Pirates: I Loaded the Game Panel

"I wonder what kind of advancement quest I'll get at level 60," Adrian mused. He glanced at the two skills he had just acquired. "Still, it shouldn't be too hard to complete."

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

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

During his experience-farming trip through the North Blue, Adrian hadn't spent all his time interacting with players. Instead, he'd spent a great deal of time studying the Haki training scroll Doflamingo had given him. In the end, he'd successfully learned Two-Color Haki without spending a single Skill Point.

Like the Six Powers, Two-Color Haki required 100,000 experience for its first level.

Adrian had originally thought he could easily raise his Haki to max level with experience alone, without spending any extra Skill Points.

Reality had dealt him a heavy blow.

Leveling Two-Color Haki from LV1 took only 100,000 experience. That looked manageable.

But leveling Two-Color Haki from LV2 took one million.

LV3 took ten million, LV4 broke one hundred million, and LV5 hit one billion.

The experience cost rose even faster than it did for Devil Fruit skills!

It multiplied by ten every time!

Fortunately, the later requirements weren't quite so absurd.

According to the panel, raising Two-Color Haki from max level would take only ten billion experience.

Only... ten billion...

Adrian told himself rationally: It's Haki! It's Haki!!

But there was no avoiding it. Two-Color Haki would become a major drain on his Skill Points.

On the panel, Armament Haki and Observation Haki also belonged to the same skill tree: [Haki].

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

The panel could force it open, but that would cost ten Skill Points. The experience or Skill Points needed for subsequent upgrades would increase too.

Adrian abandoned the idea without a second thought.

He didn't desperately need Conqueror's Haki. Besides, after raising [Ghost Domination] to LV10 (max), he had only 26 Skill Points left!

He couldn't afford to waste any!

Not a single one!

He pushed the unrelated thoughts from his mind. With a few quick movements, Adrian soon reached the player gathering spot on Mirapar Island and was greeted with a burst of enthusiasm.

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

Now it seemed Big Lethal had chosen the East Blue!

Quite a few players rushed to the forums to mock the South Blue players, but even more immediately crowded around Big Lethal.

Without another word, Adrian found a quiet spot and released his Mimic Ghost customer-service agents. Players lined up on their own to take quests, hand over money, and provide experience, their faces glowing with the simple joy of being easy pickings.

Time passed.

At last, after making his rounds through more than half the East Blue beginner villages, Adrian had saved up enough experience!

"Time for my third advancement!"

"Level up!"

Evil Swordsman Returns!

The experience he had harvested and saved over that time instantly filled every experience bar between levels 40 and 60.

[...]

[[Sword 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.]

[[Sword 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: [Sword Master] profession has reached max 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 it? Seriously? That's all?"

Adrian stared at the nearly empty quest panel, which showed nothing but a name. His face darkened; he was a breath away from swearing.

Whatever the difficulty of his previous advancement quests, they 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 at least ten works from different schools of Swordplay.

Now he had reached level 60. What was this [Breath of All Things] supposed to mean?

Adrian frowned. Only after digging deep into his memory did he find a few scraps from the original story about the [Breath of All Things].

During his battle in Alabasta with Daz Bones, who had eaten the Chop-Chop Fruit, Roronoa Zoro had grasped the [Breath of All Things] and gained the ability to [Cut Steel], allowing him to defeat his opponent.

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

Adrian tried to recall the more than three thousand Swordplay scrolls he had read in dojos across the West Blue. He found almost no mention of the Breath of All Things there either, only a few cryptic remarks.

"Breath of All Things... Breath of All Things... The breath of stone, the breath of trees, the breath of the earth... Why does this sound more and more like Observation Haki? Isn't it just Observation Haki?"

"And is sensing the Breath of All Things related to the Voice of All Things? I can't shake the feeling it isn't that simple..."

"Why did Oda have to draw so slowly?!"

His excitement at being on the verge of advancement vanished. The sudden, baffling quest left Adrian restless and irritated.

After pondering it for a while without getting anywhere, Adrian set the advancement quest aside and focused on the players in the East Blue beginner villages.

He might have reached level 60, but the experience needed for future levels was growing more and more terrifying. He couldn't afford to give up the experience he could get from players.

A little under two weeks later, he had visited every East Blue beginner village.

Adrian stopped and prepared to focus on his advancement quest.

As a Swordsman, if there was something he didn't understand, he only needed to ask the sword in his hand.

The legend of the [Evil Swordsman] was about to spread through the East Blue once more.

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

That was how the famous Shimotsuki Village came to be.

More than 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 shouts of children practicing swordsmanship drifted from Isshin Dojo. Two adults in plain gray robes stood nearby, watching over them.

The young Shimotsuki Koshiro wore his long black hair in a single ponytail. Behind harmless-looking round black glasses, his eyes were always slightly narrowed, and a calm smile rested on his lips.

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

The beautiful Shimotsuki Machiko watched the children practice for a while, then turned to her husband with a troubled look. "Koshiro, have you heard about the [Evil Swordsman] from the West Blue who's been appearing lately...?"

Koshiro's expression did not change. Still smiling, he said, "Yes, I know. That swordsman from the West Blue has become quite famous recently."

Machiko said, "They say the [Evil Swordsman] hardly ever hurts anyone without provocation and always tries words before drawing his sword, but is what he's doing really..."

"Swordsman Tao Ya requests an audience with the master of this dojo."

A level voice came from outside. The Shimotsuki couple and their students turned toward the dojo entrance.

A young man of about twenty stood in the doorway. He had tousled black hair and black-framed glasses. Over his black training kimono, he wore a white cloak, and in his hand he held a sword with an ornate scabbard.

"Koshiro, Tao Ya is the Evil Swordsman's name!" Machiko said, nervously gripping her husband's sleeve.

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

He turned toward the entrance and called out, "I am Shimotsuki Koshiro, master of Isshin Dojo. Please come inside, 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 exciting!"

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

"He's that legendary Evil Swordsman!" said an older student, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Meanwhile, in the reception room.

Koshiro and Adrian sat across from each other while Machiko prepared tea and snacks nearby.

Koshiro looked a little different from how he would a dozen years later. His appearance had barely changed, but he did not yet have that utterly unassuming air.

At this age, Koshiro seemed spirited 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 only wish to read your dojo's swordsmanship scrolls and ask its master a question."

Adrian could not afford to be careless around Shimotsuki Koshiro, who might well be a hidden powerhouse of the East Blue.

After all, Shimotsuki Kozaburo had founded Shimotsuki Village with a band of samurai. He was also the master smith 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...

Even Shimotsuki Koshiro himself was a formidable man with ties to Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army!

Was a man like that really just an ordinary swordsmanship instructor?

Adrian didn't believe it for a second!

Breath of All Things

Perhaps Shimotsuki Machiko had not expected the Evil Swordsman, whose dreadful reputation had spread across the East Blue, to behave so politely. Startled, her hand trembled, and she nearly spilled the scalding tea on her wooden tray.

Shimotsuki Koshiro quickly steadied his wife's arm and patted it a few times to reassure her. Then he motioned for her to rest in the back room.

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

"Please forgive my wife's rudeness, Mr. Tao Ya," Koshiro said with an apologetic smile. He returned to the matter at hand. "You're welcome to read the swordsmanship scrolls at Isshin Dojo free of charge. What did you wish to ask me?"

Holding his teacup, Adrian said in a low voice, "Mr. Shimotsuki, I'd like to ask: what is the Breath of All Things?"

A strange look flickered through 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 truly was the threshold of a Swordmaster.

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

There was no doubt about it: Shimotsuki Koshiro, who could say such a thing, was a Swordmaster-level Swordsman!

At the very least!

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

"There are swordsmen who can cut anything they wish to cut, yet cannot cut anything they do not wish to cut...

"When they wish it, even hard steel becomes as soft as tender tofu. When they do not, even a thin sheet of paper becomes as tough as leather.

"That is because they have grasped the Breath of All Things, or the Rhythm of All Things.

"Whether something is tangible or intangible, if it [exists], it [breathes]. And if it [breathes], it has a regular [rhythm].

"At the peaks and troughs of that [rhythm], things exist in entirely different states, and the force they can withstand differs enormously.

"Once a Swordsman fully perceives that rhythm, he gains the power to cut through anything.

"..."

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

Thanks to his earlier [A Thousand Sword Styles] quest, Adrian's knowledge of swordsmanship was no worse than that of swordsmen who had trained since childhood.

With Shimotsuki Koshiro, who was at least a Swordmaster, sharing his knowledge without reservation, Adrian was now separated from the realm of Swordmasters by only the thinnest veil!

That day.

Adrian sat cross-legged with his eyes closed in a deserted clearing in the woods outside Shimotsuki Village, practicing his usual swordsmanship meditation.