String of Fate (One Piece)

Chapter 12: Work Hard

Rizu POV

"Huff Huff"  I pant out as I finished my assigned workout and soon to spare with the others.  I wipe the sweat that is accumulating on my chin.  

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It's been a couple of months since I have been here at this new base.  Talk or whispers are heard here as well that are directed towards me.  I don't really talk to many of the people here except some talk with Chase when he decides to bother me or Hina when she's around.  But most of the time she is hanging out or with the white haired smoke man, I had caught his name, Smoker.  

I thought it was quite ironic how his name match his devil fruit powers.  But I never got the chance to really talk to him.  Otherwise my time here would be spent on training till sunrise and waking up early in the morning to train with Z or with the other marines.  Z would do individual training with each of his students at times and do group training after.  

Though once the sun goes down and the training grounds are mostly empty.  In the middle of the night I would go out to practice and train more for an hour or two then go back to bed.  It has been a routine where I would practice extra to refine some skills or go over what was taught during the day.  

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"Rizu, good job."  Z says to me patting my head as he stood in front of me.  I nodded my head and looked up at him.  "Try using what I just taught you in our spares later on today."  Z continued on as he looked at me and I nodded my head.  "Yes, sir."  I reply back with and he nods at me.  "Dismissed."  he says and walks away.  

As soon as he walks away I start walking to the marine sleeping quarters.  'Techniques....The use of the body and spiritual energy...Haki..."  I thought going over what Z had told me when we first started our training.  We had continued it and he went to show we different types of haki.  'Kenbunshoku haki, Busoshoku haki, Haoshoku haki.  Each one has there own specialty to them and the haki affects Devil fruit users, so instead of having the weapons go through logia types it physically affects them.'  I remind myself thinking of Smoker when he went up against the weaker soldiers who didn't know haki vs when he went against the stronger ones who knew haki.  

As I walked into my room and changed my clothes into another pair of marine outfit I thought of the last haki form, Haoshoku Haki, one that is rarely ever found.  'The use of Haki is in everybody but it's the matter of whether you can awaken it,  you need immense training or extreme shock....They are all very useful...'  I concluded and took off my mask as I layed on my bed for a little while till I had to go back out to the training grounds in 30 minutes.  

"I have to work harder if I want to achieve haki."  I tell myself as I stare up at the ceiling and the image of my father pops up in my mind.  I close my eyes and shake my head.  "Just focus on getting stronger with the group."  I mumble.  

 As I lay there staring up at my ceiling for the rest of thirty minutes I turn over on my bed and grab my new mask since my other one from yesterday broke again.  I got up and put the mask on looking at myself in the mirror before leaving.   

As I leave the building I enter the training ground where some of the group is there already and are getting lined up.  I soon get in line and stand among the rest of them.  

Soon enough the rest of the group arrives and Z comes to us.  "Today we'll be doing team fights.  Make use of the topics that we have been going over recently and use your full strength."  Z says as he looks at each one of us.  "Yes, sir."  he say back and he nods.  

"We'll be splitting up in four groups."  Instructor Z says as he walks towards us and motions for each of us to go to a different spot separating and making groups.  "These will be the groups.  We'll have Smoker's team and Hina go against each other first."  Z said and the two groups nodded making their way to the center and Z moved off to the side over seeing.