Growing Up...

Chapter 3

Title: Growing Up...

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-Ace POV-

Garp just looks at me with a serious look on his face and brings his head closer to look at me straight in the eye. I just look back at him, I don't know what to do or say… did he maybe notice something is wrong with me? Did he figure out that I am a man trapped inside a child's body by using his Observation Haki or something like it? I know that it's possible to sense emotions from people to a certain extent by using Observation Haki. 

My mind works at its full capacity as I try to figure this out. Thankfully I can easily keep a calm look on the outside. I also realize that contemplating right now is useless to me, I must take action. So I immediately extend my hands towards Garp and make some baby noises. "Baaa~"

Garp frowns a little… "Ace! Granda is here~" says Garp as he makes a silly face and picks me up swinging me around. 

"Oy Garp! Be careful!" Calls out Dadan worriedly. But I smile and make some happy baby noises as Garp swings me around.

"Bahahahaha… you will be a brave one Ace." Says Garp as he happily swings me around. Okay, I am actually getting a little dizzy…

*bluegh*

And I just threw up on Garp…

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The visit from Garp lasts about one week before he is called back to his duties. I don't remember the exact timeline of One Piece, but there must be some crazy things going on around the world. Garp is still kind of in his prime as in this world 40-50 years old is when you are at your best… Katakuri was like forty-eight and the admirals were above fifty… I think… not exactly sure about the ages but I know that they will be old by the time canon comes around.

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Four more months pass and I can finally walk by this time. I am eight months old, but I already started walking around five months old. Now I can even run a little, just as I am currently doing.

I am running all along the bandit's home and trying not to make a mess around while doing so. I have also started doing some squats and such. 

As I am running, in front of me I create an imaginary obstacle and jump up high towards the wall headfirst, but midair I adjust my body and actually land sideways with my feet on the wall and push again. Having jumped over my imaginary obstacle, this is simply amazing to me. I have never been able to do even something remotely close to this in my first life.

The bandits are all away doing whatever they do, probably robbing some guy or something like that. Well, I wouldn't care anyway, but I doubt Garp would allow that… maybe robbing other criminals? Probably that or hunting some animals.

Damn, I am really nosy sometimes. But I like contemplating things, intelligence is like a muscle too, the more you use it the smarter you get. Or I guess some could say the brain is like a muscle, but the brain is an organ, also the skin is an organ too. Damn my mind is wandering again as I am running around. I have already said my first word and it was 'Dadan'. The woman might look fierce but she is such a softie deep inside, she cried out of happiness a lot. 

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Some time passes and I am currently two years old. Dadan and the bandits went off, so I jump up and open the door. I am not outrageously tall for a kid. I am around average I am currently around 87 centimeters (2.8 feet). After opening the door, I take a deep breath and walk outside. I haven't been outside a lot in this world, and without supervision, I haven't been at all. 

I take out a kitchen knife that is wrapped in cloth around my back. I must have a weapon at hand in case of emergencies. I have been training ever since I was born in this world, but I have no idea how strong I actually am. I can lift a barrel full of water easily, but I have no idea how much that is. I know that I am obviously way above the normal child, but I guess I should be stronger than an average adult. But how much stronger?

I look at the forest around me and then look at the sun up above. It is around four in the afternoon at the moment. I have around two or three hours before Dadan returns. Well, I should see how far I can explore and I must remember the way to return back. I guess I will start going down the mountain, then I am unlikely to get lost as I only need to walk relatively up the mountain to find my way back.

I pick a direction and start walking…

….

Not even twenty minutes later and find something. I look at the ferocious animal in front of me as it growls. It is a tiger with yellow and black stripes. It looked like a normal tiger… except that it is as big as an elephant. 

*GROWL*

Damn, just how unlucky can one guy be? I wanted to test myself not god damn die in this sh*t. I put the knife back on my belt and cover it with a cloth so it doesn't accidentally cut me. I am unsure if a small kitchen knife can even get through this guy's fur. Maybe try to go for the eye, but I should try seeing if my punches have any effect on him. I have been punching a lot of things around the house from wood to metal. Though I can break wood with a punch, I can't dent metal but only hurt my fist. Though lately, my fist has been hurting less and less from it. 

"Wanna be friends?" I ask the tiger with a friendly smile on my face. But the tiger doesn't seem to appreciate it as it charges at me. Well, I had to try it…

As I see the creature approaching I realize something. We are in a thick forest and the tiger has to charge through multiple trees to reach me. 

Okay so I have the advantage in here, I just jump up and land on top of a tree, I see the tiger look at me and I have an idea. I jump down from the top of the tree and aim my landing as I crouch down a little.

As I fall down I see that the tiger's eyes widen a little as it sees that I plan to land on top of its head. But it's too late as I use gravity to increase my power and once I am close enough I kick with both of my legs at the top of his head with full power.

Baam!

Surprisingly, my legs don't even hurt from falling at such a high distance. But the giant tiger seems to be in a lot of pain and its eyes roll on the back of his head. His body starts tilting and I jump off and land on the branch of a tree as I see the body of the tiger fall down.

Boom!

...On the ground… unconscious? What the hell?! This is it?! 

This is no Elbaf Village destruction, but still… I never expected my training to have such results! I am only two years old and even though I pushed myself quite a bit and used my basic knowledge of medicine and working out. True, I adjusted it a little to this world's standards but still… damn… 

Okay, I need to think about this later. But what do I do with the giant tiger now? It still seems to be breathing. How do I even carry this back?

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AUTHOR NOTE:

The MC might be considered normal in comparison to the natural strength of Big Mom, or even Oden. But he has trained himself quite a lot, so he might not be anywhere near casually killing a bear with a slap unintentionally. He is still considered quite strong for his age. 

P.S: He also used gravity to increase his power, together with using his feet to kick as feet are around 4x stronger than the arms in the average human body. 

P.P.S: Leave a comment if you like the story! It motivates me to write. (Currently trying to keep a daily update schedule)