Promise

Behind the Portgas house, a young child that looked around 6-7 years old was practicing his swordplay by himself, repeating the same technique hundreds of time before moving on to the next one.

"Nyahaha kid you look distracted. Still thinking about how to break through to the Sword Student Boundary?"

"Uncle Roger? When did you get here, Is aunty Rouge with you?"

Orion sheathed his sword and ran towards Roger who was stood leaning lazily against a tree.

"Just me tonight, you disappointed?"

"Of course not!"

"Nyahaha. Anyway, how goes the training?"

"Errm, my body's getting stronger by the day and my skill with my devil fruit is increasing smoothly…"

"What about your swordsmanship?"

"…"

"Nyahaha, to think the man who wants to sit on my throne is struggling with something so easy. I guess there's no hope for you after all!"

"Shut up old man, I don't care what you say, I will become the pirate king!"

"Snort! A pirate king who's too pathetic to even break through the Sword Student boundary?! Just forget about it, the path to the king of the pirates isn't for the weak, you're unworthy!"

Not being able to breakthrough had been starting to take its toll on his confidence and now to hear someone call him unworthy pushed him to the edge. He put his hands on the handle as he glared at Roger!

Seeing where Orion put his hands as if he wanted to take action, the aura surrounding Roger turned cold and deadly.

"That sword may be wooden but it's not a toy. Do you dare to risk your life?"

When Roger's aura changed, Orion felt as if he was being stared at by a wild beast who if he made one wrong move would tear him limb from limb.

Even though Orion was truly scared by the feeling of Roger's aura he was too angry to stop.

"Shut up old man! Go to…"

Before Orion could finish drawing his sword and his sentence, Roger appeared in front of him instantly.

It was unclear when he picked it up, but he was holding a metal pipe in his hand and was swinging it towards Orion's neck as if he wanted to chop it off.

Seeing that, Orion realised he was in over his head.

[Is this how I die?!

No… I'm not ready!]

Thinking to there Orion's brain stopped thinking and his body moved on instinctively. He drew his wooden sword at a speed that would normally be impossible for him and raised it to meet Roger's metal stick.

*Chink*

"Nyahahaha. Finally!"

Hearing Roger laugh and feeling the enormous pressure he was under disappear almost as quickly appeared, Orion realised what he just did.

He looked down on the ground and saw half of the metal pipe Roger was using on the floor which was cut cleanly in two.

He walked over to a rock in the corner of the garden and slashed out in the same way as he had done thousands of times over the past 9 months, the only difference being his aura. It was sharp and fierce. Although it seemed a little immature in comparison to his fathers it was still impressive.

"I did it, I reached the Sword Student boundary."

"Most people who haven't reached that boundary think that the biggest difference between a Sword Student and a Sword User is the power behind their moves but in reality it's their ability to fight without inhibitions and that's caused by their state of mind. There are 2 different aspects to having the state of mind of a Sword Student:

1. Where most people think that a wooden sword can't cut through metal because metal's harder than wood, Sword Students have unconditional trust in themselves. In their mind there is nothing their sword can't cut through and that trust turns into the source of their power.

2. Where most people think about their next move and then do it, a Sword Student does it on instinct which saves them a lot of time and energy.

But the most important point is having unconditional trust in yourself. If you don't have complete and utter trust in yourself how can you ever bring yourself to trust your instincts and if you can't trust your instincts, you'll always have to think about your next move which in turn puts unnecessary restraints on yourself."

After hearing Roger's explanation, Orion understood Roger didn't mean the words he said before.

[Everything he did was to facilitate my breakthrough. He said those words at first to anger me so I'd stop thinking so much, then he made me believe he wanted to kill me to jump start a fight or flight reaction forcing me to rely on my instincts and then he explained the true concept of being a sword student…]

As he realised what Roger just did, Orion couldn't help but look at Roger in a new light.

"Thank y…"

Just as he was about to thank Roger for his teachings, he saw blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"Uncle Roger!"

Seeing the blood caught Orion off guard.

Roger calmly wiped the blood from his mouth.

"Nyahaha, no need to be so worried brat. I just need some rest."

As he said that he started walking away towards his own home. As he was walking away he suddenly stopped.

"Ori, can you do me a favour?"

Orion didn't know what to expect but he couldn't bring himself to say no.

"What is it?"

Roger turned slightly so Ori could only see the corner of his eye. Despite only being able to see part of his face Orion could tell that Roger was pale and was suffering far more than he was letting on.

"If something happens to me and I'm no longer around… Can you promise to look out for my child?"

A spark went off in Orion's head as he seemed to realise something.

"I promise!"

Hearing that Roger let out a little chuckle before walking away.