One Piece: Killer Method #17

Three months later

"There we go..." I said, hanging off a small branch at the top of the giant treasure tree as I reached for the purple flour sticking out of the bark. "I didn't come here to steal your treasure... I'm just here for this..." I added as I turned to the giant bird cautiously eyeing me from its nest and raised flower for it to see. 

The bird seemed to understand my words as it cawed and turned away, though I was sure it kept me in the corner of its vision. 

It's been some time since I arrived here, and everything and my practice was going well so far. The villagers were already grateful enough to let me study at their library, which was full of medical texts, and the medical herb seeds I brought as a gift made them like me even more. 

I also went out of my way to track and hunt the occasional giant boar to feed the entire village whenever I had some free time, so it's safe to say I got along with the villagers.

Ultimately, I'd say that I spent a lot of the past months in the library, studying and learning everything I could about the different properties of medicinal herbs, how they affected the human body, and how to concoct them into medicine. 

Despite their primitive appearance, the Torino Island natives had a very high understanding of medicine. The restoratives and healing salves they concocted were friggen miraculous in nature. 

My goal was to use The Method to study the effects of their medicine and how my body reacted to them, as in what enzymes my body would create upon ingesting different herbs and restoratives, and ultimately replicate it internally without any outside factors. 

It was a long shot, and I barely scratched the surface of understanding how the miraculous medicines worked, but I still had nine more months to learn before I had to leave. 

Still, the herbs the natives acquired from the giant treasure tree weren't easy to come by and were valuable to the villagers as they needed them to heal their sick, so they understandably refused to let me use what they had in store to practice. 

Of course, I didn't complain, and we agreed that I'd get my own herbs, which wasn't that difficult since the giant birds were content to leave me be as long as I didn't go near their treasures or eggs. 

The giant Goayu birds liked to collect anything that had a shine and caught their eyes, culminating in hoarding an ungodly amount of riches in their nests as they snatched any floating treasure they found on the sea.

As far as I remember, when Kuma sent Chopper flying into the island, the Goayo birds were hostile to everyone who even looked at the treasure tree funny since pirates would often make the climb to steal their treasures.  

However, news of the treasure tree hadn't spread around South Blue, hence the Goayu birds' generous mood, as they would only give me dirty looks rather than bite my head off whenever I approached their nests. 

Besides studying medicine, I also spent some time observing how the Tornio island natives lived and experienced their way of life myself, which was remarkably different from that of the scumbags back on Four Clover Island. 

The experience helped me better understand the human behavioral patterns and psyche in different environments and how they differed from one group to another, depending on various variables like their upbringing, the circumstances around them, etc. 

I was making good progress on two of Mehtod's prerequisites, the human body and the human way of life, though my understanding of the third since there was no conflict on Torino island. 

A part of me etched for a fight, and there were some days where I'd just wake up with the urge to kill someone, but that was a side effect of The Method, which is why I didn't plan on overstaying my welcome here. 

I could hold back the urge just fine and go out to hunt whenever it becomes too unbearable, but I won't be able to do it for too long, according to the Mehtod's booklet. 

After all, The people of this island have been nothing if not kind to me, and I'd never forgive myself if I harmed them in any way. 

Whatever the case, it looks like I've lingered for a bit too long, evidenced by the giant Goayu bird that resumed glaring at me directly. I merely smiled, shrugging my shoulders as I began climbing down. 

...

"All right, here goes nothing," I said as I stared at the blue Horizon, taking a deep breath as I prepared to dive into the seawater. I didn't delay and immediately jumped into the water, already impatient. 

It has been three more months, and I have progressed my practice of the method very well. I could now concoct most of the medicines the Torino Island natives usually create. With another month of study, I should be able to master everything and their libraries.

My understanding of human nature grew with every day I spent with the natives, as their lifestyle differed vastly from the people of Four Clover Island. However, my urge to fight and seek conflict has also grown as I spent my days idling about, studying, concocting medicine, and studying its effect on my body.

Hunting small animals and boars could only hold down my urges for so long, so I turned my eyes to bigger, more powerful prey, the giant sea Kings infesting the water surrounding the small island. 

I have grown a lot stronger thanks to my practice, and although I wasn't sure I could defeat a sea king, I knew I could at least Escape one if victory weren't within my grasp.

I knew the fight the ahead of me or didn't be easy. However, that is why I needed to do it, not only to test the limits of my strength but also to suppress the rapidly growing urge to destroy everything around me. 

In any case, The Sensation of the cold seawater instantly cut off my line of thought and brought me back to reality. I swam further and further away from the shore. 

I dove into the depths once I was out of the shallow Waters. I struggled to see the deeper as I moved deeper and failed to find traces of sea kings or any giant aquatic creatures, for that matter. 

Though frustrated and impatient, I did not let it get to me as I swam back up. I took a deep breath and swam to another sport further away from the island before diving back into the sea.

Again, I failed. However, I refused to give up and continued searching. In the end, it took me almost an hour to finally spot a gigantic silhouette swimming near the sea floor.

As my lust for battle grew, I ignored my better judgment and dove straight towards the Silhouettes, tightly grabbing my spear as I rapidly bushed myself down the salty Waters.

The giant aquatic creature, which had the shape of a bright green and brown prehistoric fish with sharp Jagged teeth, instantly noticed my presents and turned its body to face me. 

That sea king seemed to understand my intentions and match as it began swimming towards me without hesitation, meeting me halfway through. It opened its maw as it closed the distance us, inhaling the seawater at an ungodly rate, and I barely had time to react before It swallowed me whole along with it.

"Fuck," I couldn't help but curse as I was sucked into the giant fish's maw, unable to resist the suction force as I was. However, I quickly reacted, burying the sharp tip of my spare into the sea king's tongue and holding on to it to avoid being swallowed.

Once I secured myself, and I was sure the creature couldn't swallow me so quickly, I began wriggling my spear and pushing it deeper into the flesh of that giant creature's tongue. The sea king roared in pain and thrashed its tongue, trying to crush me with it. 

I persisted, holding on for my dear life until the damned creature gave up on trying to crush me with its tongue due to the pain. It stopped moving and then suddenly opened its mouth, forcefully expelling the water in its stomach, which created a powerful jet of water that forced me out of its maw and straight into the surface.

Miraculously, I managed to hold on to my spirit, and as I looked down and saw the giant fish swimming up toward me from the depths, I couldn't help but smile, feeling the blood rushing through my veins. 

"Time for round two, you big bastard!"