August 1485
West Blue
Mountain region of the Ilisia Kingdom
Mihawk and Raeven are currently staying in a cave in the mountains of the kingdom; it's been 5 months since the two of them landed here and started training Haki.
Raeven has already awakened both of his Haki, while Mihawk has awakened his observation Haki, and he can use Armament Haki for a few seconds on his arms.
"Our Haki training ends here today," Raeven said as he sat down and removed his blindfold. He's been sparring with Mihawk for 5 months every day; now he can use his Observation and Armament Haki skillfully.
"My Armament Haki is still weak, and I can feel I can't sustain that hardening technique yet," Mihawk said as he sat down beside Raeven to drink some water.
"Your physique needs some improvement; that's why you should eat more. Besides the two Haki, there's another one that we can't train right now," Raeven said.
"Conqueror's Haki, right? How can we awaken it, brother?" Mihawk asked.
"By having the will of a king and an iron will, maybe we can awaken that thing," Raeven said.
"Right now we should focus on the two Haki first; we'll stay here until we're proficient in using both," Raeven added.
The two of them began their monotonous life every day, sparring, doing individual training, and then fishing in the sea, and if they saw a pirate ship, the two of them would rob it.
December 1485
Ilisia Kingdom mountain region
Mihawk can be seen sitting on a large flat stone while on his lap is his sword, Yoru; he's currently doing some maintenance and cleaning it.
"Okay, all clean now; cleaning swords is really relaxing," he said as he looked at his newly clean, very shiny sword, and then he saw his reflection on the shiny edge.
"The only thing different between me and my brother is the color of my eyes; my brother has a red one," he said as he looked at his eyes. A lot of swordsmen who dueled with him before got irritated or intimidated when he looked at them. The only one who can look completely calm in his gaze is his brother, but when he remembered him bullying him and teasing him every single time, he immediately became irritated.
"Hmmp, I'll practice swinging 400 kg this time; next time we spar, I'm going to shred his coat," he said as he placed his sword carefully on a large pillow. Then, he picked up the weights with difficulty and started swinging them like a sword.
"With a strong body, I can use Armament Haki. Armament Haki can turn blades into black blades. Soon I'll make Yoru black like my brother's Silence," he said with determination.
While Mihawk is doing his crazy training to scratch his brother's coat, Raeven on the other side is on the sea with a small fishing boat he rented; with his fishing line cast out, he is using his observation haki to sense the water and the fishes.
"Just 700 meters around me—that's the area of my observation Haki currently," he said. He's a bit downcast, but still he's improving.
Suddenly he saw a seagull flying towards him with a newspaper, so he took one and paid.
"TREASURE OF THE PIRATES STOLEN"
"ROCKS PIRATE AND ROGER PIRATES PREPARE TO ATTACK."
"Time really passes by quickly. The God Valley war is going to happen in the year 1486; I'll go with Mihawk to watch the chaos," he said as he prepared to close the newspaper, but his eyes suddenly caught something.
"The Mysterious Grim Reaper"
"Numerous numbers of pirates vanished in the North Blue a few years ago, and now it's happening in the West Blue. 67 pirate crews vanished in the North Blue. When the navy investigated, the way all of these crews died was the same: they were first killed, and then they were burned together with their ship. Now this phenomenon is happening in the West Blue. Currently 89 mafia ships and 21 pirate crews have been discovered at the bottom of the sea. He or they didn't turn the heads in for the bounty. Some of the pirates and mafias they hunted have entered the 100 million beli."
"Oh, we hunted down a hundred million-beli pirate? Why, I didn't know about this," Raeven said as he continued reading. Then he saw the wanted poster named Iron Skin Roylan with a bounty of 107 million beli.
"A pirate crew associated with Shiki, huh? So that's why Mihawk can't beat him." He remembered a man wearing a suit with buzz-cut hair; he used brass knuckles covered in Haki.
"It's a pity; I don't want to unmask my Shinigami persona yet. I and Mihawk are still too green." Suddenly the bell on his fishing rod chimed, and he hurriedly took it to reel it in; sadly, the fish got away.
"Oh, it got away!"
Marineford
Grand Line
Intelligence and Scouting Department
"Is there no news about the Dracule brothers?" A vice admiral asked a girl who just entered his office.
"Sorry, Vice Admiral Jonas, but the two of them just vanished after we tried to track them down at Jambalaya Kingdom," Tsuru answered while she gave the investigation report.
"Then what about the Mysterious Pirate Hunter in the West and North Blue?" Vice Admiral Jonas asked again while reading the report.
"No one saw them yet; their latest target is the Shura Mafia Group. Their leader, Bullseye Michael, with a bounty of 60 million, together with his crew, died on their ship. They were sunk at sea at the border of the Land of Ice and the Ballywood Kingdom," Tsuru reported.
"With the seas this chaotic, we should get these strong individuals on our side, especially these two groups, the Dracule Brothers and this mysterious shinigami, Captain Tsuru. Relay my command: tell every marine branch that if they meet or see these individuals, they must approach them right and try to recruit them," Vice Admiral Jonas said.
"Yes, sir!" Tsuru saluted, and then she walked out of the room to relay the command.
The next day, as usual, the two brothers are still sparring; Mihawk is using Yoru, while Raeven is using a 6-foot-long stick covered with his Armament Haki.
After a few exchanges, Raeven saw an opening and delivered a kick to Mihawk's stomach, making him fly away and roll a few times.
"Mihawk, your swordsmanship is good, but your combat skills are too rigid. Use your legs and another hand to attack. Also, the way you use your sword is too rigid too; with that long-ass sword, use your imagination for how you can use it to the max," Raeven said, schooling Mihawk.
"I'm trying, brother, but I just can't get the hang of it yet," Mihawk said as he stood up.
"Come on then, continue fighting; I'll train you to death," Raeven said as the two clashed again. As the fight goes on, Mihawk is improving in the battle; he can now block 4 attacks out of ten. The training only stopped at noon of the day. Raeven left Mihawk sprawled on the ground breathing heavily as he prepared their lunch.
While waiting for the dish to be done, Raeven sat down and opened up a large bounty book. These are sold by the Marines and the newspaper agency. Right now the Marines and the world government are still controlling the news; Morgan's Company hasn't appeared yet.
When Raeven opened up the book, he turned it to the region named South Blue. A lot of pirate wanted posters had an X on them; those are pirates who already died either by fire or by being eaten by marine creatures. After reading it for a while and remembering their faces, he closed it, and then he saw Mihawk sleeping on the ground.
He can give him some Senzu Beans, but Raeven decided to not do it; let his body feel it so he can grow stronger faster. After he was done cooking, he woke up Mihawk, and the two of them ate.
"Brother, tomorrow I'll start challenging the dojos of this kingdom," Mihawk said.
"There are a lot of skilled knights in the Ilisia Kingdom; what I mean by skilled is skilled for this sea. In the Grand Line, they will be fish food. Also, be careful, especially with dealing with nobles and strangers," Raeven said.
"If something happened, I'll be nearby," he added, and Mihawk nodded. That night Mihawk took a bath and slept early.
"I don't know who the ruler of this kingdom is right now, but he just needs to mind his own business. If he did something stupid, then I don't mind being a wanted man," Raeven said as he prepared a cup of milk to drink. He really wants to drink some liquor, but he is still underage, and so is Mihawk, so to set a good example, he won't drink until he is 15.