In One Piece, As Harem King

Chapter 2.

After a year of training, Arthur touched his eight-pack abs and couldn't help but reveal a proud smile. Finally, he was no longer a dead fat man, ??(ˊωˋ*)??.

A year, day after day of training, without any help, but it didn't matter. 

Don't forget, Arthur is a homebody who has read countless comics, martial arts stories, and online novels. He imitated the training methods of those novels to improve his physical fitness, and used Luffy's training methods from One Piece to fight beasts in the forest, honing his combat experience; though it was hard at first. 

He practiced swordsmanship in the sea using the same method with the heavy sword, starting with a wooden sword, simply because he had no money (Ｔ▽Ｔ).

Arthur's favourite was swordsmanship training, partly because the original owner of his body aspired to become a great swordsman, and partly because swords cause more damage than fists. Most importantly, wielding a sword looks cooler.

In this world, the realm of swordsmanship can be divided into five stages.

The first stage is to become familiar with the learned sword techniques through systematic training, achieving a basic grasp of sword usage.

The second stage involves understanding that the breath of all things can cut through steel but cannot sever leaves. In Arthur's view, this realm is about perceiving the core and texture of the things he aims to strike, similar to a chef cutting meat along its grain to achieve the desired shape.

The third stage is the ability to unleash sword energy, which can also be referred to as the realm of the sword master.

The fourth stage is to condense one's beliefs to construct a sword domain, where one is invincible within that domain.

The fifth stage is to sever everything in the world, shatter the void, and with one sword, destroy Sea and Sky. 

Hawkeye is at the peak of the fourth stage, while no one in the world exists at the fifth stage. Perhaps there will be, but Arthur has never seen such a person in manga, after all, the Pirate King story was not finished when he died!

Then there is the training of Haki: Kenbunshoku Haki, Busoshoku Haki, and Haoshoku Haki. Among these three types of Haki, only Haoshoku Haki cannot be trained; the other two can be awakened through practice.

Kenbunshoku Haki, in Arthur's view, is like a calm heart, sensing everything around him. This method can be found in other novels too, though not exactly similiar. In short, it means to discard the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, and to feel all things with the heart. In a sense, it is also a form of breathing of all things, and to train Kenbunshoku Haki, one needs a mind free of distractions.

Busoshoku Haki covers one's body and weapons like armor. As for how to train it, Arthur has no idea, since Sensei has never mentioned it. It seems he will need to encounter someone who can use Busoshoku Haki to understand what it is all about.

Haoshoku Haki requires vision and one's own spirit, which can be seen as a form of mental suppression. Regarding the claim in manga that it requires the qualities of a king, Arthur scoffs at it. In his view, Haoshoku Haki requires a lifelong belief and one's own vision and insight, leading to a spiritual elevation that breaks through to the realm of externalisation. 

However, how many people in the world can truly uphold their beliefs? Most people's beliefs are not very firm, and even if they are, due to their limited vision and spirit, they cannot awaken it. This is where the idea of needing "the qualities of a king" arises.

As for Haoshoku Haki, Arthur believes he will definitely awaken it in the future. Why is he so confident? Hmph! If he didn't have this confidence, then he could forget about ever awakening Haoshoku Haki in his lifetime.

As for the Six Powers of the Navy, he hasn't seen them, let alone trained in them.

Then there are the Devil Fruits. Arthur decides it's better not to eat one, as it would limit him too much. Not only would he be unable to go into the water, but there is also the Sea-Prism Stone, a powerful weapon against him.

Every day, Arthur practices swordsmanship in the sea. At first, he was troubled by not having a heavy sword and could only use a wooden one. However, as he practiced, he discovered that it was quite similar to using a heavy sword. 

The wooden sword has the ability to float in the water, and although swinging it in the sea is very easy, the accuracy is greatly reduced. This means that Arthur has to use all his strength with every swing to improve his accuracy.

Through this experience, Arthur improved his physical training. He specifically made several wooden tools and practiced with them in the sea every day. The buoyancy of the wood, combined with the waves, took Arthur a long time to stabilise himself in the water. When he was finally able to stand firm in the sea, his foundational skills greatly improved.

For half a year, Arthur practiced swordsmanship in the sea.

One day, Arthur was, as usual, punching in the seawater to train his physical fitness when he suddenly remembered a plot he had read in a novel before, about the protagonist traveling to another world and practicing things like martial arts in the sea. This thought made Arthur eager to experiment.

Speaking of Martial Arts, Arthur was very grateful to his coach to whom he had paid almost quite sum of dollars, who had taught him those rough things. Otherwise, even if he knew about this method, not being able to practice martial arts would have been useless.

Few minutes later...

As Arthur executed each move—starting posture, wild horse splits mane, white crane spreads wings, push hands, closing movements, single whip, hand waving like a pipa, cross hands, and so on—it was the first time these movements appeared in this world.

With each repetition of martial arts, Arthur felt his understanding of it deepening. In fact, it could be considered fate that Arthur was practicing Martial arts in the sea, as the essence of martial arts is to use slow to defeat fast, and to use softness to overcome hardness. 

Water is the softest and also the hardest thing in the world. 

With every round of waving hands and legs, Arthur felt his practice becoming more refined. By the end of the day, he felt stronger than he had in several days of training before. Arthur was suddenly delighted; it seemed that martial arts also accelerated the absorption of the world's energy, which was great news.

From then on, Arthur made martial arts a daily essential practice.

Through Martial arts, Arthur also thought of Martial arts swordsmanship, transforming his previously aggressive sword skills into a balanced approach of hardness and softness. It was at this moment that Arthur suddenly understood what the breath of all things was.

Six months later...

In the room, Arthur sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, free of distractions, focusing on feeling everything around him. Gradually, the surroundings became pitch black, and he sensed nothing in his mind. Suddenly, a bright light appeared, gradually filling in more and more like a puzzle, until the final piece lit up. 

In an instant, Arthur's mind filled with images of everything in the room: the table, the chairs, the bed, the flies buzzing in the air, and the leaves falling outside... everything was so clear. 

Just then, a figure appeared in Arthur's mind; it was Sister Aiko, holding roasted meat, sneakily hiding it behind her back, cautiously trying to come in.

Before Aiko entered, Arthur suddenly spoke, "Sister Aiko, take out the roasted meat behind you!"

Aiko, still outside, jumped in surprise. How did Arthur know she was there and that she had roasted meat? Filled with doubt, she pushed the door open and walked in.

"Arthur, how did you know I was outside, and about the roasted meat?"

Arthur smiled mysteriously, "Well, that's a secret."

Aiko raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Oh, is it? Then I guess I'll eat this roasted meat."

"No, Sister Aiko, please!" Arthur exclaimed urgently, putting his hands together in a plea.

Aiko pretended to be troubled, "But how can I do that? It's your secret."

Arthur shook his head quickly, "For you, Sister Aiko, it's not a secret. Please, don't take the meat away."

Aiko smiled as if her scheme had succeeded, "Alright then, since you said so, I'll leave the roasted meat for you. Now tell me how you knew."

"Well..." Arthur deliberately elongated his voice, and when he saw Aiko becoming a bit impatient, he said, "It's something called Observation Haki."

"Observation... Haki? What is that?" Aiko asked in confusion.

Seeing Aiko's eager curiosity, Arthur pretended to be profound, "Haki is an essential skill for the second half of the Grand Line. Haki can counter the abilities of Devil Fruit users, and Observation Haki allows you to sense the next move of your enemy."

Arthur then posed proudly like a swan, waiting for Aiko's praise, but...

The admiration he imagined did not appear; instead, Aiko looked panicked.

"Eh! Does that mean you can see me when I'm taking a bath?"

Arthur's forehead twitched, and he screamed internally: Sister Aiko, how can you not follow the plot? Where's the admiration? Where's the awe? Where are the compliments?

"Sister Aiko, I wouldn't do that."

Aiko looked at him skeptically, "You wouldn't? But you've been caught several times peeking at girls bathing in the village."

Arthur awkwardly scratched his head and said, "Ahem, Sister Aiko, that was just something I accidentally saw."

But Aiko indeed had a look that clearly said she didn't believe him.