Waking up and getting out of bed, Bill stood on his hands to start his morning routine. After finishing, he began to prepare for another day of "school."
Of course, "school" was just his own term for it. Miss Angie and the others called it "lessons," and in reality, Bill understood it was more like private tutoring. Throughout the time he attended these lessons, the maximum number of students in the class reached ten. Now, with only him and Ricky remaining, it felt even more like private lessons.
At first, it was a bit strange, but Bill quickly realized that education in this world was either nonexistent or limited to apprenticeships. Only a few children received a general education that included philosophy and mathematics, like he did.
In his previous life, Bill became an English teacher in the final years of his working life, so he particularly enjoyed the philosophy of this world. It was a bizarre mixture of Dante and Machiavelli, which often seemed illogical to him until he experienced what happened on the beach with Rance.
Four days had passed since that day. The incident made Bill reconsider his role in this life.
Looking back, Bill realized that adrenaline probably sped up time, or Rance really ran very fast, because it seemed like only a short time had passed before his father, accompanied by dozens of Marines, arrived on the beach.
Interestingly, his father seemed to know exactly what had happened and said that the girl had probably eaten a "Devil Fruit."
It immediately became clear to Bill why it was called a Devil Fruit. His father was incredibly strong, and although giants couldn't be explained, this girl could transform her wrist and mouth into some sort of weapons and even shoot metal balls.
Where did the metal balls come from? How did these hinges appear?
Obviously, this was the "Devil Fruit."
Although Bill was exhausted after the incident, he still managed to attend classes the next day. To help him understand what had happened, Miss Angie spent the entire lesson explaining to the boys what Devil Fruits were.
The idea that anyone could suddenly gain supernatural powers of an uncertain type or strength was unsettling. Even more unsettling was how easily this dreadful phenomenon was explained to him.
There were three categories of these Devil Fruits: Animal System, Superhuman System, and Nature System.
The thought of any of these was worrying. On a population level, turning someone into part alligator might be better than turning them into acid or literally into mercury.
But the most terrifying aspect was the uncertainty of whether the person you're arguing with might suddenly become someone with scissors for hands and cut your head off.
Pondering this, Bill finally understood why his mother had said that the "truly strong" should be imprisoned for life.
The only solace in this situation was that only one type of Devil Fruit could exist at a time. So if or when Mr. Scissors-for-hands decapitates his neighbor, as long as he is alive, no one else can gain that same ability.
However, the greatest danger in all these thoughts was the possibility that Devil Fruits might exist that could manipulate emotions.
This thought gave Bill a physical shiver.
Even worse was when Bill asked what could be done with these abilities, and Miss Angie replied that they could be managed with "Willpower."
This answer did not satisfy him at all. For the first time in this life, Bill spoke to his nanny like an adult. Despite this, Miss Angie was adamant, insisting that "Willpower" truly was the only way to handle powerful Devil Fruits.
So Bill posed another question: "Angie, how can someone become as strong as my father?" He thought that while these truly frightening abilities might be insurmountable, at least having physical strength would give him a better chance to handle them.
But her unwavering answer was: "Willpower."
Realizing that he wouldn't receive help and thinking that "adults" were extremely irresponsible, Bill decided to seriously consider what to do next.
Remembering an overweight captain from a few months ago, who had told Bill how to achieve what was called "true strength," he recalled that the captain had specifically mentioned that Bill should learn to feel every part of his body and try to control it.
In this demonstration, he also talked about feeling the blood flowing from the heart and directing it through the chest along the muscles and bones.
For Bill, a man who had lived on Earth for over ninety years, this was a metaphor. To reinforce this idea, Bill noticed significant improvements in his body. He began unconsciously altering the weight and balance of his body.
This was a massive success, and Bill thought he was on the right track.
But now, with the revelation of Devil Fruits, he was almost certain that when Captain Trapan talked about "feeling your blood," he truly meant it literally. Bill was also nearly convinced that magic or something similar existed in this world, and he should be prepared for anything.
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