Koby's Survival Training 2

Koby POV - Blue Star, Grand Line, Little Garden - 20 GAP 

As I'm thinking about how to bring the carcass of this three-horned dinosaur to the Giant Dorry's camp, I suddenly hear a booming voice behind me that says, "Well, you could ask me to bring it to my camp for you. Gegyagyagya!"

Startled I jump out while screaming in fright, "Whoaaa!!" then I look back and see the huge figure of the Giant Dorry standing behind me, and shocked I can only utter, "What? H-How!?"

A grin forms on the Giant Dorry's face as he explains, "Gegyagyagya! It is quite simple, I already felt your presence when I was fighting with Brogi... and I also felt you following me right after our duel. Then you started to hunt this Triceratops and were so focused that you basically ignored everything else around you making it quite easy to sneak up on you."

Then Dorry crosses his arms and asks, "So, are you going to tell me why you want to give me that corpse?"

I gulp loudly intimidated by his imposing stature, and then I quickly answer honestly, "My teacher taught me that it is rude to suddenly enter someone's territory without even bringing at the very least some kind of gift, especially if you are requesting something. This is why I hunted this... ehm... Triceratops, right? Anyway, this is why I hunted it. I wanted to bring you this as a gift, while also asking for permission to safely rest at your camp for the next 3 days."

The Giant looks at me in silence for a few moments, then he grins and says, "Okay! You can stay at my camp! After all, it is quite rare to have some company on this island and I haven't had any guests in a really long time! Gegyagyagya!"

After laughing the Giant Dorry, introduces himself, "Gegyagyagya! I'm Elbaf's Strongest Warrior, Dorry! Nice to meet you, little one!"

Hearing that, I slightly lowered my head and also introduced myself, "Nice to meet you, Dorry-san! My name is Koby." while thinking, 'Better not say that my dream is to become a Marine... After all, he is a pirate for sure he doesn't have any sympathy for them...' 

Dorry-san grins widely then he jovially says, "Gegyagyagya! Let's go to my place, little one." gently grabs me and lets me stand on his shoulder, something that almost gave me a heart attack, then he grabs the tail of the Triceratops and easily drags it while heading back toward his camp.

In the end, after being startled by the Giant Dorry-san right after I dealt with the Triceratops, I'm able to safely reach his camp at the foot of the Sea King Skull Mountain by riding on his shoulder, quite a unique experience in itself.

Once at the camp, Dorry-san quickly starts to butcher the Triceratops and then he roasts its meat over a fire, at the same time, I start to look around, and indeed this "camp" is quite simple, it is basically an empty space at the foot of the Sea King Skull Mountain made mostly of a few sparse logs and a large fire, where the Giant's weapon, as well as his food, can be found, but I also notice some slightly worrying signs like the countless human skeletons amassed on the side of the mountain. 

Just as I'm looking at those skeletons, Dorry-san, who is waiting for the meat to be cooked, looks at me and asks, "So what is someone as young as you doing in a place like this? Did you get accidentally drifter here or something like that?"

To which I shake my head and reply, "No, nothing like that. I'm traveling the Grand Line with my teacher and his family. My teacher stopped on this island not only because he wanted to see the dinosaurs and show them to his kids, but also to train me. He told me to survive on this island for 3 days and quickly after that, he threw me toward that big circular lake. He also told me that yours and the other Giant's camp are a safe place to pass the night... as long as I don't offend you." 

Hearing that, Dorry-san starts to laugh once more as he says, "Gegyagyagya! That teacher of yours sure knows how to push someone to the limits! Haven't you seen the skeletons of those little Humans, lying on the ground around these parts? Most of the Humans who come here end up dying way before their log sets. Some are eaten by the dinosaurs, others give in to heat or starvation, and some even try to attack us... Whatever the case, they all end up perishing on this island. It seems that even spending a single week on this island is just too long for you little Humans, let alone the whole year needed for the log Pose to set on the next island. Gegyagyagya!"

Then he stops laughing and seriously says, "But from what I have seen when you were hunting the triceratops, if you are careful you should be able to easily survive the 3 days needed. On my part, you can spend the night at my camp, it isn't a problem for me, but you have to take care of your own meals, are we clear?"

I nod and quickly lower my head in a light bow as I reply, "Yes! Thank you, Dorry-san!"

While we were talking, the Triceratops' meat was finally ready to be eaten, and so we stopped talking and started eating.

After some time, I can't hold my curiosity back anymore, and ask, "By the way, Dorry-san. Why are you and that other Giant... Brogi-san fighting? To me, it looks like you too are close friends, but despite that a few minutes ago you were seriously trying to kill each other."

Dorry-san looks at me in the eyes then he replies, "We are friends. But you see, I come from a village called Elbaf, it is a village for warriors. It's located somewhere on the Grand Line... But my village has a certain law. If a quarrel breaks out in my village and you can't settle it on your own, then we beseech our God Elbaf for his judgment. Elbaf is just and bestows divine protection on those in the right. He'll ensure the survival of the righteous. I've gotten involved in a quarrel myself, and so this island, has served as the battleground between and that other Giant Brogi. The one who's in the right shall triumph and survive."

Then he starts to laugh out loud as he concludes, "But it has been around 100 years since! We just can't seem to settle our duel! Gegyagyagya!"

Hearing that, I can't help but exclaim, "You have been fighting for over 100 years!?" but Dorry-san simply smirks and says, "It's nothing to be surprised about. Our life spans are 3 times your puny one. Gegyagyagya!"

I look at Dorry-san, and can't help but ask, "Just for what kind of reason can you two fight for over 100 years...? That is just too much time..."

Dorry-san looked at me with a serious expression, then he stared at the distance, very probably at the other Sea King Skull Mountain where the camp of Brogi-san can be found, and decided to state, "It's about pride now... and we actually forgot the reason ages ago."

Hearing that, I almost choked on the Triceratops' meat while thinking, 'They forgot about why they have been fighting to death for over 100 years!!? How is this possible? And why do they continue to try to kill each other even after that!? Is this truly for their pride as warriors of Elbaf?'

While these questions constantly swim around in my head, we continue to eat together the Triceratops in silence, but one funny thought that breaks in from time to time between all those questions is that the Triceratops meat strangely tastes just like chicken.

After the meal, I started to carefully explore the island once more, meeting many other ambushes from many different creatures, like giant tigers, huge snakes, and others of those bird-like lizards which by now I'm pretty sure are the Velociraptors that Jayr-san warned me about as between all the creatures I have met until now, their ambush are always the most dangerous and deadly, not only they always attack in pack, but they also attack from all kinds of position, some of them even lay an ambush on top of some tree trying to catch you by surprise from above, they truly are devious creatures.

Luckily I was able to barely avoid all their attacks coming out unscratched from every encounter, especially since I'm starting to get used to their attack pattern and movements, and thanks to that, I was able to react more calmly to their assaults. 

Another thing that happened is that the big middle volcano erupted once more, and right after that, the island started to shake once more as Dorry-san and Brogi-san started to fight once again, and once again, I went to spectate their fight and learn from it, but just like before, after some time, their fight ended in a perfect draw.

Looking at the two Giants lying on the ground after a very intense fight, I can't help but mutter in admiration, "No matter how many times I see it. It's incredible. Those two fight against each other multiple times every day, but no matter what, they continue to draw each and every time. No one is able to gain any advantage over the other, those two are truly perfectly equal warriors." 

After their second fight, I once again return to exploring the island, and this time, I encounter a creature that looks just as imposing as the crocodile hidden in the lake.

It is a 5-meter-tall bipedal carnivore with a bright red hide, and a massive skull balanced by a long, heavy tail, relative to its large and powerful hind limbs, the forelimbs of this dinosaur are short but also unusually powerful for its size, and its has three clawed digits.

(Image Here - Tyrannosaurus)

This dinosaur is incredibly aggressive and ferocious, as he attacks me as soon as it lands its gaze on me, but luckily while powerful, durable, scary, and also quite fast, luckily, despite its imposing size it isn't agile enough to keep up with me and lacks way too much in agility for being a true threat, and so, I'm able to quickly take care of it using my smaller size to my advantage to run around the creature and hit it in its blind spot using an hit and run tactic.

After that encounter, everything goes smoothly, and then after another while, the middle volcano once again erupts, singing the start of another battle between Dorry-san and Brogi-san, and I once again go back to admire and study their battle. 

This also made me realize that the volcano erupts once after a certain set of time, if I have to guess, I'll say that it erupts once every hour and quite regularly and precisely too. 

Anyway, I pass the rest of the day like that, I explore the island for a while, then when the Hourly Volcano erupts, I rush back and watch the battle deadly between Dorry-san and Brogi-san, learning something new each single time, at the end of the battle, that like always ends up in a draw, I return back on exploring the island while facing its dangers, while also marking down or gathering everything useful, I also make sure to rest and recover back to Dorry-san's camp.

That is because not all my fights with the creatures living on this island go as smoothly as I'd like them to, as sometimes I still get surprised by the resourcefulness of the predators of this island and end up with some wounds or injuries that force me to quickly go back and take care of them all to prevent to get them infected and worsen my condition by lot.

Luckily the night at Dorry-san's camp was a quite peaceful one, as no creature tried to attack the camp at night, that is probably because the creature on this island had since long ago learned that attacking the Giants' camp is equal to death sentence, so they all steer away from both the Sea King Skull Mountain.

The next day starts with the Hourly Volcano once again erupting very early in the morning, so early that the first light of the day isn't yet present in the sky, and I get up while muttering, "Not that the Hourly Volcano has ever stopped throughout the night but at least Dorry-san and Brogi-san don't fight the night." 

Of course, quickly after the eruption, the island once more starts to shake under the might of Dorry-san and Brogi-san's clashes, and feeling that I can't help but say, "If it continues like this one of these days Little Garden is going to sink once and for all, unable to withstand their fight anymore... After all, Jayr-san showed me how easy is to actually destroy an island..."

I once again shudder as I remember the scene of the fight between Jayr-san and the member of the Seven Warlords of the Seas, Dracule "Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk, The Strongest Swordsmen in the World. 

Those two were able to single-handedly destroy an island twice the size of Little Garden, which by the way Jayr-san created with little to no effort, in a fight that lasted only a few minutes more or less. 

Moreover, while I can't say anything about Mihawk's situation, Eri-san clearly told to a still-shocked Vivi-san, and Igaram-san who just saw two men destroying a big island using only their swords, that Jayr-san didn't even go all out against Dracule Mihawk, and that what he has showed isn't even half of what he is truly capable of.

Remembering that, I look at the still-dark sky and mutter, "Sometimes I'm kinda scared thinking about just how powerful Jayr-san can truly be... At this point, I won't even be surprised if he suddenly tells me that the reason he stopped doing push-ups is that he can't push himself up anymore because every time he tries, he pushes this whole world down..."

After witnessing another fight between Dorry-san and Brogi-san, I decide to meet with Brogi-san and then explore the part of the island that is around his camp which stands at the foot of the other Sea King Skull Mountain, but of course, before doing that, I also tell Dorry-san about my plans, asking what he thinks about it.

Hearing about my plans, Dorry-san laughs and says, "Gegyagyagya! Sure you can go and meet with Brogi. I'm pretty sure he will welcome you as well, after all, as I told you before, we don't have any guests on this island or any at all. Most of you little humans that land on this island are usually too scared to talk with us, or outright attack us on sight... Something that doesn't end well for them. Gegyagyagya!" 

Receiving his confirmation I directly head in the direction of Brogi-san's camp, of course, I also drag with me the carcasses of a bunch of Velociraptors that tried to ambush me once more as a gift just like I did with Dorry-san. 

It seems that luck is on my side as on my way to Brogi-san's camp I encounter very few ambushes, but soon, I realize the reason, as I arrive at the big circular lake in the middle of the island, in front of me, I see the very tall and very wide figure of Brogi-san as he holds a bloody axe in his hand. 

Laying on the ground in front of him there is the bisected corpse of a truly frighting creature, it looks like the mix between a dinosaur and a Sea King, first of all, it is very big, bigger than any creature I have seen on this island, with a crocodile-like long snout lined with very sharp teeth, it seems able to easily move on both land and water, moreover, its most notable characteristic of this creature is the large, spiny, sail-like projection on its back.

(Image Here - Spinosaurus)

Luckily this monster was clearly just killed by Brogi-san, because I was not sure I would be able to confront it, especially since right next to its bisected corpse, there was the mangled carcass of that frighting crocodile I met the first day on this island.

While I'm looking at those two creatures, all of a sudden, Brogi raises his axe up in the sky and declares, "I am Elbaf's strongest warrior, Brogi! Gababababa!"

After that, Brogi-san declares, "With this catch, I have enough meat for today's breakfast and lunch. Today is my lucky day! I feel it today I'll defeat Dorry! Gababababa!"

At this point, I decide to step forward and greet him, "E-Ehm... Excuse me...?"

Brogi-san notices my presence and says, "Oh? So you are the little human that was watching my fight with Dorry? You are quite the young one. Gababababa!"

I nod and then introduce myself, "T-That's right. Good morning Brogi-san. My name is Koby and I'm on this island under my teacher's order to learn how to explore and survive in a hostile environment."

After saying that, I quickly continued to explain, "Yesterday I mostly explored Dorry-san's side of the island, and used his camp as a safe place to rest and recover, with his permission of course. Today, I plan to do the same on your side of the island, and I want to ask your permission to make use of your camp the same way I used Dorry-san's. Of course, to show you that I don't have any evil intention, I bring you those velociraptors I hunted today as a gift."

Brogi-san looks at me for a few seconds then he once again laughs and says, "Gababababa! Sure! You can use my camp to rest without any problem. It is nice to have some guests after all this time!"

Then he crouches down and lowers his on the ground while saying, "Come up. I'll bring you back to my camp. it is way faster this way."

Without any hesitation, I thank Brogi-san and jump on his open palm, then Brogi-san gentily gets up and puts me on his wide shoulders, then he grabs the huge crocodile's corpse, the unknown dinosaur's corpse, and the velociraptors I gifted him and start to run back to his camp. 

After a while, we finally reach Brogi-san's camp, and once there, Brogi-san quickly starts to butcher the scary dinosaur and prepare our breakfast using its meat, which tastes quite good despite, at the same time, we start to talk about various topics, about his childhood, the battles he went through, to places he visited.

Then the Hourly Volcano erupts once more and Brogi-san once again heads out to fight Dorry-san, like always, I spectate from a safe distance as the two Giants who are clearly close friends continue to try to kill each other without any hesitation, in fact, they even have a content smile on their faces.

Watching this scene, I can't help but feel a little sour while thinking, 'Those two clearly don't hate each other, in fact, they are very close friends that known each other since they were little kids, basically they grew up together... Despite all this, they still fight each other with the intent to kill for over 100 years, and all that for their pride as a warrior!'

In the end, their fight once again ends up in a perfect draw, and quickly after that, the two joke for a few minutes before they stand up from the ground once more and start to walk back to their respective camps. 

After their Brogi-san and Dorry-san's fight, I resumed my exploration of the island, but different from before, I had a few close encounters that almost resulted in an injury, but that wasn't because the creatures living on Brogi-san's side of the island are more dangerous, no, they are mostly the same in danger level, after all, they are mostly the same kind of creatures. 

No, the reason for that is that my mind is too occupied thinking about Dorry-san and Brogi-san's situation as I want to find a way to stop this senseless fight.

Looking at the corpse of the Saber Tooth Tiger lying on the ground who I just slayed, I mutter, "There has to be a way to stop them from killing each other... There has to be another way..." 

Then I realize my mistake, slap my cheeks, and declare, "Come on, Koby! I can't dwell on that now! I can think about this problem during Dorry-san and Brogi-san fight. For now, I have to focus only on what is going on around me. I already had too many close calls because I wasn't focused enough." 

After that, I continued to explore this island, facing all its hazards and dangerous creatures, stopping each time the Hourly Volcano erupted to witness the fight between Dorry-san and Brogi-san, learning as much as possible from it, while also thinking of a good way to stop them without actually offending them or forcing one of them to end up dead. 

Like that, my whole 2nd day on Little Garden pass, and finally the 3rd and last day on this island comes, and I decide that their coming duel will be my last chance to try and do something about this situation.

Soon the Hourly Volcano sings the start of the first duel of the day, and Dorry-san and Brogi-san quickly rushe toward each other and clash in the middle, with Brogi-san's axe slamming against Dorry-san's shield.

At the same time, Brogi-san yells, "Don't you long for our home, Dorry?" to which Dorry-san replies, "That's exactly why I'll crush you today and leave for Elbaf at once, Brogy!"

After saying that, Dorry-san thrusts his sword forward to stab Brogi-san, but Brogi-san reacts just in time, by jumping high in the sky making Dorry-san's attack miss.

Then Brogi-san quickly slams down with its axe, aiming to bisect Dorry-san, who doesn't hesitate and meets the axe with his head using his helmet to stop the axe before it gains too much power, successfully blocking the attack.

Then both take a step back, then Dorry-san quickly once again thrusts his sword aiming at Brogi-san's neck who barely dodges by leaning his body to the side, while at the same time, throwing his axe, forcing Dorry-san to let go of his sword to quickly lean his body out of the axe's trajectory.

Because of their excessive maneuvers, they both fall on the ground, but then, they quickly get up and use their shield to bludgeon each other in the face, and knocking each other down ending this duel in another draw.

Right after the fight, the two once again start to laugh out loud, and I take this chance to try and persuade them, so I don't hesitate, and rush toward them before they get up and return to their camps. 

Once I'm standing near them, I quickly yell, "Wait a moment! Dorry-san! Brogi-san! I may have a solution for your current problem!"

They both sit up and look at me with clear confusion then they ask at the same time, "What do you mean, little Koby?"

I take a deep breath then I explain, "I thought about it for a very long time... and while presumptuous, I think I know why you are unable to defeat each other and conclude this duel." 

They both appear to be interested, so I quickly say with the intent of leading this conversation in the direction I hope will work best, "First I want to tell you that I have no knowledge of your culture and that I have no intention of offending you, so if I say something wrong I ask you to forgive me." while saying this, I lightly bow my head.

Seeing both of them nod in silence, I continue, "But before I explain my solution to you guys. I want to ask you guys a few questions to further confirm if my theory could be right. First, I know that you Giants live a very long life compared to other species, but even counting that, how much time it took the longest duel you have ever heard of to reach a conclusion?"

Hearing my question, both the Giant fall into silence, until after a few seconds, Brogi-san replies, "Uhm... I think I heard of a duel that lasted five years before reaching a conclusion... but I'm not sure..." followed by Dorry-san who nods and says, "That's right! I've heard of that too... I think..."

I nod then, more sure of my theory I add, "Dorry-san, you told me that if a quarrel breaks out in your village and you can't settle it on your own, then you beseech the God Elbaf for his judgment. That Elbaf is just and bestows divine protection on those in the right, so, he'll ensure the survival of the righteous. Is that right?"

Once again both of them nod in sync, seeing that, I smile and say, "Then is it possible that in your case both of you are in the right? After all, you have fought for over 100 years, way longer than any other fight you have heard of, so could it be that the reason why you always end up in a draw is that God Elbaf deemed that both of you are in the right bestowing you his divine protection so that both of you survive?"

My question is met with absolute silence, as both Dorry-san and Brogi-san look at each other with their eyes wide open in shock, then Dorry-san says, "Brogi... could it be that little Koby here is right?" 

Brogi-san also appears stunned as he tries to find something wrong in my reasoning, but it is clear that he comes up with nothing, so he says, "I don't know... but what he says does make some sense... It has been 100 years after all... I never thought about it but I have never heard of a duel that lasted longer..."