After coming back to his senses, Roya continued testing his own strength. Only after he had completely figured it out did he finally stop. By then, the entire courtyard was already in ruins, as though it had been swept over by a sea of fire.
Through his testing, Roya confirmed that he could fully control the power of the flames. In other words, he could choose whether to release them or not.
Whether the fire damage was added or not was entirely determined by his own will.
Secondly, even after releasing the flames, Roya could extinguish them with a single thought. That is to say, the existence or disappearance of the flames was completely under his control.
Aside from that, this power was still different from the Logia-type Flame-Flame Fruit. For example, although Roya was immune to fire damage to his own body, his body could not elementalize like a Logia user and directly turn into flames.
Just as Roya continued to handle his sword and experience his newfound power, Garp finally woke up.
"What's that smell?"
Still half-asleep, Garp sniffed the air a few times, frowned, and walked into the courtyard, where he immediately saw Roya practicing swordsmanship.
Huh, that brat Roya is already up.
That thought flashed through his mind, but in the very next instant, Garp's drowsiness vanished without a trace. His eyes widened as he stared at the pitch-black courtyard, his mouth hanging open.
This…What the hell happened?!
Garp stood there blankly for several seconds.
The next moment, an earth-shaking roar erupted.
"RO—YA!!!"
The roar was so loud that the entire Marine Headquarters almost descended into chaos. Even Fleet Admiral Sengoku looked startled. Although he couldn't hear exactly what was being shouted, he could tell it was Garp's voice.
At the mere thought of Garp, Sengoku's face darkened. He shook his head and decided not to bother with it.
---
Garp's roar echoed thunderously.
Fortunately, there were only some miscellaneous items in the courtyard and nothing else. Moreover, this time Roya knew he was in the wrong. He neither explained nor talked back. Garp, on the other hand, didn't really care about material possessions. As a result, things quickly calmed down.
After the two of them turned over the soil and cleaned things up, the charred courtyard more or less returned to its original state, though the smell of burning still occasionally lingered.
Standing in the courtyard, Garp shot Roya a fierce glare, while Roya merely grinned sheepishly.
"All right, brat. For the next month, I'll personally guide your training. My instruction is very strict. If you dare slack off even a little, be prepared to receive the old man's Fist of Love! I definitely won't go easy on you this time!"
Garp put on a stern expression and stared at Roya seriously. The aura he released was enough to scare children into crying on the spot.
However, for Roya, the strictness conveyed in Garp's words did not cause even the slightest hesitation. Instead, it further ignited the competitive fire in his heart.
"Let's begin."
Roya's expression settled into calmness. His reply was extremely simple, yet decisive, revealing a powerful will—a will to become stronger.
Garp could clearly feel that will emanating from Roya. While surprised, he felt even more pleased. What he feared most was Roya lacking fighting spirit, but now it seemed that his worries were unnecessary.
---
In the courtyard.
Since Roya was already eighteen years old and not a child, Garp did not immediately start hands-on training. Instead, he first gave Roya a simple explanation of the essence of training.
"Every person has tremendous potential within their body. As long as you can excavate even a portion of that potential, you can become a warrior capable of fighting one hundred enemies alone."
"Some people are born naturally able to excavate part of their potential, so they often don't need training to be very strong from the start. Most of the recruits in the Marine Headquarters training camp are like this. Among the stronger ones, their innate strength alone is enough to rival Marine officers!"
With just a few sentences, Garp explained why, in the world of One Piece, some people were born ordinary, while others were born with extremely powerful physiques, nearly impervious to blades and bullets.
Hearing Garp's words, a look of realization immediately appeared on Roya's face.
As a transmigrator with an exceptionally broad way of thinking, Garp's explanation was not difficult for Roya to understand at all.
"So basically, the foundation of physical strength lies in excavating the body's potential."
"That's right!"
Hearing that Roya not only understood what he had said but also summarized it directly, Garp nodded, though he was slightly surprised.
Although Roya was not a genius who had naturally excavated part of his potential and possessed a powerful physique from birth, his comprehension seemed quite good.
Feeling rather satisfied, Garp then went on to explain how to excavate the body's potential. He even briefly mentioned a power that could be wielded once one's physical potential reached a certain level—a power known as "Haki."
Naturally, Garp would not teach Roya Haki right from the start, as that would be putting the cart before the horse. He merely touched on it briefly before going into a detailed explanation of methods for excavating physical potential.
The method for excavating potential was very simple: continuously breaking through the body's limits.
For example, if a person's limit was one hundred push-ups, then surpassing that limit meant unlocking a portion of their physical potential.
Directly breaking through one's limits was undoubtedly very difficult. However, Garp had certain techniques for breaking limits and excavating potential. With these techniques, breaking through one's limits became much easier.
Before long, under Garp's guidance, Roya began his formal training.
---
At the same time, in the Marine Headquarters recruit training camp.
Roya's sudden absence did not stir up any waves here. The recruits continued their training as usual.
During a short break, some recruits from the same squad as Roya gathered together. A few of them had heard about Roya taking leave.
"Only been here a month and already taking leave. He really doesn't take training seriously."
"He was already at the bottom, and he still dares to take leave. How reckless. Is he just giving up on himself?"
"How can someone like that be Vice Admiral Garp's nephew?"
Several Marine recruits spoke one after another, all wearing looks of disdain.
At that moment, a sharp reprimand rang out.
"Enough. Shut up!"
Everyone turned toward the source of the voice and saw a tall, graceful female recruit walking over. She addressed them sternly, "Is Vice Admiral Garp someone you can gossip about behind his back?!"
"Well…"
The group exchanged glances, all looking somewhat embarrassed. Someone quickly said to the approaching female recruit, "Our mistake. Please don't report us to the instructor, Hina."
This female recruit was none other than Hina of the original story. At present, however, she was still just a recruit who had not yet graduated—and she had previously been in the same squad as Roya.
Hina snorted and said, "Even if Roya's performance isn't great, he's still Vice Admiral Garp's family. What kind of behavior is this?"
"Yes, yes…"
Although the recruits were inwardly unconvinced—they respected Garp, not Roya—they did not dare argue with Hina at this time.
Moreover, Hina was very strong and ranked near the top of the training camp. In this world, where strength was paramount, power almost directly represented status.
Seeing everyone comply, Hina snorted once more, turned around, and went back to training.