Year 1495 of the Sea Circle Calendar — 27 Years Ago Tap.
Rainwater dripped from the shutters onto the stone steps outside.
Dracule Kael propped his head on one hand and leisurely sipped his coffee.
He had messy black hair and wore the dark formal attire of an aristocrat—a well-tailored suit beneath a sweeping black cloak.
There was an effortless elegance about him, tempered by the faintly disheveled air of someone who had long since stopped caring about appearances.
This was Kuraigana Island, the ruins of the Shikkearu Kingdom.
Once, the kingdom had been prosperous beyond measure, overflowing with wealth and life.
Then, many years ago, a group of so-called “bandits” descended upon the country.
They burned, killed, and pillaged until the once-great Shikkearu Kingdom was reduced to ruins.
After Kael arrived in this world, he and his younger brother, Dracule Mihawk, lost the rest of their family.
Fortunately, Kael had awakened the Swordsmanship Achievement System.
With its aid—and his own swordsmanship—he had managed to protect the final piece of their ancestral territory.
Black Rose Castle.
Now, it belonged to him alone.
Merchants who sailed through the surrounding waters often referred to him as the Duke of Kuraigana Island.
Most knew him as a mild-mannered and courteous nobleman.
Only the merchants who had traded with Black Rose Castle for years understood the truth.
Duke Kael was an extraordinarily powerful swordsman.
The only reason he rarely left the island was because he had a younger brother to raise.
“Kael!” Rapid footsteps echoed through the castle.
Mihawk came running through the doorway, drenched in sweat from training.
He wore fitted practice clothes, but the top two buttons of his white shirt had come undone.
Kael raised an eyebrow.
“Mihawk.” Mihawk immediately slowed.
“Ah—yes!” No matter how proud he might be elsewhere, he had never dared behave carelessly in front of his older brother.
Fourteen-year-old Mihawk came to a stop, straightened himself, and quietly buttoned his shirt before looking at Kael with a serious expression.
“I finished today’s sword swings.
All one thousand!” He raised both arms.
They were visibly swollen from exertion.
The determination in the young swordsman’s eyes brought a faint smile to Kael’s face.
Kael rose lazily from his chair and tapped his fingers against the tabletop.
“Not bad.
Rest for fifteen minutes, then clean yourself up.
Eat in the rear hall ten minutes after that.” He picked up his coffee.
“I’ll be waiting for you at the castle training grounds.” “All right, Brother!” Mihawk’s still-youthful face immediately lit up.
Once every seven days, Kael personally tested the progress of Mihawk’s swordsmanship.
Their kingdom’s destruction had taught Kael one lesson better than anything else ever could.
In this world of pirates, Kael knew he had to become powerful enough to stand as an army by himself.
Otherwise, the more bonds he formed, the more time he would have to spend protecting them.
The Dracule family had once been a powerful royal house belonging to a nation outside the World Government.
And Mihawk seemed to have been born for the sword.
His progress was astonishing.
In only three years, he had already reached the level where he could cut steel.
Even his raw strength far exceeded that of most swordsmen at the same stage.
He had already reached nearly half of Kael’s level.
Of course…
Catching up to Kael was another matter entirely.
…
Kael passed through the dim rear hall and entered the enormous garden beyond.
Black Rose Castle was perpetually surrounded by mist and thunderclouds.
Just like its name, there was something both romantic and ominous about the place.
Without Kael’s arrival, this castle might someday have become little more than the lonely cage of the man who would eventually be known as the World’s Strongest Swordsman—Hawk-Eye Mihawk.
It wasn’t truly a home.
It was simply the last place Mihawk had left.
The final surviving trace that the royal family of Shikkearu had ever existed.
Fortunately, Kael was here.
With an older brother by his side, the future solitary swordsman would not have to spend his life entirely alone.
Half an hour later, Mihawk stepped into the rear garden exactly on time.
He had changed into a loose brown tunic-style training shirt and knee-length shorts.
Strapped across his back was a large training blade named Swordbone.
Kael had given it to him when Mihawk first began learning swordsmanship.
It was an apprentice’s weapon—a blade meant to accompany him through the earliest stages of his path.
Kael smiled.
His dark eyes were as calm as a moonlit lake, though a trace of anticipation flickered within them.
“So?
Feeling confident today?” “Yeah!” Mihawk gripped the hilt behind him.
“Brother, I’m going to use my three strongest techniques!” His declaration was full of confidence.
Then— Gulp.
Mihawk swallowed nervously.
Kael’s smile deepened.
“I’m coming!” Mihawk stomped down.
Boom!
The ground trembled.
One step.
Then he vanished.
Whoosh!
Two long trails of displaced wind tore across the ground as Mihawk shot straight toward Kael.
He crossed the distance almost instantly.
His sword swept sideways in a perfectly executed horizontal slash, his entire body flowing naturally with the motion.
Even the most demanding swordmaster would have struggled to find fault with his form.
Smack!
Kael moved.
The wooden sword in his hand came down toward Mihawk’s head.
It was a simple counter aimed at the one place Mihawk could not afford to ignore.
Continue attacking, and he would take the blow directly.
Whoosh!
Mihawk reacted immediately.
His body moved with startling lightness.
He tapped one foot against the ground, twisted around Kael’s side like a flash of lightning, and redirected his momentum into another sweeping slash.
Clang!
His blade crashed against Kael’s vertically raised wooden sword.
Dense Armament Haki coated the wooden blade, protecting it from Mihawk’s sharpened steel.
Mihawk’s eyes narrowed.
Without hesitation, he dipped his blade and swept upward.
The force of the slash surged like a rising wave.
Shhk!
Before the blade even reached Kael, the stone beneath them split apart.
A crack nearly ten meters long ripped across the ground.
Clang!
Kael simply brought his wooden sword down.
The attack stopped dead.
“Damn it!” Mihawk clenched his teeth.
Instead of discouraging him, the effortless defense only made the fire in his eyes burn brighter.
He couldn’t lose.
Not again.
He couldn’t keep making Kael worry about whether he was progressing fast enough.
Get stronger, Mihawk.
You have to become a swordsman as powerful as your brother!
Mihawk’s breathing grew ragged.
Mihawk tightened both hands around his sword.
Then he stepped forward.
His blade rose high.
A flawless overhead slash came crashing down toward Kael.
But just as Mihawk committed to the strike, his eyes widened.
Kael hadn’t retreated.
He had stepped forward.
His right foot slipped directly inside Mihawk’s stance.
Too close.
Mihawk’s descending slash no longer had enough room to generate its full power.
Confusion flashed across his face.
Then a large hand descended toward his head.
Kael’s quiet chuckle reached his ears.
“You’ve passed, you foolish little brother.”
Add to library.
Send some Power Stones.