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Chapter 11– The Real Training Begins.
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This partnership with George, the grey gorilla, has been the best thing to happen to me on this godforsaken island. Wow, that is a title, isn't it, George the Grey? Anyway, since meeting up with gorilla George, my life has been very easy and full of joy.
I have had a nice comfy place to sleep, and I wake up every so often to peel the bananas that George himself procures by punching trees and watching them fall. I occasionally do get up and walk a bit by myself, but not very often since I have a comfortable seat, and I do have to climb a tree once in a while to make sure we are staying on course, which we sometimes veered off of so it was a good job I checked.
All in all, my journey going forward after meeting George has been great. I don't even have to worry about any threats or anything since George is the top dog around here, or at least he is down here, closer to the edge of the island. Although, I am guessing it is a different story the deeper you go. If those wolves we met on the cliff are anything to go by, it seems George likes it better down here as well.
This is why it has been easy sailing in this last leg of the trip, and now finally, we are coming up to the beach. I soon peer through the trees to see the sandy dunes and the deep blue ocean, and there marring my view is Garp. Somehow he has had a change of clothes, and he is in an unbuttoned Hawaiian T-shirt, some white shorts and some brown sandals, and he looks to be enjoying himself.
He is laid out on the beach, resting his head on the big sack that is disappointingly full of crackers, and he is staring out at the sea while munching on the stupid things. It really pisses me off that he is sitting there, and he is enjoying those little snacks while I was struggling for my life in the forest and eating just fruits, while he has those crackers which look very tasty.
"Hey, old man, I am back! Now let me have some crackers. I think I deserve it after all this crap you put me through!" So I say as George finally pushes through the final bushes and walks us out onto the beach. I immediately make a try for the crackers because my taste buds have gotten bored of all these fruits, and I would like to have something different and the way Garp devours those things must mean they are pretty delicious.
"YOU ARE NOT HAVING ANY OF MY CRACKERS. THEY ARE MINE. IF YOU WANTED ANYTHING, THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE PACKED IT AND BROUGHT IT WITH YOU. THESE ARE MINE. I BROUGHT THEM WITH ME!" Garp turns around and bellows out, spitting out a lot of the crackers that were in his mouth, and he quickly gets up and pulls the sack up with him, keeping it close and tightly in his grasp.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I SHOULD HAVE PACKED IT? I DID PACK MY STUFF, AND YOU THREW IT INTO THE OCEAN, YOU SENILE OLD FART! GIVE ME SOME OF THOSE CRACKERS. YOU OWE ME SOME BECAUSE I WOULD HAVE HAD MY OWN SNACKS IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU!" I blew up since he was the one that threw all the sack that was full of the things that I was bringing with me, though admittedly, I didn't have any food in it since I thought that would be provided. I was clearly mistaken.
"Hm, did I do that?" He completely loses all of the heat in his voice and tilts his head to the side as he ponders, and I can't help but be mildly amused as well as contradictorily rageful at his behaviour. It is weird how this guy can be so stupid and do dumb things that harm others yet be so likeable at the same time.
"Yes, you did do that. So I think it is only fair that I get some of your crackers because I would have had my own snacks if you didn't destroy them." I speak while clambering off George and down onto the sand since I have now reached my destination and I no longer have a use for the gorilla, our business is done, and I will leave him to be on his way.
"Hm, okay. Alright then, I suppose that is fair. So here, but this is all you are getting." Garp acquiesces, reaches into his sack, and ruffles around in there before pulling his hand back out, which now clutches onto a single packet of crackers, which he holds out for me to take. A single measly pack, in comparison to the hundreds of packets he still has in there after eating the stuff continuously while I went on my jungle adventure.
"Thank you." I simply say and take the offered pack before opening it and divulging on the snack within, not bothering about anything else. These snacks do belong to the guy, after all, and I get the feeling that I will be hard-pressed to squeeze any more out of him, and if I do manage to do so, it will only be another pack or two, a waste of the effort that would go into procuring them.
"Wow, these are actually really good!" I speak aloud after tasting the cracker, and maybe it is because I have just been feasting on the same fruit for the last few days, but the thing tastes really good. Garp enthusiastically nods his head at my words but doesn't reply in favour of eating his own snacks as well, and I don't much care either as I begin to quickly scoff them down as well.
Before I knew it, the things were gone, and I was sitting there enviously watching Garp eat his crackers and then finishing them and reaching into his sack for another packet. I want to ask for more, but I restrain myself from doing so. I had already agreed to take just one earlier, and Garp even specified that the one pack was all he was giving me, and I didn't refute it, so I will just try to ignore his munching.
"Hey, kid. Is this gorilla your new friend? BWAHAHAHA! Dumb kid can't make friends with actual people, so he has to become friends with big stupid animals, BWAHAHA!" For some reason, I can't refute that. Maybe because I am sitting with two pieces of evidence right here, Garp and the gorilla that is currently standing behind me and just waiting.
"Um, George. You don't have to stay now. I have gotten to the place I wanted to, so you can go now." So I tell the gorilla, which just looks at me with a plain face, not indicative of any emotion at all, before George seems to get the message and turns around and stalks back off towards the forest without another grunt or even a gesture.
It kind of hurts, to be honest, that he would just turn around and leave so quickly, even though we just spent a long time together with me sleeping on his back and him carrying me. We had a lot of skinship this last leg of the journey, and- ew, that sounds bad, actually. Oh well, this is what I wanted.
I watch as George lumbers on back over to the forest, but just before he enters, he turns around, plants his bottom on the ground, leans up against a tree, and then he just stays sat there. Confused, I quickly run up to George as he just watches me approach, nonplussed.
"Um, George, why are you still here? I said you can go now, so you can go now. Go on, shoo, shoo." I said aloud to George and made a shooing noise, and flapped my hands towards him, gesturing for him to go forth into the forest and depart from us.
"Gruuuh." George grunts with a loud rumbling, and I find myself taking a step back in caution. I seem to have forgotten that George is, at the end of the day, a gorilla, an animal with a lot of brute strength. And maybe I shouldn't be acting so frivolously towards it and being so rude, considering it could rip my head from my shoulder very quickly. I seem to have forgotten that after behaving so casually with George and him following my every order.
Still acting cautiously, I watch as George reaches his hand out above him and turns it into a fist before slamming it behind him and into the tree, he is leaning against. Immediately numerous fruits began to rain down from the sky around us, hitting the ground. Thankfully, I was far away enough that none hit me.
George picks up one of the fruits and holds it out for me to take, and I stare down at it and then back up at George and then back down at the fruit. I accept the fruit and then peel it before handing it back to the gorilla for it to eat, and then I turn around and walk back towards Garp.
Honestly, George really helped me out and gave me some much-needed free time on my jungle adventure, and in return, all I had to do for him was peel some fruits that took me seconds to do, and then I could go back to sleep on his warm, comfortable back. So I suppose it isn't much to ask for me to just peel some fruits for him for the duration of my stay on this island before we finally leave after my training is complete. George deserves that much, at the very least.
"So, kid, *Munch*, is that big monkey staying with us?" Garp asks while still snacking on his crackers, to which I nod my head.
"Yes, he is, but don't worry, he will just stay out of the way, and I will take care of him. I just need to feed him every once in a while. other than that, George pretty much takes care of himself." I tell Garp walking back over to him and planting myself down on the ground next to where he is sitting.
"George, huh? Well, whatever. He can actually help us out with some of the training. It just means I can sit back and relax more. Besides, maybe it is better this way. my punches might have proven too much for you, while George's should be just fine." So Garp muses while continuing to eat his crackers, bewildering me with his mention of punches.
"Punches, I thought this was supposed to be you training me, not beating on me." I question because I would much rather not get punched. Also, Garp has basically said that he is much stronger than George the gorilla, and the scary thing is that I believe him.
"Come on, brat, surely you didn't think that you were going to escape from this island with no bruises at all. If your goal is truly to be the strongest man in the world, then you will have to go through so much more than just some punches, so buck up." He says, snorting at me. Well, this is just fine with me because I do plan to become the strongest man in the world, it is my goal, and then after that, I can explore at my leisure. And I fully expected to leave this place bruised and batter, but I just thought that the cause of it would be rigorous and practical training, not due to fights with others.
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"Ah, also, before I forget, brat, this is yours. You earned it." Garp speaks before rifling around in his sack once more before pulling out my carpentry book and handing it over to me. Honestly, I had forgotten about the thing, so preoccupied with surviving and getting back to the beach where it was safe.
I take my book from his hand and begin to immediately leaf through it, and everything seems to be okay. It is undamaged. However, with the way Garp goes through his snacks, I wouldn't have been surprised if he was so caught up in his process that he pulled my book out and took a bite out of it before he realised. I will definitely be reading this thing in any breaks or downtime I have, wanting to further my knowledge even if I can't do any practical knowledge.
"Alright then, when do we start the training? I am full of energy, and I am raring to go ." So I speak, wanting to get started straight away since I was fully rested and well-fed while relaxing on Georges's back, and any bruises or injuries I had cleared up quite well too.
"Hm, well, you have been running through that jungle nonstop for the last few days, so I suppose it is okay if you take a break for the rest of today, and then we can start tomorrow morning. For now, just relax." He speaks before almost immediately placing his sack on the sand behind him and then resting his head upon it.
"Tomorrow? But I am just fine. We can go right-" I try to talk and explain my state f readiness, but Garp cuts me off.
"Buh, buh, buh. Tomorrow, we will begin the training, tomorrow. You are clearly tired, so just go rest for the rest of today, and we can start the training tomorrow." Garp speaks again, denying my request. Clearly, this man just wants to relax for another day before he is burdened with my training.
But what else can I do? So I walk back over to the tree line and take a seat on the ground and lean my back on the tree next to George, and then I begin to read my book.
I can't wait for the training to begin.
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I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE TRAINING TO BE OVER!
"STOP DAYDREAMING, YOU LITTLE BRAT, AND FOCUS ON YOUR TRAINING!" Garp shouts while flinging another rolled-up empty cracker packet at me, which I try my hardest to dodge, yet fate does not seem to be on my side.
"Ouch!"
I can hardly dodge the bloody things, and even when I do, I only manage to do it by a thin margin, and the speed these things are thrown is just as dangerous as the force, regularly making tiny cuts on my body as I just skirt by them.
How the hell are these things so goddamn hard, not to mention that he is just rolling empty packets up into a ball and chucking them at me? By all rights, these things should start to unfold as they fly through the air, but they stay solid as a rock and just as hard as a rock. They really hurt.
He must be using some unholy type of magic to harden these packets because the things go against the rules of reality. I really, really hate the things and how much they hurt, but much more than that, I want to learn how to do such a thing myself. I need to know ho-
"ARGHHH!"
"I TOLD YOU TO PAY ATTENTION, YOU DUMB BRAT!"
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"ARGGGGHH!" I scream as I try to hold up the massive rock over my head that threatens to fall down on me and crush my head to pieces, straining my arms to their utmost.
"Come on, shrimp. Put some effort into it. It is just a little rock. Are you really that weak?" Garp berates me from the side, still snacking on his stupid blasted crackers. All the while, I am holding a massive rock, barring on a boulder, over my head.
The only thing really keeping it from crushing my head right now is George, that is holding the rock over my head and spotting me, but he is holding it lightly enough that it is still falling on me, and so I have to push it up, but even that much is proving too difficult for me.
"Alright, clearly, this isn't working. You clearly need some more motivation. So, George, let the rock go."
"NO, GEORGE! DON'T YOU DARE LET IT GO!"
"Guh?"
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"Alright, George, you see all these fruits here. I went out and collected them all for you." Garp says as he points at a ginormous pile of fruits he has laid out on the beach, to which George greedily salivates and lunges at the mound, trying to take some.
*Smack* "GRAAH!?"
George ends up lying on the ground with a big bump growing out of his forehead, Garp having smacked him down to the ground before he could even touch one of the fruits.
"GRAAHHH!" Undeterred, George gets back to his feet and gets into a fighting stance, determined to get those fruits, but knowing that the only way is through Garp, and so he runs at him, ready to punch him out of his way.
*Smack* "GRAAH!?"
Again George lays on the ground with another bump growing on top of the other one, and George gets up again, this time but much more cautiously and this time, he looks at Garp before making another move.
"Are you finally listening, you dumb monkey? Good, now back to what I was saying before. You can have all of these fruits, but only if you win. You and the shrimp are going to play one hundred games of tag, you will have five minutes to catch the brat, and for every game you win, you can have a fruit. If you win more than eighty of the games, then you can have all of these fruits, but if not, I will throw them all into the sea. Got, good, go!" Garp explains and then suddenly says go, expecting us to just hop to the skip of his tune.
"Garp, you seriously can't expect us to just start like that-"
"GRAAAAH!" I have to jump out of the way to avoid the fist that drops down into my previous position and gouges out a chunk of land from the land, George having leapt straight at me. I don't have time to rest, though, since George is immediately upon me again and trying to get me, so all I can do is run around, which is pretty hard to do on the sand.
"WHAT THE HELL? THIS ISN'T TAG. HE JUST STRAIGHT-UP TRIED TO PUNCH ME. HELP GARP-SAN!" I scream once more, having to jump out of the way of George barreling towards me, and I quickly make a break towards the forest, hoping to find some reprieve in there.
"Hm, ah, well, the rules of tag state that all he has to do is touch you. Whether that is a poke or a punch doesn't matter, so it is fine, and he isn't strong enough to hurt you much. Also, the forest is off-limits. So you must stay on the beach, brat. If you don't, then I will kick you back into the forest again and this time without your gorilla buddy." Immediately I jump to the side, letting George barrel straight past me and into the forest while I turn around and start to sprint away down the beach. I don't want to go back into the woods again.
"GRAAAAAAH!" At the roar behind me, I chance a glance behind me to spot George pursuing me like a gorilla possessed with flames in his eyes. he truly wants those fruits.
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"Why the hell am I doing this, Garp-san? I am sure I have gotten as good as I can. Can we do something else?" I ask, trying to kick multiple times as fast as I can, but it is proving to be very hard to reach the level Garp wants me to perform at.
Garp has me doing this training quite a bit, and no doubt my kicking speed has gotten a lot quicker, and I can kick my leg out very fast. I could probably kick someone three times in one kick which is very remarkable, but I think I have reached the limits of this training.
"Stop complaining, brat! You are nowhere near as good as you think. You haven't even begun to master this move. In fact, go get on the sand and start doing it, and you better be faster before the sun goes down, or you don't get dinner." Garp commands in annoyance, and I reluctantly move over to the sand since I actually do want dinner.
Garp goes into the forest and comes back with a wild animal which he roasts over a fire for us to eat. It is not the best meal by far, and the taste isn't the best either, but it is edible and filling. So nowadays, Garp is the one that does the hunting, and I end up cooking the meat he brings back, and I have been managing to actually cook it to a better degree lately.
"Argh!" I cry as I fall face-first into the sand, having started to do my kicks and failing straightaway. Confused, I got up and tried again, only to have the same results, which didn't make sense. When I was doing it on the grass- Oh right, the ground stayed in one place, and I used all my power on it, but the sand shifted at the slightest bit of force.
So not only do I have to kick the sand multiple times very fast, but I also have to have an insane level of control to stop my foot at the very surface of the sand and not shift any of it. Wow, this is unbelievably hard training, but it will be worth it by the end. After that, my kicks will be on a whole other level, strong, fast and precise.
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"GARP-SAN, I UNDERSTOOD- OW- BEFORE WHEN YOU WERE- OW- WANTING ME TO- OW- DODGE, BUT WHY- OW- AM I JUST STANDING- OW- HERE!?" I shout in question. All the while, Garp pelts me with more rolled-up solid cracker packets, except unlike before, I am not dodging at all.
Garp has instructed me to stand still in the same spot and tense my body up as much as possible while he pellets me with the empty packs, and I have to take them.
"It is all well and good being strong and knowing how to fight, but you also have to know how to take a beating and keep going. So brace yourself and tense all your muscles, and don't move at all." Garp says before launching another projectile straight at my face, and all I can do is close my eyes and prepare myself.
"OW!"
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"Keep going, shrimp. You are actually doing well. I am surprised!" Garp yells out as I contort and move my body, constantly trying to evade all the things he is rocketing towards me. This training was the complete opposite of the last one in that I had to avoid all of the cracker packets, except Garp had drawn out a small circle on the sand in which I was to stay.
Again I am threatened with dinner, but what makes this training so much more challenging is that Garp isn't throwing a single one at a time. Instead, Garp is throwing multiple different packs at several other points forcing me to bend and move in weird ways to avoid them, even having to fully spin in the air at one point.
"Come on, brat, all you have to do is stop thinking and go with the flow. Just let yourself relax and let your body be free." Garp says, trying to advise me on this training, which doesn't really help as it just frustrates me more since I can't relax in the least with this man throwing trash of death at me.
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"ROAGGGH!" I roar out as I continue to wail on this tree in front of me, psyching myself up as I constantly hit the bark with my left and then my right. I had been doing this training for quite a while, and while the first time it was excruciating, and I did hardly any damage to the bark, now bark flies away with each extension of my fist, and I can ignore any pain.
"Alright, stop. It is time for the next stage." Garp says to which I immediately stop, looking towards him for further instructions.
"Next, position your fists like this and then start punching the tree again. Remember to keep your whole hand tense and primed." Garp showcases this as he makes a weird fist where he points out the part of his finger between the two joints in his fingers and hits the tree like that, blasting it apart.
"You see, Detoro, you have already become quite good with punching with the area between your knuckle and the first joint of your finger. So now, you must focus on using the area between the first and second joints. After that, it will, of course, be the area between the second joint in your fingers and the tips of your fingers. Finally, when all of these can smash this tree apart, then you can start to try using the very tips of your fingers on the trees. Understood?" I rapidly nod my head and get to work on a brand-new tree.
Just imagine it, me being able to bring a tree down with a swift chop of my palm or drilling holes into the wood with the tip of my fingers. Indeed, I could not have chosen a better person to train under. I am loving this training, even if it hurts- actually, I like it more because it hurts, and I can feel myself getting stronger.