Chapter 17: Chapter 17: The Price of Strength
Hiss!
The gentle spray of colorless healing mist descended like morning dew, coating Zoro's battered form in its miraculous embrace. Where angry red scrapes and purple bruises had marred his skin moments before, healthy flesh began to regenerate with supernatural speed. The Hyper Potion worked its digital magic, translating game mechanics into tangible reality with seamless efficiency.
As the last drops settled into his system, Zoro's eyelids fluttered like butterfly wings, consciousness slowly returning to his exhausted mind. Light filtered through the darkness behind his closed eyes, growing from a pinprick to a brilliant dawn that flooded his awareness.
"What... happened to me?" he mumbled, his voice thick with disorientation.
When his vision finally cleared, he found himself staring up at an impossible sight, Luffy stood beside his head, but the rubber boy had been transformed into what appeared to be a child's version of himself, standing barely two heads tall with his trademark grin stretched across miniature features.
"You're awake, Zoro!" the pocket-sized captain exclaimed with obvious relief, his high-pitched voice confirming the reality of his bizarre transformation.
Zoro stared at this surreal image for a long moment, processing what his eyes were telling him. Then, with deliberate slowness, he closed his eyes again and settled back against the destroyed training ground.
"What a strange dream," he muttered with resigned acceptance. "At least it's over now."
"Dream? This behavior of wanting to escape from reality doesn't suit your character, Zoro," Akira's amused voice cut through his attempted denial like a blade through silk.
The swordsman's eyes snapped open instantly, meeting his vice-captain's knowing gaze. "How are you feeling? Luffy exhausted himself with that last technique, but you took the brunt of the impact."
Akira extended a helping hand, a simple gesture that somehow carried profound weight in the aftermath of such overwhelming defeat.
"Wait!" Zoro's head whipped toward Luffy again, his expression cycling through shock, disbelief, and finally bewildered acceptance. "This isn't a dream?"
He pointed a trembling finger at his miniaturized captain. "But he's, "
Pop!
The sound rang out like a cork leaving a bottle as Luffy's compressed form suddenly expanded back to normal size, his familiar proportions returning in the span of a heartbeat.
"That's the side effect of Gear Third," Akira explained with casual expertise, still offering his hand to help Zoro stand. "There's no avoiding it for now, the technique forces his body to shrink temporarily after using such massive expansion."
Although Zoro accepted the assistance and rose to his feet, his movements remained unsteady. The physical exhaustion was manageable, what truly shook him was the crushing realization of how vast the gap between their abilities had become.
After a moment of heavy silence, Zoro raised his head and fixed Akira with an intense stare, his dark eyes burning with desperate need for understanding.
"Akira... can you tell me what the world outside is really like?"
The question hung in the air like a challenge to everything Zoro thought he knew about power and ambition.
Akira's expression grew contemplative, as if the query had stirred memories both wonderful and terrible. He reached over and playfully stretched Luffy's cheek while considering his response, the casual interaction a stark contrast to the gravity of their conversation.
"The specific situation is... complicated," he began carefully. "But you need to understand something fundamental about the Grand Line."
His voice took on a more serious tone as he continued. "There are countless fighters stronger than Luffy out there. They're as common as fish in the ocean, as numerous as blades of grass in a field."
The words weren't intended as cruel exaggeration, they represented harsh reality that Zoro needed to accept. While Luffy's current strength might have reached levels comparable to his future Enies Lobby performance, the New World contained warriors who could crush that level of power without breaking stride.
"What did you say?!" Zoro's voice cracked with shock, his fingers instinctively tightening around his sword hilts.
His first instinct screamed denial. Impossible! Absolutely impossible! But even as his mind rebelled against the information, deeper wisdom acknowledged an uncomfortable truth, Akira had no reason to lie about something this important.
The tactical implications slowly sank in, each revelation more sobering than the last.
But Akira wasn't finished delivering harsh truths. His next words fell like hammer blows against Zoro's carefully constructed understanding of his own potential.
"And remember, your ultimate target is Dracule Mihawk, currently the world's greatest swordsman."
He paused to let that sink in before continuing with devastating efficiency. "If Hawkeye wanted to defeat Luffy at his current level, I doubt he'd need more than a single serious swing."
"The gap is... that enormous?" Zoro's voice dropped to barely above a whisper.
Though he was only hearing Akira's assessment rather than witnessing the power firsthand, he could already envision an impossible mountain stretching endlessly into the clouds, a peak so high its summit disappeared beyond the reach of mortal ambition.
"What's this?" Akira asked with deceptive lightness, a slight smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Are you thinking about giving up?"
"Give up? Impossible!" Zoro's bitter laugh carried more determination than despair as he shook his head with renewed vigor.
His hand moved to rest on Wado Ichimonji's hilt, drawing strength from the familiar weight of his most precious blade. "I just realize the road ahead has suddenly become much longer than I thought."
After those words escaped his lips, the determined fire returned to his eyes with renewed intensity. He gazed up at the clouds drifting across the afternoon sky, his voice carrying the weight of absolute conviction.
"If you think I'd give up just because of this, you might as well kill me right here on the path to my dreams!"
"That's right!" Luffy immediately jumped into the conversation with enthusiastic support, his laughter bright and infectious. "Dreams are worth risking your life for!"
But then his expression shifted to mock offense as he turned toward his vice-captain. "And Akira... saying there are so many people stronger than me is really mean!"
He clenched his fists with dramatic determination, his voice rising with passionate conviction. "I'll show you with my own hands, the sight of me knocking down every single one of those guys!"
"When that day comes, I'll definitely make your jaw drop!"
"Isn't that right, Zoro?!"
"Damn right!" Zoro gripped his sword hilt tighter, as if drawing endless power from the legendary blade at his side.
His reply resonated with unshakeable confidence: "Just watch us, Akira!"
"Forget about the Grand Line, even Hawkeye himself won't be able to stop me!"
"Really?" A mysterious smile spread across Akira's features, though something softer flickered in his expression.
"That might disappoint you then," he said, reaching up to adjust the brim of his red cap. His eyes gleamed with an inner light that seemed to pierce straight through to the truth of things.
"After all, I've never doubted for a single moment that you could accomplish exactly that."
"What's more, with a trainer like me guiding your development, I won't be surprised no matter how strong you eventually become."
His gaze fixed on Zoro with laser intensity as he delivered his final point. "Remember this defeat, Zoro. Remember how it feels right now."
"True strength isn't just about physical power, it's about the unbreakable will that drives you forward no matter what obstacles appear in your path."
"I hope this failure becomes the fuel that propels you toward greatness. Use it to forge yourself into a warrior worthy of your dreams!"
"I will!" Zoro mirrored Luffy's gesture, clenching his fists with renewed determination.
"I believe in you both," Akira said with genuine warmth, though a subtle gleam of satisfaction flickered in the depths of his eyes.
Perfect. Absolutely perfect.
That's exactly the reaction I was hoping for!
Without pressure, where could motivation possibly come from? Akira had orchestrated this entire demonstration specifically to expose Zoro to the crushing reality of the world beyond the East Blue. He needed both of his future crewmates to understand that their current power levels, while impressive by local standards, would barely register as threats in the Grand Line's more dangerous waters.
For naturally competitive spirits like Luffy and Zoro, no amount of external pressure could ever break their resolve, it would only transform into fuel for greater achievement. The East Blue had been too peaceful, too predictable, offering nothing worth their desperate efforts to overcome.
That kind of stagnation was the enemy of growth.
Even now, Akira felt a pang of regret about the missed opportunities during those two and a half years in Windmill Village. If he'd known from the beginning that he would eventually join Luffy's crew, he could have pushed his captain's training to entirely different levels from the start.
But dwelling on past mistakes served no purpose. What mattered was the present, and the unlimited potential that lay ahead of them.
"Nami!" Akira suddenly called out, spinning around to address their newest crew member, who had been standing in stunned silence throughout the entire exchange.
"Ah!" She startled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, her amber eyes snapping back to focus. "What... what is it?"
"What were you thinking about just now?" He approached her with quick strides and playfully flicked her forehead, the gesture carrying gentle reproach rather than actual criticism.
"Didn't you see how fired up Luffy and Zoro are getting? Why aren't you joining in with their enthusiasm?"
"No thanks!" Nami pouted, crossing her arms defensively. "I'm not a hot-blooded idiot like those two."
"Besides, all this talk about bonds and friendship and whatever... I don't understand any of that stuff."
"Oh? Really?" Akira's grin took on a distinctly mischievous quality.
Without warning, he swung his travel backpack around and unzipped it with theatrical flair. This wasn't his game inventory, just the ordinary bag he'd packed before leaving Windmill Village. But what it contained was far from ordinary.
Stacks of cash and gleaming jewelry caught the afternoon sunlight, creating a dazzling display of wealth that would make a dragon jealous. The treasure they'd liberated from Morgan's personal vault sparkled with the promise of unlimited shopping opportunities.
Nami's pupils dilated instantly, her expression transforming as if she'd just witnessed the face of god.
"What about now?" Akira asked with obvious amusement, watching her reaction with keen interest.
"If you have any orders for me, Lord Akira!" Nami dropped to one knee with military precision, her voice ringing with newfound devotion. "I will march through fire and flood without the slightest hesitation!"
The transformation from skeptical thief to loyal retainer was so complete and instantaneous that even Luffy and Zoro stopped their planning to stare in amazement.