Vic turned and walked over to the Boar King's corpse. He inspected his handiwork and smiled. "Not bad. I've gotten even better at handling Yubashiri." Vic was very satisfied with his training at sea over this period.
He hoisted the Boar King onto his shoulder, took it to a stream in the forest, and dressed it. Then he built a fire beside the stream and started roasting it. He had plenty of seasonings, which he always kept stocked in his backpack. Vic had always cared about food, and he was also experienced at surviving in the wild.
He left one leg unroasted, intending to give it to Koshiro as a gift when they met the next day. Once the boar was cooked, he sprinkled it with various seasonings and mixed up a dipping sauce. Then he dug in.
Every scrap of meat went into his stomach. His digestion was so powerful that he was digesting the food almost as fast as he ate it. Vic figured his stomach had learned Life Return on its own by now, digesting food as he ate and storing all the energy. He guessed Garp's whole family knew the skill. Otherwise, how could every one of them eat so much?
It probably had something to do with Garp's teaching, too. Vic remembered that, when he watched One Piece in his previous life, Garp had told Ace and King Luffy, "To prepare for battles that could come at any time, you have to stuff yourselves as much as you can at mealtimes. That's very important for Marines, too, so both of you remember it."
That was how Ace and King Luffy had developed their talent for eating enormous amounts, to the point where they could even eat in their sleep.
Vic thought Garp made a lot of sense. Garp's astonishing, enduring fighting power had a lot to do with it.
After eating all the meat, Vic fetched water to put out the fire, then slung the boar leg over his shoulder and headed out of the forest. He wanted to see what the place he had noticed earlier was for.
In less than half an hour, he returned to the spot where he had been before, then turned toward the column of smoke. Vic walked at an easy pace. He had taken a rough look around the forest earlier and hadn't found anything he couldn't beat.
As he drew closer to the smoke, he could make out what lay ahead: the outline of a small house. The smoke was rising from a chimney in the middle of its roof. Vic figured it probably wasn't an ordinary house. Cooking wouldn't produce that much smoke or keep it going so long. Hours had passed, and smoke was still coming out. Vic was curious. What could it be, so close to Shimotsuki Village?
The closer he got, the louder and more continuous the sound of metal being hammered became. Vic had a pretty good guess: this was a smithy, a smithy in the forest. No one could have beaten him into believing it had nothing to do with Koshiro.
As he approached the house, the hammering stopped. The door creaked open, and an old man with completely white hair came out. He wasn't tall, standing about 1.6 meters, and he wore a sleeveless cloth shirt that exposed the lean, powerful muscles of his arms. He looked at Vic, a stranger, with a puzzled expression.
"Outsider, what are you doing here?" the old man asked, puzzled.
Vic knew the old man had to have some connection to Kozaburo, so he was very polite. He smiled and replied, "Well, sir, I heard there's a kendo school called Isshin Dojo on this island, so I came from off the island to seek instruction."
"Seek instruction? Your swordsmanship doesn't look weak to me. Why would you come here to study?" The old man was still puzzled. He could tell Vic had accomplished a great deal in swordsmanship. Someone like that would usually have completed his apprenticeship and would need to walk the rest of the path himself.
"Well, sir, I got a book on the basics of swordsmanship before and taught myself from it. So I wanted to come here and study systematically, to fill in the advanced material that follows the basics." Looking sincere, Vic took out the booklet on swordsmanship basics and handed it over.
The old man was astonished. A single book on swordsmanship basics, and he had taught himself? The young man didn't look very old, yet he had reached his current level. His talent was exceptional.
The old man took the booklet and looked through it. It really did cover the basics of swordsmanship, and quite comprehensively.
"My name is Kozaburo. The master of Isshin Dojo is my son, Koshiro. I'll write you a letter of recommendation tomorrow, and you'll have an excellent chance of becoming his student." Kozaburo greatly admired Vic's talent and intended to have Koshiro train him well and establish a good connection.
Vic wasn't particularly surprised. Kozaburo should still be alive at this point in time. Kozaburo was a master swordsmith, and he was forging metal not far from Isshin Dojo. It all made sense.
"That's wonderful. I hunted this boar just now, so please have this leg." Vic smiled.
Kozaburo accepted it without ceremony. He could hunt such prey himself, but he had been forging a sword and had no time to go hunting.
Given Koshiro's relationship with the Revolutionary Army, Koshiro couldn't appear here often, for Kozaburo's safety. So Kozaburo usually ate very simply.
Smithing was hard physical work, and food that was too plain wouldn't do. That was why Kozaburo didn't turn down Vic's meat. A leg this big would last him a long time.
"Sir, what are you doing here?" Vic asked, pointing at the house, though he already knew.
"Oh, I'm a swordsmith. This is where I forge swords. I'm making a fine sword for my granddaughter." Kozaburo didn't conceal it. That was exactly what Vic had been waiting for him to say.
"Oh, sir, you're a swordsmith? Could you teach me how to forge swords?" Vic asked, looking surprised.
That was Vic's real aim. He wanted a suitable sword, but even the creators of this world didn't understand the swords from his previous life, so how could the people in this world forge them? That was why he wanted to learn swordsmithing, so he could eventually make a sword suited to him himself.
Previously, he had planned to find time to learn once he reached Marine Headquarters.
So when he found out this was Kozaburo, he was secretly delighted. Not many particularly skilled swordsmiths had appeared in the original story. Now that he had met one, he wasn't going to let the chance pass. He could learn the best sword-forging techniques.
"Hm? Didn't you come to learn swordsmanship? Why do you want to learn swordsmithing now?" Kozaburo asked.
"Mr. Kozaburo, a swordsman's sword is first made by a swordsmith, and then the swordsman chooses from those swords. After choosing one, a swordsman needs time to get familiar with it and adapt to it. But I think that's all just passively accommodating the sword. Someone with good talent can adapt very well and reach a high level. I won't even get into ordinary people." Vic paused, then continued solemnly.
"But no matter how talented a person is, that's still a passive state. They can't reach the true realm of Unity of Man and Sword. That's why I want to forge the sword I carry with my own hands."
Kozaburo could hardly believe what he was hearing. At such a young age, Vic's understanding of swordsmanship already pointed straight to its end. Kozaburo had never heard of "Unity of Man and Sword," but its literal meaning alone told him it was an exceptionally lofty realm. He had been a swordsman himself when he was young and had been on many adventures after leaving Wano Country. He was even a descendant of Shimotsuki Ryuma, the Dragon Slayer, yet he had never heard the term "Unity of Man and Sword." It was as though a new world had opened up to him.
"Young man, your ambition is greater than anyone's I've ever seen. It's hard to imagine how powerful someone in that realm would be. Could a slash bring down the moon in the sky?" Kozaburo looked up at the sky, his face full of longing.
Vic didn't know what Kozaburo was thinking. He waited quietly without disturbing him.
"All right, then. Study swordsmanship at the dojo in the mornings, and come here to learn swordsmithing from me in the afternoons," Kozaburo said seriously, coming back to himself.
"I wonder if I'll live to see you achieve Unity of Man and Sword. Alas." Kozaburo sighed.
Having heard of such a realm of swordsmanship, he would regret it for the rest of his life if he never saw it.
"All right, Master. I'll do as you say," Vic said with a smile.
"Don't call me Master. Just call me big brother, and I'll call you little brother." Kozaburo waved a hand and smiled.
Kozaburo had a feeling that Vic was extraordinary and that his future achievements would be limitless. He was only teaching him swordsmithing, which was no great matter. He didn't think he had enough good fortune to bear the title of Master.
"How can we do that? What would that make me to your son?" Vic was dumbfounded.
"We'll each call the other what we like. I don't care; you can figure it out yourself, heh heh heh." Kozaburo chuckled.