8 Sword
"Oh my god, Luffy! What happened!" Makino screamed in horror as she ran towards Luffy whose clothes were torn up while his body was all dirty and full of dirt and grass.
"I was sparring with gramps! It's very fun! Shishishishi!!" Luffy laughed loudly while Makino was fussing over him. Garp entered the room while laughing.
"The brat has potential, Makino! He would make a fine Marine!" Garp declared. Luffy narrowed his eyes and looked at him.
"I said I wanna be the Pirate King!!" Luffy argue. Garp groaned and palmed his face.
"Go get cleaned up, brat. Makino, have you already cooked dinner?"
"Yes, Garp-san. I just finished cooking it." Makino replied while Luffy ran off to the bathroom. Garp nodded and sat on the barstool.
"Garp-san. I must ask. Why do you want Luffy to be a Marine so bad?" Makino asked him. Garp sighed.
"I told you before, Makino. It's so that I can keep an eye on him while training him to become a strong marine so that he can catch all those pirates out in the world." Garp replied.
" Garp-san, you do know that no matter how much you say that. Luffy will still want to become a pirate. " Makino reminded him. Garp laughed.
"Ha! That brat doesn't know what he's talking about! He can't even read his ABCs or count his 123s!"
" You're lying! I can do that! "
Everyone looked at Luffy who was sitting on a barstool besides Garp. "You taught me how to read and count today!" Luffy accused. Garp raised an eyebrow at him.
" You need a lot of things to become a pirate, brat! You need to learn how to fight, how to navigate through the seas, and how to manage your damn money! You don't know all of those things! " Garp argued. Luffy growled.
" Then teach me, grandpa! Teach me so that you don't have to worry about me when I set sail!" Luffy shouted. Garp stayed silent. He then rubbed his chin. He then looked down at him.
"Ya know what? I will! If you wanna go out on your own and die, I'll gladly send you off to your death! " Garp said.
" Heh! You wish grandpa! When I find the One Piece, I'm gonna shove it in your face! And then I'll die of old age!" Luffy declared. Garp grinned menacingly which scared Luffy a little.
" Then welcome to hell, grandson!"
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.
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Three weeks have passed since Garp agreed to teach Luffy. Luffy has grown tremendously stronger in the past month. But it was still not enough to match even the weakest pirate crew in the East Blue.
The East Blue is commonly known as the weakest of all the seas. Pirates who are considered great and threatening in this sea are regarded as low rate compared to pirates from the other seas and especially in the Grand Line.
Ironically, despite its poor fame, the East Blue was the birthplace of the most famous and powerful pirate of all time, the late Pirate King Gold Roger.
Many other powerful and world-renowned characters also hail from the East Blue: Marine hero and vice-admiral, Monkey D. Garp; and the Revolutionary Army leader, Monkey D. Dragon.
Currently, Luffy was taking a 10 minute break from his training. He opened his system and checked the skill tablet.
[Counting Lvl Max]
[Reading Lvl 27]
[Writing Lvl 10]
[Kick Lvl Max
Perfect kicking form]
[Punch Lvl Max
Perfect punching form]
[Sprinting Lvl 10
Reduce Stamina usage by 20%]
Luffy grinned at the skill he just maxed out an hour ago.
[Boxing Lvl Max]
Garp had sparred with him everyday and for three hours nonstop. Then the other 3 hours he taught Luffy about the sea and its vast mysteries. He didn't teach him everything, he taught him enough so that he could explore the seas for himself with a sense of mystery in it.
While sparring with Garp, Luffy had dodged his punches a lot while punching back too, thus the reason why his skill was maxed out.
Luffy somehow still can't hurt Garp at all. That made him even more motivated to get better everyday.
"One day I'll be able to hurt you, even a little will do just fine." Luffy whispered to himself
" That's no way to speak to your grandpa like that, brat! " Luffy looked at Garp who was grinning at him while holding something in his hands.
" Here, brat!" Garp threw Luffy something. Luffy caught it and looked at the object. He widened his eyes, it was the cutlass he stole from Garp's ship.
He looked at Garp who laughed. "You should see your face! Do you think I'm stupid brat?! No one would go through all that trouble just to say goodnight!" Garp cracked his knuckles
Luffy gulped.
" I.... I—
"I don't wanna hear you apologizing, brat. I don't care if you steal them, they have no use to me anymore. But if you're going to steal them, at least put them to good use. Which is why.... " Garp grinned as he held up a large, black, spiked kanabo.
" I'm gonna train you on how to wield that cutlass of yours! " Garp declared. Luffy widened his eyes and grinned. He immediately jumped off the rock he was resting on.
"Really?! That's great! Thanks grandpa, you're the best!!" Luffy smiled warmly at him. Garp's heart broke at the cute sight. He sniffed a little while composing himself. He then grinned at him.
"Save those thanks when you become the Pirate King, brat! And before we start, take this." Garp threw him a sword strap. Luffy caught it and looked at it.
"It's a sword strap. It allows the weapon to be carried in scabbards attached to waist belts." Garp explained while Luffy was tying the sword strap to his waist. He strapped his cutlass into it.
"I'm ready!" Luffy unsheathed his cutlass and held it with his right hand. Garp narrowed his eyes as he noticed that Luffy was having a hard time holding it with just one hand.
They would have to work on that after their short spar.
"Let's start!!"
.
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"Hmph!" Luffy who was lying on the ground was pouting cutely. The cutlass was too heavy and too big for someone small like him. He was having a hard time swinging it to block Garp's attacks. He lost pretty easily.
"Want a rice cracker?" Garp offered a rice cracker to Luffy who gladly took it. Luffy finished it in one second, making Garp laugh and give him another one.
"I've already found out your main weaknesses, Luffy." Garp muttered while sitting beside him. Luffy looked at him.
"What is it, Grandpa?" He asked.
"The weight of your sword is too heavy. If you can't wield your sword like it's a stick, you have no chance of winning the fight with how slow your swings are." Garp explained.
"So what should I do?"
"You should do weightlifting exercises." Garp revealed.
"Weightlifting exercises? What's that?"
"In simple terms, lifting heavy things by training yourself to lift heavy things." Garp answered.
"Oh. So how should I do that?"
" Simple. Here's a 10kg dumbbell. Try lifting it with your right hand. " Garp put down a dumbbell in front of Luffy. Luffy stood and crouched a little.
" Hhnng!!!!" Luffy used everything he got to lift it. He got it off the ground for an inch before setting it down.
He sat back down on the ground. "Wow.... That's heavy. And you don't even look tired lifting that, gramps." He looked at Garp who picked it up effortlessly.
"That's because I trained myself to lift heavy things. Here's a 5kg weight. Try lifting it with the same hand. " Garp put down a smaller dumbbell. Luffy got up and crouched down a little again.
"Hngg!!" Luffy grunted as he lifted it up. Garp hummed.
"We'll start from here then. I'll show you how to do a bicep curl. Listen carefully alright, I won't repeat myself." Garp looked at Luffy who nodded at him with a determined smile on his face.
"Got it, gramps."
To be continued...
