"Maxed out the efficiency. At this rate, maybe just one month and I can push Basic Swordsmanship to Level 50 and unlock: Breath of All Things."
Klein's heart was on fire. Breath of All Things—what the anime fans call "Cutting Iron."
Everyone knows how tough steel is. Even a master-forged blade would struggle to actually "cut through iron like mud."
But a swordsman who has grasped the Breath of All Things can slice steel effortlessly—even with an ordinary blade.
Not to mention, they can perform those flashy, razor-sharp Flying Slashes.
Fwoosh!
Among swordsmen, that was a watershed moment.
The threshold of a Swordmaster!
"A Swordmaster, huh... That's something to look forward to." Klein's blood boiled again, though thankfully the cold water spraying from the shower helped cool him down.
"Can't get too cocky just yet. Becoming a Swordmaster is only the beginning. I'll just set a small goal for now—how about becoming the World's Greatest Swordsman?"
He couldn't help but think—
In this era…
Which swordsmen were at the top?
Golden Lion Shiki definitely counted. That idiot prince, Kozuki Oden, maybe half a spot. Then there's Roger, Rayleigh, and Red Count Redfield…
As for Dracule Mihawk—he's not even a sperm cell yet.
Not even in the conversation!
Looking at it that way, there were still quite a few swordsmanship monsters out there. Becoming the World's Greatest Swordsman wouldn't be easy.
Next—
Klein opened up today's special offer packs. After buying out the whole store, his balance began to drop fast.
As usual, he opened the daily "Swordsmanship Mentor" card pack.
No surprises—it was all just character fragments.
Klein was long used to the routine of pulling nothing. If he ever actually got a full card, he'd probably leap eight meters in the air from excitement.
But then…
After doing daily draws for so long, Klein noticed a red dot lighting up on the Swordsmanship Mentor icon.
"Finally ready for synthesis? Gimme a Gold Mentor, please!" He silently prayed. Unlocking just one gold-tier mentor and their exclusive skill would massively boost his swordsmanship.
He tapped the icon. The gold mentors were listed at the top, but they were all just scattered fragments...
None of them could be synthesized.
The dream of a gold mentor? Crushed!
Scrolling down—
He finally found a mentor he could synthesize: Silver Swordsmanship Mentor – Kyros!
"It's him!?"
"The legend with an unbelievable 3,000-match undefeated streak in the Dressrosa colosseum—a true hero!"
Memories of Kyros surfaced in Klein's mind. He was Rebecca's father, and also the one-legged toy soldier.
Pretty strong overall. If not for that broken leg, he'd be even stronger.
Still, compared to the gold mentors, the gap was huge.
"Still better than nothing. As long as I keep buying these special packs, one day I'll unlock a gold one." Klein immediately used the fragments to synthesize.
He hung the mentor's icon inside the Swordsmanship Training Room. Not only can mentors unlock exclusive skills, they also boost training efficiency and increase EXP gain.
At the same time, he was curious. "I wonder what skill Kyros will unlock as a mentor?"
Currently, his in-game character only had two skills: Tekkai and Basic Swordsmanship—both were passive. One focused on offense, the other on defense.
He didn't have a single active skill yet!
Then—
He upgraded the training room, accelerated what needed acceleration, refined what needed refining…
All part of Klein's daily grind now. It had become routine.
Finally, it was time to draw skills.
Once again, just a bunch of fragments. But since he'd unlocked Tekkai earlier, this time…
He managed to unlock another Rokushiki skill:
Kami-e (Paper Drawing).
Kami-e: One of the techniques of Rokushiki, it involves letting go of all bodily tension, allowing the user's body to become as thin and light as paper. By reading subtle air current changes from an opponent's movements, the user can fluidly avoid attacks.
In game terms: Increased evasion rate.
Upon unlocking it—
Klein's mind was once again filled with sudden revelation, overflowing with training methods and battle experience related to Kami-e.
He instantly felt… floaty!
No kidding.
Klein felt that with just a single thought, he could make his body go paper-thin.
This feeling of not even having to train to master Rokushiki?
Absolutely…
Freaking amazing!
Learning a move in one second? Who else can say that!?
This game was practically designed for untalented nobodies like him.
Klein felt like if he sparred with Tsuru again, dodging her attacks would be even easier. As long as he wanted to, she wouldn't even be able to touch the hem of his coat.
Excited, he thought, "Two defense skills unlocked already. Unlocking all of Rokushiki is just a matter of time. There are so many cool skills in this game—I'll take my time collecting them."
At that point—
Klein would be able to declare himself the unbeatable Hexagon Warrior.
He opened the Adventure menu. The first chapter was the Alvida Pirates, and the second chapter was the Buggy Pirates.
Compared to Alvida, the Buggy Pirates were clearly tougher.
Captain Buggy the Clown, a user of the Chop-Chop Fruit, even had a few elite mobs under his command.
To stronger characters, they were basically circus clowns.
Clearing stages—
This time it went smoothly. He pushed all the way to stage 2-10. Imu's Dad was no longer the weakling he started as.
Those daily special offer packs? That's cold, hard cash. No wonder he was now a proper whale. The early chapters weren't much of a challenge.
Then came the boss: Buggy the Clown.
His character traded blows with Buggy in the turn-based combat system. Game logic ignored real-world common sense—
Even wielding a longblade, he could still damage Buggy despite his Chop-Chop Fruit ability.
"Good thing I don't need Haki yet. Otherwise, I'd be stuck on this Buggy fight for who knows how long."
"Unlocking Armament Haki is still a long way off."
Right now, he only had a few fragments for Armament Haki. As for the Divine Evasion skill he'd been dreaming of? Still only one piece. Who knows when he'd finally unlock it.
On screen—
Imu's Dad was lying on the ground again, bleeding ketchup-like blood, while Buggy the Clown had just a sliver of health left.
A few more days and a couple level-ups, and he'd clear the Buggy chapter for sure.
Defeat.
When Klein returned to the main screen, a message popped up at the center:
"Your fight with Buggy the Clown gives you your first glimpse at the sea's ultimate treasure—Devil Fruits."
"Eating a Devil Fruit grants you an incredible supernatural power… with the downside that you can never swim again."
"Devil Fruit Chapter Unlocked!"
Suddenly, a new icon appeared on the main menu: Devil Fruit Tree.
Upon clicking it—
A massive tree trunk filled the screen, so thick and lush he couldn't even see the whole tree.
On one of the leaves, there was a portrait of the red-nosed Buggy the Clown.
"Let's see how this Devil Fruit Tree system works…"