A few minutes later.
Shano had already finished his breakfast and was now watching with great interest as the Alaskan Pig at his feet buried its head in a frenzy, gulping down a whole basin of milk.
There were only five boxes of strawberry milk in the fridge, all poured into the basin. In no time, it had been completely devoured. Its tender pink tongue licked the rim of the bowl several more times, still craving more.
Its little belly was bulging and round, making it look incredibly cute. Shano couldn't help but squat down and poke it with his finger.
Noticing Shano leaning closer, the little guy instantly leapt into his arms, its purple pupils narrowing into crescent shapes as a soft, affectionate purring sound came from its throat.
"Hic—"
It suddenly let out a strawberry-scented milk burp. Its fluffy tail froze awkwardly in mid-air, and it cautiously peeked at its master.
"Hey now, so young and already knows how to read the room?" Shano couldn't help but laugh. "No wonder its initial loyalty score was as high as 89. Wolves and dogs really are the same family."
He glanced at the panel—loyalty had already risen to 92.
"Silver hair, natural curls, loves strawberry milk, and those wise dead-fish eyes."
Shano pinched his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, looks like I don't need to think too hard about your name. How about... Ayin?"
Ayin?
The little guy immediately wagged its tail happily. It didn't understand what the name meant, but hey, it now had a name of its own!
"No objections? Then it's settled."
Shano laughed heartily. "Let's go, Ayin. Time for some outdoor training!"
As he opened the door, the two parrots from the neighbor's yard were already perched on top of the wall.
"My bro, the champion!"
"My bro, the hero!"
Shano's face turned pitch black in an instant.
Too embarrassing.
This was a mess Nami caused a year ago, and the debt still hadn't been paid off.
"Ayin, scare them!" He immediately ordered his freshly recruited little minion.
"Woof—Arf!"
Ayin bared its baby fangs with effort, letting out a bark toward the wall.
To Shano, it looked more like an adorable show—but surprisingly, the two parrots shivered violently in fright and instantly fell silent.
"Whimper..."
Another frightened whimper came from the side. Shano turned to see the big white dog from the forest path—the one he nearly sacrificed back in the day—happening to pass by. It now collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth and shaking uncontrollably.
Bloodline suppression?
Seems like it's super effective against other canines.
Shano was a bit surprised and rubbed Ayin's belly. "Not bad, little guy. If you can scare even Akainu into submission one day, I won't question your Silver Wolf King bloodline anymore."
Akainu?
Ayin tilted its head in confusion, those tiny eyes full of big question marks—what's that? Is it edible?
…
Atop the mountain, cold wind howled.
Shano, however, had taken off his outer coat and pants, casually tossing them aside, revealing a body full of strong, defined muscles.
Right away, Ayin attentively picked up the clothes and brought them to a clean stone stool nearby.
"Jarvis."
With a blank expression, Shano lightly touched his chest.
Ripples appeared across his skin's surface, and like a nanotech Iron Man suit, a pure black battle outfit rapidly covered his body.
…
Of course, that was all just fantasy.
Ayin obediently sat by the stone stool, staring blankly as its master pulled a set of black clothes out of who-knows-where, grunting and struggling to shove his legs into the pants...
Elasticity or not, he still had to get them on before they could automatically adjust to his build. Putting them on was still a bit of a hassle.
"Finally got it on."
Shano set the weight to 2.2 tons, and the familiar heaviness instantly pressed down on him.
Ever since defeating Arlong, he'd given himself a break to unwind, and hadn't done any weighted training for a while—he really wasn't used to it now.
While doing upside-down push-ups to loosen up, he browsed through the three secret manuals in front of him.
Two of them had prerequisites, so he could only start with Paper Art. As for Tempest Kick, it could wait a bit.
In the upcoming period, he planned to train Paper Art every morning and hone his Armament Haki in the afternoon.
Come dinnertime, he'd head home to eat with his sisters. He didn't plan to go out at night either—training all day was already far beyond the average person, no need to push like he did before Arlong showed up.
That kind of intensity lasted just over a year and already messed with his mental state.
If he kept that up for a few more years, by the time he set out to sea as an adult, the world would be welcoming a full-blown lunatic.
…
About half an hour later.
His body was fully warmed up, and he had read enough of the manuals. Shano now sat cross-legged, deep in thought.
Paper Art, simply put, was a physical technique that used extreme perception of airflow to dodge physical attacks. It was similar to Observation Haki, but fundamentally different.
If one could evade attacks with the smallest possible movements without relying on vision—drifting like a piece of paper in the wind—and even achieve a state of seemingly "phasing" through attacks…
Then that would be considered mastery.
"Iron Body trains hardness, while Paper Art seeks softness…"
Shano pondered. Back when he trained Iron Body, he had Bamba and the others take turns beating him with spiked clubs until he finally succeeded.
For Paper Art, training solo wouldn't cut it either—he needed a sparring partner who could launch fast, threatening attacks that would pressure him into dodging.
Sparring partner…
His gaze slowly shifted and, almost instinctively, landed on Ayin.
"Woof?"
Before Ayin could react, Shano grabbed it by the scruff of its neck and asked gently, "Say, Ayin, do you have any attack skills? Preferably something fast. Try hitting me with one?"
"Awwooo—!"
Suspended in mid-air, Ayin was initially wagging its tail pitifully. But after hearing that, it tilted its head to think, then suddenly let out a low growl, every strand of silver fur standing on end.
Shano felt a tingly sting in his palm and reflexively let go. In that moment, bright blue-violet lightning erupted from the little guy's throat.
Zzzzza!
A bolt of lightning, thick as a bowl, shot past Shano's ear and blasted a charred hole several meters deep into the rock wall behind him.
Smoke filled the air. Ayin landed on all fours, still crackling with arcs of lightning, its purple eyes now glowing like a silver moon.
"Awuu?"
It seemed to be discovering this power for the first time, curiously raising its paw, watching the electric sparks dance across it.
"Holy crap!"
Shano was wide-eyed, glancing back at the still-smoking cliff wall, then down at the slightly numb skin of his hand.
This little guy just turned one day old—how does it have that much destructive power?
If that shot had landed on him without Iron Body active, it probably would've blasted off a chunk of flesh.
As for normal people—they'd probably be straight-up charred corpses.
Suddenly remembering something, Shano quickly opened the system panel and looked at the pet section.
Sure enough—
Several lines of newly refreshed notifications appeared:
[Pet "Ayin" has awakened the primary bloodline talent skill: "Azure Thunder Breath."]
[Pet "Ayin" has awakened the primary bloodline talent skill: "Arc Lightning Body."]
[Note: All talent skill powers will increase as the pet's strength grows.]