One week later, Marineford Recruit Camp.
The golden dawn rippled between the clouds, tearing away the veil of night. Loya had risen early and was sitting in deep ditation by the artificial lake not far from the dormitory. Today was the day of his assessnt—facing hundreds of opponents at once. He needed to center himself and et the challenge with the best possible state of mind... to avoid "capsizing in the gutter."
After all, these were his fellow recruits. Loya didn't dare to use high-lethality moves like Ice Bomb or Dragon Slayer's Roar to clear the field.
Threads of cold air coiled around him, rising and falling with his breath. The water before him had already frozen into a mirror-like surface.
"Ice-Make: Thousand-Forest Piercer!"
Abruptly, a sharp ice spike erupted from the lake. At its razor-sharp tip, a carp was skewered, struggling desperately before its eyes lost their luster.
Pfft!
The next instant, the sound of tearing air erupted like rain. The first spike acted like a trigger, prompting countless others to burst forth from the lake in a competitive frenzy. Dense clusters of ice spikes rose and fell, and tiny specks of blood blossod under the ice. The carp living in the lake t a grueso fate, pierced countless tis until they were reduced to minced at.
Suddenly, the lake went still. The cold ice lted like spring snow eting the midday sun, vanishing in a flash. Patches of pinkish minced flesh drifted on the surface, looking like a bowl of poorly cooked fish soup.
Loya took a deep breath and stood up slowly.
"Finally, my Ice-Make magic has reached the realm of perfect control. Controlling Dragon Slayer magic completely is still a huge hurdle, but even with just my standard Ice-Make now, even average Vice Admirals wouldn't be able to stop , right?"
Glancing at the blood-stained water, Loya nodded in satisfaction. "The accuracy is decent, but the force drops off if I generate them from long range. I'll research that when I have more ti."
Thousand-Forest Piercer was a derivative of Icefall Funeral. It fell under both the "motion" and "stillness" aspects of Ice-Make. While it lacked the area-of-effect damage of an Ice Bomb, its piercing power was brutal.
Loya picked up his jacket and whistled. An ice wolf lunged out of thin air—forelegs first, then the midsection, then the tail—until its entire form beca solid as it touched the ground. Loya mounted the wolf and headed for the drill grounds.
Compared to branch recruits, Headquarters recruits focused much more on live combat. Beyond the annual Elite Assessnt, regular sparring matches were frequent. Loya had joined just after the last round, and since the Elite Assessnt was only a month away, the monthly training had been cancelled—making this his first ti at the main training grounds.
The plaza where he had sparred with Aldo was tiny compared to this. The massive facility could hold twenty thousand people and was one of the Navy's most important training hubs.
Today, the venue was incredibly lively. Usually, sparring was one-on-one, and even the largest team matches were limited to ten people. There had never been a precedent for mobilizing an entire camp for a single training session.
When Loya arrived, a large number of recruits had already gathered. They were rubbing their hands and glaring at him with killing intent. Most active were his comrades from the 7th Team—so were busy carrying weapons, others prepping dical supplies, and others counting heads and organizing queues to distribute gear.
Loya's eye twitched; he felt a strong urge to go over and kick every one of them.
But he didn't dare. On the high platform opposite the entrance, a group of heavyweights stood watching. There were the instructors from the recruit camp, Headquarters Vice Admirals, and the Chief Instructor of the Recruit Camp, "Black Arm" Zephyr. Oh, and the Marine Hero Garp, currently drooling in his sleep with a snot bubble, and the elusive "Great Staff Officer" Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
Loya scratched his cheek and grabbed a passing recruit. "Why are Vice Admiral Garp and Fleet Admiral Sengoku here?"
The recruit froze, then recognized Loya and grinned cheekily. "Oh, it's Boss Loya! You an Garp-sama and Sengoku-sama? They were invited by Zephyr-sama to witness this. You better put on a good show!"
Loya: "..."
Just how bored are these two? I get Garp's nature, but you—a Fleet Admiral, a man who makes the whole ocean tremble with a single footstep—are here to watch what? How hard a bunch of rookies can punch?
Loya didn't know that because of the incident during his field exam, Sengoku's interest in him far exceeded his imagination. Otherwise, he never would have bothered to watch a fight between recruits, even a one-versus-hundreds brawl.
Sensing Loya's gaze, Sengoku locked eyes with him through the crowd, squinting slightly. "Zephyr, when did this kid get even stronger?"
While the One Piece world lacked a systemic cultivation path, it had the "cheat code" known as the Three Colors of Haki. Aside from combat-tracking and prediction, Observation Haki could be used to gauge a person's general strength. It was precisely through this that Sengoku could determine Loya was stronger than he had been last week.
Hearing Sengoku, Zephyr shrouded Loya in his own Observation Haki and hesitated. "Indeed. I feel the cold air around him has beco more restrained. This should be an exciting battle today."
Loya, oblivious to being the focus of their observation, only felt a chill down his spine. Paranoid, he scanned the area and sat down by a wall.
Morning turned to midday. The weather was perfect, with an endless expanse of clear blue sky. A few seagulls circled carelessly above the fortress, occasionally landing on the flagpole to rest.
Once the instructors reported the headcount to Zephyr, he exchanged a glance with Sengoku and spoke in a deep voice.
"Quiet!"
Zephyr's presence was absolute; the murmuring crowd went silent in an instant.
Satisfied, Zephyr nodded. "I assu you all know the rules of this combat assessnt. I won't repeat them. Today is different. Today, it is not you choosing your targets—it is one person challenging you! All of you!"
Loya had triggered a beast stampede during his field exam, affecting countless recruits; everyone had been waiting for this day. Hearing the official announcent, they roared with excitent.
Watching the recruits below, who were as worked up as gorillas that had just successfully mated, Sengoku smacked his lips. "Tsk, this kid—how unpopular can he be in the recruit camp?"
Zephyr waited for the clamor to die down. "The assessnt begins now! While participation is not mandatory, I expect you to bring your full strength and deliver a spectacular fight."
He nodded to a Major, then shook the sleeping Garp, dragging him to a seat. The Major stepped forward and saluted.
"Christopher Loya! Proceed to the center of the field imdiately!"
Loya raised his head and walked slowly toward the center, under the eager eyes of the crowd. A few thugs tried to intimidate him by standing still in his path, but they were sent flying into the wall, unconscious, before they knew what hit them. The rest scrambled to clear a path, terrified.
Reaching the center, Loya didn't wait for the instructor to finish. Ice armor covered his body. Unlike before, this armor was more grotesque, with jagged ice prisms protruding like silent, clawing teeth.
"Co! Let's have a great fight! I promise I won't kill you!"
Ice Armor: Type -17 Spider, commonly known as the "Tentacle Monster." It was a move Loya had developed to train his control over Ice-Make—offense and defense in one. When he eventually learned Observation Haki, its power would only increase.
For now, dealing with this mob of scrubs? It was more than enough.
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