By the time Giovanni's feet finally touched land, his soul had already left his body at least seven times.
He stumbled out of the water, soaked from head to toe, breathing hard, eyes twitching, legs unsteady as if they no longer trusted the world beneath them. Saltwater dripped from his hair and clothes in steady streams, splattering against the strange, rugged shore of the island.
For a few long seconds, Giovanni said nothing.
He just stood there, hands on his knees, breathing.
Then—
He slowly lifted his head and looked at the old man standing several paces ahead of him.
Rayleigh wasn't even wet enough to be annoying about it.
The old man stood there like he had just taken a casual stroll through a shallow pond instead of swimming across sea-beast territory in the middle of the Calm Belt. He looked perfectly fine. Relaxed. Refreshed, even.
Giovanni stared at him in disbelief.
Then pointed with a shaking finger.
"You…"
Rayleigh glanced back at him.
"Hm?"
"That…" Giovanni choked out, "was insane."
Rayleigh smiled faintly.
"Oh?"
Giovanni shot upright, his exhaustion instantly powered over by outrage.
"Oh?! Don't 'oh' me, old man! Do you know how many times I almost died just now?!"
Rayleigh began walking inland.
"Not enough, apparently. You're still complaining."
The old man just kept walking, hands tucked behind his back.
Giovanni continued, because at this point stopping would've been weakness.
"There was a sea beast with teeth the size of me!"
Rayleigh nodded.
"Yes."
"And the giant snake thing!"
"Yes."
"And that weird armored turtle monster that looked at me like I was lunch!"
Rayleigh tilted his head.
"You were lunch if you swam too slowly."
Giovanni actually stopped walking for a second just to stare at him.
Then he resumed with even more irritation.
"You're saying all this way too casually!"
Rayleigh laughed.
"That's because I'm used to it."
"That's not a good thing!"
"It is if you survive."
Giovanni groaned and dragged both hands down his face.
"I followed a complete maniac."
"You followed your master."
Giovanni immediately dropped his hands.
"…That's true."
Rayleigh's smile grew slightly.
"I thought so."
They kept moving deeper into the island.
Rusukaina was not welcoming.
That was Giovanni's first real impression of it once he had enough energy left to actually observe his surroundings.
The island felt wild in a way few places did. Not simply untamed. Not just dangerous.
Massive trees rose up into the sky, their branches twisted and thick, casting shadows across the jungle floor. Vines hung from the canopy like ropes, and every now and then something moved in the undergrowth just enough to remind Giovanni that they were not alone.
The air itself felt strange too.
The weather seemed to shift between one step and the next. One moment warm and still, the next touched by a sudden chill. Winds rolled in from nowhere and died just as suddenly.
Giovanni noticed it and frowned.
"This place is weird."
Rayleigh nodded.
"It is."
"Like… weirder than normal weird."
"That too."
Giovanni looked around again.
Then something from memory clicked.
"…This is the island with forty-eight seasons, isn't it?"
Rayleigh looked at him with mild approval.
"You know that much?"
Giovanni folded his arms.
"I know things."
Rayleigh smiled.
"Good. Then you know this island changes constantly. Climate, terrain, danger. It's perfect for training."
Giovanni looked around at the thick jungle, the suspiciously quiet trees, and the unknown creatures definitely watching them from somewhere they could not see.
Then he nodded once.
"…Perfect is a strong word."
Rayleigh laughed.
Eventually, the two of them came to a clearing.
It was open enough to see the sky, with packed earth underfoot and just enough space that one could move without immediately getting tangled in roots or branches.
Rayleigh stopped in the middle of it and turned.
"This will do."
Giovanni rolled his shoulders, still tired, still damp, but alert again.
"For what?"
Rayleigh looked at him for a moment.
Then his expression shifted. Not into something cold, exactly, but into something more serious.
"For the real reason you came."
The atmosphere in the clearing changed.
Not dramatically.
Just enough for Giovanni to feel it.
He straightened.
Rayleigh stepped forward slowly, his voice calm.
"You asked me to train you because you're too weak."
Giovanni didn't flinch.
"Yes."
Rayleigh nodded.
"That was honest. Good. Honesty helps."
He turned slightly, looking out toward the jungle.
"But honesty alone won't carry you through the New World. Strength will."
Giovanni's eyes sharpened.
Rayleigh continued.
"And the foundation of that strength… is Haki."
The word hung in the clearing for a moment.
Giovanni knew it already, of course. He had seen it. Felt it. Been crushed by it. Inspired by it. He had even begun touching parts of it himself.
But knowing a thing existed and having it explained by someone like Silvers Rayleigh were two very different experiences.
Rayleigh held up one finger.
"There are three types."
His voice remained smooth, measured, easy to follow.
"The first is Observation Haki."
He tapped lightly near his temple.
"The ability to sense presence, intent, emotion, movement. At its most basic, it warns you. At its highest level, it lets you see deeper into the flow of battle itself."
Giovanni's eyes narrowed slightly.
His mind immediately jumped to Mihawk. To Gion. To the moments where the world slowed and attacks revealed themselves before they fully happened.
Rayleigh watched his face and smiled faintly.
"You've already touched this one."
Giovanni blinked.
Rayleigh raised a second finger.
"The second is Armament Haki."
He lifted his hand.
Then, without fanfare, it darkened.
A deep black coating spread across his fingers and over his forearm, glossy and dense and full of silent force..
Rayleigh casually drove that blackened hand into the trunk of a nearby tree.
The impact landed with a dull, violent sound, and the entire tree shook. Cracks raced through the bark in a circular burst, leaves raining down overhead.
He pulled his hand back.
No damage to him.
All damage to the tree.
"Armament," Rayleigh said, "is the power to coat yourself, or your weapon in invisible armor. It hardens you. Strengthens strikes. And most importantly…"
He looked directly at Giovanni.
"It lets you touch those who shouldn't be touchable."
Logias.
Giovanni understood immediately.
Smoker.
Aokiji.
The irritation in his chest returned for a brief moment.
Rayleigh raised a third finger.
"And the final type…"
His voice softened just a bit.
"Is Conqueror's Haki."
For a brief moment, Giovanni felt something familiar press against the clearing.
Not a full wave.
Just enough to remind him.
Supreme pressure.
Will made manifest.
Rayleigh let the feeling fade.
"This is not something one learns in the ordinary sense. One is born with the disposition of a king, or one isn't. It allows the user to dominate others with pure will."
Giovanni inhaled slowly.
Rayleigh lowered his hand.
"You have all three."
Giovanni looked at him.
"All three."
Rayleigh nodded.
"Yes."
Then he pointed at him.
"You are especially good at Observation."
Giovanni blinked. "Really?"
Rayleigh smiled.
"You've been leaning on it instinctively this whole time. In your movement. In how you read danger. In how you avoid what should hit you."
He paused.
"But instinct and talent only take you so far."
The old man's expression sharpened.
"Now we have to nurture the other two."
Giovanni's chest tightened, not from fear, but from anticipation.
Armament.
Conqueror's.
The things he had seen monsters use.
The things he needed if he wanted to stand beside Shanks properly.
Rayleigh took a few steps backward, loosening his shoulders.
"Come."
Giovanni frowned slightly. "Come where?"
Rayleigh smiled.
"Spar with me a little."
That made Giovanni freeze.
"…A little?"
Rayleigh nodded once.
"So I can show you what I mean."
Giovanni stared at the old man.
Then at the clearing.
Then back at Rayleigh.
He knew, rationally, that this was what he had asked for. He had literally crossed monster-infested sea territory to get here. He had demanded training. Begged for it, even.
And yet—
This was still Rayleigh.
The right hand of the Pirate King.
A man who could probably beat him with a stick, half asleep.
Giovanni swallowed once.
Then slowly reached for his sword.
"…You know," he said, drawing the blade, "when I said I wanted training…"
Rayleigh waited.
"I was imagining slightly less immediate suffering."
Rayleigh laughed.
"That means you're imagining incorrectly."
Giovanni exhaled, then settled into stance.
His body still ached from the swim. His muscles were tired. But his eyes were clear, focused, alive.
Rayleigh watched him for a moment.
Then nodded.
"Good."
The old man took his own stance. Casual, light, almost lazy.
"Come at me, Giovanni."
---
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