painful to watch.
So Usopp made a suggestion.
“Maybe… you guys should try different weapons.” That sparked something.
Excitement, curiosity, imagination.
Soon, the boys began crafting their own weapons from wood.
The wooden weapons were simple and rough, but good enough for kids like them.
Bucky took a sword.
Of course he did.
He declared himself the “main hero”, after all.
He always said it, and the “main hero” always wielded a sword.
Ghimli chose a spear.
Plats picked up knives, claiming to be a ninja.
Sven grabbed a shield and a club, proudly declaring himself the “tank.” And Usopp,.stayed as the archer.
Even if his “bow” was a slingshot.
To them, it was just play.
They pretended to be heroes, adventurers, a party going to defeat a demon lord.
Sometimes they also became pirates searching for treasure.
But to Usopp, it was also training.
Real training.
And he had a plan.
“I see a demon up ahead.” The words were enough.
The game began.
They moved carefully, cautiously.
The “demon” stood just outside the forest.
Small, white, eating grass peacefully.
It was rabbit.
There were many of them in the area.
Too many even.
They reproduced quickly, so hunting them wasn’t a problem.
Usopp raised his slingshot and aimed.
THWACK!
The stone hit the rabbit’s hind leg.
It cried out and stumbled.
“Now!” Usopp shouted.
The others charged forward with their weapons raised.
Their hearts pounding.
But then, they stopped.
The rabbit lay there, injured and helpless.
“…It’s a rabbit,” Buck muttered.
The illusion broke.
No demon.
No enemy.
Just a small animal.
“…Do we really need to kill it?” Plats said quietly.
“It looked pitiful,” Ghimli also felt sorry for the rabbit.
“I feel bad,” Sven added.
Usopp sighed.
This was expected.
They weren’t used to it.
Then without hesitation, he stepped forward.
He pulled out his knife and killed it.
Clean and quick.
The others flinched and stepped back.
“Y-you really killed it…” Bucky whispered.
“I do,” Usopp replied calmly.
They looked at him differently now.
Not fear.
Not exactly.
But… Something close.
So he spoke.
“Do you eat chicken?” They blinked.
“…Yeah.” “Do you feel sorry for it?” Silence.
“…No.” “Why not?” They couldn’t answer.
“Because you don’t see it getting killed,” Usopp said.
“You only see the meat.” He looked at them.
“Everything you eat was once alive.” They stiffened.
“Animals.
Plants.
All of it.” He pointed to the dead rabbit.
“If you feel sorry for everything… then you can’t eat anything.” Pause.
“Do you want to eat rocks?” They shook their heads immediately.
“Humans eat to live,” Usopp continued.
“There’s nothing wrong with that.” He looked at the rabbit.
“What matters is how you do it.” His voice softened slightly.
“Don’t kill for fun.
Don’t make them suffer.
Do it properly.” They listened.
They didn’t fully accept it, not yet.
But they understood, and that was enough.
They continued hunting.
This time, Usopp made sure to finish things quickly.
A precise shot to the head.
No suffering.
They watched and learned.
After catching five rabbits, he handed one to each of them.
“Take it home.” They hesitated, but then accepted.
That night, something tasted different with the kids’ dinner.
The taste of their own effort, their own hunt.
It was different.
It was better.
The next day, their hesitation was gone.
“Let’s hunt again!” Usopp shook his head.
“No.” “…Huh?” “You guys need to do it yourselves.” And so, their real training began.
At first, they failed.
Running at rabbits with short-range weapons?
Impossible.
The rabbits were too fast, too alert.
They tried ranged weapons.
They made a bow, but still failed.
Their shooting skill with bows was incredibly bad, after all.
So they changed tactics.
Traps.
They placed them near rabbit spots, used grass as bait, then waited.
It didn’t work.
They still got no result even after a few days.
They grew frustrated.
Then, they had a new idea.
Sneaking behind the rabbits.
That failed too, spectacularly.
Four kids sneaking through bushes at the same time?
As expected their steps were loud, so the rabbits were alerted.
So they adapted.
They split up and surrounded the rabbit.
One scared it, the others waited.
It looked like it would actually work.
The rabbit tried to escape by changing direction.
But, someone was there.
And then— Thud.
They got it.
Their first hunt without Usopp.
“YEAH!!” They cheered happily.
It wasn’t perfect.
They failed many times after.
But their success rate improved.
Five rabbits in nine attempts, not bad, not bad at all.
As they walked home, they argued.
“I’m the best with a sword!” “You’re good with a stick.” “What did you say?!” Laughter filled the path.
That night, the meat tasted better than ever.
Because this time, they earned it.
But even as everything seemed to be going well, a problem was coming.
One that couldn’t be solved with games, or herbs, or simple training.
And when it came, Usopp would have to face it.
At his current level, it wouldn’t be easy.