Ru stared at his form, down at his clawed hands. They looked strong and he indeed felt stronger than he ever had before. As a pit slave, he wasn't starved as much as the domestic slaves, after all, he had to fight, but still, the power he felt coursing through his veins after having eaten the devil fruit was beyond anything he could imagine. His skin was cold to the touch. Not like corpse but colder, like he was made of ice itself and perhaps he was. Not like a Logia but as some kind of mythical zoan. He rose from his kneeling position and just kept rising. His feet lifted off the ground and he levitated. It was an amazing feeling but one which was short lived, as he felt his stamina drain quickly. Half a minute of flying later, he fell to the ground, exhausted.
It was to be expected. He had just eaten the devil fruit and thus wasn't used to its power just yet. He transformed back into his human for and sat on the dirt, beneath the fruit tree. Thanks to a zoans fast recovery, he was back on his feet after a few minutes, sluggish but able to look for shelter on this unknown island.
The jungle was thick beyond the clearing, dense leaves woven together like a living wall. Ru steadied his breathing and stepped toward it, every movement carried a faint, unfamiliar lightness. Even in his human form, the supernatural strength lingered. His muscles felt coiled, like a savage beast ready to pounce at its prey.
He flexed his fingers and for the briefest of seconds, frost traced along his knuckles before fading. His eyebrows furrowed.
So it wasn't just the transformation. This was indeed a mythical zoan.
He inhaled slowly and focused, reaching deep inward to that strange new presence. It answered, distant, ancient and incredibly cold. Not cruel, nor kind in anyway, simply vast. He didn't know its name but it felt older than the ocean itself.
"Control", he muttered. In the pits, strength without control meant death.
The sounds of the island sharpened as he moved ever deeper into the dense jungle. Birds shrieked somewhere, high above. Insects buzzed. Leaves trembled with-
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Shockwaves pulsed through the jungle, shaking trees and chasing away all life. Curious, Ru climbed onto a tree and looked for the origin of the sound. He saw them, two men, two giants, clashing sword against ax, locked in a vicious duel which neither looked like winning any time soon. The strength of the blows amazed Ru. He had fought giants in the pits but these two were many times larger and more powerful. If he had to face them in the pits… he shuddered at the thought.
But the giants didn't clash for too long and the two of them left in opposite directions. Ru decided to follow the one with the sword, jumping from tree to tree, never losing sight of the giant warrior. When he eventually reached his base, he saw the giant munching on a a large dinosaur tail. Seeing the roasted meat, Ru could feel his stomach growl, which the giant heard, "hm? Oh, a human has arrived? Tell me, do you have any booze on your ship?"
"I- I don't even have a ship", he admitted, "I was thrown overboard and washed up here"
"A pity", the giant warrior turned his attention back to his meat.
"Could I- have something to eat, Mr-?" He asked hesitantly.
"Gegyagyagya! I'm Dorry, the blue ogre and of course you can have some meat, it's not like you can eat all that much. You humans are so tiny" Dorry threw him a 'small' chunk of meat(it was still the size of his chest) and Ru ate in silence but Dorry felt chatty, so, he asked, "why were you thrown overboard, human?"
"It's Ru and… well, my master was angry at me"
"Master? Like captain? Are you a pirate?" Dorry asked, ripping off another chunk of flesh with his teeth.
"No- not a pirate"
"A marine then? If so, then that means you are an outlaw now, aren't you? We are pirates. We have a bounty of 100 million each" he explained.
100 million? No wonder they were so strong!
"Yeah, I guess I am an outlaw now… which means I have to grow stronger if I wand to survive…" his hand went to his chest, hand resting on the rags which hid his slave mark. He turned to Dorry, "you are strong, very strong. I want to get stronger too! Could you teach me?"
Dorry stroaked his long beard, in deep thought, "I have never trained a human before… it could be a good way to pass time… hit me"
"What?"
"Hit me with all your strength and if I'm impressed, I will teach you. Don't hold back, I can take punishment", Dorry explained, leaning down, pointing at his cheek, "right here"
"Okay… I guess", Ru shook his limbs and transformed, growing bigger, stronger, sturdier. He coiled his fist and counted in his head, focusing all his bodily strength into his fist. Frost covered his icy knuckles, forming spikes and he threw the punch. There was an impact sound and Dorry laughed.
"Not good enough?" Ru asked, already dejected.
"No no, it was good", Dorry laughed, "I had my expectations pretty low, after all, you are only human but that punch packed quite the punch. I see you ate a devil fruit and it just so happens that I know that one"
"You do?!"
"Indeed I do. One of our crewmembers died on this island as we were waiting for our logpose to reset, he was the previous owner of that fruit, the mythical zoan, hito hito no mi, model: Ice Yai", Dorry explained, "I would've never thought that I'd see it again…"
"So… you'll train me?"
"That is what I'm saying. The training will be hard but if you survive it, you will be way stronger!"
Survival wasn't guaranteed? He would not have it any other way. Hardship bred strength, he knew that intimately.