"El—"
Sea Circle Calendar, Year 1459.
The second half of the New World, Elbaf—the village of the giants.
A giant girl with sweet features, golden hair tied in two braids, and a stature of no less than five meters, bounced happily as she ran over.
She shouted to a boy of similar build, though with black wings on his back, calling out loudly, "We're about to play hide-and-seek. Do you want to join us?"
"No, you all go ahead, Gerd..." the boy named El declined without hesitation. "I still have to train with the two elders."
He had short, grayish-white hair. Though he looked around eight or nine years old, his face was firm and strikingly handsome, exuding a maturity beyond his years. On his back was a pair of black wings, and on the back of his head, a flame burned fiercely.
"Alright then..." Gerd responded, clearly disappointed. But soon, she pushed aside her frustration and ran joyfully toward the other giant children, laughing and playing.
"Bo-ka-ka-ka~, El truly is a determined child!" A towering figure, wearing a horned helmet, with a long beard flowing like a waterfall, so long it touched the ground, sat stroking his beard, smiling warmly at the winged boy.
This child was not an ordinary giant. Although he only had half the blood of a giant, he was born a prodigy—invulnerable to weapons and possessing immense strength, with terrifying talent and potential. His future was boundless.
"Indeed, zap-ba-ba~!" Another enormous elder, sitting nearby with a mountain-like, graying beard, also stroked his whiskers, his eyes full of approval and admiration. He laughed, "Perhaps one day, he could become the strongest warrior in the world!"
These two elders were none other than Mountain Beard, Jarul, and Waterfall Beard, Jorul—former leaders of the Giant Pirates and elders of Elbaf. They were highly revered, not only in Elbaf but also by most giants across the world.
Thanks to the giant race's lifespan, which was at least three times that of ordinary humans, both elders were already over 300 years old, earning the title of the oldest warriors in the world.
"Your praise is too generous, Elders..." El replied, showing neither shyness nor arrogance. Confidence radiated from his expression as he smiled and said, "I only hope to master Elbaf's three great spears soon, but I still have a long way to go!"
He was a half-giant; his mother was a giant, but his father was no ordinary human. His father was from the legendary Lunarian race, a tribe considered gods.
From birth, El and his parents had been on the run, hiding in the first half of the Grand Line to escape the pursuit of the World Government. His parents fought relentlessly against the Navy and CP agents to protect him but were tragically killed in the process. At the age of three, the emotional trauma of his parents' deaths awakened his memories of a past life.
Afterward, El continuously evaded the World Government's pursuit. Using the innate flight ability of the Lunarians, he daringly ventured into the Calm Belt, ending up on a deserted island where he survived alone.
Perhaps due to his half-giant bloodline, his skin color differed from his Lunarian father's brown complexion, resembling his giant mother's more typical skin tone. As he grew, his already extraordinary physique, inherited from both the giants and the Lunarians, began to undergo an incredible transformation. His appetite increased drastically, and his strength became overwhelming—his skin impenetrable, not even the fiercest sea kings could bite through it. His raw power allowed him to tear apart sea kings with his bare hands, establishing dominance over the Calm Belt's sea creatures.
A year ago, at the age of eight, while hunting sea kings alone underwater, he stumbled upon a decayed shipwreck and found a Devil Fruit aboard. After consuming it, he gained the power of the Mythical Zoan Fruit, the Snake-Snake Fruit, Model: Quetzalcoatl. Now nine years old, El, with his formidable body and incredible flight ability, followed a Vivre Card his mother had left behind and crossed the Red Line, traveling from the first half of the Grand Line to the giant village of Elbaf.
Due to his mother's giant heritage, the giants of Elbaf accepted him. For the past half-year, he had been training under the two former leaders of the Giant Pirates, with the aim of mastering Elbaf's greatest combat techniques and unlocking the power of Haki.
"No, it's no exaggeration. You certainly have such potential!" Jarul, the Mountain Beard, looked at the exceptional and flawless boy before him, smiling.
"Zap-ba-ba~! Elbaf's strongest techniques aren't easily mastered, but with your talent, El, it's only a matter of time!" Jorul, the Waterfall Beard, nodded with a smile, stroking his flowing beard. "You're still young. Even as a half-giant, your lifespan will far exceed that of ordinary humans. There's no need to rush, child!"
These two had once led the Giant Pirates, gaining legendary renown while sailing the seas. Their experiences far surpassed those of ordinary giant warriors. Yet even they, having witnessed countless geniuses during their long journeys, had never encountered someone like El—a child who seemed favored by the heavens, a born warrior with skin tough as steel.
They had personally witnessed El standing still while fully-grown giant warriors struck him with their swords at full force, only to find that their weapons couldn't even make a dent. Instead, their hands went numb, and in some cases, their weapons broke.
Inheriting half-giant blood, El possessed tremendous strength, easily lifting fully-grown giants with one hand and tossing them into the air like a human child throwing a rag doll, catching them again effortlessly. Furthermore, as a member of the fabled Lunarian race, he could control flames and was nearly invincible. Once fully grown, there might be no one in the world capable of killing him.
"If that kid Hajrudin had even a tenth of your potential, we'd be overjoyed!" Jarul and Jorul glanced over at a giant boy not far away, diligently training and sweating profusely as he swung his sword in a serious, methodical manner.
Hajrudin had strong willpower and worked hard, but his talent was lacking in comparison to El—nowhere near the level of the new generation of Giant Pirates' leaders, Dorry the Blue Ogre and Brogy the Red Ogre, whom Jarul and Jorul had trained after they retired. Unfortunately, those two had fallen into a fierce conflict for reasons unknown, fighting a duel on a distant island. Without leaders, the Giant Pirates were left leaderless, with many members captured by the Navy and nearly publicly executed.
It was only thanks to Sister Carmel, the "Holy Mother," who intervened and persuaded the Navy not to execute the giant warriors, that the centuries-old hostility between the World Government and the giants was eased. Now, some giants even served as Vice Admirals in the Navy.
To this day, Blue Ogre and Red Ogre had not returned, with no word of who had won. The once-famous Giant Pirates had fallen into silence again. Now, they had finally encountered a natural-born warrior like El—yet his ambitions lay elsewhere.