章 14: Chapter – 14 A Reward From Shanks?
"Hey there, Shanks! Great to see you back! Tell me all about your latest adventure!" exclaimed Luffy eagerly as the Ship of Red Hair Pirates docked at the port of Foosha Village.
"Actually, I need to attend to something right now. Why don't you ask Uta? I'm sure she'll be happy to share the details with you," replied Shanks absentmindedly, his attention elsewhere as he searched for someone.
"By the way, Luffy do you happen to know where Ryuma is?" Shanks inquired, looking at Luffy.
Luffy shook his head and said, "Nope," before dashed off to find the half-red-half-white-haired musician of the Red Hair Pirates, calling out, "Utaaaa…!"
With Luffy gone, Shanks pondered his next move. Since Ryuma wasn't around, he decided to use his Observation Haki to locate the kid. It wasn't a challenge for him to find Ryuma if he wanted to. By extending his Observation Haki throughout Foosha Village, he quickly pinpointed Ryuma's precise location.
Separating from the rest of his crew, who headed towards the Party's Bar, Shanks made his way to where he sensed Ryuma's presence.
…
In a not-so-dense forest that shaded from sunlight, soaked in sweat, wearing only pants and nothing on the upper body, Ryuma was training.
"2887… 2888… 2889… 2890…" muttered Ryuma as he used to perform the forward Slash action.
He was holding a metal rod twice as long as him that seemed to weigh about 100 kg, and there were five metal plates/discs affixed on the rod each weighing 100 kg making the total weight that Ryuma was using for performing the forward slashing to be 600 kg.
600 Kg… an impressive weight being used for training… that's what anyone seeing him would think. But Rio, who was watching Ryuma's training while sitting atop a tree knew better than just 'anyone.'
In reality, the weight Ryuma is using is not just 600 kg… no it is several times more because Ryuma had used his Moa Moa no Mi to increase the total weight of the Rod and Plates by a factor of 55 (the maximum) that he can manage at this point).
600 kg increased by a factor of 55… upon doing the basic math, the total weight turns out to be 33 tons!
33 tons is an insane amount of weight, and using such weight for training is more insane. But then again, considering how strong people of this can be, perhaps it's not that insane.
Be that as it may, for an eleven-year-old (about to turn 12 in a few months) to perform 3000 sword slashes while carrying a 30-ton weight is amazing.
"2997… 2998… 2999… 3000…" By the time Ryuma completed the 3000 slashes, Shanks was already patiently waiting for him to finish while leaning on a tree.
Of course, Ryuma was also aware of Shanks waiting for him, however, he couldn't just stop midway, and since Shanks did not speak anything immediately, so Ryuma only turned to him after completing the set.
After he removed the effect of Moa Moa no Mi from the weights and put them down, he took the towel handed to him by Rio to wipe the sweat, then he went over to where Shanks was waiting.
"Yo!" said Shanks as he raised his hand as a greeting.
"As soon as your ship docked at the port of Foosha Village you came straight here? What's up?" asked Ryuma with a confused expression, then said, "I don't think I did anything noteworthy enough for you to look specifically for me."
"Oh, it's nothing serious… just came to see how you are doing… considering the injury I gave you the last time…" said Shanks with a chuckle causing tick marks to appear on Ryuma's forehead.
"As you can see… the injury is completely healed… even back then, I was completely fine!" spoke Ryuma in a frustrated tone, and added, "Now… if you would excuse me, I have got more training to do!" then he turned around and started to walk away.
"Hey… hey… I was just kidding around… don't take it seriously," said Shanks quickly, and added, "My reason for coming to immediately see you is something else…"
Ryuma stopped on his track, and turned around as he questioned, "Something else?"
Shanks nodded, "Yup." And added, "Actually I wanted to thank you…"
"Thank me?" muttered Ryuma as he pointed at himself with a confused expression, and asked, "For what?"
"For the warning that you gave me..." said Shanks, and added, "About the Legend of Elegia and the Uta Uta no Mi."
"Oh… did you go to the Island of Music?" nodded Ryuma as he realized what Shanks was talking about.
Shanks nodded, "Yup… We hadn't planned to go on that island… but because we were low on supplies, so we ended up making a stop on that island…" and added after a pause as his expression turned serious, "Just as you told me about it on that night… the Legend of Elegia… it seems to be true."
"I see… so Tot Música tried to influence Uta into breaking her seal, huh?" Muttered Ryuma, not at all surprised. How could he be surprised? He is aware of its existence because of his memories from his previous life.
Shanks continued, "Something did try to influence Uta into singing its Namesake song… but because you told me about the legend of Elegia and the existence of Tot Música that is very likely sealed at the bottom of the island of Music, I was vigilant and was able to stop Uta before it was too late…"
"That's great…" spoke Ryuma with a smile. He is content knowing the fact that the misfortune Uta suffered in the Canon, she won't have to suffer it anymore because of the information he gave to Shanks earlier.
"Yeah… A tragedy was avoided… And my daughter does not have to live her life while shouldering the burden of thousands of lives that might have been lost if that thing was released." Said Shanks, then he added, "For this… I am truly grateful to you… and I owe you a favor," Then he bowed to Ryuma as he continued after a pause, "If there is anything I can do for you in return… do not hesitate to ask, I will try my very best to do it."
"Return the favor?" muttered Ryuma as he blinked in surprise, then he said, "I didn't tell you about that legend because I wanted you to owe me anything… I told you that because I consider you a friend of mine! And I did not want Uta to go through something so terrible!"
Through the time he has spent with the Red Hair Pirates, he has taken a liking to them… of course, his memories from his past life are one of the factors why he greatly admires the Red Hair Pirates, but that was just admiration, spending the last few months with them made Ryuma happy… he has developed a friendship with the members of the Red Hair Pirates, especially Shanks who always honors hir requests for duels.
Although Ryuma doesn't have much interaction with Uta, he does listen to her songs… Uta herself is a wonderful singer, her singing is so beautiful that it draws everyone towards her. She has sung for him on several occasions, heck she has even created a few songs for him just like she does for the other people she meets.
Therefore, even if he doesn't have a very deep friendship with her, the two still get along pretty well.
So, when he told Shanks about the 'Legend of Elegia,' Tot Música, and its relation to Uta Uta no MI, Ryuma had no intention of seeking any personal favor from Shanks, he did that because he wanted to so that Uta doesn't suffer from the fate she did.
Hearing Ryuma's words, Shanks smiled, and said, "I know…" then added, "Be that as it may, I still want to do something for you… I mean, your warning literally saved the life of my only daughter… what kind of father would I be if I didn't even give you something as a reward?"
Hearing Shanks' words, Ryuma had a thoughtful expression, "So, a reward huh?"
Shanks nodded, "Yes… as long as it's within my… I will try my best to give it to you."
If it's a reward from Shanks, there are a lot of things that Ryuma can ask for… The first on the list is naturally the 'Straw Hat,' and the 'Devil Fruit,' though Ryuma personally thinks that even if he asks for either of these two things, Shanks won't give it… these things are too precious… well it's not like Ryuma wants either of these two things anyway… These will be given to Luffy the 'Joyboy,' Ryuma has no intention of robbing Luffy of his fate.
Putting aside the 'Straw Hat,' and the 'Devil Fruit,' the next thought that came to his mind is to ask for Uta herself, but as soon as this thought came, Ryuma quickly scrapped the idea, 'I have no interest in lolis.' Not to mention, Uta herself wouldn't want to separate from the Red Hair Pirates.
Apart from these three, a lot of things came to mind, after giving it a lot of thought, his eyes finally reached for the sword strapped at Shanks' waist, and suddenly he knew what he wanted, "If there is anything I want or need at this point… then that would be a good Sword…"
"A good sword, is it?" muttered Shanks as he nodded to himself. True, in the 35 duels that they have fought so far, Shanks has come to understand Ryuma's terrifying potential as a Swordsman and as a warrior. The kid can already create dozens of Flying Air Slashes without much problem. He doubts any other kid in this world could do such terrifying attacks at such a young age… 'perhaps Big Mom?' but that old woman is an exception… at least, he couldn't do it when he was as young as Ryuma… and Shanks doubts Mihawk could do it either.
Shanks personally believes that within the next decade, Ryuma will definitely reach the level where he would be able to fight against some of the strongest people in the world if he doesn't die early for some reason.
For a swordsman and a warrior with such terrifying potential, a good sword is a must.
As Shanks was thinking, Ryuma nodded, "Yup…" and spoke, "Although I don't have much hope… but I wonder if you can find one of the twelve Supreme Grade Blades for me, a sword preferably?"
Although not the strongest and the rarest weapons in the World as that would be the three Ancient Weapons that are capable of destroying the entire world, the Supreme Grade Blades are self-explanatory…
Canonically only four of the twelve Supreme Grade Blades were named by the time Ryuma died, though he believes that Shanks' Gryphon is also one of the twelve Supreme Grade Blades, after all, Shanks is a Swordsman capable of clashing against the world's greatest swordsman, what less than one of the twelve Supreme Grade Blades would suit a man as strong as Shanks?
And Ryuma also wishes to own one of the twelve Supreme Grade Blades. But the thing is, there are only twelve such blades… Murakumogiri is in the hands of Whitebeard, Yoru is in the hands of Mihawk, the whereabouts of Shodai Kitetsu are unknown, though there were theories that one of the five elders, Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro wields it, and finally Ace that Gol D. Roger used to wield… its whereabouts are also unknown. While the other seven (assuming Shanks' Gryphon is also one of the twelve) are also God knows where.
After the Supreme Grade Blades comes the Great Grade Blades, for these blades, Ryuma is aware of the whereabouts of four of them… but, what he wants to wield is a Supreme Grade Blade, not a Great Grade Blade, which is why he asked for such a thing from Shanks.
For a man as mysterious, knowledgeable, and influential as Shanks, it might be possible to find him one of the twelve Supreme Grade Blades.
With such a thought in his mind, Ryuma looked at Shanks, waiting for his response.
After a while of silence, Shanks nodded, "All right… I will try to find one of the twelve blades for you."
Ryuma's eyes widened in surprise, "You will?" and he smiled, "Thanks!"
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