"Fifteen thousand."
The stall owner was a middle-aged man in straw sandals, looking strong, with five or six rare-level items on his table.
"Too expensive."
Gusion shook his head. He knew that techniques and bloodline items followed your growth, so they were pricier than regular gear, but even so, he didn't think Armament Haki was worth 15,000 coins.
More importantly, he only had 3,450 coins.
Seeing the owner silent, Gusion asked, "Do you accept bartering?"
The man looked him over, then asked, "What can you offer?"
Gusion took out a Small Inheritance Crystal. "One of these, plus 3,000 coins. Deal?"
The vendor's eyes lit up at the Crystal but then looked at Gusion strangely. He could tell Gusion was strong—probably not a newbie—so why would a first-tier explorer be willing to sell a Crystal? These were vital for improving combat skills, letting even office workers master weapons and fighting, essential for first-tiers.
"No. Even if Crystals are rare, it's just because no one sells them. Their base value isn't worth 12,000. You'd have to offer three."
He shook his head, testing Gusion.
"How could I have three? I only have two. Two Crystals for this technique—deal or not? If not, I'll just use them to boost my specialization."
Gusion kept a straight face. He had three, but sensed the owner's strong desire for them—no way would he offer all at once.
"Two..."
The vendor frowned. On value, his technique was worth more than two Crystals, but he'd been trying to sell it for over a week with no luck, and he needed the Crystals.
He just needed two more for an important skill upgrade.
"I think I'll just upgrade my current abilities..."
Before Gusion could finish his "never mind," the vendor cut him off.
"Deal!"
The man stood, picked up the item, and sent a trade request.
['Who Will Smell My Athlete's Foot' has requested a trade. Accept?]
Gusion almost broke character at the vendor's username, but played it cool and accepted.
After the deal, the vendor smiled. "Truth is, I needed those Crystals for a skill, or I wouldn't have sold at this price. Consider it making friends."
"We both got what we needed. Mind telling me where this came from?" Gusion asked, holding up the item.
"Ah, don't mention it. I fought like hell in the One Piece world and only ended up as a Marine sergeant. This was certified at the end, and selling it just about covers my costs."
Happy after the deal, the vendor was forthcoming.
After chatting a bit, Gusion learned that formal explorers could bring items directly from mission worlds into End Space by paying End Coins.
For example, the Haki manual was originally a textbook from Marine HQ. After being certified by End Space, it became a learnable skill item.
Interestingly, the item wasn't a book, but a book-shaped block with no content. He couldn't read the Haki theory directly.
This was likely to prevent explorers from copying and sharing content after returning.
After wandering the market a bit more and buying a rare healing item for 2,000 coins, Gusion headed back.
He couldn't wait to see what Armament Haki was really like.
…
Back in his room, Gusion said, "End Space, I want to learn Armament Haki."
[Request received. Awakening Armament Haki for Pioneer.]
As the prompt sounded, the item vanished from his hand.
Suddenly, everything went black and his consciousness faded.
It was a strange feeling—like floating in the void, communicating with his deep subconscious, awakening the potential called Haki.
Drifting in endless darkness, he eventually heard the wails of souls and again saw that demonic figure from purgatory, gazing at him across the abyss.
Gusion opened his eyes and glanced at the wall clock—it had been five hours.
He opened his menu to check his new ability.
[Armament Haki]
Skill Rating: C+ (rating affected by level)
Skill Level: 3/40
Type: Active
Cooldown: None
Details: Consumes some Soul Source to activate Armament Haki, covering any part of the body—the cost depends on area and duration.
Body parts covered have greatly increased defense and can attack incorporeal/spiritual enemies.
Evaluation: Please don't use it to cover weird body parts.
[]
"Haki, huh..."
Ignoring the cheeky evaluation, Gusion rolled up his right sleeve and activated Armament Haki.
He saw a layer of dark gray armor cover his arm, glossy like metal.
He knocked on it—it was indeed hard. Then he drew his Zanpakuto and tapped the blade against his Haki-covered arm.
Ding—!
It sounded like metal on metal. Gusion checked his arm—the white mark from the blade quickly faded, covered again by Haki.
"What a fascinating power."
Gusion smiled, satisfied with Haki's defense. His Zanpakuto was rare grade and fully rated—even without using force, its blade was deadly sharp, yet it didn't cut him.
In actual combat, he felt his Haki level was still low—he could easily cut himself if he used force—but he wasn't a sitting duck. He was agile in battle and would never let a fatal blow land. For weaker attacks, he could now block them, giving him more tactical options.
More importantly, Haki wasn't just a turtle shell skill. Hardened fists hit harder, and Armament Haki could even coat his Zanpakuto to boost its sharpness and durability.
After learning the technique, Gusion realized Haki wasn't just body training, but an expression of spirit, energy, and intent.
He wasn't highly educated, but he knew a lot about martial arts. In ancient legends, masters could kill with sword intent from a hundred meters or shatter rocks with fist intent—these weren't just physical strength, but a manifestation of their willpower.
In One Piece, Haki is the outward manifestation of will, mystical and profound—just as he'd guessed.
All in all, he thought the deal was worth it—Haki had a high ceiling.
He was only level 3 and it was already this strong. At max level, maybe he really could be invulnerable to blades, bullets, fire, and water, with unmatched offense.
He checked: to upgrade Haki, he needed Small Inheritance Crystal ×1 and 400 End Coins.
He had enough, but for now, planned to train and see if he could level up through practice first.