"Huh?" Damien slightly groaned as he felt a stiffness in his heart.
He looked at the rock-pigeon that had transformed by his touch and thought and continuously felt a slight itch near his heart.
He let go of the avian as it returned to its rock form and came to a conclusion.
"Looks like having items that have eaten Devil Fruits close to an ability user can cause the single fruit restriction to act up," he murmured.
There is a simple law of Devil Fruits: a person may only eat one fruit, any more and they will explode.
"Inanimate objects that have eaten fruits need to be 'commanded' to transform by the holder, and if they are also a fruit user then it can get ugly."
Damien narrowed his eyes, going over this unfortunate restriction.
It simply meant that he could not simply feed Devil Fruits to his coat, shoes, weapon, and whatnot.
.
"Yet my auxiliary Fruits don't do that..."
A voice then arrived in the pondering pirate's mind, [Those Auxiliary fruits tokens are picky for a reason.]
Sibyl continued, [They demand non-damaging abilities because any other type of fruit would cause you to blow up; it's akin to eating two fruits.]
The explanation did well to fill some holes.
"It's almost like two kings in a jungle scenario... two fruits will repel one another till the host blows up," Damien theorized. "Whereas auxiliary fruits are passive in nature, coexisting with the more dominant power—my Pulverize-Pulverize Fruit."
[Essentially, yes. You can also say that inherently passive can be fed t-]
Sibyl's voice suddenly grew distant and gibberish, only for the pirate's mind to be plagued with a sharp buzz.
"!!!"
It was a rather high-pitched squeak which forced him to grasp his head.
"This again..."
It was a familiar and annoying sensation that had plagued him for the past three months since his return from Skypiea.
It began slow and distant but grew sharper and more pressing on Damien's brain over time.
According to Sibyl, it was a byproduct of his Observation Haki's advancement.
"!!!"
The Sin Incarnate's eyes shot open, feeling another surge of sensory overload—his eyes were burning.
The next thing he saw was bright lights emanating from everything living; grass, flowers, trees, insects, animals and so on were all shining a cold colour while all else was dark and grey.
It was like seeing the world through a filter.
[You need to calm down for it to settle.]
The advice from Sibyl was quickly exercised as the pirate stabilized his breathing and ignored the throbbing pain.
.
Soon enough, Damien sighed a breath of relief, feeling the buzz calm down, meanwhile, the light from nearby entities also cleared up.
Each beacon warped into symbols, words, numbers, strings of data, and arrays of information.
Damien stared long and hard as the integers and letters scrambled around, shifting and piecing themselves together.
"..."
Time went on as the young man felt things clear up, from a hazy sheet of data to a clearer picture.
He turned to the side, this time his eyes landing on a random tree.
As he looked with more concentration and focus, the same thing happened once again—they were blue symbols and numbers, born from the voices of the living things.
[Focus on a single living thing,] came the female voice again.
.
Damien lightly nodded before looking around only to lock onto an aging tree.
Its voice was ever-present, but this time it was presenting another set of data which Damien perceived through his eyes rather than his ears.
"Forty years, four months, six days, nine hours, twenty-four minutes, twelve seconds."
He tilted his head in some confusion, trying to match the timer to the words floating around.
"Till the tree dies?"
"Plague?"
He collected the data and formed a complete string of information.
"Time till Death: 40 years, 4 months, 6 days, 9 hours, 23 minutes, 58 seconds."
"...57 seconds … 56 seconds… 55 seconds…"
"Cause of Death: Infected with a pestilence that attacks a tree's root."
Damien's eyes were still parsing through the information while a ding resounded his mind.
[Observation Haki Mastery has reached the Grandmastery (I) Stage.]
He hummed at the notification before speaking, "Explain it."
Sibyl returned with an immediate answer, [Most people take their Haki to Advanced Mastery and halt, but the true masters can proceed into the Grandmastery Stage. When you enter here, it can lead to newer levels of Observation as it was for you.]
[Grandmastery spans over three stages, each bringing its own advancements.]
[From what I can compute, it seems you can now sense the fate of things around you. But it may not be only their end, but also the more meaningful instances of their life. A better name for it is…]
"Destiny Perception."
"Convert what I sense into a more manageable form," he ordered.
[Alright, test it on a more sentient creature.]
Damien nodded, looking around.
Alas, he met the eyes of a cute little fox clawing at a few berries under the shade of a tree.
[Destiny perceived…]
>=-=----[]---<>---[]---=-=<
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[Black-Clawed Fox]
[Birth: 39 days ago]
[Fate: Will mate with an Ice-Clawed Fox in 12 years, giving birth to three children.]
[Death: Killed 39 years from now by a falling meteor pulled down by a Gravity-Fruit user.]
>=-=----[]---<>---[]---=-=<
Damien blinked, "Well, it's surely quite the way to go."
He shook his head, not entirely sure how to use this newfound power. As it was a branch of Observation Haki, naturally it cannot be used against those with high enough Mastery.
He then turned to a water snake and did the same thing.
>=-=----[]---<>---[]---=-=<
[Ancora Water Snake]
[Birth: 4 years ago]
[Fate: Will die without branching out his family tree.]
[Death: Killed an hour from now due to a concentrated influx of force.]
>=-=----[]---<>---[]---=-=<
"Oh?" Damien smiled in amusement as he felt something new once more.
He remained stationary, though his mind spanned to the side.
He could feel another sense.
A presence, 60 meters away, discreetly moving through the forest.
Damien could sense the emotions emanating from the entity.
"Playful and cheeky intentions… Kuzan. I guess they are starting the final test."
.
"Ice Time Capsule!"
.
The childish voice resounded the sea of forests as it was soon followed by the creaking of ice.
Leaves froze over; the ground frosted up; and the air shuddered from the cold.
The towering pirate did not do much in defense, simply moving his left arm in a horizontal motion, as if swatting away a fly.
Boom!
The burst of ice was shattered apart, breaking into bits and pieces of reflective crystals which sparkled under the bright sun.
Damien raised an eyebrow in intrigue as felt the presence disappear.
"..."
"There you are."
He picked up a pebble from the ground and shot it at an inconspicuous tree.
Boom!
It exploded without much difficulty, though the rock continued, mowing through a dozen such trees.
"Not fair, you said you wouldn't use your Observation!"
Damien lost the target once more, though he remained in the same spot since before.
"I'm not using my Haki, I can just sense your uncontrollable excitement to land a strike on me."
The concentrated emotions appeared once more, this time on a tall tree's thick branch.
What he could sense was excitement, cheekiness, playfulness, frustration. Every string of emotion looks for a moment of catharsis, though failing to do so.
*Fwoo* Another tiny rock shot from Damien's grasp, nailing down a portion of the forest into wooden debris.
"Tch!" came an annoyed voice, disappearing once more.
Thud!
Damien was having fun messing with the boy, though soon another presence arrived.
.
He did not defend the coming attack which was quick to encover his body.
"Oh? This is how it feels?" Damien muttered to himself.
Though if one were hearing it from afar, it sounded a hundred times slower, almost as if the pirate was speaking in extremely slow motion!
He was effectively frozen within a green bubble, rings spinning all around him.
Soon came the scruffy young boy, shooting out from the shadow of a tree with a warcry, "This time I got you!"
.
"Ice Block: Avalanche!"
.
Damien remained frozen in time as a ginormous block of ice and snow befell him, its size was that of a giant hill!
Kuzan uncontrollably grinned, his hands clenched with hope.
*Purrup*
His shadow shook about, soon materializing into the body of a tall woman.
Another young woman arrived, gently floating the floor at a soft pace, taking her place beside the duo.
Toki, Aurora and Kuzan watched as the widespread frost and ice brought a powerful chill throughout the region.
White vapour exuded from the mouths as the tense air grew colder.
.
"That won't be anywhere near enough," Toki said with a soft smile.
Kuzan clicked his tongue, "I know that, but it feels nice to think I could do it!"
"Kuzan, optimism is a good thing but delusion can be unhealthy," Aurora commented.
The boy scratched his nose and murmured, "That hurts."
Aurora did not reply, rather she simply opened up her palms and formed two purple daggers through the aetherial mist.
*Zip*
A sound of pixelation resounded in the region, prompting the trio to jump into action.
In a fraction of a second, the scene of an ice age disappeared as it was crushed into finely cut cubes of dust in a crimson flash.
The freezing chill was annihilated yet it felt that the air grew more frosty than ever!
.
Toki did not wait any longer and chose to attack.
*Fwooo~*
She opened up her small hand, gathering up the archaic energy that appeared with a freaky breeze.
A small tornado of green energy roared into existence, slowly forming a distinct shape—a golden hourglass!
"This will slow him down."
[Hourglass Image (in Discord)]
She raised the shiny device toward the area that was recently encased in ice.
.
"Sands of Time."
.
Her open hand was soon tightly closed, crushing the fragile hourglass.
*Suuuu*
The finely-grained sand within was slowly released, swarming on with an ominous glitter, reflecting off the warm sun rays.
The other two watched as the tiny dust-like particles spread ahead, covering the land in front of them.
Within moments, anything within the bounds of the sands was subjected to varying levels of time: some sped up, some slowed down, some practically froze while others shot through the air at great speeds!
Kuzan pointed out his arms, spreading his frost to the air around him.
.
"Ice Block: Partisan!"
.
A total of six solid-blue spears formed around him. At his command, they soared on ahead, skimming through the air.
Aurora watched the attacks go, releasing her ability as well.
The influx of purple energy shot out, forming small portal-like constructs in front of the spears.
Just like that, they disappeared.
…
Damien, who stood at the core of the island, was feeling quite the ride.
His body reacted in weird ways. When he moved his arms, they sometimes shot ahead while sometimes they paused in midair.
One eyelid blinked rapidly while the other had yet to even blink.
"Hmm?"
His body reacted as he felt the shadows of the terrain around him begin to warp; darkness itself moving to suffocate him.
*Fwooo*
The air screeched as six spears shot out from all around him.
One aimed at his side, one at his back, one from above, one from below while the other two came from the front.
Boom!
All six connected, exploding into a frosted mess.
Two crimson pupils pierced through the icy fog, alongside a murmur, "A distraction to get close to me."
His mind read the three concentrations of mass emotions that appeared around him.
*Purrup*
Like a fluid, his shadow squirmed.
A lithe body shot out, holding two daggers and shooting for his throat.
Damien met it head-on, letting them connect.
Clang!
It sounded like metal hitting metal.
Damien's skin held up strong as the blades failed to pierce, leaving the attack open. The pirate shot a fist forward, shooting at Aurora's abdomen.
Boom!
The mighty fist stopped as it hit something else.
Damien's eyes fell to the side, seeing Toki use her time powers to form a shield, protecting her companion.
"It won't hold for a second hit!" she alerted the others.
Damien did not stop, slamming another fist forth.
*Shatter*
Like glass, the time shield exploded into bits. However, what followed surprised Damien.
His fist, which has the strength to sink a marine warship, was suddenly flooded with an influx of force. It came from underneath and aimed at his wrist.
The force was enough to turn metal to dust—all concentrated at Damien's wrist.
Boom!
Like a gong, Damien's fist changed trajectory and slammed onto his own chest, ringing it like a drum! The sound that echoed out was loud enough to send the animals into a panic.
.
"Ice Block: Pheasant Beak!"
.
A bellowing screech of a bird arrived with its light-blue colour, spreading its wings to charge onto Damien.
[Attack Image (in Discord)]
*Krrrr*
Damien's fist was still being dug into his chest, threatening to penetrate through. However, his other hand was free.
.
"Utter Ruin."
.
The mighty bird could only cry a high-pitched scream as it exploded from the torrent of crimson energy. From an ice sculpture to countless, tiny shards of ice.
.
"Nihility Storm!"
.
From behind came an explosion of vast forces.
Damien felt his body being subjected to push, pull, shear, torsion and tension forces, each trying to turn him into mush.
Kuzan did not stop either, willing his ice to dance to his tune.
.
"Ice Block: Hailstorm!"
.
With ease, he froze the water moisture in the sky, turning them into sharp blocks of ice.
At his command came a flurry of solid rain, leaving craters from their fall and littering across nearly a kilometer of the forest.
Damien eyed the troublesome forces, soon to be amplified by the ice.
.
"Desolation Zone."
.
An extinction order.
Everything around Damien was suddenly brought to its knees.
Vertical streaks of blackish-red energy fell about, crushing the very fabric of air into its pieces.
The forces from earlier were overwhelmed and cancelled out.
The forecasted hailstorm was withdrawn.
All incoming attacks were nullified.
"Ugh!" Kuzan was caught in the fray, sending his body to the floor.
Damien's eyes narrowed as he felt a dangerous attack from the side. He tracked the coming volley of green arrows, each swarming with archaic energy to age things into oblivion.
.
"Devoured Space."
.
A wide curtain of pulverizing energy was born, halting the volley.
Toki, who watched from afar, huffed a sigh, "Not fair…"
She saw the green arrows crumble away and within seconds, the giant barrier turned into a weapon, shuttling toward the green-haired girl at great speed.
Thud!
Aurora landed near Toki's side, a purple flower in hand.
.
"Oblivion Blossom."
.
The simple lotus spun in circles, drilling its way at the incoming volatile energy.
Boom!
The attack shattered into a loud bang.
"He can do all this without using Observation Haki," Aurora sighed.
Knowing the inevitable outcome of the battle, Aurora chose to try her best.
Her body exploded with purple energy. Her long violet hair floated up, defying gravity. Her clothes lost their distinct darkness as they were overtaken by a coat of ethereal energy.
*Vrooo~*
Damien, who wanted the three to go all out, chose to pause as the world began to change around him.
The earlier sunshine, the warm breeze, it all disappeared. The bright afternoon turned into darkness as the warmth of the day was robbed into a chill.
"It's quite a flashy move."
The Sin Incarnate glanced up, seeing the young woman floating in the sky, bringing night to where there was once day.
To Be Continued…