MARINES - A ONE PIECE story (ENGLISH) - Part I

CHAPTER LVI - Hard resumption

Christmas had been a sweet lull, a well-deserved break from the intense training enjoyed by the five A Team recruits. But this break was short-lived.

The next morning, Myr woke them up by shaking them like a brute : they had all gone to bed late and were having trouble getting up.

- Where do you think you are ? he howled like a bear. You think it's Christmas every day, or what ?! Don't even expect to have time off for the New Year, you lazy punks !

The second session was over, as the second month was coming to an end. Already, the third training session was about to start. The time passed so quickly...

...

The third training session was as painful as the two previous ones. The students were facing wooden walls, made of ebony boards.

- Well, wood ! exclaimed Zell. If you want to work with it, I'm your man.

Of course, the test was much more difficult. Myr had given his students only one instruction : with their body as only tool, they had to manage to drill through these boards, which were at least four or five centimeters thick. For several minutes, they had all wondered. It was not a question of breaking these boards in two, nor of smashing them. No, they had to be drilled, to make a perfectly clean hole through the board. The vice-admiral was amused by their circumspection :

- Did you know that your fingers can reach the same speed and power as a pistol bullet ?

This one sentence had terrified the five students. If they really had to pierce those huge boards with their fingers, the injuries could be terrible. Jorge, the first one, had jumped like a madman, his jaw clenched : he had struck the wooden wall with his outstretched index, which had shattered in an instant. Only, the cracking of the boards was accompanied by a bone cracking, Jorge rolling to the ground and screaming.

- It is a fracture, my boy ! declared Myr by observing his twisted index finger. Besides, you didn't even manage to pierce the board properly...

In fact, Jorge had held back for fear of getting hurt, and that same apprehension had been the source of his injury. "It's all in the mind !" Myr shouted to the other four students as he placed a brace on Jorge.

The injuries were many : scratches, gashes and even a sprain (Jun's index this time). However, one day, Arthur managed to achieve it. Facing the planks, his eyes focused on the unmovable wooden enemy, he stood ready. Then, with a sharp and precise blow, he had projected his index finger forward, which had shot like a bullet. The board had been pierced clearly, so that one could see the finger of the young man coming out on the other side.

- Not bad ! hissed Myr. You now have the technique, kid. Still, you can improve it, he told with a wink.

Indeed, the hole created by Arthur was complete, but could gain in roundness and precision to obtain a cleaner result. Already, the young soldier was delighted with his prowess. Myr had not lied to them : everything was in their head. It was necessary to control the fear, to succeed in overcoming it. It is only when Arthur had driven out of his mind the terrifying visions of broken bones and had concentrated on the board that he had succeeded.

...

With this deduction, the next session was way easier. The exercise was, for the first time, progressive : Myr called his students one by one and send them a foam ball. The only instruction was to throw the ball back into a defined area a little further away. For the first time, the recruits seemed to enjoy playing this simple game, but Myr was already jubilant : this was only the first step of this new training.

After the foam ball, came a heavier and harder leather ball. However, the fun remained the same. Then came the wooden ball, whose hardness and heaviness inflicted some rough bruises on the students. Finally came the last stage, with a stone ball. During the first few sessions, the students didn't even dare to hit it for fear of breaking their feet. When some of them tried, the ball seemed to take away their leg and made them cry out in pain.