Final trial

Pirate age 1502

Over the course of the next year former Admiral Zephyr trained the Marine recruits in the arts of basic combat and survival tactics, as well as procedural skills.

In just that short year many of the Marine recruits made strides in their training. Having two teammates with the skill and guts to push them harder, only made it that much more important for all of them to work hard and push themselves beyond their, otherwise believed, limits.

And now finally came the hard part. The one which every single Marine recruit dreads the most. Now came time for the final test. Putting all those skills you've acquired over the course of the year to use.

The Marine recruits will be sent to Marineford, there they will receive a task. And based on how they perform on that task will decide whether or not they are allowed to go on to graduate as full time Marine soldiers.

The task has been known to change quite a few times throughout the years, but recently there has been one task that has been consistent with the final test.

But Markus didn't care much about it. After being stuck on this island for a whole year doing nothing but the same thing every day, he was finally excited to be able to stretch his legs once again and he looked forward to returning home.

On the morning of the day that the Marines were to be sent out, Zephyr called them early in the morning to give his last great speech to his recruits before saying good bye to them for perhaps the last time.

" Good morning, recruits! I've never been one for long winded speeches, with touching sentiment or care, but I have to say... I'm proud of each and every single one of you. You all, when faced with harsh adversity, took it upon yourselves to listen and be open minded, even when you were getting beaten down by the physical training and being mentally tortured, you survived. You more than survived, you thrived! And now it's your time to prove it to fleet admiral Kong. Once you get to Marineford, you'll be given a task. Now, I'm going to be honest with you, it won't be easy and some of you may not make it through the test. Failure is always a possibility. But do not worry, because I know none of you will fail. Remember when you walk forward from now on, you walk with the Justice of the Marines on your back. None of you should betray it!"

" YES, SIR!"

With their goodbyes said, the recruits boarded the ship heading towards Marineford, to face their final challenge.

Gion, Markus, and Brago stood on the bow of the navy ship they were sailing on.

Gion and Brago were talking about the final challenge together, but when they tried getting Markus in on the conversation, they noticed the man wasn't paying attention.

" Yo, Markus. Yo, you in there man?" Brago asked the man. He snapped his fingers in front of Markus' face three times before the man finally looked over at him.

" Hm? Oh, what's up?" Markus asked the man.

" We were just talking about the final exam. But you completely ignored us." Gion muttered.

" Oh, sorry." Markus told the woman, nervously. " I was thinking about something else."

Brago smirked and shook his head. While Gion was curious on what was on the man's mind other than a test... 'Oh yeah.' She thought to herself.

" Well, what's on your mind?"

" Well, it's just what Zephyr-Sensei said earlier. About fleet Admiral Kong deciding our fates."

" Yeah what about it?" Gion asked.

" Well, I just thought... That Sengoku was the fleet admiral now." Markus told the woman.

" Well, on paper he is. Sengoku is currently in the transitioning process of learning the full duties of being the Fleet Admiral, and Kong-San still has to finish his service term. Which realistically, is another few years. So, he still has some time left in office before Sengoku-San takes over, unless of course someone else's name is put forward, in which case the final decision will be decided by the chief of staff." Gion explained to the man.

" I see. I've been around the marines for a long time, but this is the first time, I've actually seen someone move up to the Fleet Admiral position. It sounds like quite the hefty amount of work." Markus spoke.

" Yes. It is a very serious operation that must be done with care. After all, not just everyone can become Fleet Admiral." Gion stated.

" You're right about that, I guess. Still though, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. Never thought the old man would want to take such a promotion like that. He always hated doing work. But I guess out of all the candidates, he would make the best choice."

" You don't think, Garp-San would be a better choice?"

" Nah, my old man is many things, but not a Fleet Admiral candidate. Not by a long shot. He can't even do his own work now. No way is he going to add on top of that all the work that comes with the fleet admiral position. Yahahahahahaha!"

Markus' laugh split the ear drums of the nearby sailors.

" What is wrong with that, kid?"

" Ignore him."

Gion poked Markus on the chest and pointed to the rest of the ship. " Uh, they're staring."

" Let'em! Yahahahahahaha!"

.........

A day later.

After a long trip to the main Markus, Gion, Brago, and all of the other recruits reached the great island Marineford.

After having been stuck on that secluded island for a year, Markus had to admit it was breathtaking seeing the city once again. Markus was thrilled that he was finally approaching his goal of sailing the seas and fighting strong opponents.

Sparing with his fellow recruits and his family was one thing, but he hardly ever had a chance to truly flex his skills in combat against a foe that forced him to go all out completely.

But he didn't have time to think about that just yet, because as soon as the Marine recruits finished exiting the ship, they were immediately met by, the still Fleet Admiral, Kong.

Kong was a no-nonsense kind of man, and he hated beating around the bush and wasting time. So, jumping straight to the point was just right in his lane.

" Welcome, Recruits. Welcome. As you are all aware, you are not Marine's. Not just yet. There is still one final test you must all finish appropriately before being able to call yourselves Marines. So, let's get to business. The rules are simple, survive for one month on the sea. During this one month you will be assigned to one of the many ranking officers throughout the world. Some of you may get lucky and be assigned to the east blue, where the chances of running into danger are low, some of you may be unfortunate enough to end up in the New World, do your best to survive." Kong told the recruits.

He then began handing assignments to the many Marine recruits and watched as they all boarded their respective ships to venture out to their new posts, where they would be stationed until they returned either dead or alive. In all honesty, it was a simple test that none should fail at all. Pay attention and follow the orders of your superior officers and you'll most definitely pass.

The only problem, Markus had was that he, along with a select few others, hadn't been assigned a rank or given his orders.

It wasn't until Kong returned and spoke to them directly, that Markus learned what his task would be.

" Now then, Zephyr spoke truly highly of all of you. As such, we believe you all will be the future pillars of the Marines. The next generation of heroes. I'm sure you've noticed how, I already handed out tasks to your comrades, but not you. You all will have a special task. Designed to see where you stand. Zephyr has spoken remarkably of all of you and compared your strengths to that of the highest caliber of marines. Your task is also very simple. You will all be taken to the first half of the grand line, given a small ship, and from there you have to survive for one month. Alone. That means you will get no help from the Marines around you, nor from your comrades now. Your ability to navigate and survive on your own, as well as your ability to hunt pirates will not only decide whether or not you pass or fail, but where you'll be ranked when you return. I'm sure Zephyr has already told you, how the system works, but just to remind you, the higher the bounty of the pirates you bring in, the higher your accolades, and the higher your accolades the more chances you'll have to be promoted.

Think of it as a Merit system. A pirate crew worth one million berries will naturally be worth a single merit point. A pirate crew worth ten will be worth ten merit points. A single pirate worth ten million will also be worth ten merit points. This trend continues, until we reach the one hundred million mark. For those worth that much, we have a different system of measuring based on the individual. But you won't have to worry about any of that just yet, or at the very least, I hope not. But who knows. Anything can happen on the sea, and if you're not careful it'll swallow you up. So, don't be swallowed up! Go out there and show the world what you're made of!"

Markus and Brago were naturally excited for this opportunity. Gion and the others, however, did not find so much joy in their test. How were they expected to take out entire pirate crews alone?

" Oh, well. no use complaining about it I guess." Gion muttered.

" Yeah. That's the spirit, Gion. You'll do just fine!" Markus told the woman. : When do we start?!" Markus shouted.

" RIGHT NOW!"

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