Chapter 44

Before him stood a gray-white boulder as tall as a person. A thick white sacred rope encircled its middle. It had been the target of his swordsmanship training for the past few days.

Sensing the rhythm of all things was not simply a matter of sensing the presence of everything around him.

If that were all it took, anyone who had mastered Observation Haki could do it.

But while Observation Haki was common, Swordmasters were exceedingly rare!

Coating a blade in Armament Haki and slicing through steel with ease did not make someone a Swordmaster!

Adrian relaxed his mind completely, emptied himself of conscious thought, and reached toward every natural thing around him. At the same time, he extended his senses and Observation Haki as far as he could.

Slowly, faint but distinct "sounds" began to reach his mind.

Breathe in—breathe out—breathe in—breathe out—

In Adrian's perception, the enormous rock before him seemed to come alive. Its once-motionless gray-white surface rose and fell slowly and steadily, like the skin of a living creature.

Adrian's eyes flew open, dazzling light gleaming in their dark depths.

He drew Yubashiri and gave it a gentle swing.

Shing—

With a clear ring of steel, the man-sized boulder split in two. Its halves toppled away from each other under their own weight, their cut surfaces as smooth as mirrors.

"Cutting Steel!"

[Advanced quest, Breath of All Things, completed.]

[You have gained the Specialty Breath of All Things!]

[Breath of All Things — Specialty: Everything that breathes can die, and all things must eventually come to an end. Whether tangible or intangible, anything can be cut! When attacking with swordsmanship, you can perceive weaknesses, and critical-hit effectiveness increases by 200%.]

Another new Specialty!

Adrian perked up and examined its effects carefully.

"Swordsmanship Specialties like this one—and Three Thousand Styles before it—always seem much stronger in the first half of their descriptions than in their actual effects..."

Adrian scratched his head, unable to make sense of it.

"Can't they be as straightforward as the others? Look at Low-Level Toughness, then at Well-Built. Those descriptions tell you exactly what they do."

After a few offhand complaints, more notifications appeared on the panel.

[Level 60 advancement quest completed!]

[Your Swordsman class has advanced to Swordmaster. Your Stamina has increased significantly. Strength +5, Agility +5, Intelligence +5. You have gained 5 Free Attribute Points and 1 Skill Point.]

[You have learned Master-Level Swordsmanship Training!]

[You have learned Master-Level Swordsmanship Affinity!]

[You have learned Sword Momentum!]

As he had expected, Swordmaster was the next class after Swordsman.

The first two skills were upgraded versions of ones he already had. Swordsmanship Training let him gain swordsmanship proficiency through practice, while Swordsmanship Affinity improved both his understanding of swordsmanship and the power of his techniques.

The last skill, Sword Momentum, was a little baffling.

Adrian had expected Flying Slash to be the upgrade after Sword Aura. Instead, Sword Momentum had appeared. He hurried to check its effects.

[Sword Momentum: Tangible aura becomes intangible momentum. The power and concentration of slashes increase significantly.]

"Isn't that basically Flying Slash?!" Adrian's forehead creased.

He dumped every Free Attribute Point he had saved into Intelligence. Allocating points as a Hollow-Hollow Fruit user was that simple.

Adrian looked over his panel.

—(Updated or important information)

Level: 61

Primary class: Swordmaster LV1 (0/100 million)

Attributes: Strength 238, Agility 157, Stamina 145, Intelligence 764, Charm 45, Luck 1

Free Attribute Points: 0

Skill Points: 51

Specialties: [Low-Level Toughness], [Hollow-Hollow Fruit], [Sea Curse], [Well-Built], [Three Thousand Styles], [Breath of All Things]

Skills: [Ghost Body] (MAX), [Ghost Creation] (MAX), [Spirit Projection] LV2

[Armament Haki] LV1 (1,024/100,000), [Observation Haki] LV1 (2,048/100,000)

[Master-Level Swordsmanship Training] LV1 (0/5 million), [Master-Level Swordsmanship Affinity] LV1 (0/15 million), [Sword Momentum] LV1 (0/10 million)

Legend Points: [East Blue · Evil Swordsman]

Equipment: Skillful Grade Sword · Yubashiri

—

Adrian was delighted. Advancing to Swordmaster had sent his strength soaring.

But when he thought about how much experience he now needed to level up, his smile turned bitter.

"Looks like I can't stop farming experience from players. The players in the South Blue must be getting impatient by now!"

[Adrian vs. Koshiro]

Seeing that he still had experience left, Adrian glanced over his skill list.

After a moment's thought, he split it evenly between Armament Haki and Observation Haki, raising both to LV3. Advancing either one again would cost tens of millions of experience.

"I still have 51 Skill Points. Just a little more and I could max out one type of Haki... Better wait. My current Haki levels are enough for now... The real headache is that I don't know whether their derived abilities will need Skill Points too..."

Setting Armament Haki aside, its derived abilities had not been particularly prominent in the original story.

Observation Haki was another matter!

Red Count Redfield's Read Hearts and Fish-Man queen Otohime's Thought Interference were terrifying, but both fell into the realm of innate Observation Haki. The panel might not be able to unlock them.

Charlotte Katakuri's Future Sight was different!

That was unquestionably a level one could reach through training!

There was a strong chance the panel would treat it as a derived ability!

"Future Sight, Skill Points... Forget it. No point dwelling on that now. I've more or less finished what I came to do in the East Blue. It's time to get ready to leave."

Adrian gathered his belongings, took Yubashiri in hand, and headed toward Shimotsuki Village.

He had barely stepped into Isshin Dojo when several people greeted him.

"Mr. Tao Ya!"

"Good morning!"

Adrian answered each of them.

Before long, a swordsmanship apprentice directed him to Shimotsuki Koshiro.

"Master Koshiro..."

Adrian did not call him that because he had become Shimotsuki Koshiro's disciple. Koshiro had taught him without holding anything back, and Adrian addressed him respectfully in return.

"Ah, Tao Ya!" Koshiro wore his usual mild, unassuming expression and smiled with narrowed eyes. "What brings you here?"

"I've mastered the Breath of All Things!" Adrian said. "I'm preparing to leave the East Blue, but there's one last thing I'd like to learn from you before I go. Would you be willing to fight me, Master Koshiro?"

Koshiro looked a little surprised, then shook his head faintly. "That's a swordsman for you... Would you mind having a few spectators?"

"Not if you don't!"

Behind Isshin Dojo stood a dense grove of trees.

Adrian and Shimotsuki Koshiro faced each other, swords in hand, in a clearing among them.

On the dojo's top floor, many of the children leaned against the windows, watching the two men in the grove from afar.

A battle between Swordmasters could be vicious. Even the stray Sword Aura would be more than an ordinary person could withstand.

Koshiro would never let his students watch up close, but watching from a distance was acceptable.

Koshiro took a deep breath and slowly drew Wado Ichimonji from his waist. Secluded in this quiet stretch of the East Blue, he could not remember how long it had been since he had fought a swordsman of his own caliber. Yet he felt his blood gradually begin to race.

With a crisp ring of steel, Shimotsuki Koshiro struck first. He became a dark blur and lunged at Adrian.

"Come on!"

Adrian met him without a trace of fear, sword swinging.

With Three Thousand Styles to guide him, Adrian picked up hints of Isshin Dojo's swordsmanship despite never having encountered it before.

Clang!

Adrian timed his swing perfectly. Yubashiri's sharp blade caught Wado Ichimonji in midair.

His first strike thwarted, Koshiro reacted at once. A slight twist of his wrist sent Wado Ichimonji sliding down Adrian's blade. Then he turned and whipped his sword upward in a vicious slash aimed at Adrian's belly.

Adrian raised his sword beside him to block. The blades met with another sharp ring, scattering brilliant sparks.

"Such a nasty move doesn't seem like the sort of swordsmanship you'd use, Master Koshiro!"

"Swordsmanship is a way to kill. There's no such thing as a move too nasty to use! Surely the great Evil Swordsman knows that?"

The two similarly built swordsmen pressed their blades against each other, each testing the other's strength.

The deadlock lasted only a moment.

Both pushed off at once, retreating several steps before facing each other again.

Koshiro's level appeared on Adrian's panel.

LV76. About what I expected. Agility is his highest attribute, followed by Intelligence, while Strength is relatively low—but he's still within the limits of an ordinary human. I have a slight advantage in attributes, but Koshiro may have Haki. He might even know Ryuo. I'll have to watch for that...

Countless thoughts flashed through Adrian's mind in an instant. His gaze grew utterly calm as he focused on the fight.

Koshiro charged again, and Adrian met his blade.

Downward chops, rising cuts, horizontal slashes—every strike was vicious and fierce. Even the force spilling from their blades riddled the surrounding plants with holes.

Metal rang against metal without pause, while red, star-like sparks flew in every direction.

Within minutes, the beautiful little grove lay in ruins.

Seeing the sweat beading on Koshiro's forehead, Adrian said, "Master Koshiro, I'm going to get serious now!"

Armament Haki flowed over Yubashiri. The blade hummed softly as its snow-white edge gradually turned a deep, inky black.

"Armament Haki? Then... as you wish!"

Koshiro unleashed his own Armament Haki, coating Wado Ichimonji in a black metallic sheen.

"Moon Sword: Frostfall!"

Koshiro pressed the attack again. Two crossing slashes flew toward Adrian, their edges alone carving icy furrows through the ground.

From a distance, it looked like grass covered in frost beneath the moon.

"Surging Stream Slash!"

Adrian answered with a fearsome Sword Aura of his own.

The two powerful slashes collided in midair. Violent waves of air burst outward, and a fierce shockwave spread in every direction, pulverizing dead branches and grass while hurling countless specks of dark-brown earth into the air.

They rushed each other again, and their two Famous Swords, both coated in Armament Haki, collided once more.

Clang—!

"Master Koshiro, your Haki feels a little different!"

Adrian felt Koshiro's Haki pass through Yubashiri's blade and surge straight toward his body, only to be instantly neutralized by Ghost Body.

"It's a technique called Ryuo!"

Koshiro answered frankly, then gradually withdrew the Haki coating Wado Ichimonji.

Adrian looked at him in confusion. "?"

Koshiro waved a hand and sheathed his sword. "That's enough. I'm done!"