The following evening, Smoker left the seaside cabin feeling dejected, because Vic refused to spar with him, thinking he was too weak.
Hina followed behind Smoker with a smile on her face.
After cleaning up the mess, Vic took out his homemade bamboo sword, and Rebecca also blindfolded herself and assumed a fighting stance.
Vic closed his eyes, approached Rebecca, and began today's training.
" Rebecca, you must concentrate and sense the bamboo sword I'm swinging. You can't treat the bamboo sword as just a bamboo sword; you must dodge it as if it were a real sword. If you fail to dodge it once, you will perish. Only in life-or-death situations can you more easily Awakening your Observation Haki."
Vic said earnestly to Rebecca that he had only Awakening to his true potential when facing death.
Although Vic was reluctant to hurt Rebecca, in order to help her Observation Haki quickly, he had no choice but to let her suffer some minor injuries now so that she would be less likely to get hurt when facing real enemies in the future.
Rebecca nodded!
The students in the sailing class noticed that Rebecca had been getting injuries on her head and face lately, with old wounds not yet healed and new ones appearing. They were all wondering what she had been through.
Having this appearance is already considered good; he gets to eat Sea Kings meat every day, and the high content of Primal Spirit allows him to quickly recover from injuries.
The recovery simply couldn't keep up with the rate at which the injury was aggravated.
However, there have been some results. Rebecca has occasionally managed to dodge a hit, which shows that she's on the right track and that persistence will pay off.
Vic trains like this for an hour every day.
The rest of the time was devoted to Vic's personal training.
However, Vic's main focus of training was on comprehending Armament Haki, and he would meditate for a long time every day.
Focus your mind on yourself and try to manipulate those black particles.
For the first few days, he had no clue what to do. His mind was too scattered, and the black particles were completely unmoved.
Later, Vic remembered what Zephyr had said: start with the easiest parts to control. He scanned his body from head to toe, then raised his hands and stared at them intently. He remembered the Six Powers Shigan.
"I see. There's a reason why Shigan is singled out as a special skill. It's truly a well-intentioned idea!"
Fingers are the most flexible and frequently used part of our body, making it easier to grasp the Haki starting from there. This is the foundation the Navy uses to teach Haki.
Shigan can be seen as a transitional stage, bridging the past and the future.
The six skills of the Six Powers don't explicitly tell you: if you want to learn Haki, mastering the Six Powers will make it easier to Awakening Haki!
However, as long as you diligently learn what the instructors teach, you will be guided closer to the Awakening of Haki.
After figuring it out, Vic focused all his mental energy on the index finger of his right hand, and then he accomplished something he couldn't do no matter how hard he tried before.
He mobilized the black particles within the cells of his index finger to appear on the surface of his index finger. Although there weren't many, it was still a significant improvement.
"Finally succeeded! But you still need to learn the basics; skipping grades is really a bad idea! Such a waste of time! I'm not talking about you, Zoro, hahaha!"
Vic was overjoyed because he had finally found the key to unlocking the gates of Armament Haki.
The door has been opened. As long as you persist in your practice, you can gradually grow stronger with increased body proficiency until Awakening!
The fog has dissipated, the road ahead has appeared, and Vic will stride forward.
Within two days, Vic was already proficient in using the Shigan, and many large trees in the forest were riddled with holes from Vic pokes.
He can now manipulate the black particles with all ten fingers.
"You need to fight a few more times to really master it!"
Vic's willpower was already quite strong, as evidenced by his ability to skillfully use Observation Haki.
Vic was trying to control more black particles. He knew that when there were enough black particles, that would be the manifestation of his Haki, or one could say, Awakening.
However, at present, Vic can only control a few layers of cells in the epidermis to release black particles, so it has not been very effective yet. Only a few wisps of eerie light linger, appearing and disappearing intermittently!
"No rush. Six months in Recruit Camp, six months in Elite Camp, that's a year. I still have a relatively comfortable year to accumulate experience."
Time flies.
A month had passed since Vic arrived at Marineford. One morning, during morning exercises, Andrew told Vic some news.
"You have exams tomorrow, every single one. Do your best, don't embarrass yourself. Remember your promises, be a real man!"
Vic scoffed, "Who do you think you are? You've already memorized everything in the book."
Vic wasn't worried at all. After finishing his exercises, he went to the Elite Camp, but Zephyr wasn't there today, and Vic's plan fell through.
Vic practiced Shigan with the Elite Camp cadets. He used Shigan, while the cadet used Tekkai; their offense and defense were quite harmonious.
Smoker was constantly working on developing his Devil Fruit, and Vic secretly shook his head as he watched.
What's the point of developing a trashy Logia? Look how awesome my Speed-Speed Fruit! It can already accelerate 15 times! It's too fast! The female students are getting a little dissatisfied. Every time, it blows their clothes up, and before they can even see me, I'm left all alone.
Vic just wants to Awakening Armament Haki and beat Smoker up. He's either developing his Devil Fruit or on his way to developing it. With your illiterate appearance, what kind of tricks can you possibly pull off? Vic doesn't even want to talk about it anymore.
After practicing his Shigan, and seeing that Zephyr hadn't returned yet, Vic left.
When they returned to the cabin, Rebecca was already back.
" Rebecca, we won't be practicing Observation Haki today. We have an exam tomorrow, so you can rest for a day," Vic said to Rebecca with a smile.
He was even a little embarrassed, since he beat Rebecca up every day until she was bruised and swollen, with bumps on her head. Luckily, they weren't a couple, otherwise people would have accused Vic domestic violence.
" Vic, I only need to take one exam, it's fine," Rebecca replied.
She really wanted to become stronger, but now Vic was getting stronger too fast, and she felt the gap between them was widening, which made her feel a bit of a pressure.
Rebecca's eyes held a hint of worry, but Vic failed to notice.
"No need, it's good that I don't get beaten up. I can recover from my injuries and try to look good again during the exam, hahaha!" Vic laughed loudly.
It was hilarious to see Rebecca with her bruised and swollen face.
Rebecca had been injured during sparring sessions before, but she rarely hurt her head or face. This was the first time Vic had seen Rebecca like this, so he felt the difference was huge, and he found it funny to think about how she looked before.
"You're laughing again! You've promised me so many times, but you never keep your word! Humph!"
Rebecca was a little annoyed. Every time Vic finished laughing, he would promise her that it was the last time, but he would still laugh when they met again.
"I said I won't laugh, and I mean it, unless I can't help it, hahaha!" Vic laughed even harder.
"Hmph, you Vic, I'm ignoring you!" Rebecca got angry, turned her head away from Vic, and sulked to herself.
"Okay, okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Don't be angry, I'll stop laughing." Vic stopped laughing and tried to comfort Rebecca.
" Rebecca, Granny Tsuru not returned yet?" Vic asked again.
"No, he only visited me at the Recruit Camp once before setting sail. He said he was going on a mission to the North Blue and hasn't come back since."
Rebecca also missed Granny Tsuru a little; Granny Tsuru was one of the few people Rebecca knew.
Vic thought for a moment. It was currently the year 1504 of the Sea Circle Calendar. Granny Tsuru was most likely chasing the Donquixote Family in the North Blue right now!
Returning from the North Blue isn't something you can just do casually, but don't worry, Granny Tsuru is quite powerful; currently, no one in the Donquixote Family is her match.
"Yes, Granny Tsuru is very strong, you don't need to worry about her safety," Vic said nonchalantly.
Rebecca nodded without saying anything.
Vic stopped chatting with Rebecca and resumed his Shigan training.
Vic is no longer limiting himself to his ten fingers, but is now exploring, feeling, mobilizing, and strengthening his entire body inch by inch!
He knew that once the black particles within all the epidermal cells of his body were activated, he would become Tekkai.
With a clear direction, Vic only needs to do these things every day to strengthen and increase his control over the black particles; it's now a process of accumulating over time.
Vic had to admit that the Navy's Haki system was more comprehensive; reciting poetry like Koshiro really added a lot of difficulty!
He thought of Koshiro, and then he thought of Kuina. It had been half a year since he had parted ways with Kuina!
"I wonder how Kuina is doing, if she's happy every day, and what she's doing now."
What is Kuina doing? There's not much she can do, especially with a strict father. She's currently practicing Isshin Dojo swordplay behind the Isshin Dojo, very seriously!
This is the girl who later aspired to become the World's Strongest swordsman!
In Shimotsuki Village, every time Kuina saw the little wooden house in front of her, her eyes would become more determined.
Vic remarked: Everyone has their own life. Sometimes you're part of that life, sometimes you're just a spectator, and sometimes you can only listen to their stories...