Chapter 5 – Ina

Waking up early in the morning the next day, Lupin felt refreshed.

The shocked state he had been in, had faded away with enough rest. He could now think clearly again, even though the memories of the fight still made him uncomfortable.

Lupin knew that this was only natural as he had never been in a fight like that in his past life. He had prepared his mind the last few years for such a situation occuring eventually, so he wasn't completely caught off guard and understood that this was unavoidable if he was to reach a state of absolute freedom in this world.

And such a freedom was a privilege that could only be gained through truly horrifying levels of personal strength.

Such a goal and the journey towards it would obviously not be peaceful in this pirate-invested world, where justice was upheld by the corrupt marines and absolutely depraved world nobles.

He planned to rise above them all, so conflict was inevitable. Killing was inevitable.

He wouldn't show mercy to those that stood in his way. This was a very real and very dangerous world, he couldn't risk his own life in an attempt to show mercy to his adversaries.

Reaffirming his resolve and ambition helped a lot in clearing his mind.

Still, he planned to meditate more often the next few weeks and reflect on himself and the battle. He didn't want to become some murdering maniac, so it was important to keep himself in check and have a strong mentality.

Not letting himself be corrupted by his violent impulses was very important. Having control over and knowing oneself, physically and mentally was very important for succeeding in your goal – at least in his opinon.

Getting up from the bed, he went to the bathroom, where he washed his face, brushed his teeth and did his other morning duties. Afterwards he got dressed and went into the backyard to meditate.

Roughly two hours later Kindred came to get him, so they could eat breakfeast together and while eating, Kindred told Lupin about the spoils of the battle and asked him if he had any idea on what to do with the money.

Seven million berry were a rather large sum afterall.

Kindred had no use for the money, he had always been very frugal with his pay and saved a part of his income for years, so he could retire and live out his life on a peaceful island.

So his plan for the money was to save it for the boy for when he was older. He only asked Lupin what he wanted to do with money, as he was curious if Lupin could come up with something reasonable.

"I want to buy some training equipment, especially weights. Also several pairs of steel gauntles of different sizes for when I grow taller, though the weights are the most important.", Lupin said, as he paused for a moment, before continuing.

"They must be adjustable and at least ten tons heavy all together. Maybe also some regular delieveries of Sea King meat. I don't know the price, but its probably very expensive, so that isn't really a priority."

Kindred took a moment to think about the boy's words, before he answered the boy.

"Alright, I will contact an old acquaintance of mine. He is a merchant, I am sure he can deliever some training weights and gauntlets. They weights won't cost that much, as the are easily fabricated, so we will only have to pay a little for the work, while the most expensive is the iron itself. I will ask for some second-hand ones, as they aren't that rare.", the old man concluded and stopped for a moment to take a sip of his juice.

"Marine bases all around the world have several sets of weights, while most bigger warships have at least one set. So there is a big market for those, not to mention all the pirates and bounty hunters using them for training. The gaunlets won't be that expensive, as battle gear is always in high demand and the market for second-hand gear is big."

Another pause, another sip.

"The meat however won't be so easy to come by. There are hardly any people capable of killing big Sea Kings by themselves in the East Blue. Most are killed with warships and a lot of manpower, both of those things aren't very common in the East Blue. It will probably have to be delivered from the Grand Line or bought from a marine base and only if it is available. Sea King meat is very nutritious and good for the body, hardly anyone would sell it and those that do so, all want a sky-high price. It's better not the waste money on it."

Kindred sighed loudly, before he gave the small boy a nonchalant look and added: "Just go and hunt some yourself when you're strong enough, the ones in the East Blue are comparatively weaker than the ones from the other seas."

"Then let's do as you said, Uncle Kindred. While saving the rest of the money."

"Yeah, we will save the rest. You will need the money, when you grow up and start living by yourself, no matter where you go."

"Mhm. I will now go and train in the forest. Let's spar again in a few days, when your injuries are fully healed."

"Sounds good. Now off you go, brat."

"Aye Aye, old man."

With these flatly spoken parting words, Lupin grabbed his sword from his room and went into the forest to train like he always did.

Kindred on the other hand, cleaned the table and kitchenware they had used for breakfeast, before resting in his rocking chair in front of the house.

He had only been inflicted some small wounds in the battle, so he wouldn't need long to recuperate from them. He also planned to visit the village later in the day to contact his merchant friend with the Den Den Mushi in the mayor's house. Which was the same Den Den Mushi, which had been used to call the marine reinforcements.

Kindred also hadn't tried to talk to Lupin about yesterday's event, he knew that some things you had to deal with yourself.

This world wasn't peaceful, so he hoped Lupin would find his inner strength to stand tall in this world. He also had noticed that the boy seemed to have already left behind the shock from his first real battle, as only a small shadow had remained in his gaze.

…

Next several weeks flew by for Lupin, being occupied with pushing his body to the limit each day, using the equipment that had been delivered ten days after the raid.

By then the bounty had also been delievered by a nearby Marine patrol, courtesy of Kindred being a former marine officer.

In that span of time his physical strength had taken another leap, as he could now train more effectively. His Observation Haki had also shown a great improvement after the battle. His range had increased to a hundred meters, as had his accuracy.

The stress of his first battle had demanded a lot from him mentally and had greatly pushed his limits. So the improvement was not that great of a surprise for Lupin.

Even so, he preferred strength gained through hard and steady training, as he never wanted to rely on a sudden breakthrough during battle. He was not that suicidal.

His bestial instinct had also gotten sharper. The first taste of human blood seemed to have awakened his wolf side completely, giving it a more pronounced presence in his mind.

Lupin knew he would have to be careful to keep a tight leash on his inner beast. He did not want to fight like a mindless beast, as such a fighting style would only lead to his death in the future, when he faced stronger and more intelligent opponents.

He had also trained his swordmanship and tried to incorporate some new techniques in his fighting style he thought would be useful by using his new gauntlets.

With the gauntlets he would not have to be worried about cutting himself while holding onto the bladed part of the sword, so he could now really take advantage of the versatility of a longsword. Even using the pommel to club someone over the head with or gripping the sword, one hand on the handle the other on the blade, using it for very short distance stabs like a dagger.

Personally, he would only consider himself having mastered the longsword, when the sword became like an extension of his arm itself. Moving as naturally as his own limbs.

Lupin had also continued his runs through the forest, trying to take a different route each time and increasing his speed to a full-sprint, while using the terrain to gain a decent proficiency in parcour runs.

He would also do two hours of Yoga each morning to warm up,in addition to train his flexibility and balance. It was the only workout he did in his past life consistently at home several times a week.

He also used two small carved pencil-sized sticks to do some pencil spinning tricks with both hands. This was done to increase the dexterity of his hands, as well as train his tactile senses. While doing so, Lupin often used Haki to get a more accurate look at his movements and mistakes. It also was a great exercise for multi-tasking.

He did this everytime he waited to recover fully between his work-out sets. Using every minute of the day to improve his strength.

For the same reason he ate no meal without using Seimei Kikan to digest his food faster and gain more proficiency in the techniques. Something that the pencil spinning help him with, suprisingly enough. It seemed his high focus of perfectly controlling his finger movements yielded positive result for his body control training.

News of Roger's arrest and subsequent execution had also finally arrived at the island, through the newspaper, as had his last words.

The Great Age of Pirates had now officially started.

From now on raids would become more frequent, while the sea would become even more dangerous. And to be honest Lupin looked forward to it. Not only because of the spoils, but because he needed battle experience.

His strength had reached a rather decent level, but he had to experience frequent battle to train his mind, to keep calm even when in danger. His proficiency in Observation Haki was completely useless, if he could not keep his cool while battling.

The next big event should be the Buster Call on Ohara, as far as Lupin remembered the timeline.

He had loved to read about such things as timelines or personal details about his favourite shows and books on the internet in his last life. And even though he could not remember the dates, the rough order of events, he still remembered.

Today, he trained like he did every day, but one thing happened that made it different than usual.

A young girl walked into his training area behind the house. She had black hair, green eyes and caramel-colored skin.

She would have been considered a beauty, but her blank look and slightly sunken-in cheecks made her rather pitiful and strange looking.

Lupin had obviously heard about the girl that had been found on the pirate ship from Kindred, he just had not been very interested in her.

Shortly after he was born into this world, he had learned about the cruelty that was so common on this planet.

He knew that pirate life wasn't about adventure and having fun with your friends. Most pirates were henious criminals that would raid, plunder, rape and kill every chance they got. The newspaper was basically full of such tragic stories.

The girl he had inadvertently saved was nothing special, so he had not bothered Kindred about more information and soon even forgot she existed – until now that is.

'Why is she here? Someone probably told her that I killed most of the pirates. Does she want to thank me?', he thought.

Lupin didn't address her directly, he just observed her for a short moment, before turning around and continuing his training, lifting dumbells weighing several hundred kilos and throwing around weights weighing nearly a ton.

He honestly could not care less about someone observing his training, especially not if that someone was quiet and did not try to disturb him.

When he was tired he sat down and picked up his pencil-shaped sticks and spun them around.

At first only with one hand, until he used both hands. Of course, he would often lose his focus with one hand while doing so and drop the pen, but he persevered until he could feel his physical fatigue vanishing due to his supernatural regeneration.

The girl had at some point simply taken a seat on the ground and watched him the whole time. She did not try to speak with him, she just observed.

When evening approached and Lupin went into the house to wash up, the girl just left not saying anything.

'Weird. Well, whatever... Time for dinner.'

…

As Ina slowly woke up from her slumber, she was both disappointed to still be alive, and confused that it wasn't because someone had assaulted her or wanted to have their way with her, but because her body had simply rested enough.

The lack of stimuli made her fearful about what new torture awaited her, when she opened her eyes. Though at this point even her fear was slowly dying, leaving behind only emptiness.

She did not know how long she had been a captive of these pirates, but it must have been a few years at least. She had been kidnapped when she was eleven and forced to work for some mountain bandits on the island she had been born.

It had been hard work, little rest and hardly any food, but she had not known that the real hell would begin once her womanly body started to develop.

It had happened too sudden for her to be prepared. The bandits had simply forced themselves on her one night for hours. At the end she had only wanted to slowly crawl into a hole and die.

This had become a regular occurrence soon.

A few months later a large group of pirates had attacked and killed the handful of bandits and she had been part of the loot. And her life, that had already been hell, had suddenly become a dark dark abyss without any hope or joy.

The pirates had not only raped her often, but the captain also had a sadistic streak and enjoyed abusing her physically.

At one point, she had started to hope that she simply wouldn't wake up anymore. That she had become too weak to survive the abuse, though sadly that hadn't been the case.

Opening her eyes, she found herself in a simple room with a bed, a window and a chair next to the bed.

The smell of medicine made her realise that someone had bandaged and treated her wounds. The shock from laying on a real and soft bed and seeing the sunlight flooding the room made her tense up for several minutes. When she realised that this wasn't a dream, she slowly stood up and approached the window.

She could see several other buildings and people busily moving around, while children were also roving around and playing together.

It was a village, a normal and peaceful village, like her home had been.

Somehow, she could not believe that the hell she had lived in for the past few years was now over. That she truly had been rescued.

From there, it had taken her several days to slowly get used to the fact that she was finally free from the scum that had abused her.

The village doctor had let her eat as much as she wanted and took care of her wounds. She was a kind old lady, who would always tell her some stories when they ate together.

It was that old woman named Shava, who had told her that all the pirates had been killed and that they had not gone peacefully. Being massacred by the village's 'monster child'.

That whole time Ina had basically never spoken a word to the doctor out of her own volition.

She had only listened to the stories she had told and answered question with short responses, when asked. She had acted more like a lifeless doll, than a real living person.

But this time Ina found a smidgen of fire return back to her eyes, her demeanor gaining just a tiny bit more vitality, as she couldn't hold herself back from asking.

"Monster child?", her voice sounded out, quiet and a bit raspy.

"Ahh, I shouldn't have mentioned it. Forget what I said and let's get you back in your bed to rest.", the doctor hurriedly spoke.

Ina just looked at the doctor blankly in response.

Doctor Shava had wavy blond hair and blue eyes, with fine wrinkles having developed on her face already. She caved in rather quickly under Ina's unerring stare, whether it was out of pity for the girl or because she couldn't endure the uncomfortableness any longer, nobody knew.

"The five-year old grandson of Old Kindred, I think the boy's name is Lupin. He killed the captain, when they tried to raid the village. The boy also slaughtered the rest of the pirates as if possessed. I have only met him once for a short while, and the boy is strange. He doesn't want to play with the other village children and only ever ventures into the woods. Nowadays he trains with the stuff Old Kindred bought for him some time ago with their share of the loot. I know you may be curious about the boy, but I would advise you to keep your distance. The boy is weird. He trains like a madman each day and Old Kindred told me the child comes from a tribe of ferocious warriors somewhere on the Grand Line, before he adopted him. He also told me the boy was present as his mother died as a baby and didn't even cry. It just isn't normal! And he doesn't talk to anyone but Kindred himself... Ahh, that's enough. I have already said too much. Now back to bed with you, you still need to rest for a few weeks more, before you can move around normally."

Their conversation ended here, as the doctor practically carried her to bed and tucked her in.

Still, her words ringed in Ina's ears long after the doctor had already left.

She knew, that as soon as she was strong enough and allowed to move around the village freely, she would go and find the boy.

Ina wanted to meet the supposed 'monster child'. She wanted to take a look at the five-year old boy, who had slaughtered most of the pirates, which had tortured and raped her for months and years on end, by himself.

So, when the doctor gave her the permission to walk around by herself several weeks later, even though she was still realtively weak and thin, Ina walked directly to where Kindred lived.

It was easy to find, as she had asked the doctor about the location and the village was very orderly structured.

*THUD* *THUD* *THUD*

Hearing some strange dull sounds, Ina walked around the house and what she saw surprised her.

There stood a little boy with massive weights in his hands that he threw around the yard. The boy noticed her shortly afterwards, looking at her blank expression with a gaze that signalled her that he wasn't surprised or bothered by her appearance.

A small shift of his brow told her that he was maybe curious about her reason for coming, but it vanished shortly after.

As Ina just stared at the boy, trying to understand how this child had killed her tormenters. The boy just turned around and soundly ignored her.

As she watched him lifting some truly ridiculous weights with a stoic expression, while having to stand on a steel pedestal because of his short height, she couldn't help but marvel at the boy's strength.

Hour passed where she just kept observing the boy, while resting in the grass. Not once had he attempted to speak with her, seeming wholly uninterested at her or the reason she had come after his initial curiosity had vanished.

Ina was fascinated by the boy.

He really trained like a madman, but he also played some really interesting games with two short sticks. The amount of focus and concentration on his young face while he did so, was something she did not understand.

His whole being was indecipherable for her.

Lupin was a mystery for the young girl. A mystery that had relit her will to live. She wanted to know why he trained so hard, why he was so quiet and really anything else about him.

But she wouldn't ask him, she would simply observe and find the answer herself.

And so she revisited him everyday she could and just watched him train after that first time she had done exactly that.

Two weeks later another raid happened.