Luffy's Relentless Pursuit!

⚠️Author Note: The First Volume that is being written as of now has about 20 to 25 chapters before going into Volume 2. Volume 2 is when he'll start his journey by leaving the island, just wanting to say that for the impatient people who are all about action every second.

Rein and Erica went to the secluded area again after leaving the chaotic house. Here, the space was open for things like training and fighting. It was like a big empty circular space, and around this space sat many trees. Once they arrived, Erica took out a couple of chairs for them to sit on. Rein didn't work out ever in his last world but he knew what needed to be done to work out the body and muscles.

Though he didn't know the exact way to train Haki, from what he had seen from Sabo training with the revolutionary army, all you need to do was work out your body like normal. At the age of 17, Sabo had already learned Armament Haki, though it could have been earlier than that.

"Looks like regular push-ups and other workouts won't do without some actual equipment. The concept is no different from the regular world, lifting weights will do." Rein knew that weight training was the fastest way to see improvement, fortunately for him, he had a system. If he didn't have a system then he would have to use normal means of working out, which would take longer.

"So, what will we do to start our workout with?" As Rein was thinking to himself, Erica asked Rein with some anticipation.

"Just a second, let me think for a bit." Rein looked at Erica and summoned his system. Sadly for him, it seemed that he would have to use some System Points to buy some workout equipment for the time being.

The Weights were located in the miscellaneous category along with many other awkward things. Even devices that could rob others of their devil fruits, but that thing was a little complicated for now, there was one that could allow an individual to willingly give up their Devil fruit and there was one that could rob someone's devil fruit, this was the complicated one and it also cost triple that of the willingly one.

Fortunately, the weights didn't cost much at all, Rein was on a budget so he didn't want to spend much. However, Rein spotted something interesting in here, it was a training crate that supplied really good training equipment. The good thing was it seemed to be on sale for some strange reason, this was completely new to Rein.

[Training Crate] 50% Off Sale!

50,000 System Points!

Crate comes with the following:

⭑Weight Suit x1

⭑Energy Boost Pill x10

⭑Weighted Arm Guard Right+Left

⭑Weighted Leg Guard Right+Left

⭑Weight Crystal x10

"Hmm, not bad! This seems to be really good, let me check the tutorial out." Rein looked at Erica who was still waiting patiently and told her just a little more. Erica smiled and nodded, she didn't care how long Rein took, he was her savior and she just liked being with him.

Rein looked at the tutorial and saw how everything worked with these items. The Weight Suit was self-explanatory, the weight crystals were crucial for the other devices here. The weight crystals were to be inserted in the weight equipment so as to change the weight of them all.

All you have to do is touch the crystal and think about the amount of weight you wish it to be. The Energy Boost Pills were to relieve fatigue and could allow someone to train longer, but this was only for the body and not the mind. You would still be mentally fatigued and would still have to rest at the end of the day.

"This is amazing, it's on sale and comes with so many amazing things!" Rein click the purchase button and bought it right after.

[Ding! Congratulations Rein, you've purchased a Training Crate!]

Rein opened the box and received all the things inside. As soon as this was done, he took them out as they materialized on the ground.

"!!!" Erica's eyes opened wide seeing the items appear out of nowhere, did Rein have a secret power as well? Rein didn't pay attention to her expression and picked up the two weighted arm guards that had no weight to them.

"These are...?" Erica was curious

"This is the equipment that'll be for you and me to train with. These are weight arm guards that'll be put on your arms for you to carry around and exercise with." Rein continued "Come, we'll start off with a little weight since this is your first time and you're still just a kid." Rein walked over the Erica ready to put the guard on her.

"Rein is still a kid, too. Not just me." Erica looked at Rein with a bit of confusion. Rein's eyebrows twitched, he was indeed a kid but had the mind of an adult, but how could he tell her that? "Just stick out your arms so I can put this on, and yes, I'm a kid but you're an even bigger kid." Erica chuckled after hearing Rein's naggy words and stuck her arms out for him.

"Alright, they'll feel light at first but once I add the weight to it, it won't be so easy." Rein pulled the Weight Crystal out and inserted one into each of the arm guards. "We'll start with ten pounds, then you'll work your way up over time." Erica agreed, and Rein up the weight to ten pounds, Erica instantly felt the change but she didn't seem to mind.

The weight guards would automatically adjust to the size of any individual's arm they are put on, even giants! Rein told her to do some push-up and to punch outward or to just shadow box if she could.

Rein decided to go hard or go home and put the weight suit on. The suit was silver and hard, the durability was quite strong, it may even be on par with sea stone. "Okay, let's do thirty pounds for starters, I wouldn't have done this about an hour ago but now, hehe!" Five crystals were needed for the suit while the other pieces he got only required one.

The weight was boosted and Rein felt it right away. "I think I can handle this, let's do some exercises for the time being." Rein started his work while Erica was doing hers as well. She had started to sweat sometime ago, aw, she was so hardworking!

Rein did 25 push-ups, 10 sit-ups, jumped 100 times and, shadowboxed for 20 minutes, this was all done in 3 sets. During their training, they would stop and rest in between sets to drink water. Rein felt like he was pushing himself to the limit with this train since he could feel the burn all over.

After all was done, they were both aching all over. Rein and Erica ate an energy boosting pill that healed their exhausted muscles and pain. Three full hours had passed by since they had started and the light was dying outside. "Phew, I feel like a hundred percent after eating that pill, that is a really amazing pill!" If he could have had these in his last world and sold them, he would be rolling in dough by now!

The muscles ached when someone worked because they were tearing themselves down to build stronger muscles. You would know when the process was complete because your muscles would stop hurting. Taking that pill had instantly done that job and Rein's body fitness had boosted which made him just that much closer to gaining access to armament Haki.

"Looks like it's time for us to head back, it's getting dark out. Take the arm and leg guards into your body for later." Erica didn't hesitate to put all the items into her body except the full-body suit that Rein put back into his storage. Erica's ability was a useful starter ability for her, she could carry her own belongings no matter how many there were.

"Hmm!" Rein thought for a moment and said: "Let's head back to Makino's house to give her a proper good-bye, she is probably wondering where we went." Makino more than likely walked into her house with surprise seeing the food she left still untouched.

Walking down the somewhat dark mountain wasn't so easy for Erica, but Rein could sense a few things around him, so it wasn't all that bad for him. Sadly, it took them 20 minutes to reach the bottom of the mountain. Once they were upon Foosha Village, they immediately went to Makino's house.

The door was locked, so Rein knocked a few times, he wanted to just break in but Erica suggested to just knock instead. Soon, footsteps could be heard and the door was slowly opened to reveal Makino in pajamas.

"What!? Rein and Erica? Where have you guys been all day and where is Luffy?" Makino knew that Rein and Luffy weren't normal kids but this was a little too much for kids their age. She was concerned about them all the time with the daring and sometimes crazy act they would do.

"Yeah, it's getting cold out here, can we talk inside?" Rein was bluntly as usual. Once they were in the house, Rein went over everything that happened with Garp coming and the Bandits on the mountain. He honestly didn't care and told her just about everything.

"Goodness!" Makino was shocked and looked at Both Erica and Rein deeply. Her gaze then stayed on Erica who was beside Rein. "Erica, how about you stay here with me, I could teach you how to read, write and many other things," Makino suggested after seeing Erica's innocent expression and the way she always did things. Makino knew that Garp had really wanted to take away Luffy and Rein but not Erica who was stuck in between. She would have vouched for them to come back but Garp would simply decline.

Erica glanced at Rein

"This, I don't think..." Before Erica could finish, Rein cut her off.

"Relax, you have the things you need and you even know how to use them, if you know what I mean. Learning how to read and write are important things, you can look good all you want but if you're stupid, who could think much of you?" Rein had already picked up on how to read and write in this world. He had been taught by Makino already, sadly, Luffy wasn't all that interested in these things, so she focused on him more when it came to this

"S-Stupid, I don't want to be stupid!" Erica panicked slightly after hearing Rein's words she knew being stupid would make a person useless in most people's eyes. Makino's face twitched seeing Rein method of making her agree.

"Don't worry, we don't even live far from each other, just train and learn, this is the life you deserve." It was the life she never had as well until much later, but at that, she still probably never learned how to read or write.

"Okay, I'll do it!" Suddenly, after thinking about it, Erica thought it was a good idea. She wouldn't have refused anyway if Rein thought it was a good idea.

Makino smiled and put her hand over her mouth "Hehe, there are quite a few things I want to teach you about girls anyway. So, some girl talk is advised for you at a young age for you to understand the difference between boys and girls. Besides, I hired some new employees at my bar, so I have time off before going back." Makino scanned Rein and Erica with a knowing look. Rein understood that she was talking about "that stuff!" She worked a lot so it would be smart to hire more people if she could.

Rein touched his chin and smiled cunningly "So when you talk about differences between the two, do you mean like boys di..." Rein didn't get to finish, his mouth was covered by Makino's hand who had blush on her face.

"Rein, don't talk crazy and inappropriate around here!" Makino glared at Rein with a glint in her eye. Rein nodded and she took her hands off his mouth.

"Hehe, my bad, I'll take my leave now, I need to head back to get some sleep." Rein walked to the door preparing to leave.

"Rein, will you come to get me tomorrow?" Erica suddenly asked

"No, you need to focus on practicing, so I will come back in like a week or so." Erica slowly nodded, Rein walked to the door and looked at Makino one last time

"Dick!" With those words, he ran out the door in a hurry before she could say anything!

"REIN!!!!" Makino's screams resounded throughout the village, some people even pissed themselves in their sleep hearing Makino's eerie scream!

30 minutes later, Rein returned to the Mountain, it was now truly dark out. "I have no choice but to sleep in the bandit's house, it's whatever I guess." For him, beggars can't be chooser, so he decided to comply. Dadan wasn't a bad person anyway so he didn't mind at all really.

Once he made his way in, everyone was still asleep. There was the storage room that Ace and Luffy slept in from the show. But now, they were on the floor like every other bandit in here fast asleep. Rein bought a cheap pillow and quilt from the system that cost 40 system points and slept in the storage room.

The next day rolled around and Rein could hear activity all around but didn't bother to get up since he was tired. Later that day, Luffy grew curious about Ace and followed him saying that he didn't need to apologize to him after thinking about what Shanks went through in that bar on that day. Shanks had things thrown on him and much more but still retained a smile and didn't retaliate against the bandits.

However, Ace simply looked at him and kicked a tree with his barefoot and it collapsed! The tree rolled towards Luffy, threatening to smash him, but he was made out of rubber, so it did nothing. Luffy continued to pursue Ace to a bridge but that ended when Ace smashed the bridge, ending with Luffy falling into a ravine!

Days had passed with no sign of Luffy appearance, Dadan, and the bandits thought he had died. They knew Ace had something to do with Luffy's disappearance and questioned him about it, in which he never answered.

They eventually wrote it off as Garp's responsibility and not theirs. Rein shook his head with a sigh, he knew Luffy would return soon but this Ace was a ruthless fellow at such a young age, but Rein understood why.

Sure enough, a week later during the night, a knock could be heard at the door. Luffy, who had a swollen eye, was at the door with claw marks on him. The bandit immediately woke Dadan up, who was shocked by the news.

She walked the door. "You were alive? You little rascal, where were all these days!?" Dadan grabbed his face, stretching it.

"I've been chased by wolves at the bottom of the valley."

"What were you doing at the bottom of the valley?" The short and tall bulky bandit couldn't help but ask

"...." Luffy didn't answer but this only made Dadan angrier.

Before she could flip, the two bandits behind her spoke up.

"Anyway, it's nice that you're okay."

"Yeah!"

"It's okay, the pest came back!" Dadan grabbed Luffy and took him to the storage room where Ace and Rein were sleeping in. Dadan threw Luffy to the ground and said "Why don't you go to bed tonight? You got work tomorrow!" Afterward, she shut the door. Luffy instantly fell asleep right after!

Rein made sure to leave early in the morning to avoid being pestered by Dadan who wanted to make him do chores. Luffy told Rein that he was going to make Ace their friend, Rein just told him good luck and went about his daily business.

During these days, Luffy would follow Ace every day relentlessly while Rein would train or hunt wild game. He would sometimes go pick up Erica to for these occasions since doing it alone would be boring. Time passed quickly, 1 month, 2 months, Luffy could not catch Ace and would usually get tricked into traps. Traps ranging from being baited into a huge beast, falling off cliffs or being kicked off, and many other deadly traps. It didn't even matter the weather conditions, he would still pursue him no matter what!

However, on one rainy night, while Luffy was chasing Ace, he ran into Gigantic Tiger! Luffy was struck with fear and couldn't even move. Ace had mixed feelings about Luffy's situation and was about to come out to help him. Suddenly, a huge wild bear appeared, the funny thing is, the tiger didn't even see Luffy and was actually calling out the bear.

Luffy ran away the minute he saw an opening. The next day the pursuit continued like always. Rein felt like it was time to get involved with this since Luffy always came back in a terrible condition and it was about time for that. Rein would silently follow just in case something actually happened, he did use the time stone some time ago, so a few changes should have occurred. Rein literally warped reality to some degree and changed a few things, he was certain of it.

And just like that, 3 months had passed! Rein secretly followed Luffy which led him to a familiar junkyard, Grey Terminal!

"Looks like this is the legendary Gray Terminal from the show!" Rein whispered to himself.