A Month Later, Preparing to Set Off!

Thanks to reader ~Time Sand Night Rain~ for the 500 reward!!! Thanks to reader ~Cat Uncle Who Loves Sleeping~ for the 00 reward!!! I actually received rewards! I was truly flattered. Thank you both; this gave me even more motivation to write. Also, thanks to all the readers for your recommendation votes. I downloaded a mobile app today and found that I could see the names of the readers who voted there. Starting tomorrow, I'll list a separate thank-you roster at the end of each chapter. You and I will witness this book's growth together.

The days passed, and at last, tomorrow was the day of the Combat Assessment.

Over this past month, Loa had lived a very fulfilling life every day.

In the morning, he washed up, ate breakfast, then carried a bucket and mop to clean the toilets. Along the way, he used his freezing ability to tease and prank his fellow recruits—for example, freezing their streams of urine and admiring the dumbfounded looks on their faces as they clutched their crotches.

At noon, he showered and ate lunch, then discussed with Ms. S what foods were filling, plentiful, and delicious, as well as what they would eat the next day. Having won their duel, Ms. S had granted him the privilege of deciding the menu.

In the afternoon, after cleaning the toilets and showering, he ate dinner, exchanged combat techniques and philosophy with the rather gay-looking instructor, then got thrown out by the enraged instructor.

It had to be said that none of the instructors at the Marine Headquarters Recruit Camp were frauds. Every one of them had mastered all sorts of techniques.

At night, Kuzan dragged him to the plaza, where they exchanged moves and studied the use of freezing abilities. They also conducted research on how to improve the human body's resistance to cold—the test subject being Loa.

Over the past month, Loa had been living quite comfortably.

"Tomorrow is the Combat Assessment. You have to place in the top three to enter the Elite Camp."

Kuzan leaned against the wall, his eye mask pulled down over his eyes, as he spoke to Loa, who was researching his freezing ability.

Hearing this, Loa withdrew the ice in his hand. After a brief pause, he suddenly flicked his arm and fired a cone-shaped chunk of ice at Kuzan. Kuzan tilted his head slightly to dodge the attack, but just as he was about to speak, he immediately used Soru to leave the spot.

Less than a second after he left, a violent explosion rang out. That section of wall was blasted apart, leaving behind a crater a meter wide.

Kuzan appeared behind Loa, holding both arms level. "Ara ara, do you want another beating? Ice Ball!"

Five icicles shot from each of his palms, streaking toward Loa's back like lightning.

"Ice Make, Great Serpent!"

Loa neither dodged nor evaded. He slammed his fists together, and a surge of blue energy abruptly appeared behind him, directly in the path of Kuzan's attack.

For the moment, Kuzan had no idea what Loa was doing. There was not even solid ice present—how could this thin layer of energy block his attack? With a sneer, he accelerated the icicles even further.

After all, he knew Loa's physique very well. Even if the icicles truly pierced through him, as long as they did not strike a vital point, he would be lively again the next day. Besides, the main effect of this move was freezing rather than piercing.

However, the situation soon changed.

The instant Kuzan's icicles touched that layer of blue energy, he discovered that he had lost control over them!

An unknown force interfered with his ice and even seized it from him. That bizarre sensation spread backward along the icicles and was about to reach his physical body. An indescribable sense of danger washed over him.

Seeing this, Kuzan decisively severed the icicles and retreated.

Sure enough, in the next moment, the icicles he had fired seemed like paint, gradually outlining the blue energy behind Loa. A serpent's maw half the size of a man viciously bit into the ground, tearing the hard floor to pieces.

Having missed its strike, the Great Serpent coiled around Loa as though it were alive, protecting him at its center. It flicked its tongue at him with a hiss, its blue-white pupils reflecting his figure.

Only then did Loa slowly turn around. The blue dragon markings on his body now seemed almost tangible, flickering on and off with his movements. Loa grinned at Kuzan. "What do you think, Instructor Kuzan? I developed this ability specifically to deal with you!"

Loa reached out and stroked the Great Serpent's scales as he explained, "This is my ultimate move, Instructor! The Great Serpent has no physical form; it is only a mass of energy. Any structured Logia-type attack that does not exceed its endurance limit will be frozen upon striking it and turned into nourishment for its manifestation.

"And when it comes to your ice, Instructor, I can seize control of it. I can even go a step further and seize control of your body."

"You have to know, an Ice Dragon is the true ruler of frost~"

"Ara ara, you really are dangerous, kid."

Kuzan pushed up his eye mask, glanced at the ice serpent around Loa, then looked at the gap blasted into the surrounding wall.

"Great Serpent, Ice Bomb... Do you dislike me that much? You actually developed techniques specifically to deal with me."

"Humans need pressure to improve. I have no enemies in the Recruit Camp, so naturally I needed to establish an imaginary enemy for myself. And Instructor Kuzan, you were naturally the best choice."

"Oh, that sounds very reasonable." Kuzan yawned, then looked at Loa without joy or anger. Although his expression remained calm and he still appeared lazy, Loa, who knew him well, understood that Kuzan was angry.

"Uh... did I go too far?"

Loa thought so, and in the next second, Kuzan gave him the answer: he had indeed gone too far.

Even someone with Kuzan's temperament would feel angry when a disciple he had personally taught targeted him so "thoughtfully."

So his return gift was a sky-covering freezing attack, also known as: Ice Age!

"Well then, I'll be leaving first. That technique of yours is complete now, so passing the assessment shouldn't be a problem. Once you join the Elite Camp, Instructor Zephyr should have a reason to teach you the Six Powers. So get to bed early, Loa~"

Casually draping his coat over his shoulder, Kuzan waved to Loa with his back turned and vanished into the night. All he left behind was a solid blue ice sculpture and a plaza frozen into a world of ice and snow.

After Kuzan left, a purple figure appeared in the plaza.

Zephyr stroked his chin and knocked on the frozen-solid Loa. After using Observation Haki to sense the situation inside, he nodded in relief. "Mm, he's still alive. Is this what it means to be an Ice Dragon? He comes out unscathed every time he is treated like this."

Thinking of everything Loa had endured over the past month, Zephyr could not help feeling both immense sympathy and admiration. "But Kuzan clearly held back. The activation speed of his ability was unusually slow. If you still can't dodge even at that speed, then strengthening your close-combat ability must be put on the agenda immediately."

After inspecting him, Zephyr left thoughtfully using Soru, leaving Loa in the plaza to bask in the moonlight.

The next day, the sun shone brightly.

After being frozen all night, Loa was finally freed under the warm sunlight the next day. He sneezed violently and hugged himself as he shivered nonstop.

"Damn, did he have to be so ruthless?! Can he just casually unleash a big move like Ice Age? That could kill someone, you know!"

He looked at the sun, then slapped his forehead in frustration. "Oh no, we were supposed to gather and board the ship early this morning. What time is it already?!"

He then leaped into the air, stepping on ice blocks as he sped toward the harbor.

Over the past month, Loa's gains had not been limited to ability development. His Dragon Slayer system had also improved tremendously.

Name: Christopher Loa (World Auto-Correction)

Energy Stage: Second Tier, Fifth Layer

Energy: 40/900

Magic Power: 8000/8000

Magic Power Recovery Speed: 750/

Compared to a month ago, his magic power had nearly doubled. This allowed him to use Ice Dragon Slayer Magic more freely, without having to carefully ration it as he had when he first began training, relying on modeling magic for most attacks.

Besides that, Loa's Dragon Body had increased by another two percent, reaching 0%. Though this increase of two percent seemed insignificant, Arudo was no longer interested in competing with him in strength.

Because this was a critical threshold. Upon reaching 0%, Loa discovered that his strength had increased threefold! It took him several days to get it under control.

Combined with the durability of Improved Ice Armor, even without Haki, he could now smash steel apart with brute force.

However, Loa had also paid a price. No matter what he ate now, he could no longer increase his energy value, just as he had suspected.

And the Dragon Force that worried Loa most had fortunately not risen along with his energy level. However, because he had frequently used simplified versions while developing new techniques and fighting Kuzan, his Dragon Force had risen rapidly and now reached 5%.

The power of his Dragon Slayer Magic had indeed increased greatly, but this kind of growth was not what Loa wanted.

Still, there was nothing he could do. After all, no one in this world could teach him the path of a Dragon Slayer. He could only explore and experiment on his own.

PS: The second update should be out around eight o'clock. This chapter was written while I was at work.