The night in Pyro Village was calm but alive with sound.
The chirp of insects echoed through the hollow trees, and the soft hiss of cooling embers whispered from the forges that lined the ridge.
Most of the young Palicos were asleep, their tails twitching as they dreamed of food, hunts, and glory.
But Pyro was wide awake.
He sat cross-legged atop a pile of crates beneath the moonlight, the old One Piece notebook spread across his lap.
Its pages were weathered, stained by ash and time — but to Pyro, it was more than paper. It was a treasure of knowledge, the written soul of his master.
He muttered to himself while reading aloud.
"Nyaah… I've read this ten times, maybe twenty," he complained, flipping another page. His eyes narrowed as he skimmed the familiar diagrams of Rokushiki: the Six Paths of the Body.
"Soru… Tekkai… Kami-e…" He puffed out his chest and mimicked a pose, then fell backward off the crate.
"Nyahaha—still too slow!"
He turned another page and froze.
There, under the yellowed paper, was a faint crease — a line that didn't belong. He tilted his head. "Nyaah? What's this?"
With careful claws, he peeled back the edge, revealing a hidden fold tucked beneath layers of glue and soot. His eyes went wide.
"Hidden pages?! Master, how sneaky are you?"
He unfolded the sheet with trembling paws. The ink shimmered faintly beneath the light of the oil lantern.
At the top, written in bold strokes, were the words:
🛡️ Haki – Base & Stages
---
1️⃣ Armament Haki
The will that hardens both body and soul.
Stage I – The Iron Will (Foundation)
Resolve becomes armor.
Stage II – The Tempered Core (Internal Flow)
Will moves through the body — strength that flows.
Stage III – The Living Armor (Bound Will)
Spirit and body merge — endurance without limit.
Stage IV – The Eternal Forge (Transcendence)
True mastery. The will itself becomes indestructible.
---
2️⃣ Observation Haki
The eye that sees without seeing.
Stage I – The Sensing Pulse (Awakening)
Feeling presence and life around oneself.
Stage II – The Silent Thread (Clarity)
Sensing rhythm, emotion, and movement.
Stage III – The Foresight Veil (Future Sight)
Perceiving moments before they unfold.
Stage IV – The Horizon Eye (Eternal Awareness)
Awareness of all — peace through perception.
---
3️⃣ Fusion Haki – Harmony of Will (for elite hunters)
A fusion of Observation and Armament.
Balanced mind, sharpened instinct, strength guided by calm.
A strike that lands where it must — never wasted.
Only those with perfect control of body and heart can use it.
---
Then came another section — the handwriting darker, heavier, as if written in solitude and pain.
4️⃣ Conqueror's Haki – The Spirit of Kings
The will that commands without command. The power to make the world yield.
Stage I – The Awakened Will (Instinct)
A burst of unrestrained spirit — uncontrolled and wild.
Stage II – The Commanded Flame (Focus)
Will refined; the aura shaped by purpose.
Stage III – The Infused Will (Manifestation)
Body and spirit united — presence in every strike.
Stage IV – The Eternal Path (Enlightenment)
Calm authority. True dominance born from peace.
---
Pyro froze.
His pupils widened, reflecting the flicker of his lantern.
"Nyaaaaahhh... The King's Haki!" he gasped. "So that's what I felt that time in the forest!"
He remembered — the battle against the flying wyvern.
The air had rippled, the earth had cracked, and death had loomed overhead.
He had felt something indescribable — not power, not fear, but pressure. The very air had been forced to bow.
At the time, he thought it was the monster's presence.
But now he understood.
It was Hunnt.
The will of his master — silent, unyielding, unbreakable.
The spirit of a man who refused to die even before an elder-beast.
Pyro's fur bristled, and his tail stood straight.
"Nyaah… Master, you're scary. You're really scary."
He carefully refolded the hidden page and tucked it back beneath the cover, pressing it flat with reverence.
Outside, the night wind passed through the treetops, carrying the scent of ash and faint embers.
He closed the book, whispering softly, "You keep teaching us even when you're gone, nyaah… always hiding lessons for later."
Then he curled his tail around himself and gazed up at the stars.
Someday, he promised himself, he would learn what it truly meant to walk the path of will.
---
Far away, beneath the broken skyline of Ravenshire, two figures sat inside a quiet cottage.
The world around them was silent — the village long empty, its fires long gone cold.
Only the creak of wood and the hum of wind through the hollow windows filled the air.
Corwin sat at a table near the hearth, an old notebook open before him — another copy of Hunnt's writings.
Elara stood beside him, reading over his shoulder.
Her eyes lingered on the heading: Conqueror's Haki – The Spirit of Kings.
Her voice was low. "He wrote this before he left, didn't he?"
Corwin nodded, running a finger over the ink lines. "He must have. The handwriting's older, steadier. These were the last pages."
Elara frowned slightly. "He never spoke of this before. Of power like this."
"He wouldn't," Corwin said quietly. "He never wanted others to fear him."
The candlelight trembled, shadows dancing across the cracked walls. Outside, the wind pressed against the shutters like a sigh from the ruins.
Elara turned the page, reading each line slowly. "To bend the will of others… without touching them. That's not a skill. That's something else."
Corwin's gaze drifted toward the window — toward the shattered rooftops that once overlooked the old forge. "That's Hunnt," he murmured. "Always something else."
For a long moment, neither spoke. The only sound was the whisper of the candle flame, growing smaller as it burned to its end.
Finally, Elara closed the book. "He's far away now. But somehow, it feels like he never left."
Corwin smiled faintly. "He hasn't."
Outside, the wind stirred the broken chimneys of Ravenshire.
Ash drifted from the rooftops like snow, soft and slow.
Corwin leaned back, eyes half-closed.
"He's still out there," he said quietly. "Somewhere. Still walking. Still teaching."
Elara looked toward the sky. "Then maybe… that's enough."
They sat together as the last candle flickered out — two figures alone in the ruins, holding on to the echo of a will too strong to die.
Far beyond Ravenshire, in another land, that same will burned quietly — in secret, in silence, in strength.