(02) Training
Sharpening my resolve, I stood up and looked around the hut that was now my home. Over off to the side lay a plain sword, not exactly in new condition but not overly damaged either. I walked over to it and picked up, as the memories of the previous Soren let me weild the sword with familiarity. The condition of the sword definitely represented my mastery over it. Not exactly a beginner, but at the same time it couldn't even be called intermediate. If I had to explain it in different terms, it's like being level 15 instead of level 1, better than nothing but doen't mean a whole lot if the max level is like 500. If that makes sense.
I placed my sword on my hip as I exited my tent and started walking away from where all the huts/tents were located. The previous Saiken was a bit of a loner so no one really bothered talking to me or stopping me, not that the Shandians were exactly a social bunch anyway. Not at this point at least.
As I walked to the training ground, I started formulating my plan inside my head. it was relatively obvious what I needed to do. For now the most immediate goal was leaving the sky islands and going off to explore in the sea below, or the blue sea as the sky residents would call it. If I try to leave though, Enel was likely going to strike me down, and never mind him I wouldn't even be able to land a scratch on one of his priests. So the solution to that problem was to get stronger, duh. But then came other problems. Enel was a logia, meaning the only way to hit him is armament haki, which I don't know how to achieve exactly. To be safe, it'd probably also be better to get observation haki or mantra which was a bit more straightforward considering there was a whole sequence in the anime showing the process Luffy went through to obtain it.
I concluded my thoughts as I eventually got to a makeshift training ground. It was really just an open expanse of clouds. I wasn't the only one there, as it was pretty common for a warrior tribe to often train together and spar frequently, which now that I thought about it, would probably be the only way for me to get stronger. I really didn't want to socialise with people this early but I guess I have no choice.
"Would you mind sparring with me?", I casually asked a Shandian who was off to the side a bit. He was a few centimetres taller than me and more bulkier. To my luck, I received a nod of agreement from the big guy as we both got into our respective stances.
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Saien and the bulky Shandian stared each other off for a few seconds before Saien impatiently lunged towards his opponent slashing his sword downwards.
"Hrn"
The bigger man only grunted a little bit as he raised his spear and redirected the incoming sword attack. Saien didn't stop there though as he pivoted on his foot, slashing upwards to his openent. The Shandian stepped backwards, avoiding the slash before lunging himself back at Saien.
The two warriors clashed multiple times, with no apparent winner. Saien panted heavily as he locked eyes with his opponent, who was also disheveled from the spar. It would come to an end soon and Saien had just the thing in mind for it.
His opponent lunged at him again but instead of replicating the action and meeting him halfway, he stood still gaining a look of confusion from the big man and a couple of onlookers. The Shandian came closer and closer to Saien, not showing a single sign of stopping as he prepared to thrust his spear clean into Saien. The spear shot forward like a snake preparing to devour it's prey. Seeing Saien still not moving even after all of that the bulky man was a bit worried, not knowing if he could stop his spear in time. It proved pointless though as Saiken burst into action when the spear was mere inches away from him. He ducked under it while stepping forwards. Saien kicked his opponents ankle, dropping him and pointing his sword at his neck.
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(Saien)
"You win. That move was crazy. What's your name", the big guy said panting for breath as he stood up taking my hand that I offered.
"Saien", I replied casually, also quite out of breath. I may have won but to be honest this was extremely disappointing. 'If I struggle this much with some random guy, how the hell am I mean to be beat Enel or the people under him?'.
"I see. I'm Klaus, wanna go again?", he asked. I really had no reason to refuse so I agreed, and we went on training for a few more hours before I decided to call it a day. We were actually pretty evenly matched. He won some spars and I did too.
Before I left I suggested something though. "Hey, you ever heard of mantra?".
Klaus seemed to be in thought for a second before replying, "It's that thing where you're able to predict someone's next move or something similar no?"
"Yeah that's right", I confirmed his statement which then put a look of confusion on his face wondering the cause of the sudden question. "Well, I heard somewhere that everyone can do it and there's a way to train to achieve it", I continued.
"And you know this training method?", Klaus asked with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms. Clearly interested in what I had to say.
"Yeah I do. It involves blocking out the five senses and trying to avoid attacks that another person will throw at you. Depending on the person's talent it can take anywhere from days, to decades to learn though", I quickly explained the process of training observation haki.
"Huh, seems alright. I'm guessing you telling me this means you want me to try it out with you? In which case I don't see why not", Klaus said as he nodded at my explanation probably thinking it made sense.
"Great!", I said with a smile before bidding farewell and heading back home.
'That went incredibly smooth', I thought to myself happily. Given enough time, I should be able to get observation haki and also get stronger. 'It was a fruitful day'.