With a single sword strike—releasing sword energy and flames together—Roya instantly defeated Very Good, the troublemaking veteran Marine. Ignoring the stares and discussions behind him, he left the hall directly and returned home.
After entering the Elite Camp, there was an extreme degree of freedom. There was no so-called centralized training. Only when a real combat mission was assigned would assembly be mandatory. Otherwise, whether one trained or not, and where one chose to train, was entirely up to the individual.
Roya was more accustomed to training in the small courtyard of his own home.
Garp was not around, which Roya had long since grown used to. He paid it no mind. Seeing that night had already fallen, he took a shower and went straight to rest.
Early the next morning.
Roya got up early, did a brief wash-up, and headed straight into the courtyard.
This courtyard was neither particularly large nor particularly small. After all, it was the residence of the Marine hero Garp. If it were too small—no different from the homes of other Marine officers—it would seem inappropriate.
After assessing the space, Roya realized that the length of the courtyard was sufficient for practicing Soru. Starting from one side, he would not end up crashing straight into the opposite wall.
"Soru—high-speed movement through physical technique… Geppo—air stepping built upon the foundation of Soru…"
"I'll start with Soru."
Roya walked to one side of the courtyard and carefully recalled the key training points that Zephyr had explained the day before.
The training method for Soru was actually very simple. As long as certain details were mastered, one could train independently. The difficulty lay in the prerequisite: to even meet the standard required to practice Soru, one needed nearly inhuman physical conditioning.
Once the body met that standard, the training itself became straightforward.
Bang!!
After reviewing Zephyr's explanations, Roya suddenly stomped down on the ground. The earth instantly cracked like a spiderweb beneath his foot, and his body shot forward abruptly.
"Not right. The power didn't stack properly—it dispersed."
"Again."
Bang!!
The ground cracked once more beneath Roya's foot, and his figure shot forward again. It was slightly better than before, but still far from the true standard of Soru.
"Again!"
Roya had never expected to master Soru instantly. His mindset remained calm as he continued training.
Soru consumed far more stamina than Roya had anticipated—far more than his usual training routines.
No wonder only those with near-inhuman physical ability could train the Rokushiki.
It wasn't just about strength and speed far beyond ordinary people; it also required endurance and bodily toughness far beyond normal limits.
After only a short period of practicing Soru, Roya's legs became completely numb, nearly losing all sensation.
Feeling the state of his body, a trace of surprise appeared on Roya's face. At his current level, even doing ten thousand squats wouldn't cause much strain. To reach his limit, he would normally need weighted squats.
Yet practicing Soru alone had easily pushed him to his limit.
Reaching one's limit was not a bad thing—on the contrary, it was beneficial. Only by breaking physical limits could one continuously excavate the body's latent potential.
The Rokushiki were not merely powerful physical techniques. They were also an extreme training method designed to unlock human potential. This was the culmination of countless generations of outstanding Marines refining and perfecting these techniques.
At Roya's current level, breaking through physical limits had become much more difficult. Unlike his early days of training—where sheer willpower and minor techniques could break limits directly—now he needed repeated cycles of reaching exhaustion.
It was like clearing blocked potential, gradually pushing his body past its previous limits and drawing out more potential.
---
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
During these two weeks, Roya's lower-body training focused entirely on Soru and Geppo. His upper-body training, without question, remained swordsmanship. Aside from occasionally training the shoulders, hips, and waist, his primary focus remained Soru and sword techniques.
For ordinary people, even one or two sessions of such hellish, limit-pushing training would be manageable—but ten sessions would be enough to break their spirit. For Roya, whose soul and will far exceeded those of normal people, enduring it was effortless.
By the end of the half-month, Roya's results were clear: his physical strength had increased again, and he had successfully learned Soru. However, his control was still lacking.
Roya could instantly unleash the power of Soru, turning into a blur and shooting forward in an instant—but he could not precisely control the distance.
When targeting a fixed point, sometimes he would overshoot it, ending up behind the target; other times, he would fall short.
"Easy to learn. Hard to master."
After using Soru once more and flashing to the opposite side of the courtyard—nearly crashing into the wall—Roya shook his head slightly and muttered to himself.
Pure physical technique users needed only to master a few of the Rokushiki to dominate the seas. Zephyr and Garp were both figures who had trained the Six Powers to a near-transcendent level.
"I'll focus on mastering Soru first, then work on Geppo."
Aside from Soru, Roya had also learned Geppo. However, just like Soru, his mastery was insufficient. If controlling distance on the ground was difficult, controlling movement in the air was even more so.
Previously, while practicing Geppo, Roya had nearly crashed headfirst into a second-floor window. Though he barely managed to stop in time, the shockwave still shattered a pane of glass.
After that incident, Roya stopped being overly ambitious. He decided to first raise his proficiency with Soru before improving Geppo.
In fact, the Elite Camp's training grounds on the second floor of the Marine fortress weren't limited to that massive hall. There were many smaller individual training areas around it. Roya avoided them because, although they were sufficient for practicing Soru, they were clearly inadequate for Geppo.
Who would have thought that even Soru alone would take him half a month without full mastery?
Roya had originally planned to master Soru and Geppo within half a month, then begin training Observation Haki and Armament Haki. Unexpectedly, Haki training had to be postponed.
That wasn't necessarily a bad outcome.
The strength of Haki was closely tied to physical conditioning. Training Soru and Geppo significantly enhanced Roya's body. As a result, future Haki training would be easier, and the final strength achieved would be greater.
Additionally—
In swordsmanship, Roya had already achieved the fusion of five sword strikes and was now attempting the fusion of six. This fusion-based training grew more difficult with each step. The sixth strike, in particular, was noticeably harder than the previous five combined.
Beyond that, during this half-month period, Roya's Soul Sword had strengthened once more.
[Third Stage: Agile Soul Sword +1]
Attributes: Attack +150, Strength +45, Agility +45
Special Attribute: All Things in the Universe, turn to ashes: Sword attacks can freely carry flame damage
(evolution conditions not yet met)
Special Attribute: Getsuga Tenshō:Sword attacks can release a crescent-shaped sword energy wave
Enhancement Energy: 47 / 130]
After reaching the third stage, even minor enhancements granted far greater increases than before. Though it was not a major stage breakthrough, the gains were still substantial.
It was easy to imagine that upon reaching the fourth or even fifth stage, even minor upgrades would likely grow explosively.
"Enhancement energy gained from training is still far inferior to that gained from real combat," Roya said with a hint of emotion as he looked at the attribute panel before him.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, a thoughtful expression crossed his face.
"Oh right—there should be a real combat mission in about half a month. Suppressing pirates, was it?"
At this thought, the corner of Roya's mouth curved upward slightly.
"Another half month should be enough for me to fully master Soru."