The Lonely Book

Sixth floor, bedroom.

"Big brother, I'm going back for the assessment." Jabra looked back with every step, clearly worried about Reg's recovery.

"Mmm... go on. Brother Joe still knows how to hold back. I just need to replenish some energy."

Seated at the dining table, Reg swept through the food like a whirlwind, with no trace of the near-death state he had been in moments ago.

He loved the bodies of humans in the pirate world... Not only did they possess limitless potential, but the food was delicious and packed with nutrition.

Even as he ate, Reg's mind was filled with the scenes from his battle with Joe... Every collision, every blow he took, he could now recall them all clearly. This counted as another kind of "learning through experience."

By the forty-fifth time he got back up, he had no strength left... Closing his eyes had merely been one last desperate struggle, yet he had actually avoided Joe's attack.

That indescribable sensation had been subtle... In that instant, Reg's brain seemed to have naturally caught Joe's movements.

"Was that Observation Haki... No... it was both."

After eating his fill, Reg began clearing the table... He had "heard" Joe's bodily movements, and his instincts had reacted without any thought from his brain.

Unfortunately, that feeling was too elusive. There was simply no way to grasp it.

Reg shook his head and cast those thoughts aside... As long as he kept training, it would come naturally someday.

"Next are the written test and the assassination and infiltration assessment..."

Having quickly cleaned up, Reg headed for the door... Those two assessments would not be difficult for him.

After all, for the past half year, he had spent four hours every day studying the knowledge in books... Apart from group training, he spent all his remaining time in the primeval forest.

"Good morning, Teacher Joey."

Reg arrived 0 minutes early, but he did not see any of the other members.

"Reg... What do you think of 'books'?" Joey stroked his beard from behind the lectern.

"Books?"

Reg did not answer immediately. He considered it seriously... Besides being an instructor, Joey had another identity: scholar.

And he was one recognized by the world... on the same level as the scholars of Ohara.

"Ohara..."

Reg's expression did not change as the thought crossed his mind... It was now Sea Circle Calendar 1491. In 1500, Ohara would be wiped out by a Buster Call.

Over the past half year, among the news reports they had encountered in the screening room... fifty percent had been about those scholars seeking the history of the "Void Century."

The World Government's stance toward such people was resolute... Find one, kill one. There would be no mercy.

"In my opinion... books are the sturdiest things, in terms of durability," Reg said seriously.

"Oh? An interesting way of putting it... Why 'durability'?"

Reg's words successfully caught Joey's attention. The man instantly appeared before him... His usually half-lidded eyes were open as wide as they could be.

Faced with Joey's awakened scholarly nature, Reg did not dare slack off. "In my view, books are lonely... They can carry the marks of time, no matter how long that time may be."

"The durability of loneliness..." Joey fell into deep thought.

Reg stood quietly where he was and did not interrupt... He did not dare speak, either. This old man was actually the one whose words carried the most weight in the tower.

The last time, Joe had rashly gone looking for Joey and disturbed the old man's train of thought... Then he had been pinned to the ground and thoroughly beaten, yet he had not dared resist in the slightest.

After a long while, Joey emerged from his thoughts... Seeing Reg waiting at the side, the old man smiled apologetically. "An old habit acting up again... Go ahead. Do you have any questions lately?"

Reg nearly jumped up when he heard that... Joey rarely guided the tower's members in training. He seemed tired of all the fighting and killing, and generally only taught knowledge.

"Teacher Joey..."

In concise terms, Reg described the inexplicable feeling he had experienced during his fight with Joe.

"Do you know about swordsmen?" Joey answered with a question of his own.

"Eileen once said... To become a great swordsman, a true swordsman should be steadfast and resilient."

Reg voiced his opinion... That carefree girl, like Zoro, was seriously training in swordsmanship.

"Eileen... What a pity. If only she had been a boy. Then you must know that a powerful swordsman can use any blade to cut through iron." Joey seemed to be hinting at something.

Reg nodded... The pity Joey spoke of was because female swordsmen lacked the strength of male ones.

A few years ago, Reg had not understood how great that difference in strength was... But now he did.

As they grew older, men's arm strength would increase explosively as long as they trained diligently...

Women's arm strength, on the other hand... increased much more slowly.

The innate physical difference between men and women was infinitely magnified by the powerful physiques of people in this world... Like a tiny difference that led to a thousand-mile error.

"Those capable of 'cutting iron' can already be called swordsmen. Do you know why they can do that?" Joey was still asking questions.

"Why..."

Reg furrowed his brow and began searching through his memories... Eileen was still far too inexperienced and nowhere close to cutting iron. He had never seen Joe fight, but he had "personally" seen Zoro cut iron.

When Zoro fought Mr. 1, the slicing man who possessed the "Dice-Dice Fruit," he comprehended "cutting steel" at the brink of death. This was what he said at the time:

From the falling stones... he sensed something like the presence of living things... no, not a presence... something clearer, as though it were—breathing!

In a flash of realization, Reg's eyes widened... Right. When he had been exhausted and on the verge of passing out, his situation had been remarkably similar to what Zoro faced.

"Is it breathing... Teacher Joey?" Reg asked.

Joey had not expected Reg to catch on so quickly. He nodded in satisfaction, looking as though Reg was indeed teachable. "Breathing, exactly... This is the result of your half-year meditation training. You 'heard' Joe's breathing."

"Someone else's breathing?"

The "fog" before Reg's eyes gradually dispersed... It seemed he had been fixating on the wrong thing.

In the past, he had focused all his attention on himself... and neglected his surroundings instead.

"Not only your body—everything in this world has its own breathing... Trees have the breathing of trees, stones have the breathing of stones, earth has the breathing of earth—once you can sense 'breathing,' your Observation Haki will awaken, allowing you to use it at a basic level."

Joey's explanation brought Reg sudden enlightenment... So this was the proper way to unlock Observation Haki.

Although Teacher Colin knew a little about it, he was clearly nowhere near as eloquent as Joey.

"Thank you, Teacher Joey!" Reg bowed deeply in earnest gratitude... The answer had been there long ago; he simply had not noticed it.

"I am merely older, that is all... Go. Take a good look at the world outside." Joey smiled kindly and waved his hand.

Reg blinked, then bowed once more... This was good. He had even passed the old man's test.

Perhaps it was "loneliness endurance" that had resonated with Joey.