Chapter 11 - Education Is Key

Yale entered the building and went straight to the first floor, apparently the men guarding the stairs were informed of his arrival and let him pass without trouble.

Before he put his foot on the last step, he heard the voice of Garp at the end of the corridor.

"You're early"

Watching the yawning figure that was now his master dressed in a white gym suit Yale felt a bit of excitement.

He put up a serious expression and did a slight nod.

"I'm eager to learn, old man!"

Garp didn't even look at him and gestured to follow him. Together they entered a spacious room with weapons on the walls and some wooden dummies sparse around.

Suppressing another yawn, Garp pointed at the floor:

"Sit, I'm not good in the mornings so I wish to explain everything just once, then you can ask me questions"

Yale almost immediately sat cross-legged on the floor. Yearning is visible in his eyes.

Garp sorted his thoughts for a little and then started explaining with a serious face:

"First, we won't gift you anything, a marine has to gather merits to obtain rewards and you will be no different but since you are now my disciple I granted you the title lieutenant and that ship, Consider it as a loan that you will repay through serving in the marine. Do you understand me? You will have to spill blood to obtain what you want"

Garp looked at Yale's eyes with probing intention. 

Looking conflicted and in thought, Noah lowered his head only to rise it with an even more determined face.

"I understand!"

Garp stared at him, trying to decipher his face.

'If he is lying, he sure is good at it.'

Then he gave up on understanding the kid in front of him and resumed his explanation:

"Then it's settled. You are now the youngest member the marine ever had. Our duties consist mostly in solving issues with Pirates and beasts in this territory since the higher ranks must personally protect the celestial dragons. I will explain more about missions later, now pay attention!"

Needless to say, Yale's attention skyrocketed.

"You've already built quite a strong body, so I can skip the part about the "body" and move to the techniques section! Garp paused to make sure Yale understood.

"Rokushiki is a special, superhuman martial arts style created by the marine. It consists of six basic techniques and a secret seventh technique that only a true master of Rokushiki can achieve."

Yale closed his eyes and repeated what Garp said in his mind to memorize it.

"Geppo allows users to push themselves off the air itself with superhumanly strong kicks, allowing them to travel through and remain in midair for an extended period. It effectively resembles flight. You can use this to cross great distances without ever touching the ground or to set yourself up for using swift aerial attacks."

Garp stood up, "I'm not good in the mornings so I wish to show everything just once, then you can ask me questions"

'HOLY SHIT!' Yale was speechless as he looks at Garp.

Using Geppou to hover high into the air, Garp looked down at Yale. "Do you understand?"

A confused expression appeared on Yale's face. Eyebrows knitted together, he looked at Garp and was about to ask questions when he got interrupted.

"You will understand more once you start practicing. The process is extremely long and painful. Therefore, I grant you one month!"

Garp then sat on the ground and took out a pile of sheets from beneath his suit.

"I will give you a training method for armament haki and let you choose martial arts and the other five Rokushiki techniques. These sheets are only a general description of the techniques so come closer and read them carefully. Remember to pick methods in line with your personality and needs."

Before he could even put the sheets on the ground, Yale was already sitting on his knees in front of him.

'This fucking kid didn't even run this fast when he was running away from me!"

Releasing a soft sigh, Garp added: "Take note that everything is quite easy, except the armament haki, with your talent I expect you to learn it within a decade. Also, don't try to hide anything from me, like that observation haki of yours!"

After the last warning, Garp laid the sheets on the floor, Rokushiki techniques on the right and haki methods on the left, and watched with a slight smile how Yale read them with fervent eyes. It seemed he could consume them with just one stare.

'I wonder how far he can go Garp proceeded to explain the other five Rokushiki techniques and then he showed Yale how to use armament haki, and then he left.

Inside the room, Yale was staring fixedly at a piece of paper in his hands. The process seemed hard, as beads of sweat ran down his forehead and his eyes kept trying to close.

'This is fucking hard! Keep going, keep going! Fucking eyes stay open!'

Yale was completely focused on his task and ignored everything around him.

As time went on, his hands started to tremble and his eyes became redder and bloodshot. Suddenly, a peng was heard. Yale's limb was turning darker and darker, but before the color solidified, Yale lost energy and his hands returned to normal.

Tti-ring

['Skill: Armament Haki Lv. 1' has been learned.]

Hearing the notification, Yale was over the moon! "I'm a genius! unlike others, as long as I even comprehend the basics of a technique I instantly learn it!"

Feeling his haki exhausted, Yale reasoned

'I can't really train it now since it might do more harm than good but tomorrow in the morning I will definitely start practicing it.'

He closed the book and opened the case, a short saber was inside of it. Its quality seemed to surpass his older one.

'What a nice saber, Garp is really taking this master stuff seriously.'