Reincarnated Into The One Piece World With The Zushi - Zushi No Mi

In a field next to the military barracks, a small group of fresh recruits had gathered around Hoza and me.

I was standing still with a calm expression, while Hoza was doing some stretches.

"Okay, kid… Come at me! As your senior, I can allow you the strike first."

"Uh, suit yourself."

I assumed a fighting stance and began to steadily approach Hoza.

"Everyone, watch closely how I defend myself!"

Instead of having his guard up, he had crossed his arms and was waiting for me with a confident grin.

"Yes, sir!"

The rest of the recruits nodded and widened their eyes in concentration.

Swoosh…!

The first thing I did was send a simple punch, aiming for the torso. Too bad no one, including Hoza, could see the punch coming.

Hoza was -Thud- sent flying out of our sparring circle in a flash.

He landed on the ground next to the recruits, holding onto his torso with his eyes squeezed shut in agony.

…

Absolute silence… No one spoke for a few long moments, at least not until a recruit raised his hand with a bead of sweat rolling down his face.

"W… What just happened?!"

"No way! Did… Did the instructor actually lose?"

In some time, the recruits had no choice but to believe what happened.

The instructor crawled back up and coughed a few drops of blood.

"Pant-Pant- What a monster…! I'm not paid enough to handle recruits like these." He pointed towards me and continued, "Come with me! You're not fit for the royal army… With strength and speed like that, you may even make it to the royal guards!"

Right then, everyone's jaw dropped in shock.

The Royal Guards of Alabasta were warriors who served the Nefertari royal family directly. This was an honor that everyone in the royal army could only dream of having.

I also rubbed my chin in contemplation and thought, 'That position may work just as well for my goals.'

…

A few hours later, Hoza had taken me to outside at the rooftop garden of Alubarna palace. He had left me there alone to wait for someone.

"Ma~Ma~Ma~"

I heard a voice from the distance of some kind of male opera singer.

Soon my eyes fell upon a tall man with a small red nose and blonde hair that resembled a powdered wig. He was proceeding towards me from a nearby gate. Next to him, a tall man with a purple line that ran under each of his eye was present. He kind of looked like a falcon.

I recognized the two of them as Igaram and Pell from the manga respectively.

"So, are you the one Hoza sent…? So young! I'm Igaram, the captain of the Alabasta royal guard!"

"Yes! I am Magnus, the new recruit...."

I got up hastily and greeted Igaram.

"Mhm… Firstly, why did you want to join the royal army?"

I clenched my fists tightly and answered, "I recognize what Alabasta is going through right now… but I trust that royal family is doing their very best for the people. Only by fighting for them could Alabasta become stronger and united!"

Both Pell and Igaram nodded in approval at my answer. They seemed to have believed the act I was putting on.

The best thing about the people of Alabasta and the royal family were their trustful nature and benevolence. Unfortunately, the same attitude has made them very vulnerable to predators like Crocodile who would take advantage of their kindness.

The defenses they had against enemies in the shadows were even weaker than the strength of their top warriors.

"Okay, you're lucky since Pell is here to test your strength now. He's the topmost warrior of Alabasta, so you c-"

"Igaram!"

Right then, a young woman with long, wavy light blue hair ran towards us. I immediately recognized her as Nefertari Vivi, the princess of Alabasta.

"Your royal highness…!"

Pell bowed to the running figure of Vivi, and I followed suit too.

Igaram turned his glance towards Vivi with a broad smile and said, "You've come at a good time, princess… We're just testing this young warrior."

"Come with me now. I've something important to discuss!"

Instead of paying attention to Igaram's words, Vivi just grabbed his sleeve and pulled him along with her.

"Ma~Ma~Ma~… I'll be back shortly!"

I watched the departing figure of the two and just scratched my head.

"You can continue your test now… Show me what you've got!" Pell said, his eyes narrowed at me.

I readied myself once again with my fighting stance and went after Pell. I was excited to test my strength against the top warrior of Alabasta too.

Whoosh- Zoom-

One punch after another was thrown against Pell. He was initially surprised by my supreme strength, but he seemed to be getting used to it in time.

We continued our spar for a few minutes where I kept Pell on the backfoot. However, there was a huge frown on my face right now.

"Your body has a strength of a monster… but your fighting is very rusty!"

Thud- All of a sudden, Pell sneaked an elbow to my face and pushed me back. I gritted my teeth and went after him again.

The problem wasn't that I was weaker than Pell.

I had actually completely disabled my Haki, Rokushiki, and Devil Fruit Powers, but I was still physically much faster and stronger than Pell.

Yet despite this supreme strength, it was hard for me to fight him effectively…

"Let me show you what someone of your strength should be able to do!"

All of a sudden, Pell began to undergo some transformation. He grew wings and talon and changed into a falcon.

This was the powers of the Tweet-Tweet Fruit Falcon Type, one of the five known fruits in the world that are known to fly.

Pell attacked me once again, albeit this time, his strength and speed were approaching mine.

Bahm…! His talon landed a swift attack on my c.h.e.s.t and knocked me down in some time.

Pant-Pant-

Soon I staggered back to my feet with a little difficulty.

Pell had surely exposed a slight flaw in my fighting: that I was no fighting genius.

So far, I had depended on the overwhelming powers of Haki, Devil-Fruit, or Rokushiki to disable my opponents from the get-go. But I had never experienced fighting an opponent that matched my strength or techniques equally, leaving me rusty in a straight up fist fight.

Pell transformed back to his original form stared at me with half-lidded eyes.

"You're supposed to breath when you defend and exhale sharply with every punch… You're also never allowed to let your opponent out of your vision… Overall, your fighting skills are very rusty if you want to become a royal guard!"

My head tilted downwards in a little remorse.

Meanwhile, Pell continued, "However, your strength alone makes you the third strongest warrior of Alabasta… And your techniques were improving drastically mid-fight too. All you need to do is train under me or someone qualified for a short time and perhaps… Alabasta will have its new strongest warrior! Are you ready to join the royal guard?"

"I am!" I replied, my voice loud and confident. There was a broad grin on my face too.

Even though I still preferred defeating opponents through my overwhelming powers, it would surely benefit me to learn how to fight a little under someone like Pell.

Or at least my stats wanted me to…

[Through an intense spar, all your stats have been boosted by 0.5 points.]

I now had another way to narrow the gap in strength between Crocodile and me.