Chapter 6 - Training Before The Hunt: Part One

Three months time skip : Ruskaina Island: Shanks POV: " Haah, It's been three months since i got here ,time sure flies by'' As i thought about , i got up from the tree i was laying on and jumped down. Three months of fighting sea kings in sea while blindfolded can make one lose their sense of time for a moment. Add that to the fact I rarely got sleep due to Rayleigh waking up the strongest beasts on the island every time I attempted to get some good shut eye and you can understand my current thought process about time passing fast. I remember the first time he did that. It was after a spar with him for him to get an update of where I was and what we could work on in the six-months of training. ........... FLASHBACK TO THE FIRST DAY ON THE ISLAND......Third POV: On the island of Ruskaina , you could occasionally hear the roars of giant beats like gorillas , lions and tigers. If you were close enough, you could also occasionally hear the low hisses of the snakes chasing their prey. All was normal and well as it should be on an island that thrived on the concept of survival of the fittest , well , until all the beasts suddenly stopped. The occasional sound of metal clashing started to frequently echo in the forest. It got louder and louder as the minutes passed by. Curious , two rabbits ran towards the center of the island. As they got closer , the sound of the metal started to get louder with the occasional sound of trees falling. As the rabbits got closer, they finally spotted two figures that started to blur as the rabbits watched them clash every time they met each other in the middle of what seemed like a primitive arena. A blonde haired handsome man with what seemed like a growing beard jumped back before swinging his sword as he semi-shouted " Hunting silver". After that shout, what seemed like a sword slash shaped like a sliver arc was sent towards the second figure who appeared to be a red haired teen with a gun holster who wielded a large saber with a long green hilt and a circular be guard. On his right hip laid the sheath for his saber that was blue in color. The teen dodged the oncoming silver arc by moving to the right before he swung his saber as he shouted " Red Rush". After that shout , four red arcs smaller than the blonde haired man flew at the blonde haired man who sported a small smile before he swung his cutlass two times and two silver arcs were sent out and met teen's in the middle only for both to seemingly cancel each other out as both combatants disappeared only to meet in the middle as both of their swords were covered in a dark colored substance right before they clashed in the middle of the arena. Small silver and red sparks danced around both swords as they clashed.The blonde haired man let out a smile that portrayed his amusement while remaining steady on his feet while the red haired teen seemed to grit his teeth with shaking hands that indicated his struggle to keep up with him. The sparking clash lasted for a good ten seconds with the teen struggling not to get pushed back. The blonde haired man seemed to have had enough as the silver sparks seemed on his sword started to flow like a calm river in contrast to their previous scattered state.The blonde haired man smiled as the red haired teen's eyes widened in what seemed to be an innate alertness that came all too late as the blonde haired man pushed him back before he released a large silver arc as he spoke two words that decided the victor in this battle , " Darkening ocean ". The teen had no time to dodge the oncoming large silver arc as he unconsciously tried to block it which proved to be a mistake as he was sent flying through seven trees as he stopped on the eighth tree . The blonde haired man let a small grin creep to his face as the red haired teen got out the tree he was stuck on after a moment. The tree had a human shaped hole in it as the teen struggled to stand up and walk as his legs and hands that were holding his saber trembled. The blonde haired man let out a slight laugh as he approached the teen ,he stopped three meters away from the teen as he spoke up " That was an impressive display of durability. Coating yourself in a layer of armament , even if weak, is something that comes with a lot of experience in the usage of armament." A shadow covered the red haired teen's face before he let out a cough as a grin emerged on his as he adjusted himself as he spoke up," I can keep going Rayleigh sensei ". The blonde haired man, Rayleigh, let out a snort of amusement as he said " Rest up , we have been sparring for seven hours and if this goes on anymore, you 'll pass out until morning. Anyways, I was going to hunt for some sea kings for dinner since the sun started to come down, but rabbit meat seems to be on the menu today." As the blonde haired man uttered the last part of his sentence, chills went up both the rabbits' spines as they turned around to run away in fear for their lives, only to bump into what felt like a giant. They looked up only to find the blonde haired man, Rayleigh waiting for them with arms crossed. Before they could even express their fear through scream, their heads rolled up in the air for a moment as they looked up on their lower halves in expressions of confusion that would be stuck on their faces even as they were later on roasted for the blonde haired man and the red haired teens dinner. The blonde haired man picked up the rabbits heads and other halves as he walked to the red haired teen who did not seem shocked with his display of speed. He walked past the teen and as the teen followed him lost in his own world, they eventually arrived on a clearing that housed a ton of boxes . The blonde haired put the dead rabbits up on the box closest to him before he used his cutlass to chop up a tree. After creating sticks large enough to support the rabbit roasting, he went into the forest. He returned five minutes later with a large pile of fresh wood that he put in a circle. He took what seemed like a lighter from his pocket and started a campfire. The red haired teen seemed to get out at his own musings as he looked at Rayleigh who was rending the rabbit meat. He put some salt and other sauces on it before he grabbed two sticks and hung up both dead rabbits and their heads over the fire. Both sat in silence as the red haired teen looked up at the emerging moon in wonder before he asked " so how did i do?''. The blonde haired man seemed to contemplate for a moment before he spoke up as he replied " Not bad in terms of haki usage, for now, we'll work on strengthening your body as well work on your armament first since they will both help with your sword style. We'll work on that for the first month along with working on teaching you hand to hand combat . For the second month, we'll work on your observation with the occasional hand to hand combat. The third month will also be partly dedicated to helping you gain greater control on your conquerors with heavy emphasis on hand to hand combat. During every morning, you 'll do a ten kilometer run in the forest with the strongest beasts. Then you'll find the biggest boulders. Cut them up into a manageable size and lift them up for an hour. Then take a ten minute rest period . After that, eat some breakfast before you find the smallest mountain on the island. Everyday, you'll punch that mountain without armament haki for three hours straight.When you eventually get used to it and break it , find another one and repeat the process until you get to the biggest and the last one. Rest for ten minutes and then repeat it for the second time for now. After that , take another rest period before grabbing lunch. After lunch we'll spar for seven hours before you get a one hour rest period. After that, you'll get some rest before hunting dinner for us." As Rayleigh listed off his training steps, sweat drops appeared on the red haired teen's head. His mouth twitched for a few seconds before he let out a resigned sigh . He then muttered," what are you, Garp 2.o, at this rate, i'll be exhausted every day. " Rayleigh seemed to ignore the teen's mutterings in favor of occasionally flipping the rabbit meat that seemed to be cooked up properly after two hours of silence with the occasional roar of an animal in the background. After a good meal with some,a lot of , wine , the red haired teen laid on a log as he put his straw hat over his face and dozed off. The blonde haired man looked at the teen's sleeping figure in silence before momentarily looking up at the moon. He let out a sigh before he stood up and took two boxes and disappeared into the darkness. The fire continued on as he came back every five minutes to take a box until the only one left was the one the red haired teen laid his head on while dozing off into dreamland. He looked at the teen for the last time that night before he let out his third sigh that night as he disappeared into the darkness once more. Time flew by into the night as the waters of the island remained calm. While you could occasionally hear the roars and hisses of beasts , the island remained oddly calm. SHANKS POV: At exactly three pm, the loudest roar i had ever heard since i stepped on the island sounded out. The bubbles near my nose popped one by one as I picked the straw hat away from my face. I let out a yawn as I heard another roar as I stood up. The roars increased in numbers as I focused my observation haki into a larger area. My mouth started to twitch as I got the feedback. I sighed as y eyes glowed red for a second as I unstrapped my saber at the sight of a horde of beats that seemed determined to beat me up for some reason. Armament haki covered my saber as I shouted out " Red sovereign" as a huge slash flew into the beast horde. Some strong beasts dodged while the weaker ones were annihilated. I unleashed my conquerors haki on all the weaker ones who fell down while the stronger ones, who definitely knew how to use haki to some level, seemed to shrug it off as they continued their charge. I sighed for a moment before a grin broke out on my face as I mentally prepared myself for a horde clash with some of the strongest beasts of the island.