(Got a New multiversal fic on Patreon called WEATHER WIZARD SI. It starts in DC and quickly divulges into other dimensions. Check it out as the first chapters are free)

  Early Chapters on Patreon.com/Herd99.

  -

  The sky was red before the sun even rose.

  Smoke curled over the jungle canopy in twisting tendrils, zy at first, then angry. Something had gone wrong overnight—and on Monster Isnd, "wrong" meant biblical.

  Kain crouched near the entrance of his makeshift lean-to, bleary-eyed, munching on a roasted fruit he'd "cooked" by accidentally dodging into a thermal geyser. He hadn't meant to innovate. He'd meant to nap. But now the fruit tasted like a meal, and he hadn't thrown up, so he counted it as a win.

  Then the first explosion hit.

  The shockwave knocked a flock of screeching bird-lizards out of the trees. Kain ducked on instinct as fming debris rained down across the clearing.

  "Okay," he muttered. "That's new."

  A System prompt blinked into view:

  [Unstable Environmental Shift Detected]

  - Source: Vice Admiral Garp has challenged a fire-breathing Apex Beast to a bare-fist duel.

  - Secondary Effect: Isnd ecosystem entering temporary 'Inferno State'.

  - Survival odds: 9.3% and dropping.

  Kain stared bnkly at the screen.

  "Of course he did."

  By midday, the jungle had transformed.

  What used to be thick underbrush and leafy canopies was now an ashen battleground of smoldering trees and cracked ground. Monster corpses littered the ndscape, burned, crushed, or both.

  And in the distance—like some myth come alive—was the source.

  A towering fire-beast, thirty feet tall, part reptile, part demon, all nightmare. It roared fme from its nostrils, wings of smoke curling from its shoulders.

  A frigging dragon.

  And Garp?

  Laughing.

  Trading blows with it.

  Fist for cw. Haki for fire.

  Every time Garp nded a punch, it echoed across the isnd like a war drum. Every time the beast struck back, another section of forest lit up.

  Kain didn't get close. He wasn't suicidal. But he watched, from a hidden ledge carved into a cliff, jaw tight, breath caught in his throat.

  Not because he admired it.

  Because he finally understood something:

  Garp wasn't just testing him.

  Garp lived in this chaos.

  And to survive him… Kain had to stop dodging it.

  That night, Kain didn't run.

  He waited.

  When a giant centipede-creature burst from the earth near his camp, he didn't blink away immediately. He stood his ground, let the thing come close, then triggered a Haki-infused Lazy Dragon's Roar straight into its open mouth. He hadn't even known he could do that till he tried and it worked!

  The explosion lit up the trees.

  The beast didn't die—but it recoiled, wounded.

  Kain then Soru-Nap Dashed. Circled behind. Dropped a Cynical Barrier to intercept its next strike, letting the recoil fling it into a jagged rock.

  The thing twitched, colpsed, and didn't move again.

  [Beast Subjugated – Mid-Tier Threat Neutralized]

  +2,500 BSP

  +Passive Trait: "Calcuted Recklessness" unlocked.

  Kain dropped to one knee, panting, sweating, arms shaking.

  "Not bad," he muttered.

  By the fourth night, the camp fire had pushed the monsters deeper into the jungle, away from the heat. For once, the night wasn't filled with howls and growls.

  Just silence.

  Kain sat on a high rock, looking out over the scorched trees, sipping water from a vine and trying not to pass out.

  He opened the System menu.

  [Daily Report – Day Four Complete]

  - You've survived more than half the trial.

  - Garp is pleased. (Interpret this however you want.)

  - BSP Total: 17,750

  - Notable Gains:

  - Increased durability

  - "Tactical Evasion Lv. 2"

  - "Calcuted Recklessness"

  - Muscle memory developing under duress

  - Mental State: Worn, but awake.

  Kain shut the menu.

  There were four days behind him.

  And three brutal ones ahead.

  But for the first time, as the stars flickered above the smoke and ash, Kain didn't feel like he was just surviving.

  He was adapting.

  And that scared him more than anything else.

  -

  The seventh sunrise was blood-orange, filtered through a haze of smoke and mist that clung to the isnd like regret.

  Kain stirred where he y on a ft stone outcropping, body aching, limbs stiff, bandages frayed and darkened with dried blood. He blinked up at the sky, then at the System prompt hovering quietly over his field of vision.

  [Day 7: Final Trial]

  – Objective: Survive Garp's serious effort.

  – Secondary Objective: Don't die.

  – Timer: 24 hours

  – Current Status: Severely fatigued. Muscles at 38%. Haki reserves at 9%.

  – Estimated survival odds: 3.1%.

  Kain groaned.

  "Three percent? That's generous."

  He didn't hear Garp arrive. No shockwave, no battle cry, no giant footsteps shaking the earth. Just… silence.

  Then a shadow blocked the sun.

  Kain sat up slowly, shielding his eyes.

  Garp stood there, arms crossed. No ugh. No grin.

  Just a look.

  Like a mountain deciding whether or not to fall.

  "You ready, kid?"

  Kain coughed once, tasted blood, and muttered, "Do I have a choice?"

  "Nope."

  The vice admiral stepped forward and cracked his knuckles. The sound was soft but final, like the lid on a coffin closing.

  "I've been going easy on you," he said. "Didn't want to break you too early. But today… I'm going to teach you something real."

  Kain rolled his shoulders, winced. "Oh good. A lesson. Can we skip the part where you colpse a mountain on me?"

  Garp smiled. "Not this time. Just my fists."

  No point in running or hiding anymore. This time he would have to face Garp head on.

  It started simple.

  A jab to test spacing. Kain dodged—barely. Countered with a zy backhand charged with Armament Haki. Garp didn't even flinch.

  Then the real attack came.

  A palm strike to the gut that folded Kain in half. He flew twenty feet, skipped off the ground like a stone, and smmed into a dead tree.

  The tree snapped. Kain didn't.

  That surprised both of them.

  Kain spat out dirt. "Still alive," he croaked.

  Garp grinned. "Good. Don't die yet."

  The next exchange was faster. Garp blurred forward—shockingly fast for his size. Kain reacted on instinct, throwing up a Cynical Barrier.

  It shattered instantly, but slowed the impact enough for Kain to twist mid-air and roll instead of rag-dolling.

  Pain tore through him, but he stayed conscious.

  Another System prompt pinged:

  [New Skill Progression – Adaptive Pain Response Lv. 1]

  – Your body now reacts faster to repeated trauma.

  – Transtion: You suck slightly less.

  Kain swore the system had to be making random shit up. There was no reason for him to have a skill like that. Where and when would he use it?!

  By hour four, Kain was crawling.

  There was no jungle left. Garp had fttened most of it in the first three hours.

  Now it was dust and craters and silence.

  "You're not bad when you stop whining," Garp called out casually from somewhere above him.

  Kain lifted his head. Garp stood on a ridge, hands on his hips, looking almost proud.

  "You're still soft," Garp said. "But you've got the bones. You just don't trust yourself yet."

  Kain dragged himself upright using a tree stump.

  "I trust myself," he rasped. "I just… don't trust that this is worth it."

  Garp blinked.

  Then he ughed. Not the usual wild belly-ugh. Just a short, knowing one.

  "That's fair," he said.

  And then he disappeared.

  Kain's Observation Haki fred—too te. Predictably.

  The punch hit from behind.

  He smmed into a boulder.

  It cracked.

  So did his ribs. None of his attacks had the chance of nding. His zy punch and zy dragon roar were like taps against Garp's Tekkai. Finger pistol and rankyaku the same. Garp tanked everything without even usind Haki! This was basically a one sided beatdown.

  The System pinged.

  [Critical State Reached]

  – You're on the edge.

  – Tap into something or colpse.

  – Unlock Option: "True Sloth Style – Phase 1: Minimum Force, Maximum Effect."

  Kain's vision blurred. The world dimmed. The ground hummed beneath him like a living thing.

  And still—he stood.

  Not because he wanted to.

  But because Garp was watching.

  And for some stupid reason, that mattered now.

  Kain gathered what was left of his Haki.

  Both fists turned ebony and pulsing. Not bright. Not strong.

  But steady.

  He took a step.

  Then another.

  Garp didn't move.

  Kain blurred forward—Nap Dash, redirected mid-run.

  Then he opened his jaws and released the most powerful Lazy Dragon's Roar infused with 'true sloth style's Minimum Output art.

  One clean strike.

  Right into Garp's chest.

  The explosion was small.

  But it connected.

  Garp took one step back, his shredded uniform revealing a few bloody scratches.

  He paused.

  And smiled. "Finally felt something. Good effort brat."

  Kain colpsed right there.

  Face-first.

  Didn't even feel the ground.

  He woke up under a bnket. His body wrapped like a Christmas gift. Garp sat beside him, sipping tea.

  "You hit me," Garp said, tone almost nostalgic.

  Kain groaned. "I noticed."

  "You passed."

  Kain rolled over. "That was passing?"

  "You survived. You adapted. And you didn't give up."

  "That… was a lot of work to be called 'not terrible.'"

  Garp ughed. "I'll take it."

  The System chimed.

  [Mission Result: Partial Success]

  – Objective: Survive? ?

  – Bonus: Land one hit on Garp? ?

  – Rewards:

  - Intermediate level Armament Haki.

  - Basic level Kenboshuko Haki.

  – +15,000 BSP

  – Unlock: "True Sloth Style – Phase 1"

  – Passive: Endurance Boost (Major)

  – Partial Penalty: You'll see Garp's grin in your nightmares.

  Kain groaned. "Great."

  But he didn't hate the notification this time.

  After the hellish week, he felt like he'd earned it.