Swordsmanship Training and Riot

The next morning, it was time for the usual morning training.

Sirius did sit-ups until he collapsed from exhaustion several times, then went with the other three to Teacher Queen's classroom after they had breakfast.

This time, Teacher Queen was not eating. He tossed a brand-new spiked club to Yamato and said with a yawn, "Take it, brat. And keep it away from that punk Sirius's teeth from now on!"

"Okay!"

Yamato caught the spiked club, and her eyes immediately lit up. "Aken! You're back!"

She asked happily, "Did Father give this to me?"

Teacher Queen glanced at her, a strange smile curling at the corner of his mouth. "It's fine if you want to think so."

"Father's the best!" Yamato hugged the spiked club and grinned happily.

Children's moods really did come and go quickly.

She had just been sulking at Kaido over Kozuki Oden, yet now she was cheerfully saying that her father was the best.

Watching the delighted Yamato, Sirius could not help but smile. Although his methods were brutal, Uncle Kaido probably still cared about his daughter.

Then the morning lessons began.

It was still the same combination of language and mathematics classes.

Then class ended, they ate lunch, and chatted.

Then came the most grueling afternoon lessons.

There was not much to say. During sparring, Sirius was still beaten horribly by King, and Teacher King still gave him special attention.

But what surprised him was that he did not seem to be the only one receiving special attention today.

"What are you doing? Deliberately avoiding my heart?"

King casually swayed aside, dodging Yamato's flying kick, then directly grabbed her calf. "I told you already, didn't I? If it's a battle, you should fight with the resolve to kill your enemy. Are you—"

"Pitying me?"

Without the slightest mercy, the man lifted Yamato and slammed her heavily into the ground.

"Wah!"

The ground trembled faintly from the impact, and Yamato let out a pained cry.

That was way too ruthless! Was it because Yamato had lost yesterday?

Sirius felt a chill in his heart and could not help shouting, "Yamato!"

Of course, he was not doing any better himself. Teacher King was even less forgiving toward him. Hearing his voice, the man turned back.

"Looks like you still have plenty of energy."

Sirius was beaten even worse than Yamato. After all, as long as he had food, he possessed astonishing recovery abilities. Both his stamina and injuries could recover rapidly while he ate.

King was making full use of that.

Soon, a week passed just like that.

Sirius's memories of that week consisted only of training, training, and more training—endless training.

He trained until he repeatedly collapsed from exhaustion during morning exercises, got beaten beyond recognition by King during afternoon sparring, and then did endless sit-ups during physical training afterward.

Becoming a strong person really was difficult.

However, that week of extremely intense training was not without results. The most obvious change was that Sirius's weighted load had risen to seventy kilograms, and Teacher King was even considering whether to add more.

With his ability to train desperately without regard for his body's limits, combined with the trait that made him stronger whenever he ate, Sirius's physique was improving at an astonishing rate.

Compared to his rapid physical progress, Sirius's performance in afternoon combat training was not nearly as impressive. After all, neither in his previous life nor this one had he ever received systematic combat training, and his abilities could not help him. He truly was starting from zero and climbing forward bit by bit.

It was still combat training. After the unarmed fighting lesson, it was time for weapons again.

King was currently sparring with Yamato, holding a wooden spiked club.

He easily used the wooden spiked club to deflect the iron club Yamato swung at him, then struck her stomach with a backhanded blow, sending her flying.

"I remember telling you many times already: if it's a battle, fight with the resolve to kill your enemy! Attack my vital points!"

"I won't! Uncle King isn't an enemy!"

Shouting that, Yamato charged forward again without fear despite having been sent flying.

While they fought fiercely in the ring, Sirius and Jack were whispering below it.

"Isn't Uncle King being a little too strict?" Sirius asked quietly.

"Huh? Is that so?"

Jack looked somewhat surprised. "Sirius, are you really qualified to say that?"

You were obviously the one getting beaten the worst.

Sirius's expression froze. That was true.

"But it is true. Recently, Uncle King has kept telling Yamato things like she needs to strike ruthlessly and never hold back," Black Maria said.

"Isn't that normal?" Jack scratched his head, puzzled.

Yes, it was normal.

Wasn't that how pirates were?

It seemed Yamato was simply being too stubborn.

But Sirius still felt that something was not quite right.

Soon, after Yamato was thoroughly beaten up, it was Sirius's turn.

King casually threw away the spiked club in his hand and looked down at Sirius from above. Then he nodded lightly. "It should be about time."

"About time?"

Holding his greatsword, Sirius asked in confusion, "Teacher King, what do you mean?"

"You've practiced for a week. You've more or less learned how to swing a sword by now, right?" King said calmly.

For some reason, that calmness sent a shiver through Sirius.

It felt like something bad was about to happen.

"Haha, I think I still have a lot to improve," Sirius said with a dry laugh.

"It's fine. With a sword, all you need is to know how to swing it."

King shook his head, then slowly drew his katana from his waist. "Next, I'll teach you all the swordsmanship I'm good at."

Sirius pursed his lips, then raised a hand and pointed at the sharp blade in King's hand, cold sweat beading on his forehead. "Teacher King, did you pick up the wrong weapon?"

Teacher King paid no attention to Sirius's words and merely continued, "My swordsmanship is not rigid dojo swordsmanship. It is swordsmanship tempered through countless life-and-death battles—swordsmanship for cutting people down."

"So are you ready, kid? Now that you've learned to swing a sword, it's time to learn how to cut people down!"

Without giving Sirius any chance to argue, King's enormous body shot forward, and his sword slashed directly at him.

This guy was serious!

Fortunately, the week of training had paid off. Sirius instantly assumed a stance, holding his greatsword horizontally in front of him to block King's strike.

There was a clang.

Sirius staggered back several steps.

Huh?

Unexpectedly, the force was not as strong as he had imagined.

"Run, defend, attack—do whatever you can to survive this period, kid!"

King's voice was as swift as his sword. Before his words had even faded, the blade had already sliced through the air.

Sirius gritted his teeth.

So this was what he meant when he said he would properly teach me how to use a sword?

Teacher King really did keep his word!

And where was I supposed to find a chance to run? Even if he was suppressing his strength, wasn't his movement speed still ridiculously fast?

Sirius roared inwardly as he gripped his greatsword and charged forward.

At a time like this, charging in was his only choice, right?

Sirius had never been so tense before. All of his attention was focused on King's blade.

When King announced that the battle was over, Sirius had not even reacted yet.

"Sirius, are you okay?"

It was only when Yamato and the others ran over in concern that Sirius noticed the pain across his body.

King had cut countless wounds across him. He looked as though he had been dyed red in blood, slumped on the ground while baring his teeth in pain. Seeing him like that, Jack and the others were all panicked.

"Uncle King!"

Seeing Sirius in such a miserable state, Yamato's eyes reddened, and she angrily said to King, "That was too much! Sirius is about to die!"

"Die? What nonsense. Don't underestimate this kid."

King sneered, then tossed a huge food box to Sirius with a backhanded throw.

"Yes, yes, hurry and feed Sirius! As long as he eats, everything will be fine!" Black Maria hurriedly said.

Jack silently stood up, opened the food box, and raised it. "Sirius, open your mouth!"

Sirius obediently opened his mouth, and a large amount of food was immediately poured into it.

Then—

"I'm back!"

Sirius wiped the blood from his face and stood up full of energy. Even the wounds on his body had mostly healed.

Looking at Sirius, who had basically recovered, King nodded. "Good. We'll continue tomorrow."

Sirius felt exhausted in his heart.

I'm only six. Why do I have to go through this?

"Next is physical training!"

And so, several more busy weeks passed, and Sirius had received nearly a month of training.

He had more or less grown used to the daily routine of being violently beaten and slashed by King.

As long as there was food, both his stamina and injuries could recover.

Then, one morning, while Sirius and the others were running laps—

Bang!

A loud noise suddenly came from the distance.

"Something's wrong!! The prisoners have broken out of the prison!"

A shout like that carried over.