More than one month has passed since Thorne was punished by Imu for helping the slaves escape the Marijoa, resulting in the burning of the Holy Land.
Thorne just continued his routine, without sleeping for the entire month and a half he spent alone and isolated on the island.
Thorne, who was beginning to master and refine the Hercules Method, required no sleeping, he can even slowdown his heart to beat only once every minute, effective putting him in hibernation, without sleeping, he could also overclock his brain, even without the help of his Devil Fruit to enhance his brain, all of this within the short amount of time he spent in isolation, since he did not need to worry about holding back his potential and strength.
One day, when Thorne was exercising, he felt a very strong presence arrived at his island, he did not know who it was considering that he never felt this presence before, it felt like a deadly knife, with a terrifying precision, the presence also felt him from what it would seem, considering that it was now walking towards him.
Thorne then gets ready to meet the stranger, excited to see whether it was a canon character or someone unknown to the canon. After half an hour of waiting, the stranger slowly approaching him became clearer to Thorne. Seeing that the figure was wearing a black hat with a large plume, Thorne, knowing the canon, immediately recognized the stranger — it was Dracule "Hawk-Eye" Mihawk, the strongest swordsman in the world, a man so great that he had to train his future opponent.
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A few hours before, in the sea, there was a solo traveller, someone with a bored expression, he had the expression of someone who was longing for battle but can't find the right challenger, this person with the bored expression is Dracule "Hawk-Eye" Mihawk, someone that went around the world, challenging every greatest swordsman, wanting to find someone worthy of battle, but due to his pursuit of strength, and his obsession for strength, he find himself so strong that there were only a handful that can defeat him, meaning the battles were scarce.
Mihawk, who was aboard Hitsugibune, was just drifting aimlessly in the sea, hoping that fate would bring him towards an opponent that would be worthy of his time, he has been wandering around the sea for about a week now, and with the supplies dwindling, he then decided to find the nearest island where he can restock, before continuing his aimless plan.
It did not take Mihawk to find an island where there are lush greens, suitable for growing fruits and vegetables. In addition, the island being untouched, it was surely rich in supplies. Deciding to approach the island, Mihawk had no idea that he would meet one of the most fascinating people he would meet at sea.
Mihawk, the moment he stepped foot on the island, he felt the presence of someone that have an aura of a caged beast, suddenly, Mihawk's face lit up, thinking it would be a new challenge, a fight maybe even worthy of his time, Mihawk then immediately anchored his boat, so that the waves would not claim his vehicle, and immediately started walking towards the presence he felt, he was sure that whoever is that person, would be a strong man.
It took Mihawk about half an hour of walking at his pace to officially see the silhouette of the stranger. It was someone shackled from chains he was sure were made from pure sea stone, something that would only be used to imprison strong Devil Fruit users.
He then noticed the stranger was on fire, but strangely, even though it kept burning his flesh, the flesh itself would heal before being burned again, but the most bizarre thing he noticed, was that the stranger was no man at all, but a child, in a physique of one, most of the muscles are honed from combat, but that look and child like features would not go unnoticed by Mihawk, considering he was a former child warrior too.
'Who would torture a kid like this?' Mihawk asked himself, feeling a bit sorry for the stranger, who was just punching with all his might, training as if he was not on fire or anything, not even realizing that he forgot a one crucial thing, this is the presence that he felt the moment he got on the island, meaning that the is kid strong.
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Thone, who saw Mihawk, approached him but did not talk, also did not talk and just continued his training routine, punching was just his routine, it was slowly being his favorite move next to a flying slash, his punches becoming faster and faster that he could throw a one two c, and that was without the Devil Fruit, Thorne just kept punching, it doesn't matter if his arms are sore, he was immediately healing it with the Hercules Method, the weight on the platform, now being equal to a weight of a small island, did not seem to affect his punches, having the same force as the one he was throwing earlier.
Thorne then continued this routine, day and night, without any rest, with Mihawk, leaving to hunt food, scavenge fruits and vegetables, and cook meals for himself and eat them near Thorne's location.
Mihawk thought that Thorne would ask for food if he just waited for the moment, but a week has passed since Mihawk arrived to the island, but Thorne was still doing his routine, without sleeping, eating, drinking or even resting for a bit, he could see the effort that Thorne was giving was his 100%, he did not pull back his punches, reminding Mihawk of a story where the legendary hero of Marine, punched the 8 mountains, just to prepare a fight, but this kind of preparation and self-torture is something that he has never seen before.
"Why do you keep torturing yourself with such ferocity?, Is there a target you wanted to reach?" Mihawk finally deciding to break the silence, asked Thorne, who just continued his routine while answering.
"I have to become strong enough to break my chains," Thorne said, answering and satisfying the curiosity of Mihawk.
"I know you are strong enough to break these chains," Mihawk said, gesturing towards the literal chains Thorne was wearing, as if metaphor is lost to him.
"These are not the chains I was talking about," Thorne said, revealing the meaning of his words, making Mihawk think deeper about his words.
"What kind of chains bind you?" Mihawk pried more, unbefitting of his quiet demeanor,
"A path that I do not want to take," Thorne just answered, while continuing his routine, with Mihawk not pressing any further and just ate silently, with a serious expression,