The floating sea restaurant? That was where the pervy cook Sanji worked.
Amon remembered that Luffy met Sanji there. No wonder the system handed him crazy cooking skills. The next stop was Baratie after all.
He had thought the next waypoint would be Syrup Village, the hometown of Usopp and Kaya. Fine, either way worked. The sea restaurant was a great landmark in this world too.
...
Morning came.
Just after dawn, Amon was jolted awake.
In the room next door, Yosaku had somehow torn down the partition between them. The quilt and pillows Amon had provided were shredded across the tatami like confetti.
Amon stared at the husky sprawled on the floor, doing its best impression of brain-off chaos. Words failed him. Truly worthy of the Husky Fruit... the home-wrecking talent was unreal.
"Yosaku, why did you chew up the pillows and quilt?" Johnny rubbed his sleepy eyes, grumpy at the wrecked room.
"I don't know. It just felt uncomfortable if I didn't bite something..."
Yosaku knew he had messed up. He lay there, guilty and small. He had woken in the middle of the night and simply could not stop himself, which led to... this.
"Ahem, probably because he just fused with the fruit and can't control the urge yet," Amon said. The Husky Fruit was a little too authentic. If this was the power at base level, what would awakening look like. Marine HQ might not survive the renovation.
Since he was awake, Amon did not plan to go back to sleep. He washed up and stepped into the courtyard to loosen his limbs.
Kuina was already there, practicing as always. Her wooden sword rose and fell in steady thrusts, the daily strength drill she never skipped.
Seeing Amon, she paused and bowed slightly. "Good morning, Mr. Amon."
"Morning, Kuina." He smiled back.
She resumed her routine. She was diligent, but the way she trained would not yield much return.
After watching for a while, Amon shook his head. "Kuina, this isn't the right way."
"Not right. Don't swordsmen train like this?" She blinked, curious.
Amon walked over and gently patted her head. "Yes, and no."
"Mm?" She did not understand. What did both right and not right even mean.
"This builds your base," Amon explained, "but reaching higher realms will be hard like this. To become a true great swordsman, you must develop your own sword intent."
"Only when you grasp sword intent will you touch the true meaning of wielding a blade."
"Sword intent?"
Kuina stared at him, at a loss.
"Yes. Sword intent," Amon said. "Most people swing a blade and hope it cuts. A real swordsman makes the cut happen."
He tapped the hilt lightly.
"It's focus. When you're calm enough to feel the rhythm of your own breath, and sharp enough to pour everything into a single strike, your blade stops being just metal."
"That pressure you give off which makes people hesitate before they even move, that's the beginning. Once you reach that level, anything you wield, a stick, a pipe, even a broken piece of wood, can hit like a sword, because the edge comes from you."
He lifted his right hand and closed his fingers on empty air.
Whoosh...
A blade condensed from nothing.
An invisible, surging intent swept the yard like a sudden whirlwind, brushing past Kuina's cheeks.
Kuina's mouth fell open. A sword from the air.
"Only after mastering intent will your sword grow during battle into momentum, into the radiance people call sword aura."
Seeing the awe and fervor in Kuina's eyes, Amon took a step forward. "Watch closely."
The moment the word left his lips, he sprang, drawing the air-forged sword in a single clean cut.
Shhh...
A strange, dazzling line skimmed the sky and sank into the row of wooden training dummies.
Crash!!!!
Before Kuina could react, the entire line of dummies collapsed into scattered pieces.
"So cool!"
She stared, eyes huge. A single grasp at the air, a single motion, and the power was that overwhelming.
"This is sword intent and sword aura. Train well. Try to communicate with the sword, to converse with it. Only then will you comprehend intent. The way you were drilling will at best teach you forms, not intent."
"Mm!" Kuina nodded hard. She finally had a clear image of what a true powerhouse was.