Hearing that voice, Aos—who'd been sitting on the bed—sprang up first and bolted for the door,
while Buggy wore a bitter look.
He really hated that grind-it-out training. With so many top dogs on the ship anyway, it wasn't like he'd be the main force when it came to grabbing treasure,
but watching Aos and Shanks sprint for the stern, he didn't want to be left behind, so he forced himself to act calm and followed: "Wait for me, you two!"
The three of them filed out of the cabin toward the stern, passing a few burly men who'd drunk themselves flat on the deck,
and having long grown used to these impromptu feasts of all sizes, they headed into the storeroom to pick their weapons,
Buggy chose throwing knives, Shanks favored a rapier,
and after a moment's thought, Aos picked up a flintlock.
This was a carefully considered choice,
not only because it played to his innate Observation Haki and suited a crafty operator, but also because…
the sword path is way too crowded.
You've got the Golden Lion, Roger, and Rayleigh early on, then Red-Hair and Mihawk in the middle, and down the line there's that three-sword guy, Roronoa Zoro…
Trying to break out in the sword circle felt a little low on cost-performance to Aos.
If you're going to do it, be the best in the world—that's the only way to honor a god-tier starting hand. But on the road to the world's greatest swordsman, leaving aside whether he even had the talent for it,
even if Aos clawed his way up to the so-called number one swordsman, he'd probably have Mihawk and Zoro chasing him down forever,
with "Accept my challenge! I'm the man who'll be the world's greatest swordsman!" ringing in his ears every day.
He'd die of annoyance alone.
So why not aim to be the world's greatest gunman instead!
Back on Blue Star he'd always had a thing for firearms, and he had innate Observation Haki on top of that,
most importantly, this lane isn't crowded.
The snipers with a real name down the road are basically Yasopp, Usopp, and Van Augur—maybe toss in Benn Beckman—and that niche isn't exactly saturated,
Aos didn't feel inferior to any of them,
and once he developed Conqueror's Coating, "Observation Kill," or Future Sight, and bought some Seastone bullets,
maybe one shot per Emperor is asking too much,
but one shot per Emperor's right hand isn't crazy—Shanks can still one-shot a 3-billion with a single slash.
When the skills are perfected and he's at Yonko level, he'll travel the world and enjoy life, go see all the iconic moments; when he's old, buy a few maids and a little manor to live in,
he worked like a beast last life—this time he's going to live well and enjoy it.
Lofty dreams, though, meet harsh reality. For now he was just a kid with innate Observation Haki and a bit more muscle than average,
and while Rayleigh was, well, a "teacher who ruins students," laying the basics should still be fine,
so he'd muddle through and learn.
Then came Aos's first lesson aboard,
"Physical technique is the foundation of every fighting style—whether you use a blade or your fists.
Even if you fight at range with a gun, you still need sharp reflexes and Haki to remain unbeatable."
For three kids raised in the New World, the word "Haki" wasn't unfamiliar, so Rayleigh didn't overexplain,
and instead glanced at the weapons they'd each chosen.
"Beyond body techniques, everyone should pursue the combat style they excel at. So…" Rayleigh looked them over and took a swig,
"tell me what you want to learn. If it's something I know, I can teach you the experience and tricks."
"I want to learn swordsmanship!" Shanks had been single-minded from the start—maybe influenced by Roger and Rayleigh—and had a fondness for longswords,
"Swordsmanship, huh?" Rayleigh smiled. "Then starting today, five thousand cuts a day. First, learn the most basic grip."
He turned to Buggy next. "Short blades and longswords are largely similar—start with swing practice."
Last came bright-eyed Aos. Not knowing this kid that well, Rayleigh asked first what he wanted to learn,
"Anything's on the table?"
"Of course. But if it's marksmanship you want, our ship's sniper, Bittam, is a dead shot…"
"Then I want to learn Conqueror's Coating!"
"Pfft…!!!"
Aos's bombshell nearly made Rayleigh spray five meters of old liquor,
and after wiping his mouth, he said, exasperated:
"Brat, whatever you've been hearing, that kind of advanced technique—never mind anything else—at minimum requires you to have Conqueror's Haki in the first place!"
In other words, Aos might not even have Conqueror's Haki—so what's there to "coat"?
Aos didn't mind, though, taking a swing just in case:
"Then… if I do have Conqueror's, Uncle Rayleigh, will you teach me?"
"Why not?"
Rayleigh chalked it up to childish ignorance and agreed offhand.
They didn't chat long before the three got to the basics,
and with massive iron plates strapped on his back for weight, Aos lay prone doing one-handed push-ups while reading a newspaper on the floor,
all the while training his Observation Haki too.
In his sensing, Shanks was drenched in sweat, practicing his swings with earnest focus on that young face,
and though Buggy was "training" as well, his deliberately slowed movements made it obvious he was slacking off.
"Shanks's swings seem to grow sharper each time." When Aos finished his strength set, Shanks finally wrapped his daily swing count,
Truly a sword prodigy?
The progress was visible to the naked eye. Like the consummate opportunist he was, Aos quietly watched Shanks improve and took mental notes on the technique,
and while Shanks worked on strength, he picked up the longsword Shanks had left on the ground and, recalling the power application and airflow changes he'd sensed,
started swing practice himself.
"What a greedy little brat."
Up on the lookout, a long-haired hulk in tiny sunglasses watched Aos training hard at the stern and said to the blond fat man beside him, "Wants to learn guns and swords—if he comes asking me for axes next, I'm not teaching him."
"I don't usually approve of a sniper playing with blades, but he's a bit different," said Bittam, the Roger Pirates' sniper and an Observation Haki specialist, who could see what was going on,
"That kid Aos is stealing Shanks's hard work."
And that was exactly the case,
the refinements Shanks distilled and mastered after five thousand swings, Aos perfectly replicated after only a thousand, which surprised him no end,
"Damn, Sharingan-style Observation Haki?"
Innate Observation Haki didn't actually cover a wide range; after years of development he'd pushed it to only a few dozen meters,
but Aos's Observation was different from others'. While not quite a microscope, its detail level was maxed out from birth,
and no subtle shift or technique escaped his eyes,
so beyond raw power, learning any skill came half the effort for twice the result.