One Piece: Mandala Swordsman

Chapter 50 Inhumane Training

"Hey, that's too slow over there."

"And you, have you been eating? Your fists are so weak, are you just tickling your opponent?"

"Don't look, I'm talking about you. Your accuracy is terrible. If you really can't take it, wear your glasses..."

"Those who aren't dead, keep going. As long as you have a breath left, crawl and finish it."

Watching Zefa standing on the stage, shouting himself hoarse, gesticulating wildly and emotionally, Roman felt that perhaps he should get to know him again.

Most of the time, Zephyr is definitely a kind teacher, but when it comes to physical combat, his seriousness is about the same as Sakazuki's when dealing with pirates—ruthless.

His students were trained to the point of exhaustion.

As we all know, Zephyr has never been particularly fond of those who rely on Devil Fruit abilities. While it's not exactly discrimination, from his perspective, the strength he possesses is naturally more convincing.

Because of their respective beliefs, Zephyr and Borsalino had a cold relationship.

Of course, this is not the main reason. After all, Zephyr has a pretty good relationship with Kuzan and Sakazuki. The main reason is Borsalino's overly lazy personality.

It is said that Borsalino did not take Zephyr's teachings seriously.

However, judging from the facts, Borsalino did not completely disregard Zefa's words.

Because of his powerful Devil Fruit ability, Sakazuki abandoned swordsmanship a few years ago to focus on developing his Devil Fruit power, while Borsalino began practicing swordsmanship, including hand-to-hand combat.

Even so, Borsalino and Zefa's relationship remained strained.

Perhaps it's what they call incompatibility.

But after Roman personally experienced Zephyr's grueling training, she had to admit that it was no wonder Borsalino hated her.

As the instructor of the training camp, Zefa has his own set of philosophies. With a large number of people in the training camp, their skill levels naturally vary. Due to differences in talent, some people fall behind while others excel.

Therefore, Zefa set limits: those who did not meet the standards received unified guidance, while those who had already met the standards began to be taught according to their individual abilities.

There are instructions on physical skills, swordsmanship, and spearmanship, and of course, instructions on Devil Fruit abilities.

As long as the student has the right attitude, Zefa is relatively easy to talk to.

However, Zephyr, as a general-level fighter, clearly had a limited understanding of "knowing when to stop," so almost every student ended up in a miserable state, including Roman.

Although she majored in swordsmanship or knife skills, her strength was far superior to that of her peers in the training camp, so Zephyr's requirements for her were extremely demanding, even abnormal.

"Alright, you guys run 50 laps, you few run 100 laps, Roman, you run 200 laps to warm up."

Good grief, a warm-up? What if you die?

Teacher, I know why your relationship with Borsalino is so strained; you must have targeted him quite a bit.

Roman could probably guess that Zephyr would be particularly demanding of exceptionally talented students, and that the requirements for missions would likely be far different from those of the average person.

Sakazuki will definitely carry it out diligently, but as for Borsalino, well, he's probably cursing his teacher in his heart every day.

With the two of them compared, Zeffa naturally disliked Borsalino even more.

If this continues, I won't like you anymore, Zephyr-sensei.

The trainees who had already completed their tasks began to look with sympathy at Roman, who was still sweating profusely on the playground.

Because Roman was a transfer student, they initially thought he was a high-ranking official's son who had come to the training camp to gain prestige. Some even thought he was just a pretty doll who wouldn't last long. But after Roman demonstrated his formidable strength, no one dared to say anything more; instead, they were filled with admiration.

The average age of the training camp members was in their early 20s, and Roman was undoubtedly much younger than that.

Of course, there are also younger ones, such as 15-year-old Tina and 17-year-old Smoker, who are still running with him.

Both of them were recruits who voluntarily joined the army this year, and both are Devil Fruit users.

Smoker is a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, possessing the ability to transform into an element to resist damage and to materialize to imprison enemies.

Tina, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit user, can leave a binding mark after passing her arm through someone's body.

The powers granted by the Devil Fruit made the two teenagers exceptionally strong. Of course, every coin has two sides, so they had to run 100 laps.

"Tina is in so much pain, why did we have to run so much?" Tina, who is only 15 years old, is obviously exhausted. Although she is good at the game, her stamina is obviously not keeping up with her strength.

"Hang in there, Roman still has over 100 more laps to run, right?" Smoker encouraged Tina, but his words also stung Roman.

Oh, damn it.

Tina's problem is clearly also Roman's problem: his stamina can't keep up with his strength, making him unsuitable for prolonged battles.

Of course, this is also a major drawback, since the average person here has excellent stamina. A slightly stronger person can fight a long battle for a whole day and night. If you unfortunately encounter a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user, their stamina and health can be so high that it can drive you crazy.

Therefore, for young boys and girls who are still quite young, honing their skills and improving their physical strength is indeed the right choice, but the process is very painful.

Moreover, it's not like you can rest after finishing the run. After running 200 laps, Roman must immediately pick up his sword and spar with the rested students who are also skilled with swords.

After the sparring session, Roman had another glorious task: to take a beating.

Huh? You mean who in the training camp could beat Roman? Even Smoker, a Logia-type, is an opponent. Roman also has Haki, so how could he possibly take a beating?

Naturally, it's because she's going to get beaten up by Zefa.

Teacher Zephyr proved with her actions that the title "Black Arm" was absolutely well-deserved. When her powerful and domineering fist slammed into Roman, she seemed to see heaven.

From the moment she entered the training camp, her body was covered in bruises.

Moreover, for some reason, Garp started to enjoy wandering around the training camp, for which Roman even received a "loving punch" from Garp.

No wonder your students arranged a full-service funeral for you.

No wonder your grandson doesn't want to be a navy officer, but a pirate.

Are you still human?

This is a true reflection of Roman's inner state after being beaten and left battered and bruised.

Her strength was not bad, but compared with these top experts, she could only take a beating. Moreover, Teacher Zephyr had repeatedly ordered that she not to dodge, but to take the attack head-on. If she managed to block one or two attacks, the force of the next one would double until Roman could no longer stand up.

Finally, Zephyr would add, "Not bad, it's just as good as those three monsters."

Roman was so tired that he couldn't even roll his eyes.

I don't know how the previous trainees managed to hold on.

If I don't get promoted quickly, I'll feel bad for all the beatings I've endured.

If she can capture Shanks, one of the future Four Emperors, she might actually be able to rise through the ranks in the Navy.