6 Chapter 6: Year Three

By now, Josh was a bit mentally peeved at not being able to have some social contact with another human but he steeled his resolve and bore through it because, he knew that he would take this world by a storm after this year passes.. maybe not right away but once he hits the grandline, things were sure to get interesting.

At his current state, Josh was strong enough to take on a commander under a Yonko. Fighting a few Vice Admirals at once would not be that difficult for him. All of this power and he still hadn't even touched on the subject of Haki.

When he received the rewards for "helping" the system's creator, he felt that he could activate his Haki with some difficulty but kept it at the back of his mind to train at a later date.

Inside a giant tree on the island of "Isolation", there was a dome like hole about 5 meters above the ground. Inside the dome was a youth sitting still as a rock.

This youth was focusing with all his mental strength to sense the presences of living beings near by.

He could vaguely feel some sort of energy moving around, others staying stationary. He could not identify which energy associated with which living creature but he was sure that he could identify them with time.

A plus to this though is that he can sense how big one's presence is so to say. It usually goes along the line of bigger means stronger.

As another session of his Observation Haki ended, the blindfolded youth turned to lie down on his makeshift bed.

Josh had blindfolded himself since the start of his Haki training to progress much faster. At first, he got lost a few times trying to find the way back to his temporary home, even hugging nearby trees to guide him.

The animals on the island were already used to him being around and none dared to attack him any longer... and to think that he almost shat his pants when he first arrived here.

The now 19 year old had "asked" his bestie the bear to aid him in his training for observation Haki by having him not only attack him but sometimes ambush him when he wasn't paying attention.

Of course the bear had taken much pleasure in having his revenge against the human for his 2 years of torture.

Every time he got struck, all he could do was grit his teeth, try his best to not use Tekkai on impulse, and think 'Oh crud!'

Joshua's day of training now consisted of early morning workout, Observation Haki training, Armament Haki training, followed by Conqueror's Haki training.

For the past few years, the youngster's life only consisted of training, training, training, and even more training. He couldn't wait for the day he would finally leave this island.

Josh hadn't had much time to think about exactly what he wanted to do in the world of One Piece with the pace that he was training in over the past 2 years.

But now that he had toned down on most of the physical things, he had some more time to think about his purpose in this world.

He didn't really want to go out there and become the King of Pirates like Luffy, nor did he have some ridiculously large ambitions like taking over the world.. that was it.. "why can't I just have as much fun and freedom as I want?"

This thought brought him back to when he was still on Earth. He always felt that life was way too dull.. safe but dull. Everyday, he would go to school and repeat.. only to go to school even after high school.

The final goal is to get a good paying job and live a comfortable life.. but that was the part that irked him. The thought of all of those years of school.. simply to get a boring job pushing pencils and papers.. was way too dull.

He even felt that at one point, if that was all his life was going to amount to, then why bother living at all? That didn't feel like living to him.

No adventure, no fun, no entertainment.. it would just be one stressful day after another.

When he found out that he arrived in the One Piece world, the first thing he wanted was to have fun and go on an adventure. Why not do just that? Without much responsibilities or stress. Live a carefree life and probably have too much freedom.

But he needed strength to do any of that... so he trained.. he trained hard everyday. Pushed himself to the absolute limit.. soreness and discomfort aside. He was genuinely surprised that he didn't start going bald like a certain cape wearing hero for "fun".

With these thoughts, Josh went to sleep, and strengthened his resolve even further.

One day, while he was out near the shore of the island to wash himself, a normal sized seaking for the Calm Belt standard which is absolutely massive for the East Blue, poked it's head out of the water.

This seaking, in Josh's opinion, could give Laboon a run for his money if they were comparing their size.

Josh almost freaked out at his first meeting with such a large creature even though he knew about them beforehand. Thankfully though, he had expected to run into them.. just not in the Blues.

The turtle seaking opened it's massive beak like protrusions to let out an ear splitting roar and lunged at Josh.

The diamond hard shells on his back protruding next as it continued on its path.

Josh thought that this would be the perfect time to see the effects of his Conqueror's Haki on a seaking. Although he had used it on the beasts on the island, if they were already afraid of you.. there wasn't much difference that one could see.

As soon as he let his intent out on the beast, it froze in place and trembled a bit. Sweat could be seen comically rolling down it's face. How that was even possible when it's in the ocean was something Josh couldn't figure out.

Seeing the effects of his Conqueror's Haki, Josh felt very prideful at the moment. His strength had reached new heights after he learned Haki and he hadn't even been really challenged to go all out before.

"Stay near these waters so I can call upon you whenever I want!" Josh ordered sternly. The seaking nodded, seemingly having understood the command of the human before it, before sinking back down into the ocean much more quietly than when he had appeared.

Josh continued washing himself and then went back into the forest and the rest of his training went smoothly from there.

Standing on the branch of the tree trunk that sprouted like a walkway in front of his 'home', Josh examined himself with a critical eye. The 3 years he spent on this island and all of his rough training had not been easy on his clothes.

Although they were relatively clean, his shirts were ripped here and there with holes present, his hoodie had seen much brighter days, the bottom half of his pants were ripped off, and the bottom of his shoes had came off about 2 years into his training so he stopped wearing them. So in short, he looked worse than a homeless beggar.

"What to wear.. no wait, where do I get some clothes?" Josh asked himself out loud. It was then that he heard a voice speak out to him that almost made him fall off the branch. It was a presence that he had nearly forgotten for 3 years in his excitement to get stronger.

[Ding! Host can buy clothes from the store function of the System.]

"What the.. who's there?!" Josh did forget about the existence of the system and was startled at the sudden voice that he had not heard for 3 years.

[Ding! Calm down, Host. It is simply your aid, the System!]

Josh could have sworn that he felt a tinge of hurt from the voice of the system prompt.

"System? Syste... ohhhh! That's right.. you were there. You didn't speak up for the past 3 years so I had forgotten about you!" A dawn of realization hit Josh like a punch from Winnie. He suddenly remembered that it was the system that brought him to this world.

"Ehhee.. I'm so sorry about forgetting you. Teehee pero!" The forgetful 20 year old comically bonked himself over the head and stuck his tongue out playfully.

[Ding! It is quite alright Host. So long as Host does not let that happen again, System will not penalize you.]

The system definitely felt a little infuriated about being ignored for the past 3 years but was willing to let that slide.

"Penalize!? Well.. I guess I deserve that. Anyway, what were you saying about buying clothes?" The youth had admitted his faults for this and tackily changed the subject.

[Ding! To reiterate Host, the System is able to exchange system points for any article of clothing. Even ones not from this world as it has nothing to do with power.]

The 20 year old thought hard about what kind of clothes he wanted to be seen in..

"Hmmm... that's a hard choice. I've got it! Give me the captain's coat that Gol D. Roger wore but make it extra dark red. As for the rest of my outfit, I want Natsu Dragneel's outfit without the scarf." The man nodded at his decisions. He always liked Natsu's clothes from the anime but the long scarf could get in the way when he fought.

[Ding! Those will be 156 system points. As Host has amassed over 10 million points, it is possible.]

The system complied with his demands.

There was a flash of light before vanishing just as quickly to reveal a dark red coat with what he thinks is a long black vest that had orange on the rims.

Josh quickly discarded his old and worn out clothes and donned his new outfit.

Standing at 6'3, the 20 year old looked incredibly amazing. He had not buttoned the top part of his outfit to show his years of effort in the form of his bulging muscles that aren't too much nor were they too little.

The bottom part of his outfit ran down below his knees and he had on white pants and white socks with black sandals. With his captain's coat sling over his shoulders marine style. Anyone laying eyes on him will have to take a second look to admire his current form.

"Alright! I'm all set. Now it's time for me to start my long awaited adventure!!" Josh shouted out the last part with vigor, causing the animals on the island to wonder what the crazy human was up to now.

After a tearful parting with his "friend", Winnie the bear, in which the bear cried in joy. Josh made his way to the shore of the island where he previously encountered the giant Seaking.

"System, is it possible for me to be able to swim and be immune to seastones?" Staring at the giant of mass water before him, Josh couldn't help but ask.

[Ding! It is possible to buy with points, Host. The ability to swim and be immune to seastones while being a devil fruit user will cost a million each.]

Josh jumped in joy when he heard that it was possible, he even had enough points to buy them right now. He had stayed away from water as much as possible after finding out just how bad they were for him from nearly drowning with no one to save him.

"Buy it right now!" The "man" could barely contain his glee at the thought of not being completely zapped of all of his strength when he touched water.

After a few more minutes of being in a trance of joy, Josh called up the seaking that he met a few months ago. He wanted to ride it around for 3 reasons.

1, he did not know how to navigate and would be lost at sea after he couldn't see the island anymore and 2, he would look really badass. 3, he did not know how to build a boat and there weren't any lying around on this uninhabited island.

He could always try his luck and create a makeshift raft, but he doubts if it would last even one day.

He could also just ride the Flying Nimbus since he hadn't used it much as it wasn't really needed but he had a special plan for what he wanted to do with that dark cloud.

After furiously warning the seaking to not get his new clothes wet or dirty, he rode the giant turtle sea creature, who he decided to name "Manni" and finally departed form the island of "Isolation"!