Split

In the West Blue, Alyssia and her crew journeyed around stopping at several islands to purchase supplies, local items but also stock up on some beginner skills and books that were available to purchase with points or berries.

Each of the ships now had its own study room full of different books ranging from books from each island and the written booklets that had been made from her skills.

Alyssia provided everyone on the ship with a training plan detailing their most suitable path where their talents shone the brightest.

While some were suited to melee combat, others were suited to using a bow, slingshot or gun to better protect themselves.

Those with no talents in combat would have to rely on technology or some form of trickery to stay alive so she pointed out booklets that they were more suited towards whether it be concealment, misdirection, science, navigation or another path so that they could help out on board the ship but also find a way to survive in the world.

A couple of them had talents towards science or guns so she assigned them to Nica to develop a science and engineering team and a shooting unit.

Alyssia passed her own knowledge to those that had some talents towards navigation to help them pick it up faster.

Those that dealt with melee combat using their fists or close range weapons like daggers, katars, knuckle dusters or gauntlets were assigned to Carrot's bruiser unit.

Those with talents for shipbuilding, repairing or as a helmsmen were assigned to study under Archie while he was also assigned control over a shield unit that made use of various types of additional weapons along with their shields like spears.

Those with talents towards the sword or sabre were assigned to Clifford to form a blade unit.

Those with talents towards medicine or blunt weapons were assigned to Tristan to form a medical team and blunt unit.

The rest of those on board the two ships were either assigned a position to best suit them whether it be working as a chef, cleaning, tailoring or whatever talents they may have.

Some would begin to show their true potential once they had brushed up on the basics while others may of already had some experience in that area.

Everyone that was willing underwent her daily training regiment everyday and a training plan was drawn up for each if them to match the limitations of their body and adjustments were made for the estimated time when they should increase their training.

As an expert martial artist with very high talent in leg martial arts but also a high mastery of upper body martial arts, Alyssia was able to spot a persons flaws in their martial arts and make suggestions on how to improve them now but she could also see the state of their body and come up with a plan to improve them quicker than before without breaking them.

The ships had docked on the 80th branch of the marines island just before the Reverse Mountain.

After White Beard's death, many pirates attacked this island while passing through to get to the Grand Line.

All of the crew stopped there for a while taking in the final sights of the West Blue before entering the next part of their journey.

Anything new that could be purchased and gathered upon exploring the island was done quickly whether it be the skills from the strongest branch in the West Blue or just some of the local specialties.

The crew packed up and went back to the docks with a fully stocked storage room and Alyssia was waiting for them all.

She stepped forward and spoke. "I know this is asking a lot of all of you but right now there is a small thing that needs to be done. Next is the Reverse Mountain where you will enter the Grand Line.. I have done my best to prepare you all for what comes next and have prepared what is needed to navigate through it so I can trust that you are prepared to face it. I have also left training plans and books that each of you should be reading to develop your talents more. So.."

She calmly looked at everyone and said. "The two ships will split up to complete two separate tasks. One will go with me on my ship to complete something that needs to be done as soon as possible and next ship will enter the Grand Line and meet up with my ship later at a specified location."

It was not that she did not wish to explore the Grand Line but it was not yet time for her to go there, she still had something that must be done before she enters.

She could not take both ships with her on this journey so she had to make the decision for half of them or more to go and gain some experience in the earlier parts of the first half of the Grand Line without her.

Her current strength was enough to strike fear into the hearts of many people in the first half of the Grand Line but those within her crew still needed to experience the world and what it was like without her protection.

Those that were too used to being protected would become arrogant and fearless, this would lead to being careless or offending someone later that they could not afford to offend.

They all needed to know that as a crew there would also be times when they may split up, she could not always be there for them so they should work hard to improve themselves and be a little more independent.

During the war, she was able to reduce the casualties and lessen their burden by taking out the shooters and captains of the ships but there would be times when they may be shot at when she is not there which could get them killed if they do not know how to handle that type of situation or opponent.

She took out a Log Pose and a piece of Vivre Card and handed over a small piece of it along with the Log Pose to Carrot. "Carrot will be acting Captain for the second ship since she is my second in command. Those in her unit will join her along with Archie and Clifford and their units. Tristan will also follow with her unit and Medea. They will also need a volunteer for someone to handle the roles of a navigator, sniper, cook but also some with some strategy, calculation and negotiation abilities."

The second ship was slightly larger so it could hold many more people but it also required more effort to manage and needed more people to man the cannons.

Her main ship was slightly smaller and was not so demanding so she could allow many others to be split up in this way.

"Nica and Alfred will remain with me along with the rest of you and one or two volunteers from each of the units." She thought for a while and then continued. "And of course… Li will remain with me."

Questions immediately came towards her asking why she would split them up now just as they were entering the Grand Line but she continued to explain each reason one at a time until they accepted what she had told them.

However Alfred took her to one side and asked. "Are you certain that we should split up in this way?"

She looked at him calmly and replied. "I know what you are worried about but so long as she has Carrot and Tristan by her side she will not be harmed. There are also some things being put in place to make up for unknown variables so you need not worry. It will be safer for her to journey with them and not us as what we are doing will be far more dangerous. Do not worry though.. we will all be reunited in time."

He had a complicated look on his face but he thought things over and then agreed. "Fine then.."

She began to give instructions to those that were leaving by explaining what they should expect upon reaching the Reverse Mountain and what they may encounter on the other side if it.

She also mentioned bits and pieces about the possibility of there being a large whale there as they enter and how to best avoid damaging the ship.

Whisky Peak was briefly mentioned and the dangers of human hunters and slave traders were also brought up to let everyone realise the dangers that awaited them and let them be prepared.

She lead the way towards the Reverse Mountain and picked up the Transponder Snail. "This is as far as I can go, good luck everyone."

Carrot responded quickly. "Come back to us soon Alyssia! Garchu!"

She silently stood for a while and then spoke again with a small smile on her face. "Garchu!"

She watched silently as they began to be swept up by the Reverse Mountain and went on begin their own journey. "They will need this to toughen up a little more. Clifford especially still needs to hone his swordsmanship further and gain more experiences. Carrot needs to adapt to a position where she can be seen as someone reliable when things may look to be at the worst possible situation and take command of others. Tristan did not get to do much fighting previously but I am sure she will have her hands full keeping the others in line and helping them to recover from their wounds. Archie needs to find his own path on how to survive in the world so this will let him experience that his tough hide may not be enough to always protect himself.."

She turned to her crew and ordered them. "Okay! Turn around now and go where we came from. The next journey will be a difficult one so you must all carefully follow my training plans and not slack off."