00020. Special training in...

The ship that approached them turned out to be a merchant vessel. The ship saw the storm clouds in the distance and decided to check on the other ship in case they needed help. After finding out they were fine, the merchant vessel moved back on course as Garp and the boys continued to head in a southern direction.

Garp let the boys nap for a few hours after lunch, then kept them up till almost midnight running the ship. At midnight Garp let the boys go to sleep and took over controlling the ship for the night. Then in the morning after breakfast, he would let the boys run the ship while he took a nap. Over the next few days that was the new routine everyone settled into. 

On the fifth day of their trip they stopped at an island to resupply before quickly leaving. It took them another few days to reach an area of the sea that was completely calm, with no wind at all. As the ship entered the area Marcus glanced around before he asked, "Gramps, what just happened? Where are we?'

Garp sat up from his lawn chair on the deck and looked around before he said with a smile, "Close to our goal. Only another ten miles to go, raise the sails and pull out the oars!"

Luffy glanced down at Garp from the crows nest as he asked, "What are oars?"

"I told you what they were over a week ago when you boarded the ship!"

Luffy picked his nose as he asked, "Are you sure?"

"Just get down here." Garp said before he let out a sigh as Sabo and Ace quickly raised and tied off the sails. Then they went below deck to grab the oars. When they came back onto the deck, Luffy finished climbing down the mast and landed on the deck.

Once Luffy looked at the oars he asked, "What are those things?"

Garp picked up one of the oars and hit Luffy over the head with it, which slammed him onto the deck. As Luffy sat up and rubbed his head, Garp said, "This is an oar!"

Garp tossed it at Luffy as he said, "Now go to the side and get ready to row."

Luffy was heard mumbling stupid grandpa as he moved over to one side of the ship. Ace joined him a moment later as Sabo and Marcus moved to the opposite side. After Garp took the helm he said, "Alright boys, start rowing and stay in rhythm. That means you Luffy."

It took about ten minutes for the boys to settle into a steady rhythm, with Luffy having the hardest time keeping in step with the others. But once they had a proper rhythm down, the ship started to move at a decent speed into the very calm waters. A couple hours passed by and the boys started to complain, mostly it was Luffy, but the other boys were also getting tired of rowing. It was a little after that, the boys finally saw an island in the distance. With renewed focus and the goal in sight the boys put in more effort to reach their destination.

Once they were close to the island and the boys started to slow down Garp said, "Keep rowing, there is a small dock we can use on the other side of the island."

"But we're already here!" Luffy said as he looked at the island a few hundred feet away from them.

"If we don't dock the ship properly, it'll sink while we're here and you'll have to swim back home." Garp said matter of factly.

"But I can't swim!"

Garp smiled as he looked towards Luffy and said, "Then keep rowing."

As they rowed, the boys took in the layout of the island, which was covered in a dense forest. Near what looked like the middle of the island was a large volcano, or at least was one at some point. No birds were seen flying over or around the island, but the boys could hear animals in the distance.

Slowly the ship made it around the island to a small cove with an empty dock. Once there, Garp helped the boys tie off the ship and then dropped the anchor over the side of the ship. Afterwards Garp walked down onto the dock and waited for the boys to disembark with their belongings.

While tired from hours of rowing, the boys were still excited to check out the new island they were visiting. Once they were on the weathered looking dock, Garp pointed to an area of the forest and said, "Follow me, I'll take you to where we're staying."

As they followed along behind Garp through a small trail in the densely packed forest, Marcus noticed the temperature difference of the island. While still on the ship, the temperature was lower because of the surrounding water. But here on the island, the temperature was sweltering, making everyone sweat easily.

A few minutes later they came to a small clearing in the jungle. In the middle of the jungle, rested a run down looking stone building covered in faded white paint. Garp pointed to the building and said, "Drop your stuff in there and put on your training harness, it's time to train."

"Training already? But we just got here, can't we eat first?" Luffy asked.

Garp shook his head as he said, "You should catch your own food while you're here. You can do that while you train and I'll cook it after you're done."

Luffy grumbled as all the boys walked into the building and found it was in decent shape compared to the outside. There were a bunch of bunk beds, with mattresses that looked almost new. Near the door they entered was a kitchen area and at the far end of the building was a restroom and shower area. Once the boys dropped off their bags and put on their harness, they walked outside.

As they lined up in front of Garp, Marcus asked, "What is this place Grandpa?"

"It's used for special marine training. Once a year a group is sent here to live and train for about eight months. The last group left a few weeks ago, so it's ours for the next three months." Garp said before he turned to another small trail and walked towards it as he said, "Come on, I'll show you the island and how you'll train while you're here."

The trail snaked through the forest to another open area, this one was a few hundred feet across and about fifty feet wide. The area had a few different sections for training, each one staged after the next. The first being a hundred foot long mud pit filled with different size cut down trees rammed into the mud, all of which were at different heights and with random spacing. There were also a couple weird things that stood out.

The first log was overly large and seemed to be a starting point. On that log to one side rested a small pedestal with a button on it. Next to that log near the base was something that looked like a shower head which also had a button next to it. While on the other end of the obstacle course was a large sign, along with a bunch of information on it that Marcus couldn't read from his current position. On top of that sign was a set of numbers currently set at zero.

Garp jumped up onto the first log before he turned to look at the boys as he said, "Alright, this is where we'll start each day. Your goal is to reach the other side without falling. If you fall, you'll need to restart."

Garp pointed at the button as he said, "You can use this in a week after you can pass this place without falling into the mud."

Ace had a cocky look as he said, "I'll be able to use that tomorrow."

Garp pointed at the other button next to the shower head as he said, "That's the only button you'll be using for a while."

"What's that button used for?" Sabo asked as he pointed at the one on the pedestal.

Garp pointed to the sign on the other side of the course and said, "It tracks your time. I expect all of you to make it to the top of the list before we leave here."

"So it's a timed obstacle course?" Marcus asked.

Garp nodded as he said, "This whole island has six different training areas with other obstacle courses, each one designed to push you to your limits in certain ways. With all of you reaching level two of the training harnesses, you should have no issue training here."

Garp then jumped from one log to the next before he was about a tenth into the course and stopped on a small log. He looked back at the boys and said, "Alright, you can start. But only go after the person in front of you has moved at least six or more logs away from the start."

Ace moved to go first before Luffy said, "I wanna go first!"

Ace turned to look at Luffy as he said, "We're going by age, so I go first. Then Sabo, Marcus and then you."

"No fair!" Luffy said with a huff.

Ace smirked before he said, "Fine, we'll go by who's the strongest."

"That still makes me last!"

Ace shrugged before he jumped onto the first log before he said, "Then get stronger."

Ace moved through the first few without issue, but when he reached the sixth one. He almost fell off from landing on the edge of it. After he settled onto the log he looked at his options and jumped to another log. At that point Sabo started on the course and moved in the same direction as Ace.

Marcus stepped up next and looked at the course, after a few moments he jumped to the first log and moved slightly to the left. After half a minute Luffy joined the others on the obstacle course and moved to follow behind Ace and Sabo. As the boys moved across the course it became clear that the farther you went the harder it became.

While at first it seemed like all of the logs were within a certain size range, that wasn't true. Some of them were tiny, with a lot of them in the second half being no bigger than a person's foot. While others were rounded over or as Ace found polished smooth and covered in grease. Ace was the first one to fall about half way through the crouse and wasn't the last. All of the boys fell into the waist deep mud near the halfway point.

As they each popped out completely covered from head to toe in mud one thing was clearly heard, Garp's loud boisterous laugh. The boys were forced to walk back through the mud to the start and each one pushed the button next to the shower head. That shower head shot out a stream of water for about fifteen seconds. Long enough to clear the mud off their heads, hands and shoes. The only good thing about falling was the fact the mud and the shower helped cool everyone off from the heat of the island.

After their shower, the boys moved back up onto the log and moved back onto the course. They made it a little farther this time before they fell again. That repeated for about an hour before they all finished the log course. Garp then led them to the next obstacle in the area.

It was another mud pit, but this time a rope course was hanging above it. Some spots you could use your arms and legs to get across, while others forced you to use only your legs. Garp did a quick demonstration before he let the boys take over. It only took half an hour for the boys to complete the course with no one falling off this time.

Garp proudly smiled as the boys finished the rope course, before he led them to the last area. There was no mud pit this time, but the boys needed to carry different objects through a small obstacle course. It wasn't that difficult at first, but each object was heavier than the last and none of the boys could complete it.

Garp smiled at them as he said, "I didn't expect you to complete this one today. But within a month you should be able to finish it."

Luffy, who was laid out on the ground, asked, "Grandpa, can we eat now?"

"No, this is just the first area I wanted to show you boys. No food until we finish the training areas. Now get up, we're heading to the next one now."