17 Growth #17

Two months later

"There we go..." I said, hanging off a small branch at the top of the giant treasure tree as I reached for the purple flour sticking out of the bark. "I didn't come here to steal your treasure... I'm just here for this..." I added as I turned to the giant bird cautiously eyeing me from its nest and raised flower for it to see.

The bird seemed to understand my words as it cawed and turned away, though I was sure it kept me in the corner of its vision.

It's been some time since I arrived here, and everything and my practice was going well so far. The villagers were already grateful enough to let me study at their library, which was full of medical texts, and the medical herb seeds I brought as a gift made them like me even more.

I also went out of my way to track and hunt the occasional giant boar to feed the entire village whenever I had some free time, so it's safe to say I got along with the villagers.

Ultimately, I'd say that I spent a lot of the past months in the library, studying and learning everything I could about the different properties of medicinal herbs, how they affected the human body, and how to concoct them into medicine.

Despite their primitive appearance, the Torino Island natives had a very high understanding of medicine. The restoratives and healing salves they concocted were friggen miraculous in nature.

My goal was to use The Method to study the effects of their medicine and how my body reacted to them, as in what enzymes my body would create upon ingesting different herbs and restoratives, and ultimately replicate it internally without any outside factors.

It was a long shot, and I barely scratched the surface of understanding how the miraculous medicines worked, but I still had nine more months to learn before I had to leave.

Still, the herbs the natives acquired from the giant treasure tree weren't easy to come by and were valuable to the villagers as they needed them to heal their sick, so they understandably refused to let me use what they had in store to practice.

Of course, I didn't complain, and we agreed that I'd get my own herbs, which wasn't that difficult since the giant birds were content to leave me be as long as I didn't go near their treasures or eggs.

The giant Goayu birds liked to collect anything that had a shine, and they were damn good at it, each bird turning its nest into treassure troves that would make even a dragon drool.

As far as I remember, when Kuma sent Chopper flying into the island, the Goayo birds were hostile to everyone who even looked at the treasure tree funny since pirates would often make the climb to steal their treasures.

However, news of the treasure tree hadn't spread around South Blue, hence the Goayu birds' generous mood, as they would only give me dirty looks rather than bite my head off whenever I approached their nests to gather herbs.

Besides studying medicine, I also spent some time observing how the Torino island natives lived and experienced their way of life myself, which was remarkably different from that of the scumbags back on Four Clover Island.

The experience helped me better understand the human behavioral patterns and psyche in different environments and how they differed from one group to another, depending on various variables like their upbringing, the circumstances around them, etc.

I was making good progress on two of Mehtod's prerequisites, the human body and the human way of life, though my understanding of the third since there was no conflict on Torino island.

A part of me etched for a fight, and there were some days where I'd just wake up with the urge to kill someone, which was a side effect of The Method, and the reason I didn't plan on overstaying my welcome here.

I could hold back the urge just fine and go out to hunt whenever it becomes too unbearable, but I won't be able to do it for too long, according to the Mehtod's booklet.

The people of this island have been nothing if not kind to me, and I'd never forgive myself if I harmed them in any way.

Whatever the case, it looks like I've lingered for a bit too long, evidenced by the giant Goayu bird that resumed glaring at me directly. I merely smiled, shrugging my shoulders as I began climbing down.

...

"All right, here goes nothing," I said as I stared at the blue Horizon, taking a deep breath as I prepared to dive into the seawater. I didn't delay and immediately jumped into the water.

It has been three more months, and I have progressed my medicinal studies very well. I could now concoct most of the medicines the Torino Island concoted on daily basis to heal the more common ilnesse. With another month of study, I should be able to master everything in their libraries.

My strenght steadily grew as my understanding of anatomy and human nature increased over the months. However, my urge to fight and seek conflict has also grew as I spent my days idling about, studying, concocting medicine, and studying its effect on my body.

Hunting small animals and boars could only hold down my urges for so long, so I turned my eyes to bigger, more powerful prey, the giant sea kings infesting the water surrounding the small island.

I have grown a lot stronger thanks to my practice, and although I wasn't sure I could defeat a sea king, I knew I could at least escape with all my limbs attatched at the very least.

I knew the fight the ahead of me or wouldn't be easy. However, that exactly is why I needed to do it, not only to test the limits of my strength but also to suppress the rapidly growing urge to destroy everything around me.

Still, I didn't get to over think it as the sensation of cold seawater instantly snapped my chain of thought as I swam further and further away from the shore.

I dived into the depths once I was out of the shallow waters, and the deeper I went, the harder it became to see. Eventually, I ran out of breath and was forced to swim up to the surface, despite finding to traces of any sea kings or any giant aquatic creatures.

Though frustrated and impatient, I did not let it get to me as I swam to another spot further away from the island before diving back into the sea.

Again, I failed. However, I refused to give up and continued searching. In the end, it took me almost an hour to finally spot a gigantic silhouette swimming near the sea floor.

Impatinet as I was, I ignored my better judgment and dived straight towards the giganti figure, tightly gribbing my spear as I rapidly bushed myself down the salty Waters.

The giant aquatic creature, which had the shape of a bright green and brown prehistoric fish with sharp Jagged teeth, instantly noticed my presents and turned its body to face me.

That sea king seemed to understand my intentions and match as it began swimming towards me without hesitation, meeting me halfway. It opened its maw as it closed the distance us and began inhaling the water.

"Fuck," I couldn't help but curse as I was sucked into the giant fish's maw, unable to resist the suction force of creature's gaint maw. However, I quickly reacted, burying the sharp tip of my spear into the sea king's tongue and holding on to it.

Once I secured myself, and I was sure I wouldn't end up in the creature's stomach, I pushed my spear it deeper into the sea king's flesh. Clearly, angered by my actions and in pain, the beast began thrashing its tonge in an attempt to crush me.

I persisted, holding on for my dear life until the damned creature gave up on trying to crush me due to the pain.

Still, I barely had time sigh in relief as the sea king stopped moving and opened its maw, forcefully expelling the water in its stomach, which created a powerful jet of water that forced me out of its mouth and straight into the surface.

Miraculously, I managed to hold on to my spear, and as I looked down and saw the giant fish swimming up toward me from the depths, I couldn't help but smile, feeling the blood rushing through my veins.

"Time for round two, you big bastard!"