Great Grade Black Blade

"So these are the pirates?" Asked the Marine Officer with a frown. "They are much more pathetic than I thought."

"Ahaha… yes they are."

"Who was the person who apprehended the criminals?"

Artoria did her best to lie to the Marine Officer. "I-I tho-think it was uhhh… uh- it was a b-bounty hunter! Yes, it was a bounty hunter!"

"A bounty hunter did this?" Asked the Marine Officer while raising his eyebrows at Captain Farnell who was basically dead at this point and the pirate with bullet holes in his leg.

"Y-yes!" Yelled Artoria while averting her gaze.

The marine officer stared at the wounds with a deepening frown. "Was it the pirate hunter Zoro? Usually, these cuts would be something left behind by the Pirate Hunter but I've never heard of him using guns… oh well. As long as one criminal is taken off the sea, doesn't really matter who did it am I right? Hahahaha!" Said the Marine Officer in a good mood while patting Artoria on the back.

"Y-yes ahahaha…" replied Artoria stiffly.

"You should really fix that stutter of yours, girl. You need to stop being so nervous. Bad men prey on nervous men like you. Have more confidence hahahaha!" Advised the Marine Officer with a concerned look.

"O-of course sir!"

"As long as you don't become a criminal like a pirate, the law will always be on your side! You won't become a pirate, will you? Of course not, especially after a situation like this who am I even kidding ahahaha!"

"A-aha-ha-h-ha ha h-ha… of course I w-wouldn't…"

The marine officer gave Artoria a last pat on the back before taking the pirates back onto his ship with a hearty shout. "REMEMBER THIS GIRL! JUSTICE OVER ALL!"

As the ship left the port, a shadowy figure leaped out of the water and appeared next to Artoria on the porch.

"Seems like a good man," said Ren as he ruffled his hair to shake some water off. "The world might be a better place if more people like him were in power."

"…probably."

While staring at the disappearing boat, Ren suddenly called out.

"…Can I say something, Artoria?"

"Hmmm? Say what?"

"You suck at lying."

"…"

Ren had to run away as Artoria started swinging her fists at Ren with a red face.

[The Next Day]

"Mom! Please let me go out to sea! I wish to explore the world!" Shouted Artoria.

"Okay," said Artoria's mother without batting an eyelid.

"Huh?"

Artoria tilted her head in confusion. "You aren't gonna say no?"

Artoria's mother shrugged. "I've always known that you wanted to go out and explore the world."

"Thank you, mom!" Yelled Artoria as she gave her mother a big hug. "Where is Dad?"

"He is busy."

A muffled sound came from within a room as if a man was tied up against his will causing Artoria to feel a sudden chill.

"What was that?" Asked Artoria with a tentative look.

"It is your father being busy. Now go start your journey, my daughter!"

"But dad-"

"Hmmmm?"

"Uh, nothing Mom. I'll go now bye."

Artoria let out an involuntary shiver as she gave her mom a deep bow and left the house.

Artoria's mom started to hum as she saw her daughter Artoria run happily to the docks. Her eyes became narrow slits as a smile flirted across her lips.

"Finally my eighteen-year-old daughter has found a boy she isn't repulsed by… and he seems nice and handsome too… it seems my bloodline won't end in my generation fufufu~"

"MMMMMMMMM! MMMMMMMM!"

"Ara ara… it seems my husband needs some disciplining~," said Artoria's mother as she waltzed into her room.

At the dock waiting for Artoria was Ren on the pirate Ship that used to belong to the Iron Chest Pirates. He was busy ripping down the ugly-looking flag when he heard Artoria running down the dock with a happy expression.

"My mom said yes!"

"That's great news," said Ren with a smile as he checked the mooring lines and anchor chain to see if everything was good to go.

"Are we gonna ride this big ship by ourselves? Don't we need at least 20 men to operate it safely?" Asked Artoria with a confused look.

"You should really check stuff like this out before you ask your parents for permission to explore the seas haha," said Ren as he opened the sails and tightened the ropes until everything was perfect. "And don't worry I got this."

The moment Ren raised the anchor by himself and let loose the mooring lines, the ship started to drift away from the dock and head out towards the open ocean.

Taking command of the steering wheel, Ren navigated the boat to his desired path while Artoria stared at her shrinking island with a complicated expression.

A feeling of guilt sprouted in her chest as she had not been able to say goodbye to her father but it was quickly stamped out but the expectation and anticipation in her heart.

"Where are we going first?" Asked Artoria as she gave Ren a smile.

"To wherever the wind takes us," said Ren while returning her smile.

"That sounds nice," giggled Artoria as she let the win rustle her hair as she closed her eyes.

Ren quickly set the steering wheel to sail straight before giving his arms a quick stretch.

"We should be set until night now."

"Is that so?"

"Indeed. In the meantime, we can do whatever we want."

"So what are you gonna do?" Asked Artoria with a curious look.

"I'm gonna train of course," said Ren as he took off his shirt and picked up his sword.

Artoria felt a bit bashful at seeing the well-toned muscular body of Ren but quickly fell into admiration as Ren started swinging his sword.

His form was precise and clean as a nice breeze fanned her face each time he swung.

He was an experienced swordsman that was for sure. Even Ren's sword seemed to be special as it was black from tip to pommel.

"Is that a named sword?" She asked.

Ren raised his sword with a melancholic gaze before answering. "It is a named blade. More precisely a great grade black blade."

"A great-grade black blade?" Asked Artoria a bit confused.

She had heard of sword grades as she was somewhat of a sword enthusiast herself.

There were four known grades. Starting from the weakest Grade to the stronger Skillful Grade, Great Grade, and Supreme Grade. Swords that had a grade were all named blades with a certain degree of fame behind them and were the desires of most swordsmen around the world.

However, she had never heard of a pure black katana before. She had never heard of the term black blade either.

"This sword isn't on the list of named blades," answered Ren as if he saw her confusion. "However it still possesses a similar strength to a great-grade sword."

"Why is it black though?"

"It's a phenomenon where a sword slowly becomes black after being repeatedly imbued with armament haki until some of the black sticks."

Artoria felt even more confused at Ren's words.

"Haki?"

Ren let out a small chuckle at Artoria's confused face.

"It doesn't matter right now. You and I can't use it yet anyways. Once we get strong enough, I'll explain it to you."

With that, Ren continued his sword swings without a care in the world.

A few minutes later, Artoria joined him and the two of them swung their swords under the blue sky.