Koushirou felt the intent to decide victory in a single blow and chose to follow his disciple's wish. One sword to settle it.
His first love for the sword.
The exhilaration of becoming a swordmaster.
The pain of retreating into seclusion for the sake of his family.
The regret of no longer being able to continue forward.
The relief of seeing a worthy successor.
He ground all of that down into dust and poured it into his Shimotsuki-like sword aura.
The sword aura first swelled, then compressed, turning all those emotions into fuel, refining them into plain, unadorned moonlight.
This flying slash was the peak of his life.
It was his whole story, condensed into a single strike.
Ethan, too, was constantly stirring up his own sword aura, pouring his heart into it.
His naïve first days in the world of pirates.
The bitter two years of being dragged through the darkness.
The burning great tree of Ohara.
All the injustices he had seen in the Four Seas.
He stuffed all of his dissatisfaction with the old world, and all of his longing for the new one, into that blade and set it on fire.
A thread of crimson sword light appeared.
At first it was only a spark.
But as soon as it touched Ethan's resolve, it spread in an instant, boiling up into a raging tide.
Conqueror's Haki spread out, faintly twining around that sword aura, shaping it into the form of a dragon.
The clouds above began to churn with the Conqueror's Haki.
Rain poured down.
When the Dragon King travels, wind and rain follow; thunder roared across the sky, as if voicing its own dissatisfaction with this decrepit world.
They swung.
Moonlight and crimson dragon collided.
When they met, there was only silence.
A few seconds later, a deafening boom tore through heaven and earth.
The violent explosion erupted between the two of them, and the wind pressure blasted out in all directions, whipping up a storm around the island.
When the storm finally faded, Robin paddled her little boat ashore and saw sword scars sprawling all across the island.
Dozens-of-meters-long fissures crisscrossed the ground everywhere she looked.
Reaching the center, she found Koushirou and Ethan both lying flat on the ground.
Fortunately, both of them were still breathing.
Koushirou no longer had even a hint of the gentle, scholarly look he kept in Shimotsuki Village.
His kimono had become a beggar's outfit, and even his glasses were shattered on one side, hanging crooked off the bridge of his nose.
Ethan looked even worse.
He had already been cut to rags while he was analyzing Flowing Sakura; after that, during the clash of flying slashes, his clothes had more or less lost all recognizable shape, barely managing to cover him.
Robin checked Ethan over.
His injuries were all external; they looked frightening, but none were truly serious.
She quickly patched him up, planning to do a proper treatment once they got back home.
Luckily, besides first-aid supplies, she had also brought two changes of clothing.
Otherwise, Koushirou and Ethan really would have died of embarrassment.
Especially Koushirou: if he walked back into Shimotsuki Village in that state, his sword heart might just shatter on the spot.
After they changed into clean clothes, Robin pulled them both back to Shimotsuki Village by boat.
On the way back, Ethan looked down at what was left of his quality-grade sword, now nothing but a hilt, and felt a pang of regret.
It hadn't been a famed blade, but it had been with him for several years.
What a pity.
"Take this."
Koushirou held Wado Ichimonji out toward him.
"Sensei, I can't accept that."
"Wado Ichimonji is one of the twenty-one Great Grade swords. It was forged by one of my relatives.
This sword has been holding itself back with me. As a famed blade, it longs to be wielded in the hands of the strong, to carve out supreme achievements upon the vast sea.
I will continue to settle here in the East Blue from now on. I don't want it buried on this little island."
Ethan hesitated.
"A swordmaster who aims for the peak… how can he not have a famous sword?
Compared to the great work you intend to accomplish, isn't the weight of one Great Grade sword still far too light?"
"…Yes, Sensei. Then I'll accept it.
I will definitely make Wado Ichimonji resound across the seas as a Supreme Grade blade."
Ethan took Wado Ichimonji, and silently decided he had to take Shusui back one day and give it to his teacher.
…
One night in Sea Circle Calendar 1507, Ethan and Robin were packing their luggage.
This would be their last night in Shimotsuki Village.
One waterproof big chest was filled with manuscripts: serialized novels, plus the drafts of his revolutionary program.
There were also some books on economics and sociology, all painstakingly rewritten from memory by Ethan, to be used as references.
The Grand Line was much more complicated.
He would need far more knowledge.
Two small cases were for changes of clothes.
That was it.
Keep everything simple.
Ethan had already decided that once he entered the Grand Line, he would definitely have to order a small travel ship made just for them.
In the future, he'd only be writing more and more.
Without a ship of their own, they would quickly run out of space; it really was a headache.
Right now, the shipwright Tom of Water Seven was still alive.
He absolutely had to ask this top-class shipwright to build him a vessel, and maybe even find a way to rope him in.
In a sea-faring world, a master shipwright was a huge asset for transportation.
Staying in Water Seven just to build pirate ships?
What a waste.
With skills like his, he should be building for the sake of all humans and humanoid races across the sea.
Yes, this ocean did not belong only to humans.
There were fishmen, minks, oni, dwarves, giants, and so many other races.
All of them were companions Ethan intended to unite.
After finishing her packing, Robin quietly began cleaning the house.
She did not use her Devil Fruit; instead, she did the work bit by bit with her own hands.
She felt both anticipation and resistance toward the Grand Line.
As the last historian of Ohara, she bore a mission on her shoulders: to uncover the truth of the lost hundred years.
So she had to go to the Grand Line.
But she couldn't bear to leave this peaceful, tranquil life behind.
She felt she had failed the scholars who had entrusted their hopes to her.
Her will was not as firm as she had thought.
She turned and looked at Ethan, who was somewhat excited, and was forced to face her own heart.
As long as she was with Ethan, she would not fear the abyss, even if death were waiting there.
She had to uncover that blank history and tell every corner of the sea:
This is the real history.
Before they set off, Ethan took one last look at his status panel.
Physique: 74
Strength: 75
Speed: 70
Skills:
Shave: Mastery 4%
Tempest Kick: Beginner 99%
Conqueror's Haki: 16%–18%
Swordsmanship: Master level 25%
Observation Haki: Master level 1%
Armament Haki: Proficient 95%
The duel with Koushirou had given him enormous gains.
His swordsmanship at the swordmaster level had advanced another step.
Observation Haki had also broken through to master level.
With this level of strength, he would already be considered on par with a major pirate in the first half of the Grand Line.
At the very least, he now had the power to protect himself.
(End of Chapter)
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