Dusk was settling.
Across the Training Field, branch officers lay scattered, defeated. Less than a third were awake, and even fewer could stand, let alone fight.
Most were simply too scared to move, pretending to be dead.
Sunset was less than half an hour away, painting the sky in fiery hues.
In the very center of the field...
Roya gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands, desperately trying to stay on his feet. He'd been knocked down countless times, leaving him bruised and battered. Every inch of him ached.
His legs trembled like leaves in a storm.
Vice Admiral Doll stood a few yards away. A hint of tiredness flickered across her brow - no surprise, after battling hundreds of branch officers all day.
She watched Roya, his body swaying like a frail old woman struggling to rise with a cane. Even after her years at sea, she couldn't help but feel a flicker of amazement.
How many times had she knocked this kid down?
Eighty? A hundred?
The other trainees avoided her like the plague, but this kid refused to give up. Every time he hit the ground, he clawed his way back up, ready to fight again in less than ten minutes.
And he was surprisingly skinny!
She was holding back, of course, but her strikes still packed enough punch to flatten the branch officers. The proof was scattered all around them.
Could it be that this kid had undergone some kind of crazy, brutal training to withstand blows?
Doll clicked her tongue in admiration. "You're pretty tough, kid."
"Hah... hah..." Roya gasped, a cheeky grin twisting his lips as he laboriously raised his middle finger towards the sky. "It's just that your strength is too weak, Instructor. Like a lady giving a massage at a nightclub - not enough oomph!"
He wheezed, struggling to get the words out. "And I don't like being on the bottom!"
"What a cute bad boy!"
Doll licked her lips, a playful glint in her eye.
She had a soft spot for boys who talked a big game.
Doll strolled up to Roya, placed a single finger on his chest, and gently pushed. Roya tumbled to the ground like a felled tree.
The woman's foot came down on his chest, and she smiled, a touch of challenge in her eyes. "You can't even stand, and you want to be on top?"
"Being on the bottom is nice sometimes," Roya readily admitted.
A Great Man knows when to yield, doesn't he?
Once he regained some strength, he would challenge this woman to an arm-wrestling match.
"Huh?"
Looking up at the long, straight leg pressing down on him, Roya's heart did a little flutter. He instinctively reached out and hugged it.
Doll was taken aback. "What are you doing?"
"Hugging your leg!"
Roya hugged Doll's leg tightly, wrapping his own legs around it like a koala clinging to a tree. He was determined not to let go.
BFFs for life!
Doll couldn't help but burst out laughing. This little brat was actually resorting to dirty tactics!
"Let go!"
"Nope!"
"Let go now!"
"Won't do it!"
"You little rascal!"
Doll shook her leg up and down, trying to dislodge Roya, but he buried his head against her and held on tight, as if glued to her, impossible to shake off.
The bizarre scene stunned the other trainees into silence.
Roya, fighting off dizziness, quickly shouted to the surrounding crowd for help. "What are you all waiting for? I've locked the Instructor's leg!"
"Eh?!"
That's right, wasn't this a golden opportunity to attack?
The officers who had been feigning death felt a surge of energy returning. They scrambled to their feet, their eyes glowing with renewed determination.
Don't let the Black Hair Bro hog all the glory!
"Senior Roya..." Isca also wanted to join the fray, but seeing Roya's awkward posture, she blushed furiously and buried her head in the ground.
So embarrassing.
"All of you, attack together!"
The officers who still had the strength to fight howled and scrambled to their feet, pouncing on Doll from all directions, trying to use locking techniques just like Roya.
The officers who had managed to last this long were all cunning; they knew that as long as they could lock down Vice Admiral Doll's body, even with her incredible skills, it would be difficult for her to break free.
Even if they couldn't beat the Instructor, could they at least hold down one of her hands or legs?
"Charge!"
"Don't waste the opportunity the Black Hair Kid created!"
"Let the Instructor see the power of the East Blue!"
Watching the trainees pouncing from every direction, Doll really wanted to unleash a devastating Storm Leg attack to sweep them all away. But with one leg locked, even if she used Storm Leg, she couldn't possibly hit all the trainees.
Not enough range.
"Unbelievable!"
Doll was both amused and annoyed.
If Roya wasn't a trainee, and someone she quite liked, she would have finished this little bastard off with a Finger Gun.
"Moon Walk!"
At the critical moment, Doll forcibly launched herself into the air using Moon Walk with one foot. The group of trainees below all missed and piled on top of each other in a tangled heap.
"So difficult!"
Doll gritted her teeth and stepped hard in the air, trying to gain altitude. Carrying a person made Moon Walk on one foot far harder than she had imagined.
She couldn't fall!
Below was a pack of hungry wolves, ready to tear her apart!
Suddenly, her butt felt a strange tightness!
"Hmm?"
Doll nearly lost her balance. She quickly increased the pace of her steps in the air, struggling to stay aloft.
Her legs were cramping!
"Thud!"
Two hands grabbed her waist.
Doll's face flushed crimson. This little rascal was actually climbing up her!
"You little brat, keep your hands to yourself!"
"Hehe!"
Roya chuckled, hugging Doll's waist from behind, "kindly" reminding her, "Instructor, both your legs are free now!"
"..."
Doll's spirits soared, and her body felt lighter.
Using Moon Walk with both feet, even with a man clinging to her back, was easy for her. The reason it was so difficult just now was that it was hard to maintain her balance.
Time to counterattack!
Looking down at the trainees below, Doll mercilessly swung her right leg, the tip of her foot tearing through the air, creating a spiral of vacuum Slashing Waves.
"Storm Leg: Lullaby!"
"Not good, run away--ahhh!"
"Boom!!!"
The Slashing Waves landed, and the ground exploded!
The officers screamed as they were sent flying.
What made them even angrier was that the Black Hair Kid had actually betrayed his teammates, releasing his grip on Instructor Doll's leg.
Doll breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to figure out how to get Roya off her back, Roya's legs locked around her feet.
She couldn't use Moon Walk anymore!
Without the hovering power of Moon Walk, the two of them instantly became free-falling bodies, plummeting straight down!
"(Д*)?"
Doll was completely dumbfounded. What did this mean?
Suicide?
"Let's fall with the setting sun!!!"
Roya twisted his body with all his might, but when he realized he couldn't turn them around, he gave up and used the strength in his hands and waist, trying to force their heads downward.
But he couldn't overpower the woman.
Never mind.
The two of them fell towards the ground horizontally, and at the moment they were about to hit the ground, they spoke almost in unison.
"Iron Body!"
"Iron Body!"
"Boom!!!"
Dust soared into the sky in a massive cloud!
The officers who were still conscious raised their heads and stared intently at the swirling cloud of dust.
"Did it work?"
The dust gradually dissipated, and two figures slowly became clear. Judging from their posture, one of them was sitting on top of the other.
"The Black Hair Kid is on top!"
"Well done, Black Hair!"
"Hahaha, you're too cool!"
The officers howled excitedly like monkeys, cheering him on!
In the afterglow of the setting sun, Roya sat astride Doll's slender waist, a satisfied smile blooming on his dirt-covered face.
"I'M ON TOP!"
"..."
Doll stared blankly at Roya.
Was this kid working so hard just to pin her down?
What a strange Competitive Spirit.
But she didn't dislike it.
"You little rascal, get ready, I'm going to train you hard for the next three months, and don't lose to anyone else!"
"Yes, Instructor Doll!"