Pirates: I Became a Legend After Seeing Proficiency - Chapter 4

Today I Read Your Fortune, Sending You to the Underworld

The battle finally came to an end. Although it had lacked the flashy, earth-shaking techniques one might expect, it had still given everyone present a genuine lesson.

The frog at the bottom of the well had finally glimpsed the vast world beyond.

However, the battle had not been without its drawbacks. From then on, Dongze found himself pestered by Kuina and Zoro, and the two began challenging him endlessly.

Kuina and Zoro sought Dongze out for a match twice every day.

At first, Kuina had not believed what her father, Koshiro, had told her. But when she truly faced this familiar playmate, she finally understood how Zoro had felt back then—and how stifled he must have been.

The way of civil and martial cultivation required both tension and relaxation. Because of Kuina and Zoro, Dongze had no choice but to pause his progress and slow his training in the Thirteen Forms of Basic Swordsmanship. Yet he had also benefited from the setback, unexpectedly breaking through all thirteen forms.

When the proficiency of the Thirteenth Form of Basic Swordsmanship reached 1000/1000, the words "Basic Swordsmanship" changed into "Basic Swordsmanship EXP."

After that came something he had estimated in his heart.

A line of slightly dimmer text appeared.

Swordsmanship (Locked!);

"Swordsmanship?"

Dongze walked around on the spot, pondering the meaning of his Golden Finger.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up, as though he had thought of something.

Dongze then gripped the sword in his right hand, brought the index and middle fingers of his left hand together, and gently pressed them against the bamboo sword's blade.

Then the bamboo sword shot out like lightning. In an instant, a gentle breeze rose, ink-black rain descended, and the Azure Dragon emerged. A brilliant gleam flashed across the bamboo sword as Dongze moved with it, completing the motion in one fluid stroke.

Of course, that had merely been his imagination. The actual situation was that he had thrown a bamboo sword with all his strength.

That was right—the ultimate technique of Vertical and Horizontal Swordsmanship: "Hundred-Pace Flying Sword!"

Looking at the bamboo sword reduced to fragments before him, Dongze awkwardly scratched his head and muttered, "I really got a little carried away!"

Just as Dongze was starting to lose interest, a line of small text suddenly appeared before his eyes, leaving him stunned.

"Swordsmanship—Hundred-Pace Flying Sword Proficiency 1/10000"

The sudden surprise nearly made Dongze cry out.

"If that's the case..."

Dongze licked his lips, his eyes shining.

However, things were not as wonderful as he had imagined. Just like the Horizontal Swordsmanship technique of Vertical and Horizontal Swordsmanship, Crossing the Eight Directions, his current level was not enough to execute even the technique by itself.

After all, that move produced eight sword auras. For someone who had only just mastered Basic Swordsmanship, it was too great a leap and liable to pull something.

After fooling around for a while, he only obtained three sword techniques.

The first was "Hundred-Pace Flying Sword."

The second was "Sword-Draw Technique."

The third was "Taiji Sword."

"Huh? What are you two doing here?"

Dongze was tempering his body when he happened to notice Zoro and Kuina.

Seeing that the proficiency of Iron Head Skill had reached 950/1000 and stopped increasing, Dongze halted.

Zoro and Kuina stood to one side, their eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.

"Hey, tomboy, am I seeing things? I actually lost to an idiot?"

Taking advantage of her height advantage at that moment, Kuina fiercely smacked Zoro on the head.

"Moss Head, are you itching for a beating again?"

"Damn it! You're the one itching for a beating! I'll definitely beat you today!!"

Zoro's temper was like a firecracker: one spark and he exploded. Especially in front of Kuina, he flew into a rage every time she provoked him.

Seeing the two glaring at each other like rival needle points, Dongze was speechless.

"Hey, hey! I'm asking you two, what exactly did you come here for?"

Perhaps Dongze had interrupted at the wrong time. Upon hearing him, Kuina and Zoro turned around in perfect unison and shouted, "Shut up!"

Dongze had finally reached the limit of his patience with the two of them. "Damn it, you idiots!"

"Bastard, who are you calling an idiot?"

The two spoke in perfect unison again.

"Hey, Dongze, what are you doing?"

"Hey, hey, have you gone crazy?"

Seeing the way they looked at him as though he were an idiot, Dongze could not help twitching at the corner of his mouth.

"Damn, do I look like an idiot?"

"Looks like I need to loosen up my muscles and bones a little extra today!"

Kuina and Zoro gave an awkward laugh. "Then what are you doing?"

After a moment of silence, Dongze said, "Tempering my body!"

"If you truly want to learn how to fight, you must first learn how to take a beating! Everything has yin and yang, offense and defense. Without a body forged through a hundred battles without injury, even if an expert possesses the ability to kill with a single slash, they may only have the strength to strike once!"

"I imagine you don't want to end up like that in the future, either!"

"But this is a little too—"

"Hey, Dongze, are you sure this isn't self-harm?"

Even though Dongze had put it so grandly, Kuina and Zoro were not fools. They simply could not believe that such an obviously self-destructive training method was really meant to temper his body.

Dongze felt somewhat embarrassed inside. Although his goal truly was to temper his body, those actions did indeed make him feel a little ashamed. However, he did not admit it and continued changing the subject, hoping to let the matter pass.

When it came to fooling people, with his familiarity with the plot, was he not starting with MAX proficiency?

"Only by undertaking the hardest trials can one pursue the most perilous goals! If you don't even have this much courage, then your so-called ambitions amount to nothing!"

Hearing Dongze's words, Kuina and Zoro could not help blushing.

As Dongze's proficiency continued to advance, his strength also began developing in the direction of a monster. Every move carried the force of nine oxen and two tigers.

The reason Kuina had lost after two moves in their previous challenge was that she had been crushed in strength. Her current power was already no weaker than that of an adult man, yet she still could not block Dongze's second strike. And it was not just her—even Zoro found it difficult to receive a sword strike carrying such force.

All right, all right!

Your fists are bigger, so everything you say is right!

The two of them did not dwell on it any further. After all, even if they joined forces, they were still no match for Dongze.

"Father told you to go over."

After a moment of silence, Kuina suddenly spoke.

Dongze was stunned. Ever since he had perfected Basic Swordsmanship, he had not visited the dojo for some time. Koshiro had turned a blind eye to it, so he had not expected Koshiro to summon him today.

"Is something wrong?"

Kuina shook her head. "I don't know. Father didn't say."

Dongze narrowed his eyes. His thoughts circled twice in his mind. At Isshin Dojo, the only person who could probably see through his level was this Shimotsuki Koshiro. Since he was calling Dongze over now, he had likely sensed Dongze's bottleneck. Dongze guessed that this trip would bring fortune rather than disaster.

"Oh! Dongze! You're here!"

"Greetings, Master!"

"I'm ashamed. Even after all this time, I still haven't truly taught you anything of substance!"

"Not at all. If you hadn't taken me in back then, I wouldn't be who I am today!"

Dongze's words were sincere. When he had first awakened, he had happened to encounter a group of bandits raiding Shimotsuki Village. At the time, he had been utterly helpless and had nearly died beneath their blades. Fortunately, Koshiro had driven them away and taken him in.

"You're strong enough to take your revenge now!"

Dongze narrowed his eyes. "You mean..."

"A sword is a weapon of slaughter to begin with. If you want to go farther, simple practice is far from enough..."

Dongze fell silent at Koshiro's words. Only after a long while did he say, "So that's how it is! No wonder..."

There had been a reason he had constantly trained his Iron Head Skill before. Ever since the three sword techniques had been unlocked, their proficiency had not increased no matter how he adjusted his training. Now, after hearing Koshiro's explanation, he finally understood.

Koshiro was right. To discover what a sword technique could truly do, he naturally had to verify it through actual combat.

Dongze then borrowed a sword from Koshiro and left with firm steps.

Facing the setting sun, Dongze muttered in a slightly low voice, "Bandits..."

"Today I read your fortune, sending you to the underworld!"

Chapter 7: The Night Grows Deep, and Slaughter Descends

East Blue, Shimotsuki Village.

Plumes of cooking smoke rose into the air, and warmth once again spread through the little village.

Against the setting sun, a short figure stood on the branch of a towering tree, a long sword slung diagonally at his waist as he gazed at the nearby Bandit's Lair.

He slowly drew the long sword from his waist and lightly ran his finger along the spine. However, rather than calling it a sword, it would be more accurate to call it a saber, for it had only one sharpened edge.

Koshiro had told him that it was called Wado Ichimonji.

It was the covenant blade from the original story, one of the Twenty-One Great Grade Swords. Both its blade and scabbard were white, and it was approximately eighty-eight centimeters long.

Although he had trained his body over the past year, the sword was still slightly too long for him. Fortunately, that did not hinder his normal use of it.

He was around the same age as Kuina and two years older than Zoro, making him about eleven years old. Thanks to his years of training, he had grown to roughly 1.6 meters, so the sword was only slightly too long for him.

It would be enough against those bandits, though. With Observation Haki, he quickly took in the entire Bandit's Lair.

One had to admit, this really was the East Blue.

Of the Four Seas, the East Blue was the weakest. It did not even have a respectable great pirate and was known as a sea that symbolized peace.

Or perhaps one had to admit, this was all thanks to Garp. With his iron fists, he had plowed through the entire East Blue, turning pirates into a rarity.

There were 127 people in the entire Bandit's Lair. Most were young and strong men, with only a few women among them. However, they did not seem to be doing well. Dongze guessed that these women were probably spoils of war the bandits had dragged back.

In troubled times, the weak had no right to choose!

Thinking of all the things in the world as it was, Dongze sighed softly.

There was only one firearm in the Bandit's Lair; the rest were blades. The sole firearm was in the hands of the Bandit King.

It was probably his way of controlling those beneath him.

After all, when people themselves were extremely weak, the superiority of cold weapons and firearms was self-evident.

"Sigh!"

The long sigh scattered with the wind. Taking advantage of the fading light, Dongze slipped down from the tree, gathered his breath, and silently crept toward the Bandit's Lair.

The place had been built against the mountain. Though somewhat crude, it had the terrain at its back, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Unfortunately, the bandits had lived in comfort for years and had already lost their vigilance. There was not even a person at the watch post, allowing Dongze to infiltrate the place with ease.

This also demonstrated from another angle just how peaceful the East Blue was.

But today, this place would be stained with blood.

There were quite a few bandits, and Dongze had no intention of confronting them head-on. He was not the kind of person who let his blood run hot and threw caution to the wind. One person against 127 still called for prudence.

Although they would inevitably come to blows in the end, the odds of capsizing in a gutter would be greatly reduced.

Thus, Dongze found a corner and quietly waited for the sun to set and night to descend.

Soon, the sun dropped below the horizon, and night enveloped the entire island.

Dongze quietly stood up and stretched his somewhat stiff limbs, preparing to set his plan in motion.

Just then, Dongze narrowed his eyes as two voices reached his ears.