You're Actually Jealous of My Special Effects!

As Shanks had said, when it came to the Movie Emperor-level effects of Holy Light Power, even the Glint-Glint Fruit had to step aside—not to mention that Wright was a handsome young man, while Yellow Monkey was a creepy middle-aged uncle...

Jokes aside, the two stood facing each other with swords in hand, their invisible auras seeming to freeze the air.

"Bang!"

A deep crater appeared beneath Wright's feet as he shot forward like a cannonball, bringing his blade down in a slash! Shanks remained where he was, calmly raising his sword to block.

"Clang!" "Boom!"

The blades collided, and a violent storm erupted from the center of their clash. Though Shanks was a Pirate King's crew member, he was only seventeen or eighteen this year. Without using Armament Haki, against Wright and his Holy Light Power, he could not gain any advantage in a contest of raw strength—he was even at a slight disadvantage!

But Shanks had followed the Pirate King through countless battles. With his immense combat experience, he immediately changed his move, intending to redirect the force and close in.

"Hm?"

As Shanks shifted his attack, Wright seemed to have foreseen it. He went with the flow, forcing Shanks to halt his advance and instead direct the force of both their attacks into the ground.

"Boom!!"

Amid the massive explosion, the two retreated separately, leaving a huge crater between them that had been blasted out by the power of two swordsmen.

"I never expected it, Wright. At such a young age, you've already awakened Observation Haki. With that kind of talent, along with the realm of Iron Cutting, you could travel the Grand Line without issue!"

"Even if you don't want to become a pirate, you'd have no problem going to Marine Headquarters with your strength. Many Battalion Commanders at headquarters haven't even awakened Haki yet."

"Hahaha, that was exhilarating! Shanks, concepts like Haki are rarely heard of in the Four Seas. Looks like your identity isn't so simple after all!" Wright laughed, putting on an act. Although his Observation Haki could sense living beings' emotions and thoughts, it only worked when the other party's mind was unguarded or their will was not firm enough. He also had to concentrate, which severely limited this ability in intense combat. At most, he could vaguely sense the direction of someone's thoughts.

"And besides... Shanks, aren't you a pirate? You're actually suggesting that I become a Marine?"

Shanks curled his lips. "Ha, you really know your stuff, Wright. The East Blue truly is full of hidden talents. As for pirates and Marines... I don't care that much! Now then, I'll activate my Observation Haki too. Let's go again!"

"Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang..."

With both of them using Observation Haki, each knew the other's moves inside and out. Since their strength was not far apart, even after several minutes of fierce exchanges, neither could do anything to the other.

"Huff..."

Wright let out a long breath and looked at Shanks, who was gradually becoming serious. "Shanks, I can tell that you obviously haven't gone all out. Sparring at this level won't let us determine a winner."

Shanks turned to look at the devastation around them, as though a storm had swept through it, then grinned. "Other than blocking my vision a little, Wright, your ability doesn't seem to have done much so far. Your swordsmanship is quite impressive, though. If you can master Armament Haki as well, you could venture into the second half of the Grand Line!"

"Still, with your strength and physical qualities, you should awaken Armament Haki soon enough. It's just... you really are young. Young enough to be frightening..."

Wright cast a Holy Light Spell to heal the tiny wounds on his body, feeling his stamina rapidly recover. "You say that as if you're much older than me. I don't believe you haven't mastered Armament Haki, and you've been fighting me at close range the whole time. Are you going easy on me because I can't use Flying Slashes?"

"Although my training isn't sufficient yet, and I'm still a little short of mastering both Armament Haki and Flying Slashes, my ability can give my swordsmanship similar effects to some extent."

The golden-red Holy Fire burning on Ashes gradually diminished, but became more condensed. A hazy golden glow wrapped around the blade, radiating a sharp, resilient aura that washed over Shanks. It felt like... Armament Haki!

Holy Light Power had a great deal of freedom in its development. Seraphim Holy Seal—a weapon enhancement developed by imitating the effects of Armament Haki—combined the punitive and protective traits of Holy Light Power, granting weapons formidable hardness, toughness, and attack power!

"And then..."

King's Blessing, which boosted all physical attributes, and Holy Protection Spell, which increased defense—thin golden halos rippled around Wright's body. Truly worthy of Movie Emperor-level special effects.

"!!!"

Stars practically appeared in Shanks's eyes. He was unbelievably envious. With such flashy special effects and looks above the standard, this brat would definitely get beaten to death if he went to the Grand Line! Definitely!

I'm so jealous... This gold looks so much better than black... Maybe I should beat him up first... That's settled!

"Good!" Shanks shouted softly as black Armament Haki wrapped around his blade. "Come on!"

"Whoosh—!"

Shanks swung out a bright Flying Slash. Wright smiled slightly from across from him. "So this is a Flying Slash... Watch mine!"

"Final Judgment!"

Wright swung out a golden slash. It was an imitation slash formed by releasing Holy Light Power. Before he had been able to project it away from his blade, one swing had once split some unlucky Pirate Captain in half... Its drawback was that it could not travel far, so it could only be used as a mid-range attack.

The two slashes annihilated each other, and Wright's eyes lit up. "It may have just been a casual strike from Shanks, but it was still Shanks. This kind of slash works well enough for mid-range combat."

"Oh? This isn't much different from a real Flying Slash anymore. Is your ability suited for support, Wright? If I didn't know what the Logia-type Glint-Glint Fruit could do, I'd have thought your fruit was an inferior version of it. It seems more like a Paramecia-type fruit instead. What a completely unprecedented ability. As expected, there are still too many unknown things in this world!"

Shanks grew excited, both because he had met someone interesting, and because he had learned something interesting, but also because—

"Evenly matched? Now this is a fight!"

"Boom—boom—boom—boom—boom—..."

Though serious, Shanks was still holding back. He had not used his most famous Conqueror's Haki. Or perhaps he could not yet use Conqueror's Haki for tangible attacks? In any case, it was obvious that he had not pushed his Observation Haki, Armament Haki, and swordsmanship to their limits. Otherwise—

"Ha... ha... ha..."

Wright panted heavily, drenched in sweat. Supporting himself with his longsword, he stared feebly at Shanks, whose breathing was only slightly hurried. "You freak, even though I can recover my stamina, you still dragged me down until I couldn't use my ability anymore. What kind of insane stamina is that?!"

"Hahaha!" Shanks secretly reveled in having given Wright a thorough beating—Serves you right for being handsome, for being flashy, for having special effects... Outwardly, however, he remained calm as he sheathed his sword and pulled Wright up. "Don't sweat the small details. Today was truly exhilarating. Come on, let's go drink!"

"Drink my ass!!!"