Chapter 254

254

"Listen, I'm only doing this, 'cause you saved my life… nothing else you got it!?" Anchor huffed as he picked up the Nameless Naginata from the table, and started examining it.

"Sure, sure…" Luffy waved him off as he and a few others eagerly observed Anchor doing his job.

The blacksmith had taken quite a bit of damage from his fight with Crocodile and only recovered fully yesterday. And as thanks for the crew saving his life, he barged into the Royal Castle to return the favor.

And the Straw Hat crew, or those that had weapons in their hands, were more than happy to have him look at their weapons.

Anchor might be a lot of things, a dishonorably discharged marine, a bad fighter with over-the-top strength, but when it came to weapons he was your go-to man.

So now, Luffy, Zoro, Kuina, Gin, and Usopp were observing the blacksmith as he did his work.

"This one looks fine… more than fine actually?" Anchor looked up from the weapon towards Luffy, "What have you been feeding it?" he joked.

"Uh… the two shotel blades from Jack?" Luffy answered, for the first time not getting a joke.

And that made Anchor do a double take, as he looked at the naginata back to the pirate. "…of course, my bad. Forget I ever asked," He said, accepting the weirdness as it is, he put the weapon to his side, intending to do a maintenance routine after.

Anchor then picked up Horn's Edge, Luffy's other Naginata. "This one is good as well…" he said, "Most self-repairing blades are." He was about to put the blade aside when Luffy spoke.

"I… uh… I was thinking." Luffy said, "Horn's edge is quite a good blade… but it's nowhere near as good as my Nameless Naginata or Akaiittou Nozarashi… so I have been thinking. Can you, like, upgrade it?"

Anchor looked at him, then at the bone weapon, before he sighed, "I am sorry," He said, "Horn's Edge was made out of the horn of Iron-Rhino, and its uniqueness makes it impossible for me to upgrade it… Its a one time build, doing any work over it would ruin it."

Luffy nodded, confirming what his Nameless Naginata already told him.

"You're not thinking of throwing the blade away, are you?" Anchor asked with a raised eyebrow.

Luffy blinked, "No… of course not. I… I have another plan for the weapon. Even though it might not be the best weapon. It was still my first, so I would wish to hang onto it for a bit longer." He said sadly.

Everyone in the room had questions about what Luffy was planning, but they didn't ask.

"Good then," Anchor said, "The bone naginata still has a few years left in it before it becomes unusable." He said, "Next."

Zoro stepped forward, unsheathing his three swords and handing them over, "I'm sure all of them are fine. But still…"

Anchor hummed, taking each blade and observing them.

He started with Sandai Kitetsu first, and frowned, "A bit angry but okay." He then put it down as it didn't need any work. After that it was Yabashiri, "Good blade, quite obedient."

Zoro snorted, hearing it, a small smile on his face.

Anchor put down Zoro's second blade and picked up Akaiittou Nozarashi. Wincing when he touched the blade, "Still going hot as ever," he mused rubbing his fingertips as they got burned. "But good." With that he put down Zoro's blades, "I will give them a clean up after." He said, "Next."

Kuina was the next one to step forward, placing her Wado Ichimonji on the table, "I hadn't noticed it at first… but after the fight with Crocodile, something felt off about the blade."

"Well, let's see…" Anchor said, and the moment he touched the blade a chill ran down his spine. "The fuck…" the blacksmith didn't throw the blade away, doing that would be an unforgivable crime. But the blade, it was hurt. "How did you manage to damage your sword that badly?"

Kuina blinked, confused and a bit concerned, "What do you mean?"

Luffy and Zoro also perked up, and tried to look at the sword carefully. But to them, Wado Ichimonji looked just fine, a bit white, but that was it.

"Your blade… it has a shit ton of fractures… don't tell me you guys can't see it?" Anchor said, a bit confused, "I mean you guys should have Observation Haki. I don't have it, but I heard it could make one see a lot of stuff."

Luffy frowned, activating his Observation Haki, he was the only one in the room that could use Observation Haki. Sanji wasn't here, the same was with Sparky, both of them didn't have weapons and decided not to come.

And just as he activated his Haki, Luffy could see patterns run down Wado Ichimonji. They were so thin that it looked like someone had taken his time and decorated it with very thin linework to enhance the sword's beauty.

But no, they were cracks, "So that's why the sword was looking more white…" Luffy muttered.

"Yup, energy is leaking out of the sword." Anchor said, looking at the swordswoman, "That's why it's cold as well… must have been absorbing your energy and now is using it to hold itself together."

"I'm sorry, but is it really bad?" Kuina said with a bit of worry evident in her voice.

"Well, your sword got damaged somehow… like really badly damaged, as if someone was trying to suck the life out of it." Anchor said as Kuina's eyes widened, but he wasn't paying attention.

Crocodile did try to break her sword, maybe it got damaged back then.

"And your powers… which is related to cold, was able to help the blade stop from breaking apart. The poor blade wouldn't have survived the whole year with this much damage… well, maybe two years, if you had managed to learn to coat your blade in Armament Haki. But that's it…"

"Can you fix it?" Kuina asked, "I-I had this sword for most of my life…"

But Anchor cut her off, "Of course, I can… I'm a blacksmith, and a damn good one at that. But even if I fix your sword, it would be temporary… you won't break it. But after a rough battle or two, it might start getting cracks again." he said rubbing his chin.

"Is there no other way?" Kuina asked, a bit stressed.

Anchor huffed, "How should I say this… Wado Ichimonji, or at least the core of the blade has been damaged, and unless I do a full rework like Akaiittou Nozarashi it won't be fixed."

"Then why not do it…" she asked.

"Because once a sword's core gets damaged, it's real hard to fix that stuff." Anchor said, a bit ashamed, "And I'm not that confident in my skill that I would be able to fix it."

That was surprising. But at least Anchor was telling the truth.

Luffy was scratching the back of his head, there was a way to fix the blade, remembering who made the sword in the first place. But going into Wano right now would take time and resources… not to mention the risk involved with it.

"But, how did you fix Akiittou Nozarashi?" Zoro asked, "This was totally broken… when I first saw it."

"Oh, that… well, Akiittou Nozarahi had a devil fruit power inside of it. And it helped with the reforging." Anchor said.

Luffy blinked, "Wait… so if we give you devil fruit, you could fix Kuina's sword?"

Anchor blinked, "Eh… I mean I do know how to make a devil fruit weapon. But you would need to find a good paramecia fruit."

The others didn't know what to say, while Kuina looked on hopefully.

"For now I could temporarily fix it. This will also make sure you can fight with your full abilities without holding back."

"Then it's decided," Luffy said, "You will join the crew."

Anchor's eye twitched, "And how did you come up with that…?"

Luffy smiled, "Well, someone needs to take care of our weapons, and what better way than having you permanently on our crew." He said, "Also, let's say we do find a good fruit for Kuina's sword, we would still need to find you after."

"H-he actually makes sense?" Usopp said, "That's… yeah, with three blade users, we do need someone in the crew for that."

"See? My sniper gets it." Luffy grinned, making Anchor sigh.

"I will get back to you on that later." The smith grumbled, not outright rejecting Luffy's offer. "Next."

Luffy's grin just got wider, but Anchor wasn't paying attention as he started looking over Gin's unique weapon and praising Usopp for his crafty skills.

All in all, this was a productive day.