Development
"River God, damn you! I thought I'd get into One Piece—beauties, fame, riches! And now I've been surviving on this lousy island for so long! What a scoundrel you are, River God!"
The only answer he received was the mocking cry of seagulls.
A rustling sound came from the forest. Reith's hair stood on end, and his Observation Haki began to sound the alarm.
He instinctively activated his ability: a white mist began to slowly thicken around him, forming a thin barrier around his body.
"The Mist-Mist Fruit... it's not just for shooting mist balls, is it?" Rate stared at his translucent hand, trying to remember how Smoker fought.
That old smoker from the original seemed to be good at nothing but turning into smoke and charging forward, and occasionally striking from behind with his seastone jitte. He used it far too crudely. Reith rejected such a tasteless fighting style.
The bushes suddenly parted, and a wild boar, almost two meters tall, jumped out.
"Oh my god! In the world of One Piece, even wild animals are this fierce?!" Rate rolled backwards, dodging the attack, and crashed back into the trunk of a coconut palm. Armament Haki instinctively coated his right arm, but it was as thin as a layer of black silk stockings.
Someone will ask: Reith, you can transform into an element, why are you so cautious?
Reith had been pondering this himself. He couldn't rely blindly on this ability. Even though he didn't know what time period it was, over-reliance on elemental transformation would make him easy prey for enemies with Armament Haki. As the saying goes, "Trust in God, but don't make a fool of yourself."
The boar turned, clawing at the ground with his hooves. Reith suddenly noticed his damp snout—all mammals rely on their sense of smell…
"Got it!" He released a burst of mist, not only concealing himself from view. Tiny droplets of water penetrated the boar's nostrils, confusing it and disrupting its sense of smell. It's worth noting that Reith could control the mist's acidity and alkalinity. The beast shook its head in confusion, its attacks becoming chaotic and inaccurate.
Rate seized the opportunity and scrambled up a coconut tree, his heart pounding. "How could Smoker, with his Logia Fruit, just blow out smoke?! Mist is essentially a suspension of water droplets!"
And if your acid-base balance is disturbed, won't you explode?
Since the River God could travel along the river of time, the Fruit he gave could well have been not just fog, but something like smog.
"Then if I mix something else in there, nothing bad will happen, right? I'll make some acid fog, some alkaline."
Your skin might be able to withstand this weak acid and alkali, but your internal organs probably won't.
The boar struck the trunk with a furious thud. The palm shook violently, and Reith nearly fell.
He gritted his teeth and tried to compress the mist inside the boar, assimilating with the water in its body and changing its internal acid-base balance.
"As long as you're a living being, you can't go against the laws of nature! Explode!"
The strain suddenly made Reith dizzy. His stamina drain exceeded all expectations; even his "monstrous stamina" proved insufficient.
The boar staggered; it was clear he had sustained serious damage. This technique had taken far more effort than creating blades from water.
— Well, well, You're so fat, you pig! Are animals in One Piece like this? You're not an animal, you're some kind of monster! Why bother? Maybe you should just... retire?
With his increased stamina, Reit's Haoshoku Haki became slightly more manageable. The boar seemed struck by an invisible hammer, retreating several steps. But the stunned state lasted only three seconds and only further enraged the beast.
"Damn! This Conqueror's Haki is less effective than a fart!" Reith watched as the boar prepared for its final attack.
"Mother of God! Are you seriously considering finishing me off with one blow?"
(The boar's thoughts: "And when you used your dirty tricks, did you have shred of consideration?")
Since he had the elemental transformation in reserve, Reith did not panic.
And then he noticed how the sunlight refracted as it passed through the fog. A crazy idea flashed through his mind: if he could precisely control the density of the fog droplets…
Just as the boar charged again, Wraith poured all his remaining stamina into his ability. The fog distorted in the sunlight, suddenly creating seven ghostly silhouettes of Wraith, and the thickening raindrops completely disrupted the boar's sense of smell. The boar skidded to a halt and turned, but its fangs pierced only air.
— Hiding in the Fog: Mirage!
The real Reith jumped down from the side, and his fist, coated in Armament Haki, slammed full force into the boar's temple. The monster collapsed to the ground with a howl. Reith, wasting no time, picked up a sharp rock fragment and leaned on it with all his weight, plunging it into the boar's eye socket.
When the beast finally stopped twitching, Wraith collapsed next to it, breathing heavily and lying in a pool of blood. The fog's ability deactivated itself, revealing his pale face with a crooked grin.
"The bros from the forums didn't lie... Logias really do need to be completely outrageous. And the name I just came up with is simply gorgeous!"
He suddenly coughed violently and, lowering his head, saw blood on his palm. The backlash from overusing his ability had begun. "What a bummer! They gave me stamina, but my strength and durability were negligible. What good is that?"
Reith discovered that "monstrous stamina" is a passive ability that can be developed. For example, if his current stamina, or "mana," is 20, the passive restores 2 over time. If his stamina consumption exceeds the regeneration rate, Wraith will eventually feel fatigued.
If he expends 21 units at once, he'll take damage. He also noticed that this passive develops faster than his overall physical fitness. A sort of battery with an extremely long lifespan. Perhaps in the future, upon reaching Admiral level, his stamina will surpass even Kaido, the Strongest Being in the World—he'll just sit back and watch, nervously, because Reith's regeneration will be greater than his expenditure.
But even more terrifying was the answering howl that came from the depths of the forest – wild boars have always been herd animals.
As night fell, Reith sat in his homemade treehouse and took stock of the day.
Today's trophies included boar meat, tusks, and an important discovery: his Mist-Mist Fruit could manipulate the refraction of light and even briefly alter local air density, creating "mirages." Reith had a premonition that once his Fruit's abilities developed to a certain level, he would be able to block Kenbunshoku Haki to some extent.
"Smoker, that lout, doesn't know a damn thing about science," he muttered, scribbling diagrams on a piece of bark with charcoal. "High-pressure fog can form cutting currents, in low-temperature zones you can create ice fog, acid-base trap bombs... Good thing I watched so much anime, I'm about to start copy-pasting ideas!"
The sound of a branch snapping came from afar. Reith extinguished the fire and dispersed the fog around the treehouse as an early warning system. His Haoshoku Haki, though unstable, combined with his Observation Haki, allowed him to faintly sense the presence of living beings—at least three heat sources were approaching.
"Looks like I'll have to try that trick early..."
He quietly climbed down from the tree and set up fog traps along the path the animals would take. When the first boar hit a "mine," concentrated drops of alkaline fog immediately burned its respiratory tract, driving it mad.
Cattle are still cattle.
The second boar was knocked off course by the refracted light and struck a sharp stake, but due to the beast's thick hide the damage was insignificant.
But the third boar suddenly went berserk and attacked his fellow. He lunged forward—don't blame your brother for his cruelty, you'll have to suffer.
"Fog can refract light rays. In my realm, your eyes will deceive you," Reith said, huddled in the shadows, wiping the blood from his nose. His physical form was still too weak.
In Reith's thick fog, the boars saw his projection, and their comrade appeared just behind this ghostly image. Reith was now a veritable ghost in the fog.
As we all know, in any game, if you don't understand the "battlefield", how will you play?
Now Reith had two options: continue developing his Devil Fruit or mastering some kind of deadly weapon. His training in the three types of Haki had to be postponed due to a lack of methods. Of course, all these thoughts were plans for the future, when he found people. But for now, he had neither.
Besides, Wraith faced a very pressing problem: he was completely trapped on this island. Even if he built a boat, he wouldn't be able to escape. Do you think he could just sail out to sea without a Log Pose? Only Roger or Luffy—men with incredible luck—could do that.
All Reytu could do was wait for someone to arrive on this island and take him away. That's why he was so desperate to become stronger.
Firstly, so as not to be so passive in the future plot. And secondly, he is, in a sense, a follower of Confucius: if he can't convince you with virtue, and you refuse to take me, well, he's a little handy with his fists, so he can teach you some politeness.
In reality, what Reith dreamed of most was joining the Straw Hat Pirates. A fun, stress-free life, no killing or fighting, just chilling and relaxing, being dragged to victory while lying belly-up. To be that "lucky guy in tow."
Luffy gets MVP, and Reith is the lucky one in tow. Now let's fast-forward a few months.