"Ahahaha, so you're that magician Ron. I've heard of you."
On the Marine warship's deck, Garp scratched the back of his head and laughed with his usual, carefree thunder. He returned to the East Blue every so often to make sure Ace and Luffy were not sneaking off to become pirates, and recently he had heard Ron's name more than a few times.
A while back, intel on Ron even landed on his desk at Marineford, but he had barely skimmed it and promptly forgot. Hearing the stories again in his hometown, then using Ron as a cautionary tale while lecturing Ace and Luffy, that finally carved the name into his memory. Of course, those two brats only scoffed.
The deck officers were not as warm. Marines have always looked down on bounty hunters. In their view, justice is the creed, hunting pirates is to uphold that creed, while bounty hunters chase money, not principle. Cold stares and flat voices met Ron's arrival.
"An East Blue bounty hunter," a commander said. "What is he doing in the Calm Belt, did a storm toss him in here?"
Ron did not mind. Just as it is natural for Marines to hunt pirates, it is natural for doctrinaire Marines to sneer at bounty hunters. He respected many Marines for their conviction. He also disliked one truth he could not ignore, that the Marines kneel to the Celestial Dragons like doormen for a rotten palace.
As a mage, his station should be sovereign. That leash was the main reason he had never cared to join. Garp was the exception. Refusing promotion to admiral, refusing to be a lapdog, speaking of the Dragons like trash on the curb, that was a kind of Marine Ron could tolerate.
"You cleaned up the East Blue a notch, not bad," Garp said, grinning. "Interested in becoming a Marine, I am heading back to headquarters anyway. I can give you a lift. Otherwise I drop you on the nearest island, which means wasting days and days turning around."
Warships rarely cross the Calm Belt without cause. It is dangerous even with seastone keels. Garp, though, was on leave, and his timetable would burst if he took the long way. To him, Sea Kings were just oversized stray pets. Cutting straight across was the most efficient commute.
"That was my plan," Ron said with a smile.
Meeting Garp here was convenient. He could have carried Nami the whole way across, but that would waste days of training. A free ride to Marineford meant more hours to study. Training first, everything else later.
"Ahahaha, even better," Garp boomed. The deck officers eased. They might not be dazzled by an East Blue reputation, but anyone who stabilizes a sea and is willing to serve has potential, at least worthy of headquarters.
—
In a tidy cabin, Ron sat on the bunk and watched the glassy water slide by, mind replaying that single punch.
"That level of strength is… excessive."
The Sea King had been the size of a small island. One punch, and it collapsed like wet clay. That was the summit of the world. For now, Ron could do nothing to such a beast. Even with a third-tier spell, he would be poking at soft spots like the eyes. To truly crush a monster like that, he would need fourth-tier magic at minimum.
He shook his head. Garp's realm was far away. His near goal was clear, push his spirit to one hundred and unlock third-tier magic. With that, he could approach, maybe match, a Marine Vice Admiral. The peak would still be distant, but he would have entered the land of true power.
"I still have one achievement point left."
He opened the system interface. Without hesitation, he dropped the point into Spirit. With a total of seventy six, one more unit barely moved the needle, yet the chime came anyway.
[Achievement: Specialization, reward 2 points]
He blinked, then found the entry.
Specialization, put fifty achievement points into a single attribute, all other attributes must have zero achievement allocation.
Below it, two newly revealed entries glowed faintly.
Absolute Focus, one hundred points into a single attribute, the other three remain at zero.
Only Talent, two hundred points into a single attribute, the other three remain at zero.
He smiled. Good thing his path was Archmage. A brawler would have split points among strength, agility, and vitality, and never triggered this line at all. He poured the two bonus points into Spirit.
The profession panel slid open on its own and two prompts appeared.
[Total achievements reached 50, you have obtained a Mid-Tier Magic Mark, you may now grant Initial Magic Marks to up to two people]
[Total achievements reached 50, you have earned one draw]
A mid-tier mark, at last. This was not just a boost to his own casting. It was the right to seed magic in others, two Initial Marks he could bestow. Power shared, but on his terms. His gaze drifted toward the door, as if he could already see a certain orange-haired navigator at the helm.
"Looks like training just got a lot more efficient," he murmured, and then, eyes bright, he focused on the draw interface.
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