Marineford — the mighty headquarters of the Marines.
Deep beneath the towering fortress was the massive training hall used for new recruits. The ceiling stood more than ten meters high, the room vast enough to hold over a hundred trainees training simultaneously.
Despite Ron having Garp's personal recommendation, the rules of the Marines did not change. Unless someone was recruited directly by a world conscription order, every person had to enter the recruit camp first. Only after passing the examinations could one officially become a Marine. Failures were placed into the reserve corps.
And Marine Headquarters was stricter than anywhere else.
Even the future admirals Akainu, Kizaru, and Aokiji, who already possessed monstrous strength as youths, all came through this very new recruit camp.
"Is that really his limit?"
"He's way too weak…"
In the huge training hall, many recruits stared at Ron, their expressions a mix of amusement and disbelief.
The reason was simple.
Ron's physical exam results were terrible.
Whether it was weightlifting, endurance runs, or any other physical test, he ranked near the bottom of the entire group. Yet this was supposedly the strongest bounty hunter of the East Blue.
"I mean, what do you expect?"
A nearby recruit snickered. "The East Blue is the weakest of the four seas. You can't compare it to the Grand Line. Don't bully the poor guy."
At that moment, Ron was gripping a heavy iron block marked 300 kilograms. His muscles strained, veins bulging, as he managed to lift it barely over his head before letting it drop.
Boom!
The weight slammed into the ground, leaving a deep crater.
"Hey hey, stop ruining the floor. We all have to train here," a recruit said as he casually walked over, picked up the 300-kilogram iron weight as if it were a bag of feathers, clicked his tongue at the hole in the ground, and carried it away.
The Marine major recording the exam quietly shook his head and wrote down the result.
Ron ignored the annoying comments. He stared thoughtfully at the 300-kilogram block.
With his physical strength alone, there was no way he could lift something that heavy.
What carried it was his manifested spirit power.
He had wanted to test exactly how much physical force his spiritual materialization could provide. Now he understood. Aside from giving him flight potential, it was nearly useless. Real offensive power still had to come from runes and magic.
Maybe when Spirit reached 100, after another transformation, he could start producing real physical effects with pure spiritual force.
His current Spirit was 96.
From the day he boarded Garp's warship until now, six days had passed. And in those six days, he had not rushed to raise Spirit. Instead, he focused on mastering the earth element runes and their spells.
His magic level was already incredibly high. He even began to understand the laws behind derivative runes. Exploring them and studying second-tier magic was no challenge for him.
In half a day he mastered all eight derivative earth runes.
In the next few days, he successfully deduced two earth second-tier spells: Stone Spike and Gravity Press.
Stone Spike, as the name suggested, manipulated the battlefield by erupting sharp stone pillars from the ground.
Gravity Press could instantly increase the weight of an opponent or object, crushing their movement and speed.
Both spells were extremely useful.
Stone Spike provided battlefield control and combined easily with wind and fire.
Gravity Press directly countered agile opponents, something Ron badly needed.
Even without reaching 100 Spirit, with these two spells added to his arsenal, Ron had full confidence that he could fight, and even defeat, the elite Marine Headquarters major he once struggled against.
Maybe I should find a Headquarters major to spar with…
He glanced around with growing interest. His mood burned hot. He really wanted a fight. One to test his new power. One to vent his frustrations.
Because what kind of barbaric nonsense was this physical exam?
Sending a mage to do physical tests was like asking a gym teacher to teach advanced mathematics.
It was offensive.
And humiliating.
"Final item: 3 points."
"Total score for all ten tests: 27 points."
The Marine major tallying the results looked at Ron. He did not mock him. Instead, he nodded in encouragement.
"Don't be affected by the others. Scoring twenty-seven in the entrance exam isn't the worst. If you work hard, you can catch up."
"…"
Ron had nothing to say.
If this man had mocked him even a little, Ron would have immediately requested a combat exam so he could blast someone into the floor. But instead the major was calm, even comforting.
Ron's current mindset was simple:
Somebody provoke me.
Please.
Preferably a Headquarters major.
I am ready to explode.
"Hey, you're Ron, right?"
A recruit walked over with a friendly smile.
"Don't get discouraged. I scored even lower when I arrived. Now there are only two people in the third squad I can't beat. Don't worry about those loudmouths. They love bullying newbies, but some of them won't even make it through the graduation exam."
Ron stared blankly.
He had been preparing to release a spiritual shockwave the instant someone mocked him.
But instead he got kindness.
Where were the taunters?
Where were the self-important bullies?
Where was the idiot asking to get blasted into a wall?
Now even a new recruit was being friendly.
This was torture.
He wasn't cursed with an aggro aura at all.
He was cursed with no aggro aura.
He wanted to blow off steam, but there was no one to blast.
His depression deepened.
And then the instructor of the recruit camp walked over.
"What is the newcomer's score?"
Instructor Gumir's stern voice cut through the hall.
The major snapped to attention.
"Total score from ten tests: 27 points!"
"Twenty-seven?" Gumir paused. "The East Blue has fallen this far?"
He shook his head after a moment and said flatly:
"With twenty-seven points, assign him to Squad Ten. All new recruits, fall in!"
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