4 Stronger
"Makino. Are you sure you're okay? That guy grabbed you pretty hard." Luffy asked Makino as he was lying on the bed. Makino giggled.
"Don't worry Luffy. I'm alright. Though I really should be asking you that question. Is your shin okay? I noticed it had a bruise on it. " Makino asked him while covering him with a blanket.
" I'm fine! It doesn't even hurt at all!" Luffy grinned at her. Makino sighed, knowing he was lying.
" If you say so, Luffy. " Makino smiled at him. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.
" Goodnight, my hero. " She whispered and kissed him on the cheek again. She smiled at him before exiting his room.
Luffy touched the place where Makino had kissed him. "What was that about?" He asked out loud before he shrugged. He'll figure it out tomorrow. Sleep is more important.
"Zzzzzzzz...."
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The next day.....
"I'm off Makino!! See ya later—
" Wait! Luffy! You forgot your breakfast!! " Makino stopped Luffy before he ran off. Luffy ran back with a sheepish grin on his face.
" Oops! Sorry! Shishishishishi!" Luffy laughed. Makino sighed and smiled at him. He could be too excited sometimes.
After Luffy finished his breakfast, he said goodbye to Makino and started running towards the forest where he met Gyatsu.
He forgot where he was but when he saw smoke coming out from the forest, he started dashing towards the direction the smoke was coming from.
[Sprinting: Lvl 5
Reduce Stamina usage by 10%]
Luffy grinned. He didn't fully understand what it meant, but it had to be something good with the word 'Reduce' and the number '10%' in it.
He saw Gyatsu meditating in the distance and ran faster. "Old man!! I'm back again!" Luffy declared and leaped. He landed in front of Gyatsu and grinned at him.
Gyatsu chuckled. "Welcome back, Luffy. I thought you wouldn't return." He greeted him. Luffy snorted.
"No way! I wanna learn how to break a tree in half! I'm not quitting anytime soon! " Luffy replied determinedly. Gyatsu nodded, impressed at his determination.
" Well, then. Let us start. Go kick that punching back over there."
" Got it!"
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Luffy was exhausted. He had never been in this state before. He was staring at the blue sky, but that view was blocked by the floating screen in front of him.
[Kick Lvl 9]
[Punch Lvl 5
Learning how to punch properly is one of the fundamentals to learning how to fight. Once the skills max out, you will have perfect punching form.]
Gyatsu had also taken initiative to teach him how to punch. He was like a drill sergeant.
Luffy stared at the level of his skill.
He still didn't fully grasp the whole system thing, but seeing those numbers go up and the complicated explanations from the skills made him want to do more until he dropped.
Gyatsu appeared standing above him and stretched out his right hand. Luffy grabbed it and was pulled up by him.
"You did well, my student. You're improving bit by bit. But you still have so much to learn." Gyatsu smiled down at him. But on the inside, he was groaning.
'Not again! The other two had inhumane amounts of talent! And now I'm training a child prodigy!? ' Gyatsu shouted in his mind but still maintained a kind smile.
Luffy grinned while having a small embarrassed blush on his face. "Well, I guess when you say it like that. I'll work as hard as I can so I can one day be stronger than you! Then, with the strength I got from training with you, I'll set sail and become King of The Pirates!!" Luffy declared with a confident grin. Gyatsu laughed loudly.
" Hey! What's so funny about my dream?!" Luffy asked while furrowing his eyebrows. Gyatsu shook his head.
"There's nothing funny about it. What's funny is that you think you can match the strength of those pirates out there. Those guys who are at the top of the chain, can destroy islands or even the whole world if they wanted to." Gyatsu explained with a serious face. That surprised Luffy, he didn't know there were such people out in the world.
"Really?"
"Yes, please believe me. You are severely outmatched, Luffy. If you intend to be the King Of The Pirates, you have to be stronger than these people and be even stronger than Gold Roger, the only Pirate King to ever exist. " Gyatsu explained. Luffy didn't know why, but he felt riled up in a good way from Gyatsu's speech.
" If you intend to be the King Of The Pirates and find the One Piece, you must start right now or else you will have almost no time to train while you're out sailing. Do you understand? "
" Yes, old man! I understand! " Luffy nodded back with a determined grin. Gyatsu nodded and handed him a piece of paper.
"Good. Here is a simple exercise routine you can do back home."
"You're giving me an exercise what?" Luffy asked him. Gyatsu sighed and started explaining what a training routine was in the simplest way possible.
In the back of his mind, he knew he had to prepare this child for this unpredictable and wacky world. And he needed to start now.
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Two days later....
Makino hummed as she stared at the sweaty Luffy eating his lunch. In these past four days, he would come back from going out to Foosha Village with sweat drenching him.
She didn't think too much about it. But when she saw the bruises on his hands today, she started getting suspicious.
"Luffy, why do you have bruises on your hands? Did you get in a fight?" Makino asked him. Luffy quickly shook his head.
"No! Nothing like that! I'm just doing some training!" Luffy explained. Makino tilted her head.
"Training? Why?" She asked curiously. Luffy grinned.
"You know why, Makino! I wanna be the Pirate King! That's why I'm training right now! I have to be strong to set sail!" Luffy declared energetically with a broad grin.
" Alright Luffy. But be careful with your training or else you'll break your hand. " Makino giggled at his declaration. She thought that he was kidding when he kept declaring his dream to everyone, boy she was so wrong.
Makino had also forgotten to ask him about what kind of training he was doing and Luffy was glad she didn't or else she'll get angry.
Today, Luffy had started punching iron sand with Gyatsu's guidance. It hurt like hell, but if he had to go through pain to become the Pirate King, he'll gladly do it.
Luffy had also started doing the exercise routine Gyatsu told him to do. It consisted of 5 pushups, 10 sit ups and 10 squats.
Gyatsu wanted him to progress slowly and efficiently, dumping everything on him at once is going to scare him.
But what he did not know was that Luffy added 5 more reps to each exercise. His determination is what kept him going.
"Pereperepereperepere.....Pereperepereperepere.....Pereperepereperepere...."
Makino looked at a snail who was making a dry noise similar to a phone's ringtone. It is roughly the size of a regular house cat (albeit a bit taller), with the dialing mechanism and receiver built into its shell.
These are Den Den Mushi, they are a species of telepathic snail that are used for vocal and/or visual communication throughout the world. They are classified as type 'B' creatures, being 'Small Friendly'.
"Gacha...."
Makino grabbed her Den Den Mushi and went to the kitchen. Luffy tilted his head in confusion but he shrugged and continued eating his lunch.
He was drinking some orange juice when Makino came running out of the kitchen.
"Luffy! Luffy! Your grandpa's coming to visit in a week!!"
*PSSSH!!!!*
Luffy spat out the orange juice he was drinking and looked at her with a shocked expression.
"Grandpa?!"
To be continued.....
