After the practical combat assessment ended, Roya went straight home.
He was not particularly interested in scores or rankings. It was not that Roya was some saint utterly detached from fame and gain—rather, the ranking and outcome of this assessment were obvious even without guessing. Moreover, this was merely a ranking within an ordinary training camp, hardly something worth paying attention to.
At this moment, Roya was alone in his room, sitting cross-legged. The famous sword Engetsu lay horizontally across his knees as he lowered his head in contemplation.
Despite the fact that he had nearly swept through the practical assessment with overwhelming dominance, advancing unstoppably, this did not cause Roya to become arrogant or lose his composure and rationality.
The reason he was able to display such absolute control was largely because the forest environment was exceptionally suited to his abilities. If the battle had taken place in open terrain, with his current level of flame output, it would have been impossible to ignite such a vast sea of fire.
Of course, these thoughts were of little real value and only flashed briefly through his mind. What truly concerned Roya were certain problems he had revealed during the battle itself.
For example, he lacked defined techniques. His swordsmanship was scattered and disorderly, relying almost entirely on his flame ability or on the sharpness of Engetsu, hacking and slashing at will.
This posed no issue when facing ferocious beasts, but it would be an entirely different matter if he were to fight a swordmaster proficient in swordsmanship, or a physically agile combatant capable of evading flames.
"Techniques are important. At present, when it comes to flame-based abilities, there are really only two that are practically useful," Roya muttered, recalling the combat process from the assessment and summarizing briefly.
Ittōryū: Kasō!
This was the most basic and simplest move—an all-out slash in any direction, releasing maximized flames straight ahead like a blazing sword aura.
Taimatsu!
This technique was half offense, half defense. After a sweeping slash, it ignited a curtain of fire around him, either keeping enemies out or trapping them within.
Put simply, Kasō focused on attacking a single point, while Taimatsu attacked an area. Each had its own strengths and weaknesses.
All other techniques were essentially derivatives of these two, including Ryūka, which split and released flame projectiles.
Aside from these two flame-based sword techniques, Roya had nothing else truly presentable. As for pure swordsmanship—even basic moves such as Ittōryū or Iaijutsu—he had yet to master them proficiently.
"This time, fighting ferocious beasts in a forest environment gave me every possible advantage. But if I were fighting a person, and flames couldn't instantly kill the opponent, then combat experience and techniques would become critical."
During the previous month, Roya had devoted nearly all his energy to strengthening his physical body, never once engaging in sparring or combat training with Garp.
Now, however, he no longer needed to focus all his efforts on physical conditioning and could afford to dedicate part of his time to honing combat experience and swordsmanship.
Yet as soon as this thought arose, Roya could not help but reveal a helpless expression.
"Even so… sparring with Garp feels a bit like deliberately seeking a beating, doesn't it?"
The moment he imagined training against Garp, scenes of himself being sent flying in all directions by Garp's iron fists involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
The more he thought about it, the darker his expression became. Roya decisively cut off those thoughts.
Hah!
Letting out a helpless sigh, Roya was pondering how to find a training method that wouldn't result in getting abused when—bang—his room door was suddenly shoved open.
"Uncle Garp, could you at least knock before coming in?!"
Roya looked at Garp with a face full of black lines. Bursting in without knocking like this—what if he had been in the middle of some kind of hand-speed training? There would have been no time to hide it.
Observation Haki really was a good thing. He needed to learn it as soon as possible.
Sighing inwardly, Roya stood up and spread his hands. "If you had something to say, you could've just called me outside."
Garp crossed his arms over his chest and grinned broadly. "Because I wanted to give you a surprise."
"..."
Roya nearly face-planted on the spot.
Fortunately, he was already used to Garp's erratic personality. The fact that Garp hadn't smashed through the door outright was already something to be thankful for—or so Roya consoled himself.
"Because your score was outrageously high and affected your squad's overall camp results, along with a few other unexpected factors, this practical assessment won't be used as the final evaluation for promotion to the elite camp," Garp said casually, arms still crossed.
"So, one month from now, based on this assessment's results, there will be another full-camp combat evaluation to determine the overall ranking of the standard camp."
Roya had long since been internally designated as Zephyr's student, so Garp naturally didn't care much about such evaluations.
After saying this, Garp suddenly scratched his head, looking as though he had forgotten something.
"There was something else… ah, right."
As if suddenly remembering, Garp reached into his coat, pulled out a small booklet, and tossed it toward Roya.
"Here. This is for you."
Roya had listened for quite a while but was completely indifferent to the whole "one month later" combat assessment. Promotion to the elite camp was no longer something he cared about. When the time came, he could just participate casually and teach a lesson to those recruits who had previously looked down on him.
What truly caught his attention was the small booklet Garp had suddenly thrown over.
Reaching out casually, Roya caught it in his hand.
Seeing this, Garp let out a chuckle, turned around, and left the room without another word.
Holding the unknown booklet, Roya recalled Garp's remark about a "surprise." Raising an eyebrow, he brought it closer and flipped it open.
"This really is a surprise…"
The booklet was none other than a condensed compilation extracted from the Marine Headquarters' vast swordsmanship archives—Swordsmanship Essentials.
Under the World Government, which had ruled the world for eight hundred years, the Marines' intelligence and archival systems were unmatched by any private organization.
Internal Marine materials—especially swordsmanship records—were undoubtedly compilations of insights, notes, and experiences from countless powerful swordmasters. This booklet was clearly the most concise and refined portion extracted from that immense body of data.
Garp himself was not proficient in swordsmanship, but that did not mean he was incapable of teaching Roya. Given his status within the Marines, obtaining such materials was effortless.
And this was precisely what Roya needed.
For Roya, rapidly drawing out the true power of Ryūjin Jakka, and eventually even Zanka no Tachi, was a clearly defined objective. On top of strengthening the Soul Sword itself, investing in swordsmanship training offered the highest returns.
Although this booklet distilled only the core essence of swordsmanship, extracting the most concise principles, it was far more detailed than Roya had anticipated. It even contained records concerning the realm of the greatest swordmasters at the pinnacle of swordsmanship—albeit incomplete.
Skipping over sections that were irrelevant or unnecessary for now, Roya went straight to what he most wanted to understand.
At present, Roya could only be considered an ordinary swordsman. Despite possessing an ability akin to sword aura—imbued with flame damage—he could not be called a true swordmaster, let alone a great swordmaster.
The booklet clearly outlined the difference between an ordinary swordsman and a swordmaster.
Swordmaster.
Rather than a strict realm, it was more accurately described as a state of being.
For an ordinary swordsman to become a swordmaster, the first threshold was comprehending the "Breath of All Things." This was the most fundamental state that every swordmaster possessed.
Familiar with the original storyline, Roya had a strong impression of this concept. In the canon, when Zoro defeated the Baroque Works assassin who possessed the Dice-Dice Fruit, it was by grasping the so-called "Breath of All Things."
For a swordmaster, even without using Armament Haki, wielding nothing more than an ordinary, rusted iron sword, one could effortlessly cut through steel. This was an insurmountable, realm-level difference separating them from ordinary swordsmen.