Rebecca was a powerful, proficient fighter. She had been trained as a child to handle a sword by her father, Kyros. She had spent years improving her skills onwards. Thus, she was extremely skilled at it.

She made for a great gladiator, a powerful one too. Though most people were opinionated about her.

This all showed today, on the battlefield, where Rebecca right now stood victorious. A small chunk of the audience cheered for her victory, but a larger part booed her viciously.

Rebecca was the granddaughter of the current king of Dressrosa, whom many hated as the country continued to spiral downwards. Many Dressrosian citizen had gone missing in the past few years, and evil had started corrupting the land. The citizens all blamed the king for the wrong in the country, not knowing the evil mastermind behind it all was Doflamingo.

Naturally, the hate from the king spread like a disease onto Rebecca’s own image.

As for her fellow gladiators, they thought of her even worse than the citizens. Rebecca being a female didn’t sit well with them, as duelling was a male dominated sport. Some disliked her because of her superior fighting skills than themselves. And very few of the warriors had a neutral stance or a positive one on her.

As Rebecca came out of the battle victorious, the warriors beside Mark trampled on her victory.

“Bloody king’s filthy blood,” a man said in the hallway.

As Rebecca walked out from her victory, with a chant of boos behind her, Mark was enchanted by her skills.

“She’s strong..” he mumbled.

“Well, she is the daughter Kyros. Even if she’s a girl, his blood runs deep inside of her,” a man next to Mark replied.

It was clear to Mark, he needed strength, and as he saw the battle of Rebecca, he realised she was very proficient in the blade. Hence, he decided he would seek training from her for his future fights. He might even get the chance to learn observation Haki from her.

--

In the infirmary,

Rebecca after bandaging her wounds made her way out of the room, where she met Mark, who waiting for her.

“I was watching your fight, you’re very good at using a sword,” Mark told Rebecca.

She nodded,” and why are you here?” Rebecca asked Mark, her tone clear and dry.

Mark breathed out a puff of air,” I’ll be honest with you. I have a fight coming up next week and I need your help. Can you train me.”

Rebecca glanced at Mark, noticing his desperate expression,” what do I get in return. If your answer is blank, you’re are not worth my time.”

Before Rebecca could leave, Mark told her,” Your father, Kyros, he’s still alive you know. I can help you find him.”

Rebecca at this point in the story didn’t know the toy soldier who protected her was his father. Mark used that as a bargaining chip.

Rebecca narrowed her eyes,” what are you saying. He’s not dead?” her complexion brightened a bit before she got suspicious.

“Yea, he is. Though right now I don’t have a particular location of his whereabouts, but in the future I will.”

After a bit of questioning, Mark convinced Rebecca to train him.

Mark realised that he was still a few years away from Luffy coming to Dessrosa, seeing many of the fighters from canon weren’t here yet, like Jesus Burgess and Bortolomeo. He didn’t know exactly which part of canon he was in currently, but from seeing Rebecca in the colosseum, he assumed it to be at least a few years before Dressrosa arc.

--

In an open area somewhere in the colosseum,

Mark stood ready with a sword hand as he was being instructed by Rebecca. She started teaching Mark about sword styles and other important details fighting.

In the middle of their lesson, a screen all too familiar by now appeared in Mark’s vision.

[Would you like to turn on consuming speed?

Consuming allows the system user to accelerate his learning rate to allow the user to ‘consume’ more in a shorter time.

Y/N

]

This system ability allowed the user to learn and train at a faster rate. Mark, without a second thought accepted the favour from the system.

The improvement wasn’t noticeable immediately but after a few hours into the lesson, Mark felt as if he had learnt a day’s worth of sword skills.

--

6 days later,

Mark spent the past 6 days with Rebecca, learning everything she could offer within that time frame. With the help of [consuming] he managed to learn quite a bit more than just sword stuff. He had learned a few martial arts too. However, 6 days wasn’t enough to learn observation Haki, even with [Consuming] on. He would need to spend at least a month learning that skill.

Mark was now confident he could win the battle with Sumo. He felt stronger than ever and his proficiency in the blade showed.

As for Marks level, it saw a bump from 20 to 28. His level was directly correlated to his skills and body shape. So, as he trained with Rebecca, his stats naturally increased as well.

Mark was all set to go for the battle, all he had to do right now was wait…

--

Next day,

Thousands of viewers seated themselves on their seats looking down at the battlefield. They stared in excitement, wondering who would be the one lying on the ground bleeding, and who would emerge victorious. Most had low expectation for Mark, as he had an ugly defeat against Goldi. They bruised face as Mark laid still on the ground wat still fresh in their minds. Most viewers bet on Sumo to win, naturally.

The audience waited short.

With a clang, a metal gate on the right side of the arena rose, to which Mark emerged wearing simple steel armour. A short sword hanged from his waist, still in its sheath. He walked to the middle of the arena, and stood still.

The crowd wasn’t nearly as excited for Mark. They had low expectations. However, they were excited to watch Sumo decimate another warrior.

Another clang rang out,

From the right, a gate opened to which a man with a similar stature to Mark walked into the arena. He was Sumo, a talented swordsman. Sumo wore minimal leather and didn’t even bother wearing a helmet. He was sure to win.

With both of them in the arena, the announce signalled for the fight to begin.

“Let the fight begin!”

Sumo unsheathed his sword and charged at Mark without saying a word. He was quick with his feet, as he sliced at Mark, who evaded it easily.

‘Rebecca was a tougher opponent,’ he thought as he slashed at Sumo with unpredictable speed.

To many people’s surprise, the battle didn’t go according to their prediction.

Mark quickly took control of the battle, as he pushed back Sumo with his heavy attacks, some landing a scratch on his body.

Sumo tried to fight back, but his attacks were easily blocked by Mark’s sword.

Mark completely outclassed Sumo, who was on level 21.

Mark easily kicked off the sword from Sumo’s hand and punched him on the floor as he struggled to put up a fight. And with a final blow, he was hit on the head with a hilt of his sword.

Almost immediately as Sumo was knocked out, a message appeared congratulation him.

[Quest Completed!

You have defeated your first opponent.

Reward = 1000 EXP

]

[You have levelled up!]

A warmth enveloped Mark, as he read the notification message. As the warmth left, Mark felt invigorated and he could feel the difference on his body. He was slightly stronger. What little stamina and health he had lost all returned back into his body.

It was the levelling up sequence. It happened to him a few times prior the battle, with Rebecca.

--

Read 6 chapters ahead on patreon.com/lightbringer