Location: The Sea Route to Kyien, Grand Line Year: 1521
The Log Pose took four days to set at Whiskey Peak, but Hiroki had left early using an Eternal Pose he had... "acquired" from a drunken pirate in the destroyed saloon before Mr. 5 arrived.
The destination was Kyien, an island avoided by most sane navigators. It wasn't a holiday resort. It was an ecological nightmare known as the "Glass Garden."
Hiroki sat on the deck, inspecting Umitsubame. The blade was pristine, but the fight with Mr. 5 had left a microscopic stress fracture near the guard.
"You're fragile," Hiroki murmured to the steel.
Tashigi had been right. The Umitsubame was sharp enough to cut the wind, but it lacked the brutish durability of Zoro's heavy swords. If he clashed with a blade like Yoru or even a Haki-imbued fist right now, his partner would shatter.
[Status Check]
Swordsmanship: 31.2 / 100Armament Haki: 0.0% (LOCKED)
"Zero percent," Hiroki sighed.
He knew the theory. Rayleigh had explained it to Luffy in the anime. An invisible armor.Weaponizing your spirit. But knowing the theory and manifesting the power were two different universes. He was a creature of logic, of calculus. Haki was a creature of willpower and emotion.
The mist ahead cleared.
Kyien appeared. It didn't look like an island; it looked like a explosion frozen in time. Massive shards of volcanic glass jutted out of the ground like obsidian skyscrapers. The "trees" were crystalline structures that chimed in the wind.
"Sharp," Hiroki noted. "Everything here is sharp."
Location: Kyien (The Glass Garden) Year: 1521
Hiroki stepped off his skiff. The sand crunched loudly—it was made of millions of tiny glass fragments.
[Environmental Hazard: Extreme Cutting Damage][Footwear Durability: Decreasing]
He wrapped his boots in thick leather strips he had prepared.
"RAAAWK!"
A bird dove from the crystal canopy. It wasn't feathers that rustled, but metallic scales. An Obsidian Hawk.
Hiroki didn't draw. He side-stepped.
Swoosh.
The hawk's wing grazed a boulder next to him. The boulder was sliced cleanly in half.
"Local wildlife: High lethality," Hiroki noted, sweat pricking his brow.
This was why he came. To learn Armament Haki, he needed to be in a situation where not having it meant death—or the death of his sword.
He ventured deeper. The island was a labyrinth of reflection and refraction. He saw a dozen versions of himself in the mirrored surfaces.
Then, he found the alpha.
In a clearing of jagged crystal spikes, a Crystal-Back Gorilla was eating rocks. It saw Hiroki. It pounded its chest, which rang like a church bell.
[Tactical Insight Active]
Target: Crystal-Back Gorilla.Armor: Organic Crystal (Hardness > Steel).Threat: Physical strength rivals a Fishman.
"Perfect," Hiroki said.
He drew Umitsubame.
The Gorilla charged. It didn't have technique; it was a wrecking ball. It swung a fist covered in jagged crystal spikes.
Hiroki breathed. Breath of All Things.
He heard the crystal. It was brittle but dense. He could cut it.
Ittoryu: Silent Sever.
He slashed.
CLINK.
The blade bit into the crystal fist, cutting deep, but it stopped halfway. The density was too high. The Gorilla roared and swung its other fist.
Hiroki had to wrench his blade free and roll backward, glass shards slicing his cheek.
He looked at his sword. A small chip had appeared on the edge.
Hiroki's eyes widened. "No."
The Gorilla charged again.
If I cut it, my sword breaks. If I block, my sword breaks.
Logic failed. Calculus said retreat.
But retreat meant stagnation. Stagnation meant dying in Alabasta.
"Don't think," Hiroki growled, a rare flare of anger rising in his chest. "Don't calculate the angle. Don't measure the density."
He remembered Zoro. The sheer, idiotic stubbornness of the man.
Will it to be harder.
The Gorilla leaped, bringing both fists down in a hammer smash.
Hiroki didn't dodge. He stood his ground. He held Umitsubame up with both hands.
"Cover it," he screamed internally. "Protect the steel!"
He didn't visualize a black coating—he wasn't there yet. He visualized an invisible film, a second skin over the metal. He poured his fear, his ambition, and his desperate need to survive into the blade.
Impact.
BOOM.
The ground beneath Hiroki shattered into dust. His knees buckled. Blood sprayed from his nose.
But the sword held.
It didn't chip. It didn't snap.
For a micro-second, the Gorilla's crystal fists had been repelled by something other than the steel.
The Gorilla recoiled, confused by the resistance.
Hiroki didn't waste the moment.
Acceleration Boost: Burst.
He lunged.
Ittoryu: Glass Cutter.
He aimed for the soft tissue of the neck, bypassing the crystal entirely. The beast fell.
Hiroki collapsed to his knees, gasping for air. His head felt like it was splitting open. The drain on his spirit was immense.
He lifted Umitsubame with shaking hands. He inspected the blade.
The new chip was there from the first strike. But from the second strike—the hammer blow that should have snapped the sword in two—there was no damage.
The interface flickered, unstable, as if reacting to his mental state.
[Combat Encounter Resolved][Spirit Limit Reached]
[Status Window Update]
Strength: 22.1 → 22.8 / 100Swordsmanship: 31.2 → 31.8 / 100Armament Haki: 0.0% → 0.1% (Awakened: Invisible Armor)
"Zero point one," Hiroki wheezed, a bloody smile touching his lips.
It was faint. It was weak. It had lasted for less than a second. But it was there.
He looked around the jagged, hostile island. He had weeks of supplies. He had hundreds of crystal beasts.
"I'm not leaving," Hiroki declared to the empty air. "Not until I can turn this blade black."
He sheathed the sword.
Click.
The sound was sharp. The sound of a weapon that had survived.
Hiroki stood up, ignoring the pain in his legs. The calculator was evolving. He was learning that sometimes, the correct answer to an equation was simply refusing to yield.
[Training Arc: The Glass Garden - Initiated]
[Chapter 12 End]