The Birth of a Merchant

Finished with his suave moment and incredible revelation, John had a choice to make about what boon to get. All had great promise, but some were better than others.

Now knowing that he was in the world of One Piece, John decided that both skill creation and levelling up were probably not what he wanted. Many important skills that he remembered about the show, canonically at least, were things that could be learned in some way or form.

In fact, what were some of the most important skills John could think of, specifically Observation Haki and Armament Haki were vague to quantify anyway, so why would he want a boon to get them quickly if they were incredibly hard to train? What about the Rokushiki? Sure, they were cool and all, but the boon would only let John get half of them, so training for the other three would still be needed.

Besides, what if the adventure had little fighting or combat, would getting Haki or the Rokushiki early really be all that useful? Well, Observation Haki at least would probably always be helpful in some way, but still.

And then there was getting a 75 point increase in any skill, which was of vague value. How good would he be having a skill at 75, or 100 if he waited? Say John became a swordsman and used that boon right away, would that make him as good as Zoro? Mihawk? What if he never finds a great sword and anything, he uses breaks in front of another half-decent swordsman, is he just screwed?

Granted, the 75 points could be used on a crafting skill or something more productive to make money but getting a skill that high could be acquired through training. Even then, what if the skill is useful at a low level and doesn't realistically require such a high level, would this boon just be a waste then?

So, while the skill bonuses were worthwhile and cool, they were ultimately out.

The next one that John discarded was the 30 attribute points. Thinking about it, if the boon only gave him 30 points, then it must be difficult to level up, right? So, with that in mind, the only real use this boon would have would be to put it into one attribute to get the most out of it, truly be the best at that one stat.

But how long would it take to get to 70 to be the best at something? And what would that do in the long run for him? Sure, being the strongest man in the world could be cool, but if someone faster came along with a sword and cut him up, than so what? Or even just shot John in the face? The other attributes had similar problems too, it would get him a huge increase in one specific thing, but without training, money, supplies or connections John would just be another "freak" in a world filled to the brim with "freaks".

So, no attribute gain.

It was the last two that really gave John pause, whether to get a Devil Fruit or an ability/trait of his choice. Getting a Devil Fruit would be a great, easy way to get strong even with the weaknesses, though the fact it would be random made him worried. Plus, there was the caveat of him not being able to get one already in circulation. Depending on where he was in the timeline, this could be an issue. Take Ace and his Mera-Mera no Mi for example, is he still alive? Are we at the beginning of Luffy's journey, or many years off? What is even available? Would the fruit be a canon only fruit, or could it be one never seen before? Too many questions, but this option was still on the table.

Thinking about the other boon, the idea of getting a trait did not appeal so much to him, nothing really stood out to him as particularly amazing. The potential for an ability is what John found interesting. However, there was a problem with the abilities, and that came from the limited known options of abilities John could choose from.

The most obvious canon ability would be Conquerors Haki (since it is assumed to be an ability since you must be 'born' with it), other than that John was drawing a blank. Well, he had one other idea, but that depended on whether something non-canon could be done, and boy was this non-canon.

You see, John, had considered what he knew about the world of One Piece and genetics, or what was called a Lineage Factor. John vaguely knew that by messing with this, he could gain powers of a Devil Fruit in some way, like how people could get Zoan abilities through Caesar Clown's SMILE fruits, people becoming superhuman like Sanji's brothers and sister, or even like how some items could be "fed" a devil fruit.

Knowing this, John considered giving himself the ability to change his own lineage factor. This ability would technically fit within the rules of the world as it had been done by others and explained, and it would be overpowered as f*ck! Having the potential to have any Devil Fruit power? Become a superhuman? It would be all possible with that ability!

There was a huge problem though.

How would it work?

No really, how would this be done? Could John just will his lineage factor to be changed and it would happen? Would he need something external to affect him, like a Devil Fruit, then he could make the change? What would happen when he changed? Say he turned himself into an animal like a frog for example, would he still think like a human, or would he act like a frog because he accidentally gave himself a frog's brain?

This ability had the most broken, overpowered potential, but remembering the effects of the SMILE fruits and what happened to the Vinsmoke family, a lot of things could go wrong. If took this ability, he had no idea how granular he had to be over the control of it, or if it could be even be trained in a suitable way. Even if it did work perfectly, there were other potential complications as well, such as being the biggest target for any organization in the world. Whether it was the government, revolutionaries, or a criminal syndicate, a person that could do anything would be either recruited or put down.

Strangely enough, a Devil Fruit would be the safest option.

After a long while of deliberating, questioning, and in some way procrastinating, John suddenly noticed an uncomfortable sensation in his mind. It was like a probing on his brain, a gentle smack on the television of the mind.

It was time to decide.

After all this thinking, John ultimately decided that between being overpowered but potentially crippled and hunted, or the safer option of a random Devil Fruit, that the Devil Fruit would be his option. He came to this world to have an adventure, why potentially end it before it began? Besides, not every protagonist has to be the greatest, best person in their own fiction.

Just some of them.

With that, John called out into the abyss of his mind to cash in his boon, smirking to himself. He also said so out loud, though it was wholly unnecessary.

"One Devil Fruit please!"

Like so.

Suddenly, there was a soft murmur in the air as the space in front of John warped in front of him. A ripple like water in the sky. A feeling his mind suggested he outstretch his hand, and so he did.

Then, the sound stopped. Suddenly, a flash of light sprung out from the void, forcing John to close his eyes and recoil from the harsh visuals. It was during this that John felt something small fall into his right hand.

"F*ck!"

After taking a few moments to reorient himself, John opened his eyes to see his reward. He looked down at his hand. And then the light in his eyes faded a bit, though he kept the smirk on his face.

"Well, this is underwhelming."

Within his palm was a pair of small cherries, connected by a long stem. The stem went straight up and split at the middle, with both cherries falling to the opposite side. It looked like a stylized T, or like a balance scale used to represent justice. The cherries were a dark red and covered with the swirls typically found on all Devil Fruits.

It was not a Devil Fruit John remembered seeing in canon or described.

This was to be expected of course, any random Devil Fruit could literally mean any appearance or power as well but holding one in his hand made John anxious for what was to come.

"Well, I guess this will be the true start to my journey." Eyeing the fruit before him, John carefully plucked the two cherries off their stem with his left hand and got ready. While he remembered reading somewhere that you did not need to eat the whole Devil Fruit to gain its power, it was so small and dainty that he decided to eat the whole thing. It was going to taste disgusting either way.

With that thinking, John opened his mouth and threw the cherries in his mouth and started to chew.

…

…

…they were truly vile tasting.

Silently cursing the foul taste of the fruit as he swallowed it down, John decided to wait for a second top see what would happen.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

…

After 5 minutes of waiting, John wondered if anything had changed at all. He did not feel particularly different, he did not suddenly turn into an element, or change into an animal.

What was the big deal?

"Abilities!" John called, hoping maybe his statistics would shed light on what exactly he ate.

{Abilities}

(Bāta-Bāta no Mi)

"…and what exactly does that do?"

John though for a bit about this new ability. At first glance he almost read it as Bara-Bara no Mi, but that was Buggy's fruit, so this was something new he did not recognize. From his estimation, it did not seem to be a Zoan fruit since it did not have a "model" designation after its name, so it was most likely a Paramecia or a Logia. And since Logia fruits are supposedly rare, he assumed it was most likely a Paramecia.

"Well then, I guess it is time to experiment!"

First, John raised his arm and focused on his surroundings and tried to "will" something to burst forth.

Nothing happened. Probably not a producer type Paramecia like Mr. 3 then.

Then, he tried to "will" his body to change form or something to that effect.

Nothing happened, so he probably couldn't change his body like Mr. 2 then.

Next, he tried to "will" his surroundings to change somehow, either to bend or morph, or just do something.

Still nothing, probably not a weird manipulator type like Trafalgar Law then.

Then he tried pulling on his arm a bit, did a jump in the air, gave himself a high-five, closed and opened his eyes, did a silly dance, and even yelled expletives for a bit.

Nothing.

He crossed his arms and thought for a bit. What was he missing? Maybe he was a Logia? Then he thought of something he didn't do yet, touching something else physically! He forgot that some users like Vander Decken needed to touch things to activate his powers. So, John walked to the edge of the clearing towards a tree and touched it.

Suddenly, a feeling in his mind occurred that was difficult to describe. It was like a feeling of rejection, like a sadness when he was rejected by a girl he liked when he was younger. Not quite sadness or sorrow, just acceptance. As mentioned, difficult to describe.

While this feeling went through John's mind, he could not help but feel ecstatic. Something was happening! So, whatever he could do with his fruit, it apparently required touch.

So, he continued to mess with the tree while his hand was on it. Could he change it somehow? No, nothing happened. Maybe make it alive, or something crazy? Nope. Change color? Nah.

"Maybe I should try something else?"

Next, John took his hand off the tree and tried touching a larger rock close by on the ground. Same feeling of rejection, no changes.

"What gives!"

Started to get a bit peeved about what he was feeling, he crossed his arms in annoyance. Suddenly, as his hands touched his shirt, he felt a new feeling in his mind, like the sun on a warm day, or when he was praised by his parents when he was young a did a good deed.

A feeling of acceptance.

Excitement renewed, John kept his hand on his shirt and focused. Maybe he could do something now that there was a feeling of acceptance? And so, he pushed his "will".

And his blue shirt disappeared.

"What!"

Suddenly shocked by the sight of losing his shirt and feeling the breeze of the forest, John was assaulted by his body feeling a sudden sense of fullness, as if he just ate a meal. It was not comfortable or uncomfortable, it just felt like a certain pressure that was always there, like another part of his body.

After taking another moment, John thought of this feeling inside him and of his shirt. Did he absorb his shirt? Was he some sort of storage man, or did he eat it like Wapol? To find out, John tried to will his shirt back onto his body.

There was a sudden feeling of discomfort withing himself, like the pressure was asking what exactly he wanted back. It was odd, it was like his body itself was asking him a question.

So, John asked this pressure inside himself for a shirt.

The pressure in his body suddenly disappeared, and a black shirt suddenly appeared in his right hand.

John looked at the shirt that materialized and was very confused. This was not the shirt his body absorbed. It looked to be the same size and out of the same material, but it was clearly a different color. Why was that?

Still feeling acceptance from holding the shirt, John re-absorbed the shirt and felt himself get full again and asked for a shirt again.

The fullness disappeared, and suddenly John was holding a green tank top.

"Okay, so now totally new color and different shirt type completely". John thought for a moment. "What if I ask for something specific?"

He reabsorbed the shirt and asked the fullness for the exact same shirt he started with. Then a blue shirt appeared, the exact one he started with.

"Okay, okay. So, it can change what I put into it into something else."

John was not sure what to make of this power. Could it just change things into other things, or could it just change their properties?

"The tank top definitely had less materials than the regular shirt, but then I got those back when I asked for the original shirt back it came back. Hmm…"

He stood there for a while, resting his left hand on his chin while his right cradled the shirt. Then he spoke.

"…can it turn into other things?"

And so, he reabsorbed the shirt once more and thought of a sword. In the world of One Piece, a sword is a must, right?

Suddenly, the fullness in his body rejected his request, but it was a strange feeling. It was not an outright rejection like a "no", but it felt like he was paying for something at a store and he did not give the cashier enough money.

…wait

…

"…a store."

And so, John stopped thinking about the sword and instead thought about a pile of rocks, specifically asking the fullness inside of him to give him all the rocks he could "afford".

Suddenly, there was a pile of rocks in his hand.

Then, he reabsorbed the rocks in his hand and asked for the raw materials used to make the original blue shirt. Not the shirt itself, just the materials. Suddenly, in his hand appeared a large piece of cloth and a spool of string to bind it, complete with some unknown material he believed to be some sort of elastic.

For his final test, he reabsorbed the materials once more and asked for something unusual, the amount of money he could get if he were to sell these materials to someone for a fair price.

Suddenly, in his hand appeared a small wad of bills and coins which he assumed to be Belly.

John thought once more to his ability.

"Bāta-Bāta no Mi." He spoke aloud, stroking his chin, eyes closed. "One Piece is a Japanese show with an attempt at humorous attempts at alliteration. Keeping that in mind, Bāta-Bāta no Mi is probably a weird saying for the English 'Barter', so Barter-Barter no Mi."

"Buying and selling."

"A Bartering man."