chapter 7

after the conversation he had with the commander he went back to the kitchen and prepared a feast as he was happy with his promotion, as not only did it bring him a sense of achievement but is also a proof that he is moving towards his goal, he made it in two short years where he could never imagine himself previously, in body and mind, he changed ... for the better

(A.N: from now on i will use three dots for a short pause so if you see ... it means short pause, and if there are more it means a longer pause)

the day passed like that without any problems and it is now the afternoon sparring sessions

"Today, we will hold the promotion assessment for chore boy Arowen, he has proven in his time of service to be worthy of the first-class seaman rank, now who wishes to be his opponent" the commander made an announcement after the sparring session began, and Arowen was standing in the arena waiting for his opponent, but few wanted to get on stage but they remembered how strong he is and didn't, in fact, few of the first-class seaman could fight him as he could already fight some weaker petty officers

I know that I mentioned his strength but these are sailors they dare brave the dangerous seas of the one-piece world so they don't lack when it comes to courage, they wouldn't be afraid just because the opponent is a little stronger than they are, the main reason why they avoided fighting him, is that the young man was really vicious with his strikes, there is nothing in the fighting dirty book he doesn't use,

when he came to this world he was the weakest and had little to no knowledge of proper fighting techniques, so he resolved himself to do whatever it takes to climb to the top, within reason of course(no sucking dick for me he said), and in his first sparring session when he wasn't collapsed from exhaustion, he was bullied a lot and that continued for a week until his inner demon just couldn't take it anymore

*Flash Back*

'if I am to go down I will at least bring someone back with me!!' Arowen thought as he gritted his teeth

*Flash Back End*

so he started using anything he could to win a fight, hit to the groin, the eyes, the throat, even pinching nipples and biting he stopped at nothing, he threw sand into the eyes of his opponent, and he got better at his underhanded tactics until he grew stronger and could finally win without resorting to those means but by that time the habit was already ingrained deep within him and didn't bother to change it, so in every sparring session the ones who didn't confront him would celebrate in their heart and sneer at his opponents for their misfortune and his name changed once more from trainer demon heavenly cook to trainer devil heavenly cook

the crowd was quiet, but one person moved to confront Arowen this time, and it wasn't a nobody, it was the strongest of the first-class seaman, his name was jack, and he used a hammer as his weapon of choice, he was a hulk of a man 3 meters tall big upper body and small lower body, true t the body standards of the one-piece world, which is just plain weird for a normal person point of view

"I ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE!" he said loudly wielding his big hammer and standing there with his strange body structure, but Arowen was kind of used to it by now, there were just too many strange people in this world, like the long-armed, long nose(usop for example), and some other weird structured people

"I will get you this time, punk, you won't get lucky this time around, your shameless tactics will not work on me this time" he said as he raped his crotch area and a metallic sound was heard, last time he fought Arowen he was defeated with one hit, and as you can already guess, as Arowen saw his weird body structure and his huge body he had an idea, so as the fight started he run towards him, and as jack saw him he guarded his body but forgot to protect his lower body as most of the time people would attack his upper body but was surprised by a kick in the ball that K.Oed on the spot, so he thought he came prepared this time

Arowen just glanced at him and smiled in a friendly way, but to his opponent, he couldn't help but feel cold, he had a bad feeling and couldn't help but want to get back into the crowd, but he already committed to the deed and the superiors approved, if chickened out now he would lose his standing, and fall from their eyes; not that he was worthy of attention in the first place heheh but let them dream, right!?

"the assessment begins NOW!" commander tusel said and both the combatants got ready their guard up, jack had his hammer up protecting him and Arowen unsheathed his standard issued saber, though he was not comfortable with he had to put up with it and use it for time being before he buys himself a broad or long sword

both of them were looking at each other waiting for the other to move, normally jack was the always the first to make a move, but this time, the previous defeat discouraged him and he was cautious, as for Arowen, he already had a plan ready and seeing his opponent not moving he chose to make the first move so he started approaching him slowly in a circular way and when he was two meters away from jack he suddenly dashed towards him and slashed with his saber vertically, jack seeing the blow approaching decided to parry him, he is already bigger, had more strength and a heavier weapon but unfortunately for him, that was a feint and the saber had no power behind it, it only looked imposing, and while jack's guard was down Arowen performed a powerful kick taking advantage of the momentum he built in his dash, jack didn't know what hit him but felt pain in his left calve, he almost collapsed

'seems I was right, legs are weak' Arowen had this plan in the last encounter but couldn't implement it as jack lost consciousness in their last encounter, but now he could verify his theory, it seemed to him that jacks race had sacrificed the normal humans balanced build for a stronger upper body and in the process, they lost the strength on their lower body, and as a result, making them susceptible to attacks to their legs so he wanted to try it if it was right or wrong didn't matter damage will be dealt anyway be it small or big

Jack braced through the pain and held on putting more weight on his right foot, and so Arowen started hit and run tactics with him wearing him down slowly, and when he found the opportunity he would kick in his left calve, jack tried to attack many times but he couldn't put weight on his left leg and the power and speed of his blows went down by half, the rest of the match was predictable so commander tusel put an end to it as there was no need to seriously injure jack, the way it is going and judging by the swelling on his calve that was visible through his clothes he may lose his leg, so to preserve a good soldier he had to take action

"THE MATCH IS OVER! AROWEN PASSED, you can take your new uniform and badge from the storage"

"I CAN STILL FIGHT COMMANDER" jack tried to argue but quickly was shot down by commander tusel

"stand down marine, this is an order"

Jack couldn't believe he lost once more, he knew he would lose as soon as the first kick hit him, and it hit him hard, he felt it in his bones, but his pride clouded his judgment and he didn't want to admit it, he believed that Arowen won the first time only thanks to his underhanded tricks, but now the reality hit him hard, he lost, and badly at that like the first time, and so the first stepping stone to Arowen was taken down and there will be more to come