Chapter 7: Leaving
Of course, not only the physical abilities and Devil Fruit abilities did Gildarts train for the entire time in the Dawn Island, he also started his Haki training, with him being extremely talented in terms of Haki as he had the potential of Shanks added to him, and with Shanks being said to be the Chosen One, it was an extremely easy thing to do.
Gildarts asked Naguri for some training regimen just to unlock the basics before he left, and when Naguri accepted, Gildarts managed to unlock his Observation Haki just after a few weeks of training. He also managed to unlock his Armament Haki before Naguri left to find his crew, but the most important thing that Naguri taught him was how to control the Conqueror's Haki; Naguri even called him a monster for having such an insane growth speed, something that should not be possible for a person but Gildarts would always continue to defy expectations of Naguri.
When Naguri left, Gildarts started using the sword that Shanks gave him, and to his surprise, it had a Mythical Zoan imbued in it. The reason it was named Chimera is due to the Chimera Mythical Zoan that was living inside it, something that Gildarts did not expect, as he just thought that it was similar to the Griffon. The Chimera Mythical Beast inside his sword seemed awakened as it had the signature smoke around its neck for the awakened Zoan, like what Luffy had and the 5 Elders, and Rob Lucci.
"Chimera," Gildarts said, as his sword transformed itself into the Chimera Beast; the sword part of the Chimera was in its tail. It tried to attack Gildarts, but he managed to tame it as he released his Conqueror's Haki, which scared the Chimera. Gildarts then started training his Armament by releasing a massive amount of it to imbue his sword, as if feeding it with his Armament. He would also study the art of Ryuo that he remembered from the anime that was taught, as he allowed it to flow outwardly. It was like a second nature to Gildarts as he was a master of the Rokuogan, a force that you would need to make outward.
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Now, two years after Ace left, Luffy and Gildarts were sparring, as Gildarts was using his weird swordsmanship style, he did not want to hurt Luffy that much, so he would use his swordsmanship to make it seem like a blunt weapon. Luffy was wearing a bandana over his head, as Gildarts was making Luffy awaken his Observation Haki, as his physical strength was able to use the Armament Haki but was not consistent in blackening his arms, but the Observation of Luffy was shining.
Gildarts swung his sword, with Luffy managing to evade as Gildarts was not using his full strength. Luffy was just dodging, as he was slowly gaining the ability to dodge the strikes of Gildarts. Then they continued until Gildarts stopped, as he had already swung 1000 times, but Luffy was able to dodge consistently; it was an indication that Luffy had already awakened his Observation Haki.
"Good job, Luffy," Gildarts said as he congratulated Luffy on awakening his Observation Haki.
"You just need to hone your Armament to the point that you could use it willingly, not just some random number," Gildarts then added, which made Luffy smile. It was something that both Ace and he were already trying to master, with Ace managing to use both Armament and Observation Haki before he left, so Luffy was also trying to learn it before he left Dawn Island.
"Shishishishi, after I manage to use my Armament Haki, I'll become even stronger," Luffy said towards Gildarts.
"The time for me to leave has come," Gildarts suddenly said, as he had already informed Luffy that the moment he awakened his Haki, he would leave the Dawn Island. When Luffy heard Gildarts's words, he smiled, as he knew that the moment Gildarts left, it would also be another mark that he would soon leave for his adventures. It was already something that he prepared for and he would not forgive himself if Gildarts confined himself in the island just because of him.
"When?" Luffy just said, with a smile on his face.
"Tomorrow," Gildarts said, as he had already packed everything last week, as he could feel the progress of Luffy, and already estimated when Luffy would use his Observation.
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The next day, Makino, the Mayor, Luffy, and some members of the Dadan Family who were close to Gildarts and Uta were seen gathering on the shore, as they were now going to say their goodbyes to Gildarts and Uta, who were on board their Caravel. It was ordered by Gildarts, as he knew he wanted a small ship at first while he recruited his crew members, but also one large enough to contain more than 5 or 6 people. The first thing that came to Gildarts's mind was the type of ship the Going Merry was—just a small one, but able to comfortably fit more people inside.
Now, their Caravel-type ship was almost identical to the Going Merry, with the only difference being that the figurehead was a dragon head instead of a sheep. It also had cannons on it.
"Makino, thank you for raising us. I'll never forget your face, no matter what," Gildarts then said his goodbyes to Makino, a motherlike figure who raised him for 15 years, as Makino was in tears, deeply attached to Gildarts.
"Luffy, I'll wait for you in the sea, alright? So you better sail," Gildarts then said to Luffy.
"Ohhh, I'll see you in the Grand Line," Luffy replied with a smile, as he looked at Gildarts with fierce determination.
"Everyone, we'll see you in the future," Gildarts then said his final goodbyes, as both he and Uta set sail toward the sea, excited on the premise that they would chase their dreams and fight against strong opponents.