First Day and Rokushiki

(Kairo's POV)

Getting a good night's rest is difficult when your neighbors are f*cking monkeys.

I tried my best to sleep. Believe me, I did.

But sleep wasn't meant to be for me.

My neighbors, who I will call monke #1 and monke #2, definitely live up to their namesake.

I heard them shouting 'WE GOT INTO THE ELITE CAMP!!! WOOOHOOOO', when I was having a GREAT dream. I thought that this would be the end of it, and so I attempted to go back to sleep.

It sure as hell didn't work.

They partied all night, laughing and drinking - which is not a bad thing, but why would you do it when the next day is the start of the training camp?!

Anyways, because of all the noises and disturbances, I couldn't sleep all night, only getting 1 hour of sleep after the monkes were knocked out.

I was visibly tired as I walked haggardly to the camp, but surprisingly, I wasn't the only one that looked sleep-deprived.

The recruits also looked sleep-deprived, probably because of their nervousness and excitement rather than because of their neighbors, to which I envy them.

If my quarters were to stay the same for the rest of my stay in the training camp, I'd rather sleep outside on the ground, or even sleep in the bathroom - anything is better than living with these monkeys as your neighbors.

When I arrived at the location, I saw instructor Zephyr, Jeff, and Dave.

Zephyr greeted us, and announced the list of people who would be in the recruits camp, and led us to a separate area on Marineford.

"This is the training site for the Elite recruits, you might see other people training, they are your seniors."

Most of us didn't bother to listen to him and instead looked around the site, intrigued by the desolate environment, and touching any equipment they see.

"You will be assigned to a barrack depending on your overall ranking of the tests. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place will get a single room that is in much better condition than the others, and they will also be exempt from cleaning the training ground. If you don't want that, work hard to challenge them."

When I heard about the top 3 getting single rooms, I almost cried in relief. I didn't want to share a barrack with anyone else, and I don't want loud neighbors who won't let me sleep. (refer back to the monke duo)

"Let's start training right away. Those with an interest in weapons can go to the weapon training site, while those interested in conditioning themselves physically can stay here with me. If you have an interest in Marine martial arts, stay here with me, I'll teach you after I finish training the others."

The majority of the new recruits including #30 left for the weapon training site, Zephyr saw this and frowned, then he looked at the recruits who were left.

The majority of the recruits who wanted physical conditioning were the ones who barely made it into the Elite camp, so they would want to catch up with the others.

(Zephyr's POV)

'That's a disappointment. Most of the recruits left for weapon training, even if their bodies weren't developed enough to use weapons to their fullest potential.'

I looked at the recruits who stayed for physical conditioning and noted that many of them barely made it into the Elite camp. Then, I saw Dragon and Kairo.

I understood why Dragon stayed with me, he was probably trained by Garp to become a fighter or a martial artist, but I did not understand why Kairo stayed.

Kairo had a lot of potentials. I knew it the moment when he surpassed Dragon in the 5 km race and Doriki value test. I was curious about his background, so I looked into it and saw that he was raised in an orphanage after Tsuru found him drifting at sea alone.

It did not make any sense to me. How could an orphan, someone who was raised by a civilian, be stronger than the child who was raised by Garp?

I dug more into his past and found something intriguing - his medical records.

His caretaker stated that he often trained himself to the brink of exhaustion, and he even passed out a few times. When asked why, he said, "I want to become a hero that someone can rely on, just like Vice Admiral Garp!"

I was impressed at how much he idolized Garp, which could be the reason why he stayed with me, probably to become a fist fighter like Garp.

I snapped out of my thoughts as I said, "Start by doing 300 push-ups, then when you're done, run 10 km. Repeat that 5 times."

(Kairo's POV)

After instructor Zephyr gave his instructions, we started on our exercise. I finished the 300 push-ups and the 10 km run quickly, but now I have to repeat it 5 more times.

I finished, then Dragon shortly finished after me as well. We glanced at each other and waited for the other recruits to finish.

After they were done, they showed signs of minor exhaustion, but it seemed that this was only a warm-up.

"Now, do 1000 push-ups, 1000 sit-ups, and run 50 km. When you are done, repeat this until you can't anymore."

The look the other recruits had on their face was priceless, probably because they had to repeat the same thing until they cannot do it anymore.

I and Dragon did the exercises with minimal difficulties, but most of the recruits dropped after their 8th repetition, with only a few making it to their 10th before dropping.

Zephyr ordered them to clean up and return to their barrack for a break, and after they left, it was only me and Dragon who was interested in Martial Arts.

"The martial art that I'm about to teach you is called the Rokushiki. The Rokushiki, as its name suggest, has six different techniques: Geppo, Tekkai, Rankyaku, Soru, Shigan, and Kami-e.

Geppo allows the user to jump on the air, effectively allowing mid-air flight.

Tekkai hardens the user's muscles to the level of iron, allowing the user to achieve superhuman defense. You cannot move during Tekkai, and strong enough attacks can break it.

Rankyaku is a technique that allows the user to create air blades with kicks.

Soru is a technique that allows the user to reach superhuman speed.

Shigan allows the user to use their finger as weapons.

Lastly, Kami-e turns the user extremely flexible to dodge attacks.

I will teach you how to use the techniques, but to practice, it is up to you."

'YES, FINALLY! I will be able to run on-air, kick out air blades, and teleport around!'

I definitely had an excited look as instructor Zephyr explained the six techniques of the Rokushiki, Zephyr noticed it and chuckled, "Well it seems that you are excited to start, so let's begin with Geppo."

...

I got started in training Geppo by jumping.

Yes, jumping.

According to instructor Zephyr, you must 'keep jumping in a walking motion until you can feel the air itself, then walk on it.'

You heard me right.

I didn't think that it would be this simple to learn Geppo.

I asked instructor Zephyr if this is really the way to learn Geppo, by just jumping constantly until you're able to feel the air, to which he bluntly replied, "Yes."

I was skeptical, but I got started on it.

I kept on repeating the same action, 'jumping in a walking motion' until I was able to feel the air.

I must've looked ridiculous to anyone watching, thank God it was only me, Zephyr, and Dragon.

Eventually, after repeating this action for 3 weeks, I was able to feel it.

I was able to feel a small gust beneath my feet.