29 Only Each Other

Saria listened to Hawkeye’s words without objection. Instead, she quietly clenched the wooden sword carved in the style of an Eastern blade and sank into deep contemplation.

Rather than saying that her Observation Haki was her weakness, it was more accurate to say that all forms of Haki were her weakness.

When she had previously encountered Admiral Aokiji, she had been caught off guard because her Observation Haki failed to detect his presence, leaving her passive and at a slight disadvantage in their first confrontation with the future Marine admiral.

It wasn’t that Saria didn’t want to improve her Haki abilities.

She was well aware that in the world of the Pirate King, where the strong abound, Haki was an indispensable and vital power.

However, during the early stages of her growth, she preferred a more direct and efficient path—delving deeply into the development of her Devil Fruit powers—rather than spending time and effort mastering Haki.

To this day, Saria still felt that her control and utilization of the Muscle-Muscle Fruit was at a beginner’s level, likely not even 40% developed.

After all, the concept of “strength” existed everywhere in nature, encompassing not only physical power but also more abstract, conceptual forces such as her “creativity” or human “vitality.”

Moreover, she had another incarnation, Charlemagne, who had consumed the Nature-type Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

Having obtained the immensely destructive power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, she had no intention of abandoning the tremendous force of lightning, which possessed astonishing lethality and unmatched speed.

As for Haki and swordsmanship, since she was now facing Mihawk, it was not too late to start learning.

Besides, this was just one of her incarnations. If Mihawk agreed, she could leave the Judith incarnation behind Mihawk and learn swordsmanship anytime, anywhere from Master Mihawk.

“Master Mihawk, I’ve memorized everything you just said,” Saria said, gripping her wooden sword shaped like an Eastern blade, her eyes shining with eager thirst for knowledge.

Humbly, she continued to ask Mihawk, “But you said to combine offense and defense. I understand the principle, so can we have another duel? During the fight, you can tell me in detail what areas I need to improve.”

Saria thought that combining theory with practice was the most important.

Hawkeye looked at the wooden sword in his hand and suddenly understood the purpose of the two wooden swords this woman had carved.

She seemed frivolous, but she had taken his words to heart, which strangely gave him a bit of satisfaction.

“Alright,” Hawkeye said. His mood was decent today, so he did not refuse Saria’s request.

“Just call me Mihawk,” he added with a faint look.

Hawkeye was always a lone wolf. He was no one’s teacher and had never intended to take on apprentices.

Saria nodded vigorously, her voice very respectful, “Okay, Master Mihawk, I understand, Master Mihawk. I will remember, Master Mihawk.”

Hawkeye: “...” He really wanted to cut this woman down with one stroke.

Not only did Mihawk think so, he acted on it.

With a casual flick of the wooden sword resembling the character “Night,” he instantly unleashed an extremely sharp sword energy.

“You’re too noisy,” Hawkeye said with an unchanged expression.

“How can your swordsmanship improve if your mind is restless?” he half mocked, half admonished.

For a swordsman, inner calm and focus were the keys to advancing swordsmanship.

Hawkeye saw Saria being overly lively and felt her mind was unsettled.

“My mind has always been calm, so calm it’s cold,” Saria replied, nimbly dodging Hawkeye’s fierce sword energy. She swung her wooden sword with undeniable force, chopping toward him.

Feigning lamentation, she said, “After killing fish for ten years at the supermarket, my heart’s already as cold as a blade.”

Hawkeye chose to ignore her nonsense.

He firmly blocked Saria’s attack, his eyes serious. “Stop attacking. From now on, you can only defend.”

Even in simple sparring, her sword style tended to be aggressively offensive.

To improve, she had to break this bad habit.

“Private Marseille Mama-chan, understood,” Saria said, her smile fading as she grew serious.

She recalled the Tai Chi sword style she once studied, which emphasizes using softness to overcome hardness, stillness to control movement, integrating offense and defense, with defense in attack and attack in defense.

She began adjusting her sword stance, becoming softer and more flexible.

“Hear that, Saria?” Mihawk’s face turned cold in an instant. “If you keep talking nonsense, get lost.”

His tone was authoritative and unyielding, leaving Saria no room for slackening.

Then Hawkeye’s attacks became fiercer and more powerful, each move threatening.

Saria focused intently, responding to his strikes.

Even the simplest wooden sword wielded by Mihawk was imbued with immeasurable power.

Following Mihawk’s orders, Saria could only defend, unable to attack. This put her at a clear disadvantage compared to before.

She found it difficult to evade every strike, forced to endure passively.

Previously, when they had wielded Haki in combat, she could dodge Mihawk’s attacks, but now she was constantly hit.

Gritting her teeth, unwilling, she stared at Mihawk, longing to slash that handsome face.

She also felt Mihawk was taking personal revenge.

Although the force of the wooden sword strikes wasn’t enough to cause real injury, Mihawk precisely hit her forehead every time, forcing her to remain vigilant.

“Hey, Mihawk, you bastard! You’ve given me several bumps on my forehead! Can’t you hit somewhere else?” Saria shouted angrily.

“In real battles, you don’t know where your opponent will strike,” Mihawk said, curling his lips.

He rarely showed such patience in instructing an opponent; now he was holding back.

He paused, then reminded, “Focus.”

“Bastard! You’re taking personal revenge!” Saria growled through clenched teeth, her forehead swollen. “I’m going to scratch your face up!”

She was certain Mihawk was doing this on purpose!

Yet she still had to obey this lousy teacher’s orders, passively defending without attacking.

Damn, she wanted to kill Mihawk!

Despite her dissatisfaction, Saria listened to Mihawk and did as he said.

She had to admit that sparring with a swordsmanship master was truly rewarding.

Hawkeye occasionally gave pointers that brought new insights into her swordsmanship.

She had pushed all attributes of “strength” to the extreme, making comprehension smoother.

Soon, she grasped the essence of Tai Chi swordsmanship — “arriving late but first, the sword moves lightly.”

Compared to before, her sword moves became more conscious and controlled, each swing seeming to engage in subtle communication with the air, greatly enhancing her perception.

She deeply realized that sparring with the strong was far more meaningful than fighting mediocre opponents.

This duel was far more valuable than a hundred fights against the ragtag pirates of the West Blue!

Though still maintaining a defensive stance, her heart grew increasingly excited and exhilarated.

Every clash with Mihawk brought unprecedented challenge and thrill, as if her blood was boiling.

Challenging a strong opponent was indeed an effective way to improve!

Since hitting a bottleneck, she had not felt such breakthrough progress for a long time.

As both opponent and mentor, Mihawk noticed Saria’s rapid improvement before she even realized it.

He saw her eyes shift from initial resentment and discontent to a gleam of fighting spirit and passion, quietly awakening his own battle fervor.

As the instructive duel deepened, each clash of wooden swords grew more intense.

In the midst of fierce combat, their spirited gazes collided in the void, until gradually, there was no one else in their eyes but each other.