In the end, Jack lost.
Surrounded and overwhelmed, his strength finally gave out, and he collapsed to the ground.
After Mihawk slashed at him over a dozen times without leaving so much as a scratch, the swordsman grew frustrated. Enraged and unwilling to accept the result, Mihawk was ultimately dragged away by Shanks and his crew.
A day later, Jack woke up from his deep slumber, stretching lazily as he got to his feet.
Glancing at the distant islands still smoldering with black smoke, he scratched his head.
"Huh? What's this..."
Somehow, new insights into swordsmanship surfaced in his mind. He quickly opened his system panel.
[Congratulations, Host. Voyage completed. Would you like to draw a reward?]
[Due to prolonged inactivity, the system has automatically selected a reward.]
[Congratulations, Host. Flash Reward obtained: Swordsmanship +1 Level.]
"Swordsmanship (Great Swordsman)?"
"So that's what it's called when you reach the highest level? Just adding 'Great' in front of 'Swordsman'?"
"Guess I'll have to test it out and see how 'great' it really is!"
Swish!
Boom!
Sliding his kanabo back into place, Jack felt a tinge of disappointment.
Reaching this level of swordsmanship, the biggest change was the ability to unleash the strongest attacks with minimal effort—enhancing penetration and slashing power. But beyond that, it didn't feel much different from before.
It was an improvement in technique, but compared to his kanabo, it was still better suited for swords. After years of tempering his weapon with Armament Haki, his massive club felt like an extension of himself. He had no intention of switching weapons now.
Besides, swinging a sword around like a dancer wasn't his style. Overpowering opponents with brute force—that was the kind of fight he enjoyed.
So, becoming a Great Swordsman? It didn't really change much for him.
The only real benefit was a deeper understanding of swordsmanship, allowing him to better gauge an opponent's capabilities at a glance.
Not that he needed to. After all, they can't kill me anyway!
Gurgle...
After such an intense battle, his body demanded nourishment.
But with no signs of life on the island, Jack spread his fiery wings and soared into the sky.
Sizzle...
Fat dripped onto the ground as the rich aroma of roasting meat filled the air, luring in countless beasts. Jack casually launched a fireball, adding even more 'ingredients' to his meal.
As he rotated the spit over the flames, making sure the meat cooked evenly, he reflected on the battle.
Defense? No problem. Even when he lost consciousness, it was only because he had completely exhausted his stamina. Aside from losing a few strands of hair, not even Shanks' Divine Departure left a lasting wound.
The so-called Destructive Flames sounded intimidating, but against someone with solid Armament Haki, the damage was negligible.
As for Blazing Annihilation, it could greatly increase the penetrative power of his next attack—like when Weevil hit him. Even with Haki defenses, that technique could leave an opponent gravely injured, if not dead.
But that's if it lands. The problem was, Blazing Annihilation emitted too much energy when activated, making it painfully obvious. Unless he was ambushing someone or fighting an opponent as overconfident in their defenses as himself, it wasn't reliable.
Which meant…
Kaido-san?
Compared to Shanks, Jack's biggest weakness was Observation Haki—or rather, his lack of it.
Not that it really mattered to him.
After all, the main use of Observation Haki in battle was to read an opponent's movements and predict incoming attacks. But with his defense and regeneration, even if he stood still and let enemies wail on him, they'd die of exhaustion before he even took serious damage.
And that's before factoring in his resurrection ability.
Still, the fact that his Perception stat wasn't maxed out at 120 gnawed at him.
Would something unlock if it reached the limit?
Relying on personal training for growth wasn't an option.
Over the past year, he had voyaged with Yamato, Black Maria, and even Kaido-san countless times, yet not a single stat point had been awarded.
After hitting 110, the system had grown frustratingly stingy.
At this rate, he had no idea how long it would take to max out his Perception.
With that in mind, Jack opened his system panel, staring at the third empty Devil Fruit slot.
What kind of fruit could drastically enhance his perception?
And one that wasn't complete garbage?
Now that he thought about it, Kaido-san once mentioned that his Fish-Fish Fruit, Azure Dragon Model granted a massive boost to perception.
But where could he find another Fish-Fish Fruit?
A Red Dragon model, maybe? If Kaido's fruit followed a color-based classification, would a Pink Dragon be possible?
Jack wasn't even against that.
Damn… Wiping away his drool, he bit into the roasted meat.
His fight against Shanks' crew had made him realize something new.
Although the system hadn't given him a direct notification, he had discovered that in his Mammoth form, he could now ignite his Suzaku flames and even manifest wings to fly.
With his absurd size as a Mammoth, adding blazing flames and a high-speed aerial dive made him a terrifying force of destruction.
Perfect for wiping out nations and clearing out armies—truly a divine technique.
Perhaps due to his already monstrous stats, or maybe because the system only granted fully mastered abilities at his level, Jack's battle against Beckman and the others had triggered his Suzaku Fruit's Awakening.
Unlike his Mammoth form, his awakened Suzaku state didn't boost his already ridiculous recovery rate. Maybe the system figured he was overpowered enough in that department. Instead, it granted him absolute mastery over flames.
When using his awakened form, the temperature of his fire spiked dramatically, allowing him to compress them into miniature suns. If unleashed all at once, the resulting devastation was even greater than Kaido's world-ending attacks.
The shattered islands around him were proof of that. If Shanks hadn't stepped in and deflected many of the mini suns, this place would've been completely erased from the map.
But strangely, the system didn't recognize it as a separate skill—likely classifying it as just another application of fire manipulation.
Of course, the energy consumption was no joke. That last attack had drained him, allowing Shanks and his crew to knock him out cold.
Right now, in terms of pure strength, he was already on par with—or maybe even stronger than—Kaido-san.
Sheer strength alone wouldn't cut it.
Rubbing his chin, Jack thought of Garp.
Maybe I should go pay that old man a visit…
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The fanfic is Finished on p@treon/tambeerg