Days passed, and finally, tomorrow was the day of the actual combat assessment.
This month, Loya had lived a very fulfilling life.
In the morning, after washing up and having breakfast, he would carry a bucket and a mop to clean the toilet. He would also use his freezing ability to tease the other recruits by freezing the stream of urine, enjoying the confused expressions on their faces as they covered their lower bodies.
At noon, after taking a bath, he would go to lunch and discuss with Ms. S what kind of food was plentiful and delicious, deciding what to eat for lunch the next day. Winning the duel had given Ms. S the privilege of letting him decide the menu.
In the afternoon, after cleaning the toilet and taking another shower, he would have dinner and exchange combat skills and philosophies with the gay instructor, only to be thrown out by the angry instructor afterward.
I have to say that none of the instructors who served as instructors in the Navy Headquarters recruit battalion were fake handles; they were extremely skilled in all kinds of techniques.
At night, Kuzan would drag him to the small square, where they would feed each other while studying the use of freezing abilities. They would also conduct research on how to increase the human body's resistance to freezing, with Loya being the test subject.
During this month, Loya's days were very pleasant.
---
"Tomorrow is the day of the actual combat test. You must place in the top three to enter the elite camp."
Kuzan leaned against the wall, his blindfold pulled down to cover his eyes, speaking to Loya, who was still studying his freezing ability.
Upon hearing this, Loya put away the ice in his hand, paused, and suddenly swung his backhand, shooting a cone of ice at Kuzan. Kuzan tilted his head slightly to dodge the attack and was about to say something when he suddenly used Shave to leave the spot.
Just less than a second after he left, a violent explosion sounded, and a section of the wall was blown apart, leaving a hole with a diameter of one meter.
Kuzan appeared behind Loya and raised his hands. "Alas, do you want to be beaten again? Ice Ball!"
Five icicles shot out from his palms, striking Loya's back like lightning.
"Ice Make, Orochi!" Loya didn't dodge or evade. He hammered with both hands, and a blue energy suddenly appeared behind him, positioned just above the path of Kuzan's attack.
Kuzan didn't understand what Loya was doing at first. He didn't even have physical ice cubes; how could this thin layer of energy block his attack? So he sneered and accelerated the speed of the icicles.
After all, he was well aware of Loya's physique. Even if he was pierced, as long as it wasn't a critical hit, he would be alive the next day. Not to mention, the main effect of this move was freezing rather than penetration.
However, the situation soon changed.
Just when Kuzan's icicles came into contact with that layer of blue energy, he found that he had lost control of them!
An inexplicable energy interfered with his ice, snatching control away from him. The strange sensation spread back along the icicles, and he felt an indescribable sense of crisis.
Seeing this, Kuzan made a decisive decision, disconnected the icicles, and chose to retreat.
Sure enough, the next moment, the icicles he had launched just now were like paint, with the blue energy behind Loya clearly outlining their forms, biting up and down.
Missed a hit, the serpent swirled.
As if it had a life of its own, it protected Loya in the middle, hissing as it extended its forked tongue, a pair of blue and white pupils reflecting Kuzan's figure.
At that moment, Loya turned around slowly, and the blue patterns on his body appeared solid, flashing and disappearing with his movements. He looked at Kuzan with a smile on his face. "How about it, Mr. Kuzan? This is an ability I developed specifically to deal with you!"
Loya reached out and stroked the scales of the large snake, explaining, "This is my unique trick, teacher! The big snake has no physical form, just energy. Any attack of the natural type, as long as it does not exceed its threshold, will hit the target. It will then be frozen and turned into nourishment for its appearance."
"And as for your ice cubes, teacher, I can take control of them even more. I can even go a step further and take control of your body."
"You must know that something like the ice dragon is the master of the power of frost~"
"Ah la la, you kid is really dangerous."
Kuzan pushed up his blindfold, looked at the ice snake around Loya, and then at the wall that had been blown apart.
"Orochi, Frost Bomb. Don't you like seeing me so much? You actually developed a move to deal with me..."
"Humans are creatures that require pressure to progress. I have no enemies in the boot camp, so of course, I have to set up an imaginary enemy for myself. Teacher Kuzan, you are naturally the best choice."
"Oh, that sounds very reasonable." Kuzan yawned, looking at Loya without any visible sadness or joy. Although his expression was still calm and lazy, Loya, who was familiar with him, knew that Kuzan was angry.
"Um... have I gone too far?"
Loya wondered, and in the next second, Kuzan provided the answer: yes, he had gone too far.
Even someone with Kuzan's character would feel anger at the "considerate" targeting of his apprentice, whom he had personally taught.
So his return gift was an overwhelming freezing attack, also known as: Ice Age!
---
"Sa, I'll go first. You've completed that move, so passing the test won't be a problem. When you join the elite camp, Mr. Zefa should have a reason to teach you the six naval moves. Now, go to bed early, Mr. Loya."
Putting the coat on his shoulders, Kuzan waved goodbye and disappeared into the night, leaving behind a solid blue ice sculpture and a small square frozen into a world of ice and snow.
After Kuzan left, a purple figure appeared in the small square.
Zefa touched his chin and knocked on the frozen Loya. After seeing the internal situation, he nodded reassuringly. "Well, still alive... Should I say it is an ice dragon? Being treated like this every day and still intact."
Thinking about what had happened to Loya in the past month, Zefa couldn't help but express his sympathy and admiration. "But Kuzan obviously held back, and the speed of ability activation was unusually slow. Even with this speed, you couldn't avoid it. It looks like enhancing your melee abilities must be on the agenda right away."
After checking, Zefa shaved off, leaving Loya to bask in the moonlight in the square.
---
The next day, the sun was shining.
After being frozen all night, Loya, relieved only by the warmth of the sun, sneezed fiercely, hugging himself and shivering nonstop.
"I'm going! Do you want to be so ruthless? Is this kind of big move in Ice Age random? It could kill someone, okay?"
He glanced at the sun and slapped his head in annoyance. "I'm going to be late! I said it was good to gather in the morning to board the boat—what time is it?"
Then he jumped into the air, stepped on the ice, and rushed toward the port.
In the past month, Loya's gains were not only reflected in his ability development; his dragon slayer system had also greatly improved.
Name: Christopher Loya (world autocorrect)
Energy Stage: Second and Fifth Layers
Energy Value: 420/900
Mana: 8000/8000
Mana Recovery Speed: 750/m
Compared to himself a month ago, his magic value had nearly doubled, allowing him to use the Ice Dragon Slayer Magic more fully, without having to be frugal or cautious; most of the time, his attacks used shape magic.
Additionally, Loya's dragon body had increased by two percentage points again, reaching 20%. This seemingly minor improvement made Aldo no longer interested in competing with him.
Because this was a critical point, reaching 20%, Loya found that his strength was three times greater! It took him several days to get it under control.
Coupled with the sturdy features of the improved version of the Ice Armor, even without using Haki, he could now smash steel easily.
However, correspondingly, Loya also paid a small price. No matter what he ate now, he could no longer increase his energy value, which aligned with his earlier guess.
Fortunately, the power of the dragon, which worried Loya the most, did not increase with the energy level. However, to develop new moves and frequently use the simplified version during fights against Kuzan, the dragon's power rose rapidly, now reaching 5%.
The power of Dragon Slayer Magic had indeed increased significantly, but it was not the level of growth Loya had expected.
Yet there was nothing he could do. After all, no one in this world could teach him the journey of a wizard; he relied solely on his own experiments.