Six Stages

After breakfast, Werther followed Roy to the back mountain and continued yesterday's training.

But Werther was surprised to find that after just one night, he had truly managed to restrain his instincts. He was delighted for quite a while, even thinking himself exceptionally gifted.

However, Roy calmly told him that this was normal. It was not particularly difficult training, and after a night of adjustment, his body had already overcome its instincts.

So today, Roy had brought not wooden swords, but two bamboo swords. He handed one to Werther and told him to attack with all his strength.

Having been beaten up by Roy all afternoon yesterday, Werther naturally did not hold back.

Gripping the bamboo sword, he hacked wildly at Roy without any technique. Roy easily blocked several strikes, then tapped Werther on the forehead with his bamboo sword.

Bonk! Werther immediately cried out in pain, clutching his forehead and hurting so badly he could barely compose himself.

Roy nodded. "Not bad. You didn't close your eyes. We can move on to other training now."

Werther glared at Roy.

"You told me to attack you just for that? Couldn't you have told me beforehand and let me prepare myself mentally?"

"Let you prepare mentally? Then what kind of test would that be? Enough nonsense. Next, I'll teach you the proper way to hold a sword, as well as the correct movements for slashing, blocking, and thrusting. You'll spend most of every morning practicing these movements from now on. If you don't pass, you'll continue in the afternoon." Then he began explaining all kinds of swordsmanship knowledge, footwork, and methods of exerting force.

After seeing Roy's sword-gripping stance, Werther did not immediately imitate it. Instead, he gestured for Roy to wait, then sprinted toward the sword dojo.

Roy watched Werther run off in confusion, having no idea what the boy was up to. Before long, Werther ran back, carrying a bamboo sword in each hand. Roy teased him.

"Who would've thought you wanted to become a dual-wielding swordsman? Dual-sword style is pretty good, but each sword will be much weaker than a single blade. You'd better think this through."

"Dual blades are a man's romance." After saying something Roy could not understand, Werther began learning the proper sword-gripping stance.

After an entire morning of Roy's explanations, mockery, and the bamboo sword that occasionally struck Werther's body, Werther had basically mastered several fundamental techniques.

Roy told Werther that learning these movements was not difficult. The hard part was turning them into muscle memory and adapting them during future battles.

After they both agreed, Werther went with Roy to yesterday's restaurant again at noon, because the food there was truly delicious.

While ordering, Werther noticed that Roy seemed especially fond of the page listing alcoholic drinks, so he asked whether they should order some alcohol.

Roy sternly refused. He still had to train Werther that afternoon, so he could not drink.

In the two days he had known Roy, it was the first time Werther had seen such a serious expression on Roy's face. Werther was stunned for a moment, then thought, Looks like he's a man with a story.

After lunch, they returned to the back mountain. This time, Roy did not make Werther run until he fainted. Instead, he took him near the sword dojo, where Werther discovered that all sorts of training equipment had been placed behind it.

Roy introduced the purpose of each piece of equipment, then had Werther begin exercising.

First came arm strength. Every swordsman needed strong arms. Then came balance, then chest muscles, working downward in order.

"Every swordsman must have outstanding arm strength, but arm strength alone isn't enough. You also need balance and overall strength throughout your body. A swordsman who trains only arm strength has no future." As Roy spoke, he helped Werther correct his improper movements.

Werther felt that today's training was unusually easy. He did not feel yesterday's exhaustion at all. It seemed the Thunder Sting Method was indeed very effective at recovering from fatigue. Thinking this, he trained even harder.

Roy was equally astonished. The boy had been dead tired yesterday, so why was he so full of energy today? He really seemed talented. Roy increased the intensity of the training, even adding weights while Werther ran—five kilograms on each leg.

During the high-intensity training, Werther felt his body growing stronger. It was not an illusion; he was genuinely becoming stronger. The Thunder Sting Method was not especially beneficial to the body under normal circumstances, but during training, it greatly enhanced the results.

Werther vaguely felt that his training efficiency was more than three times better than yesterday's.

What did that mean? It meant that as long as he did not slack off, his training results would be more than triple those of others.

Thinking of this, Werther smiled. He had finally seen real hope. No matter how confident he had been before, he had sometimes felt uncertain deep down.

Just as Werther was training with great enthusiasm, he heard Roy call for him to go back for dinner.

Werther was stunned. Had time passed that quickly? He took out his black pocket watch and checked. Sure enough, it was already past six.

After dinner, remembering that he still had to learn swordsmanship from Niss that night, Werther went to the centermost room in the sword dojo and knocked on the door. A voice from inside said, "Come in."

Sure enough, Niss was in the room. Werther truly had no idea what he usually did in there. After entering, Werther thought for a moment, then sat cross-legged on the cushion in front of Niss.

"Master, what are you going to teach me? Are you going to teach me some profound techniques?" Werther asked tentatively.

Niss glanced at Werther.

"If I explained profound techniques to you, would you understand them? It would be better to teach you some swordsmanship basics first. We can talk about techniques later." As he spoke, he picked up the sword behind him and handed it to Werther, telling him to draw it.

Werther looked at the weapon before him—a sword in this pirate world, a katana on Earth—and found it increasingly familiar. The scabbard and hilt were black, with a row of purple flower-like patterns running down the middle.

After drawing the blade, he saw that it was entirely black as well. Above the edge ran a row of red blade patterns shaped like canine teeth.

"What comes to mind when you see this sword?" Werther, who had been deep in thought, was interrupted by his teacher's question and blurted out.

"I think I've seen this sword somewhere before." The moment he said it, Werther regretted it.

"Oh? Where did you see it? Tell me." Niss looked thrilled, even rising directly to his feet.

Werther had not expected such a strong reaction from Niss and did not know what to say for a moment. After thinking it over, he could only tell the truth.

"Uh... I forgot." Werther looked rather embarrassed.

Then he saw Niss, who had always looked serious and only occasionally offered people a polite smile, twitch violently at the corners of his eyes and mouth. His expression was as ugly as if someone had forced him to eat two pounds of shit.

"Sigh, forget it. Try your best to remember. Did you perhaps see information about this sword's whereabouts, or some other clue, among the intelligence your mother sold when you were little? If you remember, come tell me immediately. It's very important to me, and I certainly won't treat you unfairly." Niss's expression clearly carried disappointment and regret.

"Forget it, let's not talk about that for now. Perhaps I've been too obsessed. I haven't let go of what I should have let go. Let me explain some swordsmanship knowledge to you instead." Niss regained his usual composure and continued.

"Do you know the different ranks of swordsmen?"

Werther shook his head, indicating that he had never heard of them. He was also curious. Swordsman ranks? I never heard about that when I watched One Piece.

"Swordsmen can roughly be divided into six stages. Swordsmen of the same stage can still differ in strength, with three levels: beginner, proficient, and peak. I'll explain these six stages first.

"The first stage is Enlightenment. The enlightenment of swordsmanship is the stage where an ordinary person becomes a swordsman. Not everyone who picks up a sword is a swordsman. You are currently at the beginner level of Enlightenment.

"The second stage is Cutting Steel. A swordsman at this stage can cut through steel even with an ordinary sword. They sense the breathing and rhythm of objects, then cut them. They cut what they wish to cut and cannot cut what they do not wish to cut. I am at this stage.

"The third stage is very special: elemental attacks. It means adding elemental attacks to sword techniques. I do not understand the specifics very well. This stage is special because there are two situations.

"The first is ordinary swordsmen. They must first reach Cutting Steel before they can sense attribute-based attacks. Whether in their understanding or comprehension of the sword, it is impossible to use elemental attacks before Cutting Steel, with very few exceptions, such as the Mink Tribe or those famous swords.

"The second is Devil Fruit users. Because Devil Fruit abilities are so varied, some people can use elemental attacks even at the Enlightenment stage.

"You know about Devil Fruits, right, Werther?"

Werther nodded.

"That's enough about elemental attacks for now. Next is the fourth stage.

"The fourth stage is cutting rare substances harder than steel, such as Seastone and diamond.

"The fifth stage is cutting the void. I do not understand the specifics very well either; it means exactly what it says. That realm is too far beyond me, so I won't mislead you.

"As for the sixth stage, it exists, yet I have never heard of anyone reaching it. It does not exist, yet it remains the dream of all swordsmen: there is nothing in the world that cannot be cut. I do not know whether anyone has truly reached this realm, but reaching it would mean attaining an entirely new height.

"These are the six realms of swordsmen. Simply put: one, Enlightenment; two, Cutting Steel; three, elemental attacks; four, cutting rare substances harder than steel; five, cutting the void; six, nothing in the world cannot be cut."

Niss had talked for quite some time and seemed thirsty. He called for an apprentice to bring two cups of tea, then took a few sips.

Werther accepted his cup as well, thanked him, and took a sip. It tasted pretty good, so he drained it in one gulp.

Niss's eyes widened as he said.

"You brat, this is fine tea that costs ten thousand Beli per liang, and you just guzzled it down? Next time, I'll just give you water." After speaking, he slowly took another sip of tea.

Although the matter with the sword had been embarrassing for Werther—he had said he had seen it before, yet could not remember where even after thinking for so long—he felt much closer to Master Niss after that incident. At least Niss was no longer putting on a fake polite front around him. Thinking this, Werther said to Niss.

"Master, what exactly does cutting steel mean? How can I achieve it?"

"That is still too early for you. Once your foundation is solid, then think about Cutting Steel. A skyscraper rises from the ground up. If your foundation is poor, it will greatly affect your future development. Besides, Cutting Steel cannot necessarily be achieved through hard training alone. There are methods for achieving it, but we can discuss them once you are older." After saying that, Niss gave Werther a strange smile.

When Werther saw Niss's smile, he felt the same way he had when Ross gave him that surprise yesterday. He suddenly felt terrible.

"It's getting late. Go back and sleep. Unless you have any questions, don't come over for the next month. During the evenings, keep training if your body can handle it. No matter how much swordsmanship I explain to you now, it won't help. Only after you practice it yourself will explanations be effective. Go on." Seeing Werther's expression, Niss knew that the boy had probably understood something from the words "methods for achieving it." He smiled but said nothing more.

After wishing Niss good night, Werther went back to sleep and prepare for tomorrow's training.