Hina

Dawn disliked the unknown. He preferred to prepare for a rainy day.

Though it felt a little like paranoia, that did not stop Dawn from carrying on.

Besides, even without that purpose, Dawn needed companions to sail the seas with.

After his navigation class, Dawn hastily finished lunch and returned to his assigned dormitory. He looked around the nearby rooms and found that most of them were empty, with no one living in them at all.

It could be said that far fewer people lived in the training grounds than there were rooms.

"Is it because this batch has fewer people?" Dawn muttered, stroking his chin.

Then, from not far away, a girl's voice answered his question.

"Of course not! This is the strictest training camp with the highest elimination rate. If you can't keep up with the others, you'll be eliminated.

"People are constantly being eliminated, and new people are constantly joining, so the rooms here will never be full."

Hearing the answer, Dawn instinctively turned toward its source.

The person who had answered him was a pink-haired little girl.

"Hina is curious. You're very strong. Physical training doesn't seem difficult for you at all. Where did you come from?" Hina looked at Dawn curiously with her big, adorable eyes.

Only then did Dawn finally get the chance to take a good look at Hina.

At this point in time, Hina was not yet the imposing beauty with a cigarette in her mouth. She was merely an adorable little girl.

Her pale pink hair and childish cheeks were as delicate as a doll's, soft and rosy in a way that made people want to pinch them.

Yet her training gave her a spirited look, and a hint of heroism shone in her eyes.

"Oh, someone brought me back from Stomach Baron. Before that, I'd been stranded on a Desolate Island, so it's normal that you haven't seen me before."

With a friendly smile, Dawn began chatting with little Hina, who was clearly intrigued by what he had said.

Perhaps because of the environment they lived in, children in this world generally matured early.

But no matter how mature they were, they were still children.

And curiosity was something every child shared. It was also the most terrifying thing of all.

One single "why" was enough to make your scalp tingle and your head ache.

And when they were in such a thirst for knowledge, you could not exactly treat them like bratty children and give them a beating.

Hina clearly possessed the curiosity of her age. As Dawn spoke, a wondrous island slowly unfolded before her.

"That sounds wonderful! The entire island is made of food, so there must be lots of delicious things to eat!" After listening to Dawn's story, Hina was filled with longing for the island's beautiful side.

"Don't forget that if you eat too much, you'll become fat, and then Stomach Baron will turn you into a meatball and eat you."

Dawn instinctively rubbed her head, mercilessly shattering her fantasy as though he were scaring a child.

"Hina is very angry."

Whether Dawn's words had dragged her back to reality or she was upset about having her head rubbed, little Hina puffed out her cheeks and voiced her displeasure.

"Uh... sorry." Dawn rubbed his nose awkwardly.

He was an adult, after all. Whenever he spoke to children, he unconsciously reached out to pat their heads. But he had forgotten that he was a little boy too, and an adorable one at that.

Still, children got angry quickly and forgot quickly. Before long, Dawn had drawn Hina's attention back with his well-organized stories about the island, and their relationship improved considerably.

The days that followed passed quickly. With Hina, who had already become Dawn's friend, acting as a bridge, Dawn soon integrated into the class.

On top of that, Dawn's mature way of thinking and his formidable strength attracted quite a few little female admirers among his classmates.

Children always fantasized about mature things, and Dawn's maturity was not an act. It came from within.

But over time, Dawn gained the labels of "mature," "powerful," and... "pretty boy" within the class.

As for that last label, it was naturally because Dawn was handsome, so he had just a tiny bit more female Marine friends than male Marine friends...

Thus, amid the envy, jealousy, and resentment of the boys, he was given that nickname.

Aside from his daily life, Dawn's strength had also improved greatly.

With Dawn's constant practice and the instructors' guidance, he was already able to use Shave from the Marine Six Powers.

Thanks to the foundation he had built through constant practice on the island, and after the instructors corrected his exertion and posture, Dawn could now grasp Shave.

However, using it in battle was still somewhat difficult.

As for Paper Art and Tekkai, he had merely completed the prerequisite foundational training. He was still far from mastering them, let alone using them in combat.

Still, he had made considerable progress in evasion and defense.

As for the other three Six Powers, Dawn only understood their concepts. He could not be said to have mastered them.

"Dawn, you're amazing. You'll be able to master another Six Powers technique soon, right?"

Hina waved at Dawn as she watched him walk out of the Advanced Training Camp, her face full of envy.

Dawn smiled at Hina. "You're working hard too, Hina. Didn't the instructor say that you'll be able to learn the Six Powers soon as well?"

"But we're about the same age! Yet you've already entered the Advanced Training Camp early. Even Admiral Zephyr comes by from time to time to personally guide you."

At that, Hina's face filled with longing. After all, he was an Admiral.

"Hina is very unhappy. Other than our regular academic and navigation classes, we're separated during training." As she spoke, Hina puffed out her cheeks, looking thoroughly displeased.

But she looked incredibly cute doing it~

"That's only because I practiced when I was stranded on Boin Archipelago, so I was able to get ahead by so much."

Dawn looked at Hina and comforted her. "Don't rush. We're still so young. We have plenty of time."

Speaking of age, Dawn thought of the identification tag hanging around his neck and could not help but smile. "Come to think of it, I might even be a year younger than Hina."

Hina had been born in 1488, while the tag around his neck, the one bearing his name, was engraved with 1489/3/1.

The tag was very simple. The first line had "Abraham Dawn" engraved in English, while the second line read "Abraham Dawn" in Chinese.

So, judging by that tag, the only proof of his identity, Dawn might have been a year younger than Hina.

However, perhaps because the food on the island had been so nutritious and easy for the body to absorb, coupled with Dawn's relentless training, he was much taller than children his age.

Combined with Dawn's mature mindset, no one had considered the possibility that he might be younger than Hina.

Even if he said it aloud, Hina probably would not believe that he could be a year younger than her.

After all, there were simply too many people in this world who did not know when they had been born. At best, they could only make a rough estimate.

That tiny detail alone revealed the cruel reality of this world.

And the cruelty hidden everywhere within the ordinary left Dawn unwilling to relax in the slightest.

Day after day, he persisted and steadily grew stronger.