Around five o'clock, the sky was still dark.
Ace and Sabo took the drowsy Luffy and left the bandit's home, heading to the foot of the mountain where they had arranged to meet Ron.
When they arrived, Ron and Kuina had just finished a match, surrounded by felled trees.
"Let's get started," Ron said, carrying Raikiri, as he looked at the three.
"The first exercise is to run from the foot of the mountain to the top and back three times."
"Three, three times?!" Sabo and Ace exclaimed, their mouths agape.
"This is the most basic physical training. If you can't do this, you won't get stronger," Ron said, and he and Kuina took off toward the summit.
Ace and Sabo exchanged glances.
They nodded and hurriedly pulled the sleepy Luffy along.
It wasn't long before the two were panting.
Ron and Kuina had long since disappeared from view.
"This isn't working. We need to wake Luffy up, or we won't even make it once," Ace said.
Sabo, also gasping for breath, shouted at the leaning Luffy, "Luffy, Luffy, wake up!"
"You're useless! You can't wake him up. Let me try," Ace said, getting closer to Luffy's ear and shouted, "Luffy, Grandpa's here!"
"Grandpa?!" Luffy jolted awake. "Where's Grandpa? Huh? Where am I?"
"Still sleeping? Don't you remember what we talked about with Ron yesterday?" Ace punched him on the head.
"Right! I need to train with Ron today," Luffy said, rubbing his head as he finally woke up.
"Good! Now hurry up and run. It's too exhausting to carry you," Ace urged.
By the time the three brothers reached the top of the mountain, the sun was already high.
"I'm so hungry," Luffy lay on the ground, sprawled out, panting with his tongue out.
"I want to eat meat," Ace and Sabo were also exhausted, panting and dry.
"You guys are too slow. I was about to fall asleep waiting," Ron jumped down from a tree and walked over to them, kicking Luffy, "No lying down! The next exercise is one you'll like. If you win, you get meat!"
"Meat?" Luffy's eyes lit up, and he sprang up.
Ron smiled at the three, "You three can team up. If you can hit me even once, you'll get meat."
"You better keep your word," Ace clapped his fists and grinned.
Luffy's eyes sparkled.
Sabo adjusted his hat.
But by noon, the three still hadn't managed to hit Ron even once.
Looking at the three brothers lying on the ground, panting with their tongues out, Ron said, "That's enough for today," and left.
On the way back to the tavern, Kuina looked at the smiling Ron and curiously asked, "You seem to be enjoying this? What's so special about those three?"
"Even though they're weak now, they'll definitely become strong in the future," Ron replied.
"Just a feeling," Ron said with a smile.
In the following days, the scenes were similar. The three trained with Ron doing massive amounts of physical training, followed by one-on-three combat, with the same result.
Ron's clothes didn't even get touched.
But their perseverance in getting stronger made Kuina glance at them with slight admiration.
One day, in the tavern behind the house, Kuina was learning to mix drinks with Makino behind the counter.
Four boys of similar age were sitting at a nearby table.
"Hey, Luffy, that's my meat!" Ace angrily grabbed Luffy's face and pulled it to the sides.
"No! What's in my mouth is mine!"
Luffy didn't let go, even as Ace stretched his rubber-like face, puffing out his cheeks as he continued chewing like a hamster.
"Ron, is that a real sword you have?" Sabo asked curiously, looking at Raikiri set aside by Ron.
"Awesome! Can I take a look?"
Sabo's eyes sparkled with admiration.
"Sure, but be careful. That sword is very sharp," Ron smiled as he handed it to him while sipping his fruit beer.
Sabo reverently reached out with both hands to take it.
"It's so heavy! Is this a real sword? Ron, do you carry something this heavy all the time?"
"Heavy? I don't think it's heavy," Ron replied.
"...As expected of you. Can I draw it out and take a look?"
"Sure, just be careful not to cut yourself," Ron nodded.
The next moment, he swung his fist, knocking Luffy, who was trying to sneak away with the roasted chicken in front of him, away.
"Awesome," Sabo looked at the drawn Raikiri with sparkling eyes.
Ace came over excitedly, "What a beautiful sword! Does it have a name?"
Luffy, Ace, and Sabo all had shining eyes.
"Is this how it's done?"
Kuina followed Makino's instructions and successfully mixed a bubbling fruit beer.
"Yes, just like that," Makino glanced back at her and said.
Then she raised her eyes to the noisy table, a warm smile in her eyes.
-------------------------------------------------------
Access 40 chapters in advance on my : [email protected]/elvenking20 (Replace @ with 'a')