Chapter 33: Haki

While Lucy was dragged off by Nami for a private discussion, Thomas stood in a group with Zoro, Usopp, Caenis, and Astolfo to explain the basics of Haki. Atalanta was also present, but she was perched in the crow's nest while Benienma broke off from everyone to prepare lunch.

With everyone's attention focused on him, Thomas started things off by saying, "Keep in mind that I'm not exactly an 'expert' when it comes to Haki. While I am familiar with its awakening, training, and advancement methods, my constitution prevents me from learning Haki. However, my Reinforcement Magecraft is functionally similar, so I'll be utilizing it as a visual aid during my explanation."

"Put simply, Haki is spiritual energy, given form and function through a person's will. It typically awakens during a crisis, specifically when a person's desire to survive or overcome an obstacle manifests as a burst of awareness, fighting spirit, or intimidation. The former provides insight, while the latter two allow you to endure attacks, strengthen your own, or overwhelm your opponent with a burst of willpower that can suppress or knock them unconscious."

"Though different cultures have different names for them, people in the Grand Line refer to the variants of Haki as Observation, Armament, and Conqueror's Haki. As the names imply, Observation Haki increases your perception of the world around you. When mastered, it lets you read the flow of a person's attacks and, at the highest levels, see a few seconds into the future. Armament Haki allows you to strengthen your body and weapons, drastically increasing your strength, speed, endurance, and, in the case of swords, their cutting ability. The advanced form of Armament Haki, known as Ryo in the land of Wano, allows you to project it outside of your body like a wave, destroying your opponent from the inside or letting you slice through objects far larger than the length of your sword..."

Though Thomas's explanation of Observation Haki had captured his interest, Zoro's eyes became fiery when he heard the description of Armament Haki. Most of the swords he wielded ended up shattering due to his immense strength, so Armament Haki was exactly what he needed to preserve his weapons and push his swordsmanship to the next level.

Fortunately, while Zoro was clearly interested in Armament Haki, he didn't interrupt Thomas's explanation, allowing him to explain, "The final version of Haki, Conqueror's Haki, is by and large the most powerful. It's also the rarest, so much so that only a handful of people worldwide can access it. To that end, it is also known as Supreme King's Haki, distinguishing those in possession of it as having the capacity to rule over others."

"What makes Conqueror's Haki so powerful, besides its ability to suppress entire crowds of people, is its ability to amplify the other manifestations of Haki. Combined with Observation Haki, it permits you to immobilize your targets with a glare, erase your presence, and block others' ability to peer into the future. When combined with Armament Haki and infused into your body or weapon, it drastically increases the potency of attacks, allowing you to ignore the Armament Haki of others outright. In other words, if you encounter someone who's mastered Conqueror's Haki and don't possess it yourself, you are pretty much fucked..."

Understanding the implication of Thomas's words, Zoro remarked, "So if I want to become the World's Strongest Swordsman, I'll need to master at least Armament and Conqueror's Haki."

Nodding in affirmation, Thomas replied, "Generally speaking, those who are qualified to obtain Conqueror's Haki have some degree of mastery in both Observation and Armament Haki. Being able to read the trajectory of projectiles, predict the future, and sense hidden foes is pretty useful in a world where people can fuse with the environment and become invisible."

Returning a nod of his own, Zoro replied, "Fair point," before asking the most pertinent question, "Now, how do I awaken and train my Haki? If it were as simple as placing myself in dangerous, life-threatening situations, I would have awakened it long ago."

Catching Zoro a little off-guard, Thomas revealed, "Odds are, you already have. Haki lies dormant within all living creatures and can even manifest in inorganic objects once they've accumulated enough spiritual energy. To have reached this point, distinguishing yourself from 'normal' people, you must have already awakened your Haki. You just need to learn how to tap into it."

Raising his right hand, Thomas began to condense Magical Energy into his fist as he added, "In the case of Armament Haki, you need to visualize the effect you wish to achieve. Imagine your spiritual energy and willpower as an invisible energy that you can channel into certain parts of your body or extend through your blade. Once you reach a level where you are attuned to both yourself and your surroundings, you can theoretically cut through anything."

Lowering his hand, Thomas smiled as he said, "To that end, it's better to focus on Observation Haki early on. It's the easiest to awaken but second only to Conqueror's Haki in terms of difficulty to master. As for the actual method, you simply need to blindfold yourself and have people attack you at random. Once your desire to sense and react to said attacks increases beyond a certain threshold, you will naturally awaken Observation Haki. Once you do, you will have a much easier time training Armament Haki as you'll eventually be able to sense the spiritual energy within yourself, your surroundings, and others."

Raising his brows, Zoro questioned, "I just have to blindfold myself and let people attack me? It's that simple...?"

Shaking his head, Thomas replied, "Unless you have a natural affinity with Observation Haki, it's actually 'very' difficult. However, as an exceptionally skilled swordsman, you should have a fairly easy time since you're already capable of focusing your intent and have likely mastered a few meditation techniques. With proper focus, all you need is a strong enough desire, and you will attain it naturally."

Adopting a vicious smile, Zoro asserted, "If that's all it takes, I'll awaken it within a week," before pulling his iconic dark-green bandana from his arm and tying it around his head, covering his eyes. He typically only donned said bandana when he got 'serious,' so wearing it demonstrated just how eager he was to awaken and master Haki.

Exhibiting this point further, Zoro's expression and tone hardened as he said, "I trust that you're telling the truth. Therefore, I will not remove this blindfold until I awaken Observation Haki..."

Smiling wryly, Thomas replied, "That's the proper conviction to have. And don't worry, this is the training method developed by Silvers Rayleigh, the First Mate of Gol D. Roger. The first phase is getting used to going about your daily life with a blindfold. The second phase is surviving on an island inhabited by predators. Animals are a lot more 'honest' than people, so it's easier to sense their intent. After that, the last stage involves dodging the attacks of humans. Once you can dodge a hundred attacks from someone adept at hiding their presence or concealing their intent, you can be said to have mastered the basics of Observation Haki."

"Fortunately for you, Benienma is exceptionally skilled at concealing her presence. Once you reach the point where you're ready to face a human opponent, I'll ask her to help with your training."

As Thomas had already revealed some pretty outlandish things, Zoro didn't question how he knew the training method of someone like Silvers Rayleigh. Instead, he felt excited by the prospect of reaching a point he could dodge both animals and people with his eyes closed...

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With no animals to train against, Zoro settled on having Lucy help with his training while the Going Merry made its way over to the Baratie. The latter couldn't even lie without assistance, so she was pretty much incapable of deception. Thus, even though it was much too soon for him to delve into the second and third stages of Observation Haki training, Zoro asked Lucy to spar while Usopp randomly fired at him with a slingshot.

While Caenis criticized him for getting ahead of himself, Thomas believed Zoro would be able to rouse Observation Haki in record time. He was the one Straw Hat that never stopped training and attempting to improve. In the latter chapters of the manga, he could be seen lifting massive weights with his feet while doing upside-down pushups on his thumbs. If anyone could awaken Observation Haki in a week, it was him.

Not wanting to be left behind, Thomas positioned himself at the back of the quarterdeck, working to improve the rate at which he converted his Mana into Magical Energy by gathering it in his hands and unleashing it in the form of a laser-like energy blast. His current goal was to unleash an energy blast comparable to a cannonball within one second of charging. At present, it took him around fifteen seconds to gather that much energy, but that was a substantial improvement over the two and a half minutes it required a few months prior.

Seeing Thomas fire off destructive beams from his palm, creating large plumes of water whenever his attacks impacted the surface of the sea, Nami couldn't help feeling he would become a monster in the future. At the same time, she felt trepidatious about the types of adversaries they would face if even the power to create explosive lasers wasn't considered sufficient to triumph within the Grand Line...

With such thoughts in mind, Nami waited until Thomas was taking a break before approaching him to ask, "In this 'alternate reality' you viewed, what kind of techniques did the me there use? She must have undergone some kind of special training to be able to support Luffy and the others..."

Smiling wryly, Thomas questioned, "I thought you weren't going to ask about the future anymore?"

Furrowing her brows, Nami stated, "If we're going to venture to places with giant monsters and people capable of destroying mountains, I need to be able to defend myself. I don't want to be a liability to Lucy and the others..."

Though he exhaled a sigh through his nose, Thomas didn't feel any real trepidation about replying, "You used a unique weapon known as a Clima-tact, a custom bo staff created by Usopp. It wasn't particularly powerful early on, but you were eventually able to upgrade it to the point you could emulate thunderstorms and create illusions. Beyond upgrading your staff, you primarily focused on improving your navigational and meteorological skills..."

"I see..." responded Nami, a thoughtful expression developing across her face. She didn't require a more thorough explanation to understand that she was probably one of the weaker members of the crew. Now that she had the opportunity to change things, she was determined to be stronger than her alternate reality counterpart. After all, if they were 'fated' to fight against the most powerful beings in the world, remaining powerless would jeopardize herself and others.

With a serious expression on her face, Nami looked up at Thomas and asked, "Do you think Caenis would help me train if I were to ask her? She seems pretty strong..."

Adopting an even wrier smile, Thomas replied, "She would probably agree if I were the one to ask, but I honestly wouldn't suggest it. Caenis can be fairly brutal, so you would be better off asking Lucy, training your body, or focusing on awakening Haki. If Lucy isn't an option, you could try asking Astolfo. Despite her appearance, she could probably body both Lucy and Zoro at their current level."

Blinking in surprise, Nami questioned, "Seriously? I noticed that she wears armor, but she doesn't really strike me as the combative type..."

Shrugging his shoulders, Thomas retorted, "That's something you should keep in mind, especially once we reach the Grand Line. First impressions can be deceiving. Take Benienma, for example. She looks like a harmless child, but she's the fastest and second strongest person on the ship right now. She can also conceal herself in shadows and move about completely undetected, so she's even more dangerous than Caenis."

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Though she knew Benienma was dangerous, hearing Thomas mention her capabilities caused an involuntary shudder to permeate Nami's body. She initially believed this was merely the result of his words, but the truth was far more terrifying as the moment Thomas finished speaking, a child-like voice emanated from behind her, questioning, "Did Master call Benienma, dechi...?"

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(A/N: Danger birb...)

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