A month had finally passed since Ling first arrived in Foosha Village.
The two weeks since he began experimenting with the Toki Toki no Mi had gone by surprisingly quickly. His routine had barely changed during that time. Mornings still began with Gyoru, breakfast usually meant returning to find Makino waiting with food while Woop Slap hid behind his newspaper, and most of the day was still spent training.
The only real difference was what Ling did during his breaks.
For several days after he began experimenting with his Devil Fruit, nothing happened.
Then, ten days ago, that finally changed.
---
A small stone rested on the sand in front of Ling.
He sat beneath the shade of the tree he normally used during his breaks, two fingers resting lightly against the stone. Several days of failed attempts had made the routine familiar, but he kept trying.
Experimenting on himself was still out of the question until he had some idea of what he was doing, and fortunately, Foosha Village had no shortage of rocks.
Ling closed his eyes.
'Focus.'
He reached for the same power he had been trying to find for days.
Nothing responded.
His brows tightened.
'Forward.'
Several more seconds passed.
Then, just as Ling was about to pull his hand away, something unfamiliar stirred beneath his fingertips.
His eyes snapped open.
The stone was gone.
Ling stared at the empty patch of sand.
"It worked?"
He immediately checked the surrounding ground, but there was no sign of it. No flash, sound, or visible movement had accompanied the activation.
The stone had simply disappeared.
A grin began spreading across Ling's face before another thought occurred to him.
'How long did I send it?'
He waited.
Ten seconds passed, then thirty. A minute became five, and by the time ten minutes had gone by, Ling was rubbing a hand over his face.
'Great.'
He had finally activated the Toki Toki no Mi and had absolutely no idea when the stone would return.
Ling picked up another rock.
'Ten seconds.'
He placed two fingers against it and reached for the sensation again. This time, he found it much faster.
The stone vanished.
Ling immediately began counting.
Ten seconds passed.
Then twenty.
Thirty.
A full minute.
"...Fantastic."
Apparently, wanting ten seconds wasn't the same as actually producing ten seconds.
Ling tried again with another stone, then another. By the time his break was nearly over, several rocks had disappeared without a single one returning.
That was enough for today.
Ling pushed himself to his feet and brushed the sand from his clothes when a soft tap sounded behind him.
He stopped and turned.
A small stone rested on the sand.
There were rocks everywhere around him, but this one had a thin white scratch running across its surface.
Ling had made that mark himself.
His eyes widened as he hurried over and crouched beside it.
Nearly half an hour had passed since it disappeared.
Ling picked up the stone and turned it over in his palm. Nothing about it seemed different.
A wide smile spread across his face.
"I didn't fail."
He looked at the scratched stone for another moment.
'So precision is next.'
---
Over the following days, the rocks around Ling's training area experienced what could only be described as an extremely confusing existence.
Some vanished for hours, while others returned much sooner. A few disappeared during one break and didn't reappear until Ling was nearly finished training for the day.
At first, the intervals seemed almost random, but Ling kept experimenting. He focused on the sensation behind the ability and gradually learned to connect it with the amount of time he wanted.
An attempt meant to last five minutes returned after nearly seven. The next took a little over six, while another came back closer to five and a half.
The difference slowly narrowed.
Minutes became manageable first, followed by thirty seconds, ten seconds, five, and eventually even shorter intervals. Ling still made mistakes whenever his concentration slipped, but he no longer had to search blindly for the ability every time he wanted to use it.
Once that happened, progress came much faster.
---
Now, a small pebble rested on Ling's open palm beneath that same tree.
The afternoon breeze rustled the leaves overhead while waves broke softly in the distance. Ling focused on the pebble and reached for the familiar sensation.
'Five seconds.'
The pebble vanished.
Ling counted quietly to himself.
Exactly five seconds later, it dropped back into his palm with a soft tap.
'Again.'
He tried three seconds next, followed by two, ten, and finally a full minute. Each time, the pebble returned almost exactly when he intended.
He had control now, though calling it mastery would be ridiculous. Longer jumps, exhaustion, using the ability on other people, and whatever applications Kozuki Toki had never shown were still unknown.
Those could wait.
There was one test Ling had deliberately saved until now.
Sending an object was one thing.
Sending himself was another.
His expression became more serious as he glanced around the area. No villagers were nearby, and nothing around him looked particularly dangerous.
A leaf loosened from a branch overhead and began drifting toward the ground.
Ling watched it fall.
'Perfect.'
His heartbeat quickened slightly.
'One second.'
He reached for the Toki Toki no Mi and directed the ability toward himself.
The leaf was falling.
Then it was lying on the ground.
Ling's eyes widened.
A bird above the trees had moved farther along in its flight, the waves visible between the trunks had shifted, and even the breeze against his skin had changed.
'It worked.'
A grin spread across his face.
One second, exactly as he intended.
As his excitement settled, Ling looked down at his feet.
'Same place.'
He hadn't moved.
In a fight, disappearing for a moment could let an attack pass through where he had been, but if an opponent figured out where he would return, reappearing in the exact same position could become predictable.
Ling picked up the pebble and rolled it between his fingers.
A month ago, the Toki Toki no Mi had thrown him an entire year into the future by accident.
Now he could choose a single second.
Ling tossed the pebble once and caught it before turning toward the enormous forest-covered mountain rising beyond Foosha Village.
Mt. Colubo.
The month he had given himself to recover and prepare was over.
Somewhere beyond those trees were Dadan, Ace, Sabo, Luffy, and plenty of things the original story had never shown him.
Training safely near the village could only take him so far.
Ling kept his gaze on the mountain.
'I think it's time.'