Loya had long wanted to learn the training thods for the Marine Six Styles and Haki, but due to the disparity in rank and identity, neither Zephyr nor Kuzan had a formal excuse to teach him. Now, the most important mont had finally arrived.
Zephyr walked into the pavilion, headed straight for the bookshelves, and pulled on a partition in the middle. The shelf slid apart, revealing a bright, hidden room behind it.
"Co in. Close the door behind you," Zephyr commanded as he stepped inside.
"Making it look like a villain's secret base, are we..." Loya muttered with a chuckle, following Zephyr inside and pulling the door shut.
Before he could even scan the room, a gust of wind struck his head.
CRASH!
Zephyr's attack was the sa familiar recipe—a sneak attack Loya couldn't block. He took the punch squarely and was plastered against the wall with a loud thud.
Peeling himself off the wall and rubbing the growing bump on his head, Loya roared, "Dammit! Why'd you hit ?! Even if you're my teacher, you can't just do that!"
"Huh? You brat, you dare call a bastard?" Zephyr's face darkened. Armant Haki coiled around his prosthetic limb and hardened his fist. In the next second, fists rained down on Loya from all sides.
"Bastard, huh!"
"Just a bastard, eh!"
"I'll show you what happens when I hit you!"
"You think I don't know those little runts were run off by you? You think Tony and his half-baked group could wound Minde and Kiron? Do I look like a fool to you?!"
Hearing this, Loya, who was about to retaliate, blinked and smiled sheepishly. "Well… I might have been a bit heavy-handed. I'll be more careful next ti."
"There… will be a next ti…" Zephyr's fists stopped instantly, and he suddenly looked deflated. The disciples he had painstakingly ntored had been beaten flat by Loya—a wildcard with no formal schooling—with such ease. What was the point?
"You brat!"
Retracting his Haki, Zephyr sighed and stuck a cigar in his mouth. Loya reached into his pocket, flicked his wrist with a flashy, "bar-hopping" flourish he'd practiced specifically for the sake of impressing girls, and ignited his lighter, holding the fla to Zephyr's cigar.
Zephyr froze, then an inexplicable rage flared up. He let out a barrage of insults: "You've got the spare ti to play with a lighter, yet you don't use it to strengthen your training! Does being good at using a lighter put food on the table?!"
The small training room was made of refined iron. Aside from the bookshelf-door, the only other exit was an ergency hatch on the opposite wall. Zephyr stood in the center, demonstrating, while Loya, sniffling to clear his nosebleed, watched every movent intently.
"What I'm talking about now is the foundation… The Marine Six Styles are body techniques that transcend human limits. With your current physique, mastering them shouldn't be an issue. Tekkai (Iron Body), Soru (Shave), and Kami-e (Paper Art) are the three most important techniques."
"Tekkai and Kami-e are the simplest and yet the hardest; learning them is great for controlling your body, but you need to explore those on your own. I won't repeat myself there. As for Soru, I'll slow down the speed. Watch closely."
Zephyr stepped in front of Loya, kicked off the ground, and vanished for nearly ten ters in an instant.
"Oh~~~ so that's how it works!" Loya clapped, suddenly enlightened.
As a transmigrator, he knew the theoretical principles of Soru, but he had failed every ti he tried; he couldn't kick off the ground ten tis in 0.6 seconds to achieve that explosive movent. Now he understood: it wasn't just raw force; it was about body coordination. When Zephyr used Soru, his exertion wasn't heavy; it was a rhythmic, almost musical twitch of the leg muscles. It was as elegant as playing the piano. Loya's previous attempts, where he'd tried to crush the ground with brute force, were completely wrong.
Zephyr had handed him the car keys; now Loya knew how to hit the gas.
Zephyr folded his arms and looked at Loya. "Kuzan told your physique is unique because of your Devil Fruit. That's a blessing, but also a curse."
"The benefit is that you don't have to break your body to reach your physical limits like we do. But the downside is that because your power grows so easily, you have a severe lack of awareness of your own strength, let alone perfect control!"
Loya nodded slightly. It was true—the power the Dragon Body granted him shocked even him. With his current skill level, he could only control that surge of power superficially. Sotis, Loya even suspected the System was selling "dog at under a sheep's head"—the Dragon Slayer Magic might just be the bonus, while the Dragon Body was the real prize.
Zephyr waited for Loya to erge from his thoughts before continuing: "The Six Styles were developed over a century to help Marines master themselves. After you familiarize yourself with Soru, Geppo (Moon Walk), Rankyaku (Tempest Kick), and Shigan (Finger Pistol), don't slack on Tekkai and Kami-e."
Zephyr recalled Loya's ability to create ice platforms to move in mid-air and warned him: "Your ability to create ice to move in the air is surprising, but that doesn't an Geppo is useless to you. On the contrary, a more refined Geppo combined with your unique movent will make you even faster."
For the rest of the session, Zephyr analyzed the problems in Loya's training. His guidance went straight to the essence, clearing up bottlenecks that had plagued Loya for months. Though Kuzan had taught him before, Kuzan only pointed toward broad goals; he rarely detailed the "how." But Zephyr's instruction was like water for a parched sponge.
When Zephyr finished, Loya touched his head, embarrassed. "Teacher Zephyr… could you… teach how to cultivate Haki?"
Every reader knew the saying: Better to master one thing than to be a jack-of-all-trades. What Zephyr had already taught him was enough to keep him busy for a long ti, but the prospect of mastering one of the world's top abilities was too tempting to resist.
To Loya's surprise, Zephyr didn't reprimand him. He sighed helplessly. "You! I knew you'd ask that."
In Zephyr's view, Loya had long since possessed the foundation for Haki cultivation; Kuzan had simply held back for his own reasons. Haki might be mysterious to others, but to people at their level, it was common knowledge. There were complete, perfected theories on when to start, how to practice, and how to strengthen it.
Zephyr, having prepared for this, gave Loya a brief introduction to the cultivation of Haki. However, knowing the theory wasn't enough; Haki required direct, hands-on guidance. Just like Luffy and Rayleigh, even if one could occasionally trigger Haki, it needed a master's constant supervision to truly refine.
Yet, for a gifted disciple like Loya, Zephyr didn't mind spending the ti and energy to teach him properly.
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