The Will of D. reamers

A feral grin spread across Zoro's face before he said, "Good."

Zoro pulled out his other training sword and took a stance as Marcus did the same. Marcus narrowed his eyes slightly as he asked, "You ready?"

As Zoro nodded his head, Marcus blasted forward as he slashed downwards with his training sword. Zoro attempted to parry the blow but his first sword wasn't enough to hold back Marcus's swing and he was forced to use his other sword to help. Once Marcus's attack was properly blocked by both swords, Marcus disengaged from the attack at the same time he used a sweep kick with his back foot. As Zoro's legs were kicked out from under him and fell onto his back, Marcus brought his sword down and stopped it over Zoro's neck.

Zoro was stunned as he looked up at Marcus in shock before he said, "No fair! You kicked my legs out!"

Marcus raised an eyebrow at that as he asked, "And? It was a spar, did you expect me to only use my sword?"

Zoro jumped up from the ground as he said, "Of course! It was a duel between swordsmen!"

Marcus shook his head as he said, "Maybe for you, but just because I use a sword, doesn't mean I'm purely a swordsman. When I spar, I treat it like it's a real fight and use every tool I have at my disposal unless I am trying to teach someone."

"But that's not honorable." Kuina said as Zoro nodded in agreement.

"What good is honor if you're dead?" Marcus asked as he glanced between Zoro and Kuina for a moment.

When neither of them responded after a few moments, Marcus asked, "You know who I fight the most besides my brothers?... I fight pirates and bandits. Do you have any idea how much honor those types of people have?"

Both of them shook their heads in response before Marcus said, "None. They will stab their own friends in the back if it will keep them alive or give them a better cut of loot."

Marcus slid his training sword back into his belt as he said, "I have no idea what is motivating either of you to train with a sword…"

"I wanna be the world's best swordsman!" Zoro said confidently as he cut off Marcus.

Marcus nodded at that before he glanced at Kuina who looked a little lost before Zoro asked, "Isn't that your goal too?"

"I. I don't know." Kuina said as she glanced down at the training sword on her hip.

"What do you mean, you don't know? Isn't your goal to be the best?"

"If I was born a boy it would be, but I was born a girl."

Zoro frowned as he asked, "What the hell are you talking about? What does being a boy or girl have to do with being the world's best swordsman?"

"Being a girl, I'm already weaker than most of the boys my age and it's only gonna get worse as I get older." Kuina said as she unconsciously rubbed the hilt of her training sword.

"Bullshit! Is that what you plan to say whenever I finally beat you in a fight? Are you just going to dismiss all of my training and effort with some pathetic words about being weaker?" Zoro asked with anger in his voice.

Kuina shook her head with mist gathering in the corners of her eyes as she said, "I didn't mean it like that. It's just…"

"Are you trying to look down on me and everyone else who's ever lost in a fight with you?" Zoro asked as he cut Kuina off and locked eyes with her.

"No."

"Then shut up about girls being weaker than boys because that's just stupid." Zoro said with a bit of heat still in his voice.

Marcus nodded in agreement as he said, "Zoro's right. If physical strength mattered so much, why aren't fishmen and other physically stronger races more dominant around the world?"

"Fishmen?" Zoro and Kuina both asked at the same time.

"They come from the grandline and are ten times stronger than a human… And yet the one's that practice swordsmanship aren't considered some of the best swordsmen in the world. Do you know why that is?" Marcus asked as he reached for Eternal Rest and slowly pulled it from its scabbard.

When both of them shook their heads Marcus stepped away from them and turned to the tree line a few feet away from everyone as he said, "Because they only have strength but no real skill to back it up."

Marcus turned off his training harness and took a stance with his sword as he said, "Watch carefully and I'll show both of you something one of the worlds best swordsmen once showed me during training."

Marcus changed his breathing as he hyper focused on the tree line in front of him before his body tensed up and he gripped the hilt of his sword tighter. His body became taunt like a bow as he flexed all the muscles in his body before he said, "Divine departure!"

Marcus's sword whipped out at a speed that wasn't visible to the eye and a moment later Marcus was down on the ground as he gasped for breath. Everyone glanced at Marcus and the tree line before him and after a few moments Zoro asked, "Was something supposed to happen?"

Marcus, who was still recovering, glanced up at the tree line before he mumbled to himself, "I could have sworn it was some type of modified air slash, but it must really need haki to work properly."

Just after Marcus caught his breath and stood up, the tree directly in front of him split at the trunk and fell to the ground with a loud bang. It was a chain reaction as more trees started to collapse after that and once everything finished more then ten trees were cut in half along with a handful of other trees partly damaged from the attack. Marcus turned around to see everyone looking at him with their mouths hanging open and their eyes as wide as saucers.

As Marcus sheathed his sword, Luffy was the first one to snap out of his shock and asked with star shaped eyes, "That was so cool! Can you do it again?"

Marcus shook his head as he said, "No… And I probably won't be able to for a few days at least. That took more out of me than a full power air slash."

"What the hell was that?" Zoro asked excitedly as he glanced at all of the tree's on the ground.

"That was an attack anyone with enough drive and skill can learn." Marcus said as he glanced at Kuina who was also focused on the treeline.

Kuina turned towards Marcus as she asked with a bit of hope in her voice, "Anyone?"

"Maybe. It really depends on the person." Marcus said as he watched Kuina closely.

Kuina frowned slightly as she asked, "Didn't you just say anyone with enough drive and skill could learn it?"

"Yeah, but you need to have those qualities. I know you have the skill, I've seen it… But do you have the drive? The willpower to push your mind and body past their limits and keep going?" Marcus asked as he locked eyes with Kuina.

Marcus watched as Kuina's eye's slowly cleared up from the uncertain fog that filled them earlier and a new resolve slowly infused into them turning them crystal clear. Once Kuina's mind was completely made up she said, "I wanna be the world's best swordsman!"

Zoro's head whipped around to look at Kuina before he asked, "Really?"

Kuina nodded as she said, "Yeah."

Zoro stuck his hand out towards Kuina as he said, "Then let's make a promise that no matter what, one of us will be the world's best swordsman!"

Kuina smiled as she grasped Zoro's hand and said, "Sure… But once either one of us gets the title, the other person has to challenge them for it."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Zoro said with a predatory grin.

Marcus, who was off to the side, threw his arm over Luffy's shoulder before he asked, "As the future pirate king, shouldn't you have a powerful swordsman on your crew?"

Luffy looked at Marcus as he asked, "Don't I already have you?"

"Who said I was joining your crew?" Marcus asked as he pushed Luffy away.

"But we're brothers, we're supposed to stick together! You're gonna join my crew, just like Ace and Sabo are and we'll be the strongest pirate crew to ever set sail!"

"Like hell we are!" Ace, Sabo and Marcus all said at the same time before they punched Luffy over the head.

Zoro and Kuina glanced over before Kuina asked, "Why do you guys wanna be pirates? Didn't you say you fight them all the time?"

Marcus pointed at Luffy who was crouched on the ground as he held his head and said, "This idiot made a promise to become the pirate king one day because some drunk guy with a sword gave him their straw hat."

Luffy grabbed his hat and cradled it in his arms as he said, "Shanks isn't some drunk guy with a sword! He's the coolest pirate in the world and one day I'll meet him in the grandline just like we promised each other!"

"Shanks was a pretty nice guy, but Marcus is right. I never once saw him not within arms reach of some type of alcohol." Sabo said as he rubbed his chin while Ace nodded in agreement.

"Anyways, I am pretty sure all of my idiot brothers will end up being labeled as pirates sooner or later just because of how they are." Marcus said with a hint of a smile.

"So you're not planning to be a pirate?" Zoro asked.

"I don't plan to be, but just like my brothers I am sure someone will label me as one sooner or later." Marcus said as he shrugged slightly before his den den mushi started to ring again.

Pururu pururu pururu gacha

"You little brats! I know you're in Shimotsuki village, you better…" Garp was cut off by Marcus as he said, "Hi, this is Marcus. Sorry I couldn't answer your call right now, but if you would please leave a message after the beep with your name and phone number I'll call you back as soon as I can. Thank you and have a good day… BEEP!"

"Uh? You have one that records messages? Maybe I should get one so people can't bug me all the time…" Garp said as he trailed off in thought for a moment before he said, "Marcus, you little brat! This is your grandpa. You and those other idiots better wait for me in Shimotsuki village if you know what's good for you! Call me back when you get this, my number is…"

After Garp hung up the call Marcus couldn't stop himself anymore as he burst into laughter as he said, "I swear only grandpa and Luffy would fall for something like that."

Ace let go of Luffy's mouth as he said with a chuckle, "It's kinda scary how similar they both are."

"I'm nothing like that big dumb gorilla!"

Sabo nodded in agreement as he said, "You're right about not being a big gorilla, but you're definitely a stupid little monkey."

After messing with Luffy a little bit longer, Marcus reminded everyone they needed to leave the island as soon as possible, so they all headed back to the dojo together. As they headed back, Zoro and Kuina lagged behind as they talked together while the boys were in more of a rush to pack up and high tail it out of there. Once they were back at the dojo, Marcus and his brother split up from Kuina and Zoro as they went to collect their things.

Since they didn't bring too much stuff and hadn't really unpacked yet, the boys were able to clean out their room in less than half an hour. Marcus didn't worry about collecting the harnesses he gave out to Kuina and Zoro since he never planned to take them back in the first place. He did take out a set of level stones for both of them and planned to leave them behind in case he never made it back to the island though.

As they all headed towards the front of the dojo, Marcus veered off from the group with the level stones and moved towards Koushirou. Koushirou smiled at Marcus as he approached before he asked, "It looks like you boys are in a rush today. Is something going on?"

"Something came up and we have to leave the island earlier than planned." Marcus said with a shrug.

Koushirou nodded slightly in understanding before he said, "Give me a moment and I can get you a refund."

Marcus shook his head before he said, "Don't worry about it. Keep it in case we come back… Also take this."

Marcus handed the two sets of level stones to Koushirou as he said, "Those are for Kuina and Zoro. They will know what to do with them."

"Are you not gonna tell them you're leaving?" Koushirou asked as he set the two packages off to the side.

"They already know."

"In that case, I won't hold you up then. I wish you a safe journey wherever you're going." Koushirou said with a soft smile.

Marcus nodded back before he sped off to catch up to his brothers. A few minutes after the boys left, Kuina and Zoro appeared in the main courtyard with small bundles on their backs. Kuina glanced around for a moment and when she didn't see Marcus and the others she grabbed Zoro by the collar and pulled him towards the main gate as she said, "Look, we already missed them because I had to go find you. I told you we shouldn't have split up"

Koushirou smiled slightly at the sight, it looked like Marcus was wrong about Kuina and Zoro who both looked like they wanted to give the boys a gift before they left. After Kuina and Zoro disappeared from sight, Koushirou turned back to his students as he watched them practice some more.