Zoro didn't wait for a second invitation.
"Oni... Giri!"
Zoro launched himself forward, crossing his two hand-held swords across his chest to create a pincer-like slash. He moved fast—faster than any normal thug Argentus had faced recently.
But Argentus wasn't normal.
His Observation Haki flared. Before Zoro had even pushed off the ground, Argentus saw the trajectory of the strike. It was a brutal, direct attack aimed at the chest.
Argentus didn't retreat. instead, he stepped into the guard. He thrust the butt of his spear forward with explosive speed, aiming not to block the swords, but to intercept Zoro's wrists.
Thwack!
The wooden shaft collided with Zoro's right wrist just as the swords were about to snap shut. The impact threw Zoro's aim off, sending the "Oni Giri" wide, slicing harmlessly into the air beside Argentus's ear.
"Too wide," Argentus critiqued, spinning the spear to bring the blade down toward Zoro's head.
Zoro's eyes widened. He barely managed to cross his swords above his head to block the heavy overhead smash.
CLANG!
Sparks flew. The ground beneath Zoro's boots cracked from the weight of the blow. Argentus was pressing down with terrifying strength.
"You're strong," Zoro grunted, his teeth grinding against the Wado Ichimonji. "But not strong enough!"
With a roar, Zoro twisted his body, shoving Argentus's spear aside and spinning into a tornado-like rotational slash.
Argentus jumped back, the tip of Zoro's blade grazing his coat.
"Not bad," Argentus admitted. He landed lightly and leveled his spear tip at Zoro's throat. "But you're telegraphing your intent. You scream your attacks before you make them."
"Shut up!" Zoro yelled. He sheathed his swords... no, he was repositioning. "Tiger... Hunt!"
He lunged again, placing the two swords behind his head for a downward crushing blow.
Argentus narrowed his eyes. I see it.
Instead of blocking, Argentus waited until the last possible micro-second. He sidestepped with minimal movement—a dodge so precise it looked like he phased through the attack. As Zoro flew past him, carried by his own momentum, Argentus swept the spear low.
WHACK.
The shaft caught Zoro behind the ankles.
Zoro lost his footing mid-air, face-planting into the dirt with a heavy thud.
Argentus stood over him, the tip of his spear resting gently against the back of Zoro's neck.
"Dead," Argentus said simply. "If this were a real fight, your head would be rolling next to that rock you like so much."
Zoro froze, the cold metal of the spear tip pressing against his skin. He pounded his fist into the dirt in frustration. "Damn it!"
Suddenly, a polite, calm voice drifted from the side.
"My, my. It seems we have a lively guest today."
Argentus looked up. Standing at the gate was a tall man with long black hair tied back in a ponytail, wearing glasses and a gentle smile.
It was Koushiro, the master of the Isshin Dojo.
Koushiro adjusted his glasses, the sunlight glinting off the lenses and hiding his eyes for a brief second. On his face, the gentle, closed-eye smile remained fixed—the mask of a simple village instructor.
But behind that mask, his mind was racing with a shock he hadn't felt in years.
He didn't just dodge, Koushiro analyzed, his gaze drifting from Zoro's dusted-off knees to Argentus's steady breathing. He moved before the intent to strike had even fully formed in Zoro's mind.
Koushiro knew talent. He had seen it in his daughter, Kuina, and he saw a raw, unpolished diamond in Zoro. But this... this was different.
Haki.
The boy wasn't just fast. He was using the Observation Haki. And what terrified Koushiro—in the quiet, intellectual way that a master swordsman experiences terror—was the boy's stamina.
Usually, when a child awakens this power during trauma or battle, they collapse. It drains the spirit. But he... Koushiro watched Argentus casually spin his spear and clip it back onto his back. He isn't even winded. His spirit is calm. He used it as naturally as breathing.
Koushiro's internal thoughts grew heavy.
To awaken Haki at this age is almost impossible, even in the chaotic fires of the New World. To control it? To integrate it into a spar without wasting a drop of unnecessary energy?
Either this child is a monster born with the spirit of a conqueror... or he is a monster among monsters who forced an awakening through sheer will.
Outwardly, Koushiro chuckled softly, the sound disarming the tension in the air.
"Zoro," Koushiro said gently. "I believe I have told you that anger clouds the mind. When you attack with rage, your sword becomes heavy and slow."
Zoro clicked his tongue, sheathing his swords with a sharp clack. "He... he fights weird. He knew where I was going."
"He simply watched you, Zoro," Koushiro said, his eyes now opening slightly to look directly at Argentus. "Some warriors have eyes that see more than just the surface. Isn't that right, young man?"
Argentus met his gaze.
"I just pay attention," Argentus replied smoothly. "Your student has a strong arm, but he lacks... direction."
"In more ways than one," Koushiro joked lightly, though his mind was still calculating. "I am Koushiro. Welcome to the Isshin Dojo. May I ask the name of the traveler who humbled my student?"
"Argentus," he replied. "Argentus D. Drake."
Koushiro's smile didn't falter, but his internal alarm bells rang louder. D? So he carries that name, too...
"Well then, Argentus-kun," Koushiro gestured toward the direction of his Dojo. "It would be rude to keep a guest standing outside after such a workout. Please, come inside. Perhaps we can offer you some tea? And..."
He paused, glancing at the spear on his back.
"...Perhaps you can tell me what brings a warrior of your caliber to our quiet village?"
Argentus didn't hesitate to follow behind him.
Soon, he stepped through the gate of courtyard, his boots thudding softly on the pristine stone path of the courtyard.
The sound of bamboo hitting wood stopped as the students noticed the stranger, but Argentus only had eyes for the dojo master.
"I'm not here for tea, though I won't refuse it," Argentus said, his voice lowering so only the master could hear. "I'm here because I've hit a ceiling."
He followed Koushiro into the main hall. It was a vast, open space smelling of tatami and discipline. At the front of the room, on a small shrine, sat a picture of a young girl with dark blue hair, a fresh incense stick burning before it.
Argentus noted the shrine with a respectful nod, understanding the weight of the silence in the room, before sitting cross-legged opposite Koushiro. He placed his heavy spear on the floor beside him with deliberate care.
"A ceiling?" Koushiro repeated, pouring steaming green tea into two small ceramic cups. "For a boy who can see the intent of his enemies before they move, that is a surprising admission."
Argentus took the cup. "My eyes are open, but my technique is stagnant. I use a spear. It is a weapon of reach and momentum. But I find myself hacking at the world like a butcher."
He gestured to the wooden practice swords the students were holding.
"I know what you teach here. The ability to cut nothing and therefore cut everything. To hear the rhythm of the metal."
Koushiro adjusted his glasses, the light hiding his eyes. "That's the Breath of All Things, the pinnacle of swordsmanship. But you... you are a lancer. The mechanics are different. The soul of the weapon is different."
"The soul of the warrior is the same," Argentus countered. "I don't want to abandon the spear to become a swordsman. I want to adapt your teachings. I want to create a style where the piercing power of the spear meets the cutting philosophy of the sword. I want to learn to cut steel with a thrust."
Zoro, who had been leaning against a pillar nursing his bruised ego, looked up. He gripped the white-hilted sword—the Wado Ichimonji—tighter. The idea of cutting steel was something he was chasing himself.
Koushiro looked at Argentus for a long time. He saw the ambition, the raw power, and the terrifying talent that had allowed the boy to awaken Haki so young.
"To teach a spearman how to use swords so that he can use spear better..." Koushiro mused, a small smile returning to his face. "It is unorthodox. But the way of the warrior is not a straight path."
He set his cup down.
"Very well, Argentus-kun. You may stay. But do not expect me to teach you how to use your spear. I will teach you the heart of the sword. It will be up to you to translate that language to your own weapon."
Argentus grinned, a predatory excitement filling his eyes. "That's all I ask."
Koushiro stood up and clapped his hands. "Zoro."
Zoro straightened up. "Yeah?"
"Since you seem to have so much free time after your... 'navigation practice'," Koushiro said with a hint of amusement, "you will be Argentus's training partner. If he wishes to learn the weight of a sword, you will show it to him."
Zoro cracked his neck, a feral grin mirroring Argentus's appearing on his face. "Fine by me. I still owe him for that cheap shot at my ankles."
The next few weeks at the Isshin Dojo were defined by two very distinct, very contradictory sounds.
The first was the deafening, bone-shaking crash of wood and steel colliding.
"Again!" Zoro roared, sweat flying from his face as he launched himself off a tree stump.
Argentus didn't waste breath on a reply. He planted his feet, the ground cracking slightly under his boots, and thrust his spear forward. He wasn't using the sharp tip—Koushiro had forbidden lethal weapons for these spars—but the heavy, iron-shod butt of the spear was dangerous enough.
Clack!
Zoro caught the thrust with the flat of his two hand-held blades, the impact sliding him backward through the dirt. But before Argentus could retract the weapon, Zoro bit down hard on the Wado Ichimonji and spun.
"Santoryu: Tatsu Maki!"
It generated the wind pressure that was enough to throw sand and debris into Argentus's eyes. Argentus instinctively flared his Observation Haki. He didn't need to see; the red "spark" of Zoro's intent was screaming at his right side.
Argentus dropped low, sweeping the spear in a wide arc. Zoro jumped, landing on the spear shaft for a split second before leaping at Argentus's face.
They tumbled into the grass, a mess of limbs, wooden swords, and iron.
"You use that stick like a club!" Zoro grunted, trying to lock Argentus's arm.
"And you fight like a lawnmower with no off switch," Argentus retorted, shoving Zoro off with a burst of strength.
They lay there panting, bruised and battered. These daily sessions were brutal. Zoro was learning how to close the distance against a weapon with superior reach, forcing him to be faster and more explosive. Argentus, in turn, was learning how to defend against the chaotic, multi-angle assaults of the Three-Sword Style.
But the second sound of Argentus's training was far more frustrating.
Silence.
_________________________________________
In the afternoons, while Zoro practiced swinging giant weights, Koushiro made Argentus sit in the forest in front of a large, mossy boulder.
"Cut it," Koushiro had said simply.
"With the spear?"
"No. With your mind. Once you understand the stone, the spear will follow."
For ten days, Argentus sat there. He felt ridiculous.
The problem, he realized, was his Haki.
His Observation Haki was a radar. It was an active, aggressive sense. It pinged the world around him, looking for threats, for life, for intent.
When he looked at the rock with his Haki, he saw... nothing. It was dead. It had no voice. It had no intent to kill him, so his Haki ignored it as background noise.
"It's not working," Argentus growled on the eleventh day, throwing a pebble at the boulder. "I can sense a squirrel heartbeat from fifty meters away. I can tell you that Zoro is currently scratching his head three fields over. But this rock? It's just a rock."
Koushiro, who had been watering some plants nearby, paused.
"That is because you are listening for a shout," the master said softly. "The rock does not shout. It simply is. Your Haki is a shield and a weapon. It projects your will outward. To hear the Breath of All Things, you must stop projecting. You must receive."
"Receive?"
"A spear thrust relies on force," Koushiro said, tapping the stone. "You force your will upon the target. But to cut steel, or stone... you must understand the frequency of the object. You must harmonize with it, and then slip between the spaces of its existence."
Argentus frowned, closing his eyes again.
(END OF CHAPTER)
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