Chapter 43

I wonder what the level 60 advancement quest will be, Adrian thought. He glanced at the two skills he had just acquired. Still, it shouldn't be too hard to complete.

[Haki · Armament LV1 (1,024/100,000): When used for defense, it greatly increases personal defense, acting like invisible armor. When used for attack, it can blacken and harden the skin or coat a weapon to strengthen its strikes. It can touch the physical bodies of Logia Devil Fruit users.]

[Haki · Observation LV1 (2,048/100,000): The power to keenly sense surrounding presences. It can detect the positions and numbers of targets beyond sight, as well as an opponent's next move. These perceptions may manifest as "sight," "smell," or other senses.]

During his experience-farming trip through the North Blue, Adrian had not spent all his time interacting with players. He had devoted plenty of time to studying the Haki training scroll Doflamingo had given him, eventually learning Two-Color Haki without spending a single Skill Point.

Like the Six Powers, both Haki skills started with an experience requirement of 100,000.

Adrian had assumed he could simply spend experience to raise his Haki to the maximum level, avoiding any additional Skill Point costs.

Reality dealt him a sharp blow.

Raising either Haki skill from LV1 required only 100,000 experience, which seemed manageable.

At LV2, the requirement jumped to one million.

LV3 required ten million, LV4 broke the hundred-million mark, and LV5 reached a billion.

The experience costs at those early levels climbed even faster than those of Devil Fruit skills!

They multiplied by ten each time!

Fortunately, the later requirements were not quite so outrageous.

According to the panel, reaching the maximum level of both Haki skills would require only ten billion experience.

Only... ten billion...

Adrian told himself firmly: This is Haki! This is Haki!!

Even so, Two-Color Haki would inevitably become his biggest drain on Skill Points.

The panel also placed Armament Haki and Observation Haki on the same skill tree: [Haki].

In theory, Adrian could use it to unlock Conqueror's Haki as well, but the panel said he did not meet the requirements.

He could force the panel to unlock it, but doing so would cost ten Skill Points and increase the experience or Skill Point costs of subsequent upgrades.

Adrian dismissed the idea without a second thought.

Conqueror's Haki was hardly essential to him. After raising [Ghost Domination] to LV10 (max), he had only 26 Skill Points left!

He could not waste them!

Not a single one!

Putting those thoughts aside, Adrian made a few quick dashes and soon reached the players' gathering place on Mirapar Island, where he received an enthusiastic welcome.

The East Blue players had been waiting eagerly for him. Until now, they had either watched West Blue and North Blue players show off on the forums every day or argued with South Blue players over where Big Lethal would appear first.

Now it was clear: Big Lethal had chosen the East Blue!

Quite a few players rushed to the forums to taunt the South Blue players, but even more immediately surrounded Big Lethal.

Without further ado, Adrian found a quiet spot and released his Mimic Ghost customer-service agents. The players lined up of their own accord to take quests, hand over money, and supply experience, their faces glowing with the simple joy of chives awaiting harvest.

Time passed.

At last, after working through more than half the East Blue's beginner villages, Adrian had saved up enough experience!

"Time for the third advancement!"

"Level up!"

The experience he had steadily harvested and saved during this period instantly filled the bars from level 40 to level 60.

[...]

[[Swordsman Master] rose to LV19 (0/90,000,000). Stamina increased. Strength +3, Agility +3, Intelligence +3. Gained 4 Free Attribute Points and 1 Skill Point.]

[[Swordsman Master] rose to LV20 (max). Stamina increased. Strength +3, Agility +3, Intelligence +3. Gained 4 Free Attribute Points and 1 Skill Point.]

The next moment, a quest notification appeared on the panel.

[Detected: [Swordsman Master] profession has reached its maximum level. You have received a class advancement quest.]

[Level 60 advancement quest: [Breath of All Things]]

Adrian waited a little longer, but no quest details appeared.

"Panel, are you bugging out on me? Where's the rest?"

"???"

"That's really it? Just this?"

Adrian stared at the nearly empty quest panel, which held nothing but a name. His face darkened; he was a hair's breadth from cursing aloud.

Whatever their difficulty, his previous advancement quests had at least given him a clear objective.

The level 20 [Swordsman Trial] had required him to kill an enemy at least five levels above him;

the level 40 [A Thousand Sword Styles] had required him to carefully study works from at least ten schools of Swordplay;

but now that he had reached level 60, what was this [Breath of All Things] supposed to mean?

Adrian frowned deeply. Only after digging through the recesses of his memory did he find a few scraps from the original story concerning the [Breath of All Things].

During his battle in Alabasta against Daz Bones, who had eaten the Dice-Dice Fruit, Roronoa Zoro had grasped the [Breath of All Things], gained the ability to [Cut Steel], and defeated him.

And beyond that, there seemed to be nothing...

Adrian tried to recall the more than three thousand Swordplay scrolls he had read at dojos across the West Blue. Almost none mentioned the Breath of All Things; at most, they offered a few maddeningly cryptic remarks.

Breath of All Things... the breathing of stone, trees, the earth... Why does this sound more and more like Observation Haki? Is it really not Observation Haki?

And is sensing the breath of all things connected to the Voice of All Things? It can't be that simple...

Why did you draw so slowly, Oda?!

His excitement over the impending advancement vanished. The sudden, baffling quest left Adrian restless.

After thinking it over and finding no leads, Adrian set the advancement quest aside and focused on the players in the East Blue's beginner villages.

Although he had reached level 60, the experience required for later levels would only grow more daunting. He could not afford to give up the experience the players provided.

Another half month or so later, he had visited every beginner village in the East Blue.

Adrian stopped and prepared to focus on his advancement quest.

As a swordsman, when he faced something he did not understand, he needed only ask the sword in his hand.

The legend of the [Evil Swordsman] would soon ring out across the East Blue once more.

Thirty-two years earlier, a samurai named Shimotsuki Kozaburo had arrived from Wano Country on the Grand Line and settled on a quiet island in the East Blue. After leading the samurai who accompanied him to drive off the local mountain bandits, he established a village named after his family.

That was how the renowned Shimotsuki Village had come to be.

A little over ten years ago, as Shimotsuki Kozaburo neared the end of his life, he entrusted his Isshin Dojo to his only son, Shimotsuki Koshiro, and passed away peacefully.

Now, the cries of children practicing swordsmanship drifted from Isshin Dojo. Two adults in plain gray robes stood to one side, watching over them.

Young Shimotsuki Koshiro wore his loose black hair tied in a single ponytail and a harmless-looking pair of round black glasses. His eyes were always slightly narrowed, and a calm smile rested on his lips.

Shimotsuki Machiko wore a loose, long robe, her hair falling over her shoulders. The faint swell of her belly showed that she was pregnant.

After watching the children practice for a while, the beautiful Machiko turned to her husband with a troubled expression. "Koshiro, have you heard about the [Evil Swordsman] who came from the West Blue...?"

Koshiro's expression did not change; he kept smiling. "Yes, I have. That swordsman from the West Blue has become quite famous lately."

"Even if the [Evil Swordsman] almost never hurts anyone without provocation, and always tries courtesy before force, what he's doing is still..." Machiko said.

"Swordsman Tao Ya requests an audience with the dojo's master."

At the sound of that level voice, the Shimotsuki couple and their students turned toward the dojo entrance.

A young man of about twenty stood at the gate. He had tousled black hair and wore black-framed glasses, a sword-training robe over a black kimono, and a white cloak. In his hand was a long sword in an ornate sheath.

"Koshiro, Tao Ya—that's the Evil Swordsman's name!" Machiko said, nervously clutching her husband's sleeve.

Koshiro patted the back of her hand. "I'll handle it."

He turned toward the gate and called out, "I am Shimotsuki Koshiro, master of Isshin Dojo. Please come in, Mr. Tao Ya."

Adrian, once again using his Tao Ya identity, thanked Koshiro and walked straight into the dojo, setting the students whispering.

"He's here to challenge the dojo! This is so exciting!"

"Tao Ya? I think my dad mentioned that name, but I can't remember..."

"He's the legendary Evil Swordsman!" an older student said, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

Meanwhile, in the reception room.

Koshiro and Adrian sat facing each other while Machiko prepared tea and refreshments nearby.

Koshiro looked a little different from how he would more than a decade later. His appearance had hardly changed, but his presence had yet to acquire its later, unassuming refinement.

At this age, he seemed spirited and confident instead.

Koshiro pushed up his glasses and got straight to the point. "Mr. Tao Ya, what brings you to Isshin Dojo?"

Adrian replied politely, "I wouldn't presume to offer instruction. I'd only like to borrow your dojo's Swordplay scrolls and ask its master one question."

Adrian could not afford to be careless with Shimotsuki Koshiro, who might well be the East Blue's hidden final boss.

After all, Shimotsuki Kozaburo had founded Shimotsuki Village with a band of samurai. He was also a master craftsman who had forged Enma and Wado Ichimonji, two of the Twenty-One Great Grade Swords, and his ancestor was Shimotsuki Ryuma, the "Sword God" revered as a hero of Wano Country...

Koshiro himself even had ties to Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army!

Was someone like that really an ordinary Swordplay instructor?

Adrian certainly did not believe it!

Perhaps Machiko had not expected the [Evil Swordsman], whose ill repute had spread across the East Blue, to be so polite. Startled, her hand trembled, and she nearly spilled the scalding tea on the wooden tray.

Koshiro reacted at once, steadying his wife's arm. He patted it gently a few times to reassure her, then signaled for her to rest in the back room.

Machiko apologized and left the reception room in small, careful steps.

"My wife was a little discourteous. Please forgive her, Mr. Tao Ya." Koshiro gave Adrian an apologetic smile, then returned to the matter at hand. "You're welcome to read Isshin Dojo's Swordplay scrolls free of charge. What question did you wish to ask?"

Holding his teacup, Adrian asked solemnly, "Mr. Shimotsuki, what is the [Breath of All Things]?"

Something flickered in Koshiro's eyes. He lowered his head and took a small sip of tea. "I didn't expect someone as young as you, Mr. Tao Ya, to have reached the threshold of a Swordmaster."

Adrian smiled faintly and said nothing.

The [Breath of All Things] was indeed the threshold of a Swordmaster.

Only a swordsman who grasped the [Breath of All Things] could [Cut Steel]!

Without question, Shimotsuki Koshiro, who had said as much, was a Swordmaster.

At the very least!

After a moment's silence, Koshiro explained the [Breath of All Things] as he understood it.

"There is a kind of swordsman who can cut anything he wishes to cut, yet cannot cut anything he does not wish to cut...

"When he wishes it, even hard steel becomes as soft as tofu. When he does not, even thin paper becomes as tough as leather.

"That is because he has grasped the [Breath of All Things], or the [Rhythm of All Things].

"Whether something has form or not, as long as it [exists], it [breathes]. And as long as it [breathes], it has a regular [rhythm].

"At the peaks and troughs of that [rhythm], a thing's state changes completely, as does the force it can withstand.

"Once a swordsman fully perceives that [rhythm], he gains the power to cut anything.

"..."

In the blink of an eye, Adrian had spent several days at Isshin Dojo.

When it came to Swordplay knowledge, his earlier [A Thousand Sword Styles] quest meant Adrian was no less well-read than swordsmen who had trained since childhood.

And with Shimotsuki Koshiro—a Swordmaster at the very least—sharing his knowledge without reservation, Adrian was now only a thin veil away from breaking through to the rank of Swordmaster!

One day.

Adrian sat cross-legged with his eyes closed in an empty clearing among the trees outside Shimotsuki Village, carrying out his usual swordsmanship meditation.