Jester, Liushi and Clifford were all sent to the same island where they found themselves in a destroyed kingdom which had returned back to nature.
The ruins of the previous kingdom had been swallowed by the grassland and trees as the animals ran wild.
However upon landing, they very quickly found themselves in danger as they were surrounded by many creatures.
Many different sized primates were wielding swords and other types of weapons of different types whether it be throwing weapons, guns, spears, clubs or other types.
Jester was the sole person among the group that possessed Observation Haki and was most familiar with using it in combat so he was the first to pick up on their presences. "We are surrounded but if we all go in one direction, we can force our way through and create a path for ourselves to escape."
He stretch out his hand and several throwing knives and needles appeared in his hand and a small handheld gun appeared in the other. "Snatch."
Right after he began to throw out the weapons in one hand and began firing the gun with the other, as the throwing weapons left his hands, he made another grabbing motion. "Snatch."
Liushi removed his own prized weapons that had been passed down within his family and began to move forward ahead of Jester as he took the lead and cut a path open for them but also took on the attacks of each of the humandrills. "We just got here and we have already begun to be put under pressure by these guys."
Clifford kept moving at a high speed as he used his Electro to allow him to stop any additional sneak attacks on Jester and Liushi. "These things are relentless!"
Liushi played the role of a tank or front line warrior which took the brunt of the attacks, Clifford played the role of an assassin who stopped many threats to each person's life and Jester played the role of causing disruption and chaos to the enemy while harming them with ranged attacks.
Although Jester was capable of fighting, his abilities were better suited to be used in that way to assist the team and ensure their survival.
Many types of ranged weapons were snatched and thrown back or dumped on the ground.
Those humandrills that were wounded backed off and applied saliva to their wounds and rested a little before rejoining the fight and chasing them down.
However as they got closer to escaping, a new crisis appeared.
The humandrills that had been standing further back and were blocking their way began to mimic some of their moves.
The various techniques belonging to Liushi and Clifford had been stolen from them after a short time.
Even without the use of Electro, the humandrills each possess high combat abilities so they were able to push Liushi back.
However the next moment, several knives flew towards the attacking humandrills which halted their movements and attack.
Some were wounded but many among them had worn armour to protect themselves so they were confident in their abilities but the next moment, the throwing weapons disappeared as they were about to hit the armour and were thrown out again wounding a couple more.
This provided Liushi a moment to turn the tables and he spun in a circle unleashing a powerful double slash and as he rotated, his two war glaives continued forward to send out two flying sword attacks which opened up a path.
Clifford continued to deal with any additional threats and Jester took out a vial and quickly leaned over to collect some samples before escaping along with them both.
Further into the forest where they had hidden, Jester had his trademark smile on his face as he spoke. "I know why we have been sent here, if you have not noticed then you should hear this right away. These creatures can mimic our movements and techniques, anything that you have shown will be used against you later. I believe that Clifford and me have the greatest advantage here but Liushi will struggle here so I think this is why we were sent here as a group."
Jester had begun to improve his Observation Haki but he did not slack in his body training or Armament Haki training so he had grown tremendously since arriving on Alyssia's crew but even he felt that without Clifford being with them, Liushi and himself would begin to suffer greatly at a later date because of the humandrill's mimicking abilities.
Clifford could overcome many problems with Electro but eventually, he would meet an opponent that was much stronger than himself that may even be able to keep up with his speed but there was also the problem of constantly draining energy when using Electro and tiring himself out.
When up against many opponents that constantly improve, they would he forced to improve themselves
Liushi looked down at his heavy war glaives which had been stained with the fresh blood of the humandrills that he had been able to cut. "Yes.. something is still lacking within my current style so this is a good place to practice."
Clifford nodded. "I agree."
Jester joked. "Well, you two have already played your cards already and exposed yourselves. It is good that I held back a little and did not enter into a melee battle alongside you both otherwise they may have stolen my knife techniques already. Clifford try to conserve your strength and focus on your swordsmanship from now on unless using Electro in truly needed."
Two of them possessed a trump card to overcome a crisis and let them turn defeat into victory.
One was Electro which could burn through energy a little faster upon use so it was best used when things become difficult for them and the other was the Snatch ability which similarly drained some energy after being used repeatedly
While they were the sole things keeping them at an advantage, the humandrills were not dump creatures and would learn how to combat them eventually so they could not heavily rely on them.
The best option was to keep pushing themselves and improve their sword, blade or knife arts and save the other abilities for when they are needed or to simply stop additional gunfire and deadly weapons being thrown at them with the snatch ability.
The best shot that they would have in the next battle would be that Jester had not revealed his dagger arts, many of the humandrills would believe him to be the weakest but that was very far from the truth.
Day after day, the three of them encountered groups of humandrills and were pushed to their limits as they experienced fatigue and hunger many times as they had been hunted down without rest and had their meals interrupted.
Haki usually manifests under certain conditions whether it be extreme distress, pushing past limits or through sheer willpower but there are also types that ate affected from birth, tribe or the environment but often Haki usually appears on those that have a very strong physical body that has surpassed the ranks of ordinary humans in the world.
Jester had unlocked his at a younger she due to facing dangerous situations often and being under great stress as he was caught between juggling sharp knives or displeasing the king of his home country resulting in his death.
Liushi and Clifford had yet to trigger it but Liushi was slightly older and had failed to do so even though he was physically very strong and continued to train his body and grow stronger under Alyssia's training plan and the experiences he had.
Liushi was more than ready to unlock his Haki but was missing such a test which could make him helpless while Clifford was still young and did not face much hardships because of his racial advantages which had resulted in his sword skills halting a little in progress.
Sometimes being spoiled can in fact be disadvantageous to a person in certsin conditions, although Clifford could defeat an opponent tougher than himself by breaking past his limits and improving to overcome them in battle, he always had Electro there as a backup which he often chose to use instead which helped him achieve victory but made him lose many chances to improve.
The humandrills were the perfect opponents that mirrored them, let them see their own faults and weaknesses but also gain many experiences of many different styles of combat.
Eventually Liushi awakened his Haki after a long test of survival which rejuvenated his battle spirit and made Clifford a little jealous.