The man in the mirror.

''Virtual training room: Slash!''

The world fades out and that familiar blank space takes it's place. As David looks around he sees a new naked man standing in front of a giant mountain, stretching far above any visible barrier, wider than can be seen by the naked eye.

''Inventory!''

...

Nothing happens.

''Thought as much...''

The man suddenly appears in front of David.

''...!''

David quickly moves his body into a defensive position.

''...?''

David looks back towards the man and sees him now standing towards the mountain with his hand above his head.

''...''

''I stand next to a mountain...''

As the man speaks the words they engrave themselves onto David's mind, unforgettable.

''Is he!?''

Before David can blink the man's hand is already down at his side.

''...And chop it down with the edge of my hand.''

*BOOOM!*

The force of the soundwaves instantly rupture all soft tissue in David's body.

The mountain is sliced into an innumerable amount of pieces then turns to dust, the force of the strike compressing the entire mountain into a small ball before exploding outwards, spreading dust all over the place, as far as the eye can see.

Dust flies into David with immense force, embedding itself into his skin and puncturing his already ruptured eyes, rushing into every orifice in his body.

''...''

David tries to let out a scream but is unable.

[David!]

Dust invades his every breath, covering his lungs and rendering him unable to circulate oxygen throughout his body.

*COUGH!* *GAG!*

David coughs and gags while lying on the floor, desperately trying to keep himself alive.

The naked man appears in front of David.

[What the hell!]

''I have shown you the scale of greatness that you can reach... Now it is up to you to replicate it.'' The voice says, bringing a decisive slash onto David's ruined body, turning it into a spurt of red and grey mist.

David arrives back into his body.

''AAAAAAAH!'' He screams out in pure terror and pain, collapsing onto the soft sand below him.

*Retch!*

*Huuuurk!*

He empties his stomach and tears and snot start pouring out of his face. He starts to hyperventilate and quickly passes out before either Jingfei or Tommy can reach him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

David wakes up in a cold sweat, shooting up like a rocket.

'!!!'

A head splitting headache quickly assault his senses and he loses balance and falls out of the bed he's lying in.

''Gah!''

*Mumble...*

He hears someone mumbling beside him and feels like he is being lifted up back onto the bed.

*Mumble?*

He hears someone mumbling again, he can't make out any words but feels that it is directed at him.

*Mumble, mumble?*

He opens his eyes slightly and a stinging sensation overwhelms his senses. Everything is blurry and spinning and he can't quite make out where anything is. He looks to the side and sees some kind of figure standing... Around him. He can't make out what direction he is looking.

The headache quickly overwhelms him again and he passes out.

He dreams of waves and open sea. They are riding on a ship out in the water. He talks to them but can't really figure out who they are. He looks into the waves up ahead and sees numbers and equations swimming in the waves. He looks at them and starts counting.

1...

2...

3...

He figures out equations never thought possible and walks up to the stage to take his noble prize. Then several naked, bald men run into the hall and shoot him in the head. He looks at his own headless, naked body from above and...

.

.

.

'It's hot...' He wakes up feeling like he's been lost in the Sahara desert for several years without water. He opens up his eyes slightly and sees Scott sitting from across the room looking at him. His eyes start stinging so he closes them once again.

''w...h'' He squeezes out.

Scott walks up to the side of David's bed.

''Good morning David. How are you feeling?''

''Whater...'' He says weakly.

''David, how many fingers am I holding up?''

''One...''

''Two...''

''Three...''

David keeps counting, seemingly having forgotten Scott's question altogether.

''Alright, Tommy! Bring me...''

David passes out again before hearing the rest of the sentence.

...

...

...

'...!'

David wakes up once again.

*Gag!*

He feels some kind of tube going down his throat and pulls it out with his hands.

'Egh... What the hell?'

[Finally...]

'What do you mean finally? Where am I? What's happening?'

He tries to sit up but an earth-shattering headache forces him to lay down again.

[Do you not remember?]

[Well, it wouldn't be strange...]

'Don't jerk me around with all these verbal riddles and just tell me what's going on already!' He shouts at the voice in frustration.

[Ok, ok.] The voice responds.

[So to start off with, you've been bedridden for about two months.]

'Two months!? Are you fucking kidding me!?'

[Sixty-five days, six hours and twenty-five minutes to be exact.]

'...What the hell?'

''I'm fucked...'' He whispers in disbelief.

[You've suffered from a complete breakdown and restructuring of your soul.]

'Is that a good thing?'

[Well, your mind has become a lot stronger... But it took away two months of your life that you really needed right now.]

[Your mind has basically become larger and more robust, allowing for greater future growth while also making it less subject to mental attacks, such as: Mind control, suggestion, charm, etc.]

'Well, that sounds nice...' David responds, trying to comfort himself.

[It is. Increasing your mental power is usually very hard.]

[But because of it...]

'...'

'What do I do?' David earnestly asks.

[There is not much you can do right now. Just rest.]

'Well, that's true.' He thinks back to the debilitating headache he suffered from not that long ago.

[Do you remember anything from before you became like this?]

'All I remember is that I went into the virtual training room to get more skill levels on slash, and...'

'...Two sentences.'

[Two sentences? What are they?]

'They are: "I stand next to a mountain... And chop it down with the edge of my hand" and...'

'..."I have shown you the scale of greatness that you can reach... Now it is up to you to replicate it.".'

'Have you ever heard something like that before?'

[No, never.] The voice answers.

[Hmmm...]

[Let me explain what happened then...]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Wow...'

[You don't remember any of that?]

'No...'

[You must have repressed it, it would've been a traumatic event after all.]

'But why would that destroy my mind?'

[Well, you have something in your body that exists in a higher plane of existence.] The voice explains.

[Some call it a soul, some call it their second body, but anyways. The spiritual avatar is the physical representation of it and... That man turned your spiritual avatar into almost nothing... If i wasn't there...]

[But the real question isn't how it was destroyed, but how it was rebuilt so quickly!]

'So it doesn't just do that by itself?'

[It does, but it takes a very long time.]

[I suspect it has something to do with that man. He's also, most likely, the one who etched those phrases into your conscious.]

'That would make sense...'

'But why?'

[There are some things even I don't know partner...]

'...'

'What should I do?'

[If you're able to use the halberd skillfully before your next fight you should be fine.] The voice concludes.

'...Is that possible?'

[...]

'Well, we've done the impossible before haven't we?'

[We have.]

'So why not this time? I can do it!'

[...]

'It's not like there's any other option...'

~Next Morning~

''Good morning doc.''

''David!?'' Scott shouts out in surprise.

''Yup, I'm awake.''

''Hah! I wasn't sure if you'd ever wake up again! Really...''

Scott bends over and gives him a big bear hug.

''Where's Jing and Tommy?''

''Oh, that's right! I have to call Tommy!''

Scott runs over to his desk and grabs his den-den mushi.

''They left a couple of days after we got you back here.''

'Makes sense.' David thinks to himself

''Hey! Tommy? It's about David! No, no! He woke up! Yeah! So anyways...''

...

...

...

A few more days pass as David goes through some physical therapy and recovers from his injuries fully. Jing and Tommy come back and in their reunion they both jump into his arms crying, "Captain!".

They talk all about their adventures and Jingfei brags about how she brought down every big pirate in the east blue and fought alongside Luffy against Arlong.

''I'm probably stronger than you used to be!'' she gloats.

Once he is back to normal there are only two weeks left until the first fight.

Standing back on the deck of his ship he looks out towards the horizon.

'Why does he look so goddamn cool!?' Jingfei asks herself while looking at his back, blushing slightly.

'So what I need to do now is...?'

[Gather bounties and loot so you can trade the bery's for Sp and also gain power from their blood.]

[No more saving, it's time to pull out all the stops.]

[In the time between gathering bounties you'll be training your halberd skill.]

[But for now, buy these skills...]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Bought: {Hero's legacy/LV.1},

{Brute force/LV.1} and

{Devour/LV.1} for 2500 Sp.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

''Status!''

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Name: David Baird

Condition: Excited, Anxious, Determined.

Hp: 100%

Affinities: (Skills), (Learning), (Understanding), (Brawling).

Sp: 88

Skills: {Stab/LV.7} {Danger sense/LV.3} {Basic gun mastery/LV.5} {Basic footwork/LV.MAX} {Basic knife mastery/LV.7} {Mental tolerance/LV.6} {Kick/LV.6} {Thick skin/LV.5} {Basic climbing/LV.MAX} {Basic stitching/LV.MAX} {Sense weak point/LV.5} {Killing blow/LV.5} {Run/LV.8} {Slash/LV.10} {Trolls body/LV.MAX} {Sniper's intuition/LV.3} {Enhanced eyesight/LV.3} {Spear throwing mastery/LV.5} {Leap/LV.2} {Throwing/LV.4} {Strengthen Legs/LV.MAX} {Strengthen organs/LV.MAX} {Strengthen arms/LV.MAX} {Strengthen neck/LV.MAX} {Vampiric traits/LV.MAX} {Weight lifting/LV.7} {Training mastery/LV.7} {Strong body/LV.MAX} {Basic spear mastery/LV.5} {Basic axe mastery/LV.5} {Basic halberd mastery/LV.6} {Hero's legacy/LV.1(NEW)} {Brute force/LV.1(NEW)} {Devour/LV.1(NEW)}.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{Hero's legacy/LV.1}

Increases your strength.

Increases your willpower.

Increases your power incrementally in accordance to your willpower.

Increases your body's natural potential, allowing you to train it to greater heights.(Increases with level)

Currently providing:

S: [Small strength boost], L: [N/A], U: [N/A].

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{Brute force/LV.1}

Allows you to push your body beyond it's limits in accordance to your willpower.

(WARNING! WILL CAUSE GREAT PHYSICAL HARM OR DEATH IF USED!)

Currently providing:

S: [Small strength boost], L: [Small strength boost], U: [N/A].

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{Devour/LV.1}

Passively gathers power from the world around you which you may use to strengthen yourself.

~^~ Stored power: 0 ~^~

(WARNING! MAY ANGER ANY WORLD YOU CHOSE TO VENTURE IN! BUY AT YOUR OWN RISK!)

Currently providing:

S: [(???) (???) boost], L: [(???) (???) boost], U: [(???) (???) boost].

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Anger a world? What does that even mean?'

[If you have to worry about it, it will already be too late.] The voice answers, ominously.

'...'

'Are you sure it'll be fine!?'

[I'm not sure of anything since I've met you.]

'Thanks...?'

''Hey captain! Are we ready to set sail?'' Tommy shouts out.

''Yes! Onward! To reverse mountain!''