Jayr POV - Blue Star, East Blue, Polestar Isnd - 20 GAP

  It's early m, and Koby and I are heading back to the Loguetown Marine Base so that Koby join in their m training as we agreed with Smoker yesterday.

  The reasons why I choose to let Koby train with the Marines are quite simple, for one, I just wao show Koby how the Marines usually train, but the most important reason is to make him spar against different kinds of people, the swordsman, and swordswomen like Tashigi, those expert in firearms, or those that use their Devil Fruits.

  Because right now, Koby's fighting experience is seriously g, he only fought with Kuro, who by the way didn't use his favorite on so was a lot less lethal than usual, some weak-ass pirates that were practically on par with sandbags whose only redeeming quality was their number advantage, and of course, me, but while I'm able to use all kinds of ons to various degree of success thanks to my training as Saint, I focus mostly on unharmed bat, and that is what I use when I teach him.

  While walking through the quiet and peaceful streets of Loguetown as we head toward the Marine Base, I 't help but think back at yesterday, mostly about our time after the meeting with Smoker and the handout of Kuro.

  We reunited with the girls, and then, we tio explore this city while pying around, doing some more shopping, and visiting historiportant locations, basically what is usually done during a normal family outing.

  We ced upon the Ger Bar a bar operated by Raoul, an old man wearing a white, red-hemmed shirt, a gold neckd earrings, a purple hat, and small bck gsses

  It was formerly one of Loguetown's most popur drinking spots for pirates and famously served Gol D. Roger the night before he set sail for the Grand Line. The owner, Raul, awed by Roger's presend eventual reputation, rehe bar after him.

  But after Roger's execution and the Marines' dominance of Loguetown, the bar's business slowed to the point where Smoker appears to be its only regur patron, marking eaniversary of the execution with a drink, at least, that is what I remember about that pce from the anime.

  Talking aber's execution, we also visited the Execution Ptform, a scaffolded tower in the ter of the town, on which Gol D. Roger, the legendary Pirate King, was executed.

  After the execution, the Wover maintai as a tourist site for twenty years, attrag tless visitors.

  Anyway, yesterday was a mostly fun and rexing day, I eve Koby enjoy himself by giving him a day off from training, if you ighe weighted clothes that he is always wearing, and the fact that he still trained wheuro the Athena's God Bidoof.

  Of course, wheuro the Athena's God Bidoof, the girls, minus Nikita obviously, showed me their full appreciation and happiness for the wonderful day we passed together and so after putting the kids to sleep, we had some very adult fun for the whole night, much to the joy of Bidi that ehe whole show.

  While reminisg yesterday's events with a tent smile on my face, we finally arrive in front of the Loguetown Marine Base, where we see Tashigi already standing in front of the gate waiting for us.

  We greet her and quickly she leads us to the training area, a big open field behind the main building, where the marines of this base are stantly flowing in as the time for their m trainis close, and of course, the more the time to start gets closer the more nervous Koby bees, and it doesn't help the fact that everyone is staring at us for the obvious reason that we aren't part of the Marine.

  Anyway, the time quickly passes as the marines in the field start to warm up and prepare for what is ing, and soon, Smoker ehe field, stops between me and Tashigi and yells, "Listen up, everyone! As I'm sure you all have already noticed we have a few guests today. One of them is an acquaintance of Vice Admiral Garp, the other is his pupil whose aim is to bee a Marine and fight for justice like us all. He will join us in our training and also take part in today's sparring matches. Do not hold back! Show him the level of strength and willpower required to be part of the proud Marines!"

  Then without waiting for them to digest the news, Smoker yells, "Now, start doing your warm-up ps! Go! Go! Go!"

  Quickly all the marines on the field start to run, and Koby joins them without aation, leaving behind only me, Smoker, Tashigi, and a few high-rank officers who focus on keeping the rest of the sailors in line and ehat they won't skim over their training.

  As I watch them run, I suddenly hear Smoker expin, "The ones currently training on the field are the Chore Boys, the Seamen Recruits, the Seamen Apprentices, and the Seamen First Css. Meanwhile, those ranked Petty Officer and above train on their own ether with their superiors if they are uheir mentorship, and they also have to supervise the training of those of lower rank. At the least, it is dohis way in the 4 seas."

  After that, Smoker pulls out both his cigars as out some puff of smoke in the shape of a marine vessel and adds, "Meanwhile, in bases located in the Grand Lihings are slightly different as usually those of the rank of Seamen First Css and under are all trained uhe care of professional instructors, and after that, the situation varies depending on the individual differences, some are instantly sent on the field to gain experience, some gain reition from a issioned Marine Officer and start to train uhem, some others are relegated to one of the 4 Seas to slowly move their the ranks, and the most talehose with the most potential, join the Elitè Training Camp in the Marine Headquarters, at the end of which they are able to instantly raise to the rank of a issioned Marine Officer, which mostly depends on one own abilities."

  After that, Smoker once again puts both cigars in his mouth and says, "In addition, you have to know that Officers present at Marine Headquarters are sidered the elite forces of the Marines, about three ranks higher in terms of power than those of the same rank at other bases. Simply put, a Chore Boy from the Marine Headquarters is as strong as a Seamen First Css found everywhere else."

  Hearing that, I nod in uanding, then after a few seds, I ask about something that always fused me, "Captain Smoker, you please expin to me how exactly are the Marine Ranks divided? I know that Fleet Admiral, Admiral, and Vice Admiral are at the top, but the rest still fuses me."

  Smoker nods and without aation, he orders, "Tashigi! Expin to him about our ranks." delegating the annoying chore to his subordinate like any superior officer always did.

  Then he focuses ba his men's training, at the same time, I notice that they stopped their warm-up, and started their true workout program, which starts with a slow, long-distance run of about 18 km.

  Meanwhile, Tashigi excims in surprise, "Y-Yes, Sir." before she starts to expin, "First, you have to know that the Marine Ranks are divided into two clear divisions, the first is the issioned Marine Officers, which is made up of 11 ranks a the top of the of and, then there is the Infantry and Sailor Division, made of the 8 ranks at the bottom."

  Up to this point, everything is pretty clear and straightforward, then Tashigi starts to list them, "Now, starting from the bottom there is the "Chore Boy", it is the eenth highest, or more specifically, the lowest rank, in the Marines. Chore boys have no official uniform besides a white Marine shirt without decoration and blue Marirousers."

  Tashigi then points at the men slowly running on the field and says, "Following that there are the "Seaman Recruit", the "Seaman Apprentice", and the "Seaman First Css", the differeween these ranks is minimal, and only based on aplishments and experiehey all must wear the standard uniform, sisting of a white, short-sleeved shirt embzoned with the Marine emblem, a simplified gull with the word "MARINE" underh it, on the back, a blue neckerchief, dark blue trousers, and a cap also with the word "MARINE" across the front."

  Then Tashigi indicates a man nearby who is yelling at the Seamen, he is wearing a uniform very simir to all the others, only he also has a pair of sungsses and a fisherman hat, and says, "The rank is "Petty Officer", on officer has reached the rank of Petty Officer, he or she choose from a number of different uniforms, including his or her personal clothes. Only those who really want to appear "sailor-like" will stay with a more traditional uniform."

  Tashigi then tinues with her expnation, "The ranks are the "Chief Petty Officer" like I, the "Master Chief Petty Officer", and "Warrant Officer", which are the highest ranks of the Infantry and Sailor Division."

  Without any iion of stopping, Tashigi tinues with the info dump as I start tret asking this question but think is too rude to stop her after having asked such a question, "After the rank of "Warrant Officer", es the lowest rank of the issioned Marine Officers, the "Ensign" rank. Sailors at the rank of Ensign and above are allowed to wear the coat with "Justice" on the back. This coat tends to be worn like a cape, draped over the shoulders with the arms, not in the sleeves. It should be hat the sleeves of these coats are often much lohan the wearers' arms."

  I start to drone off a little as Tashigi briefly expins the ranks which are "Lieutenant Junirade", "Lieutenant", "Lieutenant ander", and "ander".

  At the same time, I focus ba the sailors, plus Koby, as they just fiheir slow, long-distance run, and are now heading toward the harbor to start a 4 km long-distance swim, without giving them any ce to rest.

  Meanwhile, Tashigi tinues with her lesson, "The rank is that of "Captain", it is the sixth highest rank in the Marines. One of the duties that a Marine Captain could have is to be the ander of one of the several Marine branches established on the isnds around the world. In addition, a captain is often seen navigating the seas in order to capture pirates and keep order, in these cases, the captain is the leader of the ship, as long as there are no higher-ranking Marines on board. A Marine captain is sidered a strong Marine officer whose experiend battle performance are forces to be reed with. Most Marine Captains are either powerful fighters with Devil Fruit powers, h bat skills, or even siderable tactical knowledge."

  Thealks about the "odore" rank which is the fifth highest rank in the Marines.

  The odores have and over any marines of lower rank and are tasked with authoritative matters too important for a marine of captain rank to handle. odores assigo Headquarters are given duties or responsibilities of equal importao their higher-ranked superiors.

  After the odores she told me about the "Rear Admiral" which is the fourth highest rank in the Marines.

  And she tells me that as the lowest of the Admiral ranks, they have the least amount of authority, yet they still have full and over any and all lower-ranking marines.

  Despite being the lowest admiral rank, they are still known for being powerful fighters, and in some rare cases, rear admirals of high enough caliber aatiiven additional responsibility and authority, in the case of the rear admirals assigned directly to marine headquarters.

  The ohat Tashigi expins is the "Vice Admiral" rank which is the third highest rank in the Marines.

  She says that these officers have varying duties and amounts of authority but they all are a force to be reed with, especially if one siders the fact that a Buster Call is usually led by 5 of them.

  She also tells me how to easily reize them as the general attire of a Vice Admiral is that of a Marine coat with epaulets and a suit and tie worn underh.

  But I remember that while most vice admirals wear the standard blue epaulets, Garp wears a bd red one, while Tsuru wears a purple and gold one, maybe the reason behind that is that their status is higher than those of the other Vice Admirals.

  I also know that the Vice Admirals are the Marine's stro bat force outside of the admirals, and it would seem that most of them are swordsmen and several have been shown using Rokushiki.

  Another important attribute that is ong vice admirals is that they all know and use at least oype of Haki.

  Thealks about the, most famous and reizable rank, that of "Admiral" which is the sed highest rank in the Marines.

  There are only three Marines who hold this title at any given time, and they are ed as the Wover's "Greatest Military Power", as each of them possesses deadly bat abilities.

  They are the only Marines, along with the fleet admiral, able to issue a Buster Call on any isnd they deem a threat.

  A Marine Admiral will wear a Justice coat with golden epaulettes and cuffs corresponding to the color of their alias in addition, the attire of the admiral will often match the color of their alias.

  And of course, the st rank is that of"Fleet Admiral" which is the highest Marine rank, and is the ander of the entire anization.

  It is just above the Admiral but below the Wover ander-in-Chief and the Five Elders.

  The fleet admiral and the three admirals are the only ones within the Marines capable of legally initiating a Buster Call, as well as granting Wover agents or lower-ranking Marihe right to do so.

  The same also applies to the revocation of a Warlord of the Sea title.

  The preferred attire of the Fleet Admiral seems to be a white suit, though heavily stylized acc to the person while the coat possesses pure gold epaulettes and white cuffs.

  After a few miashigi finally expined in clear detail all 18 Marine Ranks, and meanwhile, the sailors and Koby are ba the field and are now going through a set of push-ups, pull-ups, and sit-ups.

  As I thank Tashigi for her info dum- expnation, I also focus on the sailors' state and notice that even if overall the exercises they are doing are pretty basic, they are done in such a way, that challehe sailors both mentally and physically, requiring them to be able to push through their barriers of what they think is painful.

  Seeing that, I nod and realize, 'Basically they are building a strong foundation for them both mentally and physically, so that if they push through all their adversities, have enough talent, drive, and luck, they safely start to learn the Rokushiki, and ter on even Haki itself... As expected of a World Power like the Marihey fully standardized a way to create powerhouses.'

  While thinking that, Smoker once again stands beside me and asks, "So, what do you think of the Mariraining regime?"

  I tio look at all the sailors as they gh their training and without ming my words, I say, "It's not bad... It is clear that it has gohrough tless revisions to make it as effective, safe, and standardized as possible so that it allows even the most talentless people to rise to a useful state in ae time frame. But at the same time, it also has a quite low ceiling making it pletely useless once a person reaches a certain level of power. In other words, it is good enough to build a strong foundation, but nowhere as good in going beyond that, and the perfect example of that is that ohese men enter a stronger pirate with a bounty or their equivalents, they start to sharply fall behind a easily overwhelmed."

  Hearing that, Smoker let out a grunt, then he agreed, "I don't like to admit it, but it is a sad truth. The pirates are individually strohan the marines in a one-on-one, most of the marines would lose against most of the pirates. But luckily this world doesn't work in such clear-cut ways."

  I also agree with him and add, "That's right, the Marines have their own advantages as well, you have plenty of support, resources, access to powerful Devil Fruits, and teology thanks to the support of the Woverhat back you up, and you guys have a pin and simple number advantage. But the most important advahat you guys have is that the Marines are uhere may be individual differences and policies between Marines, but their overall objective is the same protect the people and fight for justice, meanwhile, the pirates are fragmented in much smaller groups all with different ambitions and objectives, and many times these even cshes with those of other pirates making them fight oher."

  Smoker nods, then he says, "Indeed, while some flicts are something on eveween the higher-ups, we are still all united against a on enemy and most are able to work together even with people they don't get along with... Hmm?"

  But then Smoker stops as he starts to stare at a particur person among the sailors, I follow his gaze and notice that he is looking at a lean and fit young boy with kobi pink hair and a round frame as he tio follow through all the exercises without showing any kind of fatigue or strain, of course, that young boy is Koby, who feels quite at ease going through these exercises as they are equal to our usual warm-ups.

  After a few seds, Smoker ents impressed, "Oh... not bad. That boy is easily able to keep up with my men, in fact, he is doing eveer than them as it seems that he isn't under any strain. His physical aal capacity is nothing to scoff at especially sidering his young age."

  Hearing Smoker's pliment, I 't help but proudly ent, "Hehehe. Of course, I carefully trained him, slowly and surely transf his body through stant training aimed at breaking his limits and even going a little bit beyond that."

  At this point, a curious Tashigi politely asks, "Jayr-san, excuse me if it sounds disrespectful, but I'd like to ask if it is possible to learn Koby-kun's current training regime?"

  Hearing that, I shake my head and reply with an encing smile, "Sure, it isn't a problem, after all, right now Koby is only going through some basic training to build a strong foundation, in fact, it is simir to what you are doing only with some little differences..."

  Then I start to expin Koby's training regime, and indeed his training isn't much different because it is a basic body and will strengthehe only difference is the iy, after all, Koby has to run at a high pace while dodging boulders, and other hazards, if he slows dows hits and painfully breaks all the bones in his body, ets burned, or other painful injuries.

  Instead of pulls-up, he climbs a mountain with boulders tied to his body, when he swims he has to run away from a Sea King chasing after him, a's not fet that he has to do all that while wearied clothes that are many times heavier than his ow.

  Shocked by these pieces of information, Tashigi excims, "Wait! How is this kind of training even possible!? He should at the very least be crippled if not dead!?"

  But Smoker quickly expins, "Not really, while the iy of his training regime is surprising, especially in one so young as it is difficult to guarahe person's safety, it isn't totally unheard of. In fact, I heard that all the most powerful marines had to use dismissed battleships as pung bags at one point in their lives. There is even a myth that Vice Admiral Garp once destroyed 8 mountains as he used them as pung bags. What is impressive is young Koby following through that hellish training regime without pint."

  While we tio chat, the sailors and Koby finally finish their exercises and are now rec before starting with the phase of their training, actual bat training where they will spar against oher.

  After giving them a few mio rest, Smoker steps forward and yells, "Good job, everyone! You all didn't bring shame to the name of the Marioday. Noill start a series of bat simutions in the form of spars. As usual, we will use different on bat sarios so that when you are forced to face the real thing you will know what to do and how to act. After that, all those ranked Petty Officer her, plus uests will take part in a series of sparring matches against oher. This is all for now! Start!"

  Under Smoker's and, all the officers start tanize and watch over various groups as they gh all kinds of bat simutions all over the training fields.

  Some groups are doing what easily be identified as a Chase and Capture sario, other are doing a chaotic melee fight with training ons which are simply blunted swords that while not lethal, still cause serious injuries, some others trying to quickly encircle the target before it realizes what is going on, anroup even moves to the harbor where they simute ship bat using flintlock rifle loaded with rubber bullets that just like the training swords are still able to harm those on their receiving end.

  Just like Smoker said, they are going through the motions of every kind of sario they could fa the future, and are quite throughout with it, making them as real aively safe as possible.

  It is here that Koby's inexperience shows itself, as most of the time, he is clueless on what to do exactly and falls behind on many occasions, and even messes up their formations making the group he is with almost fail these bat sarios, but despite that, he doesn't give up and tio try, of course, when are some simple bat sarios like the melee or those that simply sist of straight up fights, Koby is easily able to excel as his physical qualities greatly surpass those ranked Seamen Fist Css and below.

  In fact, the only ohat be a threat to him that are present here are Smoker and maybe Tashigi.

  Smoker because he is obviously a formidable batant, on top of his sheer strength, which is at a quite high level pared to everyone else in the East Blue, his Logia Devil Fruit abilities set him apart from most Marines of his rank making him basically invincible in the 4 seas, and a force to be reed with in the first half of the Grand Line.

  Meanwhile, Tashigi mostly relies on her great speed and agility in battle both of which are, well frankly speaking way inferior to the current Koby who was able to slightly keep up with Kuro's speed, especially if he doesn't wear his weighted clothes.

  But she is a highly skilled Gentle Bde type swordswoman, capable of defeating the pirates in Loguetown with little effort and quickly taking down multiple oppos within seds.

  This means that with a sword in hand, Tashigi maybe be a threat to Koby, especially since he has o no experien fighting against a sword expert where a si is equal to an instah most of the time, but all that depends on if she is even able to hit him but as I'm not sure of her current level, I think the odds are more in Koby's favor.

  While I was thinking that, everyoarted to empty the field so that the sparring matches could finally take pce.

  Odyin