Early the next morning.
After breakfast, Rhode came to the training room, ready to begin learning Shave and Moon Walk.
"Shave, a high-speed movement martial art, and Moon Walk, which is essentially stepping on air built upon the foundation of Shave."
"Let's start with Shave first."
Recalling the training method Hatchan had explained the day before, Rhode slowly moved to one side of the training room.
The principle of Shave wasn't difficult—in fact, it could be considered the simplest of the Six Powers. The challenge lay in the prerequisite: one needed inhuman physical strength to withstand the explosive speed of movement before even qualifying to practice it.
It was like breaking the sound barrier—the material itself had to be tough enough.
Once the physical requirements were met, the actual training wasn't too hard.
"Wait a minute."
Just as he was about to start practicing, Rhode suddenly realized something was off.
"This training room seems a bit small..."
He glanced around the room. As part of a Revolutionary Army base, the construction materials were naturally of the highest quality—a special type of rock only slightly weaker than seastone, incredibly durable.
Because of this, while the private training room was fully equipped, the space was rather limited. It was sufficient for regular physical training, but for learning Shave, it fell short.
According to Hatchan, the biggest challenge in the early stages of Shave training was controlling the explosive force—it was easy to suddenly shoot too far forward.
Rhode shook his head. He had no interest in crashing into walls.
"Let's check the main training hall."
He sighed and turned to leave. Though he disliked training with others, there was no other choice.
Walking down the corridor, Rhode eventually arrived outside a large hall.
The space here was much more spacious, perfectly suitable for practicing Shave—though Moon Walk might still be tricky.
At the moment, many trainees were either training or chatting in the hall. When they noticed Rhode's arrival, they all looked surprised.
After the last mission, Rhode had already become a notable figure among the trainees, on par with the squad leaders.
People like that usually didn't come to the main hall to train.
"Probably looking for a place to practice the Six Powers. The private training rooms here aren't as big as the ones at headquarters."
"He's really impressive. It's only been a month since he became a trainee, and he's already met the requirements to learn the Six Powers."
"Meeting the requirements is one thing, but actually mastering them takes at least a few months, if not longer. Even Shano took over four months to fully grasp two of them."
"Tch, that's not necessarily true. I heard this guy's a real genius—a sixteen-year-old swordmaster! Someone like that is beyond our understanding."
"Swordsmanship and martial arts are completely different fields. How can you even compare them?"
The murmurs and chatter grew louder.
This displeased Rhode. He preferred quieter environments.
"Let's find a place outside."
Shaking his head inwardly, he walked down the corridor toward the base's exit.
After showing his identification, he arrived at an open area between the cliffs. A few plants unique to White Soil Island grew here—they somewhat resembled cacti but had distinct differences.
"This should do."Rhode marked a spot in front of this peculiar plant and slowly retreated to a safe distance.
Huff.
Recalling the method of using Shave, Rhode took a deep breath, quietly adjusted his physical strength, and then stomped forcefully on the ground.
Boom! In an instant, spiderweb-like cracks spread across the ground as his entire body shot forward.
"Not good, the power isn't stacking up properly."
"Again."
Boom! The earth cracked once more as Rhode's figure surged forward. Though slightly better this time, it still fell far short of the standard for Shave.
"Once more."
Rhode remained composed. His innate talent was Swordsmanship Specialization, which wasn't directly related to martial arts, so slow progress was expected.
However, his intelligence was more than double that of an average person, and his active mind allowed him to quickly identify problems and correct them step by step. In truth, his learning speed wasn't slow—far faster than a normal person's, in fact.
The Navy Six Styles truly lived up to their reputation as advanced martial arts that surpassed human limits. The physical exertion was unparalleled. After just a short period of training Shave, Rhode's legs had gone completely numb, his muscles aching.
"This is probably why mastering the Six Powers is so difficult."
Feeling the state of his body, Rhode curled his lips. After only a brief training session, he was already nearing his physical limit. Considering recovery time, an average person could only practice a pitifully small number of times per day.
"But I'm different."
Rhode grinned and sat cross-legged on the ground.
Zzzzt…
Faint blue arcs of electricity flickered into existence, slithering around like tiny snakes.
A soft blue glow began to envelop Rhode's body.
This state was different from the lightning tempering he used at night to strengthen his physique. The current flowed more gently, like soaking in a hot spring, producing only a faint tingling sensation.
At present, Rhode had developed three distinct states for his Thunder Power.
The first was Lightning Tempering—using electric currents to stimulate his cells, enhancing their activity to strengthen his body.
The second was Thunder Mode, used in combat. It fully activated the Thunder Power, energizing and stimulating his nerves to boost his speed and reflexes to a certain degree.
Given Rhode's current stamina, he could maintain this state for one to eight hours, depending on the intensity of the battle.
The third was what he was using now—a non-combat state for alleviating fatigue and accelerating physical recovery. The side effect was an increased appetite.
Before long, Rhode's stamina was fully restored. He rubbed his legs and stood up, resuming his training.
...
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
During this time, aside from nighttime Lightning Tempering, Rhode spent most of his days practicing Shave and Moon Step.
Thanks to his ability to use electricity to relieve fatigue and hasten recovery, his daily training duration and frequency far exceeded that of a normal person.
In just fifteen short days, he had gained a preliminary grasp of Shave, the high-speed movement technique, though his control was still somewhat lacking.
The main issue was that while he could execute the technique, he couldn't precisely control his landing point.
This was a critical flaw.
Using Shave once more, Rhode's figure flickered like a blur, crossing a great distance in an instant—only to nearly crash headfirst into a tree.
"For now, it's only useful for movement. It's not combat-ready yet."
Rhode shook his head slightly.Using this state in battle would be courting death. One sudden burst of energy might send you crashing straight onto an enemy's blade.
"Indeed, it's not that simple."
"Of course. The Navy Six Styles represent the pinnacle of various martial arts secrets. Even pure martial artists can dominate the seas by mastering just a few of these techniques. There's no way they'd be easy to learn."
Rhode maintained a steady mindset without any trace of impatience. Compared to others, he was already learning remarkably fast.
Apart from his progress in martial arts, his physique had finally broken through a threshold through daily, relentless training.
Rhode estimated he had now reached the same level as captains like Nia.
His increasingly powerful physique was also one of the reasons he could grasp the Six Powers so quickly.
Time had now reached winter of the year 1520 in the Sea Calendar. A series of major events were brewing, ready to erupt at any moment.
This gave Rhode a constant sense of quiet urgency, making him wish he could split each day in two for training. He desperately craved greater strength.
"My current self is still far from enough."
Exhaling softly, Rhode loosened his muscles and continued practicing Shave.
As for Moon Walk, it was an advanced version of Shave—a high-level application technique. Mastering Shave would significantly reduce the difficulty of learning Moon Walk.
Today's recommendation votes remained pitifully in single digits.