Libell

[A/N: This author note is not included in the word count.

Let me explain something. the four stages are stages one has to pass to exit their world and universe. However, in each world, it prepares one differently. In the one-piece world, it toughens the body to the point they would be able to exit the world. Another example would be how in the Naruto universe the four stages would increase one's chakra and ninjutsu ability. And prepares them to leave their world under the protection of chakra.

Although the four stages are good to scale the power of someone it doesn't mean a lower stage can't kill a higher one. For example in the world of one piece where the stages grant physical strength, whitebeard would be physically weaker than Kaido, but his devil fruit would allow him to win their fight.]

****

New world.

One day later.

Ian and co had enjoyed the last day a great deal. Bert had cooked them a feast. But the most important thing is how this feast had nothing but rare exotic food.

In the end, Elene had won, no matter how much the rest tried to up her as they each time reentered the sea and tried to find rarer types of fish, they just couldn't find anything rarer than Elene found.

On the plus side, this stubbornness of theirs presented Bert with various types of rare materials to cook.

However, towards themselves, they didn't give up at all. Well, not until they tried the dish made from the rare fish she brought. Only then did they admit defeat. Such a taste would make anyone give up.

The ship in all its glory can be seen sailing and cutting through the waves of the sea, under the luminance of the sun.

This time Ian had woken up quite early this day. Three hours before anyone else would be up. This was how he did it usually. He would wake up earlier than the rest, practice for a while, then go back to bed before they wake up, and when they do, they'll find him still in bed and would think he was not an early person and leave him sleeping, when in fact he would be recovering his mental exhaustion.

Of course, there was a reason why he did so. He did not want the crew to notice what he was doing.

He had sneaked from the room shirtless, leaving a sleeping Robin there. Then he grabbed a bucket and a towel and relocated to the deck. Before promptly going to the figurehead and plopping down.

He was about to start practicing his ability. The voice of all things.

"Sigh…" Ian couldn't help but sigh in frustration.

This ability had proven to be real trouble.

He was not used to an ability that hurt him as he tried to master it. So he was a bit frustrated. There was also the fact that he was a fast learner. And spending this much time to learn to use the 'voice' was a bit too much for him.

Still, he grits his teeth and got to work.

The last time he had managed to limit the number of voices he hears to the hundreds instead of thousands.

He was planning on reducing that number to just one today. Effectively meaning he would be able to direct the ability perfectly.

'Heh.' He snickered to himself. That was the goal, but that didn't mean he would succeed.

Still, he was not a quitter. He had three hours and he was not going to waste another minute. Bracing himself he used the 'voice'.

"Ugh," The pain, as expected, came the moment he used his ability. Hundreds of voices spoke at the same time in his head, leading to his nose to start bleeding.

Using his sheer willpower he started to reduce the number of voices he was hearing.

5 minutes later. He took a short break.

It was true that he was strong and his will was indomitable, however, this torture he was going through, would leave a person mentally drained no matter how strong they were.

After he rested for a bit and cleaning his face, he got back to work once again.

****

Three hours later.

Ian stopped his ability and resigned to himself. He didn't manage to reach his goal of the day. He was still hearing a lot of voices in his head.

He cleaned his face with his towel and water and prepared to get up.

Taking one last glance at the ship around him, he convinced himself to give it one more try.

Taking a deep breath, Ian started.

'Alright, one more time.' He thought before he activated his ability.

However, something new happened this time. Energy washed over his whole body for a few seconds.

Where before there was a bunch of voices speaking together at the same and creating unrecognizable gibberish to echo in his head with the occasional phrase he manages to pick, this time all unrelated sounds were dampened leaving him perplexed.

There was also a new weight applied on his left knee, as he was sitting cross-legged.

He ignored that for a bit and took a look around and noticed how nothing changed except the sound of the ship speeding through the waves was lowered to his ears.

Finally, he turned to look at the person sitting on his left knee.

At some point, a little girl of around 7 years old and who was wearing a raincoat had sat on his knee without him knowing.

When his eyes met her light blue ones, he noticed the worry in them. She was looking at his nose precisely. And when he touched under his nose he noticed that there was blood.

Using the towel he cleaned it and was surprised when it didn't bleed again. As he was still using the ability.

Opting to finally start talking he said.

"Hello there! Mind telling me who you are?" with a gentle tone, he questioned the child.

She gave a short nod.

"I am the spirit of this ship." She replied.

Ian was anticipating this so when she replied he grinned as he made a fist.

"So I did it!" He had managed to use his ability and not hurt himself. As evidenced by his clean face.

She smiled a bit at that. Happy that he cared this much to meet her.

Ian noticed that he was not able to see through her coat and see her face.

So he asked.

"Why are you hiding your face?" he said.

She promptly moved her hand and lowered the hood of her coat.

Ian was met with the visage of the sweet little girl. In truth, he was not expecting her to be just a normal little girl.

And it was true. As although she looked just like a normal cute child, there were differences. She had two small horns sprouting from her temples, from which two lines of scales originated until they went below her eyes but didn't meet at her nose.

Ian instantly knew why, however.

She was the spirit of the ship. And the ship had a blue figurehead of a dragon. It was obvious to him.

"A spirit of a ship can only show itself to the members of the crew that treat it as one of them!" She replied.

Ian then moved one hand and ran it through her blue hair.

She enjoyed his touch as she closed her eyes with a smile.

"Can you make yourself visible to the rest?" Ian asked her.

She shook her head.

"Although I should be able to do that as they do care for me as if one of them, I can't as I am still too young as a spirit!" she replied with her eyes still closed.

Ian understood.

As although t had been two years since they got the ship, they were not sailing on it at the time, but rather they had it docked as they were training in his father's island.

So he could understand.

"Well, I for one am glad I can see you and talk with you!" Ian happily said.

It felt like having a little sister to care for.

She giggled at him as she heard him. She then expressed her happiness at what Ian said by jumping at him and hugging him.

"Hey tell me, do you have a name?" Ian asked her. And when she shook her head he continued.

"Do you want me to name you?" he asked her.

"Yes!" she happily replied. He was essentially her family, as the ship was made for him.

Ian took a few minutes to think. He felt that since she took on a humanoid dragon shape, that her name should be dragon related. He then remembered one name he knew originated from German in his old world and essentially meant dragonfly.

"Libell!" He said towards the little girl.

The little girl spoke the name a few times as if testing how it sounds before she smiled happily and gave him a kiss on the cheeks.

"I like it!" She happily said.

If Ian paid close attention he would have noticed that on his ring, a small dragon engraving appeared. But it will not be until later that Ian would notice that.

Suddenly, Ian felt a massive presence nearby. Using observation Haki he was able to deduce that the energy behind this presence was monstrous.

Turning his view forward, he was able to see, due to his good eyesight, the sight of dense fog covering everything.

Using his telekinesis he made a wave of energy spread forward to the sky which managed to clear the fog in seconds, leaving Ian to see where they were.

Then he saw it.

The direct view of the 1000 years old gargantuan elephant reaching 35km in height named Zunesha.

Ian grinned happily while still holding the spirit of the ship, Libell. It appeared they had reached Zou.