Hi everyone! Thank you so much for your reviews! They help me to keep enjoying my writing! I'm trying something new and having an A/N at the beginning too. Anyway, I'd like to respond to some of y'all.

megadampsss

Thanks! I like to think I'm cooking up something pretty great! Only time will tell ;)

JJafan

Thank you so much! I love your support! I really appreciate your help with the formatting issues as well!

XenoLucifer

Honestly thank you for pointing that out! :) It has helped me think a lot about the story and refine my outline a bit.

Blue-Happens

Thank you for your support as well as the well wishes!

Guest

IDK who you are but thanks for the review! :) the code Jasper entered was for the golden perk he picked: Prodigy of Will.

GoMagikarp

THANK YOU SO MUCH! Always nice to get advice from other authors, I really appreciate your comments!

Uvuvwevwevwe Onyetenyevwe Ugwe

I see you have a very particular Idea about what makes a fic good and interesting! YEEESSSSSS… let the disappointment FLOW through you! You do not yet know the POWER of the author side of the force! Let your irritation build! Release your hatred! Join us! One of us! One of us! One of us!

HusseES

Thanks!

NullSilver2005

Great idea! I like it!

Guest

Idk who you are, but thanks!

Disclaimer, I am not a stonemason, and so my knowledge is limited. Hopefully me winging it doesn't break immersion.

Also, I don't own One Piece.

I looked back toward the orphanage.

I sorta regretted the way I broke things off with Risa, but nothing for it now. I'll just have to succeed without injury to show her she doesn't have to worry about me as much! But before I could go hunting, I needed to prepare the stove and the spices.

A hundred yards or so behind the orphanage was a large riverbed. In the late winter and early spring it got quite full, but it was now late summer and the wide riverbed was only filled with a small stream and a whole bunch of large smooth rocks. Getting two buckets from the orphanage shed, I went down to the riverbed to gather rocks and clay.

Sometimes, when I'm not hunting or training, I forget that I'm in a different world. It's a sort of 'human' mindset I slip into.

Upon arriving at the riverbed and making my way down into it, I went over to a bowling ball sized rock that I would have had a fair amount of trouble with in my previous life, and nearly fell over with how light it felt!

Right… One Piece.

I picked up a much larger rock, a little over three feet across, and hefted it above my head. It was fairly heavy to me, but not something I couldn't handle. I set it down and filled up the buckets with clay. Once they were full, I slid my arms through the handles and picked up my rock again, the the clay filled five gallon buckets hanging from my elbows. Getting out of the riverbed was a bit tricky because my feet sank into the loose dirt way more than I was used to, but once I figured out how to deal with it, it was fine.

Once I got back to the orphanage, I went over to the place where I where I was planning on building the stove. I set the rock down and emptied the buckets of clay into an old barrel, which filled it about half way. I went back for one more load of clay and a few more rocks of similar size to the first, and when I had them all at my chosen spot, I smashed the rocks against each other, which made a lot of good sized building blocks! I then dug a pit about 10 ft long, 8 ft wide, and 2 ft deep.

My superhuman physique helped me work work pretty fast, so it was only 10 o'clock when I was done. Using the boulder chunks as bricks and the clay as mortar, I built a makeshift brick oven with a slab of shale as the cooking surface, and plenty of space underneath for the fire. It was tall and domed, and built quite sturdily if I do say so myself. It had many holes from the fire chamber into the oven itself for smoke and proper airflow, and several greenwood saplings across the cooking chamber to hang cuts of meat.

I had built it like a tall stone igloo with another slab of shale as the door, and I was glad it worked out so well! To harden the clay, I gathered wood and lit up the fire chamber, which sent hot air and smoke billowing up though the edge holes into the cooking chamber. I made sure not to gather too much wood, and kept the internal temperature at around 275 with an oven thermometer I got from the kitchen. After about an hour, the clay had set and my oven/smoker was ready!

I sat back and marveled at just how little time this had taken. It was only noon. I had done an amount of work that should have taken a person days in just a few hours! I was nowhere near Franky's level, who could build the sunny in three days and a full scale bridge in a few minutes, but I wasn't too shabby if I do say so myself!

At this point, the kids had come over from where they had been playing and enjoying their Saturday.

"Pretty neat huh?" I bragged with a smile.

"It looks… lumpy." Risa said in response, and hedge sniggered.

I rolled my eyes to heaven as I wiped the sweat off my brow, "Whatever, it will do the job well, and that's all that matters."

Lia Called everyone in for lunch, and I darted in just long enough to grab a sandwich, and then set off to hunt the boar. Just before I left, I noticed a portly, jolly faced man walk onto the orphanage path from the main road. He had a large cart filled with pans, oils, spices, sauces, and three sacks filled with four, salt, and brown sugar. I called out to him, nervous.

"Hello sir! Are you here for the barbecue later tonight?"

His eyes darted from my face to my hair and back down to my eyes. He hadn't stopped advancing, and was close enough now to speak at a normal volume. He answered with a rosy cheeked smile, which was so kind looking I couldn't help be suspicious.

"Indeed I am! You must be one of Lia's boys! I've heard a lot about you all, and I'm willing to guess you are Jasper? I am Louis Beaumont, here to help with the pork! I run a restaurant in town. My wife is coming over later with Cinna for the barbecue!"

When I heard that this was the man who adopted Cinna I relaxed. If Lia had trusted him to adopt one of the kids, then I could trust him too. He held out a meaty palm for a handshake, and I reciprocated, making sure I had a "job interview" grip. He winced in pain and I jerked back my hand like it had been burnt. Stupid! I had just earlier learned this lesson with the small rock!

"I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you?"

He chucked, massaging his hand, which thankfully looked fine, and responded.

"Don't know your own strength eh? My brother was the same way growing up! Hell of a first impression kid Hrahrahrahrahra!"

I gotta say. One piece laughs in real life are quite surreal.

"Thanks" I said nervously. "So you're here to help cook? I have a few mineral pucks of sea salt from distilling water and a lot of chili peppers and honey I've gathered, so I was just going to use that."

He raised his eyebrows, and looked pleasantly surprised. "Do you really? Natural flavors do often pair well with meat from the same area, but a little help from the exotic never hurt! We'll use my salt, but I'd love to see those peppers and honey you've gathered!"

I nodded, smiling back at him. "Sure thing! They're back at my shelter. I was just about to leave to hunt the pig, do you want to come along? I could use your eye for ingredients when selecting one to bring down."

He hesitated. I could tell he was having an argument with himself. When he finally spoke up again, he whispered enthusiastically, like he was trying to avoid being overheard, but unable to contain his excitement. "I would absolutely love the opportunity! Will I stay in a safe spot and observe while the hunt takes place?" I smiled and nodded. A wild grin came onto his face. "I'll lock up my cart in the shed, and then we'll be off!" He said a bit louder. He rushed his cart over to the shed with a speedy walk, as if preventing himself from running. His enthusiasm was contagious, and I found myself grinning excitedly as well.

When his cart was safe from the hands of animals and curious children alike, I crouched over in a piggyback pose, and said as un-awkwardly as I could, "alright, Saddle up Louis." Which still ended up being pretty awkward.

He paused, "Truly?" He seemed unsure.

"Yep! The faster we get that pig, the faster we can get it slow roasting! We need to waste as little time as possible." Seeming to get over the strangeness, he got on my back. I curled my arms around his legs to hold him up, and took off, bounding towards the trees. He whooped in excitement, and I considered how strange we must look. A fully grown overweight man riding piggyback on a ten year old, sprinting through the forest still faster than most animals.

As we traveled along the path I usually took to get to my shelter, I veered off deeper into the forest toward Rhinoboar territory. As I crested the hill that led to the large clearing they usually hung out at, I slowed down and let Louis down. We hid behind a few trees and looked at the pigs. "What do you think?" I asked him.

There were three Rhinoboar, all around a small pond in the middle of the clearing, having a drink. Other than some armor like hide on the face, they didn't actually look all that much like rhinos, just oversized pigs. They were about as tall as a horse and twice as wide, with strong, stocky legs holding up their impressive bulk. Louis, still huffing and puffing with the effort of holding on to me, responded in a whisper.

"We aught to stay away from that boar there." He pointed to the largest of the drove, whose head was covered in scars and sported truly massive tusks. "His meat will be pretty tough, and he's by far the most dangerous. We should aim for one of his swine he has with him. The problem will be separating her from the group…" he scratched his chin as he considered the situation.

I responded in an equally quiet whisper, "Right. Good Idea. I'll scatter them and incapacitate the boar, then go after one of the swine."

He blinked a few times and then stage whispered back, "What! What do you mean by incapacitate? The Alpha males of Rhinoboar droves are called Hunter Killers for a reason! We don't want to tangle with him!"

"Shhhh." I put my finger to my lips. Louis seemed a bit sheepish and lowered his voice, but still whispered determinedly, "do you have a trap laid out or something? A dug pit somewhere you'll lead him to?"

I didn't have any of those, but I could see that Louis was close to entering 'Dad Mode' and so I cut that off real quick with a half truth, "Relax! I've done this a bunch of times, and I still have all my limbs attached right where they should be! Do you see any scars?" I sarcastically twirled around like a ballerina.

He huffed in irritation, but a smile made its way onto his face. "Right. Sorry. I'll watch and learn I guess."

Wow. That was quick. What a nice guy! Now I feel bad for lying. Or, well, half lying I guess. I had never entered into a direct confrontation with a Rhinoboar, but I had fought plenty of other weaker beasts in a similar manner. A Rhinoboar was the next on my 'fight to get strong' list, which is why I chose to hunt it in the first place. It would be a total waste of training to do all this prep and then fight it all sneaky like. I know I could kill it by being clever, but that's not the point. I needed to face it head on.

Nodding to Louis to signal I was ready, he heaved himself up into the tree we had been hiding behind. I got a large rock for sound, and leaped into the air toward the drove of Rhinoboar. When I landed about 30 feet from the Alpha Boar, I used the momentum of my fall to throw the small boulder at the ground, and it shattered with a thunderous BOOM. All of them startled away, going different directions around the pond.

Bingo.

While the two swine reached the other side of the pond and went over to the trees to get to a safe distance, the Alpha Boar actually looked at me and Screeched in rage. I guess he was pissed he had gotten scared by something so much smaller than him. Not willing to be outdone I sucked as much air into my lungs as I could with my diaphragm, my belly rounding out like an opera singer, and let it all blast out in the loudest kiai I could muster.

Now I realize that those of you who are dragon ball fans might misunderstand what a kiai actually is. In dragon ball, a kiai is a shock wave of invisible energy that blasts in all directions. In real life however, a kiai is a special type of martial arts shout using the strength of the diaphragm and the ab muscles. A proper kiai is very loud and also tenses the stomach to improve defense and add concentration to an attack. It's a tactic that is used instinctively by silverback gorillas to intimidate opponents, which is what I was doing now.

It was a little less effective when I did it, because while silverback gorillas have huge lungs and powerful diaphragms that produce a 'OOOAAAAAAH' sound that could make weaker folks literally shit their pants, I was a human child, so it sounded more like,

"HYAAAAH!"

Further enraged by my defiance, the Boar charged, roaring as he picked up speed. I focused deeply, time seemed to slow down, and I could feel the 'voices' of all the creatures around me shining. I could feel the power and rage from the boar, could 'see' how brilliantly his 'voice' shone, and it was 'brighter' than mine!

Shit! I miscalculated! Should I dodge?

No! One piece characters grow best under duress! And this was the world I lived in! This is who I am now!

As the boar got within ten feet of me, it lowered its head to better aim its tusks at me, it's beady eyes glinting angrily. I grit my teeth to keep from biting my tongue, set my feet as solidly as I could, and as it swung its head back up to impale me with its scything tusks, I made a grab for them, catching them to hopefully use as handle bars.

The boar charged through me like I wasn't even there, my feet carving ten foot tracks in the ground before the gravel shredded clear through my sandals! When the earth started painfully lacerating my feet, my strength failed and I toppled over, my grip on the boars tusks the only thing keeping me from being trampled to death. Angry that I was clinging to its face, the boar skidded to a stop and began wildly swinging its head around in random directions, furiously rag dolling me back and forth.

Able to predict his next move with observation, I was able to brace myself in the proper directions so that I wouldn't fall off. As the boar started to figure out that it wouldn't be rid of me, it changed its strategy. Pointing itself towards a particularly stout tree, it charged again, looking to squash me against the sturdy trunk.

I froze.

What am I going to do? My feet were in a bad way, and I was worn out from the thrashing earlier. I didn't have the arm strength anymore to vault myself over the hog! They say your life flashes before your eyes in a near death experience, because it is the brain frantically looking for options. At this moment, it seemed like my only options were to drop and be trampled, or hold on and be squashed.

A memory flashed before me. Watching anime with my friends, getting into a drunk argument on which Yonko was the strongest. What did we talk about? Oh yeah. My buddy Rick's dumb argument was that big mom was the weakest because of her mental instability. She saw a picture get hurt and her toughness went away.

Wait. Hold on. Her toughness went away? Oh yeah! That's what happened! Her toughness went away. She was normally invincible but when she was like that she skinned her knee. Kinda like how my feet were. Was she using tekkai?

No. She could move! Plus, tekkai was brittle. It was good against people weaker than you, but when it broke you were basically one shotted. She had true toughness, and it was a technique! A deliberate matter of concentration!

So I concentrated.

Drop and be trampled, or hold on and be squashed? Hell no! I choose neither! With the few seconds I had left of life I focused deeper than I had before, and this time, I directed my senses inward. For a split second, I could perceive how the cells in my body were working together, like shining grains of sand dancing and flopping around like a bunch of careless drunkards. No wonder I got hurt! With a mental strength I didn't know I had I commanded them.

Quit acting like individual assholes! Come together and work as a team! Be strong!

As my wild cells aligned and their 'voices' started binding together, I felt my body get stiffer. No good! If those cp9 jerks can make themselves more flexible, than so could I! "Be strong, but don't stop moving! Slide across each other and move like I tell you to damnit!" I willed my body to toughen itself and move well! For every particle of my body to work in sync! A tingling warmth spread across my body, and I instinctually knew I was strong.

My fatigue forgotten, I gripped the Rhinoboar's tusks so hard they cracked. I slammed my feet back into the ground and it felt softer than before. Like the hard packed dirt and sharp pebbles had turned into breadcrumbs and peanut shells. My feet dug deep channels through the ground and I heaved the boars head above my body, driving my shoulder into its neck, and used its weight and momentum as leverage to throw it up and over me! I held on to its tusks, and it flipped ass end in the air, it's back slamming against the tree it tried to smash me against. With an explosive boom, the tree was blasted to splinters as the Rhinoboar's bulk plowed through it.

I panted in exertion, whatever technique I had unlocked proving to be extremely draining to my stamina. I felt a body fatigue deeper than I had ever experienced before, even against the Leopard. I looked at the boar as it squealed in pain and shock, and watched as it writhed, trying to right itself and get back onto its feet.

Feeling like that was enough of a distraction, I raced off toward where I sensed one of the females, dispelling my technique to save energy. Immediately my body felt heavier, and the rocks poked against my wounded feet, but I didn't care, speeding over to where one of the 'Rhinoswine' was. Seeing me coming, it charged at me in anger! I activated my technique, (I really should name it) grabbed ahold of its tusks, and yanked its head up once it slowed just like I'd done with the boar.

Instead of throwing it however, I focused on my hand, making sure it's cells were in sync for maximum toughness, put my fingers together in a knife hand, and drove it up through the flesh of its neck like it was warm rubbery play dough. After I stabbed my arm into its neck up to my elbow, I curled my fingers in a claw shape, and ripped my arm back down, tearing the pig's flesh and arteries on its way out. A huge amount of blood came gushing out of the female Rhinoboar's neck in regular spurts, and the creature soon died. Smelling the blood of its kind, the other female fled, disappearing into the trees. The Alpha Boar finally righted itself, and engaged in a brief stare down with me. I could feel it's 'voice' warring between anger and fear.

I lunged forward a step and yelled, "HYAAA!" And the boar jerked back, it's nostrils flaring with the scent of blood. Fear winning out over rage, it fled. As it disappeared into the trees in the same direction as the other female, I finally let my body relax out of the toughness technique, and fell back onto my ass and laughed, thrilled to be alive!

When the sounds of the Rhinoboar we're far enough away to disappear, Louis came out of hiding, sweating profusely with nervousness and released tension. "Are you all right boy?! Are you hurt?" He gasped when he saw the state of my feet, "Chrissakes kid! Look at your feet!"

I chuckled while wincing in pain, "don't need to look. I feel 'em just fine. Owww…" They were covered in rough cuts and tears, and almost every inch of them were seeping blood from one wound or another. All this damage had been done the first time I blocked the charge, as the following two hadn't hurt me nearly as much. I tried to get up, but Louis held me down. "Let me fix you up! I have a first aid kit"

Pulling out a handkerchief and a flask from his pocket, he doused the cloth in the hard booze and began rubbing it gently across my cuts, which stung like hell. I hissed in pain, then turned it into a fake chuckle to disguise the reaction. He raised an eyebrow, clearly not fooled.

As he continued to dress the wounds on my feet, I couldn't stay quiet for long, "Thanks Louis, I seriously appreciate the help"

He laughed in response, "No problem kid, that was a hell of thing you just did, and I would have loved to see something so amazing if I hadn't been so damn worried! You almost died! I thought you had done this before! That it would be easy!"

I looked away sheepishly. "I have done this before. Just with smaller animals." He spluttered at my flawed logic, but I talked over him, "In any case, even if it went a little rougher than I planned, I did it! I killed a Rhinoboar with my bare hands! I fucking did it!" I laughed giddily, and I guess it was contagious, because Louis started laughing as well.

"Hell yeah you did! It was Magnificent! Hrahrahrahrahrahrahrahrahrahra! Hrahrahrahrahrahrahrahrahrahra!"

Something about his absurd laugh made me laugh even harder, and soon we both lost it, cackling on the ground, just two dudes having an awesome experience next to the bleeding corpse of a giant pig. Thinking of an old movie, I couldn't help but say, "Louis… I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

He laughed a few times more, and then responded, "So do I kid. So do I!"

After gutting the pig, we had stopped at my shelter to grab the peppers and honey, so it was around 1:30 when we made it back to the orphanage. My feet were bandaged quite well, and I had salvaged what I could of my sandals to protect my feet. I had the entire boar lifted over my head, and its blood dripped down on me. Louis followed from behind with the ingredients, and constantly asked what he could do to help, to which I kept responding, "I've got this. Just keep a lookout."

Risa came out just as I had set the boar down by the smoker and, seeing me covered near head to toe in blood, screamed like a banshee. She sprinted back into the house and continued to shout to everyone about how I was dying.

I sighed, making eye contact with Louis, who had a smirk on his face. "Maybe you should go wash up down by the river." He suggested.

I shrugged, it was a good idea, as we had already gutted it back where I had killed it, so I would need to thoroughly wash myself before I handled the meat for cooking.

As I went down towards the river, I heard Lia burst out of the house with a sobbing Risa, and Louis explaining what really was going on. Their voices faded into the background as I finally reached the river, and I jumped in clothes and all, scrubbing away the dirt, blood, and guts that were covering my body.

When I returned, Louis had already almost finished butchering the giant boar. I asked if I could help, and he replied cheekily, "I've got this. Just sit back and watch!"

I continued up to him and he stepped in front of me, blocking my way. "I'm serious Jasper! You have done your part, let me do mine! I have butchered and prepared sea kings, so this will be no problem! I went over your smoker and it should work fine! I also brought my own grill so we are in business!"

I didn't get the chance to respond, because Lia grabbed me by the shoulder and spun me around, a stern look on her face, "Mr. Beaumont is right! Now come over here and let me take a look at those feet!"

I sighed in resignation, and came over to where she had a chair and a pail of clean water set up. I sat on the chair, and the kids gathered around us, wanting to hear the story of the hunt. Though I winced occasionally at Lia's cleaning, I had a wonderful time telling my story and watching Louis work. As the wonderful smells of an expert chef cooking up a storm reached my nose, a smile made its way onto my face.

A/N: WOOOWEEEEEEEE this one fought me. I wanted to squeeze a bit more into this chapter, but this seemed like a good place to end it. Jasper's new technique isn't armament haki, he'll explore it more later. We only have a chapter or two left before we'll start skipping forward in time and starting up the main plot. The childhood saga is almost at an end! Thank you all for your continued support!

P.S. I'd love to hear theories as to Jasper's new Technique!