"GET YOUR ASSES OUT OF BED RIGHT TF NOW, OR YOU WILL BE OUT OF HERE BEFORE YOU CAN EVEN START BEGGING!!!" was the Marines' chief trainer's call when Alex woke up the following morning.
Alex was surprised, but he got out a bit faster than even Garp, Sengoku, and Zephyr. They dressed in their recruit uniform and ran like hell to the training grounds, being the first ones to be there.
As minutes turned into tens of minutes, Garp was the first one to break the silence: "So, are we like the only ones to be here? Meh, I'm Garp. What about you all?"
"I am Sengoku; a pleasure to work alongside you," came the measured response from a tall young man with an afro.
"Hey, I am Alex. I'll be in your care."
"The name's Zephyr. Call me Z, if you want, and don't get in the way."
Zephyr was of a similar height to all of us, his head tipped off with his purplish hair and his body already pretty well-trained. Garp, like Z, was very muscular and exuded great physical prowess. He had a scar near his left eye, and his hair was a nice shade of black, unlike the version in the canon, where Garp is an old man past his prime.
The silence was broken by the chatter and steps of many people coming towards the grounds they were at; the others, it seems, had come too.
It was a large group of people, and they all looked rather sleepy yet scared.
Alex's inner musings were cut short when two people approached them; one of them appeared to be a recruit like them, judging by the way she carried herself, which was nearly identical to the newcomers: tired and lazy. Her stance screamed that she had almost none of the experience that their instructor had had.
The instructor was bald and muscular; his body was riddled with scars of various shapes and sizes, or at least the visible part, since his body was clothed in the traditional Marine uniform. "Yo, recruits! The name is Hakuji. From today onwards, this is going to be your personal hell, unless you're into pain or something. Anyways, here you will learn all the basics, Haki and Rokushiki, and gain the knowledge necessary to navigate the seas and all that jazz. If you don't want to train until you sweat blood, you can fuck off right now. We raise Marines and not bitches!"
The intro was quick, to the point, and filled with passion, a true anime speech. If Alex had to compare it to something, it'd be that.
Alex asked the question that would begin the years of hell known as training.
"Mr. Hakuji, when do we start?"
Hakuji flashed behind him, and Alex felt a sixth sense of foreboding in his mind as he evaded a strike aimed at his midsection, making the man grin. "Now."
The training was hard and brutal, but the quartet of Alex, Garp, Sengoku, and Zephyr enjoyed it because it wasn't too difficult.
To start things off, they were tested on their physicals, intellect, and Devil Fruit. Yes? No?
Alex was a well-rounded person with outstanding intellect and body, and no Devil Fruit yet.
Surprisingly, Garp, Sengoku, and Z were also in the same boat—no Fruit and yet monsters in their own right.
After the assessments, Hakuji's voice boomed through the grounds once again: "Good, you're not just some weaklings; you actually have a speck of a chance to survive this hell. I will now tell you in detail what will be taught and where."
He procured a whiteboard from somewhere and used his sheathed sword as a pointer.
"We have six zones:
The Zone of the Iron Body will be the training ground strictly dedicated to training the skill Tekkai in the form of extensive physical training, defense, durability drills, and impact resistance; it will be designated with a metal gate.
The Soru Zone, just like the Tekkai Zone, will be where you will learn the Soru technique. With a heavy focus on footwork, speed, and rapid maneuvering, this zone will be designated with a moving stickman.
The Geppo Zone will have similar focuses to the Soru Zone; due to the move's similarity compared to Soru, this one will focus on aerial mobility, vertical agility, and control, designated with a stickman moving upward.
The fourth zone will be the Shigan zone; here, you will be learning precision striking, body control, and one-hit lethality. This zone is designated as a hand in the finger-gun position.
Zone five will be the Kami-e zone; this zone will focus on evasion, fluidity of movement, and flexibility training. The sign for this one is a piece of paper.
The last zone is the Rankyaku zone, where you will learn about long-range cutting techniques, leg strength, and range control. The symbol for this one is a whirlwind blade."
"At the end of your stay here, you will be tested on each one. The minimum number of mastered techniques with a pass required to pass this stage of training is 4. If you don't master four moves, you're out."
Garp, very excited and giddy to begin in earnest, shouted, "Ay, Teach, let's start already-ouch."
Garp was cut off as Hakuji appeared beside him and whacked him atop his head with the sheath of his sword.
"Patience, squirt."
"Anyways, what are you waiting for?! Get to training, time's wastin'!"
AN: Tell me whether you liked this or not. If I managed to please you with my writing, consider dropping some stones and leaving some kind reviews. Thanks, and till the next one, Author out.