One Piece: I Understand It Now

Chapter 32: Haki?

While the devil was shouting as loud as he could, making this part of the island tremble with his laughter, Ken was focused.

Something that Lucifer had failed to notice was how Ken hadn't been injured since the start.

The only time he had ever been hit was back when the 33th angel first slamed him back, before this group even came.

But now he was entranced. His breath, stable. His technique, perfect. His movement, seemless. His mind, focused.

Not a single ounce of his being was planning ways to escape or to kill; all of it was gone towards perfecting his evasion. He was going to make sure that by the time every single Angel here was killed, he would reach a level closer to those of the true monsters of this world.

Ken could feel it; he was getting closer and closer to something substantial, as if a large door was going to open up for him, and since then, only glory would await him.

This door, was maybe, just maybe... Haki?

No!

By far... No!

He was not even close; he was barely just starting; it was not that easy even for him with his devil fruit that was specialized. How long did it take for Luffy? Two years. It should take him much less, but he was sure.

It was not yet here. What he was close to reaching was something more important. Not the control over observation haki, but something substantial.

He was gaining insight. He was gaining experience. More importantly, he was developing a mind for battle.

His every move, his every breath was focused. His overloaded brain, all of it, was focused on a single task.

Though this might not mean that he was close to unlocking Haki, it would make the path forward easier.

To reach Haki, Ken needed something more important than this, and for that, he needed a true, proper instructor.

For now, all he would gain from this would be a perfected technique, close to being turned into a style.

Perfected movement in battle, and lastly, a battle mind, a state of focus that he could enter at any time, a flow state that would be similar to actually having Haki but not quite yet.

"How about it, Little Rat. Are you tired yet? Are you feeling like giving up? Stop jumping up and down and I promise to make your death swift." The devil had finally stopped his laughter.

Seeing how sweat started showing up on Ken's face, even going as far as falling to the ground, he was sure that the young man was getting tired and was close to falling.

"Do not worry, for death isn't the end. It is clearly the path to further glory. You have high potential; join us, and you might even have the honor of becoming like me, an immortal conscious organism with strength surpassing that of any human." The devil continued his mumbling.

"Our master is close to achieving his true masterpiece; if you offer your body, it would be for a cause greater than anything this world has see-" Suddenly, the devil stopped.

He looked at Ken, and a smile appeared on his face.

The rat has stopped moving.

"I see. You're a wise man indeed." The devil said, thinking that Ken had been brought back to reality by his talk and was ready to die for a greater cause.

Not stopping his underlings from going for the killer strike. The Devil was even ready to follow up with another slash himself in the case where Ken didn't die.

Thus, the atmosphere around this area was still buzzing with the same noise as before, not reducing one bit aside from the fact that Ken had stopped evading.

But then, Ken took a step.

*Slash* *Thud*

"What are you doing? Wha- WHY?! WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND?! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT I MEAN WELL? I EVEN WENT AS FAR AS PRAISING YOU, RAT!" Seeing how Ken had killed another one of his underlings, Lucifer lost it.

"Lucifer." Ken calmly called.

"You shout a lot."

*Slash* *Thud* *Fwshhh* *Slash* *Slash* Slash*

After his words, Ken went on to kill angels one after another; the second they approached him, he killed them with minimum movement.

He was right, after complexity... One goes right back to simplicity.

-----End-----

I will be putting the novel on pause for a few days, I have finals and I don't have time to write chapters. 

Though, if I write, I will be releasing them on Patreon till I have 10 chapters advanced there again (I have 3 currently, so 7 to go).

One thing I'm sorry for is that you guys won't see the next 2 chapters till then because they're seriously the best I've written so far (for this fanfic).

But they're on Patreon, so no worries. If you want, you can check them there. Till I have all 10 chapters ready, I will make them available to all 2nd-tier subscribers.

Bye for now.