Fighting against him only helped further to bring out the full potential of what she had been unable to use in a real fight.
Impacts that broke past tougher layers and past armour, similar to internal attacks destroying from within, were met with the same attack.
Crushing blows that created shockwaves that spread out were met with the same.
Piercing strikes that tore holes through a singular point were met head-on with the same.
Slashing and whipping effects that carried devastating cutting or dividing capabilities were met with techniques of a similar nature to counter them.
All of those techniques were things that Alyssia had already gained a high mastery over, but she had gained a lot of improvement after continuing her gathering of skills and discovering the potential of what she had collected.
She had been able to learn them and make them a part of her, but she was still lacking in practical experience where she could use them.
Shanks made the perfect opponent, even if he was missing an arm.
It could even be said that such a disadvantage did not weaken him.
It was almost like he had taken that aspect of himself and turned it into a strength, so it shared some similarities with what she recently learned from Empirica Island.
With an uneven weight distribution on one side, with there being a missing limb, it would take time to get used to it, but it would not always be something to hold someone back.
That arm could get in the way of certain movements or cause unnecessary movements that could interfere with certain motions.
If innovative approaches could be used to balance and technique, something like losing an arm could not always be a hindrance to someone.
Methods of balancing weight by applying force in the opposite direction to their legs could allow such a person to fight effectively despite having such physical limitations.
Such methods could even lead to breaking into a whole new realm of mastery over their body as they could eliminate energy wastage and optimise momentum upon contact, significantly enhancing the overall impact of attacks.
Every attack Shanks sent toward her did not feel weak in the slightest.
Others would look down on him for his appearance and consider it a weakness, but Alyssia was able to learn much from him.
He certainly lived up to the name of being one of the Four Emperors.
It was like she was fighting Garp all over again, but a much younger version.
She could not rely on her opponent tiring out before her or having various disadvantages that came with age.
He was in the prime of his physical state and gave her the best fight she had ever experienced.
They both kept pushing themselves with each exchange until they reached a point where their physical states were exhausted.
That was how it should have been, yet as time passed, it was Shanks who was struggling to stand and hold his ground.
The only thing keeping him on his feet was his strong willpower.
His actions were very admirable, just like any others with a similar disposition that did not bow to others and would rather choose to make others or the world itself submit to them than to bend or break under such obstructions and difficulties.
Such individuals refused to submit in the face of death or any other circumstances, just as they refused to give up or compromise on their ideals or goals.
Nothing and no one would be able to get in their way.
Such disposisions were not s easy to come by and it was even rarer for such people to reach a stage where they would reach a stage where they would be able to tap into Conqueror's Haki.
From what Alyssia had uncovered through her research, the disposition was not a predetermined thing, and numerous factors could contribute toward it.
Internal and external factors influence such dispositions of a person from their personality traits, biological makeup, mental health, education and training, social environment and cultural and religious beliefs.
Being born to someone who possessed Conqueror's Haki did not always guarantee that such individuals would be able to have the potential for it.
Lineage Factor did play a bigger part in influencing those born or cloned from people, but there would always be subtle differences between the original and the parent to the clone and the child born from them.
Those differences would only grow greater if they experienced a different upbringing, social environment and education that could shape them as a person.
A person living in a hellish environment would be forced to survive, while someone living in comfort all their lives would not feel the need to push themselves in such a manner.
Another factor about it all was how Haki was influenced by belief, and the knowledge of it usually played a vital role in being able to use and train to gain mastery over it.
If someone lacked the knowledge of Haki and did not believe that such possibilities existed, then they would be limited by such beliefs.
The four seas were far weaker due to them being cut off from the Grand Line and the other seas, where such knowledge would be more well-known.
That was how the World Government was able to prevent the growth of so many people who held such potential within them.
If they were unable to dream and imagine the possibilities that were within them, then they would not be able to reach such a stage where they could become a threat.
There were cases where Haki would awaken under various conditions, especially when under high stress or as a result of intense feelings and resolve of a person, but not everyone was so lucky as to undergo such situations where they would meet the conditions they needed to be able to do so.
What had allowed Alyssia to unlock her Haki was that she already possessed knowledge of it and believed that it existed.
She knew to some degree how it worked, and she was able to experience it for herself when training under Catviper.
It was her unwavering determination to rise to the top that allowed her to meet the conditions to unlock Conqueror's Haki.
If she had set her goals much lower, perhaps she might not have had the right disposition to be able to do so.
The inheritance of wills had something to do with that in a way, as such influences could play a vital role in making someone believe in something to let them challenge the impossible, or to lead them to believe that something was impossible, so they should stop trying.
One example of that was how Shanks met Luffy at a young age, and that encounter created the current Luffy, who aimed to become the Pirate King and to find the One Piece.
Children and adults possessed different capacities in many domains, like motor, language, cognitition and emotions, while they would face different development challenges based on what stage of their life they were at.
Children were still in an incomplete state, so they could be changed or shaped more easily as opposed to adults who had already formed their own beliefs and personalities in ways that made it more difficult for them to be altered.
It would have to take something much greater to make them change in such a big way, much like how some of the Straw Hat Pirates had their lives changed by Luffy, leading to their development in a positive direction, where they could grow freely and chase their dreams.
Shanks did not give up the fight right away, but he soon reached his limits of what he could push through using the willpower he could muster up.