CHAPTER 21: PUNISHMENT END

The next morning, after he had exposed himself to the poison that the platform released, Thorne woke up and realized that the poison was still in his body, being fought off by his body's natural healing. Thorne then concentrated and used the Hercules method to accelerate his natural healing. After meditating for an hour, his body suddenly generated smoke, with Thorne just continuing to meditate.

Thorne didn't even notice when his body temperature rose so high that it made his blood begin to boil. Steam slowly began to rise from his body — the heat was purging the poison from within. For five long days, he remained motionless in deep meditation, with Mihawk silently observing him the entire time.

At the end of the fifth day, Thorne finally opened his eyes.

He could feel it — the poison was gone.

His body had not only resisted it but adapted, evolved. Like Luffy did in Impel Down, but more extreme, Thorne had now become completely immune to all poisons.

After this, Thorne has nothing to do anymore, so he just continued doing his old routine, but now, using his Armament haki, the moment he uses his Armament haki, the chains started acting similarly to Enma; the chains on his every limb are absorbing his haki at a rapid pace.

Thorne then started punching, using emission application for haki, bringing his consumption at a faster rate, Mihawk, who was positioned in his back, suddenly jumped to the front and slashed back the attack, making it go back towards Thorne, seeing this, Thorne just smiled and punched once again to continue the game.

It took about 2 hours before Thorne's haki ran out, and the chains suddenly stopped absorbing his Armament, its like it has a mind on its own.

"That was an interesting exchange," Thorne said towards Mihawk.

"Indeed, even with limiters, you are incredibly strong for your age, even for someone older than you, and incredibly advanced at using your haki," Mihawk said, praising Thorne.

"Yes, I know, believe it or not, but I just turned 8 years old last month," Thorne said, making Mihawk shocked once more,

"You are a monster, but be careful, oftentimes, monsters are hunted by those who fear them while also thinking they are invincible," Mihawk said, remembering the story about a certain pirate that became blinded by his ego, he decided to take on the whole world.

"You don't need to worry about that," Thorne said,

"Want to spar against me?" Mihawk suddenly said towards Thorne, making Thorne think about the whole possibility.

"How?, I don't have my swords," Thorne said, Mihawk just walked away, going towards his boat, when he came back, he was holding a katana, it was not a named sword but a decent one, something that he got after killing a pirate crew that he encountered in his travels.

"This will do. How do you suggest we do this?" Thorne asked Mihawk,

"We would just do slashes against each other, just pure swordmanship, without any footwork or using haki emission, just use haki to strengthen your sword," Mihawk suddenly said, making Thorne agree.

Both of them started the spar, Thorne attacked first, slicing towards Mihawk, who just blocked him and then immediately countering, Thorne seeing this, retract his sword immediately and then countering the sword of Mihawk, this just continued until it was now the nearing the end of the day, both of them then just decided to end their spar and continued tomorrow, where Mihawk ate while Thorne just meditated.

"Why do you not eat?" Mihawk asked Thorne, whom he did not see eat even once for his entire time he was here,

"I am not allowed to eat for a year, that's part of my punishment, and also, I was pushing myself and my natural ability to heal without using energy resources," Thorne said,

"Then how do you manage to recover and do your routine, without eating even once in the whole time you are here?" Mihawk then added to his questions.

"I don't know actually, I just recover naturally, even without eating," Thorne said, not saying anything about the Hercules Method that he invented, which slowed his metabolism, but could actively and passively recover his muscle fatigue even without using food as an energy source.

Mihawk, knowing that Thorne was concealing the truth, did not push for the truth; he only knew Thorne for a little bit of time, and he did not expect Thorne to trust him, even Mihawk himself does not trust Thorne entirely, but both of them have respect with each other due to their strength,

Mihawk and Thorne just continued their spars, until 2 months have now passed, and Thorne was on this island in 3-month span, Thorne just woke up when Mihawk suddenly approached him.

"I am now leaving this island," Mihawk said, saying his goodbye to Thorne almost expressionlessly.

"I see, it seems that you miss challenging others towards a full-power fight," Thorne said, realizing that he would be alone on the island once again.

"Yes, if fate wants it to be, I would meet you in the future, either free from your chains or completely bound, either way, be ready," Mihawk said, as if looking forward to the future.

"See you in the future then, maybe you would be a crew of mine, or a member of mine, either way, I would love to see what would happen in the future Thorne said confidently, as if he knew he would be stronger than anyone in the future, with the sky.

"I did not think that you wanted to be a pirate, how amusing," Mihawk said, 

"No, I don't know what I want to be in the future, that's what makes it interesting," Thorne said, with both his mouth and eyes smiling, showing his teeth in a grin.

"My full name is Dracule Mihawk. Tell me your full name." Mihawk then suddenly introduced himself, fully giving his name this time.

"My full name is Thorne N. Figarland, a member of the Figarland family. One day, I will be free from my shackles, using my strength to shatter the very thing that binds me," Thorne suddenly declared, not only revealing his full name, but also unveiling his dream and goal. His Conqueror's Haki activated; the ground beneath him cracked, and the sunny day turned stormy. Mihawk, witnessing this, grinned maniacally — now truly looking forward to the future.

"Your Haki is incredibly potent… as if it's been forged through countless trials that tempered your will," Mihawk remarked

'I inherited the Conqueror's Haki talent of Roger and Luffy, he thought with conviction. Their overwhelming presence, their unshakable will — it runs through me. And with my innate talent, born from my bloodline… It's only natural that my Haki would be this strong.' Thorne thought to himself

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It has been 8 months since Mihawk left the island, and Thorne started practicing his conqueror's haki. After unconsciously using it, he then began analyzing the moment he awakened and what his motivation and feelings were the moment it was used, then he started using that as a fuel, until he could consciously control it.

Now, it was only a matter of time before he became free. It has been a year since his punishment started, and this marks the 365th day he has been isolated. He has now achieved everything he was planning and got even more.

'I have already mastered the Hercules method to the point where I could use it with my observation haki, my body is so strong that I am stronger than my past self about 5 times of his natural strength, without any enhancements of Devil Fruit, he couldn't help but think how strong he is now if he got his Devil Fruit back, he was much more precise with its lethality due to him wanting to use his Armament haki with the chains sucking his armament much faster.