Chapter 7: Training

Victor would occasionally go fishing in the sea to catch a big fish and improve their meals.

Now, the two of them trained together several times a day—physical combat and sparring, as well as clashes between sword and blade.

Basically, Rebecca would launch an attack, and after tiring herself out, she'd be defeated by a single move from Victor!

No surprise—this body's talent was just that ridiculously strong.

Every time, Rebecca would mutter under her breath, "Freak."

Under Victor's intense, grueling training and absolute dominance, Rebecca's progress was clearly visible to the naked eye.

Several ordinary lions and tigers had already fallen to her sword, and their meat and pelts were sold in town.

Now, the meat they ate at home came from the large ferocious beasts Victor had slain!

One time, after eating the meat, Victor discovered it contained a certain substance that could enhance physical fitness, strength, and recovery speed!

He found that the higher up the food chain the animal was, the more of this special substance its meat contained.

That's when Victor realized why people in the pirate world had such abnormal physiques and strong regenerative abilities.

There was something like the spiritual energy found in the world of wuxia—a kind of essence.

Victor called it "Life Essence."

Knowing this, Victor no longer feared injury and specifically challenged higher-level beasts.

Fighting beasts improved his combat skills, and eating their meat enhanced his body—truly killing two birds with one stone.

After selling quite a bit of beast meat, Victor and Rebecca stopped delivering milk.

Their running training mainly took place around the forest edge, carrying weights and weaving through obstacles.

It also helped train reflexes at high speeds, very useful for combat.

Victor's porter job continued—not for money, but to gather news from fishing boats coming back from the sea.

Eight months passed like this.

In the forest, a taller Victor stood watching Rebecca fight a nearly two-meter-tall animal that looked like a hippopotamus.

Though it resembled a hippo, it was surprisingly fast, wildly charging with bloodshot eyes.

The creature was called the Giant Hippo Beast, named by the town hunters.

Its thick armored skin was nearly impervious to swords or bullets, and no hunter from the town had ever taken one down. It ranked as a mid-level predator in the forest.

But now, it couldn't even touch Rebecca's clothing. She dodged like an antelope, weaving left and right, her sword clashing against the beast's body with ringing "clang clang" sounds.

"Rebecca, are you a blacksmith? Hammering away over here? Since it's no use fighting it head-on, why don't you look for its weak points and strike?" Victor shouted.

Rebecca said nothing, just kept repositioning to attack.

After fifteen minutes, the Giant Hippo Beast finally refused to fall, while Rebecca panted heavily from exhaustion.

"Rebecca, in the future, when you face an enemy of equal strength you can't defeat quickly, you need to find their flaws and weaknesses to attack."

"If you can't find a weak spot, then it's best to call it quits and leave the battlefield!"

"What if the enemy pursues me relentlessly and won't let me go?"

"Then it depends on your endurance. That's why I want you to train your stamina hard."

"Sometimes there isn't just one enemy. Pirates don't play fair."

"You'll have to face them all at once or in shifts. Every bit of stamina you have means a bit more life."

"Sometimes life and death come down to who lasts longer!"

Victor thought of Luffy's fight against the Four Emperors' Kaido—if Luffy hadn't kept doing sit-ups, Kaido would never have lost.

Kaido had fought many battles and was definitely tough, durable, and persistent.

So Victor resolved that his endurance must never be lower than Kaido's. That's why he always stressed this to Rebecca.

Rebecca's running distance and weight load steadily increased, and so did the time and weight she spent on dumbbells, barbells, and the lat pulldown machine.

In battle, Victor ruthlessly pushed Rebecca's willpower, nearly driving her insane.

"What if my endurance isn't as strong as the opponent's?" Rebecca asked again.

"Then you have to defeat them before your stamina runs out."

"Either break through your current limits to overcome them—some people have done this, and some have even awakened Haki."

"Or be faster than the opponent, so you can outrun them before you run out of stamina."

"That's what we practice every day. Work harder, Rebecca-chan!" Victor smiled.

Rebecca pouted. "You make good points!"