Author's Note:
It's been a while. Felt like writing, so here's an update. During the "two years" of training, this is the story of a certain swordsman who, unlike in the Original Work, is training with Sue and the others on Merveille.
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On a certain Sky Island in Merveille Near-Sky.
"Tiger... Hunt!!"
A massive Wild Ox came barreling in with enough force to shatter rock.
Leaping into the air to dodge the charge, Zoro raised his three swords and slammed a ferocious slash into the beast from the side.
It connected squarely with its neck, but the thick skin and muscle stopped it short of a fatal wound. The creature glared up at Zoro in midair. He may have severed the carotid artery given how heavily it was bleeding, but before its life ran out, it looked perfectly capable of goring him on those horns in retaliation.
Fixing its gaze on Zoro, though, meant letting its guard down everywhere else. That was a mistake.
Diving in from the opposite side, the other swordsman, Saga, swung the famous blade Shido clean through.
The Wild Ox took massive damage, legs buckling. It collapsed with a heavy thud and, after a while, stopped moving entirely.
Once they'd confirmed it was truly dead and not just playing possum, the two let out a breath.
"Alright... got ourselves dinner."
"Yeah, thing this size oughta keep us well-fed. Meat spoils fast though, so we gotta eat it quick."
Zoro hoisted the felled Wild Ox onto his shoulders.
The two started heading back toward the mansion on the rocky hill at the center of the island, their current base. But almost immediately, the forest around them, no, their entire surroundings, grew noisy.
Guessing the reason, Zoro clicked his tongue.
"Figures they'd show up... Saga, sorry, but I'm counting on you."
"Yeah, leave it to me... I'm not giving up dinner!"
Various forest beasts had gathered around them, drawn by the scent of fresh kill and looking to steal the meat.
Hyena-like creatures. Birds swooping down from the sky. All sorts of species. Protecting their quarry from these predators all the way back to the mansion on the rocky hill was the true extent of their "hunt."
If one had to briefly describe the training Zoro and the others were undertaking, it would probably be classified as Survival.
Procuring daily sustenance from the forest and grasslands by their own hands, and through the process of hunting, battling various powerful wild beasts to hone their skills.
Additionally, endurance runs and weight training for physical conditioning, as well as sparring matches, were conducted across the entire island, utilizing varied terrain like sandy ground and rocky hills.
This not only increased the load for greater efficiency but also provided additional combat Experience by fending off animals that targeted Zoro and Saga as "prey."
Unlike Luffy, though, who was doing similar training in a 100% natural environment, the mansion where they stayed was a civilized, quite comfortable living space. And while meals were self-prepared, they had access to a properly equipped kitchen and dining hall.
Beyond that, there was a surprising amount of time spent in civilized and cultured spaces, so the atmosphere might not have been that of a hardcore Survival situation.
Of course, this wasn't because anyone was coddling Zoro. This was the result of carefully considering what would be the most efficient way to advance the training.
And Zoro and the others weren't the only ones staying in this mountain mansion.
"Oh, welcome back, Zoro! You brought back a big one, huh!"
"Ooh, beef! Another feast today!"
"Yeah. Already drained the blood. I'll put it in storage. I can leave the cooking to you guys, right?"
"Aye, that falls under our duties. Beauty and Blume are out elsewhere at the moment, so I shall let them know later."
Three young women, eyes sparkling at the prize Zoro and Saga had brought back.
And watching them all, Zoro included, with a warm smile: Sue.
Counting Beauty and Blume, who weren't present, a total of eight people (male-to-female ratio of 1:3) were the training camp members currently living together under this roof.
☆☆☆
[Sue's Perspective]
Beyond the basic training and "hunts," there was of course no shortage of training that needed doing.
But what everyone was focusing on right now, across the board, was "body building."
Eat well, move well, rest well, sleep well, and forge a body strong enough to fight and move to the fullest. That was the task everyone needed to accomplish in this first phase of training.
Hearing just that, it might sound like nothing special. Ordinary stuff. But making that "ordinary" foundation, the base of everything, rock-solid and sturdy was absolutely essential for maximizing the breakthroughs to come.
To keep up with the more demanding, more grueling training that would begin later, the priority now was to firmly establish the fundamentals. With that conviction in their hearts, Zoro, Saga, and all the girls devoted themselves to training.
And as part of building that foundation, they also engaged in other activities: sparring matches.
The roar of metal on metal rang out with the ferocity of a downpour.
Zoro and Saga, coordinating their attacks, unleashed a combined assault of four swords, and I caught, deflected, and parried every last one with a single blade.
Rushing me from the same direction at a pace meant to overwhelm my defenses? Blocked completely.
Attacking from opposite sides in a pincer? Blocked completely.
"Damn it... first Hawk-Eye, now her... the world really is a big place...!"
"No kidding... to fighters at this level, brats like us who casually throw around the word 'strongest' must look absolutely ridiculous...!"
"No need to be that hard on yourselves. You're both strong enough to make me want to cheer you on, and more than that, you're dead serious about it. Well... I won't deny there are plenty of blowhards out there, and it gets tiring. Now then!"
Zoro and Saga came at me simultaneously from left and right. Their swords arrived at the exact same instant. Flawless combination. As expected of best friends. I spun and deflected both strikes, redirecting their blades away to neutralize them.
Without stopping, I stepped in and kicked Saga in the stomach, sending him flying about ten meters before he slammed into the ground.
But Zoro didn't miss that opening and pressed the attack from the other side.
"Demonic Aura Nine-Sword Style... Asura: Ichibugin!!"
A ferocious barrage of slashes, unleashed with Spirit so intense he appeared as a three-faced, six-armed demon god.
I deflected every single strike upward, parrying them all, and in doing so redirected Zoro's own momentum upward as well, essentially tossing him into the sky.
Against Zoro's "hard" swordsmanship, I neutralized it with "soft" swordsmanship. A crude comparison, but it was like using the opponent's force to throw them. Like aikido.
From Zoro's perspective, every last one of his finishing strikes had been blocked before he could understand how, none of them landing, and when he came to his senses he was airborne.
But he suppressed his shock in minimal time, turned to face downward, tried to lock eyes on me. Failed.
Because I had leaped above him, passing behind his back to reach a position higher than his.
He noticed that in an instant too and tried to slash at me while turning in midair, but the spinning roundhouse kick I delivered to his side after whirling through the air like a cartwheel was faster.
With a choked gasp, Zoro was sent flying, the air driven from his lungs.
He crashed to the ground not far from Saga. Didn't get back up.
He still seemed conscious, but the damage must have been severe.
Well, probably not just from that last hit alone. More like the cumulative total of everything leading up to it.
"Alright, let's call it here for today. Sun's already starting to go down."
"No... I can... still keep going...!"
"Don't push it. The fatigue's built up across your whole body and you're shaking. Resting properly when it's time to rest is part of training too. Get some water and let your body recover. And I'm not only training you two, you know. I need to check in on the girls while there's still daylight."
"...Yeah, alright... got it."
Once I explained it properly, he understood, though he did look a little disappointed.
Letting out a long breath, Zoro sheathed his swords into their Scabbards. He drank water from a canteen they'd left a short distance away and went to shake Saga awake, who appeared to have passed out.
Yeah, it was only tiny increments each day, but both of them were progressing steadily. The unnecessary tension and wasted movement were being stripped from their sword strokes, and thanks to the "body building," the power and force behind their techniques were increasing.
I'll say it again: "tiny increments." Were they even aware of it themselves?
Well, persistence pays off. We had two years. Even factoring in other skills to develop, there was time to hone them at a steady pace.
☆☆☆
Once night fell and everyone's training was done, it was time for a quick wash-up and then dinner.
Meals were mainly prepared by Beauty, with me or Suzu lending a hand as needed. When training was over and the time came, everyone gathered in the dining hall to eat together.
Having moved and fought until they were utterly spent, drenched in sweat and burning through calories, the group tore into the lavish dinner that filled the table. Rice, meat, fish, vegetables, fruit... a well-balanced menu prepared from all sorts of ingredients.
"This beef is from the one Zoro and Saga brought back... what about this fish?"
"That one Beauty reeled in herself. It was a kind of fish I'd never seen before, so it startled me a bit... but Sue knew what it was. Apparently it's called a Sky Fish."
"Wait, a Sky Fish?! ...Oh, you're right! Why would there be one on this island... so they've finally started breeding Sky Fish here too. This place is more and more of a Demon's Paradise..."
Even while saying that, Leona helped herself from the large platter to, well, what would you even call this? Not yellowtail daikon or salmon daikon, but Sky Fish daikon? Something like that.
Being from a Sky Island herself, the cooking method aside, it was a familiar flavor for her.
No, I was surprised too. We were fishing as a casual break, the former Impel Down lady convict trio, and we ended up hooking a large Sky Fish.
To think something like that was living here, breeding even, outside the Cloud Sea of the White-White Sea. Lubots Island really lived up to its reputation. The wild crucible where every kind of animal thrived was no joke.
The members who'd never eaten Sky Fish before eyed the unfamiliar, distinctive texture with curiosity, but once our Chef of the Winter Sky had properly and deliciously prepared it, they devoured it in no time.
Besides the Sky Fish daikon (tentative name), there were also sautes, grilled preparations, and all sorts of other dishes, and of course every one of those was wildly popular too.
They vanished at the same pace as the Wild Ox meat, or faster. Gone in the blink of an eye.
Another day where everything was eaten clean. Not a single grain of rice left behind. Thanks for the meal.
Afterward, during the post-meal rest.
"Hey, got a minute?"
I was out on the terrace, enjoying the night Wind and leisurely reading a Book, when Zoro came to talk to me.
"I'm grateful you're training me... and I'm not about to complain about your methods after asking for your help. I'm not. But if possible, there's something I'd like to ask."
"What? Could it be... when Haki training is going to start... something like that?"
"...Yeah."
The moment the word left my mouth, a blatantly fierce gleam ignited in Zoro's eyes.
A hunger for strength so obvious it was almost painful to look at.
He probably thought he was asking calmly, but this was something ingrained in Zoro at an instinctive level, most likely.
For the sake of his own ambition, and for a promise made to a dear friend no longer alive. With staggeringly powerful will, pursuing strength with relentless stoicism, endlessly.
I knew from my knowledge of the original plot that this was the kind of person he was, but seeing it firsthand made the impression that much more intense.
And it wasn't just in this moment. It was constant, even during sparring. If I probed even lightly with Observation Haki, it came through crystal clear.
Without needing words, his intent, his very way of being, radiating single-mindedly toward becoming stronger than the person he was yesterday, reached me plainly.
I remembered the first time I sensed it. An involuntary, weird noise escaped me. Something like "Whoa..."
Precisely because he was that dead serious, I felt compelled to take my role as instructor seriously too. It made me think, 'I have to answer this resolve with everything I've got.'
So yes, I was instructing him with full sincerity. Same as with my girls.
But...
"I won't make you wait too long. But give me just a bit more time, okay? I can't say exactly how long, but... I'm planning to start within roughly one to two months."
"I see... got it. I won't complain. I'll do the training, and I'll wait."
Even as he said that, I could tell he was a little disappointed. Maybe impatient.
From Zoro's perspective... no, probably not just Zoro. Luffy, Sanji, all the other members of the Straw Hat Pirates likely wanted to acquire greater power than ever before, as soon as possible.
What Luffy was feeling when he sent that message, when he made the decision to "stop and build strength" for two whole years. As his crewmates, they understood.
But even so, precisely because of that, precisely because I wanted them to grow stronger, the proper time had to be invested.
This was a training plan based on my own personal philosophy.
During the training period in the Original Work, the specifics of what kind of training Mihawk put Zoro through were never actually depicted, so I didn't know.
The most that was shown was that Zoro was forbidden from drinking until he mastered Haki.
Beyond that, well... it wasn't hard to imagine the training had been brutally Spartan.
After all, Zoro ended up with a scar over his left eye, losing the use of it entirely.
Actually, was that really the case? Was it truly a lost eye?
Maybe it was one of those common battle manga developments where he dramatically opens it when he gets serious, unlocking power beyond his limits, or something like that?
At least up to the point I'd read, there was no indication of that, but... it still nagged at me.
Well, that aside.
These next one to two months were a necessary period not just for Zoro and Saga, but for me as well.
As I said before, in order to make them stronger in my own way.
Through training with them, I needed to identify what they needed, what kind of training would help them obtain it, and what was required for that training. A proper plan had to be drawn up.
To begin with, my swordsmanship and Zoro's and Saga's were quite different in type.
In fact, even Saga and Zoro, if you looked closely, were quite different from each other.
Given that, it was obvious I couldn't simply apply the methods that had made me strong and expect them to work for Zoro or Saga. I had to take the appropriate time to think it through. Training suited to them specifically.
And running parallel to that, I'd have them thoroughly polish every technical aspect that had nothing to do with Haki.
Repetitive drills were of course important for refining technique, but to actually use those techniques in practice, training that closely simulated real conditions was necessary. In other words, sparring with an opponent in a combat-style format. That was my belief.
This too was a personal opinion, a personal value born from my own Experience.
But precisely because of that, I believed it applied to just about anyone and was the right call.
And Zoro had probably always done weight training and practice swings during his time traveling by ship, but opportunities for actual sparring had been almost nonexistent.
Putting his abilities to use had likely only ever happened in real combat. At the very least, there was no depiction in the Original Work of him training by fighting any of his fellow Straw Hat Pirates (aside from his bickering with Sanji).
But here, there was me, of course, plus my three girls and Saga. Multiple sparring partners of comparable skill, each with a different fighting style, offering a variety of combat Experience.
It may have been within the bounds of practice, but that Experience would undoubtedly make him stronger than he was now. There were things that could only be gained through this kind of training, which Zoro had never had the chance to do before.
And really, this applied not just to Zoro but to Saga, to my girls as well.
And of course, to me too.
On top of that, if the fundamentals were that solidly established, then when the time came to learn Haki, the results would be even more spectacular.
It was like multiplication. The greater the combat ability without Haki, the more dramatically strength would skyrocket when Haki was added on top.
It might sound a certain way, but... it would be enough to make everything that had been one's full power feel like a thing of the past.
Right there in front of Zoro, I picked up a single skewer. A leftover from the dango I'd just eaten for dessert.
An ordinary wooden skewer. The kind you'd find anywhere.
Holding it deliberately so Zoro could see it clearly, I infused it with Haki and flicked it with my finger.
It sailed over the terrace railing, headed for a tree standing beyond it, about to pierce into it...
With a sharp crack and a dull thud...
...or so it seemed, but instead of stopping, it punched clean through the tree and kept going.
It finally came to rest buried deep in the boulder beyond, embedded roughly to the middle, and stopped.
Considering the strength of the material, it was an impossible sight.
Thrown normally, no matter how much force was put behind it, it shouldn't have been able to pierce through wood, the same material it was made of. Whether it could even stick into anything at all was doubtful.
Witnessing firsthand just how far beyond common sense the power called Haki could reach, Zoro swallowed hard, his throat audibly tightening.
A single casual, trivial motion had produced enough destructive force to easily kill a person depending on where it struck. Hard to blame him for that reaction.
Don't worry. In a year, you'll be able to do this much too. I'll make sure of it.
So for now, let's take it slow and focus on what needs to be done.
What you build up now will someday, and I didn't intend to make him wait as long as "someday" implied, pull Zoro up to a stage far, far above where he stood.
Although when that time came, it wouldn't just be Zoro growing stronger. Saga, of course, and my girls, and for that matter, me too. We'd all be training together, getting stronger together. That was probably how it would go.
Frankly, I was counting on Zoro to serve as a sparring partner for that purpose as well.
People grow faster and stronger when they have someone to compete with.
In that sense too, for these two years, I intended to give it my absolute all.
To be continued...