Freeze Spacetime? (3,000 Words-Please Bookmark and Recommend)

By the time Loa returned to Marineford, it was already late at night.

In his private dorm room, Loa applied medicine to himself while muttering under his breath, "Tch... none of them are any good. They knew I got seasick, yet they still hit me so hard."

After applying the medicine, Loa began gnawing on the roast suckling pig Ms. S had brought him while reflecting on and reviewing what he had experienced this time.

Through his battle with the Silverback Great Ape, Loa had discovered many problems.

Aside from the unavoidable issue of his wild, unrefined close-quarters fighting, he was also not very adept at using magic power.

He found that whenever he used magic, whether gathering it at the start or forming it in the end, he could not do so with complete ease.

Even though he had developed powerful killing moves such as Ice Coffin, Ice Bomb, and Great Serpent, they were all simple applications, or the result of giving commands to the system.

For example, there was the Ice Coffin he had developed by imitating Gray's "Absolute Freeze." As long as he held that thought, the ice he created would be colder and harder than usual, but his conscious will did not interfere with the formation of the magic. Everything happened naturally.

The only thing that counted as active manipulation was accelerating the injection of magic power, increasing the speed and strength with which the magic manifested.

Everything had been accomplished with the system's help. He did not even understand how it was done.

And once it was released, he could not cancel it, just like in a video game.

Loa thought to himself, This system is clearly looking down on me for living in the technological age! I'm a complete magic idiot!

But through that battle, during which he had expended a great deal of magic power, Loa had grasped a faint feeling. This insight could allow him to break free from his current state and achieve true control over his power.

There was also the move called First Release. Put simply, its principle was that after being heavily nourished, one needed to vent the excess heat.

As long as the Dragon Force activated by the frost settled down again, that state would end beyond his control.

These issues might not have been problems while he was still hovering between the Marine Recruit Camp and Elite Camp, before officially stepping onto the stage of the seas, but true experts would see through them at a glance.

Kuzan had said that learning to control power was always easier than obtaining power.

This would be a long process, one that required Loa to repeatedly ponder and study it himself.

Silently calling upon his cheat, Loa opened the system that had granted him this power.

Name: Christopher Loa

Energy Stage: Second Stage, Fifth Level

Energy: 900/900

Magic Power: 6000/6000

Magic Power Recovery Speed: 550/s

Dragon Force: 6/100%. Dragon Force can increase the power of a Dragon Slayer's Dragon Slayer Magic, but once it exceeds 0%, the body begins to transform. After exceeding 90%, the Dragon Slayer's body begins to become dragonized.

Dragon Body: 0/100%. The degree to which the body gradually adapts to Dragon Force. Increases a Dragon Slayer's overall abilities. The adaptation level can be temporarily raised by consuming energy, but the side effects are severe.

Techniques: Ice Dragon's Roar, Ice Dragon's Iron Fist, Ice Dragon's Wing Attack, Ice Dragon's Hook Claw, Ice Dragon's Shattered Fang, Ice Dragon's Grip, Ice-Make Magic.

After three days of training and that major battle, his energy could finally be upgraded again. Dragon Body had broken through the 0% threshold, officially declaring that he had passed twenty and was heading toward thirty.

However, upon seeing the huge "6%" after Dragon Force, Loa's mouth twitched.

"Heavens, grant me a Zeref. At least then I'd have something to look forward to."

Still, with Dragon Force having reached 6%, Loa could test his previous hypothesis.

Setting down the bone he had gnawed clean, Loa stood with his eyes closed and slowly brought his hands together. Intense cold air spread out uncontrollably, coating the objects in the room with a layer of ice crystals.

Suddenly, he snapped his eyes open and shouted in a low voice, "Ice Coffin!"

Following his movement, a massive amount of magic power surged from his palms. As the cold current came into contact with moisture in the air, it immediately turned into fine ice particles, making the otherwise invisible flow of magic power clearly visible.

Crack!

The sound of freezing rang out, and a block of solid ice appeared before him in an instant. Loa stared fixedly at the ice before tapping it with a finger.

Ding, ding~

The sound was crisp. It would probably taste great with some cumin sprinkled on it.

Loa helplessly released his hand. Six percent Dragon Force had not caused a qualitative change in the ice created by Ice-Make Magic. Its strength had indeed improved somewhat, but it was still within the ordinary range.

Although their magic power had the same essence, Ice-Make Magic and Dragon Slayer Magic operated on entirely different levels of output.

It was like comparing an ancient hydraulic press with a modern ten-thousand-ton hydraulic press. Given the same force of flowing water, the former could only press oil, while the latter could forge high-strength alloy components.

This was a limitation of essence. Unless Loa could develop stronger Ice-Make Magic himself, its ultimate power could already be foreseen.

That was why Loa cared so much about whether Dragon Force could increase the power of Ice-Make Magic.

After finishing the experiment, Loa looked at the upward arrow beside his energy value and chose to upgrade. No matter what, this system was the foundation of his survival. The stronger he became, even by a fraction, the better he could preserve his life.

Without the system's support, he might end up becoming cannon fodder responsible for narration someday.

Buzz!

A familiar blue magic array appeared beneath his feet. The rising airflow blew his hair straight upward, making him look remarkably like the strongest warrior in the universe.

Should I cut my hair? Loa wondered. The sensation of his hair roots trying to leave his scalp and fly upward made his scalp tingle.

The blue diamond on his wrist began to break apart. Like a wandering snake, it coiled around and spread across his entire body. Dense blue energy appeared in the air and swiftly poured into Loa's body like swallows returning to their nests.

He could feel the magic power in his body boiling with every upgrade. That sensation of growing stronger bit by bit made him unable to stop.

After entering the Second Stage, the commotion from leveling up was far beyond anything from the First Stage. As Loa upgraded, an inexplicable aura arose from nowhere. Even from a great distance, it made people feel deeply oppressed.

Marine Headquarters, fortress main building.

Inside the Fleet Admiral's office, Zephyr and Sengoku were still handling the documents left behind by the assessment. This assessment was basically enough to determine where these recruits would go after graduation. The top hundred in particular required the two big shots' careful consideration.

"Then this Hughes Piedman will be assigned to remain at headquarters," Sengoku said, tapping the list and speaking to Zephyr beside him.

Zephyr found Hughes Piedman's file among the documents on the desk. After reading it, he nodded. "Mm, that works. Although he ranked outside the top twenty in this assessment, his swordsmanship is quite good."

Seeing that Zephyr had no objections, Sengoku took out a red pen and checked off the name. "He'll start as a Seaman Second Class. His future promotions will depend on his military achievements."

Just then, that familiar pressure suddenly enveloped them. The air itself seemed to freeze, and both men's movements came to a halt.

The sensation was mysterious and difficult to describe, giving them the tense feeling of prey facing a predator.

At first, Sengoku had thought someone had awakened Conqueror's Haki, but after investigating, he discovered that no one had fainted.

Feeling as though his heart had been seized, Sengoku took a deep breath to calm the restlessness within him. Then he smiled wryly at Zephyr. "I heard that kid Loa killed the only Silverback Great Ape on the island?"

Without looking up, Zephyr continued flipping through the documents in his hands. "That's right. He first used a wide-range attack to heavily injure it, but you know the Silverback Great Ape's vitality. Even with its heart shattered, it could still go berserk for five minutes. Against the berserk Silverback Great Ape, Loa used the move he had been developing all along and killed it on the spot with his fists and feet."

"Oh?" Sengoku exclaimed softly. "Didn't you say his close combat was weak? He actually managed to kill a Silverback Great Ape."

At that, Zephyr looked up, as if he had once again seen that figure from a few days ago. Shaking his head, he pulled out a stack of photographs from his pocket and handed them to Sengoku.

"I issued a gag order to those present. I had planned to give these materials to you tomorrow after organizing them properly, but since you brought it up, take a look now."

Seeing Zephyr's serious expression, Sengoku was somewhat baffled. Muttering to himself, he took the photographs from Zephyr's hand. "What kind of power could make even you this nervous? No matter what, he's still just—what is this?"

Sengoku's pupils contracted. He slammed his hand on the desk and stood up, staring fixedly at the photographs in his hand.

"That might be the power of a dragon!"

Zephyr propped his chin on one hand, his tone filled with wonder. "Fortunately, such terrifying creatures do not exist in reality. Sometimes I truly wonder whether Loa is really a Devil Fruit user. That power is too terrifying."

Sengoku did not reply. He carefully examined the photos one by one.

The photographs showed Loa after dragon scales had erupted from his body, fighting the Silverback Great Ape. Those savage claws and bone spikes all exuded intense killing intent. His cold golden vertical pupils were utterly indifferent, revealing not a trace of emotion even when he suffered heavy blows. He was like a god looking down from above, silently watching the mortal world.

But none of that was what shocked Sengoku. There was something else.

At the edge of the photograph, a floating pebble had been circled in red pen. Following the markings, Sengoku saw that many objects around the edge of the battlefield between man and beast had been marked.

Then, comparing it with the next photograph, Sengoku discovered that these objects had not moved in the slightest. In the previous picture, Loa had been sent flying and crashed right beside that pebble. In such an intense battle, even without a direct collision, the wind pressure kicked up alone could probably have blown away a living person, much less a pebble.

What followed was even more shocking. No matter how fiercely the two fought, the marked objects seemed to have taken root in the photographs. Until the battle ended, they did not change in the slightest.

Sengoku slammed the photographs heavily onto the desk, his expression more serious than ever.

"Zephyr, what is your guess?"

"Ah, perhaps it's some kind of time-based or space-based ability."

Zephyr's gaze passed through the window toward the distant recruit dormitories, where Loa was wantonly releasing his pressure. "Kuzan told me that Loa's freezing ability differs from his. It places greater emphasis on the property of freezing itself, which is why he was countered by Loa's attribute. So I'm guessing that perhaps the peak of the Ice Dragon Fruit can Freeze Spacetime."