The boost in his swordsmanship put Amon in an excellent mood, and that only made him more eager to see the system's mysterious gift.
He took it out and turned it over in his hand. He had not even fully opened it yet, but the box already shone with dazzling seven-colored light. Whatever was inside, it was not going to be ordinary.
Without wasting another second, he tore it open.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, on opening the Beginner Gift Pack. You have obtained the secret formula of the First Stage of the Shugendo Art. After use, you may master the First Stage. The Shugendo Art is a supreme body-refining esoteric art. After mastering the First Stage, your physical strength will double.]
A beginner gift pack?
Amon nearly cracked on the spot.
What kind of beginner gift pack only shows up now?
Was this not the kind of thing a system was supposed to hand over at the very start? Calling it a beginner reward at this stage was shameless.
Still, the irritation faded almost at once.
Because what came out of the gift pack was far better than he expected.
The Shugendo Art.
Even if it was only the First Stage, the effect alone was enough to make his pulse quicken. A direct doubling of his physical strength was no small matter.
What truly excited him, though, was not just the boost itself.
It was the fact that the system could hand out something like this at all.
A supreme esoteric body-refining art, a thing that belonged in legend, had just landed in his hands. That alone told him how terrifying the system really was. If even this could appear, then opening other absurd treasures later would not be strange at all.
For the first time, Amon felt his future stretch out before him in a clear, brilliant line.
At the same time, he understood why the system had only given it to him now.
The First Stage doubled physical strength. If he had received it at the very beginning, when his body was still weak, the increase would have been far less impressive. Now it was different. His body had already gone through advanced marrow cleansing, and he had also mastered lv8 martial arts.
A body like that, strengthened another full step, would produce a truly frightening result.
"Use."
There was nothing else in the gift pack, so Amon activated it.
The body was the foundation of everything. No one would ever turn down the chance to make it stronger.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have successfully used the secret formula of the Shugendo Art. You have now mastered the First Stage. Your physical strength has doubled.]
The instant the system's voice faded, something new settled into his mind, and his body began to change.
His already formidable physique was refined once more, rising in a sharp, almost violent leap. More impurities were forced from his flesh, and every part of his body grew stronger. Bone, muscle, blood, organs, all of it was tempered again.
The feeling was almost intoxicating.
Only after a long while did the refinement come to an end.
Amon slowly clenched his fist.
Power surged through him like a tide. At that moment, he even had the wild sense that a full-force punch from him could crack the air itself.
Something like the effect Whitebeard displayed with the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
Of course, a strike like that could not be thrown around carelessly. It would burn through too much of his strength. Even so, he was more than satisfied. Between the exclusive Jar and this mysterious reward, both his martial arts and his swordsmanship had climbed to another level.
If he were not in Loguetown, he would have tested it on the spot.
But there were too many ordinary people here, so he suppressed the urge.
As things stood, he estimated his combat power had already reached the level of Garp or Sengoku.
Still, true strength could only be confirmed in battle.
"Pfft..."
Feeling far too good to stay still, Amon headed for the pool aboard the ship and jumped in.
The fresh refinement had forced another layer of impurities out of his body, and he needed to wash properly. The ship really was convenient. The pool used fresh water, and it refreshed automatically every day. There was a full water circulation system built into the vessel, so no matter how much grime he washed off, he did not have to worry about dirtying it.
Its only real flaw was the food supply.
The ship would not magically refill ingredients for him, so every time he docked somewhere, he still had to stock up. Otherwise, he would have to live on fish from the sea.
Thinking of food made him realize he was hungry.
The body refinement had burned through a great deal of energy, and he needed to eat. Besides, he had already promised Lily he would cook something good for her.
At that moment, Lily was sitting on a lounge chair near the front of the deck, staring intently at him playing around in the water, as if she could not understand why he looked so pleased.
"Lily, hungry? I will cook something tasty for you."
He climbed out of the pool, patted her soft cheek, and went to put on some clothes.
"Okay. Lily will help too."
By now, she had already figured out his temperament and no longer spoke as timidly as before.
"All right. Good girl."
Amon leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, then gave his body a quick shake. The water flew off at once, leaving him nearly dry.
It was convenient.
For him.
Not for Lily.
He had not noticed how close she was standing, and the spray splashed all over her face and clothes. In an instant, the little girl was soaked through.
Her expression collapsed.
"bad, bad!"
Amon took one look at her drenched face and burst out laughing. Her cheeks were puffed up in grievance, so adorable that he almost wanted to keep teasing her just to see it again.
Having someone on the ship was far more interesting than traveling alone.
He reached out, poked one of her puffed cheeks, then headed off in a thoroughly satisfied mood to start cooking.
This was not even his first time cooking for a Kirlia. Back in Syrup Village, Kaya's Kirlia had loved his mashed potatoes.
He did not know whether Lily shared the same taste, but that was easy enough to find out.
No point overthinking it.
He would cook first, then head into Loguetown later to restock supplies. After that, he could visit the site of Gol D. Roger's execution, come back, and maybe do some fishing.
As the meeting point of the seas, Loguetown had no shortage of fish. Catching some now would give him extra provisions for later voyages.