Ti trickled by, and in the blink of an eye, a month had passed.
Inside the Marine Headquarters' special alloy training room, Loya moved with the fluid grace of a veteran boxer, his feet tapping rapidly against the ground. Then, in the blink of an eye, he vanished. A deep footprint was left in the reinforced alloy floor—the only mark of where he had stood.
Almost at the mont he disappeared, Loya reappeared at the other end of the room. Facing a three-inch-thick steel plate, he pulled his arm back, his index, middle, and ring fingers poised in a claw-like grip.
"Shigan: Yachiru (Finger Pistol: Eight-Child Maiden)!"
His fingers, hardened like steel, tore into the iron plate in a frantic frenzy. Though he had only two hands, they transford into a sky full of claw shadows, enveloping the plate. The unseen, rapid-fire attacks rained down; one could only judge the brutality of the onslaught by the frantic explosions of air and the ear-piercing shrieks of the steel buckling.
Suddenly, Loya's montum dipped. His movent stopped abruptly, and his left leg swept diagonally upward. Before the sound of his strike could even fade, Loya appeared at the top-diagonal of the steel plate, while an afterimage remained at his previous position to finish the previous motion.
Without a second of delay, Loya unleashed Rankyaku and appeared directly in front of the plate.
"Rankyaku: Mikazuki (Tempest Kick: Crescent Moon)!"
Three crescent-shaped air blades whistled through the air, striking the steel simultaneously.
BOOM!
Finally, unable to withstand the torture any longer, the steel plate shattered, raining shards across the floor. Loya leaped back from the air, using the armor of ice he had ford by habit to deflect the shrapnel that flew with the velocity of bullets.
Because this was a specially designed training room, there was no dirt, and consequently, no dust to rise. This clarity, however, only made Zephyr's shock more profound.
"In one month, not only have you mastered Shigan, Soru, Geppo, and Rankyaku, but you've already developed new variations?"
Ever since Sengoku had received complaints and tossed Loya into this room a month ago, Zephyr had been watching every step of the training. From the mont Loya first touched the Six Styles to the mont he mastered these four techniques, only twenty days had passed!
These were the Marine Six Styles—the ultimate body techniques! Typically, only high-ranking Vice Admirals could use them with such proficiency. Rob Lucci was known as the greatest genius in CP9's 800-year history. That ti span alone proved the extre difficulty of the training. Even pure martial arts experts like Zephyr and Garp had taken nearly half a year to reach Loya's current level.
That speed had stunned the then-Vice Admiral "Steel Bone" Kong, who called them "monsters" and grood them for greatness. Now, Loya was tearing those records to shreds. He wasn't just breaking records; he was creating a myth.
Lost in his thoughts, Zephyr didn't notice Loya walking right up to him. "Well… Teacher Zephyr, do you think my progress is passable?"
It was the classic act of fishing for a complint—a trait known colloquially as being insufferable. Jolted back to reality, Zephyr glared at him. Loya stood there with a towel draped over his shoulder, slouching in a posture that made Zephyr's blood boil. He swung a punch forward.
"You're a Marine! Stand up straight, damn you!"
WHOOSH!
Loya swayed like a piece of paper, fluttering effortlessly out of the way of the strike. As he dodged, he exclaid in surprise, "I actually did it! Looks like I'll master all the Six Styles soon…"
He leaned in again, grinning. "Aiya? What's wrong, Teacher Zephyr? You're so angry. You should be happy to have such an outstanding student!"
Thanks to the monstrous amplification of his Dragon Body, Loya's progress was terrifying. The primary hurdle of the Six Styles—physical strength—was a non-issue for him. Once he grasped the techniques and the coordination, everything else fell into place like a natural landslide.
In the final few days, he had developed his own extensions: Yachiru and Mikazuki. He realized Shigan was weak against large-scale attacks. If one didn't want to engage in a brawl, one had to dodge. Yachiru solved this by creating a whirlwind of wind pressure from his claw strikes, allowing him to shred through incoming fire.
As for Rankyaku, it was the "strongest spear" but suffered from a standstill during the activation. Loya had spent an hour agonizing over it before realizing the solution: if he couldn't stop moving, he would simply launch the attack while moving. Relying on a body that could no longer be called "human," he forced his muscles to handle the strain of firing Rankyaku in the middle of a Soru dash. He could now chain it three tis—hence, Mikazuki.
"I don't know how much longer I can teach you," Zephyr sighed, covering his face.
"Seeing such a talented student… are you sad, Teacher? That's great! Since I've already proven my strength, how about you cancel next month's live-combat mission for ?"
Loya's goal was t with a aningful, ominous smile from Zephyr.
"Cancellation is impossible. It's the rule of the Elite Camp; no one is the exception." Zephyr patted Loya's shoulder. Because of the high-intensity training, Loya's body, which had stopped growing for years, had shot up; he was now only a head shorter than Zephyr. "Go ho and prepare your seasickness dicine. Don't worry, I'll arrange the fastest warship for you."
To Loya, Zephyr's smile looked like the face of a demon.
The master and student walked out of the training room, joking and bantering along the corridor. Suddenly, Zephyr's gaze swept over the distant, bustling town, and he stopped walking.
That was the residential town for Marine families. Loya was sowhat familiar with it, though mostly because he knew where the candy shops were. Zephyr's expression was calm, but there was an unmistakable sorrow in his eyes.
He must be thinking of his family, Loya thought.
But he imdiately put on a bright, energetic smile. "Eh? Teacher, are you craving sothing sweet? I've got so fruit gummies bought by the Jero brothers; want to give you so?"
From where Zephyr stood, the most eye-catching thing in the town was a three-story, bright pink building shaped exactly like a giant candy cake.
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