"Wrong."
Koushirou's wooden sword actually swung to the right. The blade came straight down on Ethan's body.
"Hu…"
Koushirou sheathed the sword and stood calmly.
"Your cutting steel power is too scattered. It can be guided and deflected by your opponent, which means your control over the sword is not enough.
"If your Observation is not refined, you will also be fooled. One mistake and you die."
With that, Koushirou turned and walked away.
There was a deafening crash. The wall behind Ethan slid down, and a sword mark stretched across the ground behind him. Everything in front of that cut line had been sliced clean in half.
Ethan himself was completely unharmed. He stood there in a daze for a moment, then bowed deeply in the direction Koushirou had left. This time he was fully awake.
Even though his trip through the East Blue had been filled with bloody battles, constant victories had quietly given rise to pride in his heart. Koushirou had seen it and said nothing. A swordsman was better at speaking with his blade.
Ethan had swung once, Koushirou had swung once. That was all the conversation they needed, and the problem was clear.
Shimotsuki sword style: Proficient 35%
Observation Haki: Beginner 30%
A spar had to yield something.
He went home, thinking about how to continue raising his strength.
Since Koushirou had already pointed out the issues, finding a way to patch them up was easy with Ethan's way of thinking.
If his control over the sword was lacking, then he would start with training to make the heavy feel light and the light feel heavy.
That senior swordsman from another world really knew his stuff. From "a heavy sword without an edge, great skill looking clumsy" to "no longer bound by form, grass, wood, bamboo and stone can all become a sword." Those realms were explained perfectly.
If he trained that to the end, his control would be rock solid. It was just that the pirate world taking on a wuxia training style felt a bit strange.
There was a way to fix the strength and precision problem of Observation Haki too.
Blindfolded thrusts at falling leaves. When leaves were blown down by the wind, their center of mass shifted and their paths became completely irregular. They were perfect for Observation training.
He silently thanked all the seniors from other worlds for their selfless contributions.
Once he had the ideas, he needed to put them into practice. Materials science in the One Piece world was quite advanced. He asked someone to custom order a heavy sword that looked ordinary but weighed a lot. The metal used was not really suitable for forging a proper sword, but a rich man's request still had to be met.
He ordered a full set of weighted gear as well. Bodyweight training was no longer enough for Ethan. People in this world had very high natural physical stats. As long as he controlled the load properly, there was no need to worry about hurting his bones.
Putting it together, his new routine was threading falling leaves with that heavy sword. That trained both making the heavy feel light and his Observation Haki.
He also practiced with a wooden sword underwater, tempering his body.
This training method once again opened Koushirou's eyes.
He suddenly felt that Ethan was creating a stable, steadily rising sword training system. As long as there were enough resources, this system could at least produce a swordsman who would be considered qualified even in Wano.
A man who wants to change the world, huh?
The future is something to look forward to.
…
The days of single-minded hard work passed quickly. A regular training regimen was nothing more than constant polishing of the self.
Ethan maintained a rhythm of one month training in Shimotsuki Village and one month going out to hunt pirates.
Outside, he sought breakthroughs. Back home, he沉淀 everything and turned it into fuel for growth.
He had added several more identities for moving around in public. For example…
The famous detective of the East Blue, Shinichi Kudo. As for why a detective would carry a sword and cut people, that was simply following local customs.
The swordsman from the North Blue, Kenshin Himura. A Kenshin without a reversed blade sword, scary or not?
And the blind swordsman with no background, a low budget cosplay of Fujitora. That was the mask he used while training his Observation Haki.
Each of these identities left its own legend in the East Blue. The Marines were puzzled by why the number of pirates in the East Blue had dropped so sharply, but they could not find any answers. The Marines themselves did not care that much about the four seas to begin with.
At the same time, as his footsteps reached more places and he saw more people and more stories, his thoughts also deepened. He recorded all of it in the notebook he kept on him.
He did not forget his original intention. Ethan always remembered that power was only a means to accomplish a greater goal.
By May of Sea Circle Calendar 1505, Ethan looked over his training status:
Constitution: 55
Strength: 54
Speed: 56
Skills:
Shave: Beginner 80%
Conqueror's Haki: 12%–14%
Shimotsuki sword style: Proficient 70%
Observation Haki: Proficient 50%
Armament Haki: Beginner 30%
Observation Haki matched very well with his foundational sword style, so it grew quickly, already stepping into the Proficient stage.
Ethan no longer threaded leaves with his eyes closed. That method had no effect anymore.
Armament Haki had also been awakened at the start of 1505.
As for the Shimotsuki sword style, he could now freely unleash cutting steel, and his power had become very condensed.
The reason his Shimotsuki sword style had progressed so quickly was tied to that realm of making the heavy feel light. The philosophy of that senior swordsman from another world really stood on a very high level.
Ethan was still training that realm and could clearly feel his progress.
The swordmasters of this world were all talent based. They probably knew roughly how to raise their control over the sword.
But none of them gave explanations as thorough as that senior.
Ethan had taken full advantage of his memories from his previous life and was running far ahead of others on the path of the sword. His speed of improvement left even Koushirou feeling it was unbelievable.
Training Shave had also been moved up the schedule. This kind of high speed movement was critical to Ethan and formed the foundation of mobile combat.
Now Ethan was facing a choice, a chance to meet Monkey D. Dragon.
Luffy was about to be born. After that, Dragon would send him back to Windmill Village in the East Blue to be raised by Garp.
It would be the only chance in recent years to cross paths with the Revolutionary Army.
But Garp would also be in Windmill Village.
It was not that he was worried Garp would capture them. Ethan trusted the character of that old Marine.
But what about the people around Garp? Would there be a CP0 spy among his subordinates? That was hard to say.
Ethan believed that when it came to top level power inside the Marines, the Five Elders definitely had eyes planted around them. That made it risky.
On top of that, his own strength was still not enough. On these seas, a person without power had no weight behind their words.
If some kid who had not even reached the level of swordmaster walked up to Dragon claiming he understood the true meaning of revolution, Dragon's first thought would probably be that the World Government had found him. He would kill the kid and disappear.
So after thinking it over again and again, Ethan decided that many parts of his plan would have to wait until he broke through to swordmaster.
After that, the key point would be the Mary Geoise incident in 1509.
That was the node Ethan cared about the most. At that point, he would plan something on a far grander scale.
Putting those thoughts aside, Ethan decided to travel through the other three seas.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome]
[Thank You For Your Support!]