"What are they doing?"
"Looks like some kind of Marine School of Justice exam."
"The one standing in the middle, that is Aren, right?"
"Who?"
"The captain who fought Zephyr-sensei to a standstill yesterday and rejected Admiral Sakazuki's offer to his face."
...
They did not know exactly what was about to happen, but the residents of Marineford's little town who lived along Aren's street watched the scene in front of them like they were settling in to enjoy a show.
Once they learned that the man standing calmly in the middle was the same Aren everyone in the taverns and food stalls had been talking about last night, the townsfolk and nearby marines were even more interested.
What the onlookers thought, however, had nothing to do with the trainees of the Marine School of Justice who had formed a tight ring around Aren.
The trainees did not care in the slightest.
They knew that if they did not give everything in this assessment, they would fail again.
Over a hundred marines in simple training uniforms stood on both sides of the street and even on the rooftops.
Not a single one of them acted rashly. They all knew very well just how strong the young man with slightly wavy hair and glasses in the middle of their encirclement truly was.
"His test is to defend, so that means what he did last night also counts as a successful defense. We absolutely cannot let what happened last night repeat. Jero, tell us again what you know about his power."
Jero, who was standing closest to Aren and was the one who could reach him fastest, heard the voice from the rooftop and immediately shouted back, "It is air. Aren can control the air around his body. Yesterday, the moment you all rushed in, he used the air to defeat every single one of you."
Hearing that, everyone grew even more cautious. Two of the Devil Fruit users stepped a little forward and said, "We can launch attacks from range."
The voice on the rooftop, the one who had first spoken, immediately understood and shouted, "Everyone wait for the signal."
There was not a single idiot among the trainees. All of them understood what that meant at once.
Jero and the other two Zoan users shuffled closer to the two who could attack at range, clearly intending to act as their guards.
In the distance...
On the observation tower of the Marine School of Justice, Zephyr watched with a telescope, the corners of his mouth slightly raised. He scribbled a few notes with a pen, then said, "Compared to yesterday, they are already doing much better. But they have made a fatal mistake."
"They said their tactics out loud in front of Aren, right?"
Ain also held a telescope in her hands. She could not hear the trainees from this distance, but she could see their lips moving and the new formation they were taking with Jero and the others.
Having studied strategy under Zephyr, it was not hard for her to guess.
"No. The mistake is how they are probing an unknown power, and... they still have not understood the true meaning behind the assessment I gave them."
Zephyr focused his telescope on each trainee's movements.
In the end, his gaze settled on Aren.
Down on the street, Aren calmly took a pocket watch from his coat and spoke in an even tone. "It is now eight twenty four. There are thirty six minutes left. I have two questions I would like to ask you."
"Is he trying to stall for time?"
One of the trainees called out.
"Stall for time?"
Aren paused for a moment, then pushed his glasses up. "If that is how you want to interpret it, then treat it as me stalling for time. My first question is this, is your assessment only to touch me once, or are you supposed to keep attacking me until nine o'clock?"
The trainees exchanged glances. In the end, Jero answered, "We just have to touch you before nine."
"I see. Then my second question, if I..."
Aren suddenly cut himself off mid sentence. He adjusted his glasses again and said, "Forget it, I will not ask. Instead, let me correct two things.
"First, it is obvious you have not understood the real purpose behind this assessment Zephyr-sensei assigned you, nor the true meaning of your test.
"Second, who told you I can only control the air around my own body?"
"?"
Every trainee froze for a second.
Then someone finally noticed a strange change around their own body.
"Everyone, fall back!"
One of them sensed that something was wrong and shouted at once.
But...
It was clearly too late.
Around each of the more than two hundred trainees, visible vortices of air appeared all at once.
The instant those spirals formed, anyone who tried to move found themselves trapped as if the vortex itself had seized control of their body.
In just a heartbeat...
The trainees who had been set in solid fighting stances were all frozen in place.
Some stood, some had been mid motion and were now locked in awkward half crouches or sprawled positions, but every single one of them was held fast in a posture of being bound.
Looking closely, one could see faint, rope like currents of air wrapped around their limbs and torsos.
Those ropes of air were what the vortices had turned into.
"Why..."
"Aren, let me go!"
"Jero, what is this?!"
"I do not know either. This is the first time I have seen Aren do something like this!"
...
Bound and helpless, some trainees stood, some lay on the roofs, some were spread across the street. They all struggled desperately against the invisible ropes restraining them.
Without exception, no one could break free.
On one rooftop, a trainee who had tried over and over finally stopped moving. He stared down at Aren.
One minute...
No, not even a minute, only a few seconds.
If Aren had wanted to, he could have ended all of them the moment they arrived.
"This monster..."
The trainee bit down hard, filled with fury that he had ended up in the same class as such a monster.
What are we supposed to do about the exam...
As all of them lost the ability to fight, Aren turned to the dazed owner of the nearby breakfast shop. "Boss, is my breakfast ready?"
"Huh?"
The dark skinned owner blinked hard, then finally reacted, swallowing nervously. "Y... yes, it is ready. I will bring it out to you... no, I will bring it to you right away."
"Thank you," Aren replied softly.
After thanking him, Aren looked around at his classmates, all of them bound tightly as if trussed up with air ropes. He glanced at his pocket watch again and spoke calmly.
"First of all, let me make something clear. Right now, I am working overtime. Overtime means finishing the task in front of you, nothing more.
"I will keep you restrained until nine o'clock, at which point my assessment will be complete. Once that time comes, my work will be done, so until then I will begin enjoying my personal time. After nine, I will release all of you.
"Second, if it were during regular work hours, I would choose to fight you and knock you out one by one. However, this is overtime, and I have to eat breakfast, so this is the best I can do. I did not knock you unconscious because I would feel bad doing that. We still have to spend a lot of time together in the future.
"So, if you can, please do not waste your strength struggling. Also, stop yelling about me letting you go so you can fight me. It is morning, try not to disturb the townsfolk.
"Besides, even if I did release you, you still would not be able to beat me. Most importantly, I refuse."
He paused, then added, "Lastly, if any of you did not eat breakfast, you can tell me. It is now eight twenty five. We still have thirty five minutes to eat."
As he said that, Aren gave a long look at the few Paramecia users among them.
Then he turned and walked into the breakfast shop. He took the bowl of ramen the owner handed him and began to eat his breakfast slowly while everyone watched.