January 1, 1507
It's Ace's birthday, so everyone had a small celebration for him before the training of climbing the Dracule Tower starts.
At the top of the Dracule Tower is a vast flower field covered by a glass dome. This garden is made by Stussy and the other girls. At the center of the garden is a medium-sized gazebo; sitting on one of the chairs is Raeven together with a ninja, Khan, who is serving him tea and cakes.
On the middle part of the Dracule Tower at the 14th floor, where there is an open area to eat and have some snacks, Enel is currently stationed there.
And at the bottom and the starting point of the climb challenge, Mihawk is right there to explain the mechanics of the challenge.
Wearing black shorts and a white long-sleeved shirt, Mihawk looked at everyone who wanted to try the challenge.
"You can reach the top using 3 methods. The first one is banned, which is by using the elevators. The second one is to climb while using the stairs sculpted on the side of the Tower, or you can fly using the Moon Walk."
"Usually climbing the Dracule Tower is easy during the other seasons; right now is the most challenging it can be. If you want to quit, just say, 'I give up,' and Enel will go and guide you to the rest area."
"Any questions?" Mihawk asked.
"If the day ends and we don't reach the top, what will happen?" Hancock asked.
"Then you will return to the start; this is only 20 kilometers high. The temperature is just -10 Celsius for the middle part and -20 to -40 Celsius at the top. It's very easy," Mihawk said, which made everyone shut up.
Then they remembered the stories about Mihawk and Raeven that Shakky and Gloriosa told them.
At a young age these two swept the north, West Blue, and South Blue, challenging the Marines and Pirates; the two of them just did what they wanted.
The Marines tried to kidnap Raeven, but the plan backfired, and they destroyed a marine branch. At the God Valley war, they rescued Shakky from the CP agents and Marines. They did all of that despite being a kid.
"Any other questions?" Mihawk asked again.
"None," everyone said as they prepared themselves for the climb.
"You can begin; also, don't be scared to fall down. The Ninja Khans will make sure you won't die," Mihawk said as he sat down on a chair under a parasol.
More than 90% of the trainees began to use the stairs; the stairs are big—even 10 people can walk side by side on them. The others haven't started yet; they just stand there to look at the tower and to make some plans.
If devil fruits can be used on this challenge, then the first one who will finish this will be Ace; with the Float Fruit, all he needs to do is to fly up.
Currently the stairs are the best way to complete the challenge, but the elite trainees have some ideas.
Hancock, Marigold, and Sandersonia used Moonwalk to quickly climb the tower; when it became too cold, they rested at the stairs.
After a few minutes, all of them are on the middle part of the climb, so Mihawk heads towards Enel station.
"That kid Ace is really remarkable; his willpower is amazing," Enel said as he looked at Ace walking steadily on the stairs.
"In this island having a strong willpower is normal; there are a lot of Conqueror's Haki users here. You even use it every day when training them," Mihawk said to Enel.
"I recently had a breakthrough; I mastered Internal Destruction. Soon I'll be able to use Infusion too," Enel said.
"Congratulations then. Now, who did you bet to win?" Mihawk asked. Before the challenge started, Enel, Mihawk, Stussy, and Raeven had a bet on who would win.
"Of course I bet for Ace, but seeing those Boa sisters, I am convinced that they will win," Enel said.
"That girl Boa Hancock, her potential is high; Brother even said that her potential is not lower than mine. All she needs is training and resources," Mihawk said.
"Her sisters are good too; well, all of the trainees from Amazon Lily had high potential. Big Brother gave me the go signal to build a special ship that can run using my power. Once Stussy builds it, we will start hunting pirates at the Grand Line," Enel said.
"That's a good plan; once winter is done, I'll head out too. Big Brother told me to go towards Jaya Island," Mihawk said.
"So we are finally going to set foot on the Grand Line; I can't wait," Enel said as he looked at the trainees.
All of the trainees manage to reach the middle part, but almost all of them become stuck here.
The temperature here is -20 degrees Celsius, and the wind speed is high too, which made a lot of them stop here.
Even the first ones to arrive here, the Boa sisters, did a stop; they are currently sitting on the stairs trying to adjust to the extreme cold.
Monet and Robin are resting too; they tried to climb, but the temperature and wind became too much, and it quickly drained their stamina.
Ace, on the other hand, started to swing his sword. He remembered what his big brothers said: if you want your body to adapt quickly, then don't rest; do some basic movement or exercises, and he did.
While the others tried to catch their breath, he slowly swung his sword repeatedly.
Others tried to move too; some tried basic exercises. They need to move to keep their bodies warm.
Noon came, and the challengers ate their meal, then all of them came back to the place where they are currently struggling to adapt.
When Raeven saw this, he just smiled. Without hardship, your willpower will be weak, and this is just adapting to extreme weather, not fighting in extreme weather.
Just like that, days passed quickly. The first to reach the top of the tower is Boa Hancock; she arrived at the gazebo like it was nothing, her breathing not even panting at all.
"Congratulations, Boa Hancock. Looks like you adapted already. Come here and sit with me. Here, have some tea," Raeven said. Hancock sat down in front of him, and then when she grabbed the glass of tea, her face turned red and steam came out of her head.
When Raeven saw this, he just smiled, which made Hancock more embarrassed.
A day after that, Monet and Robin arrived too. Raeven praised them, and the two quickly talked to Hancock about how she managed to adapt quickly.
Monet is really curious; as the doctor of the family, she knew what to do in extreme weather like this, but her body took too long to adapt.
Raeven just served them some tea and snacks while the three talk; fortunately, despite being rivals of the same age, the three of them have a great relationship.
The next day, Ace, Sandersonia, and Marigold arrived, which made the 3 girls happy.
"Big Brother, I didn't let you down," Ace said as he reached the gazebo.
"I already expected that you would arrive here, as expected of our family's future Ace," Raeven said, which made Ace smile.
On the 10th day everyone managed to arrive at the top of the tower, and there Raeven told them the last part of the challenge.
"Our island has 10 Yurikiman mangroves around it. I named them Grove 1-10. Your next challenge is to swim from Sixis Island to Grove 1 all the way to Grove 10. This challenge is only 10 days. No Devil Fruit abilities allowed. Rokushiki is banned too. What you need to do is swim."
"The devil fruit users here are already cured from the curse, right? So any questions?" Raeven asked.
"What if we are attacked by the sea beast and sea kings, Big Brother?" Monet asked.
"Then you will have to defend yourselves; once you can't defend yourself and you are rescued, then you are disqualified," Raeven said.
This made everyone swallow hard, but at the same time they felt relieved that they will be saved immediately if something bad really happens.
"The Ninja Khans will save you if something you can't handle happens. As for me, I'll start with you and walk towards Grove 10; that's it, then. See you tomorrow morning," Raeven said as he walked towards the edge of the tower, and he jumped down.
Ace hurriedly looked at his landing, but what he saw surprised him; he saw Raeven walking on the sky like he was walking on a solid stair.
Ace can do that too with his devil fruit power, but he didn't know if his big brother's devil fruit can do something like that too.
And it did. Raeven's Devil Fruit has the ability to fly, and he can walk on anything, especially now that his weakness to seawater is gone.
After that the girls quickly gathered around the table, and Robin took out the map of the island and placed it on the table so everyone could see it.
"The groves are separated from each other by a distance of 2 kilometers each, and the water temperature right now is -32 degrees Celsius. Add in the creatures that might attack us, and this is really challenging. Fortunately, the current around the island makes it easy for us to swim toward the groves," Robin said, which everyone memorized.
"I wish everyone good luck, and do your best; big brother won't let anything happen to us," Robin said. After that small meeting, everyone headed back to their homes to prepare for tomorrow.