Pirates: I Loaded the Game Panel

Adrian poured in experience and filled his level 40 experience bar.

[Professional Swordsman has reached LV20 (max). Stamina increased slightly. Strength +2, Agility +2. You gained 3 Free Attribute Points and 1 Skill Point!]

His total level had reached 40. He was now, at least openly, among the strongest fighters in the Four Blues. It was time to set out on an adventure across the Grand Line!

[Professional Swordsman has reached its maximum level. Choose one of the following paths: Swordsman / Sword Master.]

Adrian raised an eyebrow and read the panel carefully.

At level 40, Professional Swordsman offered two paths. Once he chose one, there would be no changing it.

Swordsmen favored fighting alone. On the vast sea and the long road ahead, only their swords kept them company.

Sword Masters sought to unite mind, technique, and body. They valued the growth of willpower more than the improvement of individual ability.

In simple terms, both paths increased Strength and Agility, but Swordsman also increased Stamina, while Sword Master increased Intelligence.

After a moment's thought, Adrian made his choice.

[You chose the Sword Master path!]

[Level 40 Sword Master advancement quest: A Thousand Sword Styles. Carefully study at least ten works on schools of Swordplay. Rewards depend on the number read. Current progress: 0/10.]

"Huh?"

Adrian tilted his head.

Such a small head, yet such a huge question mark.

System, get out here!

Are you sure this is an advancement quest for a Swordsman Class?

I've got a sword that bites. I could cut my way from one end of the West Blue to the other without blinking, and now you're telling me to go back and read books?

Reading Makes Me Happy (×), Challenging Dojos Makes Me Happy (✓)

The aloof panel offered no answer to Adrian's doubts.

After a brief consideration, Adrian decided not to return to Ohara just yet.

Ohara had the Tree of Knowledge Library, said to hold all the world's knowledge, and it had plenty of books and scrolls on Swordplay. But the richest delicacy was best saved for last. It would taste all the better that way.

It took Adrian considerable effort to find his homemade skiff, which the aftermath of the fight had sent who knew where. Following his map, he slowly sailed toward the nearest island.

On this dangerous sea, most people wanted some way to protect themselves, even if they only knew a few moves.

Demand created a market.

Swordplay dojos were practically an essential fixture on every island, especially in the gang-ridden West Blue.

Before him stood a modest Swordplay dojo. Its entrance was open, and an ordinary wooden plaque hung above it, neatly inscribed with the words "Kamizumi Dojo."

It was the third dojo Adrian had come across on his journey.

Inside, he found a courtyard of roughly a hundred square meters. More than a dozen children in black training robes were sweating through their sword-swinging practice, while several older youths coached them and corrected their movements.

Adrian had barely taken two steps when one of the youths noticed him and hurried over. "Hello! Are you here to sign up for Swordplay lessons?"

"Sorry, I'm here to, um..." Adrian hesitated, then said politely, "I'm here to challenge your dojo."

The young man froze. He had met people who came to challenge the dojo before, but never one so polite about it.

Adrian continued, "If it isn't too much trouble, could you ask your teacher to come out?"

"Oh. Oh, sure." The young man nodded dumbly and turned to leave before realizing what a foolish thing he was doing.

"Hey, wait!" He spun back and shouted, "If you want to challenge Master Kamiizumi, you'll have to get past me first! My name is—"

Shing!

A sharp blade lay across the young man's neck before he could announce his name. Sweat instantly broke out on his forehead.

"You're probably no match for me," Adrian said. He sheathed his sword. "Please do me a favor and call your teacher."

Drenched in cold sweat, the young man waved to his companions to show he was all right, then led Adrian across the courtyard to a traditional Japanese-style building.

He knocked softly on the wooden sliding door. "Master Kamiizumi, someone has come to challenge the dojo."

A calm, middle-aged man's voice came from within. "Hmm? Bring the challenger in."

Adrian followed the young man inside.

The spacious room resembled a training hall. At its far end sat a middle-aged man with long hair and closed eyes. He wore a plain gray kimono, his hair tied back in a long ponytail. His composed expression gave him an air of steadiness.

The man opened his eyes and looked at Adrian's suit. "I'm Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, the master of this dojo. Are you the challenger? That's an unusual outfit."

"Actually, I only want to borrow the Swordplay scrolls in your collection," Adrian said. "But asking outright seemed likely to make a simple matter complicated, so I decided to challenge the dojo instead. The victor has every right to claim spoils from the loser, doesn't he?"

Kamiizumi Nobutsuna smiled gently, unperturbed. "That is a rather unusual reason."

After a moment's thought, he beckoned to his disciple. "Yagyu, take our guest to the library. He may read anything there."

"Master!" the young man named Yagyu protested at once.

Kamiizumi Nobutsuna shook his head at his disciple, his expression turning stern. "Yagyu, don't forget the principles of the Kamizumi Dojo! No fighting, no killing!"

Adrian watched the master and disciple with interest. At the two dojos he had visited before, most people had been stubborn blockheads. Not one had agreed to let him read their books. All they knew how to do was fight.

This was the first dojo to offer to take him to its books.

Adrian was happy to avoid a fight.

After receiving a stern reminder, Yagyu reluctantly obeyed his master. He glared at Adrian. If he had stood any chance at all, he would have drawn his sword right then!

"Follow me!" Yagyu said stiffly. He strode out so quickly that he almost seemed to be trying to leave Adrian behind.

Adrian couldn't help laughing. This young man named Yagyu was quite a character.

"Master Kamiizumi," Adrian said before leaving, turning to the older man, "I'm not sure whether I should say this, but on these seas, refusing to fight or kill is admirable. It's also a luxury only the strong can afford."

"I understand what you mean," Kamiizumi Nobutsuna replied earnestly. "But refusing to fight or kill is the core principle of the Kamizumi Dojo. Without it, this dojo would not exist."

Adrian shook his head slightly. He had no intention of arguing; he just wanted to read in peace.

As dusk approached, Adrian emerged from the Kamizumi Dojo's library.

Thanks to his exceptionally high Intelligence, it had taken him less than half a day to read through the Swordplay texts and scrolls the Kamizumi Dojo had amassed over decades. A wealth of fundamental Swordplay knowledge passed through his mind, steadily filling the gaps in his training.

Adrian politely declined Master Kamiizumi Nobutsuna's invitation to dinner and left the Kamizumi Dojo feeling excited.

Swordsman might be Adrian's primary class, but until now, all his swordsmanship experience had come from system skills. Beyond the handful of skills on his panel, his understanding of Swordplay was shallow. He could not compare with Swordsmen who had trained since childhood.

Adrian was beginning to understand the true purpose of the A Thousand Sword Styles quest. It was meant to fill the gaps in his Swordplay knowledge and give him a stronger foundation for reaching greater heights.

The thought made him even more eager to complete it!

Yet dojos willing to share their Swordplay knowledge, like the Kamizumi Dojo, were rare. The moment most heard that Adrian wanted to challenge them, their blood ran hot and they came at him with swords drawn.

Left with little choice, Adrian drew his own sword in response.

He never used the distinctive powers of the Hollow-Hollow Fruit. His extraordinary attributes alone let him defeat those dojos with ease, and he gained plenty of experience fighting other swordsmen along the way.

As he had told Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, the winner of a dojo challenge could claim spoils from the loser. Willingly or not, each dojo ended up handing over the swordsmanship scrolls it had treasured for years.

Somehow, a perfectly ordinary reading quest had turned into a dojo-challenging quest. Life was unpredictable.

As time passed, Adrian challenged more and more dojos, and even unlocked another legend.

[West Blue Legend: Evil Swordsman—Patience is a virtue, but it has its limits. When a sharp blade cuts through polite lies, the spoils always belong to the wicked victor. Once he takes notice of you, you're in danger. The plundering has begun, and no one can escape.]

An Unexpected Specialty Reward

Beneath the fading stars, dawn drove away the last of the night, and solemn, orderly Ohara welcomed another peaceful morning.

In the morning light, a white skiff rode the glittering waves toward the world-renowned island of scholars.

Nearly half a year had passed, and Adrian had finally returned to the familiar shores of Ohara.

After so long away, even the Tree of Knowledge looked strangely unfamiliar.

Over the past month or two, Adrian had traveled far and wide to complete his dojo-challenging...

To complete the A Thousand Sword Styles class advancement quest, Adrian had visited islands large and small across the West Blue, leaving barely a Swordplay dojo unchallenged.

Besides unexpectedly earning the infamous legend of Evil Swordsman, Adrian had amassed a deep store of Swordplay knowledge and an extraordinary amount of Swordplay combat experience.

He had returned to Ohara for the extensive collection of Swordplay scrolls in the Tree of Knowledge Library.

The Tree of Knowledge Library was open around the clock. Whenever he visited, the scholars welcomed him.

As expected, the Tree of Knowledge Library held a vast collection of Swordplay knowledge. Some of it overlapped with what Adrian had already read, but much more introduced him to fresh ideas from different schools.

Before he knew it, another month had passed.

Adrian looked somewhat different from six months earlier.

His tousled black hair hung loose, and he wore a pair of black-framed glasses that seemed to have no lenses. A gentle, approachable expression rested on his face, and he carried himself with a scholar's courtesy.

He had traded his usual black suit for traditional Swordplay training robes: a black kimono beneath a white overcoat. He looked almost like the "Dragon of Documents" reborn.

Having read through all the Swordplay material in the Tree of Knowledge Library, Adrian calmly submitted his advancement quest.

[Level 40 Sword Master advancement quest completed!]

[You obtained Sword Master, the advanced class of Professional Swordsman. Stamina increased. Strength +3, Agility +3, Intelligence +3. You gained 4 Free Attribute Points and 1 Skill Point.]

With his advancement to Sword Master complete, Adrian could clearly feel subtle changes in himself.

Although the panel displayed no notice, Adrian sensed that his perception had sharpened. It was as though a layer of frosted glass had been wiped clean from the world.

He felt the gentle breeze against his face and smelled ink mingled with moisture in the air. The sense of his mind drawing closer to nature was almost intoxicating.

At the same time, three more messages appeared on the panel.

[You learned Advanced Swordsmanship Training!]

[You learned Advanced Swordsmanship Affinity!]

[You learned Sword Aura!]

The first two were advanced versions of Professional Swordsman skills, but Sword Aura was a little strange.

Adrian was puzzled.

As he understood it, Sword Aura was an ability one gained only after reaching the realm of a Swordmaster.

People more commonly called it a Flying Slash.

So why had he unlocked Sword Aura already?

Adrian opened his skill list and read the description closely. At last, he understood.

The Sword Aura learned by a Sword Master was not the Flying Slash he had imagined. It was an air-based technique somewhat like Rankyaku: a powerful, high-speed sword swing that stirred the air into a cutting strike.

In both power and concentration, it fell far short of a true Flying Slash.

Still, there was no doubt that Sword Aura would eventually advance into Flying Slash.

But the panel had not finished displaying its messages.

[Advancement quest A Thousand Sword Styles progress: 3041/10.]

[Quest rating: Incredible!]

[You received an Incredible-rated reward: one random Swordplay Specialty.]

[Drawing at random...]

[You obtained the Three Thousand Styles Specialty!]

[Three Thousand Styles—Specialty: Read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles. Immersed in a vast sea of Swordplay knowledge, you can easily spot the flaws and openings in another person's Swordplay. When you attack with a sword, your attack power is multiplied by 3.]

Sometimes surprises came out of nowhere.

What did this Specialty mean in practice?

An attack-power multiplier of 3 meant that every time Adrian swung his sword, he gained a buff that tripled his attack power!

Without question, this was a powerful Specialty, every bit as formidable as the Ghost Fruit!

And it was Adrian's first offensive Specialty!

Alongside his excitement, Adrian felt a pang of relief.

If I'd submitted the quest after reading only ten Swordplay scrolls, would I have gotten just a 0.01 attack-power bonus?