Chapter 22: Iron-Cutting Realm
From the next day on, Vic often went to the animals at the edge of the forest to test his knife. He found that he could hardly break the defense of large animals, while small and slender animals moved very fast and had much weaker defense.
Vic discovered that his knife could cut through stones, but most of the time it did not go as he wished. The harder the stone, the greater the deviation. There was no hindrance when chopping trees. He felt that he had reached the edge of a breakthrough, but was still missing something.
A week passed like this, and one day Vic saw that there was not enough firewood for burning, so he went to the forest to chop trees and split wood. As a swordsman, chopping wood was as easy as eating and drinking.
Vic's figure shuttled through the woods, and after a few flashes he returned to his original place. Xuezou inserted the knife into the scabbard, and with a slight sound, more than a dozen trees with a diameter of one meter fell down. Vic took out the main trunks and left the side branches, and stood all the trunks up in a circle.
Vic stood in the middle of the circle, his legs apart and slightly squatting, holding the scabbard in his left hand and the handle in his right hand. Snow was sheathing and putting the wood in and out of the sheath. After one circle, all the wood became the same length and size, and were stacked into neat squares.
Vic was very satisfied with his masterpiece. He found some vines and tied them into piles. He grabbed a pile in each hand and carried them outside the cabin. After going back and forth a few times, he finished the work quickly.
When he came to the place where he cut down trees again, it was already very empty. He grabbed the last two bundles and prepared to go back. Vic looked back inadvertently. He was stunned by this glance. There were criss-crossing cut marks on the ground. With just this one glance, he knew what he was missing.
My swordsmanship is quite powerful. When I chopped the wood, it also left marks on the ground. What does this mean? It means that my control is not good enough and my power is wasted. If I keep all the power in the knife, then can I cut iron?
Wick realized this, and Zoro also realized this at his dying moment in Alabasta. He concentrated all his power on the sword, used his observation Haki to dodge Mr. 1's attack, and then released all the power of his sword moves on Mr. 1. The result was effective, and he killed Mr. 1 and won the final victory.
He quickly returned to the cabin, put down the firewood, went inside, sat cross-legged, and summarized what he had gained.
Wick fell into deep thought. Combining what Koshiro and Zoro said, Wick judged that condensing the sword's energy onto the blade was the last step. This was the prelude to the attack. So how could one condense the sword's energy onto the blade?
Koshiro's words reminded Vic, 'The sword of the strongest swordsman has the power to protect what he wants to protect and to cut off what he wants to cut off.'
What does this mean? It can be translated as 'control your knife as you wish, let the knife sense your emotions and thoughts, you can make it cut a piece of paper or cut steel, use your heart to match the knife in your hand'. It sounds a bit idealistic. Vic's understanding is belief, use belief to condense the sword force, if you want to cut steel, you have to release the belief needed to cut the steel. This is somewhat self-suggestion, belief makes you a god.
There are many such examples in Vic's previous life (you can check it out online if you are interested, I will write it here), but it is a bit mysterious that the self-suggestion in this world can have such great power. However, belief alone cannot be used alone, physical strength is also indispensable.
Before Zoro killed Mr. 1, he said, 'You won't hit me again. Now it depends on whether I have the strength to cut through steel.' This is enough to prove the indispensability of strength. So to sum it up with Kaido's words, 'When your heart catches up with the strength of your body, what is triggered is the cutting of steel.'
Vic has another understanding. Sword power can also be understood as "sword qi", a name from his previous life, which he thinks is particularly appropriate, sword qi, knife qi. (There are knives and swords in this world, but the moves are collectively called kendo and sword moves. No matter whether you use a knife or a sword, you are called a swordsman. From now on, it will be collectively called sword qi") Every time you swing a sword, sword qi will come out with the sword. The traces on the ground are also a proof. This kind of sword qi is purposeless. It extends from the sword body as the sword is swung. It has no target, no condensation, and is too scattered. It will be used up until it is exhausted, which is almost the same meaning.
After Vic understood the essence of cutting iron, he began to practice more precisely, practicing the mind.
Vic adjusted his daily schedule. He meditated in the morning, went to the forest in the afternoon to find animals stronger than himself to verify his results, then brought back enough prey to eat, and used meditation instead of sleeping at night.
Vic made rapid progress. The amount of sword energy he emitted became less and less, and the power of his sword moves became stronger and stronger. Many animals that he could not break through before became his food. The spiritual energy content in these foods also gave Vic a great surprise, and his body's defense became stronger.
Wick is not like Zoro who "enlightened overnight and could cut through iron with his sword". It's not that Zoro has better talent than Wick. At this stage, Wick is much stronger than Zoro in Alabasta. What's lacking is the power of the mind and the control of the sword.
Zoro has been practicing swordsmanship for ten years and has put all his attention on kendo. This is something Vic cannot compare to. To Vic, a sword is just a weapon. He did not put all his attention on it before. Vic is too greedy. He wants too much and has planned everything. This is also the Prophet's shortcoming.
Before Zoro went to sea, he didn't know about the Six Styles of the Navy, Devil Fruits, or Haki, so the fact that he could purely focus on swordplay and give his sword moves so many sexy names is very telling.
Vic knew that his sword energy was about to be restrained and would be able to cut through steel soon. Vic felt very happy, as if the small stone in his heart was about to be lifted.
Two days later, Vic came to the forest. This time he was going to challenge an animal that he had never broken through before. It looked like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, but it was covered with scales and was dark black, reflecting the cold light of metal. Vic had chopped it before and sparks flew. It was harder than steel, with a mouth full of fangs that were as sharp as blades, two front claws off the ground, a sturdy tail covered with spikes, and a body full of sharp weapons. On the outskirts of the island, it was the top of the food chain.
Vic heard the deafening roar coming from the right front. That unique sound made Vic know that his target was there, so he sped towards it.
The Armored Tyrannosaurus Rex was hunting, and its target had fallen to the ground. It was eating the prey on the ground in big mouthfuls. Vic had no intention of waiting for it to eat before fighting with it. Vic was afraid that it would not be so eager to fight after it was full, and it would kill anything that prevented it from eating if it had not finished eating the food. Vic needed its determination to help him break through.
Vic suddenly rushed forward and jumped, and Xuezou was unsheathed in an instant and landed on the top of the Armored Tyrannosaurus Rex, but it still failed to cut it. The Armored Tyrannosaurus Rex was very angry. Being disturbed while eating was unforgivable. It roared to the sky, and the sound turned into a gust of air that went away, shaking off a lot of leaves.
The Armored Tyrannosaurus Rex opened its big mouth and bit towards Vic. Vic blocked its fangs with a knife and was forced back more than ten meters. His legs plowed two deep grooves. The Armored Tyrannosaurus Rex had great brute force and the two sides fought back and forth.
Vic couldn't break its defense, but Vic was very fast and it was difficult for the Armored Tyrannosaurus Rex to attack Vic. The battle came to a stalemate. The Armored Tyrannosaurus Rex became even more angry. The food was not far away but he couldn't eat it. This stupid biped kept blocking him.
Its attack speed was getting faster and faster, with headbutts, bites, claws, and tail swings, each move was fierce. Gradually, Vic was unable to defend himself. Sometimes he was whipped away by the dragon's tail, and sometimes he was hit by his claws. Vic's mouth was already bleeding.
Although Vic's mouth was bleeding, he had a smile on his face. He felt that he was about to reach the critical point. He emptied his mind and threw away all sword moves, fighting according to the circumstances.
Vic was once again whipped out by the dragon's tail, knocking down several large trees with a diameter of more than three meters. Vic was seriously injured by this blow. It took him a long time to get up, spitting out a large mouthful of blood. He walked towards the Armored Tyrannosaurus Rex step by step. With every step he took, his heart became more empty. When he was about to get close, the Armored Tyrannosaurus Rex was already quite impatient and rushed directly towards Vic. Vic did not dodge or stop, but walked slowly towards it.
Vic walked all the way behind the Armored Tyrannosaurus Rex, and the Armored Tyrannosaurus Rex also ran far away. The man and the dragon were on the same line but did not meet, as if they were not in the same dimension. Vic stopped without looking back. With a "ding" sound, the Snow Zou was completely sheathed. Just as the sound was heard, the Armored Tyrannosaurus Rex behind him fell down with its neck cut, and there was unwillingness in its eyes.
"I've broken through!" Vic whispered softly with no expression on his face.