Crack.
The clash everyone expected never happened.
There was no scene of Finger Gun punching clean through Ron's body, nor of him narrowly dodging it.
Instead, everyone saw a translucent barrier suddenly appear between Ron and Gumir. The Finger Gun thrust crashed into the shimmering light, causing only a faint ripple before it was completely blocked.
"Since you're getting serious…"
Ron raised his left hand slightly, maintaining the magic barrier as his right hand lifted the crystal wand.
The ground roared.
The entire training floor shook violently, as if an earthquake had erupted right under their feet.
Ron still did not know Gumir's exact level, but he had a rough idea. To be an instructor at Headquarters' recruit camp, especially in a place where graduates could walk out as captains, you were not some random officer. Retired or not, Gumir had almost certainly been at least a Marine Headquarters rear admiral.
Which meant Ron did not need to hold back.
On the warship, he had already deduced and gained recognition from the system for a new earth spell, Earth Spike, but he had never had a proper chance to use it. In the middle of the sea, there was no ground to work with.
The only limitation of Earth Spike was that it required true earth beneath his feet.
Because of that requirement, the spell's form was grand, even exaggerated. Far more dramatic than spells of the same tier from wind or fire.
And today was the first time he unleashed it.
The thrill of trying a new spell, the urge to test his limits, and the frustration from that idiotic physical exam all fused into one emotion.
Ron released it in one breath.
Boom.
Seven or eight massive stone spikes erupted from the floor, each as thick as a tree trunk, and under the stunned stares of the recruits, they soared upward until they pierced the ceiling of the first floor.
Gumir did not expect Ron to wield power like this. He was forced to step repeatedly in midair, using Geppo to hop between gaps, dodging the rising spikes.
"Fire Wall!"
"Wind Burst!"
Ron seized the initiative and did not let go.
Scarlet flames suddenly exploded outward, forming a blazing wall more than ten meters across. A heartbeat later, a compressed sphere of wind appeared in midair and slammed into the fire curtain.
Whoom!
The fire wall folded and twisted around the wind sphere, like molten cotton being swallowed. In an instant, it merged into a massive crimson fireball that roared toward Gumir.
He was still in midair. The earth spikes cut off his lateral movements, and the fiery projectile covered such a wide area that even Geppo could not easily slip through.
"Rankyaku!"
Seeing no way to fully dodge, Gumir snarled and swung his leg. A sharp emerald slash, three to four meters long, shot out from his kick and crashed into the flaming sphere.
Shrrk.
The huge fireball split cleanly in two, erupting into scattered flames and gusts of scorching wind.
The slash, though weakened, still kept flying, shooting toward Ron.
Ron narrowed his eyes and chose not to meet it head on.
His body flickered upward, carried by his spiritual flight. He did not summon another barrier, instead slipping past the slash. At the same time, his wand dipped faintly.
"Gravity Press."
"…What?"
Gumir, who had just judged that Ron's weakness lay in close combat and was preparing to rush him with overwhelming speed, suddenly felt his entire body sink.
As if someone had dropped a mountain on his back.
It was not enough to crush him, but his body instantly became several times heavier. His speed and agility plummeted. Even using Geppo became difficult. His body began dropping in a straight line.
"Giant Wind Blade."
Ron did not pause.
With Gumir falling from the air, he pointed his wand and a wind blade several meters wide materialized and slashed downward.
Another second-tier wind spell.
Unlike Violent Wind Slash, which spread its strength across several blades, this one concentrated all that power into a single line. Its cutting force on a single target was even greater.
"Soru!"
But Gumir was already at maximum alert.
He no longer saw Ron as a recruit, but as a true opponent. His Observation Haki flared to its fullest, reading the attack the moment the spell formed. At the last instant, he forced his heavy body into Soru and vanished, narrowly escaping the Wind Blade.
"His agility is down at least thirty percent… wind, fire, and earth. What kind of Devil Fruit is this guy using?"
Gumir frowned deeply.
He could not understand Ron's ability at all, but retreat was not an option. As an instructor, he could not show his back to a recruit. Not in front of everyone.
Whoosh.
After dodging the Giant Wind Blade, Gumir kicked off with a low roar, forcing himself upward against the crushing Gravity Press. He rocketed toward Ron, clenching his fist.
A layer of inky black spread across his knuckles.
"Armament."
Ron calmly raised his left hand and summoned another magic barrier.
Boom.
Gumir's fist hammered into the gleaming shield. The impact sent out a loud crack, spiderweb fractures spreading across the barrier's surface, but it held. It did not shatter.
Ron dropped his left hand, letting the damaged barrier fade.
His right hand flicked out again.
Shh, shh, shh.
Five or six Wind Blades shot forward in rapid succession, screaming straight for Gumir.
"Armament Iron Body."
Gumir's face tightened. His previous punch had drained most of the force from his arm. He had no time to gather power again and could only brace himself, forcing his body into Tekkai and hardening his arms with Haki.
Clang, clang, clang.
The blades smashed into him, throwing off sparks.
It was obvious what they learned.
Where his arms, wrapped in Armament Haki, blocked the blades, they left no mark at all. But where his body relied only on Tekkai, white welts appeared on his skin.
Gumir had not mastered full body Armament. He could not coat his entire body, nor could he instantly harden any area at will.
"We can win."
Ron's eyes flashed.
His mind spun at a speed far beyond a normal person's, running through dozens of simulated battle patterns in the span of a breath. He tracked every twitch of Gumir's body while calculating his next moves.
If Gumir's Armament had been one rank stronger, strong enough to shatter the barrier in one blow, this would be much harder. If he could perform full body coating, this fight might already be lost.
But he could not.
Ron had used several second-tier spells already, and his Spirit was heavily drained. But Gumir looked no better. His clothes were in tatters, his muscles lined with pale marks. He was battered, if not truly wounded.
"Rankyaku!"
Gumir spun in midair and flicked out a close-range Rankyaku. The crescent slash roared toward Ron's chest.
Ron's left hand opened again, the barrier flaring to life.
Crack.
The green slash slammed into the shield, carving fresh cracks through the glowing surface.
The moment he stopped Gumir's attack and felt him start to drop again, Ron pointed his wand downward.
Earth Spike.
Boom.
More jagged stone lances burst from the floor, stabbing upward toward the falling instructor.
Gumir had no footing in the air. He could not use Geppo freely under Gravity Press. Gritting his teeth, he gathered what strength he had left, cocked his arm, and smashed his fist into one of the rising spikes, shattering it to protect himself.
From the first exchange till now, only a few rounds had truly passed.
But in that brief time, Ron and Gumir had already driven their fight to a peak.
The roar of magic, the shock of stone and wind and flame, shook the entire first floor of Marineford. The second and even the third floor felt the tremors.
The first floor was always noisy. It was the recruit training area, after all. But today's noise was different. Bigger. Heavier.
So big that vice admirals like Flying Squirrel and Onigumo on the upper floors paused, frowning, wondering who on earth was fighting like this in the recruits' base.
If the third floor could feel it, the recruits on the first floor were completely stunned.
Whether they were newcomers or seasoned older recruits, every single one of them stared with wide eyes, faces full of shock and disbelief.
Hey. Come on.
This had to be a joke.
A newcomer, fighting an instructor to this level?
This was no longer a simple training demonstration. Gumir had completely stopped explaining. He had activated Haki, thrown away the idea of holding back, and yet…
He was being pushed toward the defensive.
He was, faintly, starting to lose ground.
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