A few weeks passed, and during that time Narberal and John became accustomed to each other's presence.
They developed a steady routine that made their days move with more structure, especially as John continued upgrading the training room so it could accommodate everything Narberal needed.
John wanted to make sure that Narberal grew stronger in a way that matched the potential of his rare bloodline.
Lunarians were once described as gods, and even in the current era the World Government still held that belief strongly enough to commission Vegapunk to experiment with Lunarian genetics.
The creation of enhanced soldiers using Lunarian traits showed how valuable that bloodline truly was. John did not want to see that potential wasted.
Among the improvements he made, John created a new subtype of the internal temperature stabilizer that he and Vegapunk had originally designed on Karakuri Island.
The original version could alter the environment of an entire island, changing a winter climate into a summer one. The new version was far more focused, meant only for the training room.
It pushed the internal temperature much lower than normal, and John believed that if he pushed the technology further, he could even force the room to approach absolute zero.
He designed it this way so Narberal could train his fire more effectively, learning to increase its intensity and endurance while being pushed by extreme cold.
This was one of the methods John developed to help Narberal grow into the full strength of his race, while also teaching him how to fight properly.
John had already seen Narberal's fighting style when they encountered the CP agents. It worked well enough for someone who had survived on instincts and constant danger, but it lacked structure, discipline, and efficiency.
Narberal moved with raw emotion rather than sound technique. Because of that, John started teaching him the basics.
He showed him how to use the entire body to throw a punch so that the power traveled from the legs and hips rather than only from the arm. He also taught him the proper way to kick without wasting extra movement.
Along with these physical basics, John made sure to guide him in the fundamentals of Haki, since developing the two types Narberal already possessed would be crucial for the battles ahead.
Training Narberal revealed a simple truth. Even though he had been fighting for survival all his life, he had never been properly trained.
Experience and training were different, and John quickly realized how much work needed to be done.
Narberal had the potential, but his skills and control were far behind what they should have been.
One day, after finishing a session that pushed Narberal to exhaustion, John suddenly asked a question. "Do you mind if I take some of your blood?" Narberal was bent over, breathing hard, and the fire on his back had already gone out from the long session.
He was battered and tired, but compared to everything he had endured in his life, this was manageable. He also knew that while John trained him harshly, every action had a purpose.
"Take as much as you need," Narberal replied once he caught enough of his breath. John snapped his fingers, and a compartment in the laboratory opened.
A large syringe emerged and swiftly pierced Narberal's shoulder. The pain shot through him, but he stayed silent, determined not to show weakness.
"What do you need it for?" Narberal asked, knowing that John never requested anything without a reason.
Over the past weeks, he had learned that everything on the submarine existed because John had built it for a specific use.
"I am trying to figure out a way for you to control and hide your wings," John explained. "Ideally, I want to help you pull them into your body so they do not show unless you want them to. I also want to help you control where the flames on your back appear. They attract too much attention."
Narberal understood immediately. His appearance always drew eyes, and even though he owed John more than he could ever repay, he did not want to complicate John's life by being too noticeable.
If John could help him hide some of his traits, Narberal would feel far more at ease moving around the world.
The syringe filled quickly, and Narberal's vision blurred slightly as dizziness set in. John had taken far more than a typical medical sample.
Another compartment opened, and this time it revealed a bottle of refined grape juice. It was not wine, but a concentrated juice meant to help with recovery. John handed it to him.
"Drink this and rest for a minute. I took quite a lot," John said. Narberal nodded without complaint.
John left for the laboratory, and as soon as the door closed, Narberal slowly stood despite the dizziness. He reached for the sword John had given him and began swinging it repeatedly.
This was his way of clearing his mind. He imagined the enemies he had faced in the past, and the agents who had hunted him, and used those memories to drive his movements.
At the same time, he reminded himself of the words John had told him during their earliest training sessions.
"Always remember your anger. You can use it as fuel if you learn how to control it. But if you let it swallow you, it will consume everything and drag you down."
Those words stayed with Narberal every day. Controlling his anger was difficult, but John had been right.
If he let his emotions run wild, he would only repeat the mistakes he feared the most. Narberal continued swinging the sword, steady and focused, allowing the movement to slow his thoughts and help him find the balance that John wanted him to learn.
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Meanwhile, John remained completely unaware that Narberal continued training on his own. His entire focus was directed toward the blood sample he had collected, and the possibilities that came with it. The more he studied the vial, the more excited he became.
He wanted to uncover the secrets behind Lunarian abilities, not only so he could strengthen Narberal, but also because learning those secrets meant he could eventually reproduce and refine such traits for himself.
With the Essence of Ideal Growth, John believed that anything he understood well enough on a biological level could become part of his own capabilities. The idea itself motivated him even further.
John knew that if he managed to decipher the full composition of Lunarian physiology, he would open the door to countless possibilities. Their fire-producing organs, their durability, their unique endurance, all of it fascinated him.
It would also allow him to shape Narberal's progress more accurately, helping him grow without being limited by instinct or the incomplete understanding Narberal had of his own race.
To accomplish all of this, John realized that he needed to study the Lineage Factor in a way that went deeper than what Vegapunk had taught the world so far.
Understanding the Lineage Factor at its core meant understanding how every trait, potential, and ability of a living being was constructed.
John's confidence grew as he examined the samples, because he believed that with enough precision and time, he would be able to map out the entire genetic structure of a Lunarian.
He had not entered this research blindly. John had prepared for this situation long before meeting Narberal.
During his stay on Karakuri Island, he spent months crafting specialized tools, machines, and modified scanners meant specifically for genetic and structural analysis.
Many of the devices stored in the laboratory of his submarine were built for the sole purpose of examining rare races the moment he encountered them.
Since the beginning, John knew that the seas were filled with beings that possessed unique traits, and he had always expected that one day he would cross paths with them.
However, even with all that preparation, John never imagined that the first special race he would encounter would be a Lunarian.
Based on the information he had from the future, he expected the Davy tribe to appear before anyone else, since Rocks had recruited Captain John later in life.
He also thought he would meet someone with the Oni lineage before anything as rare as a Lunarian, especially since Kaido and others with similar traits left noticeable traces in history.
John even considered that he might study Charlotte Linlin or Edward Newgate someday, wanting to understand what type of genetic mutations allowed those two to remain classified as human despite possessing monstrous physical strength.
Linlin in particular fascinated him, and John often wondered how a human could naturally develop such overwhelming power and maintain it from childhood onward.
Now, with Narberal's blood in front of him, all of those theories finally had a starting point. The equipment he had built across months of planning finally had a real purpose.
The research that once felt like preparation for a distant future suddenly became immediate and practical.
John placed the sample inside one of the scanners and watched the first readings appear, eager to take the next step in unlocking everything hidden within the Lunarian bloodline.