The sooner the training ended, the more time he could save.
Bartholomew Kuma stood quietly to one side, watching the two train and barely making his presence felt.
In truth, Xia Le puzzled him deeply.
Despite being a marine, he was always helping pirates, whether deliberately or otherwise. It was an undeniable contradiction, and his actions left Kuma unable to fathom his thoughts.
"Then let's continue!"
"If you want to understand this power, experience it for yourself in battle!"
Xia Le spoke with a smile.
Ace looked up and nodded firmly, then took a fighting stance brimming with determination and shouted, "Bring it on!"
Their combat training began again.
Kuma served as Ace's personal medic. He watched the freckled man get sent flying again and again, only to keep charging back at Xia Le.
Standing there, Xia Le was like a towering mountain that could never be overcome.
No matter what that blazing flame did, it could not make the mountain tremble in the slightest.
He watched Ace charge forward repeatedly, only to suffer severe injuries and collapse moments later, too exhausted to get back up.
Then, at Xia Le's signal, he stepped forward to treat Ace, batting away his pain and exhaustion.
Ace's eyes widened at the sight, filled with astonishment.
Almost immediately afterward, he climbed back to his feet.
"Kuma is here to speed up our training."
"After all, you don't have much time to receive instruction from me personally."
Xia Le spoke with a smile.
Ace drew a deep breath and smiled. "Then thank you both!"
Xia Le nodded.
In truth, few people received his personal instruction. Even fewer had him as a sparring partner—only Rosinante, Smoker, Kuina, and a handful of others.
He favored pushing training into overdrive through the pressure of combat.
He also believed