บท 173: 173. A Wandering Spirit

Leo stared at Zoro in shock. A second ago his sword intent was on the verge of collapse, and now it was stronger and sharper than before. In fact his sword intent was now fully formed, it was not as half baked as before.

Clang!

Zoro's sword grinded along Leo's sword and created sparks. His eyes portrayed a tenacious will to strive.

This guy...

Narrowing his eyes Leo released a bit of his murderous intent. Zoro faltered for a moment before rushing at him.

Swords flashed around Leo, trying to get past his defense.

With each strike Zoro's sword intent was growing. Each sword strike made it more firm and sharp.

Curling his lips Leo let out his "Will".

A formless power crushed upon Zoro. He staggered in his steps but quickly stabilised his body.

Sweat started to flow down his cheeks. His eyes were bloodshot and veins popped on his temple.

Garp narrowed his eyes. He already saw through the changes happening to Zoro. He was stunned, but at the same time he sighed.

Why can't he be a marine?

Shaking his head Garp continued to watch.

"Grandpa, that guy is strong."

Luffy who always fooled around had a serious expression on his face.

Garp grinned, "He is a great marine."

On the field Zoro was struggling to stay on his feet. His head was feeling light, it was hard for him to focus. His vision was starting to blur, he was seeing doubles.

Dammit!

Zoro was unwilling to go down like this. He bit hard on the sword in his mouth and squeezed out every ounce of power he head.

Three Sword Style Secret Technique, Three Thousand Worlds!

He suddenly disappeared from his spot and shot towards Leo. The distance between them was pulled closer in a second.

Shhiiinggg!

Everything was over in a second. Zoro stood behind Leo and sheathed his sword calmly.

"You took a step back."

Saying those words he fell down and lost consciousness.

Leo curled his lips.

Nami and the rest immediately rushed out and took him inside.

"You helped a pirate."

Garp grumbled at Leo.

Leo shrugged, "He had already grasped sword intent. It was only a matter of time, I just sped things up."

"~sigh~, Luffy has damn good luck to have companions with such talent."

"That's for sure."

Leo agreed with Garp.

Luffy was dumb and always took everything as they come straightforwardly. Such a character was not suited for this treacherous seas. However his friends made up for his deficiency.

Hm?

Leo was about to grab a glass of water when he sensed something.

Well...

He released his spiritual sense and found a blob of energy floating around the room.

Why didn't I sense it before?

He was surprised he didn't notice this before.

Wait? Is that... a spirit?

Leo was stunned. He focused and found it to be the case.

A spirit! This is the first time I am seeing a spirit without a vessel.

He thought to himself.

A spirit can't exist outside without it's vessel. It would quickly disperse and disappear once the vessel is gone.

But this one is fine. Oh wait...

He checked again and found wisps of energy slowly vanishing from the spirit.

I... want to... sail...

Leo was thinking what to do when he heard a voice in his head. He quickly understood that it was from the floating spirit.

"Who are you?"

He asked through his spiritual sense.

It took several seconds before the voice replied.

Merry... I am Merry...

Merry? Isn't that the name of their ship?

Leo was familiar with the ship of strawhats. It was included in the reports he got.

He was confused for a while before he thought of something. His eyes widened in surprise.

Shinobu who was beside him sensed the changed in him and asked, "What's wrong?"

Leo didn't reply, he stared at Luffy and his crew before saying, "These guys are really something."

He told her what happened and Shinobu also widened her eyes in surprise.

"Their ship gave birth to a spirit?"

Leo nodded, "The conditions for an inanimate object to birth a spirit is very stringent. There are no set rules to follow, however there is one one concrete rule that is a must. The object must be deeply attachments to it's owner."

"The chances for an object to birth a spirit is very high when the emotions it's owner has for it is pure and unconditional."

Shinobu asked back in surprise, "Then how is it possible for the emotions of several people give birth to a spirit?"

Leo stared at the strawhats and said with smile, "That's why I am very interested in this crew. Their attachment to their ship is so pure and unconditional that it resonated with each other, and created a spirit."

"Ah, spirit resonance. That explains it."

Leo opened his palm and grabbed at Merry's spirit. His 'Breath' gently flowed through his palms.

No one saw his action. He grabbed Merry and walked out.

"Garp-san, see you later."

Garp looked at Leo curiously. He saw what Leo did but he didn't know what he did and frankly he was too lazy to ask about it.

He waved his hand, "Yeah, just go away."

Leo smiled and left.

Right after Leo left Zoro woke up. He felt a sharp pain in his head. A second later it faded away and he looked around.

"Where is he?"

He asked.

Chopper was standing close to him and heard him.

"Zoro, you woke up!"

"Chopper, where is he?"

Zoro asked again.

Chopper said, "He left."

Zoro didn't say anything and laid against the wall. He thought back to the moment when he pushed Leo to take a step back.

I finally took a step forward.

Walking back to the docks Leo stared at Merry's spirit in his hand.

Only he could see it through his spiritual sense. To others he was just walking around with his palms spread out.

"What are you going to do with it?"

Shinobu asked curiously.

Leo grinned, "Since this spirit separated from it's body, it's safe to assume that their ship is gone. So they must need a new one. I am going merge this spirit with their new ship."