The next day.
In Instructor Zephyr's private training ground.
Zephyr looked at Ages with a gentle smile and said,
"Ages, your special training officially starts today. But before that, I looked over your current records, and I still don't know exactly how strong you are."
"To get a better idea of your current stamina and combat strength, I need to test you."
With that, Zephyr held out a hand, pointed to his open palm, and said to Ages,
"Ages, don't use your Devil Fruit ability. Attack here with all your strength so I can see how strong you are."
Ages nodded slightly, then stepped back several paces and took a few deep breaths, bringing himself into peak condition.
Then Ages suddenly pushed off with both legs and charged at Zephyr, his left hand clenched into a fist as he drove it toward Zephyr's palm.
Bang!
A muffled sound rang out.
Ages slammed his fist into Zephyr's palm, but Zephyr stood like a wooden post, unmoved even an inch.
Although Ages's attack hadn't pushed Zephyr back at all, the force of his punch stirred up a storm in Zephyr's heart. Zephyr clicked his tongue and said,
"Ages, your physical strength is monstrous. This is the first time I've seen a boy your age with that kind of strength. I'd estimate your Doriki Value has reached 100."
Hearing Zephyr's praise, Ages looked pleased with himself and chuckled.
"Hehe, you flatter me, Teacher Zephyr. But what does a Doriki Value of 100 mean?"
Zephyr slapped his forehead and said,
"Oh, I almost forgot you don't know about that. Let me explain. A Doriki Value reflects a person's combat strength. While it can't completely determine how strong someone is, it's the best way to assess their attacking power."
"Generally speaking, an ordinary Marine soldier has a Doriki Value of 10, but you've reached 100. That really surprises me. I didn't expect a ten-year-old kid like you to have greater attacking power than an adult."
Ages said in surprise,
"I didn't know there was a number for measuring that. That's pretty neat. Teacher Zephyr, you said an ordinary Marine soldier's Doriki Value is 10, so how much does it take to be considered strong?"
"Well, if an ordinary person trains to their limit and reaches a Doriki Value above 500, they're considered superhuman. And the most basic requirement for learning the Six Powers is a Doriki Value of 500." Zephyr smiled and continued,
"Still, Ages, you don't need to worry about it too much. Doriki reflects your physical strength, but a Doriki Value can only show a person's combat strength; it can't provide a comprehensive assessment. Many factors contribute to how strong someone is. For example, if you used your Devil Fruit ability, your combat strength would be who knows how many times higher than this test showed."
"And I saw in your records that you said you know swordsmanship, didn't you? If we count that too, your combat strength would be even higher."
"Mm, that's right. My Pops is a very powerful swordsman. I've been learning swordsmanship from him since I was little."
"Unfortunately, I don't know swordsmanship, so I can't teach you that for now. When I get the chance, I'll find you a swordsmanship teacher."
"All right, enough about that. Next, we'll test your speed. Ages, run from one end of the training ground to the other as fast as you can."
"Okay."
With that, Ages removed the sixfold gravity he had placed on his body and hopped in place a few times. Feeling how light his body was, Ages's lips curved upward. Then he ran as fast as he could across the training ground, which was a hundred meters in diameter.
Before long, Angus had already run from one end of the training ground to the other...
Ages walked over to Zephyr, his face red but his breathing steady, and said,
"Teacher Zephyr, how was my speed?"
"Hm? Teacher Zephyr?" As soon as Ages finished speaking, he saw Zephyr staring at the stopwatch, frozen in place. He waved a hand in front of Zephyr's eyes and spoke.
Ages's wave brought Zephyr back to his senses. He looked at Ages in surprise, smacked his lips, and said,
"Ages, aren't you a little too fast? Ten seconds for a hundred meters is already very fast for an ordinary person, but you did it in six!"
Zephyr looked at Ages with an expression of immense satisfaction and exclaimed,
"Ages, I have to say, the more I learn about you, the more you surprise me. You're really something, Ages! Hahaha!"
By the end, Zephyr was visibly excited. He really wanted to know how strong Ages would become after his careful instruction. Perhaps in the near future, Ages could become one of the Marines' strongest fighters.
Once Zephyr's excitement had passed, he looked at Ages with shining eyes and said,
"Ages, just how did you train?"
Seeing how excited Zephyr was, Ages smiled and answered truthfully.
"Me? I've trained under Pops since I was little, and Pops said my physical constitution is several times stronger than an ordinary person's. This is what my training was like..."
"Then I used the Gravity Fruit to keep gravity on myself at all times, keeping myself under high gravity to draw out my potential and improve my physical constitution."
After Ages finished describing his training from childhood to the present, Zephyr smacked his lips in surprise again and said,
"Ages, your training regimen is very sensible. It lets you improve as much as possible without overtraining and injuring your body. And what an ingenious idea-you actually thought to use your Devil Fruit ability to train yourself."
After marveling for a long while, Zephyr continued,
"All right, let's move on to testing your reaction speed..."
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was already evening...
After a full day of comprehensive testing, Zephyr had obtained a complete set of data on Ages.
After recording the results of the final test, Zephyr looked over Ages's data in his hands. Then he raised his head and glanced through the window at the brilliant stars in the night sky, murmuring,
"Perhaps I can train a disciple who surpasses Sakazuki and the other two. No! He'll definitely surpass them..."
After talking to himself, Zephyr said to Ages,
"Ages, it's getting late. Let's stop here for today. We'll start training tomorrow."