Marine Academy, Marineford
[30 months later]
The Academy was located east of Marineford near the shoreline. Many recruits who apply begin their marine journeys there. Morning drills that simulate sailing, classes consist of navigation, ship operations, first aid, and world history. As important as it is to be strong, the sea will take the life of any who can't maintain their vessels.
Amongst the first years, there was a prominent group of cadets with the potential to reach the admiral rank.
Instructor Ford, a tall lanky man in the traditional Navy white collard shirt with no sleeves, a blue bandana, acting like a tie, blank pants, and black boots.
"Alright cadets, today we have a new student, personally assigned by Vice-Admiral Garp. "
The name ignited murmurs amongst the cadets, many wide-eyed at the announcement of a new classmate, hand-picked by the greatest Marine to sail the seas.
"Did he say," Sir Garp assigned someone here? ""
"Yeah, he must be strong."
A few cadets were not phased by the revelation.
Current rankings:
1) Aramaki
2)Gion
3)Doll
4) Sonya(Smoker)
5) Hina
The top 5 recruits of this year had immense potential with Aramaki dominating in physical aspects and lacking a bit in mental aspects.
"This could be a Golden generation in the making. Ford chuckled, proud of his contribution to the next generation of Marines.
"Come on, brat, you can't be late on your first day!" A deep voice echoed through the training field. Garp appeared in his usual Marine attire, coat flapping in the wind as it stayed on his shoulders as if his presence kept it attached and the most bizarre thing was him dragging a blonde-haired boy's synthetic ear.
"Ouch–L-let go of me old man, this is abuse!"
"Don't test me today. As much as I love hurling canon balls at you...Sengoku wants to be back on the job." He grumbled at having his favourite pastime halted by his duties.
"You're insane old man–Insane!" The boy protested, but attempts at escaping his hold were futile.
"Is that the new guy?" Doll asked, a young girl with bright blue eyes and a pixie cut.
"Hina is confused about why Garp-sama drags him like a dog?" The pink-haired recruit pondered.
Gion, a girl with raven-hair, wrapped in a bun and piercing red eyes, scowled, "Great, another brute to our class."
Aramaki, the tanned, green-haired teen, looked at the boy with annoyance. "What does Garp-sama see in this brat?" He glared.
"Class, welcome your new classmate Ramos." Instructor Ford sighed, rubbing his hair in stress. "This is going to be a long year."
After the introduction, Ramos stood out like a sore thumb, his peers glaring at him out of envy for his nepotism. But he surprised everyone during their usual drills. During the 50 laps, he barely broke a sweat, able to carry 3 weighted crates with minimum struggle, tied the ropes with the experience of a seasoned sailor and climbed the master ladder at the same pace as Aramaki.
In terms of academics, he got the gist of most of the topics, good to see that Garp didn't only boost his body but one thing that was apparent to me about making him Garp's was his appetite and sudden habit of sleeping at random times.
WOOSH!
BANG!
The sound of a fist contacting bone thundered in their ears. An unfortunate cadet was the receiver of the blow as he was sent flying out of the sparring circle.
Crack!
"Did he have to punch him so hard?" Gion gritted her teeth at the unnecessary display of brute force by Ramos.
"He nearly broke his neck," Sonya added, shaking her head but a smirk still plastered on her face.
Ramos grinned manically at his win, eyes burning with thrill," COME ON! That was only a minute max." He stumped his feet like a kid denied his fun.
"Ramos! This is sparring, not an actual battle." Instructor Ford, sweated profusely, slightly stepping back from his monstrous student. "Why does Vice-Admiral Garp think training a kid to such strength is a normal thing?" He muttered.
"Sir, I'd like to spar with Ramos."Aramaki stepped up into the circle, facing Ramos with no fear at all.
"Hehe–Tree-boy wants to fight." Ramos slammed his fist into his palm.
"Watch your mouth, Pinky, I'm the top recruit for a reason." Aramaki jabbed.
"Get ready."
"..."
The two squared up, waiting for the order to jolt into battle.
"Begin."
With a burst, the two clashed Aramki's right hook, grazing his cheek as Ramos responded with a gut punch.
"Oof–" Aramaki, gasped, he felt all the oxygen in his lungs escape. Gritting his teeth, he countered with an elbow to Ramos' exposed back, digging the sharp bone into the boy's spine.
"Ughh –You bastard." Ramos groaned, stomping his feet into the ground and ignoring the spiking pain. He twisted around and sent a roundhouse kick to the dirty fighter.
WOOSH!
The attack missed his target at the last second, a testament to Aramaki's skills. The two continued their fight, blows countered in succession as they were evenly matched.
"This guy is actually giving Aramaki a fight!" A recruit yelled in awe.
"His fighting style is so unpolished, but he can easily deflect all of Aramaki's strikes." Sonya analysed the duel with more interest than any other fight.
"He really is Garp's student." Gion chuckled, her voice tinged with excitement.
Doll and Hina remained silent, observing the fight for the deciding blow.
Instructor Ford was transfixed by the display of his two students. The fight was more impressive than any drunk brawling or Seaman class he had seen.
"These boys are monsters..."
Back to the clash, the two moved in blurs of fist and kicks, each missed blow only made them more precise in the next, the groans of landed blows sounded more like excitement as being tested than pain of injury.
Aramaki pulled his fist back in, gathering for a final blow.
"This is it!"
Ramos mimicked his move with his own fist, gums bleeding from constant grinding.
"Get ready!"
Their fist reached the others' face in thrilling suspense.
BOOM!
Their heads whipped back at the contact, bodies falling to the ground.
Aramaki was the first to fall,eyes rolled to the back of his as his nose bled down his chin.
Ramos was on his way to meeting the ground, but halfway, his body pulled back up in a jolting motion,fist planted to the ground despite their shaking, and his eyes rolled back to focus.
"Impossible–" Instructor Ford gasped. "H-how is he still standing?"
Ramos was indeed not conscious, but his body refused to fall. His will forged from his training was finally blooming.
"To think this brat has the Will of a king...truly terrifying. " Garp chuckled.