Chapter 7: The Hunter and the Swordsman
The silence in the tavern was absolute, broken only by the drip of spilled booze from Riyon's table.
He stared at me, his mind clearly struggling to reconcile the dead boy from the rumors with the pillar of blazing arrogance standing before him. His grip on his sword was so tight it was a wonder the hilt didn't crack.
"Garp's son," he finally said, his voice a low, dangerous rasp.
He pushed his chair back and stood, slowly, to his full height. He was tall, a good six inches over my 15-year-old frame, and radiated a coiled, lethal energy, even through the alcoholic fog.
"The traitor who killed a 'god' and got himself executed for it. So... the World Government lied."
He slid his blade, Nagasone Okisato, one inch from its scabbard.
A wave of cold, invisible pressure flooded the room. It was Haki. Not the passive, fiery aura of my own power, but a sharp, cutting, and incredibly dense Armament Haki emanating from the blade itself. Elara took an involuntary step back, her hand tightening on a dagger she hadn't had a moment ago.
"I was hunting you," Riyon continued, his bloodshot eyes narrowing into razor slits.
"I come from the Shimotsuki clan. We have a... history... with the World Government. I wanted to test my blade. To see if the son of the 'Hero' who serves those filth had a spine. To see if his blood was as strong as mine."
He stepped out of the shadow of his corner, his gaze sweeping over me.
"But you're just a kid. A child, playing with a power you don't understand. You reek of an arrogance you haven't earned."
I laughed. It was not my 15-year-old's laugh. It was the deep, resonant chuckle of the Escanor persona, a sound of pure, unadulterated pride.
"You stand in the presence of the sun, yet you only complain about the light," I said, my voice easily overpowering his.
"You are correct. I am a child. And yet, I am the one you were hunting. I am the one who did what you only dreamed of."
I took a step toward him, the heat in the room rising by ten degrees. "Your sword is magnificent. It's a Supreme Grade, one of the twelve. It deserves a better master than a drunkard who abandoned his purpose the moment it became difficult."
That was the spark that lit the powder.
Riyon's eyes flashed with a murderous fire.
"You... You dare... insult me? You dare insult Nagasone Okisato?!"
In an explosion of motion, he attacked.
[System Scan: Shimotsuki Riyon.
Strength: 42 (Captain Level).
Agility: 45 (Commodore Level).
Swordsmanship: Mastery.
Armament Haki: Intermediate.
Combat Power: Commodore Level.]
He was a monster. For this early in the Grand Line, he was an unthinkable talent, easily strong enough to be a New World-level subordinate.
"You're just like them!" he roared. "All talk and false power! Shimotsuki Style: One-Blade Typhoon!"
He didn't just swing. He became the swing. His Haki-coated blade sliced through the air, launching a massive, crescent-shaped wave of compressed air and black Haki at me.
It was a flying slash, identical in form to the ones I'd seen Garp and Roger's crews use. It was powerful enough to cleave a Marine battleship in two.
Elara dove for cover. "Luthor!"
I simply raised my hand.
It was just past noon. My power was an ocean. His slash was a droplet.
The Haki-infused attack, the One-Blade Typhoon that had surely ended countless pirates, slammed into my passive heat shroud. It sizzled. It hissed. And it disintegrated, evaporating into steam twenty feet away from me.
Riyon skidded to a halt on the tavern floor, his attack stance frozen, his eyes bulging in pure, unfiltered disbelief.
"My... My Haki... My... slash... It... it... vanished?"
"Your Haki is impressive," I said, my voice holding a note of genuine pity. "Your blade is sharp. But you are trying to cut the sun. A futile endeavor."
Before he could even process the words, I moved. My Agility: 15 was nothing. But my Sunshine-enhanced agility was something else entirely. To him, I simply disappeared.
One moment, I was across the room. The next, I was behind him.
Riyon's Observation Haki screamed at him, but his Commodore Level body couldn't react. He felt it. Not a blow, not a cut. Just... heat.
My hand was resting on the back of his neck, not even touching, just hovering an inch away. The air sizzled. His long black hair began to smoke, the ends curling and turning to ash. His Wano robes, soaked in sweat, steamed.
Riyon was absolutely frozen. His Mastery of the sword, his Commodore Level stats, his Intermediate Haki—all of it was useless. He was a child before a star.
"This," I whispered, my voice a deep vibration in his ear, "is the power of the boy you were hunting. This is the power that killed a 'god' while you sat in a bar, drowning your purpose in cheap booze. Is this the 'substance' you were looking for, Shimotsuki Riyon?"
I removed my hand.
The release from the overwhelming pressure and heat was so abrupt that Riyon's legs gave out. He collapsed to one knee, Nagasone Okisato clattering loudly on the floorboards. He was panting, his skin pale and slick, his mind shattered.
The gap in power was not a gap; it was a chasm. He had been utterly, completely, and effortlessly dominated.
"What... what are you...?" he gasped, his arrogance gone, replaced by the raw, fearful awe of a warrior who has just met a god.
I turned my back on him, a gesture of ultimate dismissal, and began to walk toward the door where Elara was peeking out.
"I am your new Captain," I said, not looking back. "You have two choices. You can stay here and continue to rot, a pathetic 'what if' clutching a supreme blade you no longer deserve.
Or... you can pick up that sword, follow me, and aim it at the gods themselves. Your call."
This was the new purpose. This was the challenge he had been looking for, magnified a thousand times. Not to test the son of Garp, but to join the man who killed a god and now aimed for the rest.
Riyon stared at my back. He looked at his hand, still trembling. He looked at Nagasone Okisato on the floor. His family, the Shimotsuki, had been victims of the World Government's lies. He had left Wano to find a purpose.
"Wait," he called out, his voice hoarse but firm.
I stopped at the doorway. Elara smiled.
Riyon pushed himself to his feet. He bent and retrieved his sword, his movements filled with a new, sober reverence.
He sheathed the blade with a sharp click. Then, he did something I did not expect. He got on one knee, his head bowed in a formal Wano-style bow.
"My name is Shimotsuki Riyon," he declared to the floor.
"My ambition is to become the World's Strongest Swordsman. If I follow you... will you grant me the battles I need to achieve that?"
I glanced over my shoulder, a small, proud smirk touching my lips.
"The World's Strongest Swordsman? A fine ambition. As my First Mate, you will have ample opportunity to prove your worth."
I turned to face him fully, my Sunshine blazing in my eyes.
"You will not be fighting bounty heads. You will fight Vice Admirals. You will fight Holy Knights. You will fight the Admirals who command them. You will stand by my side as we burn the world clean. If you cannot become the strongest after facing that... then you were never worthy of that blade to begin with."
It was the ultimate challenge. Riyon lifted his head, and for the first time, I saw the fire in his eyes. It was the fire of a true swordsman, his purpose reforged.
"I accept," he said, his voice ringing with absolute conviction. "Captain."
As the three of us—the Sun-God, the Storm-Navigator, and the Death-Swordsman—stepped out of the tavern into the bright light of day, a News Coo cried out overhead. It dropped a fresh paper, the ink still wet.
[SYSTEM CHIME: Quest Completed: Get Wanted]
[Rewards Issued: 10 Unallocated Stat Points, 50 EP, System Shop Unlocked.]
I snatched the paper from the air. There, on the front page, was my own face. A scowling, 15-year-old visage, clearly taken from my Marine Trainee file, now looking infinitely more menacing in the context of the words below it.
×××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××
WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE
MONKEY D. "SUNSCORCH" LUTHOR
100,000,000 BERRIES
×××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××
Below the picture, the text: "For the high-treasonous murder of World Noble Saint Charlos, the complete annihilation of the G-17 Marine
Outpost, and a direct declaration of war against the World Government. This man is the son of Vice-Admiral Garp and is considered a Class-A, high-level threat. Approach with extreme caution. Believed to be a powerful Logia user."
"One hundred million..." Elara whistled, impressed. "You don't do things by halves, do you, Captain?"
Riyon just grinned, a sharp, wolfish expression.
"Monkey D. 'Suncorch' Luthor. I like it. A fitting name for the man who will lead the future World's Strongest Swordsman."
( To be continued)
__________________________________________
My Intro Arc: Escape from God Valley was over.
My new arc will begin.