Having understood how he should train himself going forward, Roya immediately began his training.
In the time that followed, the training Roya undertook was the most basic form of practice—swinging the sword with both hands. However, what he was truly training was not the slash itself, but the ability to enter the focused state at any moment during the act of slashing.
He had originally thought that it would take at least a month to gain complete control. What Roya did not expect, however, was that his mental strength was far greater than he had imagined.
To reach the level where he could freely enter the focused state, it took him only three days.
During those three days, Garp had completely left Roya to his own devices and never once interfered with his training. It seemed that Garp also understood that Roya's path was swordsmanship. After helping him obtain the Swordsmanship Essentials, he simply gave Roya free rein.
---
Sunlight poured down into the spacious courtyard.
Within the courtyard, Roya stood at one end, gripping Engetsu with both hands and repeatedly swinging his sword. With every swing, faint inches of sharpness seemed to extend from the sword tip, invisibly slicing through the air.
This was, in fact, the embryonic form of sword energy.
Although his body was already soaked through with sweat, Roya's eyes remained clear as water, as if physical fatigue and muscle soreness were being completely ignored.
At this moment, Roya had seemingly reached the point where he could continuously maintain focus under any circumstances—or rather, freely and at will control the state of "focus."
After swinging a few more times, Roya stopped.
"At this point, it feels like as long as I want to, I can enter and maintain the focused state at any time."
He lowered Engetsu in front of himself and gazed at its blade. The reflection of the sword appeared in his eyes, faint ripples seeming to spread within them, carrying a subtle, mysterious intent.
"Focus and lack of focus really are two completely different states."
After staring at the blade for a moment, Roya snapped back to himself, smiled lightly, and a glint flashed through his eyes as he once again entered the focused state.
He shifted Engetsu into his right hand, gripping it with one hand, and turned to look at the wall behind him.
Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!
After several light, effortless slashes, Roya withdrew his sword.
Silent and soundless.
On the wall before him, straight lines appeared—vertical and horizontal, intersecting with one another.
Rumble!!
In the very next instant, the wall suddenly collapsed, turning into large, neatly cut stone blocks that scattered both inside and outside the courtyard.
This was Marine Headquarters. The materials used in its buildings were not ordinary stone, but an extremely hard type capable of withstanding artillery fire, second only to steel and Seastone in hardness.
Yet stone of such hardness, under Roya's sword, was sliced apart as easily as tofu.
This was certainly due in part to Engetsu being a famed blade of exceptional sharpness, but the fact that Roya could cut so smoothly and cleanly was proof that he had truly mastered focus on "cutting."
After all, even if an ordinary person were holding a Supreme Grade blade, it would still be difficult to slice a massive stone in half with a single strike. Sharpness was only one factor among many.
What truly mattered was the person wielding the sword.
With his current level, if Roya were to encounter that Level 1 ferocious beast—the Brown Backed Giant Ape—again, he would undoubtedly be able to break through its defenses with a single slash.
Looking at the collapsed wall and the neatly cut stone fragments scattered around, Roya revealed a satisfied expression and gently sheathed Engetsu.
At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out.
"What was that noise?"
Garp, who had been startled by the loud crash of the collapsing wall, walked into the courtyard.
He had been feeling a bit drowsy earlier when he suddenly heard something collapse in the courtyard. Although still half-asleep, he forced himself to come take a look.
Then, in the next moment, his drowsiness vanished without a trace.
Garp stared blankly at the direction of the wall that Roya had sliced into countless neatly cut blocks. While he was astonished that Roya could cut such material so cleanly, what he felt even more strongly was a throbbing headache.
"Roya! You little brat—what did you do this time?!"
"I was just testing my sword."
Having fully mastered the focused state, Roya was in a very good mood. Seeing Garp's expression, he grinned at him.
"Testing your sword?!"
Garp's eyes widened even further. "Why are you cutting the wall?! Aren't there test stones for that?!"
"Because this way looks cooler."
Roya replied seriously.
Pfft!
Garp staggered and nearly fell over, feeling as if a mouthful of old blood was about to spray out. The main reason was that this line sounded extremely familiar to him—because back when he fought and destroyed buildings everywhere, whenever Sengoku roared at him, he would respond with, "Because this way looks cooler."
He never expected Roya to learn that line as well—and to use it on him.
"If there's nothing else, I'll head back to my room."
Roya waved at Garp, then whoosh, jumped straight up to the second floor, flipped through the window into his room, and bang—shut the window.
Leaving Garp standing there alone, utterly speechless.
After a long while, Garp finally rubbed his forehead and muttered, "Honestly… of all the things this brat could learn from me, he just had to learn that. If he's going to cut something, he should at least go cut someone else's house."
Although Garp didn't say this loudly, Roya upstairs heard it clearly.
Pfft!!
As a result, Roya—who was drinking water to rest—immediately sprayed it all over the floor.
He had been feeling fired up after completely mastering focus, and on impulse tested his sword on the courtyard wall. He had expected Garp to lose his temper, but instead got that response.
Cut someone else's house instead… what kind of mindset was that?!
The corners of Roya's mouth twitched slightly. Fortunately, after spending so long with Garp, he was already used to Garp's eccentric personality and didn't bother arguing. As long as Garp wasn't planning to give him trouble, that was enough.
"Now that I can freely control the 'focus' state, the next stage of training is mastering sword energy."
After murmuring this thoughtfully, Roya suddenly seemed to recall something. With a shift of intent, the attribute panel—unseen for three days—appeared before his eyes.
During those three days, Roya had been entirely focused on mastering concentration and had not checked the panel even once. Only now, after achieving complete control—able to enter the focused state anytime, anywhere—did he finally remember the Soul Sword.
"Even though most of these past days were spent on mental training, physical training wasn't neglected. Enhancement energy should've gone up by at least ten or so points."
With that thought, Roya fixed his gaze on the translucent attribute panel before him.
[Stage Two: Ancient Soul Sword +7
Attributes: Attack Power +80, Strength +22
Special Attribute: All things in the Universe turn to ashes: Sword techniques can freely add fire damage
(evolution conditions not yet met)
Enhancement Energy: 146 / 80]
Everything above remained unchanged, but when Roya saw the value on the last line—Enhancement Energy—he froze.
Not only was it full, it had overflowed by more than sixty points?!
What the hell?!
In his shock, Roya even wondered if his eyes were deceiving him. But the truth was clear—the enhancement energy had really increased by that much.
He had originally thought that over these few days, the increase would be minimal. Instead, the result was the complete opposite—not only did it increase, it increased dramatically.
Staring at the enhancement energy value that was not only full but overflowing by more than sixty points, and recalling the training of the past few days, realization gradually dawned on Roya's face.
"I see… so that's how it is."
He had previously guessed that combat yielded more enhancement energy than training because combat was equivalent to excavating the potential of the soul.
And now, within just three days, he had completely mastered the state of "focus." This could be considered a breakthrough in terms of excavating soul potential.
That was why the enhancement energy had increased so much.
"In that case, everything makes sense now."