Chapter 8: My 6th birthday! My cheat’s present is a new quest?! Grandpa! What are you doing?! (rewritten)

1st January 1508

Mt. Colubo, Dawn Island.

"Hey, wake up! How long do you plan to sleep on your birthday?! The others will finish your special breakfast meal before you even get to try a bite!"

A loud voice boomed through the room. I groaned, burying my face deeper into my pillow. The last thing I wanted was to be dragged out of bed on my birthday, especially after how much has happened yesterday. The allure of breakfast, however, was too tempting to resist. I cracked open one eye to find Dadan's face hovering inches from mine, her expression a mix of impatience and annoyance.

"Sweet mother of a pirate! Can't you keep some distance lady?!" I yelped, my body jerking upright on reflex. She startled me, her face so close that it sent a jolt of adrenaline through me. In that split second, my muscles tightened, ready to swing, but I managed to stop myself just in time.

'Damn, Dadan nearly triggered my punching reflex. Only Oda knows what would have happened, had it not been stopped by my incredible self-control and conscience.' I secretly patted my own shoulder for being such a kind human, but Dadan apparently begged to differ.

"You stinky brat! I raised you, fed you, even prepared a nice breakfast to celebrate your birthday and this is how you treat me?! Show some respect or at least a little gratitude!"

'You dare try to make me feel guilty and sorry for you? An incredibly effective move against pure-hearted and good-natured people like me, I'll give you that. But lady you are up against a seasoned veteran of verbal disputes!' It was obvious that she used the classic guilt trip. Dadan was trying to make me feel bad for my reaction, but I wasn't falling for it. I decided to use my own trump card—the art of changing the subject.

"By the way, where's Ace?" I asked, feigning curiosity as I glanced around the room.

"Don't try to change the subject, you brat!" Dadan snapped, before lighting up a cigar. But then, almost as if she realized she was wasting her breath on a pointless argument, she exhaled a cloud of smoke and relented. "Your brother went into the woods with Garp. Neither of them has returned since yesterday."

"Grandpa is here?" I repeated in surprise. I hadn't expected him until today.

"Yeah, you just didn't know since you were out and about all day yesterday," Dadan explained. "Even if I wanted to tell you, you went straight to bed as soon as you were back."

I nodded, piecing together the events.

'Well, if Ace is with Gramps, then everything's probably fine.'

Dadan left me alone to get up and ready, though there was one thing left to finish before anything else. With just a thought I made the familiar light screen appear again, allowing me to read about most recent changes.

[Passage of one year: confirmed]

[Synchronization rate will be increased by 5%]

As it happened yesterday, an enormous force began pouring into me, threatening to rip me apart again. Yet this time the pain was bearable and nowhere near as bad as it was before.

My body was being reforged once more, further enhancing every aspect of its capabilities and power, including observation-haki. I could feel a large current humming beneath my skin, waiting to be unleashed.

'Still no armament-haki?' I noted a bit confused and a bit disappointed, but it couldn't take all that long to awaken it, since at worst I would just have to wait till next year, right?

[Synchronization Boost (Quest): Awaken and learn armament-haki without relying on synchronization]

My new quest, that suddenly popped up on its own, begged to differ, as it practically insisted, I learn it on my.

But for now, that had to wait as it was high time to grab some food. I headed outside, where the usual ruckus was already in full swing. Dadan's house was filled with the familiar scene of mountain bandits eating noisily, their faces smeared with grease. The smell of grilled meat and freshly baked bread filled the air, making my stomach growl.

I grabbed a plate and joined the fray, piling it high with food. As I found a spot to sit, I noticed Ace and Grandpa walking up the path, their faces flushed from the morning's exertions. Ace spotted me first, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Jackson! You're already awake for once? Just where were you yesterday all day long?" he called out, running over to me.

I grinned at him, glad to see him in such good spirits. "Training," I said simply, shoving a piece of bread into my mouth. "What about you? Did Gramps finally knock some sense into you?"

Ace rolled his eyes but didn't say anything, and that's when I noticed the change in his expression. His eyes, which had been dull and listless for the past few months, were now bright and full of life. Whatever Grandpa had said or done, it seemed to have worked.

'Well done, Gramps,' I thought, giving him a mental thumbs-up, not noticing something was amiss.

Usually, he would smile and laugh childishly before wishing me well alongside all that birthday talk, but instead his faces hardened as soon as he saw me. I could feel his eyes drilling into my very being, assessing, calculating.

"Jackson," he said finally, his voice gruff and commanding. "Come with me for a moment."

I nodded, setting down my plate and standing up. Ace shot me a curious look, but I just shrugged, following Grandpa out the door. As we walked into the forest, I couldn't shake the feeling that something big was about to happen.

We hadn't gone far when Grandpa suddenly vanished from sight. My heart skipped a beat, my senses going on high alert. I felt him reappear behind me, his fist swinging towards my head. Instinctively, I ducked, narrowly avoiding the blow.

I spun around, my fists up in a defensive stance. "What the hell are you doing, Grandpa?!"

Grandpa didn't answer right away. He just stared at me, his expression a mix of surprise and something else I couldn't quite place. "You've gotten stronger," he finally said, his voice low and contemplative. "Much stronger than the last time I saw you."

I frowned, lowering my fists. "What do you mean?"

Grandpa crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes narrowing as he studied me. "You've awakened your Observation Haki, haven't you?"

My eyes widened in surprise. 'He got it right after a single glance at me.'

"I have awakened something." I admitted, nodding slowly. " It happened during my training. I started sensing things I couldn't see—trees, animals, even people. It was like my blindfold didn't matter anymore."

Grandpa let out a low whistle, shaking his head in disbelief. "Awakening Observation Haki before you're even six years old… That's incredible, Jackson. Absolutely incredible. You really are your father's son."

I felt a strange mix of pride and unease at his words, but this was a great chance to ask him more about haki. It was briefly explained and plentiful displayed in the anime, but how exactly do I learn it? "Grandpa, what exactly is Haki?"

Grandpa hesitated, glancing away for a moment before turning back to me. "Haki is a mysterious power," he explained in a simple enough way. "There are different types, but the Observation type helps you sense everything in your surroundings, even things you can't see with your eyes. That's why I could tell something had changed in you as soon as I arrived today."

I nodded, absorbing his words. "And the other types?"

Grandpa sighed, scratching the back of his head. "I can't tell you that, Jackson. Not yet anyway. I'm not supposed to explain Haki to outsiders. The only reason I'm even telling you this much is because you figured it out on your own."

I frowned, feeling a surge of frustration. "But Grandpa—"

He cut me off with a sharp wave of his hand. "No, Jackson. If you want to learn more about Haki, you'll have to become a Marine."

'And since when exactly did You start to follow rules so strictly?! Old geezer just wants to bait me into joining that leashed dog organization! NEVER!'

I clenched my fists, my frustration boiling over. "I don't want to be a Marine!"

Grandpa blinked, clearly taken aback by my outburst. "NANI?!"

I crossed my arms over my chest, glaring up at him. "I'm not going to be some leashed dog, Grandpa. I want to be free. Like Dad was."