Chapter 14: Incentive

Though pretty much everyone agreed with Thomas's proposal, it was decided they would remain on the island for an additional 2-5 months before setting sail. If they departed now, he would be stuck watching battles from the sideline, unable to contribute. That wouldn't give him a lot of opportunities to grow, so, for the time being, Thomas was to focus on strengthening his body, improving his survival skills, and deepening his understanding of Reinforcement Magecraft.

After rowing everyone to shore, Thomas was preparing to race Atalanta, Benienma, and Caenis around the island when the latter stopped him, an accusatory expression on her face as she asked, "What was that remark about considering yourself the luckiest man in the world? Are you trying to court me or something...?"

Not expecting such a question, nor such an outdated term, Thomas was a little slow to respond, causing Caenis's ears to flatten like an angry dog as she growled, "Stop fucking around and answer me..."

Adopting an awkward smile, Thomas asked, "What do you want me to say? You're an attractive woman, and your figure is incredible. Any man would be lucky to be your partner, making me one of the luckiest men in the world just to have your consideration..."

Exhaling a sigh of relief, Caenis muttered, "So, that's how it is..." before adopting a significantly less hostile expression. She hated when people treated her overtly like a woman, attempting to charm her with flowery words and compliments. She also despised being regarded as something to obtain, so Thomas had dodged a speartip by pointing out that she was the one considering him as a partner.

Adopting a smile, Caenis said, "Tell you what. You complete ten circuits around the island before lunch, and I'll consider rewarding you. Complete fifteen, and it's a guarantee."

As it was currently around 8 AM, and it took Thomas roughly 20 minutes to circle the island, it would take him approximately three and a half hours to finish ten laps. That was assuming he didn't slow down or take a break, so Caenis was fairly certain he couldn't complete her challenge. If he did, without cheating, he deserved at least a small reward. She might not give him a ride, but she could use her hands, tits, or mouth.

Feeling sufficiently motivated, Thomas skipped his usual warm-up and stretching routine, taking off as fast as his feet would carry him without immediately winding himself. His actions earned him confused looks from Atalanta and Benienma, but they effortlessly caught up to and overtook him while Caenis just observed his retreating figure with a smile...

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Though Thomas shaved nearly three and a half minutes off his previous record, surprising Chiron, his second lap was much slower at twenty-five minutes. By the time he was on his third, he could barely keep up a power walk, even with Caenis walking beside him, teasing, "Maybe I should have set the goal at five laps. But the island is only like 4-5 kilometers around. I never expected you to putter out after a mere ten."

Slowing to a stop, Thomas took several labored breaths, sweat covering his entire body as he stared at Caenis and replied, "Give me two weeks..." with as much solemnity as he could manage.

Shaking her head, Caenis retorted, "You've barely been training that long, and you've already improved by a decent amount. I'll give you two weeks, but you'll need to complete twenty laps. Thirty if you want a chance at the 'grand prize.'"

As his first lap around the island had taken him well over an hour, Thomas didn't think Caenis's request was too outrageous. Rather, even if she had set the bar at fifty, he would have done his best. Having a goal drastically impacted training results, and a woman like Caenis was worth a bit of pain and suffering.

Instead of answering Caenis's words directly, Thomas resumed his slow jog around the isle. There was no way he would be able to complete all ten laps, but he could at least continue running until it was time for lunch. With Caenis following behind him in little more than a black bikini, he had a lot of motivation to do so...

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After thoroughly exhausting himself in the morning, Thomas was given a half-hour for lunch before jumping into his Reinforcement training. Chiron had explained the fairly simple process to him multiple times, so Thomas sat shirtless and cross-legged atop a smooth stone platform with a bunch of twigs at his side. His goal was to Reinforce the twigs with the image of durability and elasticity in mind. When he could bend the easily breakable twigs to form a circle, he would be determined to have a very basic grasp of the simple yet infinitely complex form of Magecraft.

In accordance with Chiron's instructions, Thomas kept his eyes closed as he channeled his Magical Energy into the twig and slowly bent it. He had made decent progress since he first started the training, but the moment he had formed the twig into an arch with nearly parallel sides, it snapped in two.

Tossing the twig into his ever-growing pile of kindling, Thomas grabbed the next one and started the process anew. Unlike a typical Magus, who exhausted their internal Mana fairly quickly, requiring them to replenish it over time or draw it in from their surroundings, Thomas's body continually produced it at the cost of his stamina. However, because his control and output were still horrendous, he could continue the basic training exercise almost indefinitely.

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While Thomas focused on his task, Chiron adopted a smooth and calming tone as he advised, "Try imagining that the twig was freshly pulled from a young sapling. At its highest levels, Reinforcement Magecraft can breathe new life into an object, rejuvenating corpses and granting corporeal forms to Phantoms. It's at that point that you enter into the domain of Projection Magecraft, allowing you to materialize weapons, armor, and materials that no longer exist. You mentioned an inordinately rare material known as Sea Prism Stone previously. Once you learn Projection Magic, you can produce as much of the material as you please. It will turn to ash once you cease supplying it with Magical Energy, but it will give you an edge against other Devil Fruit users."

Though there were at least two levels even higher than Projection, Chiron didn't mention them as one was considered a 'unique' Skill while the other delved into the realm of the Gods. To trespass that realm as a mortal, the only person Thomas could rely on was himself. If he continually relied on others, he would eventually hit a wall that could never be overcome as he simply wouldn't be 'qualified' to do so. At that point, the only way to reach even greater heights was if a God lent their Divinity to him in the form of a Blessing, effectively making him their Apostle even after death...

Unaware of Chiron's thoughts, Thomas nearly got the ends of the twig to touch before it snapped. This time, however, it didn't snap in two. Instead, there was a 'very' thin strip of healthy wooden fiber connecting the pieces together...

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With the promise of Caenis's 'reward' driving him, Thomas managed to go from being unable to complete five laps within four hours to finishing ten within the first week. This garnered him a considerable amount of teasing from Drake, Musashi, and Caenis herself, but that wasn't anything new. So long as he could get stronger and achieve his goals, he convinced himself he could endure just about anything...

Fortunately, while Thomas was pushing himself well beyond his limits, he had the blessed trinity of Chiron, Benienma, and Asclepius to prevent him from breaking. Chiron motivated him and helped to replenish his stamina, Benienma provided him upwards of five meals a day, and Asclepius would treat any injuries he sustained during his intensive training. The only thing the errant God of Medicine couldn't treat was mental exhaustion. Well, he could, but Thomas elected to decline Asclepius's experimental medicines and narcotics, even if the silvery-haired God assured him that there would be no 'untreatable' sequelae.

Upon realizing that there was a very real chance of Thomas completing her challenge, Caenis began avoiding him. Not completely, but she wasn't nearly as chatty as she used to be. Instead, she just silently observed his training with her arms crossed or spent her time conversing with Musashi. The two of them had become close frenemies, so they spent a substantial amount of time together despite constantly heckling one another.

On the eve of Thomas's ninth day of 'serious' training, Astolfo returned from her most recent scouting trip. Her Hippogriff could casually exceed the speed of sound while flying, so she could cover the 6,835 kilometers between their present location and the Conomi Islands in under six hours. Establishing a route took much longer as, even if she flew side to side like a laser-jet scanner, it would take more than a hundred passes to map one of the grid spaces on Drake's nearly blank world map.

With Drake's map having 17,712 grid spaces, it was estimated that Astolfo would need just as many days to map the entire world. That was roughly 48 years, so while Astolfo's ability to map the regions she flew over was 'incredibly' useful, it wasn't absolute. Even if she flew at a cruising speed and didn't stop to rest 'at all,' it would still take sixteen years to complete an accurate map.

Fortunately, while it would certainly be useful to have a detailed map of the entire world, it wasn't really necessary. The most important thing was knowing the location and names of various islands, so instead of mapping every meter of a region, Astolfo flew from island to island until she found a city or a large settlement. After landing, she would ask one of the local children for information before purchasing any maps they had available. If it were an island Thomas had informed her about, she would spend extra time ascertaining the 'situation' on the island before quickly moving on to her next target.

In the span of a single month, Astolfo had not only located the Conomi Islands, she had uncovered the Marine's G2 Base, Jaya, Alabasta, Baratie, Syrup Village, Cocoyasi Village, and, most surprisingly, Skypiea. Once she had discovered Jaya, she just needed to ascend ten thousand meters and fly around for a bit before locating the legendary sky island without much of a fuss. She ended up being attacked by lightning, but one of the many capabilities of the Hippogriff was the ability to teleport to avoid danger. It could even pass through the boundaries between worlds and ascend into space, so there wasn't a lot that could hinder Astolfo from flying wherever she pleased.

The only real downside to Astolfo's scouting was that it meant she was alone when she faced dangers or witnessed the 'many' tragedies present within the world of One Piece. She was a very kind-hearted girl, so it was difficult for her to see suffering and atrocities without doing something to help. As a result, she became the first member of the Wild Hunt to have a Bounty after using her golden-tipped lance, Trap of Argalia, to assault a group of Marines tormenting a small village.

One of the unique abilities of Astolfo's lance was to inflict a curse that caused them to fall incessantly. It had been 'unstrengthened' to such an extent that it was nearly impossible to kill with it, but it was remarkably effective against even the most powerful foes unless they possessed a high curse immunity. Marines in the East Blue were among the weakest in the entire world, so by the time Astolfo was finished with them, the group couldn't take more than three full steps before stumbling. As a result, she had earned herself the curious epithet 'Pink-haired Trap' due to shouting the name of her spear upon its release...

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(A/N: For those curious about Astolfo's Bounty, it's only 3,000,000. She didn't kill anyone, and the existence of her Hippogriff is unknown as, due to its nature as an 'impossible' existence, it's basically invisible to anyone that doesn't possess Advanced Observation Haki.)

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