— — — — — —
A few hours later
The sun had dipped low, the sky darkening into night.
Even though the sun was long gone from the sky, the nine Sunflowers and nine Twin Sunflowers planted all around the field kept producing sunlight like it was still broad daylight.
And now that it was night? Nine freshly awakened Sun-shrooms had joined in too.
So despite the pitch-black surroundings, the entire Sunflower Field still glowed faintly gold, like a dream straight out of a fairytale.
Walking leisurely through the golden haze, Kazami Yuuka's mood matched the vibe of her sunflowers—bright and cheerful. You could even hear the spring in her step.
After strolling around the field, she headed back to the center.
...
Hearing footsteps approaching, Veyron opened his eyes. "You're back already?"
"For me, it doesn't really matter where I am."
Yuuka sat down beside him. "Were you meditating?"
"Yeah, figured I might as well do something useful while I've got the time."
Veyron sat up too.
He'd been lying there, eyes closed, completely relaxed, syncing his presence with the flow of nature.
Meanwhile, his system—alerts turned off so they wouldn't interrupt him—was quietly logging notifications like:
[Spiritual Power (Lv. 7) gained 1 EXP]
[Observation Haki (Lv. 37) gained 1 EXP]
"When you came here last time, I don't remember sensing any spiritual energy from you," Yuuka said, tilting her head slightly to look at his face.
"Yeah, that only awakened after I got back."
He gave a little nod toward a sunflower. "All thanks to the gift you gave me."
That particular sunflower was the one he accidentally stepped on when the gap yokai, Yakumo Yukari, tossed him here.
Kazami Yuuka had healed it instead of getting angry, and the sunflower then had gifted him a bunch of seeds. That led to him unlocking the passive trait: Photosynthesis (White).
"Among all the humans I've seen, your spiritual potential is definitely the best," Yuuka said, then casually tossed out, "Since we're both free… wanna spar?"
"…Huh?"
Veyron blinked. Where the heck did that come from?
Yuuka didn't even blink. "In my experience, training and fighting go hand-in-hand. Fighting someone at your level—or stronger—is one of the best ways to make real use of the strength you've built up."
"Fair enough."
Veyron gave a small nod.
Take his Basic Swordsmanship, for example. He'd trained it for nine whole years in the Bamboo Forest, and it was only at level 27.
But ever since unlocking Ruskaina Island from the One Piece world—a proper training ground—the skill had shot from level 29 to 35 in just a couple months.
Sure, some of that was thanks to his sword Bloodwing boosting his growth.
But the real game-changer? The hordes of terrifying beasts roaming Ruskaina.
Then again, without those nine years of solid foundation, he wouldn't have gained so much even on Ruskaina.
It's like with Luffy Vs. Kaido—Luffy wouldn't have pulled off Advanced Armament Haki, Conqueror's Coating, and Devil Fruit Awakening without all the grinding and training with Rayleigh.
Anyway, back on topic.
Looking at Yuuka, who was clearly raring to go, Veyron raised a brow. "Just to be clear… this is a friendly Fight, right?"
"Of course."
Yuuka nodded with a smile.
And then—WHAM.
That delicate-looking fist of hers blasted toward him like a bolt of lightning.
His Observation Haki picked it up, but at less than half a meter apart, drawing his sword wasn't even an option. He quickly raised a Haki-coated arm to block—
BANG!
The shockwave sent Veyron flying over a hundred meters before he managed to stop.
He barely had time to react before a Magic Cannonshot slammed into him from afar.
Then came a second. And a third. And a fourth...
Veyron: "…"
They didn't hit that hard—he could probably tank one bare-skinned and still be fine—but that wasn't the point.
He remembered the last time he saw Yuuka fire one of those cannons—it had shredded Yukari's gap ability. That single blast was both faster and stronger than all of these combined.
Translation? If this was a real fight, he'd already be planning his funeral.
"Alright then…"
Veyron popped open his second-level Gene Lock. Yuuka didn't know about this trump card, so he used the boost to slip between two Magic Cannons and draw his sword.
Chirp!
With a flash of red light, his slash cleaved straight through a cannon blast, reaching Yuuka in an instant—only for her to casually parry it with her parasol.
"Huh. You're stronger than I expected."
That slash had a surprising amount of power behind it, enough to make Yuuka smirk with excitement. The next Magic Cannon she fired from the tip of her parasol had several times the force of the earlier ones.
Veyron fed spiritual power into Bloodwing, activating the Cloudbird pattern etched into the blade and unleashing a slash of his own, equally powered-up.
— — —
Outside the Sunflower Field…
"So they are fighting after all, huh…?"
Inukimi shot up from the flat rock where she'd been resting, feeling the heavy energy rippling from within the field.
Her eyes narrowed as she spotted the two figures inside—exchanging Magic Cannons and sword slashes one moment, then clashing in close combat the next.
She could feel the power in those attacks. Either one of them could flatten her in a single hit.
And based on how things were going… Yuuka had a calm confidence to her, like she was barely even trying, while Veyron was the one on the defensive.
So… should she risk using a secret technique to awaken her latent bloodline power and help him? Or maybe bolt to Eientei while Yuuka's still focused on the fight and beg for backup?
"No need to panic. Just relax and watch—it's only a spar~"
A voice suddenly whispered in her ear.
"Oh, it's just a spar, phew….. wait a sec—WHO'S TALKING?!"
Inukimi jumped out of her skin.
"Don't worry~ I'm not some bad yokai or anything. Just a poor soul who got tossed aside and now has to sit here, all lonely, watching those two goof around together…"
BOOM!
SWISH!
A Magic Cannon and a sword slash screamed past, shaving the air right above Inukimi as they obliterated the gap that had opened there.
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