107 Devil Fruit or Not?

Excited after feeling the giant increase in strength Sabo couldn't resist the urge to try out his new strength and fired into Ori. The speed he was moving was incomparable to his previous fastest speed, he was like a speeding bullet that had just left the barrel.

He thrust out with the pipe he used as a staff aiming for Ori's face. Seeing his attack, Ori shook his head with a helpless smile as he casually raised his hand blocking the attack. Sabo knew how monstrous Ori's strength was, so he wasn't surprised at how easily his attack was blocked.

He swung his staff from left to right aiming at Ori's ankle's wanting to knock him off his feet. But Ori merely took a step back easily evading the attack.

Sabo kept attacking over and over trying to land just one attack, but Ori easily managed to handle each attack that came his way.

[His speed and strength hasn't increased in the same proportion as Roman when he dragonizes but it's far surpassed Lucci's post-transformation increase in strength and speed. It's done justice by the name of a Mythical Zoan type.]

Just as he thought to there he noticed that Sabo's eyes seemed to have dulled as he'd entered a trance like state and his attacks became more and more fluent. Ori recognised that state immediately.

"He's entered sudden enlightenment!"

As Sabo's attacks became more fluent they also became faster and stronger. Ori was slightly surprised by the speed Sabo was improving but he just kept blocking and dodging allowing Sabo to practice on him until he was finished.

Suddenly Sabo's dull eyes became active once more and his aura reached a new peak. He jumped into the air laughing as he shouted.

"Eat my staff…

King's Swing!"

As he said that, he swung his pipe downwards with all his strength. The pipe seemed to bend as it was swung, not able to hold up under the power of the swing. As Ori saw it he raised an eyebrow slightly surprised by the power of the attack. Even though he was surprised by the power it was nowhere near the sort of level he would struggle to block. He calmly raised his palm and coated it in a layer of haki.

As the pipe and palm made contact Sabo was forced 10 steps back before he was able to stabilise his body and his pipe snapped in 2. Sabo released his transformation and went back to his human form.

"Ahh I thought I had you for a moment there!"

Ori looked at him as if he were an idiot before reminding him.

"You weren't even using haki!"

As he said that, Sabo remembered that Ori was a logia and without haki it would've literally been no different than practicing his staff play on the air around him.

"Haha oh yeah, I forgot about that."

Ori and the others shook their heads. Roman then smiled appreciatively as he said.

"Congratulations on breaking through to the Staffsman boundary! Looks like giving you the Monkey King fruit really was the right decision after all."

That's right, the whole reason Ori was forced to use haki to block that last attack was because after breaking through to the Staffsman boundary, the power of Sabo's attack almost doubled. Ori speculated that even if he would lose to Lucci as he was in the canon when he fought against Luffy, he should be able to get the winning side if they were to fight again as he is right now.

Sabo grinned excitedly as he realised that he had finally broken through to the Staffsman boundary.

"You were right! I only just ate the Monkey King Devil Fruit and I can already feel how much easier training with the staff has become. Not only that, but there are 3 Innate abilities, not just the 2 you mentioned.

The 3rd is berserk, which allows me to temporarily increase my strength 5 times over but until I manage to awaken my devil fruit I won't be able to tell friend from foe and after the effects wear off I'll be drastically weakened, so it's really more of a last resort."

When he heard about the 3rd ability Ori was shocked as that 3rd ability wasn't one of the ones listed in the description, but then he remembered a passage he'd read in one of the journals regarding Zoan's in his father's study:

"Ordinarily the ability of a Zoan Devil Fruit will remain the same regardless of who uses it, but there are some very rare instances where the users natural affinities perfectly align with that Zoan type and as a result they will unlock an extra innate ability; This is called Perfect Assimilation!"

As Ori remembered that he couldn't help but smile excited by Sabo's future.

[Roman was right to give the Monkey King Fruit to Sabo, it was almost as if it was made for him.]

Sabo who had no idea what he had just accomplished looked at Roman excitedly and said.

"This Devil Fruit is perfect, thanks Rome!"

Roman shook his head as he replied.

"We're family now, you don't need to thank me!"

Sabo smiled and nodded, and even though he didn't say it he promised to repay him in the future.

As Ori was looking around he noticed Silk's face seemed a bit down. Understanding how he was probably feeling, Ori walked over to him and quietly said.

"You don't need to feel jealous, even though he's experienced a massive increase in strength, it was a one off and he's still a bit weaker than you."

Silk shook his head as he replied.

"That's not it…

I was just thinking about the abilities of a devil fruit… You are all such monsters with your devil fruits and now even Sabo who's only 10 is rapidly catching me. I can't help but wonder if eating a devil fruit would be the right choice for me…"

Ori looked at Silk surprised by what he said before shrugging his shoulders and replying.

"I can't say whether eating a devil fruit is the right choice for you or not, but what I will say is that if you eat a devil fruit it'll severely limit the strength you inherited as a fishman.

Just because you don't eat a Devil Fruit doesn't make you weak. Some of the world's most powerful individuals were non-devil fruit users, from King Neptune who wasn't much weaker than Whitebeard, to the hero of the Marines; Monkey D. Garp, to The Dark King; Silvers Rayleigh and even the former Pirate King Gol D. Roger.

And at the same time, just because you eat a devil fruit doesn't make you strong. I've fought several Marines far older than you with Devil Fruits whose strength doesn't compare to yours.

Although some Powerful Devil Fruits will increase your strength by leaps and bounds at the beginning, if you are lazy and don't train then you will never amount to much in the grand scheme of things. It's not the Devil Fruit that matters, but the man using it.

If we ever find a Devil Fruit that you want then all you have to do is ask and it's yours, that goes for the 3 Devil Fruits we found on Parch Island, but just make sure that you're willing to accept the losses that comes along with it."

As he said that he walked back towards the others leaving Silk alone to his thoughts. Silk watched Ori leave as he thought about everything Ori said.

[He's right, my bloodline as a fishman gives me unique advantage in water that when trained to the peak is no worse than any Devil Fruit, I just need to train hard to reach that level. With the notes Jinbei left me, and my abilities as a mink my future will be no less than any Devil Fruit user.

From this point forward I'm going to train 10 times as hard as in the past so that I can be someone the rest of my crew can rely on!]

Just like that, Silk's mood brightened as he was no longer feeling jealous of Sabo.

Benjiro who wasn't to far away and overheard everything that transpired between Silk and Ori smiled as he noticed the change in colour of Silk's aura.

[This captain of mine may seem thoughtless at times but in reality he's anything but. I'm really looking forward to our adventures together from this point onwards!]

As he was getting lost in his thoughts, the sound of Ori's voice brought him back.

"It's time for us to move out. Next stop, Water 7!"