Far outside of Baltigo, Giovanni, Chuy, Orson, and Forde, were venturing. "Remind me why we're going so far out from the city again." Orson asked in an annoyed fashion. His legs were heavy as he had to put in extra effort to lift them out the sand of the beach they had finally arrived at. All eyes were on Giovanni when the question was asked, but he remained silent and just kept walking. He too working harder to get his legs up and out the sand. Despite being on a beach, there were dunes here and there as if they were in a desert, so the group was getting in a good leg workout as they hiked up one of the heaps of white sand.

"Because I want us to. Why do you always gotta ask me questions about what I do?" Giovanni was ahead of everyone, but not super far ahead, just a few meters, Chuy was closest to him, then Forde, then Orson. Looking up at Giovanni, his eyes squinted, so the sand Forde moved when he walked didn't get in his eyes, he responded. "Maybe because you pestered us until we finally decided to come with you and Chuy to the beach. At the least I'd like to know what's going on." Forde chuckled as he looked back at Orson, then up to Giovanni. Chuy just minded his own, scared to step on any toes with what he said, but he made it seem as if he just didn't care. "He has a point Boss-man. At the least we could get an explanation." Giovanni stopped walking once they reached the top of the dune they were hiking up and turned to his three followers. They each stopped and looked up at him expectingly. Chuy's skin tingled with excitement, looking at how awesome his Boss appeared in this instance.

"I brought us out here for training. I want to start increasing our revenue and I can't do it if you youngins can't hold your own." Chuy got disheartened and lowered his eyes. He thought he had been carrying his own weight and doing good, but apparently not. Giovanni then pointed at Chuy in an accusing manner, not because of how he reacted, but to finish what he had to say. "Chuy is here to help me facilitate this training, because I feel he can actually hold his own." He released a breath of excitement as his head snapped up and he looked at Giovanni, contentment all over his face. He then looked back at Forde and Orson hoping they'd be expressing their happiness for the honor he just received, but they seemed unamused.

"If that was the case then you shouldn't have brushed me off when I asked if I should bring my equipment you idiot!" "What he said." Forde just pointed his thumb back at Orson who was shouting curses behind him as he stomped up the sand dune to Giovanni. Giovanni just grinned and chuckled in response, his arms crossed across his bolstering chest. "That's because I plan on having Chuy teach us Fishman Karate! We won't need equipment." Orson stopped in his tracks, unsure of how to react to this. He had seen Chuy in action before and knew he was pretty strong because of his fighting style, but it wasn't really his cup of tea. Chuy was just stunned in a state of awe upon hearing he'd be facilitating training and teaching his idol Giovanni Fishman Karate. "IT'LL BE AN H-""Don't mean to burst your bubble Chuy, but I'm not much of a karate person. I'm comfortable with my ranged fighting." Forde placed a friendly hand on Chuy's shoulder as he walked passed him, then Giovanni and continued down the dune to the beach. "I'll be happy to watch how it goes though."

"Hey! Relaxation isn't an option. This training is mandatory." "Eh, no it's not." Forde lifted his hand parting ways from the group as he kept walking to the beach. "Hmph. Orson you're game right?" Orson was still mulling it over looking down in thought, but then he looked up to Giovanni with a fire in his eyes. "Down as ever!" Chuy timidly put his hand up before Orson had even spoke, but he was over looked until he spoke up. "What is it Chuy?" "U- um actually. I've seen Orson fight before. Seeing that he uses weapons and seeing how he fights, I don't believe he has the aptitude for Fishman Karate. At least I don't think I'm proficient enough to teach him at my current skill level since he isn't a hand to hand fighter." Giovanni put a hand to his chin and hummed in thought and Orson just stood there in a defeated manner. "Well then, Orson go play in the water with Forde. You're both off the clock." "YOU SON OF A BITCH YOU DRAGGED ME ALL THE WAY OUT HERE FOR A PLAY DATE AT THE BEACH!" He ran at Giovanni swinging his hands and the tall minkman just stretched out an arm onto Orson's head and held him at bay. "It's just you and me then Chuy." Chuy's eyes lit up upon hearing Giovanni say this and his fist tightened confidently. "I won't let you down boss!"

Giovanni and Chuy both stood knee deep in the waters of Paradise. They each assumed a strong sturdy horse stance. Their legs were spread shoulder width apart and had a slight bend in their knees. One hand would be against their body at their waist. It was a tight clinched fist, if the palm were to be opened and exposed, it'd be facing upwards to the heavens. Meanwhile their other hand would be outward. Also a tight clinched fist, for they had just jabbed this hand. However, if this hand were to be opened, the palm would be facing the waters of Paradise. When the jab was executed, the arm and hand twisted inward naturally as one. This produced a strong and powerful jab. "We'll start with the basics. No funny stuff yet, just plain old karate to get your body right." Giovanni was admittedly growing tired of the hours of basic jabs. Every time he urged Chuy to move on, he would say.

"Fear the one who has practiced on kick one thousands times. Not the one who has practiced one thousand kicks once."

It made sense, but was this really going to get Giovanni where he wanted to be? As time passed and the sun began to set, Orson and Forde made their way back to the dwelling Giovanni had rented, leaving just him and Chuy out on the shore alone. When they finally got to perhaps 10,000 reps of that one punch with a few breaks in between, they switched to a basic karate kick. It sprang out from the water in a diagonal fashion, it was designed to hit someone right in the side of the head in a perfect world. As they drilled through this kick, after 500 reps with one leg, they switched sides. Chuy was focused the whole time through, something Giovanni admired, but the training itself he loathed. It was tedious, but necessary if he wanted to amass a great power in a short amount of time.

Once 10,000 kicks were done, Giovanni was dripping in sweat. He was finally starting to get tired, but given the nature of this training, they weren't done yet. "Good. Now turn to me, conditioning is almost over with." Giovanni turned and faced Chuy who walked, but kinda waded through the water to get in front of Giovanni. Placing a hand against his stomach, he moved it around from his abs to his sides, then to his chest. "Ok, hold your hands above your head . . . Like this." Chuy linked his fingers together and put them on the back of his head, sort of like he was getting arrested. Giovanni copied him and as soon as he did, the Fishman unleashed a speedy punch to the minkman's gut. Normally even if he was caught off guard, he wouldn't have felt this much pain from one of Chuy's punches. Maybe the fishman was stronger than Giovanni gave him credit for.

Releasing a breath of pain and flinching a bit, Giovanni straightened back up then asked his question. "Why did that hurt so much?" Chuy already had his next karate jab readied, but held off on releasing it. "You should know that our bodies are composed of a high percentage of water." Giovanni nodded. "Well Fishman Karate isn't only used to effect water int he environment, but water in people's bodies. What I did was just that. This is a faster form of conditioning to get your body tailored to what you'll need to perform this fighting style." Giovanni nodded once more, took a deep breath, then gave Chuy a look that told him to continue and he did just that. Punch after punch, he hammered Giovanni's stomach relentlessly with his jabs. Eventually the minkman began to leak a small bit of blood from his maw, but he remained silent and endured it. "Seems like I may have ruptured an organ. We should stop for now, that was only 2,467 jabs. We'll have to get you to 10,000 clean before we continue." Normally Giovanni would argue to continue even though he was hating the training before. He was liking this one though, it was putting his body to the test, but a test that he couldn't hope to pass as he was. For that reason he threw int he towel and returned to Baltigo with Chuy to get medical attention.

The next day bright and early, Chuy woke Giovanni up. "How are you rebounding?" Giovanni sat up and got out of bed. First he rubbed his stomach, then he patted it. Next he slapped it, then finally he gave himself a firm punch to the gut. His hardened abs did well to buffer the potential damage the punch could cause. While it was mostly external damage, naturally those punches too did cause light internal disturbances and Giovanni didn't really feel any pain. "Fully recovered. At least enough to go round two. Lets do it." Giovanni took his high-collared shirt off and assumed the appropriate stance with his heads clasped around the back of his head. Chuy just shook his head in a disapproving fashion. Giovanni thought he'd say he needed to undoubtedly be at full health, but Chuy instead insisted they go back to their original location. "It's important to be around large volumes of water like the ocean when learning Fishman Karate. We must go back to the shore." It was a long journey, but Giovanni wouldn't argue with his teacher, so together they went back to the shore.

"I've never seen you like this before Chuy. Sure you are always focused on the task at hand, but I've never seen you so dedicated." Chuy was ahead of Giovanni, this alone showed how much he cared about making Giovanni happy by successfully teaching him Fishman Karate. He was happy he was in front of Giovanni too, so he couldn't see the tears of joy streaming down his face. To be commended by his boss and for it to be a compliment on his character and not just something he did, it was life changing. Wiping his eyes with the swipe of his forearm, he cleared his throat before speaking. "Ehem . .. sorry . . . sand in my eyes. A lot of people forget Fishman Karate isn't just a fighting style, but a piece of Fishman culture. Not only do I think highly of you, but I wouldn't want to defile my culture, by teaching you in a sloven way or have you perform Fishman Karate poorly." Giovanni nodded as he heard Chuy speak to him. He too was proud of his heritage despite being only half mink-man. He was glad to see Chuy thought highly of his own bloodline and was enlightened with the fact that Fishman Karate was indeed a part of his culture and not just a tool for war. This made Giovanni respect it more and want to use it in a way that'd bring it glory and prestige. "Well thank you for choosing to share your culture with me. It'll be something I cherish for as long as I live. Seems like you've earned a place in my heart for as long as I travel these wretched waters." As he said this they came atop of the dune that hid the ocean from them. Now they had Paradise stretched out in front of them. Chuy made it a priority to stay in front of Giovanni, because he was on the verge of having an emotional breakdown. He was just so overwhelmed by the praise and thanks from Giovanni, because he looked up to the man a lot. He tried to play cool and just held up a fist with his thumb up.

The next day bright and early, Chuy woke Giovanni up. "How are you rebounding?" Giovanni sat up and got out of bed. First he rubbed his stomach, then he patted it. Next he slapped it, then finally he gave himself a firm punch to the gut. His hardened abs did well to buffer the potential damage the punch could cause. While it was mostly external damage, naturally those punches too did cause light internal disturbances and Giovanni didn't really feel any pain. "Fully recovered. At least enough to go round two. Lets do it." Giovanni took his high-collared shirt off and assumed the appropriate stance with his heads clasped around the back of his head. Chuy just shook his head in a disapproving fashion. Giovanni thought he'd say he needed to undoubtedly be at full health, but Chuy instead insisted they go back to their original location. "It's important to be around large volumes of water like the ocean when learning Fishman Karate. We must go back to the shore." It was a long journey, but Giovanni wouldn't argue with his teacher, so together they went back to the shore.

"I've never seen you like this before Chuy. Sure you are always focused on the task at hand, but I've never seen you so dedicated." Chuy was ahead of Giovanni, this alone showed how much he cared about making Giovanni happy by successfully teaching him Fishman Karate. He was happy he was in front of Giovanni too, so he couldn't see the tears of joy streaming down his face. To be commended by his boss and for it to be a compliment on his character and not just something he did, it was life changing. Wiping his eyes with the swipe of his forearm, he cleared his throat before speaking. "Ehem . .. sorry . . . sand in my eyes. A lot of people forget Fishman Karate isn't just a fighting style, but a piece of Fishman culture. Not only do I think highly of you, but I wouldn't want to defile my culture, by teaching you in a sloven way or have you perform Fishman Karate poorly." Giovanni nodded as he heard Chuy speak to him. He too was proud of his heritage despite being only half mink-man. He was glad to see Chuy thought highly of his own bloodline and was enlightened with the fact that Fishman Karate was indeed a part of his culture and not just a tool for war. This made Giovanni respect it more and want to use it in a way that'd bring it glory and prestige. "Well thank you for choosing to share your culture with me. It'll be something I cherish for as long as I live. Seems like you've earned a place in my heart for as long as I travel these wretched waters." As he said this they came atop of the dune that hid the ocean from them. Now they had Paradise stretched out in front of them. Chuy made it a priority to stay in front of Giovanni, because he was on the verge of having an emotional breakdown. He was just so overwhelmed by the praise and thanks from Giovanni, because he looked up to the man a lot.

Back down in the water, Giovanni was busy being hammered back by Chuy. Again his hands were above his head laced around his locks of hair while the fishman struck him in the gut over and over. It was painful, but Giovanni eventually got accustomed to the pain. Either that or he just found a way to take his mind off of it, by focusing on the rocking of the water and the sound of the ocean. Before he knew it, they had reached one thousand strikes and Giovanni wasn't even aware that he was being hit anymore. "We're done." Giovanni's eyes opened calmly and he dropped his hands to his gut and examined it. There was some pretty nasty bruises, but for the most part he felt good. "Seems like I'm growing a bit resilient to it." Chuy nodded. "I'm also only using soft strikes. Don't want to injure you, just condition." Giovanni was sad to hear that, but it made sense. "What's next then?" Chuy lifted his hands similar to how Giovanni did before then spoke. [color=#0000ff]"Now you strike me and try to recreate what I was doing to you. Fell the water around you in the ocean and after awhile try to feel the water in my body as you strike me. Giovanni understood it and was eager to get to it. As soon as he meditated on it for a while, he went at it. Chuy was short so he had to use kicks instead of punches.

By kick 2,000, Giovanni was finally starting to get a feel for the water in Chuy's body. "So will everyone's body have the same water composition to it. Like if I get accustomed to your body's water, will I be ready for everyone else's?" Chuy winced as he spoke, because Giovanni was still busy hammering away at him. "For the most part yes. Unless they have a unique body composition that effects how much natural water they have in them or how it flows through them. Like if they had a Devil Fruit or something." "Make sense." He kept going at it and by kick 6,000 Chuy, declared that Giovanni was doing it. "That's great, you got it. Keep doing it, just like that." Giovanni grinned devilishly, not because he was about to hurt Chuy or anything, but because he had finally gotten the technique down. After 10,000 kicks they were done.

"This is just the first step down the road of mastery boss. But now you can appropriately be called a Level 1 White Belt in Fishman Karate."
[Exit]