Prologue: Part #2

On the Island of Monsters.

"Too slow! too weak!" the giant shook his head.

In the distance, Ulysses was using a western style sword, trying to combat a young tiger. His little frame trembled and shook with every clash, and the young tiger was completely on the offense. Were it a grown tiger, whose instincts had fully developed, Ulysses would be murdered in an instant.

----o-o-o----

"You're taking too many blows, you fool! Feel their beings screaming! Feel their intentions!" the giant roared at Ulysses and took out a jar of booze for the show.

Ulysses had grown visibly stronger. Surrounding him were 5 tigers attacking from all angles. Typically, the tigers would hunt alone, but Ulysses had challenged them all.

Every time Ulysses moved, he would dodge a tiger attack from one direction, but would leave himself open in another. Small cuts slowly built up over his body, but his deep blue eyes held no fear.

----o-o-o----

"All creatures are born with an innate will to defy! A will to conquer! A will to survive! The weak will perish, and only the strong will remain!" the giant casually swung around a small tree.

The tree would smash against Ulysses's body, but he remained staunch and took the hits, standing his ground. However, after a couple of minutes, his body was black and blue. The giant swung once more, and this time, Ulysses shot back into the distance.

The giant shook his head and got out another jar of booze.

"Your willpower is lacking!"

----o-o-o----

"Kid, do you still want strength for your revenge," the giant picked up a giant piece of meat and bit in.

Across from him was Ulysses, eating a comically big piece of meat for his body.

"Old man, revenge is all I have to keep me going," he replied.

----o-o-o----

"The animals in the outer jungle will no longer help you, move onto the inner circle now," the giant sat with his legs crossed and supported his chin with his hand.

Ulysses nodded and walked deeper into the jungle. Just when he thought that he had seen everything the island had to offer, he saw beasts of legend within the forest.

A dragon, a firebird, and even a giant serpent! The creatures had apparently divvied up the inner territory, and created their own areas along with a hierarchy. They looked proudly at Ulysses's approaching figure.

----o-o-o----

"You may have already realized it, but your will can do mystical things. It can protect you from strong blows, it can tell you when you're being attacked, and it can submit all those below you," the giant gave a stern lecture.

"Though, you are still young and have room for potential. Your haki, your will, is impressive. I'll have little to teach you soon," the giant continued.

----o-o-o----

"Oh shit, oh shit! Brat, don't die on me!" the giant picked up Ulysses's brutalized body.

A part of his shoulder was missing, and his breath was weakening. The fight against the dragon had gone horribly wrong. Compared to the fodder below it, it was too strong and too fast for Ulysses to keep up with.

If it wasn't for his haki, he would be dead by now. The giant stormed into his giant hut, and took out a pot. He immediately poured in some water and threw in unknown herbs. With a wave of his hand, a fire mysteriously started under the pot.

A few minutes passed and Ulysses's condition was deteriorating. The giant quickly held Ulysses by the head and submerged his body into the pot.

Time quickly passed, and Ulysses's internal and external bleeding had stopped. However, he was still unconscious. The giant let out a deep breath of relief as he saw that the treatment worked.

----o-o-o----

"F-fuck..." Ulysses took in deep breaths as he steadied himself on his sword.

Below him was a giant dragon corpse. Their battle marked and changed the surrounding landscape. The ground was warped beyond recognition and a river of blood was running through the jungle. There were numerous injuries on Ulysses, but he had won in the end.

----o-o-o----

The seasons changed one by one. The days went by: day to night, night to day. Currently, there was a full moon out, and the Island of Monsters was oddly peaceful.

Two figures sat across from each other under the star-light night sky. A campfire, their only source of light, showed and contrasted their figures.

"So, Ulysses. What'll ya do after all that business with those pirates?" the giant from before had now pure white hair and wrinkles all over his face.

"Who knows... old man, York, the time is near isn't it?" replied a glossy-eyed Ulysses.

9 years had passed since their meeting, and the years were rough on York, the giant. His old body grew weaker and weaker with every passing day, and he visibly looked terrible.

Ulysses, on the other hand, had just turned 16. His blonde hair was ungroomed and terribly cut by a sword. However, his physique had grown immensely, and he was now a little under seven feet. On his lean, masculine body were scars from his nine year training.

The biggest scars on his body was a large scar on his shoulder from the dragon, along with a large slash mark from a tiger's claws on his arm. On his chest, back, and legs, however, were countless little tiny scars from unknown beasts.

His presence was completely different from his 7 year old self. Those with weak willpower who looked at him would be intimidated.

"Indeed, little brat. It is." York sighed.

"I lived a good life though. In 438 years, I traveled the world, met great figures, and was commemorated as a great warrior in Elbaf." he continued as he took a jar of booze from his belt and drank.

"Ulysses, *gulp gulp* do you know what's the most important thing to do before dying? *gulp gulp*" he asked.

"What?"

"It's to have no regrets! GAHGAHGAHGAHGAHA!" York gave Ulysses a great smile.

For some odd reason, the bittersweet smile of his mother flashed in Ulysses's mind.

"Old man..."

"The life of a human is short! One moment you're a small child, the next you're a father! And after that, you begin to realize your bones are weakening, your muscles don't work like they used to, and that your life is at an end! *gulp gulp*" York finished the jar of booze and threw it away.

"Do you know why I'm telling you this, Ulysses?' he burped, obviously intoxicated.

"It's because I've seen people like you! Countless times! They're dead set on revenge and always leave me in the end!" York cried with his head up.

"The time flies by, and before they know it, their revenge is barely finished! Their life is at an end! And for what?!" he roared, sending spit and a strong gust of wind at Ulysses.

"Promise me, Ulysses! You won't waste your lives like those people!" York looked dead straight at Ulysses, his eyes red and moist.

York's words resounded within Ulysses as a tremor went through his body.

"Old Man York... I... promise you," he replied solemnly.

"Then I have no more regrets! GAHGAHGAHGAHGAHGAHGAHGAHGAHA! Come, drink with me! You are of age!" York laughed out loud as he threw a jar of booze at Ulysses.

Ulysses caught the enormous jar with one hand and stared at York for a split second. A smile slowly crept up on his face as he poured the booze into his mouth.

"Old Man York! Meeting you is one of my greatest moments in this life!" Ulysses declared proudly.

York got another jar of booze and held it across from Ulysses.

"Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

The two drank till they could drink no more. Hours passed, and the two became dead drunk and groggy. Their faces were red with drunkenness and they both had a proud smile.

"Ol-ol-olD man! Wh-where did you *hick* get this much boo-booze fr-om anyways?!" Ulysses drunkenly asked.

"GAHGAHGAHGAHGAHGAHA! B-brAT! Th-this is a PROUD! PROUD SECRET OF MINE! D-did you kn-know th-that the best booze in ELBAF WAS MADE BY ME! Fo-FOR a greenhorn like you to-to be prying into my secrets!" sneered York.

There were numerous monsters in the background, eyeing them with fear and anxiety. The two's presence gave off a suffocating pressure to the creatures in the Islands of Monsters.

"D-damn anim-als! DISPERSE!" Ulysses burped as an invisible wave shot out from him.

"BRAT! ARE YOU TRYING TO COMPETE WITH ME?!" a similar invisible wave came out from York.

The two waves clashed and a visible anomaly occurred. An orb of light suddenly appeared, shooting out lightning and light beams, along with a violent gust of wind.

The creatures in the background flew up and shot around as if they were caught in a tornado and scattered across the jungle. Their eyes turned blank and they fell unconscious.

Meanwhile, Ulysses and York dropped dead drunk. Ulysses gave a loud snore, but York's snores rumbled the air and spread far and wide.

Hours later, the two woke up. Ulysses stood up unsteadily and stretched, while York remained on the ground.

"Ulysses..." York called out.

"Hmm?" Ulysses responded.

"Bury me next to my hut," York smiled.

"What?!" Ulysses shot towards York.

He felt the giant's life force quickly fade away into nothingness. In mere seconds, the giant had passed away. However, on the giant's face, there was no pain, no regret, but a great big smile.

"Old Man York..." Ulysses's tears fell.

The giant who had trained him for nine years, who was close to him as family, had passed away.

"Bastard... that was too sudden," Ulysses closed his eyes as he wept.

He picked up the giants enormous corpse and jumped up into the air. He dropped to York's hut and laid the corpse down. Ulysses went over to the trees one by one and began to rip them out.

A few minutes later, a clearing big enough appeared and Ulysses began to dig with his hands. The earth of the Island of Monsters was exceptionally tough, so the tools he had would be useless.

Though his body became extremely dirty from all the dust and dirt, Ulysses didn't bat an eye. Once the pit was made, he walked over to York's corpse and took it over, gently as he could, and slowly put it into the pit.

However, he wasn't done yet. Ulysses entered York's hut and took the massive horde of treasure the giant had accumulated through the years. He placed the treasures around York's corpse, and began to fill in the pit.

The treasures that York had accumulated through his grand life, would be buried with him to accompany him into the afterlife.

The burial was finally complete. Ulysses disappeared and reappeared with a slab of rock he had taken from a nearby quarry. Using his sword, he inscribed York's name, and he stabbed the rock firmly into the ground.

The moment was solemn and Ulysses's eyes were red.

He looked at the grave for a few minutes.

"Thank you for everything, Old Man York. I promise you... I won't have any regrets in this life," he kowtowed, his tears dripped onto the ground.

The little boy from before was gone in a flash, but his caring heart had remained. In the nine years they had spent together, York was like a grandfather to Ulysses.

Just like York, Ulysses would make sure to have no regrets in his life.

.