I was sitting on the mattress, lost in thought, gazing ahead. I could feel a light emptiness in my stomach — I had just finished off all the food I had collected throughout the day yesterday. If this keeps up, I'll have to work constantly just to avoid starving. That's clearly not an option. I wasn't planning to spend all my time hunting for food. I needed to come up with a way to make the hunting process faster and more efficient.
Then an idea struck me: what if I could use the power of the Devil's Fruit?
The fruit I had eaten was called Bane Bane no Mi — it was a Paramecia that gave the ability to turn parts of the body into springs. Whoever ate this fruit became a Spring-Man. I knew that such abilities required a creative approach, but if used correctly, they could simplify food gathering significantly.
I focused and gave a mental command, trying to turn my arm into a spring. A moment passed, and my limb changed.
Before me was no ordinary arm, but a real steel spring, slowly swaying from side to side.
"How does it feel?" the first thought flashed through my mind.
I stretched out my other hand and cautiously touched it with my fingers.
Cold metal.
It felt strange — my own arm had turned into something completely unnatural, but I could still feel it.
I tried compressing and stretching the spring. The sensation was as if I were flexing or tensing muscles — a complete sense of control. Even though my arm was now made of metal, I could control it as easily as before.
"I need to conduct an experiment…" I murmured.
If I can turn my arm into a spring, maybe I can transform my whole body? I focused and tried to command my entire body to turn into a spring.
Nothing.
I remained in my usual form.
"It seems the fruit isn't fully developed yet," I thought, frowning slightly.
What about partial transformation? I tried turning my torso into a spring.
This time, it worked!
"AAHHHHH!!!"
I hadn't gained control of my spring-like body in time, and I immediately bent backward, hitting my head on the floor. Darkness clouded my vision, and sparks danced in front of my eyes.
"Damn…" I muttered, rubbing my head.
I needed to learn to control the ability, or this could turn into a problem. I focused, gave the command "tense muscles" — and my body straightened again.
"Looks like the transformation doesn't last on its own," I concluded. "I need to consciously maintain it."
But now came the most important part.
I returned my body to its normal state and thought. Legs.
Using the power in my legs seemed the most useful at first. With such an ability, I could not only move quickly but also use it in battle. But testing it here was dangerous.
I remembered when Bellamy first ate the fruit and, foolishly, immediately turned his legs into springs — and with a rush, he crashed into a wall, barely surviving. I wasn't about to repeat his mistake.
Here, in this abandoned area, there were few people, but still, there were other poor souls like me. Who knows what they'd do if they saw what I was capable of?
The forest.
That was the best place for experiments. No one would see me there, and if something went wrong — I wouldn't crash into a wall or draw unwanted attention.
This time, I ran very quickly, driven by the excitement of trying the ability Bellamy used. If I could jump from tree to tree, hunting wouldn't be a problem for me, I thought with anticipation.
As soon as I felt I had gone far enough, I looked around just to be sure. Birds were singing, the sun was breaking through the tree canopies —
This is a good place to try, I thought.
"Turn my legs into springs."
The next moment, my limbs changed, and I felt the spring-like power concentrated in them.
Without much hesitation, I tensed my muscles and leapt sharply.
Everything happened so quickly that I didn't realize how powerful my jump was. The ground quickly receded, and the trees below grew smaller…
Fifteen meters…
I jumped fifteen meters!
"C-CRAP!" flashed through my mind.
In the same instant, I began to fall.
"What do I do?!"
Panic gripped me instantly. I wasn't thinking about landing!
I'm going to break my legs…
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" a non-human scream tore from my lips.
The free fall lasted for a second, but it felt like an eternity. My chest tightened, and my heart was pounding like crazy.
So this is what it feels like when you realize you're about to crash…
I thought:
"How the hell did I think of THIS?! Die on the second day after coming to this world?!!"
I shut my eyes, bracing for the crushing impact with the ground…
But at the moment my feet touched the surface, I felt a springy jolt.
"Huh?!"
I was immediately thrown backward, as if I had bounced off a trampoline!
I flew several meters, uncontrollably, and crashed onto my back.
"UGHHHH!"
Stars flashed before my eyes. My whole body ached, and the air was knocked out of my lungs. But…
I was alive!
My heart was racing in my chest. The springs in my legs had worked! They softened the fall and bounced me backward.
I lay still for a few seconds, trying to process what had just happened.
"Damn…" I whispered, exhaling through my teeth.
Finally, catching my breath, I slowly sat up and looked at my legs. They were back to normal.
"It works…"
I swallowed, feeling a mix of excitement and fear.
"Now, that's power…"
If I can jump this high, then I can gather fruit from trees without fear of falling…
But before that, I needed to test another hypothesis.
I carefully looked at the ground where I landed after the jump. It was covered in cracks, as if struck by a heavy object.
— So, the power of my legs doesn't just allow me to jump, but also affects the environment around me...
But that wasn't the strangest part.
I felt something else.
My body... it felt like it had become different.
Flexibility, resilience, the ability to stretch — all of this was not just in my legs, but throughout my entire body.
I tried stretching my arm forward... and for a moment, it slightly extended before returning to its normal state.
"What?!"
I shook my wrist, checking if it was just my imagination.
But the sensations were real.
My muscles and bones seemed to have acquired elastic properties.
"Is this a side effect of the fruit?.."
I hadn't figured it all out yet, but it was obvious that the Bane Bane no Mi gave my whole body some spring-like qualities?
But right now, I needed to recover my energy. After all these experiments, my stomach felt like a bottomless pit. It seemed like the energy used was immense. Fortunately, I was in the forest, so there were plenty of trees with fruit around, I thought, looking up.
"Alright… let's give it a try…"
I suddenly jumped upwards and, at the same time, extended my arm, turning it into a spring.
SNAP!
In an instant, I covered about 15 meters in height. My palm grabbed onto the nearest thick branch, and I hung in the air.
I tightened the spring in my hand, tensing my muscles, and quickly pulled myself up. In the blink of an eye, my body shot into the air, and I swung my leg onto the thick branch, holding onto it with my free hand.
SNAP!
I landed softly, catching my breath.
"Phew… it worked!"
But as soon as I looked up, I realized something unexpected.
I had once thought that I had jumped to the top of the trees.
But no.
The real treetops stretched much higher, hidden behind thick canopies.
What I had seen before was merely a gap in the leaves, a small space where sunlight was filtering through.
The true forest stretched upward for dozens of meters.
"Wow…"
I looked around.
The branch I was standing on was enormous.
Two adults could easily walk side by side on it without fearing they would fall.
The bark beneath my feet was rough, and patches of moss were growing here and there.
I moved forward a bit, curiously exploring the area.
The branches intertwined, forming natural bridges between the trees.
Here, it was possible to move through the air like in an ancient corridor hidden within the foliage.
I glanced around, slowly walking along the thick branch. The leaves around me were dense, and the sunlight barely penetrated, creating a mysterious half-light.
"There should be fruits around here somewhere…" I muttered, peering into the branches.
I bent down, pushing aside the leaves with my hand.
Nothing.
Just green shoots and small buds, too young to eat.
I sighed and looked up.
On higher branches, something flickered among the leaves.
I squinted.
"There they are!"
Among the thick branches, fruits were growing — yellow, resembling mangoes.
"Great!"
I rose onto my toes, but they were too high.
"Alright… I'll have to jump."
"One… two…"
SNAP!
In an instant, I jumped up, reaching out with my hand.
My fingers closed around the nearest fruit, and I yanked it off with force.
"Got it!"
But I didn't think in time about how to land…
"Oh no!"
CRASH!
I fell backward onto the branch, barely managing to hold onto my prize.
"Damn… I need to learn to land more gracefully…" I groaned, rubbing my neck.
But the important thing was — I had the fruit.
I took a deep breath and squeezed the fruit in my hand. It was heavy and warm. The skin was covered in golden hues, and the scent of mango filled the air, spicy and sweet.
"Wow…" I muttered, examining the fruit. "It looks like a mango and smells just like one."
I should try it!
I raised it to my lips and carefully took a bite.
My face immediately scrunched up. It was sweet, but with some strange bitterness, as if its taste was filled not just with sugar, but with something else…