Combat Lessons

Sirius was completely dumbfounded. Yamato had awakened Conqueror's Haki just like that?

Although Yamato had awakened Conqueror's Haki around this time in the original story, it hadn't been because of a Spiked Club!

This was way too absurd!

However, the Conqueror's Haki that burst forth from Yamato was only a fleeting flash, quickly vanishing without a trace.

Yamato herself did not even notice it. She was still hugging the half of her Spiked Club that remained, sniffling miserably.

It was only through Yamato's sobs that Sirius finally learned that Aken was the name Yamato had given her Spiked Club. Who knew what she had been thinking?

"So, is there anything special about this Spiked Club?" Sirius could not help asking. She had gotten emotional enough to awaken Conqueror's Haki over it.

"It was a gift from Father!" Yamato wiped her eyes, still looking aggrieved.

This Spiked Club really did hold special meaning. Kaido had had it made for Yamato when she was even younger. It was the first gift her old man had ever given her.

After hearing that, Sirius could only sigh. As expected of Uncle Kaido. The first gift he gave his precious daughter was a weapon.

He and Charlotte Linlin really were a match made in heaven. They could practically be called tiger father and wolf mother.

But looking at Yamato, who was still pouting, Sirius felt a headache coming on. She possessed astonishing brute strength and used vicious moves, always aiming for his face, but she was ultimately only an eight-year-old girl—a child who would cry when her treasure was broken.

Sirius walked over and said sincerely, "Sorry, Yamato—"

Before Sirius could finish apologizing, Yamato shook her head and sniffed. "It's okay. Sirius didn't do it on purpose. Besides, I would have been angry if Sirius hadn't gone all out!"

Anything could happen in battle. Sirius had only reacted that way because he wanted to win.

Sirius knew that Yamato truly did not blame him, but she must still have been upset.

Sirius wanted to say more, but King, utterly lacking in tact, walked over. His voice was cold. "Yamato, do you still want to continue fighting?"

"I lost. Sirius is really amazing!"

Yamato shook her head, then looked at Sirius and grinned. "But don't get cocky, Sirius!"

She wrinkled her little nose and raised her fist. "I'll become even stronger! I'll definitely catch up to you!"

Sirius returned to human form and smiled. "Bring it on."

King nodded. "Then the test ends here." He looked at Sirius. "I more or less understand your situation now. It truly is an impressive ability, but—"

The man's gaze was so deep that it made Sirius's scalp tingle. "That ability alone is far from enough. I'll prove that to you."

With that, he turned to Jack below the field. "Jack, what are you standing around for? Wake Black Maria! Training begins!"

Jack, who had been knocked onto the ground by Yamato's sudden burst of Conqueror's Haki, hurriedly scrambled to his feet. He grabbed Black Maria by the shoulders and shook her hard, finally waking Maria, who had been knocked unconscious.

The two still-dizzy figures swayed their way onto the training ground.

Black Maria still looked utterly confused, having no idea why she had suddenly passed out.

Unlike her, Jack had witnessed what happened to Yamato firsthand. The moment he came over, he anxiously asked, "Yamato, what was that just now? When did you eat a Devil Fruit?"

"Huh? What are you talking about, Jack?"

Yamato looked baffled, completely unaware of the incredible power she had just unleashed.

To be honest, Sirius was a little jealous.

That was Conqueror's Haki!

The strongest of the Three Colors of Haki. It had nothing to do with strength, bloodline, or effort. It was purely a reflection of one's spirit, the qualification of a king possessed by one person in a million.

More importantly, Sirius knew that Conqueror's Haki was not merely a symbol of prestige. It possessed power far beyond Armament Haki! Conqueror's Haki Infusion was the blade that even The Strongest took pride in wielding!

Sirius did not think he could awaken Conqueror's Haki. After all, he had no grand dream, nor did he want to rule the world or become the strongest. He figured Conqueror's Haki was probably far beyond his reach.

But it did not matter. Weren't the Marine Admirals still among the sea's top powerhouses despite not having Conqueror's Haki?

With his ability, as long as he had enough to eat, he could get stronger even lying down!

"What are you still babbling about? Training has already begun!"

King's voice interrupted Sirius's wandering thoughts. The man stared fixedly at Jack, making Jack, who had still been curious about Yamato's Conqueror's Haki, instantly fall silent.

Then the afternoon training began.

The afternoon was for combat training, with King teaching Sirius and the others fighting techniques.

It was divided into two parts: hand-to-hand combat and weaponry.

The lesson content was about what Sirius had expected. King demonstrated techniques, then they learned them. After practicing for a while, they sparred with one another.

Though rather than techniques, they were more like combat patterns—how to attack, defend, and counterattack under various specific circumstances.

"Carve every pattern into your bones. Then, when you fight, at least you'll know what you can do," Teacher King said.

Sirius felt that Teacher King made a lot of sense.

Most moves in this world were simple and unadorned. Even Moss Head, with all his flashy techniques, merely used different ways to cut people down.

The patterns King taught were the optimal solutions for different situations. They could not be said to fit every circumstance perfectly, but if these patterns became instinct, one could at least be considered somewhat accomplished in martial arts.

Sirius was the most unusual of the four because King judged that he relied solely on his Devil Fruit Ability and had no combat foundation whatsoever. So King deliberately began teaching him from the basics, such as how to exert force.

After the techniques were taught, they sparred with each other. Naturally, Sirius was paired with Yamato, while Jack was paired with Maria.

"This is great, Sirius! Before you came, I could only spar with Uncle King!"

Yamato said this while throwing a punch at Sirius, nearly giving him a black eye.

"Hey! Yamato! Take it easy!"

Sirius's fundamentals were truly poor. Without the enhancement of his Devil Fruit Ability, even blocking Yamato's punches in human form was difficult.

Yamato finally held back her strength. After all, it was only sparring. There was no need to be as serious as in their earlier battle, and the atmosphere remained fairly harmonious.

But after they finished sparring with each other, their practice match against King was far less harmonious.

"Too slow!"

King kicked Jack, who had failed to defend in time, making him cough up blood.

"Tense those muscles!"

King grabbed Black Maria and hurled her away, sending her crashing heavily to the ground.

"Did I teach you to launch such an obvious attack from behind?"

King shifted his body and dodged Yamato's attack from behind. Then he punched a huge bump into her head, knocking her flat on the ground as she rolled around clutching her head.

Their sparring with Teacher King involved all of them surrounding and attacking him together, freely using the moves they had learned that day. Teacher King would also feed them moves in return.

But this scene—

Sirius could not help swallowing. Jack really had not been wrong. Teacher King was truly too dedicated! Jack's nosebleed would not stop at all! His conclusion had probably come from personal experience.

Even though King was not using strength far beyond theirs, that did not mean his blows did not hurt!

At that moment, King turned and looked at Sirius. "What are you standing there for, brat? Are you scared?"

What else could he do at a time like this?

Sirius gritted his teeth. Fine. At worst, he would take a beating!

He shot forward and threw a punch at King.

"Who do you think you can hit with such a limp punch? Is that how I taught you to exert force?"

Sirius did not even see what King had done. His vision went black, and he was already sent flying by a punch.

The gap in strength was simply too enormous. Sirius could dominate among six-year-olds at most, but compared to a genuine monster like King, he was still far too lacking.

The moment Sirius landed, a shadow loomed over him. He raised his head in panic, only to see Teacher King's enormous fist crashing down once more.

"You're adjusting too slowly! Are you afraid your enemies won't be fast enough?"

Before he could even resist, Sirius was sent flying again.

After that, Sirius finally understood what Teacher King had meant earlier. King was truly putting it into practice, proving with blatantly visible favoritism that Sirius's combat skills really were terrible.

Sirius was crying inside.

Their sparring with Teacher King lasted an hour. Without question, all four were beaten black and blue. Sirius in particular had swollen up a whole size.

But thanks to his ability, Sirius recovered most of the way after eating something.

Although King hit hard, the teaching results had to be acknowledged. At the very least, during the later stages of their sparring, when King fed him moves, Sirius could already instinctively use the patterns he had learned that day to defend or counterattack.

After the hand-to-hand combat lesson came weapons training.

The process was similar to the hand-to-hand lesson. The only difference was that the four used different weapons, so Teacher King had to teach them separately.

Yamato used a Spiked Club, Jack used curved blades, and Maria boldly chose a Long Staff with something like a wheel embedded at its front end. She called it the Wheel-Entering Monk. As for Sirius, he still chose a greatsword. There was no other reason—it had enough weight, and it looked cool.

Teacher King truly was versatile. Whether it was Yamato, Jack, or even Black Maria with her unusual weapon, he could provide expert guidance.

At last, it was Sirius's turn.

King looked at Sirius holding the greatsword. "Brat, you made a very good choice. I'm not a swordsman, but swordsmanship is indeed what I excel at most."

"Next, I'll teach you properly how to use a sword."

A chill ran down Sirius's spine. The hand-to-hand training had already been like that. Now that they were entering Teacher King's specialty, wouldn't this be even worse?

Should he switch weapons?

The greatsword lesson was much the same as before. It started from the basics, teaching Sirius how to grip the sword and how to exert force when swinging it. Then Sirius repeatedly practiced different sword swings until they all became muscle memory.

Then it was time to spar with Teacher King again.

This time, it was one-on-one. Sirius and the other three each faced Teacher King using the same weapon as them, and Sirius was trembling with fear.

As expected, he got another brutal beating.

But what surprised Sirius was that Teacher King used a wooden weapon. He did not actually swing a greatsword around and hack wildly at him, nor did he give Sirius any special treatment. Compared to earlier, it was like heaven and earth.

Had Teacher King suddenly found some kindness in his heart?

By the time this portion ended, dusk had arrived.

Sirius thought he could finally rest for a while, but Teacher King said, "Now, let's begin the final physical training."

Sirius stared. "There's physical training too? Didn't we already do that this morning?"

"Don't say something so stupid. This morning was only morning exercise."

King said coldly, "The real training begins now!"

"Stamina is the foundation of everything, and physical training is the most important part of all training!"

Thus, the various training equipment placed beside the training ground finally came into use.

Sirius was once again knocked down several times, unable to get back up.

Thanks to Lin Shen and Qian Lengfeng for the generous 100-point rewards, and thanks to Yi Hongye for the generous 500-point reward!