"Not bad."
At hearing his words, Grount brightly smiled and charged at him again, now in his Hybrid-Zoan Form and relentlessly attacking him.
Sin did not bother dodging them. He blocked them all, and once again, grabbed the boy's left wrist and pummelled him into the ground.
"Again."
Even though he was very tired, Grount stood up and charged at him again, and Sin smiled when he learned to counter his earlier move.
For the next two hours, until the sun was at its peak, he continued training the boy, who did not disappoint him.
The durability, stamina, and pain tolerance that his Ancient Zoan provided him were astonishing.
"You were very impressive." He gently ruffled his hair, and Grount felt a little shy at the praise.
"Thank you for training me."
"You are welcome." He smiled and picked him up before teleporting to the God's Shrine again.
Nojiko and Pascia were still training, hitting their bare fists on the Iron Wall, and both their bodies were dripping with sweat.
On the other side, Little Rebecca was wielding a short sword, which was a longsword given her stature, and she was fighting against Hiyori.
Nami and Vivi were sitting on the side, enjoying their Watermelon Juice as they watched them spar, and there were two other girls present with them.
"Raki."
The moment the Shandian girl heard his call, she rushed over.
"God Sin."
"I heard you pledged your life to my wife."
"I did..."
"You are too weak to protect her." She froze at his words and clenched her fists.
However, she did not refute his words because she could not refute the truth.
"I will grow stronger." She promised.
"Really?" He smirked.
"Yes."
"Nojiko. Bring the two crescent swords from the treasury." He ordered the girl who had just finished her Training. She quickly rushed inside the shrine.
A few minutes later, she returned, carrying two khopesh, and she handed them to Raki.
The Shandian gripped them, swung them a little, and watched Sin step back.
"Come. Show me you are worthy, and if you manage to convince me of your conviction, I will give you something special."
All their eyes widened at his words, and Raki, whose body nervously trembled, charged at him.
She screamed as she swung the blade in her right hand, and it cleanly cut through Sin's body. As a result, she ended up bathing in electricity and dropped to her knees.
"That's it?" He mocked her, and she stood up and attacked him again.
Instead of waiting for her, Sin passed right through her, bathing her in even more electricity, and she let out a silent scream as she bore the shock.
Everyone in the courtyard winced at seeing Raki get tortured, and even though she knew that she would only suffer, the girl still kept charging at him.
"How will you protect your Queen if someone with similar powers to mine attacks her?" He smiled. "You cannot even land a hit."
His words were not just for her but for everyone, and they all felt unwell in their hearts.
She even switched on her Shooters and utilised her Dials, but was still unable to do anything to him.
Sin keenly observed her emotions and her state of mind, and he was impressed to see how she was holding on and not giving up.
Her will was strong, very strong, and it was reflecting into her eyes that she was something who would never easily give up.
Half an hour later, she finally dropped to her knees, panting heavily, and her head buzzed, but she was still trying to get up.
"You love your sniper, don't you?" He gently asked, and before she could answer, he disappeared.
Sin returned ten minutes later, holding two Devil Fruits in his hand, one of which was a black avocado, and the other was white as milk. It was an apple.
"Stand."
At his words, she quickly stood up and swayed a little on her feet.
"This is one of the most versatile Paramecia Devil Fruits that exist in the world. Even someone with a Logia Devil Fruit will not be able to harm you or someone you intend to protect, much less a Zoan, but it all depends on how smart you are and if you will ever be able to fully utilise its powers. It's also a Devil Fruit that will be a dream come true for any Spiner."
Raki stared at the Devil Fruit blankly, her heart now speeding in excitement.
"You have already pledged your life to Hiyori, so, I will not ask you to make any more promises, except one."
She raised her head and met her eyes.
"A weak Royal Protector is a shame to their Royal. Never be that shame."
"I won't!" She swore.
Sin offered her the Devil Fruit, and she quickly grabbed it and bit into it.
The way she nearly vomited made everyone laugh out loud, and all the girls quickly surrounded her, waiting to see what powers she had gained.
Raki frowned as felt a little weird, but she could not quite grasp what this feeling was.
"What you ate is called Ana Ana no Mi. The Hole Hole Fruit. It allows you to create holes in the air and on land, anywhere in your field of vision, and even behind something you can see as long as you can imagine the location or have seen it before. There will always be, at least, two holes. One will serve as an entrance and the other as an exit, and vice versa..."
At his words, she narrowed her eyes, pinpointing two locations in the air, and sure enough, two dark revolving holes appeared in the air.
Sin shot a bolt of lightning through one, and the girls gasped when it exited the other at a different location.
Raki brightly smiled and turned to look at Pascia.
"Punch me!"
And without missing a heartbeat, the girl punched her.
The Shandian created a hole to block her punch and smiled as the girl attacking her got punched in the back.
"Awesome!!!" Nami and Vivi excitedly shouted, and even Pascia laughed.
"What does the other Devil Fruit do?" Nojiko curiously looked at the other Devil Fruits.
"It's an interesting Devil Fruit."
Conis was already curiously looking at it, and when he handed it to her, she did not refuse.
"But I did not pass any test..."
"You are too weak to be tested right now." He brutally said, and she embarrassedly lowered her head. "Eat." He gently said, and she obediently nodded her head and bit into the Fruit.
Her expressions were even funnier than those of Raki, and the girls laughed their hearts out at her misery.
However, they suddenly stopped laughing when her Skypiean wings on her back suddenly enlarged and became angle-like, and then she shot up into the sky a fast speed.
"Angel?"
"Henko Henko no Mi. Also known as the Modify Modify Fruit. It gives the user the ability to modify parts of their bodies, but nothing unnatural. You can only modify the natural parts of your body. One can modify their eyes to enhance their sense of sight, modify their ear to enhance their sense of hearing, tongue for taste, all of the skin to enhance the sense of touch, and nose to enhance the sense of smell. You can even modify your flesh and bones, making them harder or softer," Sin informed the girls, who were excitedly looking at Conis having fun in the sky.
For Rebecca, it was almost like she was watching a dream, and she stared at Conis in awe.
The Skypiean soon rushed further up into the sky, and then she stared at the entrie Skypiea in a trance.
"Can you modify your size as well?" Nami curiously asked.
"To an extent, yes. You can modify parts of your body but not the entire body at the same time."
"Oh..."
Raki playfully created a hole in the sky, and Conis was taken off guard as she ended up flying right into it.
Next she knew, she was in the courtyard, being hugged by the Shandian, and the girls laughed at what just happened.
Sin felt a little weird as they all ignored him and got busy exploring Raki's and Conis' powers, especially the latter's ability to modify her body parts.
The Skypiean was amazed as she focused on modifying her ears, aiming to hear far far away, and the girls giggled when her ears turned up pointed and long, but pretty.
She also tried modifying her eyes to see clearer and far away, and again, she was stunned. However, when she tried to modify her nose to enhance her sense of smell, her nose started growing bigger, and she immediately stopped. She vowed to never try that again after hearing how hard everyone around her was laughing.
Funnily enough, Hiyori was just as excited as everyone else, almost like a child, and none of them found it weird.
It did not take long for Rebecca to get overwhelmed with shock after another shock, especially when she saw Nami sprout her wings and rush up into the sky with Conis.
Sin gently caressed her head, and then took her to the side. Since Hiyori was now busy, he decided to help her with her sword practice.
For a child her age, she was doing pretty well, and he smiled when he saw how focused she was in the training.
Seeing her determination, Nojiko and Pascia soon resumed their Haki Training.
They did not have a lot of time left as the year was soon going to come to an end, and if they failed, they would break their promise to their Captain.