Combat Begins!

A week later, Marineford Recruit Camp.

Golden morning light rippled between the clouds, lifting the curtain of night.

Loa had risen early and was now sitting in quiet meditation beside the artificial lake not far from the dormitory building.

Today was the day of his assessment. He would be facing the attacks of several hundred people at once, so he needed to adjust himself and meet the challenge in peak condition, lest he stumble in the gutter.

After all, his opponents were fellow recruits from the camp. Loa did not dare use highly destructive moves like Ice Bomb or Ice Dragon's Roar to clear the field outright.

Strands of cold air coiled around him, rising and falling with his breathing. The lake before him had long since frozen into a mirror-like surface.

"Ice-Make: Thousand Forest Thrust!"

Without warning, a sharp ice spike rose from the lake's surface. At its pointed tip, a carp had been pierced through the belly. It struggled desperately twice before the light vanished from its eyes.

Splat!

The next moment, the air filled with rain-like whistling sounds. The ice spike from before seemed like a switch, drawing countless ice spikes up from the lake in a frantic rush. The densely packed spikes rose and fell, while specks of blood blossomed beneath the ice. The carp living in the lake suffered a terrible fate, pierced over and over until they were reduced to pulp.

Suddenly, the lake fell still. The ice scattered rapidly, like spring snow beneath the blazing sun, disappearing in an instant. Dense bits of pink flesh floated across the water like a bowl of undercooked fish stew.

Loa took a deep breath and slowly rose to his feet.

"Finally, Ice-Make Magic has reached the point where I can use it freely. But completely controlling Dragon Slayer Magic is still far too difficult. Still, with Maker Magic alone, ordinary vice admirals probably can't stop me anymore, right?"

Glancing at the lake stained red with blood, Loa nodded in satisfaction. "The accuracy is decent, but generating them from a distance weakens their force. I'll study it more when I have time."

Thousand Forest Thrust was a technique derived from Icefall Burial. It belonged to the "motion" aspect of Maker Magic, yet also contained "stillness." Its destructive range was inferior to Ice Bomb, but when it came to attack power, those armor-piercing ice spikes would show anyone what it meant to be cut into a thousand pieces.

Loa picked up the coat on the ground and let out a sharp whistle.

An ice wolf pounced out of the air, its front half appearing first, then its waist and belly, and finally its tail. By the time it landed, its entire body was clearly visible.

Loa swung himself onto the ice wolf's back and headed for the assessment grounds.

Compared to branch recruits, headquarters recruits not only trained more intensely, but also placed greater importance on actual combat.

Besides the annual Elite Assessment, regular sparring sessions were also indispensable.

These combat training sessions were generally held once a month or once a quarter. Loa had joined the Marines just after the previous assessment ended.

And since the Elite Assessment was due a month later, that month's combat training had naturally been canceled.

So this was Loa's first time here.

Even compared to the plaza where he had fought Arudo, this place was on another level. The vast grounds could hold twenty thousand people and were one of the Marines' most important training sites.

Today's assessment grounds were exceptionally lively. In the usual combat training, it was generally two people fighting each other. Even team battles, the event with the most participants, involved no more than ten people, and those teams took turns. There had never been a precedent for gathering the entire camp together for training at once.

By the time Loa arrived, large numbers of recruits had already gathered in the grounds. One by one, they cracked their knuckles and radiated killing intent as they watched Loa with ill intent.

The most enthusiastic among them were the members of the Seventh Squad. They helped carry weapons here, rushed to prepare medical supplies there, then followed the instructors' orders to count heads and arrange the recruits into lines to receive weapons.

Loa's eye twitched as he watched. He truly wanted to go over and kick every last one of them.

But he did not dare do so, because on the high platform directly opposite the entrance stood a group of big shots.

Among them were the instructors of each Recruit Camp squad, headquarters vice admirals, and the Recruit Camp's chief instructor, Black Arm Zephyr.

Oh, right. There was also Marine hero Garp, currently dozing with a snot bubble hanging from his nose, and the elusive Supreme Commander of the Marines, the Strategist Sengoku.

Loa scratched his face, grabbed a passing recruit, and asked, "Why are Vice Admiral Garp and Fleet Admiral Sengoku here?"

The recruit froze, then recognized Loa and grinned playfully. "Oh, it's Boss Loa! Lord Garp and Fleet Admiral Sengoku were invited by Lord Zephyr to serve as witnesses. You'd better put on a good performance later!"

Loa: "..."

Just how bored are those two? Garp's personality aside, you're the Fleet Admiral of the Marines, a big shot who can make the entire sea tremble with a stomp. What are you here to witness? How hard a recruit can fight?

Loa did not know that because of what had happened during the Combat Assessment, Sengoku was paying far more attention to him than he imagined. Otherwise, why would Sengoku have any interest in watching a fight between recruits, even one unprecedented enough to be one versus several hundred?

Sensing Loa's gaze, Sengoku locked onto him through the crowd and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Zephyr, when did this kid get stronger again?"

Although the world of pirates had no systematic cultivation methods, it possessed an overpowered ability like the three forms of Haki. Observation Haki, in addition to locking onto enemies and predicting movements in battle, could also roughly judge a person's strength.

It was through Observation Haki that Sengoku could determine that Loa was stronger than he had been last week.

Hearing Sengoku's words, Zephyr also spread his Observation Haki over Loa. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Yes, indeed. The cold air around him feels more restrained than before. It looks like today's battle will be quite exciting."

Loa, who had become their subject of observation, knew nothing of their actions. He only felt a chill all over his body. Suspiciously scanning his surroundings, he found a spot by the wall and sat down.

Morning quickly turned into late morning. The weather was excellent today, with the clear sky resembling a piece of jade. Endless blue filled everyone's view. Several seagulls circled carefreely above the fortress, occasionally landing on Marine flagpoles to rest.

The instructors of each squad reported their numbers to Zephyr one after another. Once everyone had arrived, Zephyr exchanged a glance with Sengoku and spoke in a deep voice.

"Quiet!"

The moment Zephyr spoke, no one dared contend with him. The recruits, who had been speaking in hushed voices, instantly shut their mouths and stood properly.

Seeing this, Zephyr nodded in satisfaction and continued, "You should all be familiar with combat assessments, so I won't repeat the details here. But today's assessment will be different from usual. Today, you will not be choosing your challenge targets. Instead, one person will challenge all of you! Every single one of you!"

Loa had triggered a beast stampede during the Combat Assessment, harming countless recruits. Everyone had been waiting for this day, and the moment Zephyr formally announced it, they began howling with excitement.

Watching the recruits below, who were as excited as gorillas that had successfully mated, Sengoku clicked his tongue. "Tsk, just how unpopular is this kid in the Recruit Camp?"

Zephyr waited until the crowd's uproar died down before continuing. "The assessment will begin immediately! Although participation in this assessment is not mandatory for everyone, I still hope you will give it your all and put on a spectacular battle."

After saying that, Zephyr nodded to the rear admiral beside him, then knocked awake the deeply sleeping Garp and dragged him to a specially prepared seat. The rear admiral instructor saluted and stepped forward.

"Christopher Loa! Proceed to the center of the grounds immediately!"

Loa raised his head and slowly walked forward beneath the eager gazes of the onlookers. Along the way, some troublesome recruits wanted to give him a show of force and stood motionless in his path.

Then they were sent flying straight out of the crowd, crashing into the wall and passing out.

The others trembled in fear and quickly made way for Loa.

Upon reaching the center of the grounds, Loa did not wait for the instructor to speak before Ice Armor covered his entire body.

Unlike before, this Ice Armor was even more ferocious. Icy prisms extended from it one after another, baring their fangs and claws as they silently roared at the recruits.

"Come on! Let's have a good fight! I promise I won't beat you to death!"

Ice Armor: Type 17—Spider, commonly known as the Tentacle Monster.

This was a technique Loa had developed to train his control over Maker Magic. It combined offense and defense.

Once Loa learned Observation Haki in the future, its power would only become greater.

For now, it was more than enough to deal with this bunch of weaklings.