Frailty

On the fourth day after the training camp began, at the training grounds.

"System, check my total slacking time!"

"[Training Camp Turmoil]: Total slacking time: 35/400 hours. Keep up the good work, Host!"

The training camp ran from six in the morning to nine at night every day, for a total of twelve hours. Meal breaks and rest time combined only amounted to three hours.

Yet the daily mission only required eight hours of slacking, which meant Carl had exceeded her quota after skipping training for three days.

She now had six Designated Attribute Enhancement Cards in her system inventory, along with a huge pile of snacks and drinks. She had been earning rewards while lying around, but unfortunately, now that her body and age had returned to normal, Carl's good days had officially come to an end.

Carl reluctantly returned to the training grounds and joined the main group in their basic exercises. They were supposedly beginning their training in the Six Powers today.

Zephyr stood at the front, glowing with health. Compared to the first day, his physical condition had improved beyond recognition. Zephyr himself felt it most clearly.

Ever since Carl had treated him with Holy Light, his chronic asthma had actually been cured! Over the past few days, he had been breathing smoothly, and he did not even get winded while running, as though he had never suffered from asthma in the first place.

Freed from asthma, his strength had gradually recovered as well. Though he still could not compare to that old monster Garp, he was far stronger than he had once been.

"Today, this old man will personally teach you the cultivation methods and application techniques of Iron Body, one of the Six Powers. Whether you have studied it before or not, listen carefully! If even one of you dares to slack off, all of you will be punished!"

Iron Body? A strange look flashed across Carl's face. The only Six Powers techniques she could use were Shave and Paper Art.

One was for pursuit—or escape—and the other was for staying alive by dodging bullets.

She knew nothing about the rest. It was not that she had not wanted to learn them; her former physique had simply been too terrible. Even if she knew the techniques, her body had not been capable of using them. Now was a good opportunity to learn.

There were twelve hours in a day, anyway! She did not need to worry about failing her daily slacking mission.

"Iron Body is the only defensive technique among the Six Powers. Its principle is to accelerate blood flow and muscle movement, allowing the muscles to attain hardness like steel. Its drawback is that you cannot move freely while using Iron Body."

"So when using Iron Body, you must choose the right moment. Do not be overconfident and try to block every attack with Iron Body, no matter what the enemy throws at you."

"Alright, next, this old man will explain in detail how to train Iron Body..."

An hour later.

"Ding. A combat technique from this world, Six Powers, has been detected. It has been added to the system and included in the random rewards. During the Training Camp Turmoil mission, draw probability +50%."

Carl immediately breathed a sigh of relief. You should have said so earlier! She had listened so seriously and wasted a whole hour of prime slacking time.

"Alright, this old man has told you everything about training Iron Body. Is there anyone who still does not understand?"

The recruits all shook their heads in unison. Iron Body was not difficult. As long as one's control over one's body met the standard, it could be mastered easily. Even if someone really did not understand, they would not volunteer to be the first one to speak up. They could just ask someone else later.

"Very good. Since you all understand, begin training! This old man will give you only three days. If anyone still cannot master Iron Body by then, hmph!"

Thus, the training grounds seemed to turn into a contest of holding in one's shit. Everyone had furrowed brows and flushed faces, wearing expressions like they desperately wanted to take a dump but could not. Carl was no exception.

Fortunately, Carl, a veteran of ten years, had already mastered Paper Art. Her control over her body far surpassed that of the other recruits. After practicing Zephyr's method a few times, she easily mastered Iron Body.

Not bad. After using Iron Body, Carl's confidence instantly soared. With a body of steel and iron like this, it would not matter who came at her!

Unfortunately, it did not have much effect on that particular area. Only Armament Haki could probably enchant it.

"Huh! This kid... learned it pretty fast!" Zephyr, who had been watching Carl, brightened. That familiar sheen was definitely Iron Body. After a brief moment of thought, he called Carl over.

"Carl, have you learned the Six Powers before?"

"Yes, Instructor Zephyr. Commodore Charles taught me, but I could only use Shave and Paper Art before. I only just mastered Iron Body."

"Charles, huh..."

A youthful face surfaced in Zephyr's mind—the young Charles. He remembered him so clearly because Charles had been part of his first batch of students.

His talent had simply not been very good. More than twenty years had passed, and he was still only a branch commodore. He was more than capable of guarding a branch base, though.

"That is still not bad. Your talent is indeed a little better than that brat Charles's. Remember not to become arrogant. Go continue practicing!"

Carl naturally agreed at once. Practice? No way! Her slacking time was about to begin!

Before that, though, she needed to find some unlucky bastard to help her test the effects of [Frailty].

Hmm. After scanning the area, Carl locked her gaze onto a strange-looking fellow. It was decided—you, Ainz!

Do not let his skinny arms and legs fool you. He was the user of the Shove-Shove Fruit, and he had scored an impressive 451 in the Doriki test, taking second place.

Overall, he was already the strongest recruit besides Carl. That showed just how badly the Navy lacked talent these days.

"You're Ainz, right? Could I trouble you to help me test the defensive effects of my Iron Body?"

Seeing Carl's grinning face, Ainz instinctively frowned. Of all the recruits, Carl was the one he disliked most. Why did she not have to train as hard as the rest of them, yet still receive Instructor Zephyr's favor? Just because she was some kind of ability user?

Although they had not seen it clearly on the first day, most of the recruits had roughly guessed that Carl was a Devil Fruit user.

No normal person could release a golden ball of light. They simply did not know what Carl's ability was, and even if they wanted to ask, they could never find her.

So when faced with Carl's request, he had instinctively wanted to refuse. But then he reconsidered. Testing the defensive effects of Iron Body meant getting hit, right? In other words, Carl was voluntarily asking for a beating? There was such a good thing?

"Great! No, I mean, I'd be very willing to help!"

Ainz changed his words quickly, but Carl still caught the underlying meaning. Combined with the envious looks from the others, it was not hard for her to reach a conclusion: she was not very popular.

But Carl did not care much. Putting herself in their shoes, even she found herself annoying.

They were all recruits. Why did everyone else have to work themselves to the bone training their bodies while she lay around at home enjoying herself? Anyone who admired her for that would have to be crazy!

Carl tore off her shirt in one motion, revealing her toned upper body. She signaled for Ainz to attack whenever he was ready, then silently thought, System, use Frailty.

"Frailty activated successfully. Defense -100%, injury probability +1000%, and severe injury immunity granted. Duration: three minutes."

"Six Powers: Iron Body!"

Ainz, come at me!