The Foolish Grappler

by Cryptographers

I was so Foolish and Weak back then, I was a complete failure. Yet, for some reason, I was given a chance to prove to the gods and fate that she wasn't wrong. So here I am, isekai'd to the world of one piece, and boy, is it different to what I thought. However, a wise man once told me that even a fool, if he persists in his folly, he could become wise. Oc gamer, Parallel-Cannon.

10. You Will Be the Stronger Man

The Foolish Grappler Chapter 10

A/N: Hello, sorry for the long wait. I hope this massive chapter makes it up for the long wait. Now about the rewrites, I think they will become a recurring thing due to me coming up with new ideas, better ways to do stuff, Stat/system changes, Errors, and Parts left out of the original that I now want to put back. Anyway, so I think every ten chapters, I may take some time to go over the past and see if there is any improvement that can be made. Sorry if you don't like this, as this is my trying to make a better story for you guys.

I will be adding marks like the below to each chapter to notify when it's been most recently updated, with some times a list of things changed.

EXAMPLE:

LAST EDITED 14/01/23 CHANGES:

Fixed spelling errors and grammar

Added and subtracted scenes

Edited System information

(dates will be DD/MM/YY)

I also feel I should mention now as I have had a few reviews asking when Adorno will meet the straw hats, and for this, there is likely an unpopular answer. The short answer is yes; in the far, far future, he will meet them. HOWEVER, he isn't ever going to join the straw hats; he may be friends but never join. The long answer to why not the straw hats is A) I don't think his character would fit in the straw hats. B) I don't feel I have the skill of writing actual good characters well, and if there is one of the few things I hate most in fanfiction is good characters written poorly. So, with that, you may be wondering who he will be with then, and the answer to that is …. Spoiler, just know it's not what you will think. I would rather have a badly written OC than a badly written NOC.

Anyway, if this causes you to stop reading, I understand; as a fellow reader, I can't count the number of times I have been reading until the author does some dumb shit that causes me to stop reading. I just hope that while this may not be what you were coming into this for, trust me, I WILL TRY MY BEST TO MAKE THIS A GOOD ORIGINAL STORY WORTHY OF YOUR TIME.

Thank you to those who read this story hope I made your day a slightly bit better by reading this

Content warning ( Mental health issues ( at the end) )

The first thing that I feel as I come to is pain. It's like little needles being stuck all over my body, though mainly my legs. My reaction is a pained moan as I feel like I just fought a thousand bull ants nude and lost badly.

When I finally open my eyes, It's to see a roof that I could swear I have seen before, but my mind is full of fog, likely from not fully waking up. When I try to sit up, I quickly begin to feel lightheaded, as if any small tilt is making me nauseous, so I quickly lay back down. After a few seconds, some of the fog clears, which leads me to realise I have quite the headache, and the fogginess was hiding it, leading me to try and massage my forehead in a doomed attempt to ease the pain. Sadly it doesn't stop the next wave of pain from coming leading to another groan.

As I was trying to remember what in the hell happened yesterday, a door to this room opens, letting in a gust of wind that follows an old man who is carrying a newspaper under his right arm while holding a tea cup in his left hand. While I don't recall him right away as I can barely see him given, I am trying not to lift my head to look at him, else another wave of nausea will come. Thankfully he notices I am awake. "Oh, your finally awake, though you do look worse for wear; I am impressed you actually made it to my cabin. However, the pain your feeling is the toll your body has taken to do so," he says as he walks over and puts down his newspaper on the coffee table and walks over to the sink, and washes his teacup.

"I feel like someone is pounding my head with a sledgehammer every second while covered in bull ants whose ant hill I stepped on then thought to lay down on." I painfully reply, though as more of the fog clears, what happened yesterday becomes clearer. I remember the morning when I was desperate for help which led to me getting ganged up on which, luckly, I was saved by the old man who kicked all kinds of ass, which is still shocking. I remember asking him to train me, to which he offered as long as I passed his test. However, before I could do it, we had to walk all the way back to his cabin. The closer my memory gets to the cabin, the hazier it is. Hell, I don't really even recall falling unconscious though how else would I be lying here? The old man must have taken me in, seeing as it must have been getting dark outside.

"Yes dehydration will do that to you along with pushing your limits, sorry I should of had us take more breaks however I was curious how far you would make it before asking for a break, and I must say I am impressed by how far you got I didn't expect you to make it here. You should relax and recover your energy while I will make a tea that would help with both your headache and dehydration" He generally seemed impressed with me being able to get here.

"That tea would sound lovely sir, If you don't mind me asking was that walk the test because that was quite difficult hell if I knew how long it really was I don't know if I would of even started." I replied with a bit of a smile, looking forward to getting this damn headache away.

"Sorry to disappoint, but that wasn't the test; that was just to get us home. I will explain your task after your headache clears; it's not that complicated. I am sure you will be able to achieve it, so there is no need to worry." He replied while continuing to put together this new tea; as he was doing that, something popped up into my vision

System Notification

Users' stats and skills have increased due to pushing users' limits.

Gains: +4 Vit, + 3 Dex, +1 Char, xxxxxx, xxxxxxxx, xxxxxx, Item: Running Shoes

User Note: there are diminishing gains with pushing one's limits to achieve the same improvement User will need to continue to push their limits by going further past them.

That was unexpected that I could gain stats just by walking a far distance though that was anything but a simple walk. If this remains true for other kinds of excise if so my best option to gain stats is to train early rather than relying on rewards; as I would guess, the stronger and faster I get, the harder it will be to increase or at least that's how it normally goes. I understand why it boosted Vit and dex, but why Charm? Do I look better now? Also, what's with all this redacted stuff? Why can't I just know what I get? At least I now have a good pair of shoes for training, as I doubt my school shoes are up to it. Looking at my new Hp level, I am satisfied.

Vitality 17 - 21

100/155 - 135/185

The user has hit the second Milestone (at 20) in Vitality which gives a bonus 10hp + Bonus stamina recovery (innate)

I wonder what this Bonus stamina recovery is. Does it just mean I can catch my breath quicker than before? If so, I guess this is useful; I wonder how much it increased it. Was it a noticeable amount, or was it just barely a blip on the radar. I continued to think about this, but I was then interrupted by the old man.

"Here it is one Pearl Waterleaf tea best for headaches and hydration the tea leafs come form an island called the lily kingdom in the far south blue. Be careful its still hot," He said as he walked over and, at first, helped me to sit up to be able to have this tea myself. Oh, boy, does that hit the spot was my first thought when I took my first sip of the tea; while I am nowhere close to being a tea expert or even a tea novice, I could tell this was some great tea. It tasted quite sweet, but the aftertaste mellows out.

"Thank you sir for both this, for allowing me to rest in your bed again and finally giving me a shot at learning how to be stronger."

"No problem, boy; you should just focus on recovering; everything else will come as they are needed." He replied as he returned to his cabinet to look for something else, but I didn't pay much attention to that as right at that moment, the whole world was just me and this lovely tea cup, and surprisingly it really cleared my headache up it must have had some numbing pain effects as I felt much better when I finished the cup that I paradoxically drank quickly yet savoured the taste.

"I see you just finished; what great timing." said the old man who was waiting by the bed. I didn't notice him coming over. I happily throw the blame onto the innocent tea and not me for having a lack of awareness. "Hand me that while you can hold on to this." He said as he took the teacup and handed me a clear glass jar. He set the teacup on the bedside table while he sat down on a folding chair I didn't see there a moment ago.

"Now your likely wondering what exactly is this task that I want you to complete to earn the right to learn from me, its quite simple you're to fill that glass jar I handed to you without breaking it with the Wolf's Call what that is also a part of the challenge. You will likely have until midnight tonight to fill the glass jar and seeing its currently three in the afternoon your losing valuable time. So when you feel you are ready I would suggest leaving to wolfs neck as they perhaps have a clue on what it is, Oh and when you go there please take the path this time you will see it straight out the door, its a relative save path to the village and much quicker."

"Oh, I better get going -AH- (trips trying to get out of bed)" "Ah damn it", I frustratingly say as I lay face first on the floor luckly I still had the glass jar on the bed; karma must have it out for me today.

"Do you have any suggestions on who would have an idea on what the hell is the wolf's call? '' I asked from kneeling on the floor and looking back to him which he replied with just a smirk and a Surg. Seeing as I wasn't going to get anything out of him, I realised it was time to go.

"Well, I better get going, Oldman thanks for the tea; it was great. I may just have some when I complete this, and you take me as your student", I replied, smiling, to which he replied, smirking.

"Good luck on your effort; however, know this the man who has conquered himself is stronger than the man that has conquered a million men yet losses to himself."

With that, I got up and walked through the door with my destination in mind while being focused on ensuring I wasn't going to be attacked by wolfs or what have you again.

The walk back was a lot quicker when you just have to follow a path instead of trying to go through the bush. How the hell did I miss this the first time? I won't ever know, though. I guess it was good that I didn't take it because If I had taken it, I wouldn't of meet Marie and then helped the village. If I didn't meet her, I am not fully sure I would have helped; I likely just ran away.

Also, as I was walking, I made sure to use as much observe as possible on all the plants and the few animals I spotted to try to power-level it. While there is a feeling that I can't fully describe that this was helping, it felt like I would have to spend days to fulfil the sensation. Based on the context, I can likely say while I should use it on as much stuff as possible, It shouldn't be at the expanses of anything else. Lastly, I found there are some common sense rules to it, such as I can't observe the island I am on, which makes sense. Plus, I have to have a fairly good idea of what it looks like, or else the observation is very limited, which I found when I spotted a small animal scurrying across the ground, which I couldn't really make out.

I also paid mind to the fact that I was losing light hours so I better get going else I have to do this in the dark. I very much doubt that would be fun in any way so I lowered the time spent on observing and put more effort in getting throw the trail.

Eventually, I finally made it to the village, and when I finally saw it, I realised they had been quite busy since I left. Firstly the lack of trees close to the village was blindly obvious likely due to the need for more building resources and possible protection. The protection likely comes from the lack of cover and concealment an attacker would have if they chose to attack again. As before, there was barely thirty meters from the gate and the tree line; now it's more like a hundred, with even the tree stumps being removed along with any bushes or any other cover. With more of the land exposed, I could see there was a slight incline towards the village, which makes sense to deal with rain and such.

The second thing I saw was the much beefed-up defences starting with what I could only call a barbican which I only know from too many hours playing D&D and researching Hema, which was one of my many side hobbies. A barbican is basically a fortified area in front of a gate to act as a forward line of defence though they are normally separated with a bridge or drawbridge; however, this isn't the case this time. An example of them are the areas in attack on the titans where eren lived; however, that is way bigger than what we have here. The Barbians walls are lower than the main walls being only about three and a half meters tall, which was enough room to have two rows of people, one on the ground and not that much higher. Along the wall, there were many holes likely for the defenders to fire out from; if they wanted to, right now, they were mostly closed. Lastly, the 'door' seemed to be a waggon they had that blocks most of the sight but likely is much easier to move or at least that's my guess.

Realising I was just standing at the tree line deep in my thoughts, I likely looked weird, so I quickly and calmly made my way to the front gate. When I finally got close, a voice called out to me, "Stop right there, hands where I can see them; who are ya? I saw you just standing back there. Are you a damn scout for Wolf Skulls?"

"My name's Adrono Landor. I was here not that long ago; I helped out when you guys were attacked. Uhm, if you don't believe me, Annabel Kennedy or Marie Sicht could vouch for me." I say, holding my arms up, trying to not make sudden movements; now that I was closer, I could make out some rifles barely sticking out from the wall, all pointed towards me. As you could have guessed, this got my anxiety quite high; however, before anything thing else could happen, from behind me, I heard, "Oh Adrono, it's great to see your back!" I finally just got to turn around when I was nearly tackled to the ground by the weight that was hugging me, which did cause some added pain; however, it was worth it for being hugged by a girl close to my age… I didn't get many hugs; ok, sue me.

I finally realised who it was that just hugged me it was Marie, the one who helped me when I was injured and is one of my first (read-only) friends. She looked quite excited to finally meet me again, which actually made me quite happy. I noticed she was carrying a basket seemingly full of herbs; however, any further observations were cut short due to (cough sound). "While it's nice to finally meet you, Adorno, I don't believe this is the correct area to talk; plus, we will be late for dinner, Marie," said the girl behind her, who, instead of rushing to meet me, took her time. She looked familiar, and it didn't take me that long to put two and two together; as guessed, she was Adelind based on the fact she was the one with the bow during the attack, and she currently has a bow in her hand.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to hold you up any longer; just could I ask a small favour? Could you vouch for me to get in?"I asked as I pointed to the door. To which Marie quickly smiled and replied, "That's easy, OI Jerome, open the gate; he's a friend." to which there was silence until the wagon was pushed aside, creating an opening for us to walk through. Now that I was in here, it looked a lot more rushed, with only the bare essentials being done and a small amount of supplies under a small shelter which also housed a few more guards that weren't walking around the wall on duty. They were playing cards or just talking, though quite a few watched us as we walked by through the main gate after getting allowance to enter.

When I passed the main gates, I was quite shocked to see how lively everything was. Even this late into the day there were still plenty of people going about their lives with some still working on rebuilding. It was as if there wasn't a deadly raid that did great damage and caused a lot of loss of life. The rebuilding effort seemed to be mainly done with the structure of the buildings prioritised to give people a roof over their heads while the insides were still being done. Weird, there seem to be the parts required to create quick barricades near the gate and in ally ways which I could only guess was to use should the main gate fell. They were often not out in the open likely not trying to cause more anxiety. Overall just this quick obversion clearly shows these people mean business, and if anyone was foolish enough to attack again would likely be dealt a bloody surprise.

"I see you shocked at the improvements that were made while you were gone, Adorno," Said Marie smirking at me checking them out.

"Yeah, you seem to have more defences than fort Knox; if the bastards tried to attack again, it looks like they will be dealt a bloody nose I didn't expect you to improve so much over such a short time; it's impressive" I replied; honesty they were just a village, not a military base or something.

"Of course we would build new defences we arn't fools like they are, as they are likely to try again before we pay the tribute so it would be a no brainer to do so. The only reason I am fine with you seeing them is because you helped us during the first attack." Said Adelind

"Sorry I didn't mean to say you were foolish I was just surprised it shows how much you bounced back from the attack." I replied

"Yeah why are you being so grouchy sis you weren't so ten minutes ago as we were getting close to the village?" Asked Marie in a questioning tone.

"What? I am not being grouchy", Replied Adlind in a grouchy tone.

"Yeah, you are", Replied Marie smugly.

"Am not", Adelind fought back.

"Ladies, please, everything is fine though now I am interested in what you were doing outside?" I asked, even though I believed it was collective herbs based on her full basket. Because I was trying to diffuse the argument that was drawing quite a lot of eyes our way as we walked down the street.

"We were just collecting some herbs, and I thought to bring sis with me as she was getting stir crazy in her room, and she was mostly healed, so we got to talk a lot, something we don't do as much anymore while we were collecting more herbs."

"Humpf"

"Oh I just remembered do either one of you know anything about the Wolf's howl I got to fill this jar with it, Is it a drink or a plant if so were can I find it?" I questioned them.

"Why does that sound familiar I have heard that from somewhere; I just can't remember what it was", Said Maire.

"Why do you even want to fill that jar what purpose does this hold to you?"Questioned Adelind

"Ah, you see, I didn't have really any luck in finding a fighting instructor in Dalpha; however, I came across the old man Mr Hui, and he said he would train me if I past his Test, which is to fill this glass jar with the Wolf's Howl." I recounted the story in an abbreviated fashion; however, the first person to react was not who I expected;

"Wait you got asked if you would want to train in marital arts with the quai hui HOW DID YOU DO THAT, Its been my dream to learn from him however he has never taken students to train how the hell did you do to get him to accept you?" Questioned a Now fully attentive Adelind.

"Well, you see, it went something like this…." I replied as I proceeded to detail what happened involving the fact that I was out of money and then the fight, lastly how I was saved by him, and lastly, how we walked the whole way back.

"WOW, you went through all of that; I am impressed," said Marie.

"Overall, it's not that big of an achievement however coinciding with your skill or lack thereof I suppose it's impressive", Said Adelind.

"What did you just complement him oh my you don't know how rare it is for her to complement anyone-" She was interrupted by being bonked by her sister with a karate chop.

"Stop it. It means nothing overall he is still weak though I guess if anyone could change that it would be that old man (sigh)", she stated.

"I just had a brilliant idea; why don't you come join us for Dinner seeing as we been walking to our house I am sure dad will be fine with it given your still new and don't have a place for yourself. You could even ask him about the wolfs howl as the village chief; he is bound to know what that is," she said, inviting me to her family diner. I didn't know whether to accept or pass after thinking about it for a few minutes; when I was about to answer no, I didn't want to intrude.

"AH MY BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS ARE BACK. I AM COMING, MY JOYS!" I was interrupted by a man's shout form the building in front of us. I just realised we were here at their house already. I suppose there goes that plan of declining when the front door is almost launched off its hinges, barely able to hold on to the force that the man opened it with.

"Argh" and "Hahaha" was the reactions from the two daughters, one face playing in shame while the other laughing it off.

"What this? You brought a friend with you; who is this lad? He looks kind of familiar." Questioned their father.

"You meet him before day this is adorno landor the new comer that helped the kenndys during the raid. He is also the Bread boy that helped handout the bread to the meal centers rember he had a massive big bag of bread"

"... Oh now I remember you lad, if it wasn't for you I couldn't have any more bagels that I love Yahyahyah come join us for Dinner eh more the merrier I say plus we got plenty of food to go around Odell really outdid herself for this." With that said, he welcomed us inside his house, and a great one it was.

"Oh I don't want to intrude on your family dinner I just have one question then I can find my own place. I just wanted to ask you some questions" I replied honesty not wanting to intrude and due to wanting to finish this as fast as possible.

From the outside, it was quite modest, being about two stories, maybe three stories if there is an attic. Its main shape was that of an L where the longer part was parallel with the street, and the shorter part was perpendicular to the street, creating a nice yard between the street and the front door, which faced the street near the corner between the two sides. The yard was fenced in and had a sizeable garden opposite the short side. There were quite a few windows that clearly provided a great amount of natural light, which is likely nice to have as I don't know how much other sources of light cost doesn't seem there's much electricity here.

When I got inside, I was further impressed by how living in this felt and not at all like a home of a noble would look like I imagine. There were hardwood floors which had some nice rugs here and there well placed. On the walls, there was a mix of family photos depicting a loving family, including their mother, which I hadn't seen yet. Along with the photos were some simple art pieces that seemed to range from beginner to well-done. However, it wasn't long until I was walking into the dining room with just my socks on. Apparently, that's a common thing here weird; I didn't have to do so in the Kennedy's house; maybe they were just busy with other things to worry about a slightly dirty floor.

Regardless the dining room looked normal with cabinets of silverware and chinaware though I don't know if that's what they call it here, seeing as there's no china. The table was quite sizable and able to fit a fair number of guests, which I guess is a requirement when you're chief of a village.

"Please take a seat I got to notify Odell that we have a guest today I doubt there will be an issue she always makes so much for me there will be pently for you Yahyahyah", their father laughs as he walks to a door which happens to lead into the kitchen.

"Well, we better get seated Odells cooking is to die for; you won't be disappointed," said Marie as she went to sit on the chair on the right side of the end while her sister picked the opposite side to her. Seeing I had to pick now, I chose to sit on Marie's side given I am nearly friends with her, well I know her the most. Now that we are seated, I think it's a good time to ask what happened after I got knocked out during the raid.

"If you don't mind me asking, adelind, what exactly happened after I was knocked unconscious during the raid" I posed my question, hoping not to ruin the atmosphere, glad that didn't happen.

"I see I guess you're curious, given you were taken out so quickly, well a quick summary is possible. Well, after you drew his attention, I was able to fire off an arrow into his shoulder, which luckly hit his nerve, causing him to not be able to fully use it during the fight, which thankfully lowered the gap in prowess between us to were I utilised tactics to slow and anger him causing him to further lose his patience and focus leading him to tunnel vision me leaving his grunts leaderless. At the same time, the moral of the defenders in the town centre was skyhigh such that they were able to deal with what was left leaving the leader the last enemy in the town centre. After that, It wasn't long until father and Mr Qiao arrived who then displayed why attacking the village was a mistake; he was lucky to be able to escape," Adelind finished her retelling.

"Wait he was able to escape couldn't the two of them beat him before he could get away won't he just attack again then?"I questioned, surprised that he made it out despite me thinking he was a goner.

"Of course because their main focus was the village not capturing that dumby so when he wasn't a threat anymore they starting checking for any remnants and then when they were dealt with they provided help to the people most in need." Surprisingly came from Marie.

"Well said, my Little Herb; indeed, while he may attack again, I am sure you have seen this time we will be ready; hence he wasn't a priority while saving as many of my people was, so that's why we let him go", explained to Their father as he walked back in with two plates in his hands which set down in front of Marie and me right after he entered Odell who looked a lot better than the last time I saw her. She quickly set down two plates in front of their father's seat while putting two more in front of hers and Adelinds seat. After which she family sat down, after which she finally looked my way and greeted me.

"Hello you must be the Adrono Landor that both Mar and Ade have spoken so highly about its great to meet you proply with being held hostage", She greeted in a voice that was silky smooth, quite different to how she sounded during the raid though that should be a given.

"Thanks its nice to know I am acucurtly spoken well of, You of course must be Odell nice to meet you, You were quite brave that day more so then I believe I could of been during being held hostage", I replied with the honest truth I really doubt I could have done the same as her.

"Oh you flatter; however I think we should start eating before those two die from embarrassment", Nodding towards her two sisters, who, when I looked towards them, their faces seemed a little red. My guess is they got so hungry and ate some and now are ashamed.

And with that, Dinner was started, and they weren't lying when saying Odell's food was to kill, for it truly was. It was beautiful, some of the best I had ever tasted. I guess this world's food must just be better; I guess that explains why people in the anime ate so much; it was just that good. However, I came here with a purpose and what better time to ask while everyone is enjoying some food… I never said I was good at being social.

"You see I was given the task of collecting a jar of wolfs howl whatever that is, I have no clue do you have any better idea. I thought seeing as your locals and this is ment to be something arround here you would know," I nervously asked, hoping that they would know what I was talking about.

"Oh I believe I can answer your question Adrono" Stated Odella as for the moment she placed her cutlery down.

"The only thing that I could think of is the old tale about how this island came to be formed, I will paraphrase it but it roughly goes that the island is auctly the remains of a gargiantet wolf which for whatever reason the exact reason was lost now there many different versions of the tale so I don't know the original one thats not really important to the story. Anyway after it died it settled where the island is with its head abovethe sea forming the island while the rest of the body is deep under the sea." She momentarily stops to take a sip of water, after which she continues where she left off.

"That's very unlikely; we would probably know if we were on the remains of an ancient giant wolf right. The part you clearly want is the part of the tale which says during the 6th full moon of the year the dead wolf will howl leading to really strong winds from the south. Clearly this is likely just a rare weather phnoempn that no one has taken the time to study due to how rare and pointless it is. Apparently the Wolfs neck is the best place to feel this wind but its very dangerous to go So I wouldnt go anywhere near it." She explains what she knows, and the more I hear, the more this sounds like what I am looking for. How the old man will know I filled a jar with air from this, I have no clue, but I will do it anyway. One sleepless night is worth it.

"Wait wolfs neck isn't this wolfs neck?" I question.

"Yah yah yah you see boy this village was named after the rock formation that is close by all the villages on this island are, It's only about an hour walk east on the beach until you see it", Answered The joyful chieftain.

"Now that you remind me, I do remember walking by a weird rock formation. I just never thought anything of it." I did, in fact, remember what I am guessing is the Wolf neck rock formation.

"But boy, just because we told you this, you shouldn't go there; understand I am not your father, but I would be upset if you did" Weird, even though he wasn't my father or chieftain, he had this draw or pull to do as he says. Sadly for him, I can't do this, so I will just have to leave after dinner is finished and then make up a reason to leave. I know going to the Kennedys is a good idea.

"Yeah Sir, I wouldn't want to worry you when you been such hospitable to me", I reply, trying to hide my intention.

"That's good, and none of this Sir stuff; just call me Hagan also; you can rest in one of the spare bedrooms; I wouldn't want you to be on the streets. Odell, could you make sure that's all good when you finish." Stated Hagan, who received a nod in return for Odell.

"Um sir while I am very thankful for you offering this I have a place to be soon so I will Ju-" As I was trying to get out of it to beable to leave to the rock formation. Something interrupted me It was this look from him as if he was an apex predator and I was a hapless bunny.

"Oh that can surly wait kid, youth shouldn't be in a rush" He calmly statied yet I felt like the whole room was coming down on me.

"But um the kenndys already gave me an room so I would't want to hurt them by not going over th-" As I again even more pitfully tried to get out of this he didn't burge leaving me with the only option to sneak out which shouldnt be that pain full.

"I um would be happy to take your offer than if I'm not imposing", I replied.

"NO LAD YAH FINE YAHYAHYAH" And just like that he changed back to his joyfull attitude. After that, we finished not that long ago; seeing as it finally was getting dark, I said I would be going to sleep; however, I instead, of course, had other plans, but I wasn't about to tell them that.

So as stealthy as I could, I would need to escape without being seen, and my one option was the window; sadly, I was on the second floor, which made this a lot harder. Thankfully when I checked out the window, I found the small backyard of the house, which had some big trees in it. They were going to give me the way out while none of them was close to the window, so I couldn't just climb down one. They must have just had their leaves shed as there was a massive pile right under my window, which hopefully would cushion the fall.

Realising the time was now, I opened the window and climbed onto the little edge below the window that was just bigger enough to stand on. I closed the window behind me, ensuring that I had my Jar with me. Realising it really was now or never, I jumped and fell right into the leaf pile.

-10hp

"Muffled scream" I tried my best after I landed and felt the sudden pain to clamp down my mouth to not let anyone with my scream, and I believe I was successful as my Jar was still intact. I do have to ask why did assassins' creed lie; this isn't soft; it didn't feel much better than solid ground; why did I follow video game logic. After a few minutes of me complimenting my stupidity and the sore ass I now had, I got up and got moving. I went around the side of the building, and when the way was clear, I quickly made a dash away; when I felt I was confident that I was free, I steadily made my way to the gates.

Getting through the gates was easy enough, and I quickly traced my way back the way I came to where I remembered the Rock formation was. It was getting more difficult as time went on to navigate my way through it, but I kept on going. Then as if god or whoever thought it was funny, it started to rain lightly at first, then it seemed the floodgates opened up, and I was near instantly drenched. Looking up, there were only black clouds because It had to happen during a storm can't be easy, no, not for good old adrono.

******** Three hours later ********

Well, I finally made it to the formation, and I am again regretting choosing to do this. To describe the formation, you could simply call it a ramp that, while nothing is smooth and I still have to climb up just as you do the further you get away from the island until the flat part, which is directly over the ocean. It looks like it could fall into the surf at any time, just waiting for the push it needs to crumble. Well, hopefully, it's not tonight as I start thinking, how the hell will I climb this while holding the Jar. After a few minutes of thinking and testing, I realised I just had to do it with one hand holding the Jar to my chest, which makes a climb that would normally be difficult harder when it's already nearly impossible to the rain, causing me to nearly slip countless times.

Well, here I go; let's see how well this goes.

"URRRH" This was the hardest physical thing I ever did since I was anything but light and nowhere near good condition; the bonus stat points did nothing.

-13hp

"AAHH SHIT FUCK THAT WAS NEARLY IT" I Better pay more attention to where I hold; I can't slip up this isn't a game.

-18hp

"COME ON, JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE" I can fucking see it; it's just a little bit more.

-9hp

"I WILL HATE COMING BACK DOWN" Why did I look down, don't look down, just don't look down.

-4hp

"FINALLY THE TOP" Finally, ITS DONE now just to get that wind, all this for a jar of wind… I really am starting to rethink my life choices.

The view isn't that bad up here kind of reminds me of a place back home. The wind blowing strong, wiping my clothes around, the spray of the sea flying him getting twisted this way and that, the dark mood the clouds set blocking the stars and moon. It feels like I am the only one in the world, like all the issues of life are fading away.

I look down at the damn stupid Jar, which doesn't even have a nick on it currently; it's covered around the sides as it's too slippery in my wet hands, and I will not drop it at this stage. I just realised I never asked what time it's meant to start; well, I suppose I will wait until something happens.

****** Two hours later, five Minutes to midnight *******

The longer I wait here, the more likely I am going to die of boredom before anything happens. Here I am on this beach at night alone, getting soaked to the bone with no one else for thousands of meters; all there is to keep me company are the rock, sand, water, wind, boredom and Jar. What kind of test is this? Is it meant to test my patience? Should I not complain? Would that mean I failed this test? Was there something I didn't think of? Is tonight not the night?

Thoughts like that are the only company I have right now, sitting on this rock raise cross-legged, holding with my jacket to help with the slipperiness of it. I look down into the Jar and see the same face that is always in the mirror, the face with that look of disappointment not at others but at itself. The face that seems to be begging for others to help him but is always rejected by everyone as they rather laugh at it. Rather punch it, chuck water at it, dunk it in toilets and insult it, than ever give it a fair go. The face that she, for some unknown reason, gave it a chance even when she didn't feel like she deserved one either but thought she could still help others. It's the face that didn't see the signs that were clear to it written on the wall and paid the price for it when it lost the one who believed in it.

As I was complimenting, I noticed something odd in the reflection of the bright full moon is seen. So I quickly look up expecting dark clouds as there were a moment ago, yet when I do look straight up, I see something unexpected. As if a circle was cut, there laid the moon in all its glory, shining brightly down straight above me. I just realised the rain was gone well where I was standing; I could clearly see the storm around, but it seemed like a circle of the storm was deleted. What the hell is going on? This is weird; I thought weird shit like this was only in the grand line; maybe I fell asleep, and this is just a dream, so I try waking up but fail to do so. When I was further observing around me, the sea that always had waves was calm, like perfectly calm too calm, plus there wasn't a hint of any other sound around me.

"The hell is happening? Am I getting abducted by aliens or is someone messing with me" As I say that I look for others that could be doing this but find nothing even with the extra light from the moonlighting things up. However, out of the blue, I started feeling a breeze that wasn't there before; it felt like a fan on the lowest setting possible it was only noticeable due to there being no other wind. However, the wind gets stronger and stronger flowing in one direction from the sea to the island.

Is this what I was looking for? If so, I better Start collecting it, so I held the Jar in front of me, the top facing the sea jacket around it to give me a better grip and the bottom clear so I could both see through it to the sea and my reflection. It didn't take much longer for it to really get going to about the fastest wind I experienced before my clothes were moving all about while I could see the rain that was out in front of me a fair distance edge slightly in my direction. I looked at the moon once more as the wind became faster, feeling like what I would think a hurricane would feel like at this point; this is ridiculous; how is this happening? Regardless it's getting hard to still stand and fill the Jar as I got to do as the old man said and stand tall and raise it in front of me.

*********** Before Adrono left ***************

"Oh, before you go I will give you this part of advice don't show weakness in will you got to stand tall and hold the jar out and proud trust me it will make it a lot easier even if it doesn't seem like it." What the hell is that meant to make it easier?

"Ah, sure old man I will remember your advice", I offered an empty platitude, not really getting the hell that meant to help; why not just say what the test is?

"HOW THE HELL IS THAT GOING TO MAKE THIS EASIER STUPID OLD MAN" I scream even though I don't think I can even hear myself. I have no clue how long I have been doing this; maybe a couple of minutes, but it feels like hours as I stand here pushing against stronger and stronger winds. They are so strong the rain ahead of me is falling horizontally to the ground now; it even kind of hurts as the rain hits harder now as it is pelting my front. I have to close my eyes and shut my mouth less the rain hits my eyes and falls in my throat.

The wind is pushing me back over the rocky surface, which hurts like hell, but I still try to push back. I try to take some steps back forward, but I get nowhere. I feel like I am fighting a forgone fight.

-10hp

I feel like I already know the answer to this question; I feel like it's obvious the outcome of this equation.

-8hp

Yet when I opened an eye to see if there were any changes, it focused on the thing that seemed the oddest; it wasn't the sea, wind or some other weather bullshit; no, it was that face it was struggling not to give up. Why is it fighting? After all the times it gave up, why isn't it not quitting and throwing the towel in? Why now is it finally choosing to stand against something it doesn't think it can win against? That face isn't facing something smaller than it that it can continue the chain of pain that it's involved in that makes it no better than those that inflict pain onto it.

WHY IS THAT FACE THINKING IT CAN STILL WIN WHEN IT IS GIVEN A CHANCE? IT WAS GIVEN A HOPE BUT FUCKED UP AND WASTED IT WITHOUT EVEN REALISING. HOW DARE THAT FACE THINK IT CAN PUSH ON AND THAT IT WILL NOT QUIT NOW WHEN IT GAVE UP WHEN SHE NEEDED IT NOT TO STOP TO NOT BE SLOW? THAT FACE DOESN'T DESERVE THE ABILITY TO PUSH ON RIGHT NOW. HOW CAN IT TAKE A STEP FORWARD AGAINST THE WIND? HOW CAN IT CONTINUE TO PUSH AGAINST IT WHEN IT'S AGAINST THE LIMITS OF ITS BODY. LOOK AT THAT PERTHIEIC FACE CRYING LOOK HOW STUPID IT LOOKS AT THINKING IT CAN PUSH AGAINST THINGS IT CAN'T BELIEVE TO FACE. JUST WAIT TO SEE THAT FACE GIVE UP ANY SECOND NOW AND LIVE A WORTHLESS LIFE IN THIS WORLD. IT WILL BE HAPPENING SOON. TRUST ME, IT ALWAYS FAILS WHEN IT NEEDS TO PUSH ON. WHAT IS IT DOING? WHAT THE HELL IS IT SAYING?

"SSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTT UUUUUUUPPPPP" I WILL PUSH THROUGH; I WILL NOT BREAK. I MAY BEND, BUT I WILL BOUNCE BACK. I WON'T BE BEATEN AND STAY DOWN; I WILL ALWAYS GET BACK UP. I DON'T CARE WHAT OTHERS THINK THAT ARN'T ABLE TO DO SOMETHING WELL, NOT ANYMORE. I WILL PUSH ON, I WILL WITHSTAND ALL THE BEATEN THE INSULTS THE MISFOURNTNE, I WILL PUSH ON LIKE SHE FUCKING ALWAYS SAID.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" I don't know how long I was screaming, but when I finally stopped, I looked around, and everything was normal. The waves were normal; it wasn't raining; the wind was just a gentle breeze. Looking up, the sky was free, with no more clouds to block its view; it was beautiful; it was so unrestrained about what others thought every night I showed up like every other day.

All of a sudden, my legs felt like they would break apart such that I fell to my knees, causing me to become aware of the Jar in front of me. I covered it with my jacket as I felt like I wasn't going to be able to get down like this, so I lay on my back with the covered Jar up above me. It was then that I felt darkness creep into my vision, and the last thing I saw was a face that I hadn't seen smile since I failed her I guess it makes sense; I would finally really smile when I finally took her advice.

( END OF ARC 1 BOOK 1 titled "The Beginning" )