December 15, 1506
Sixis Island
East Blue
Cold wind and snow fell on the island, and the temperature is about -25 degrees Celsius. In this kind of weather, humans should be inside their homes enjoying the heat from a heat source.
But that's not the case for some individuals. Enel, Mihawk, and Raeven stood on the grounds of the training field wearing their normal clothes like the cold doesn't affect them, while every trainee on the island was on the field too, doing some exercises in the cold weather.
"If you can't endure it, no one is forcing you guys; if you want to, you can go inside and enjoy the warmth of your homes, eat some hot soup, drink some booze, and sleep inside a warm blanket," Raeven said as he sat down on the snow and pulled out a bottle of gin.
"Like I told you before, Haki and Devil Fruit ability can drain stamina, so if you want higher stamina, then your endurance must be high, so while the weather on the island is like this, a special endurance training will commence; those who want to join can go again here tomorrow at the same time," Raeven said.
"This training will span across all the winter season; at first we will do simple exercises. Don't worry because the instructors here—me, Mihawk, and Enel—will all accompany you in your training."
"Also, we decided to spice things up; in this winter training, you will be ranked depending on improvement, and at the end of the season, the highest rank will get rewarded a room at Dracule Tower, a customized weapon of your choice, and 50 million beli," Raeven said, which made everyone excited.
Having a room on the Dracule Tower means being a member of the Dracule Family. Currently there are two types of members: the formal family members (Raeven, Mihawk, Enel, etc.) and the external family members, members of the Dracule Family privately, such as Shakky and her staff, Rayleigh, Gloriosa, and Morgans. Out of all the members, only Morgans didn't have a room here because that man can't stay still.
The allure of the rewards made everyone hyped; the next day everyone arrived on the training field ready. The best candidates to rank first here are currently the Boa sisters, Monet and Robin.
Ace is attending the training too, but he said he's just here to train, not to compete, as he already had his reward. Ace recently ate the Float Fruit; now he can fly across the island. Surprisingly, he didn't get arrogant or cocky at all. Once Raeven removed the curse, he became more disciplined, and he took his lessons seriously too, which made Rouge really happy.
Enel is the first one to guide the trainees; his training is very basic, jogging around the island for 2 hours straight. The first hour is nothing, but after another 30 minutes everyone begins to slow down. Sandersonia and Marigold are already panting hard; the same goes for Monet and Robin. After all this, the two are not combat class individuals; only Hancock can barely keep up her breathing.
"In everything pacing is important; don't rush yourself. We didn't have a place assigned as a goal; the only exercise is to jog around for 2 hours. What are you guys rushing for?" Enel said while scratching his head.
The trainees didn't say anything; only Ace is the boy here, and among the girls the rewards are secondary—they don't want to lose here.
After the 2-hour jog everyone was given the time to head back inside and relax a bit. In the afternoon they will run again. When Stussy heard that competitions against her little sister are currently very hot, she couldn't resist it, so after jogging she stopped her things to go and watch.
Seeing Monet, Robin, and Hancock having a silent competition, her smile grew wide, and she looked at Raeven.
"Big Bro, you're really cruel, you know. How can you watch young developing girls like them run into this kind of environment?" she said.
"You're lucky that you are head scientist and Enel and Mihawk doted on you too much; if they hadn't, I would have trained you like this myself. In my opinion, this kind of training is still too easy," Raeven said to Stussy, which made her pout. Her plan to tease him backfired; this big brother of theirs is really a demon.
Then she remembered how Raeven trained Mihawk and Enel, getting pummeled every day by Raeven, and then she looked at the girls running. This kind of training is really easy compared to what his brothers had suffered before.
"But they are girls, Big Bro," Stussy said.
"No one forced them to join this training. First of all, this training is for just Ace only. Mihawk only proposed to let the others join too, and in this world, being a girl is not a reason to be weak, especially for those Kuja girls. If they dream of becoming a pirate, then a little hardship like this is nothing; this is for them after all," Raeven said, which made Stussy shut up.
"Also don't worry too much; that's why we're here to watch them. With my Senzu Beans, I can always save them as long as they don't die fast," Raeven said.
"It seems Robin's dark humor is learned from you, Big Bro," Stussy said with a sigh.
December 29, 1506
This marks the end of the basic winter training. After 2 weeks of jogging in the cold weather, the trainees finally adapted to the extreme cold; some of them didn't even exhale white air anymore, like Monet, Robin, and the 3 Boa sisters.
"Your next training is climbing; you have 10 days. Once you reach the top of the Dracule Tower, then you pass training. Training starts after the New Year festival. Using devil fruit powers is prohibited," Mihawk said as he dismissed everyone.
After that everyone started to prepare for the new year festival; the whole training field was turned into a banquet place, the barrels of booze were set up on the snow so it could be chilled, and everyone tried to prepare their very own special foods.
Two days passed quickly. On the night of December 31, everyone on the island was currently either drinking, eating, or talking with someone. This year another new competition was launched; it's called Cooking Champion, where those who want to participate will serve the dishes they bring to everyone. After the tasting, each person can only vote for one dish. The champion of this year is none other than Raeven; his Sea King carpaccio is the best dish, voted for by everyone. Then everyone said that in future cooking competitions like this, Raeven won't be able to participate as a contestant; in short, he became banned.
As the new year starts, everyone on Sixis Island is in a positive mood. Kozaburo finally gives his masterpiece, the Sode No Shirayuki, to the small Kuina, which she accepts solemnly. Kozaburo even says that the girl should stay with him on the island, but Koushirou's wife doesn't agree to it.
Mihawk, Tritoma, Shakky, and Rayleigh sat around the same table. The two men are currently discussing swordsmanship and places where the atmosphere is good for a nap, while Shakky and Tritoma are busy talking about the income and development of Amazon Lily and the Kuja Pirates.
Raeven is currently sitting with Enel and Stussy; the three of them are enjoying the festive atmosphere around them.
"Saint Jobert Randall sent you a New Year gift, brother. I think it's a 2-masted ship, carved out of a trunk of a treasure tree, Adam," Stussy said.
"That celestial dragon is really weird; he keeps on saying that he was your fan, Big Bro. 6 of our publicly known brands are only sold to him," Enel said.
"Just let the man do what he wants. With him as our buyer and supplier on Mariejois, selling our booze became easy. I even heard that even the 5 elders only drink booze that I made," Raeven said.
"Having them as our customer can be a double-edged sword; luckily for now, balance is more important than anything for them, so they won't launch something crazy," Raeven added.
"There is also news about the Revolutionaries; the whole south blue is currently in turmoil. Revolutionaries, Marines, and CP agents, with the cadres of the Revolutionary Army all present, the forces of the world government can't do anything about them. Dr. Vegapunk even said to me that some of the liberated kingdoms there began joining the cause of the Revolutionary Army too," Stussy said.
"Also the doctor wants some copies of the books," Stussy said discreetly.
"Once the celebration is done, you can copy any book that he wants to research. Bring along Monet and Robin; a knowledge exchange is very favorable for our family," Raeven said.
"Ara~ are we going to steal some technology from the doctor?" Stussy said while smiling.
"Things that can help or make our life on the island improve—also, we're not stealing; it's called information and technology exchange," Raeven said. Stussy just giggled.
"I'll tell this to the girls so we can begin to copy the books. I'll tell you once we're done," she said as she left.
Raeven just nodded; with the scan machine that they have, copying the books that Dr. Vegapunk wants is easy. He'll just wait for their good news.
"Big Brother, there are rumors about the Revolutionary Dragon showing up at East Blue and then leaving just as quickly and stealthily," Enel said.
"Those are not rumors; if you want to see him, you can go to Goa Kingdom," Raeven said.
"But that's the home of the Marines' hero, Garp the Fist," Enel said.
"That's right, Monkey D. Garp and Monkey D. Dragon; both of them came from Dawn Island," Raeven said.
"What? So they have the same surname? What's their connection?" Enel asked, surprised this is the first time he's heard about this.
"What, you didn't know?"