All-Round Improvement

As for the pitiful eight points of Swordsmanship Experience, Gawain could understand that.

After all, there was practically no one in the pirate crew skilled with a sword besides himself.

And the potential of those ordinary pirates had basically been pushed to its limit. The experience they could provide was little better than nothing.

Gawain narrowed his eyes slightly.

"After recruiting Nami, Zoro should be next."

"But compared to the others, Zoro's will is undoubtedly much firmer. Making someone like him join the crew can't be accomplished through violence alone."

"Still, you have to eat one bite at a time and walk one step at a time."

"The priority is to handle what's in front of me and rapidly increase my own strength."

With that, the light in Gawain's room went out.

Over the next month.

The Gawain Pirates entered a long period of recuperation.

The consecutive battles had left many of them severely weakened. Even with Raven Port's logistical support, quite a few of the wounded still failed to pull through, dying from infected wounds or other complications.

Though everyone was somewhat saddened, they had grown accustomed to such things.

A pirate's life was nowhere near as wonderful as it appeared in the original story. Death, battle, and endless sailing were the norm.

However.

By this point, the survivors were basically out of danger. With another period of rest, they would recover.

It was at least a small blessing amid misfortune.

After witnessing more and more deaths, Gawain had gradually grown accustomed to this kind of life as well.

Night fell.

Gawain's room was brightly lit, and the sea breeze blowing in through the window ruffled his hair.

During this time, influenced by Kuro and Akin, the two Kings of Hustle, most of the pirate crew had begun training with near-harsh intensity.

One of them had his eyes on the position beneath Gawain's ass, while the other still could not let go of his previous defeat at Kuro's hands.

Both had gone all out, training like their lives depended on it.

After recovering from their injuries, both had improved considerably. Gawain, meanwhile, reaped the rewards without lifting a finger, harvesting massive amounts of experience every day.

At that moment.

Gawain sat before his desk, carefully wiping down the Kansei Masamune in his hand.

Though he still had not touched upon the threshold of Armament Haki during this month, he and the Kansei Masamune had become increasingly familiar with one another.

Looking at the blade now, Gawain actually felt as though they were connected by blood.

Suddenly.

The familiar system notification sounded in Gawain's mind.

"Physique Experience +133!"

"Swordsmanship Experience +6!"

"Shave Experience +32!"

"Observation Haki Experience +54!"

Compared to half a month ago, every category aside from Swordsmanship had risen considerably.

As a massive amount of experience flooded into his body, Gawain's Physique and Observation Haki, which had stagnated for so long, finally reached the moment of transformation.

Physique - LV-6: 2987/3000 --> Physique - LV-7: 120/5000

Observation Haki - LV-1: 998/1000 --> Observation Haki - LV-2: 52/2000

What followed the consecutive level-ups was a change in his body.

A familiar heat surged from his heart, traveling with his blood through every limb and bone, nourishing every cell in Gawain's body and pushing his already formidable physical abilities to a new peak.

His skin visibly reddened, even giving off waves of scorching steam as large amounts of impurities were expelled through his pores.

Yet despite the terrifying changes, Gawain felt no discomfort whatsoever. He only felt his body becoming lighter and more coordinated.

A few breaths later.

The changes to his Physique gradually subsided, and the scorching steam in the room was slowly blown away by the sea breeze.

"Phew!"

Gawain exhaled a breath of hot air, then removed his leather armor, revealing his lean upper body.

His build had not changed much.

If anything, he was even thinner than before, roughly returning to the physique he had possessed right after waking up.

But he could feel that this body's fundamental abilities had risen by a huge margin once more.

Strength, constitution, agility.

Restricted by the Balance Trait, the three developed in equilibrium, ensuring that every improvement Gawain made brought this body into its most ideal state, allowing every ounce of its power to be perfectly utilized.

Feeling the changes in his body, Gawain could not suppress the wild joy in his heart.

"A level-seven Physique has increased my strength, constitution, and agility by nearly forty percent compared to level six, and they've almost doubled compared to level five!"

"If I fought Smoker again now..."

Gawain suddenly clenched his fist, confidence shining in his eyes.

"He wouldn't get the chance to throw that Seastone Jitte into the sea."

"And my Observation Haki has successfully broken through to level two as well."

"Let's test it."

As he spoke.

Gawain activated his Observation Haki. A strange sensation, independent of his five senses, immediately emerged in his mind.

The wind flowing through the air, the waves rising and falling upon the sea, insects chirping in the corners, the snores of pirates downstairs...

At that moment, everything appeared in Gawain's mind.

The enhancement Observation Haki provided to one's perception became increasingly absurd as the skill level rose.

Gawain was even beginning to look forward to whether raising this ability to LV-5 would awaken the power to see a short distance into the future, or some other derived ability.

The next instant.

The Kansei Masamune in Gawain's hand flew from its sheath, releasing a silver-white Flying Blade that crossed several hundred meters and severed a shark leaping from the center of the harbor at the waist.

Splat!

Blood sprayed out, dyeing the sea red.

The pirate on night watch rubbed his eyes. If not for the shark's corpse still floating on the water, he would have thought he was hallucinating.

He had wanted to sound the alarm, but after seeing where that blade light had come from, he lowered the horn in his hand.

"I'm such an idiot. Who else but the captain could do something like that?"

"But has the captain gotten stronger again in such a short time?"

He turned to look at the distant loft, only to find that its window had long since closed, as though what had just happened was nothing more than an insignificant little matter.

"What a... monster!"

Inside the room.

Gawain slowly sheathed the Kansei Masamune. Recalling the sharpness of his perception just now, he could not help but sigh in admiration.

"I could sense even the slightest hostile intent from several hundred meters away in advance. No wonder Kuro became so arrogant after awakening Observation Haki."

"Observation Haki is indeed just as I deduced. It can compensate for Shave's shortcomings, and Kuro can even use it to push Shave's speed to a greater peak."

"But I can do the same thing—and do it even better."

A faint smile curled Gawain's lips as he opened the System Panel. A familiar pale-blue screen appeared before him.

[Host - Gawain]

[Age - 24]

[Identity - Captain of the Gawain Pirates]

[Skills:

Swordsmanship - LV-5: 1439/1600 (Godspeed)

Physique - LV-7: 120/5000 (Balance Trait)

Shave - LV-3: 75/800

Observation Haki - LV-2: 52/2000

Navigation - LV-1: 13/100

]

[Badges:

Captain's Wrath - Subordinates' stamina recovery speed +20%

Rising Fame - View potential abilities

]

[Rating - Bronze: Across the Four Seas and even Paradise, you count as someone noteworthy, but in the New World, you'd best keep your head down.]

Over this month, it was not only his Physique and Observation Haki that had risen wildly. Even the Shave he had learned from Kuro had gained two levels, reaching LV-3 outright.