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Author's Note:Hey guys, sorry I couldn't upload the chapter last week. I successfully completed my course and have started attending interviews again. Unfortunately, I was also sick for a few days, so I couldn't manage to upload on time.
Also, I'd love to hear your thoughts! I created these recent trial chapters because I felt the story was naturally going to revolve a bit too much around Ash, so I wanted to give more focus and development to the other characters.
What do you think about this approach? Is it working for you? I'd really appreciate it if you could also leave a review for the story, whether you're a long-time reader or someone who just started. Honest feedback—good or bad—is always welcome and really helps me improve.
Thank you so much for your patience and support!
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[Note:
" * " : Indicates abilities that can be upgraded with practice, experience, or unique opportunities.]
> System inner voice ["speaking"] <
> Ash inner speech "speaking" <
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SELINA'S TRAIL:
Blinding light swallowed Selina the moment she stepped forward, forcing her to shut her eyes. As her vision slowly adjusted, she opened them—only to be met with nothing.
The space around her stretched endlessly in all directions, a vast, empty white void. No walls. No ceiling. No sign of anything except herself.
She glanced down. The floor beneath her was smooth and glass-like. Cautiously, she took a step. The surface held her weight, yet it didn't feel solid. It was strange, almost like… walking on water?
Soft ripples spread beneath her feet with every step, distorting the white abyss.
She cupped her hands around her mouth and called out, "Ash? Luffy? Ace? Uta? Nami? Nojiko? Guys, Anyone?"
Instead, all she received was silence with only the echo of her own voice in response.
Selina narrowed her eyes and, with a hand under her chin, thought, "May be, these are individual-based trials, huh? It seems the others will be facing their own challenges. I hope they do their best".
With that in mind, she took a few steps for any clues about her trail. With each step, gentle ripples spread beneath her feet. After a while, a door appeared in front surprising her.
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The door's surface was covered in swirling, intricate designs that shifted slightly as she looked at them.
She glanced around the door, but there was nothing else—just the lone door standing there. She cautiously opened it and stepped inside. As soon as Selina stepped through the door, darkness swallowed her.
She barely had time to react before a sudden sting struck her mind. Sharp, jarring—like something pressing against her mind. A gasp escaped her as she clutched her head, eyes squeezing shut against the sudden pain.
It lasted only a moment, but when she finally opened her eyes—The void was no longer empty.
All around her, countless floating screens like clouds flickered to life, illuminating the darkness. She turned, eyes darting from one to another, realizing they surrounded her on all sides. Each cloud played a different scene, and recognition struck her—these were her memories.
Moments of her life flashing before her in vivid detail.
She spun slowly, trying to take it all in, trying to understand what this was about.
In one screen, she saw herself laughing and running along with Ace, sprinting through the streets, with stolen foods and some things in their hand. She remembered those times, the way they had each other's backs before she ever met the others.
Another screen displayed with her on the deck of the ship, drink in hand, laughing as Ash cracked some ridiculous joke along with others. She could almost hear the sound of his voice, the warmth of the moment filling her chest.
Her gaze shifted again to another where she and Luffy stood face to face, bickering playfully over something trivial. Neither of them serious, but neither backing down.
One displayed the sake they drank to become sisters in all but blood, another their victories in bounty hunting—the thrill of battle, the satisfaction of a fight well fought, the laughter afterward. She saw herself and the others celebrating, living in the moment.
Some of the screens showed a different side of her past.
She saw herself standing alone on a darkened street on the night she ran away from her noble life, leaving behind everything she had ever known.
Another screen showing her face was frozen in shock and horror as she watched the Grey Terminal burn—smoke rising into the sky, flames devouring everything. The realization that how higher status people could erase lives like they were nothing. She had felt so small, so helpless.
Then, another memory where she stood in a lavish hall, the chandeliers above casting a glow over the room. The walls felt taller and the room felt bigger, she remembers how she felt suffocating.
Her father sat before her, his expression unreadable, his voice sharp and unwavering. "You are my daughter. A noble. You will carry our name with pride. That is your duty."
Selina's fists clenched at her sides, trembling seeing this memory. "Enough of this nonsense. Stop acting like a street rat. You are above them."
She had always known. To him like all of them, the people outside the walls were nothing. And, she was just another piece to improve the family legacy—a tool, not even a person.
Memories after memories played around her—moments of happiness, friendship, and freedom, the life she had chosen. At the same time, pain, regrets, and burdens, the life she hated and ran from. And then, the vow she made.
All of it was displayed, the good and the bad, side by side. She stood there, waiting—expecting something, anything, to explain why her memories were playing around her like this.
Then, the air shifted. A strange stillness settled over the void.
From the darkness, three faces emerged, hovering between the glowing screens. Formed of swirling smoke and faint golden light, their features were shifting, like mist caught in an unseen breeze. Their eyes, however, remained steady—watching her, as if measuring her.
Before she could even voice her question, the voices spoke, each one echoing from a different face.
"We have seen your past..."
"We have witnessed your choices..."
"We have felt your heart."
The air around her seemed to press in, heavy with unseen weight.
"You defied those who sought to control you. You broke free from the chains of expectation, carving your own path. But what you have faced is merely a speck of what truly exists."
"There are beings of unimaginable power—ones who crush the weak, slaughter the innocent, and reshape the world as they see fit."
"You have chosen to walk this path… but the world is vast, its shadows deeper and more merciless than you can yet fathom."
"Tell us, child of rebellion…"
"Will you stand against them?"
"Even knowing you are weak to face them?"
Selina gave a slight laugh, as she stared up at the smoky figures. "I don't know who you guys are… or how any of this is happening. But honestly—whatever, it doesn't matter."
"I always hated when people in power suppress those who depend on them—like my father, fellow nobles or the king of Goa Kingdom. They use people, discard them, discriminate, and kill without shame. I defied every one of my father's words, defied the life I was meant to live. I hated being born among them."
She stepped forward, her voice stronger now. "And as for facing those people you spoke of... I might not be strong enough to take them on alone. But I'm not alone in my journey. My friends, my family, my crew—we'll reach our dreams together!"
"I'll defy every one of them if I see they're as cruel as you say. And I won't be alone when I do."
Just then, one of the cloud displaying behind her grew larger—showing Ash, Uta, Lucy, Ace, Nami, Nojiko, and herself, all laughing together on the deck, full of joy and freedom. As if the void itself responded to her conviction.
"And anyone who gets in the way of our dream... anyone who becomes a threat to it—we'll take them on together. And I'll share our story with the world! I'll write a book about our adventures. That's my dream!"
As the words left her lips, a sudden pressure pulsed from her—her Conqueror's Haki leaked out, answering the call of her heart.
As she finished speaking the void fell in silence and the three heads started speaking again.
"You have spoken your heart … without fear."
"Your spirit does not waver, even before the unknown."
"You carry rebellion—under the banner of freedom."
A quiet pulse of golden light shimmered in their eyes, as the three heads slowly bowed forward as if peering into the very depths of her soul.
"You are deemed worthy to move forward."
"But worthiness alone does not earn the crown of the king."
"The power you seek… is not to be taken lightly."
Before her, the space shimmered. A new door formed out of thin air itself as the void rippled—sleek and silver, with faint markings glowing across its surface waiting for her to enter.
"Step forward, warrior of rebellion…."
"Beyond this gate lies the next trial. The path to the divine trickster awaits."
"And may the heavens bear witness to your will."
Selina gave a quiet nod, her eyes filled with determination. Then, without looking back, she stepped through the silver door—leaving the dark void behind.
Just as the light swallowed her, she hears finally one final thing from them.
"Prove your strength. Prove your spirit. And Face what lies ahead… and may you rise."
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As the light vanished, Selina found herself standing in a desolate mountain landscape. Jagged peaks surrounded her on all sides, their shadows long and sharp beneath the pale cloud-streaked sky.
Only a narrow path stretched ahead, barely visible beneath the thin mist that rolled over the rocks, veiling the way ahead.
She started walking, eyes scanning her surroundings. The air grew thinner each breath came a little harder, and a faint pressure pushed down on her body as she ascended.
Still, she moved forward as the pressure pushed against her body, steadily increasing with each step.
Even though she had trained under gravity-enhancing weights from Ash, this felt different. After a couple of hours, the winding path began to narrow, the climb steepening. After what felt like hours, she finally reached the mountain's midpoint.
The path ended before a dark, looming cave carved into the rock. The wind here was louder—wilder. It whipped past her ears like whispers, echoing deep from within the cave.
She heaved slightly, adjusting to the heavy air pressing down. The climb had gotten tougher the higher she went, and now, clouds had rolled in thick, hiding the ground and everything below.
All she could see were the mountain peaks jutting out like islands in a sea of mist of clouds.
As she neared the cave, smoke began to curl up from the ground just in front of the entrance surprising her. It rose slowly, twisting and shifting until it formed into a figure. A face—not fully human, with faint monkey-like features—took shape from the smoke.
Selina recognized the voice that followed as it spoke as one of the ones she'd heard back in the void.
"You've defied the path laid out for you… and chosen your own path."
The figure stepped aside, motioning toward the cave.
"But can you walk a path that can't be seen?"
It looked straight at her, with steady voice.
"Once you step inside, all your senses will be stripped away. No sight, no sound. Nothing. To move forward, you'll have to rely on something deeper. Face what's hidden… and find your way to the end."
Selina took a breath, steadying herself. "We're lucky Ash already taught all of us Observation Haki," she thought. I hope it'll help me in a place like this. And maybe… this'll push me to take it even further."
She nodded; eyes sharp with resolve. "I'm ready." The figure returned her nod.
"Then step forward, child of rebellion."
Selina then stepped into the cave. As the light from outside vanished behind her, so too did everything else—her sight, her hearing, her sense of touch, smell, even the feeling of her own heartbeat. All her senses were gone.
At first, panic gripped Selina's chest—the crushing silence, the absence of feeling, the sheer nothingness clawed at her mind.
She clenched her fists and took a deep breath calming herself down. Slowly, she reached out with her Observation Haki. It flickered, barely catching anything.
She moved toward the cave wall, letting it serve as her anchor. Step by step, she walked. Her Observation Haki pulsed, slowly stretching farther. With time passing, she felt it adjusting—growing—guiding her. And soon, her pace quickened.
Time lost meaning—minutes or maybe hours had passed, she couldn't tell. Then suddenly her Observation flared in warning.
Selina in a flash, summoned her Nimbus Staff spinning it intercepting an incoming strike that came at her. The impact rattled through her arms, but she held firm and swung back, striking instinctively at where the attack might had come from.
She felt her staff connect—just barely. But before she could follow through, another blow came from a different angle, too fast and slammed into her side.
Then attacks started raining from all directions—forcing her to go fully on the defensive.
She forced herself to steady her breathe and tried pushing her Observation Haki wider, stretching it as much as she can.
Even so, not every blow could be stopped. The strikes she missed slammed into her, each hit lighting her nerves with pain even with her senses gone. But she felt her unseen opponent fought with staff just like her.
Relief flickered through her for this. If it had been blades or sharp weapons… she'd already be dead by these relentless attacks.
She could tell now—whoever was fighting her had a level of staff mastery far beyond her own. But instead of backing down, she remembered what Ash and Uncle Dragon always said how real battle teaches more than any training.
With all her senses gone, depending solely on her Observation seemed to push it further, faster and bit by bit, it grew sharper.
She tried using Tekkai and Armament Haki to help defend against the attacks she couldn't dodge, but without her senses, it was difficult get a feel of it. But still, she kept trying it.
And over time, she could feel her inner spirit— better than like back when Uncle Dragon first taught them. Also, her Armament flared, unstably flickering.
At the same time, her Observation Haki evolved. Faint outlines began to form, four distinct figures, each cloaked in a different colored aura. It wasn't perfect, but now she could at least track them.
Her movements grew sharper and she started deflecting attacks, countering them. Though their staff skill was still beyond hers, she still gave her all.
And finally, after what felt like forever, her staff slammed into the chest of the figure with the green aura and it vanished.
And suddenly—movements, technique, fragments of memories flooded her mind. She recognized it instantly: the staff fighting style of the green-auraed opponent she had just defeated and it seemed to passed to her after defeating her attacker.
With that sudden insight, her body moved instinctively, she adjusted her stance and continued her attacks on the rest, each strike flowing more naturally.
As the battle raged on, she began to counter the remaining three—blending her own techniques with the techniques she had just inherited.
One by one, she took them down—first the yellow aura, then the blue, and finally the red, the strongest of them all. With each victory, flashes of their techniques and styles surged into her mind making her mastery over her staff better.
Meanwhile her Armament Haki also began to get more steady and easier to use.
At the same time, her Observation Haki kept sharpening, giving her clearer awareness of everything around her, like an entirely new sense awakening allowing her to perceive her opponents more clearly.
With the enemies gone, there was no need to move cautiously anymore. She pushed her Haki forward, searching and found the path. Trusting her haki, she moved quickly, unhindered.
Then, gradually—her senses started returning. First a faint smell of air, then sound and when her sight came back the cave's end came into view. Without pause, she moved towards the exit of the cave.
As soon as she exited, a breath escaped her lips. Light poured over her skin; her senses fully returned. It was a strange relief, grounding and overwhelming all at once.
Just then, smoke curled again and the same figure at start of trail took shape and spoke to her.
"Child of rebellion… you have passed the trial of the unseen path."
"You walked through darkness, found your way through the unknown."
A soft hum filled the air as a golden door shimmered into existence ahead of her, glowing faintly.
"Step forward child, your next trial awaits."
Selina nodded and gave a respectful bow to the figure and stepped forward through the golden door.
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As soon as Selina stepped through the golden door, light engulfed her, and the world around her shifted. When her eyes adjusted again, she found herself standing in the middle of a vast desert.
Sand stretched out in every direction, dry winds brushing against her face, and the sun bearing down from above. She looked around, already trying to figure out what kind of trial this would be.
The sand around her began to swirl. Dust kicked up into the air and gathered in front of her, slowly forming a familiar monkey-faced being, but different from the last one. She recognized, it was the second head from the void room.
He looked at her and spoke.
"You've passed the second trial, child of rebellion. You walked through the unknown."
Then, his gaze turned toward the desert, voice steady.
"Now comes the Trial of Adaptability. Adapt, move forward, and overcome what lies ahead of you."
After saying this, his form slowly fading into the wind.
As he vanished, Selina not wasting time took out and enlarged her Nimbus Staff, then sat on it and lifted off into the hot desert air. Willing it higher, she guided her staff opposite direction from the golden door she'd entered through.
But it didn't take long before the desert began to fight back.
Sand dunes as tall as buildings shifted beneath her, constantly rearranging the landscape. Whirlwinds of sand—like typhoons—rose in the distance and tore across the horizon, clouding her vision and throwing her flight path into chaos.
Even though she escaped few times with little trouble, weaving between dunes and gusts. But one of the storms nearly caught her off guard—sand slammed into her side, burying her midair and almost knocking her off the Staff.
She tried to go higher, hoping higher altitude would keep her safe, but surprisingly the storm rose up to her. She then launched forward, trying to push through the spiraling winds.
She enlarged the Nimbus Staff midair and smashed through the swirling sand. But controlling it at that size drained her fast testing her mental endurance harder than before.
But thanks to the second trial, her mental resilience had grown. Controlling the staff—even in its enlarged form—was somewhat easier than before. She stayed calm after escaping the storm, got back on her Nimbus Staff, and continued forward.
To keep her stamina up, she reached into her inventory bag and took out some food and water ate while still flying.
Eventually, after hours of shifting through the sand dunes and brutal winds, she spotted it. An endless blue sea stretching ahead on the horizon and its waves glinting under the sun.
But just before she could breathe easy, the desert hurled one final obstacle at her, making her face a monstrous dune, larger than any before, surged toward her. At the same time, a towering wall of sand exploded upward, swallowing her whole and blinding her.
Selina clenched her teeth, shielding her face with one arm. With the other, she gripped her enlarged Nimbus Staff tight.
Willing every ounce of strength into it, she drove the staff forward, spiraling through the choking storm. Wind and sand twisted violently around her, but she broke through with a burst of force.
The chaos behind her faded and the winds died as she coasted downward, finally landing on solid ground—the sun-warmed beach at the edge of the sea.
Cool air brushed across her face as she landed, a sharp contrast against the heat still clinging to her skin from the desert.
After hours under the burning sun, the sudden breeze felt like a small relief. She took a deep breath, letting it wash over her—smiling, even laughing a little to herself.
The desert sure had been brutal, but having the Nimbus Staff as her way through made it manageable. And now, even if the sea ahead was bound to be just as harsh, she is ready to face it because she didn't expect it to be silent.
Still, for the moment, she wanted to enjoy the peace. After cleaning herself of the sand, she willed her Nimbus Staff to enlarge it and stood on it and surfed forward and glided low over the water.
There were no waves to carry her—just still sea stretching out toward the horizon—but the wind was good, and for a moment, it felt almost peaceful.
As if the sea had heard her thoughts, clouds began to form, swallowing up the peaceful sky. The calm waves turned restless, crashing against each other and nearly throwing her off.
She dropped to one knee, gripping the Nimbus Staff tightly with one hand for balance as the waves rose around her. She willed the staff to push forward faster, cutting through the growing chaos.
But the sea wasn't done, the farther she went, the more violent it became.
Waves turned into walls, crashing her nearly, so she lifted off willing the Nimbus Staff into the air trying to escape the rising madness. For a while, that worked. But then, the wind picked up and nearly pushing her off course.
Suddenly a massive whirlpool spinning in the heart of the sea making her to rise higher to avoid it, but just as she breathed in a small relief a towering tsunami rose behind her making her eyes widen in surprise.
She had to push her staff higher, flying toward the clouds as the wave chased her even then, forcing her to soar even high that breathing became thin and difficult. But she held steady thanks to what she endured in the second trial, her mind and body could adjust now easily.
Just when she thought she escaped she heard loud roaring of thunder. She looked ahead noticed thick wall of black clouds pulsed with lightning.
As the first bolt flashed toward her, she ducked below the storm, weaving through the sky as more bolts came at her relentlessly. Then the sea below erupted again—geysers of water shooting upward like volcano bursts, joining the assault.
She was now caught between the heavens and the sea. Lightning from above, water shooting from below. She had to rely on her Observation Haki again to navigate the chaos—but it was getting harder.
Then, through the flashes and the roar, she spotted an island in the distance. The weather there seemed calm so she immediately flew towards it's direction.
At that one small instant her focus on observation slipped. A lightning strike slammed into her. She screamed. Her body burned. Then another came more violent. Her grip on consciousness faltered.
She activated Tekkai, her body hardening just in time. She coated herself in Armament Haki hoping to lessen the damage. And even though she knew the staff was unbreakable—Ash had said so when he gave it to her—pain still took over making her forget at that moment.
She instinctively poured her Haki into it, trying to coat thereby protect it from lightning.
Something clicked at time of her desperation, her Haki extended to the Nimbus Staff wrapped fully in Armament.
Then darkness finally took her.
Her last thought was of the island—she forced her will into the staff, whispering a silent mental command.
The Nimbus Staff shot forward through the storm, crashing down on the beach at the edge of the island. The force threw Selina from its surface. Her charred body rolled once, twice—then lay still in the sand, unconscious but still alive.
To be continued...
Hey everyone! I'm always looking for ways to make this story even better, and I'd love to hear your ideas. What powers do you think should be available in Ash's store? Maybe you have some cool concepts for abilities, weapons, or items that could make the adventure even more exciting!
Feel free to drop your suggestions in the comments, and if there's anything specific, you'd love to see in future chapters, let me know! I might even integrate your ideas into the story.
Also, don't forget to give some Power Stones if you're enjoying the journey! Your support means the world. 😊