As Captain John removed the bandages from Ares, he finally got a clear look at his injuries.
Clicking his tongue in genuine admiration, he said,
"Damn… those muscles of yours are as tough as stone. Your body's already incredibly durable, and your recovery speed is far beyond normal."
Aside from a handful like Linlin and Whitebeard, Ares was one of the strongest physiques he'd ever seen.
This was exactly why Ares was considered a monster.
While applying the dicine, Captain John explained patiently,
"If you want to improve your recovery ability, besides constantly training and pushing your body to adapt, there's another way."
Ares' eyes lit up instantly, eager with excitent.
"What is it?"
"Devil Fruits."
John casually uttered the answer, then elaborated,
"As everyone knows, Devil Fruits grant all sorts of strange abilities. So special Paracia-types should offer healing capabilities."
"But more commonly, Zoan-type Devil Fruits are known to enhance recovery speed. Different animals grant different abilities."
"Most Zoan Fruits will naturally boost recovery. The rarer and stronger the Zoan Fruit, the greater the enhancent."
"There are even Ancient Zoan and the extrely rare Mythical Zoan types."
Seeing Ares visibly tempted, John added,
"These things aren't easy to find. Every Devil Fruit is outrageously expensive."
"Ancient Zoans and Mythical Zoans? Practically impossible to co by."
"But staying with the Rocks Pirates gives you a much better chance to encounter one. The first person to find a Devil Fruit always gets the right to eat it."
"Ancient Zoans…"
"Mythical Zoans…"
John gave Ares a brief overview of these exceptionally rare Devil Fruits within the Zoan category.
Devil Fruits weren't exactly scarce, but spread across the entire ocean, they were nowhere near enough to go around.
"There's not enough for everyone," John chuckled.
"Devil Fruits, huh…"
"Ancient Zoan… Mythical Zoan…"
Ares' eyes burned with anticipation. If he could get a Devil Fruit, his body's recovery would beco even more monstrous.
It would massively benefit his strength and his training speed.
John casually took a long swig from a bottle on the table and splashed a bit of cold reality over him.
"But you know, once you eat a Devil Fruit, you'll never be able to swim again."
"Sea water will drain your strength. You'll feel completely powerless and sink straight to the bottom."
But…
His warning did nothing to dampen Ares' excitent and longing.
John shook his head as he continued tending to Ares' wounds, marveling at the contours of his rock-solid muscles, each one defined as though sculpted by blade and chisel.
"Man, I bet there'll be plenty of people jealous of this body of yours," John muttered, then grinned.
"And I wonder which lucky woman will ever get to enjoy it."
His eyes lingered on Ares' powerful physique for a couple of extra seconds before he laughed softly.
After finishing the treatnt, John said,
"With your body, you'll probably heal in four or five days."
"Go back and get so proper rest."
"Thank you," Ares said sincerely before leaving John's room, his mind fully occupied by the thought of Devil Fruits.
Watching Ares walk away, John took a final swig of his liquor and laughed to himself.
"Barely out to sea, and you've already beco a pirate with a 40-million bounty…"
"I wonder what your next bounty will be?"
Four or five days later.
Whitebeard, Golden Lion, and the other senior officers still hadn't returned.
But Ares had fully recovered.
On Hachinosu Island, at the sa training ground where Golden Lion and Whitebeard often brought him to spar.
There weren't any towering mountains on this island. The tallest thing here was Skull Fortress.
Most of the island was just barren, rocky hills no grass, only stone.
"Finally… I can train again."
Ares was visibly thrilled. These past few days, he'd only been able to replay his battles in his mind, ntally reviewing his fights over and over. It had driven him nearly insane.
Raising his arm, he muttered excitedly to himself,
"Let's start with the flying slash."
"Speed and strength must work together. Explosive power and the air displacent are crucial."
"So then…"
"Slash!"
He swung his arm like a hand blade.
A bright, sky-blue slash shot out, though compared to other people's flying slashes, Ares' was noticeably wider too wide, not sharp enough.
Boom!
The slash landed two or three ters away, sending gravel and dust flying.
Judging from the result, Ares imdiately realized his first attempt had failed.
But he was thrilled to see the power was indeed impressive. The combination of explosive strength and air displacent definitely worked.
Driven by determination, Ares grinned.
"Just need to keep trying. I'll definitely be able to cut hills in half like Golden Lion does!"
And so, he plunged into relentless training once more.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Explosions rang out continuously!
Not just flying slash practice, but also explosive speed drills, hand-to-hand combat, and his usual brutal body-strengthening routines.
Ares missed nothing he trained tirelessly, as always.
Effort would never be wasted. With his monstrous talent and physique, combined with his mory replay ability, Ares could imdiately pinpoint the flaws in his movents and correct them in real ti.
Thanks to this, after just a few more days, Ares finally executed a flying slash as sharp as one from a real sword.
The training ground was now a ss of craters and gashes, the ground uneven and scarred from his strikes.
And now
Among the pockmarked terrain, there was a clean, shallow gash about several ters long and several deciters deep.
"This… this is a real flying slash!!"
"Hahaha! I finally did it!!!"
Drenched in sweat, Ares laughed with sheer joy. The thrill and pride of using his own arm to launch a proper flying slash for the first ti filled his chest.
Reaping the rewards of his hard work there was no better feeling.
Lifting his arm, focusing on the sensation he'd just grasped
One more ti!
Shhhk!
The sharp slash ripped through the air, soaring forward and carving a fresh mark into the ground.
Ares couldn't contain himself, his face bursting with a brilliant smile as he looked to the sky and roared,
"I did it!!"
"I finally unleashed a flying slash!!"
"GYAHAHAHAHA… Ares! I didn't expect that after just ten days, you've really mastered the flying slash!!"
Golden Lion had arrived without Ares noticing, soaring over with a hearty laugh.
His grin was wide and proud, as if he himself had achieved sothing incredible.
After all, Ares could be considered his disciple. Seeing his student master the flying slash in such a short ti filled Golden Lion's heart with genuine happiness.
Startled by the voice, Ares turned around and shouted in delight,
"Shiki, you're back?"
Golden Lion floated down lightly, landing in front of Ares. His eyes glead with appreciation as he chuckled,
"I'm back. You really gave a big surprise, huh?"
"Not only have you beco a pirate with a 40-million bounty Bloodhand Ares you've actually mastered the secret of the flying slash."
Grinning ear to ear, he patted Ares on the shoulder and praised loudly,
"Good! Good!"
"I, Golden Lion, knew I wasn't wrong about you Ares, you're a man born for the sword!!"
----------------------------------------------------
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