Roars thundered through the jungle the moment Atticus stepped beneath the towering canopy. The cries of unseen creatures shook the entire island, echoing with a wild, primal force.
Atticus narrowed his eyes, his expression tense. Even without seeing them, he could feel pressure from those roars, pressure that weighed on his instincts like a warning.
The endless forest stretched before him like a vast, shadowy maze. Light struggled to filter through the leaves, and every rustle carried the possibility of deadly danger.
A sudden crack sounded behind him.
Atticus halted immediately. His hair stood on end as his Observation Haki spread outward in a sharp pulse. Nothing appeared unusual, yet his instincts told him something was watching him.
"My Observation Haki is still too weak," he muttered.
Since his Haki couldn't pinpoint the threat, Atticus relied on his eyes instead. Moving slowly and deliberately, he examined his surroundings until he finally spotted it — a pair of blood-red eyes gleaming from the shadows to his left.
A massive beast crouched within the undergrowth, its stare savage and unblinking.
The creature let out a roar so powerful the grass in front of it peeled backward, revealing the damp soil beneath. Ferocious fangs jutted from its jaws, long whiskers bristled like needles, and its thick limbs were armed with claws sharp enough to tear stone. Even its tail, thick as a tree trunk, radiated power.
More alarming was the aura the beast released — a bloody, violent pressure that pressed against Atticus' senses.
"Incredible. I just stepped onto this island and already found a creature around Captain-level strength. Looks like this really is a good place." A sharp grin formed. "Then all of you can become my stepping stones."
He attacked first.
Atticus vanished into motion, his body streaking forward like a launched cannonball, kicking up clouds of dust as he charged.
The beast lunged with another roar, its massive jaws snapping shut where Atticus had been a heartbeat earlier.
A shockwave blasted outward.
Atticus' eyes widened. "It predicted my movement?"
He did not hesitate.
"Armament Haki: Fire Claw!"
Flames intertwined with hardened Haki as he spread his fingers. Slashing downward, he unleashed a powerful strike.
Sand and dirt exploded into the air. Atticus immediately leapt back, his expression grim.
The creature shook its head, unfazed, and charged again.
"That blow would've taken down an ordinary Captain already. Seems I can't hold back."
"Soru!"
Man and beast collided with explosive force. Sand sprayed, rocks splintered, and shockwaves rippled through the jungle. Atticus refused to use his Devil Fruit yet—this monster was the perfect sparring partner.
Minutes dragged by in brutal combat.
By the time the fight ended, Atticus was breathing heavily. His shirt was nothing more than torn scraps clinging to his torso, and several deep gashes lined his skin.
Across from him, the once-ferocious beast lay dying. Its flesh had been mangled, its bones crushed into fragments.
Atticus checked his Log Pose, then pressed deeper into the forest. With every battle, he could feel improvement—not massive leaps, but solid, tangible progress. That alone thrilled him. Nothing accelerated growth like real combat.
A week passed.
During the first days, Atticus had focused purely on hand-to-hand combat, choosing not to kill too many beasts but to use them as sparring partners. Anyone observing him from afar would immediately notice the difference in his presence. His aura had become sharper, more dangerous.
Another roar echoed.
A colossal creature, nearly the size of a small hill, toppled over and collapsed. Atticus stood atop its head, shirtless, his scar-covered body heaving with steady breaths.
"Phew… The deeper I go, the stronger they get." He wiped sweat from his brow. This latest opponent had taken an entire hour to defeat and had nearly forced him to use his Devil Fruit.
"Night is coming. I need to find a place to rest."
His first night on the island had been nearly fatal. A pack of beasts had hunted him under the cover of darkness, and he had survived only by using his Devil Fruit abilities. The nights here were far more dangerous than the days.
As he prepared to move, Atticus froze. His eyes shot upward.
A black dot plummeted from the sky like a falling meteor.
"Great. A flying beast noticed me."
The silhouette grew larger — a massive bird with a wingspan close to thirty meters. Its sharpened beak and iron-like claws gleamed menacingly.
"This aura… It's almost Vice Admiral level," Atticus muttered. There was no hesitation now. He would die if he didn't use his abilities.
Flames burst around him.
In an instant, a hundred meters of jungle incinerated into scorched earth as golden-red fire surged upward.
"Endless Arrows!"
More than forty flaming weapons—swords, spears, halberds—manifested behind him and shot skyward like a blazing torrent.
The giant bird shrieked, coating its talons in Armament Haki as it rushed forward, ignoring the barrage.
Its wings unfurled with a metallic clang. The force of the flap extinguished Atticus' attack in an instant.
"Are you kidding—"
Atticus' body flickered away. He reappeared a hundred meters back just as the ground erupted. Stones flew, the earth split, and the giant bird landed in the crater it created, fixing him with murderous eyes.
"So you're mocking me?" Atticus growled. He could see the disdain in the creature's gaze.
"High Temperature: One Hundred Thousand Degrees."
The air warped violently. Flames engulfed Atticus, the golden-red fire twisting around him until the silhouette of a massive bird—formed entirely from heat—spread its wings behind him. This was his current limit, but one day, his flames would burn even hotter.
The ground beneath him began melting into a glowing red pool.
The giant bird launched forward with a thunderous cry.
Atticus struck back.
Their battle tore through the jungle, shaking the island with each collision.
Meanwhile, at the distant coastline, cadets were already being brought back to the warship — the failures of the Beast Island trial. Some lacked strength, others succumbed to fear, and some simply could not endure the hellish environment.
A number never returned at all.
On deck, Garp reclined lazily in a chair, looking more like he was vacationing than overseeing a deadly trial.
"It's only been a week," he said with a grin. "Far from the half-month mark, and already so many have returned. Beast Island really is a wonderful place."
Zephyr stood beside him, arms crossed. "Perhaps they simply weren't ready."
"The rest is up to them," Garp replied.
Days passed. More cadets were rescued, and fewer than twenty remained. Those twenty would become future Rear Admirals or even Admirals someday.
Deep in the jungle, Atticus recovered atop a giant tree. Since his near-fatal battle with the flying beast three days earlier, he had become significantly more cautious.
Large claw marks still crossed his chest. Without his Devil Fruit's abnormal regeneration, he would likely still be unable to move.
Moments ago, he had just finished fighting a hybrid beast — part elephant, part mammoth. It left his body bruised and bloodied, but he had managed to kill it.
"Ten days have passed. Only five left. I need to use every remaining moment," he said quietly. Time moved faster than he expected. Two-thirds of the trial had already slipped away.
"I have to go deeper."
He rose and vanished into the dense wilderness once again.