On the slope behind the mountain, Ace's little face was flushed bright red. His arms trembled as he hugged a boulder taller than his own body, trudging upward step by painful step. Sweat dripped from his chin, leaving small craters in the dry dirt.
"Y-You stupid uncle..." he growled through gritted teeth, glaring—
But he couldn't glare properly, because Rhett was sitting on the very boulder Ace was carrying. From below, all Ace could see was rock. "You're definitely doing this on purpose..."
Rhett sat cross-legged, munching on an apple with a loud crunch. "Keep going, little Ace. This is only your first trip."
He turned his head to look at the other side. "Ann's doing great, though. Ooh~ Ace you're the big brother here how are you going to protect your little sister later on if you can't even keep up~."
Ann silently carried a boulder twice the size of Ace's. Though her pace was slow, it was exceptionally steady. Her golden hair was soaked with sweat, sticking to her cheeks, but her focus never wavered. Every few steps, she would adjust her breathing and press forward.
Hearing Rhett's words, she held the boulder with one hand and gave Ace a thumbs-up with the other.
Ann, giving a thumbs-up: "Mm."
That single sound dealt a heavy blow to little Ace's already wounded pride.
"AAAAAAAAAHHH!" Ace lifted his boulder and started running for dear life.
Rhett just lay on top of the boulder, counting down:
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
"THUD!" Ace finally gave out. The boulder crashed to the ground, and Ace dropped onto his rear, gasping for air. "I-I can't anymore..."
Rhett hopped off the boulder and gave him a light kick with the tip of his boot. "Your breathing's all messed up, and you still want to make it to the top? Ooh~~ giving up already? And you're the man who's going to be the Pirate King?"
"W-Who said I'm giving up!" Ace scrambled to his feet, only for his legs to buckle and send him to his knees again.
By then, Ann had already reached the summit. She set down her boulder gently and quietly walked back to stand beside Ace. She didn't say a word, but her eyes clearly said, "I'll help you."
Ace's face turned red. "No need! I can do it myself!"
Rhett smiled at the heartwarming scene, then suddenly, in a very un-heartwarming way, shouted, "Oh, I forgot to mention — Ann only has to do six trips. Ace has to do four trips."
"What?!" Ace nearly jumped out of his skin. "Why do I have to do fewer trips?!"
Rhett looked at Ace with an expression of pure contempt. It made Ace's face darken.
"You really think you can compete with Ann in terms of strength? Do you have a death wish or something?"
Rhett had figured it out. Sure, Ann had been a bit frail when she was born, but maybe the world was compensating her for it. These past few days, Rhett could clearly tell that Ann's stamina and physical strength were far better than Ace's.
If Ace had inherited Roger's talent and a bit of his physique, then Ann had inherited Roger's full package — both his talent and his complete physical constitution. Ann was closer to Roger than Ace was.
Roger's talent was top-tier, and his physical foundation was rock solid. Even someone as strong as Rhett hadn't been able to convert his talent into actual strength until his own body caught up.
Ace: "..."
He swallowed his protests and kept moving the boulder with a vengeance.
"J-Just... three more steps..." He was wheezing like a broken accordion, his thin legs trembling so badly he could barely stand.
Suddenly, "THUD." Rhett's boot gently pressed down on his boulder. "Bad form. Add one more trip."
"You rotten uncle!" Ace looked up with a crimson face, only to see Rhett holding a watermelon in one hand, scooping out the flesh with a spoon.
To Ace, it was the most blatant mockery imaginable. "Rotten uncle, where did you even get a watermelon?!"
Rhett scooped out another spoonful of watermelon and looked at Ace like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I can fly. Going back to the house for a few seconds is nothing."
Ann wasn't doing much better. She sat silently beside her own much larger boulder, her golden bangs plastered to her forehead with sweat. The veins in her tiny arms were bulging.
"Ann, you can rest for five minutes," Rhett said suddenly.
Ace immediately protested, "Why does she—"
"Because she didn't use her stomach to carry the boulder like someone I know." Rhett crouched down and poked Ace's reddened belly. "Yikes, it's all scraped raw. When we get home, just say you tripped and fell, got it? What kind of Pirate King carries a boulder with his stomach and ends up with a bright red belly? Didn't old Garp teach you any techniques for using your strength?"
Ann gently tugged on Rhett's sleeve and offered him a water flask.
"For me?" Rhett blinked. How touching. Seriously, how touching!
Ann shook her head and pointed at Ace, who was sprawled on the ground like a dead fish.
"..." Rhett suddenly dropped the water flask onto Ace's head. "Drink! Then keep going! Four more trips!"
Ace coughed and sputtered as the water went down the wrong pipe. But he saw Ann already lifting her boulder again. As she turned around, the back of her shirt was completely soaked through. Through the fabric, he could faintly see the raw, red skin on her shoulder blades where the skin had been rubbed off.
"Dammit..." Ace hung the water flask gently around his neck and stood up, wobbling. "I'm not losing to Ann!"
— One month later —
One evening, Rhett sat in the courtyard wiping down the Black Tide Greatsword. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the two little ones crouching in a corner, whispering to each other.
"Big sister," Rhett suddenly looked up at Rouge, who was hanging laundry. "Those two weapons... you haven't given them to the kids yet?"
Rouge smiled gently. "Didn't you say to wait until they were a bit older?" She glanced toward the children. "Besides..."
"Besides what?"
"I don't really understand these things." Rouge pressed her lips together, looking a little embarrassed. "Swords, guns... they always seemed too dangerous to me."
Rhett blinked, then broke into a grin. "Big sister, you're the Pirate King's wife. Back when I came to get you, you didn't care about that sort of thing."
"But I'm also a mother." Rouge's voice was soft. "Every time I see them get hurt during training, I just..."
"Alright, alright, big sister. Leave it to me. I think it's time they tried out their own weapons." Rhett suddenly stood up.
"Come here, come here!" Rhett called out to the two children excitedly. "Ace, Ann, these were your father's sword and the gun he left behind."
The two little ones ambled over slowly. Ace poked at the sword with his finger, while Ann lightly touched the barrel of the gun.
(Crows flying by... caw, caw, caw, caw.)
Neither of them showed the excitement Rhett had imagined.
Weren't they supposed to jump for joy or burst into tears at such a sentimental moment? Their lack of reaction was making Uncle Rhett look pretty awkward.
"Ahem. I guess you don't understand how valuable these are yet." Rhett cleared his throat, then drew the Ace sword in one smooth motion, blood mist swirling around the blade. "Watch closely! I'll show you one more time!!! This is amazing!!"
He swung the sword hard. The blood mist transformed into a sharp, devastating slash.
"Divine Departure."
The slash tore through the clouds in the sky, turning the still overcast night into one filled with scattered, glittering stars.
Ace tilted his head. "Is it cooler than the greatsword? Will the 'Divine Departure' using this sword be cooler than the one using the Black Tide Greatsword? The Black Tide Greatsword is way cooler!!"
Ann nodded earnestly in agreement.
Rhett stumbled and nearly fell over. He was his own worst enemy??
"This is 'Divine Departure'! Listen to me, back in the day, your father used this move to..."
"But the Black Tide Greatsword can turn into little blood dragons." Ace gestured stubbornly. "And it can turn into chibi people who do somersaults!"
Ann nodded again. She gestured with her little hands and provided her own sound effects: "Whoosh — pow — aah~ Ace got beat up"
Ace jumped up and down. "Why do I have to be the one getting beat up?!"
Rhett: "..."