Markus grunted in pain before getting off his back. He picked up his fallen sword with a snarl and quickly fused his Haki into it. His Observation alerted him to something extremely fast behind him but on instinct he blocked above him barely blocking a powerful Sword Lance that started to bend his own sword even completely covered by Armament.
Markus was trying to think of a way out when his vision blurred slightly as a pain in his side indicated he took a devastating kick launching him into a tree. He crashed through it and laid on the ground before slowly pushing himself up.
[Took a Serious beating from Shisu Lv. ??? Massive increase in all stats, Mental Fortitude, and Haki!]
Markus spit out some blood and took a deep breath feeling his body recovering already. He grabbed his sword and felt a stronger layer of Haki cover his sword. His Observation only spread thirty meters right now but it was a nearly hyperrealistic 360 view while still being able to track Shisu.
He carefully focused on what Shisu was doing, finding it hard to follow his movements except for the few moments he would completely stop moving either right at the edge of his field of view with Haki or right out of range of his sword. Markus ignored Shisu and closed his eyes. His Haki diminished leaving him in darkness but he could hear the air from Shisu's quick movements.
Shisu went in for an attack when Markus took a step back and twisted his waist. He opened his eyes in time to see a smiling Shisu before he got punched in the gut. Markus folded and went flying into a tree but held his sword this time as he forced himself to his feet huffing.
Markus rolled his shoulders and raised his sword. They continued with battle training for almost six hours when Shisu pushed Markus over onto his back letting him rest. Markus huffed with a smile looking at his stats.
[Name: Markus
Level: 22
Primary Class: [Beginner Swordsman - Level: 12]
Secondary Class: None
HP: 18%
SP: 0%
HK: 2%]
[Skills:
[Beginner Swordsmanship - Level: 91 [28,477/46,000]
[Armament Haki - Level: 5 [15,621/100,000]
[Observation Haki - Level: 5 [40,012/100,000]
In just a week he had made more progress with Shisu's help than he did alone. Markus spent a little time recovering before he made his way back to the beach. Even though Shisu took him to the middle of the island to train he never let Markus go past the giant Pine but Markus never questioned him since he was training him.
They mostly talked about his skills and how to improve upon them in actual battles. Shisu also taught him the training of Conqueror's even though Markus hadn't shown he had it. Shisu had told him he was already as strong as most Paradise Pirates but his Swordsmanship was lacking compared to his Haki. So he put even more time and effort into it.
He spent almost all day fighting against Shisu pushing his Haki and Swordsmanship to the limit. After another long day near the end while fighting something interesting happened. He not only maxed out Beginner Swordsmanship but also reached level 15 in his class while fighting Shisu.
[Name: Markus
Level: 24
Primary Class: [Beginner Swordsman - Level: 15 MAX]
Secondary Class: None
HP: 100%
SP: 100%
HK: 100%]
[Skills:
[Beginner Swordsmanship - Level: MAX]
[You have maxed out your first Primary Class! Please pick one class quest to continue!]
[Class Quests -
Primary Class: [Beginner Swordsman] Maxed Out!
Adept Swordsman
Beginner Samurai]
Markus quickly selected Adept Swordsman.
[Class Quest -
[Adept Swordsman] D-Rank
You have completely mastered the basics of the Sword and ready to delve into more!
{Defeat 0/10 Swordsman}]
Markus felt his eye twitch before sighing. He couldn't increase his system skill but he could still train in forms and practicality before he left in another month. He thought hard about what he could do at the moment.
"What's got you frying your brain so much?" Markus snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Shisu.
"You wouldn't happen to have a gun or two I could practice in?" Shisu blinked a few times.
"Actually yeah I think I have a few though I can't promise I have enough ammo for proper practice. I don't know if they even work, honestly I got them years ago as tokens from a few different victories." Shisu disappeared before quickly returning holding a musket and a beautifully designed pistol. Markus gently took and loaded the pistol before aiming at a tree trunk.
He shot hitting the tree but extremely off target. He sighed and spent a couple hours practicing when he finally got what he wanted and more.
[Name: Markus
Level: 24
Primary Class: [Beginner Swordsman - Level: 15 MAX]
Secondary Class: [Beginner Marksman - Level: 1]
HP: 100%
SP: 100%
HK: 100%]
[Skills:
[Beginner Swordsmanship - Level: MAX]
[Armament Haki - Level: 5 [27,293/100,000]
[Observation Haki - Level: 5 [74,582/100,000]
[Beginner Marksmanship - Level: 1 [0/10]
Increases Senses and Dexterity by .5%! Basic understanding on owning and utilizing a firearm!
[Obtained Secondary Class:
[Beginner Marksman] - Increase mental stats when wielding a gun by 1%!
[Legacy Quest - Secondary Specialist - Complete!
First to obtain a secondary class in the world! Receive 1 Legacy Point!]
'The hell? What can I use Legacy Points for?'
[Legacy Market:
Berri Exchange - 1 Legacy Point → 10,000,000 Berri
Perk: [Unyielding] - 5 Legacy Points
Perk Upgrade: [Extreme Recovery] - 100 Legacy Points → 10 Legacy Points
…
Legacy Points: 1]
Markus smiled as he raised his gun and started firing. Each bullet missed gave 1 exp while a hit gave 3 but he quickly found using his Observation he could hit things much further much more accurately for up to 10 exp each quickly rising in exp. By the end of the day when he only had a little over a hundred left, Shisu gave him all his ammo since he doesn't use guns, to keep for later he had made great progress.
[Name: Markus
Level: 24
Primary Class: [Beginner Swordsman - Level: 15 MAX]
Secondary Class: [Beginner Marksman - Level: 3]
HP: 100%
SP: 100%
HK: 100%]
[Skills:
[Armament Haki - Level: 5 [29,927/100,000]
[Observation Haki - Level: 5 [75,198/100,000]
[Beginner Marksmanship - Level: 22 [188/360]
"Old pirate! Let's go all out in Armament!!" Markus decided what he wanted to work on and jumped right into it much to Shisu's amusement.
"Old? How about I show you how young I still am!" Before Markus could act Shisu slashed using Armament that had a thin orange glow. Markus raised his own sword as fast as he could and flooded his Haki into it but the second their blades touched a cut appeared across his chest. Markus jumped back with all his strength before bending his body backwards at the waist barely avoiding the rest of the cut. "Good reflexes but it seems you need a new sword."
Markus looked at his completely shattered sword. He quickly looked up and glared at Shisu, "You broke my precious one of a kind sword! You owe me one billion belli damn it!"
"One of a kind?! BULL SHIT! I KNOW A ONE OF A KIND SWORD AND THAT AIN'T IT KID!"
"OH YEAH??! THEN SHOW ME!"
"WHAT?! You want me to just pull out a One of a kind sword like nothing?" Shisu seemed a little too calm but Markus kept going.
"Knew you couldn't do it!" Shisu smiled. Then he unsheathed his Sword Lance.
"Then you'll be in for a hell of a surprise when you learn this is a One of a Kind Supreme Grade Sword Lance Ascalon! What do you think of that brat!" Shisu smiled smugly.
"Meh. Be cooler if you gave it to me for breaking my sword." Shisu was caught off guard and sighed. He seemed to hum slightly before covering the sword in Haki and slamming it into the ground.
"It's yours if it accepts you." Markus's eyes widened before they narrowed at the sword before walking towards it. He looked at it carefully before putting his hand on its handle. He quickly jumped away and was actually shaking.
"HAHAHAHAHA!!! Seems it's still a little overwhelming the first time! Good luck, you'll need it!" Markus looked at the sword intensely before making a promise to take the sword when he was worthy.
[Special Quest -
[Tame Ascalon] SS-Rank
Tame the Supreme Grade Meito Ascalon!
Rewards - Ascalon, Perk, and Perk!]
'Unknown Perks'??? The hell??' Markus was confused but determined. He was going to be the strongest and since the system said it was a Supreme Grade he believed it. He went over to some spare weapons Shisu had brought for practice. He grabbed a sword and started practicing with Shisu's guidance.
"I think I will teach you something special today." Markus quickly looked at Shisu while bouncing on his feet with a huge smile.
"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Let's -" Shisu covered Markus's mouth with a burst of Conqueror's making Markus take a step back and glare at him. "So not fair!"
Though he wouldn't tell he was happy his Mental Fortitude increased again.
"Don't be in a rush! I'm going to show you a simple quick draw technique. It is the main and usually first technique used in my series I created myself." Shisu bragged while Markus just tried to rush him. "Okay, okay, go over there just watch first."
Markus ran over to some trees and watched intensely using his Observation Haki in just the area they were in. Shisu lowered his body and slid his left foot back slowly. He grabbed his sword and Markus could see in great detail Shisu's body slowly make adjustments before he unsheathed his sword.
Markus's Haki caught four different ways the draw could go. A stab, slash, hack, and what Shisu went with a thrust. Shisu lunged forward as his sword bypassed Markus's Observation and pierced dozens of trees. Markus watched in pure fascination.
[View Special Technique of former Overlord of the Sea "Death Lance" Shisu, One Sword Style: Flowing Draw 35%!]
Shisu was satisfied with Markus's fascination and explained how the secret to the move was always following through on any of the attacks and to stay relaxed. Markus took his new sword and got into the same stance. Shisu spent some time adjusting it before forcing him to hold the position for an hour.
After resting Markus found he could hold the stance easily and started practicing the follow through steps. He quickly adapted to the different moves and after almost two hours he gained massive rewards.
[Learned Special Technique, [One Sword Style - Flow] through natural means! 1.5x multiplier to all Style Specific skills!]
[Skills:
[One Sword Style - Flow - Level: 1/7
Increase Speed and Strength by .5%! Better understanding of the Flow style!]
[One Sword Style - Flow: Draw - Level: 1 [0/100]
Increase Speed and Strength by .1%! Increase all physical stats by .2% when following the Flow series!]
[Class Quest → Updating!... -
[Adept Swordsman] D-Rank
You have completely mastered the basics of the Sword and ready to delve into more!
{Defeat 0/10 Swordsman OR Max out five 0/5 skills from the same Technique!}]
Markus's smile became near crazy as he nearly tripled his trained to Master Draw. He unleashed his Haki and focused mostly on his swordsmanship as he focused on fixing any faults. With Shisu's help he was receiving experience for Draw at an incredible rate. Within just a few hours he had already hit level 58 and was still rising into the night.
The next day officially marked one month left before he had to leave the island. He was actually a little scared, knowing how dangerous the world was, but knew he needed to leave. Markus spent another day training before he was able to max out Draw surprising Shisu.
"It is the easiest by far to learn but to have mastered it as well? I say kid I'm impressed. I guess I could share a few more moves." Shisu proceeded to demonstrate all 7 skills in his technique to show elegance and grace. Shisu went for a quick Draw slash before his arm flashed down, splitting part of the ground in half.
He quickly stepped back before sheathing his sword. He quickly went with a Draw thrust before doing a 360o unleashing a circular air slash around him. He had his blade over his left shoulder and gripped the handle with both hands before unleashing a powerful burst of Armament that left his previous trench look like a little dip in the forest ground.
Shisu took a deep breath and sheathed his sword before going for a Draw stab and quickly following up with multiple seemingly well practiced stabs. He stepped back with a sheathed sword and finally showed off the Draw hack. His sword seemed to blur in another slash before it slashed from the opposite side like it was always there before another slash sent out a 180o air slash that destroyed nearly a hundred trees.
Markus looked around at the destruction while Shisu simply let out a breath and sheathed his sword. He walked towards Markus who was in deep thought and smiled. He was interested in seeing how Markus would perform after seeing all of his skills so he explained the principle behind each attack.
Shisu had spent the last decade almost entirely alone and for the first time he had met someone with not just talent and will but also dedication. He had seen how quickly Markus could understand new things and how much effort he spent training already showing Armament and Observation equal to some in the New World when he was still a pirate. Because of all this he decided to teach Markus his own technique and was pleasantly surprised even though Markus hit a bottleneck in Swordsmanship he was still improving rapidly.
Shisu watched with no small hint of pride as Markus easily performed the first attack he showed which he called Flow: Eroded Century. He smiled and quickly went to help Markus practice the skill considering giving him the training for the advanced techniques. Shisu shook his thoughts away for now and helped Markus train.
Markus wanted to reach Adept Swordsmanship before he left feeling worried even with his huge growth that he was still too weak to sail. He gave everything he had with each attack, and focused his whole mind on his sword. Markus huffed as sweat dripped down his body.
He had spent almost two months training straight so of course he was tired. Markus kept training before his stamina and Haki hit 0. He was about to rest when he closed his eyes and collapsed to his back.
2500~ Words