Chapter 214: Teaching
In a small cabin beside the training ground.
This was where Zephyr usually rested.
Zephyr walked into the cabin with steady steps, closed the door, and sat directly on the hard wooden chair. Only then did he let out a long breath.
His stern face relaxed slightly, and a trace of exhaustion appeared in his expression.
He could not remember the last time he had felt this way.
Ever since he became a Marine instructor, he had rarely experienced this kind of fatigue. It almost felt like he had returned to the days when he clashed with pirates, exhausted in both body and mind.
Now he understood.
The reason that brat had stayed behind was purely to cause trouble for him.
Just these past few days had already left him feeling overwhelmed.
At that moment, a knock came from outside the door.
Zephyr fell silent.
It had not even been a minute since he entered.
What was it this time?
He stood up and opened the door.
Outside stood the soldier he had ordered to keep a close eye on Axel. The man was panting heavily, looking as if he had just witnessed something bizarre.
"What is it?" Zephyr asked, his tone carrying the resignation of habit. "Did that brat do something strange again?"
After catching his breath, the soldier hurriedly said, "Officer Axel... he's teaching seriously."
"What?"
Zephyr's jaw nearly dropped.
For a moment, he even forgot to maintain his stern expression.
The soldier also looked at Zephyr strangely.
It was his first time seeing Instructor Zephyr make that kind of face.
"Quick. Take me there."
"Yes, sir."
On the training ground, a dozen or so Marines were crouching with rifles in their hands, aiming at distant targets.
For ordinary Marines, training was divided into three main categories.
The first was physical training, focused on strengthening the body.
The second was marksmanship training. After all, most people's bodies could not withstand bullets, and firearms remained one of the primary tools used in battles against pirates.
The third was common knowledge training.
This did not refer to daily life knowledge, but combat knowledge.
Geography, maritime weather, emergency response, traps, and battlefield judgment all fell within this category.
At this moment, they were clearly practicing the second type.
"Fire."
Axel's voice was neither loud nor soft, but it reached everyone's ears clearly, as if he were speaking right beside them.
Bang, bang, bang.
Gunshots rang out one after another.
Only a few bullets struck the center of the distant targets.
Axel said nothing.
Shooting was not easy, and many of the recruits here had only recently started. Not missing the target entirely was already decent.
"You, lower your arm angle by twenty-five degrees and try again."
"You're focusing too much on the command. The moment I give the order, you fire too hastily. Let the command pass through you, then shoot."
"You, don't let your left hand shake when you fire."
Axel corrected the Marines under his instruction one by one.
His guidance was based on a series of calculations in his mind, including their posture, timing, bullet trajectory, and arm movement at the moment of firing.
The Marines tried following his suggestions.
Sure enough, their shots improved significantly.
Joy immediately appeared on their faces, and they began practicing even more earnestly.
Axel watched these hardworking Marines in silence.
At this moment, they were feeling pleased over a small improvement.
Yet in the next moment, they might be killed by pirates.
That was the cruelty of this era.
There had never been a shortage of hardworking people among the Marines.
But when real battle came, how many could truly become fighting power?
How many could actually break through their own limits?
During the Marineford War, these soldiers who had worked so hard would become nothing more than sandbags used to block the enemy.
This was a world that heavily favored talent.
Even geniuses worked hard.
For those without talent, catching up was difficult no matter how much effort they put in.
The same applied to Haki.
Some people were born with Conqueror's Haki.
Others would never even understand what Haki was for their entire lives.
Unless they encountered a lucky chance like a Devil Fruit, their talent determined that they would remain mediocre recruits for the rest of their lives.
"Cough, cough... why the sudden change in character?"
Zephyr walked over.
His first sentence left Axel unsure how to respond.
"My gender has always been male. I've never changed it."
Zephyr froze for a moment before realizing what Axel meant.
This brat was teasing him again.
He clearly knew what Zephyr was asking, yet still answered like that.
Was giving a proper reason really so shameful?
Zephyr glanced at Axel.
"Whatever your reason is, this is quite good."
If Axel could teach others this patiently, Zephyr believed his temperament could slowly be tempered.
No one was set in stone.
"It's not that I want to say it," Axel said earnestly, putting on the air of an old master, "but this isn't good at all. Hardly any of the students you've taught are worth looking at. You need to reflect on that."
"Do you think everyone is a freak like you?" Zephyr said calmly.
In all his years of teaching, he had never seen anyone like Axel.
Not only was his temper strange, but his mind carried both a child's naivety and an adult's maturity.
He was like a walking contradiction.
Normally, someone with mature thoughts would not act the way he did.
Zephyr had also heard about Axel offending the World Government to save a shipwright.
That had undoubtedly been the act of someone with mature convictions.
Yet his later actions were baffling.
Threatening the World Government, for example.
It carried a kind of childishness, feeling out of step with normal logic, as if Axel did not quite belong to this world.
In the end, Zephyr could only blame all these oddities on Garp.
The grandson raised by that ridiculous man was bound to be ridiculous too.
"A freak? I don't think so."
Axel looked at the recruits.
"Doesn't this place only accept elite students? They've already been in service for months, yet they still don't know how to hold a firearm properly. Either they're stupid, or your teaching method is."
Zephyr was left speechless.
"Although these people were recruited as elite students, they had never touched firearms before this. Isn't this reaction normal?"
Zephyr's recruit camp did indeed only accept elite Marine students.
But firearms were dangerous.
Even in the Marines, one had to undergo strict evaluation. Ordinary people rarely had access to them, let alone young students.
If they were allowed to use firearms carelessly, injuries would be inevitable.
"Furthermore, everything must be done step by step," Zephyr continued. "Being too hasty will only lead to failure midway."
Then he looked at Axel, and his tone became a little meaningful.
"However, on this point, I do have one regret. I was too kind to you back then. I let you progress gradually. Looking back now, I could have easily tripled your training."
Zephyr's expression grew serious.
"Why don't you join this session? I'll arrange special training specifically for you."
Axel's expression changed slightly.
He remembered those bitter days when he had not been treated like a human being at all.
Tripling that?
Even with his current strength, it would still be quite an ordeal.
"No need," Axel said at once. "You should save that special training for the other Marine recruits."
.....
https://discord.gg/KvMN2CFsMR
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]