28 Chapter 28 'The Corazon Rankings'?

"So what's the plan" Mori asked Drake with a serious look in his eye. Turning towards the left you could see Drake sitting next to him kneeling down, seeming to be brainstorming ideas.

"Realistically speaking.... A game of luck against the Captain is a fool's errand. This treasure hunt will be impossible to win unless he throws it" Drake finished with a sigh, anybody with an outside look could tell that they weren't treating this as lightly as most of the crew would.

"And the chances of that?" Mori asked, obviously not liking their chances at a 'fair' contest.

"Usually I'd say 50/50... but with him having Monet with him I'd bet he'd try to show off to impress her without even realizing it. So we only have one course of action….." Drake said trailing off. Noticing my annoyed look I nudged him to get on with it.

"Well, we could either lose and try to find something valuable, maybe search for that treasure that we forgot about. Remember? The crew where you fought the Cannibal?" Drake finished.

"This was the same island, wasn't it? Hell, the cave system isn't even 20 kilometers away,,,," I said as I trailed off.

"However there's still a chance the Captain will find something better, after all, he finds Devil fruits like they come from apple trees. He has the devil's luck" Drake began putting holes in the plan we've tried concocting.

"Ok, so either we take our chances on the hidden treasure or we...?" I asked while waving my hand to prompt Drake on what our second option would be. I should have just kept my mouth shut when I saw the borderline insane smile he had when we locked eyes.

P.O.V CHANGE: TRAFALGAR LAW

Trudging through a forested jungle with Cora by my side hunting for treasure was not something I thought I would've been able to partake in six months ago. Hell, I thought I would be a corpse by now, or at least stuck in a bed. Though I know we're basically 'on the run' from Doflamingo I can't say I have any complaints. We're bounty hunters and part of a decently strong crew from what Cora has told me, thinking of that always brings me back to when Kal almost beheaded Cora in the bar, still gives me shivers.

"What's got you shaking over there Law?" Cora's voice caused me to jump out of thoughts in surprise, quickly I turned to him and I began to debate on how to form an answer.

"I guess it's the Captain… How do you think he got that strong?" I asked in curiosity, causing Cora to quirk a brow.

"Hmmmm… Well, we haven't been on the crew long but I'd say it's because he trains more than all of us….." Corazon said as he began going into a thinking posture, well until he tripped over a rock and face-planted, causing me to facepalm at his actions.

"Ow….." Corazon said as he rubbed his face and began standing back up to continue the conversation.

"Back on the topic of the Captain's strength…." He continued on as if nothing happened. "I wouldn't be too impressed if I were you, right now I'd say he could fight Doffy for around five minutes and die. Impressive yes, but he's about low to mid-grandline level if I had to put a number on him. You'll get there in about 2-4 years kid, maybe even sooner" He said while putting a hand on my shoulder, usually, I'd smile at his confidence in me but I couldn't be more dumbfounded at what his answer entailed. 'This world is filled with monsters'

"Now don't look at me like that, Kal will be powerful. If he had a Devil fruit he could probably take on the current Doffy, maybe even win... Him being that strong already without a fruit is a testament to his potential and talent."

"So he's holding himself back….. Or waiting for the perfect fruit?" I asked, trying to get the reasoning as to why he would wait.

"That's a tough question with many routes.... Think of it as building a base. Most fruit users would be a normal-looking house, with a normal foundation, strong walls, and a sturdy roof…. Are you following so far?" Corazon asked as he began his analogy, trying to follow along I began to help set rules for the 'house'.

"So the 'foundation' would be a skillset before a fruit was added….while the house is their new skillset and the roof is the potential or 'ceiling'...." I asked Cora to which he broke out in a wide smile at my quick deduction.

"Yes, that's exactly how it is, now what happens when the house gets destroyed?" Cora continued.

"Well I'm assuming that means they lost a fight….. They would rebuild the house and make it taller?"

"Correct…. But what if the foundation is cracked" Cora asked with a light in his eye.

"The house would never be the same, it would always have a weakness...." I trailed on until I came to the conclusion he was trying to lead me to.

"Yep you've got it, you can rebuild your skillset as much as you want but with a bad foundation you're fighting a losing battle. And the Captain's foundation is almost flawless, that, Is what makes him so scary" Corazon finished with an odd flair. His explanation honestly made a lot of sense but it still begged the question.

"If his foundation is as good as you say, where could you rank him among the powers of the world?" I asked curiously, sure the captain was strong but I'd like to get a decent estimate. My question brought an even more thoughtful response from Corazon as he stopped walking altogether.

"Why don't I give you an idea from my experience? During my admittedly short stint with the Marines I went through what you would call boot camp. A two-year-long training program designed to turn your average Joe into a capable soldier. There were 1,000 people in my group, care to guess how many made it through?" Corazon asked with a strange glint in his eye.

"Five hundred and thirty-nine?" I said as I just threw out the first number that came to mind. 'An average marine? I'm sure at least half could make the cut' I thought to myself to reaffirm my guess.

"Haha not even close, one hundred and one were granted the 'honor' to join the Navy" he said, causing me to be floored. "And who do you think was that year's top recruit?" He said as I could feel the smugness just radiating off him.

"I'm not very sure but I heard a rumor that it was some blonde-haired bastard that cheated all the way through." I said while trying to play the 'child-like innocence' card while barely controlling my laughter as I began to see smoke coming out of his ears. I almost lost it when he grabbed me up and started yelling.

"What bastard told you that! I'll fucking kill em. I bet it was David wasn't it! When I see that bastard…." His tirade was interrupted when I couldn't hold myself back anymore and busted out laughing. Seeing his face go from angry to confused and then back to angry was definitely worth the trouble.

"You little shit" he said with annoyance as he tossed me to the side. Quickly reigning himself in he began to continue where he left off.

"So yes I was able to graduate at the top of my year, like anyone I was excited and I began pondering if I could one day rise to the rank of Admiral. Haha" he finished as he busted out laughing causing me to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"Come to find out there's a whole other training program for what are considered 'Elites' or at least those deemed with adequate potential. Led by a former Admiral and everything, it was called the 'Black Arm' program led by the former admiral Zephyr." He said.

"So as the Hot-headed 18-year-old I was, I challenged one of the trainees to a spar and lost in under a minute. It was that day when I realized that potential in this world isn't something that can be gained through mere Hard work." He finished with a sigh causing me to go into contemplation about what my own 'potential' could be. 'I've never met another kid my age that could beat me, and I'm sure I could take out most low-grade adult pirates so I should at least be above average?…'

"Well a good thing did come of it because I discovered a special talent of mine. I can pretty much guess what someone's potential is within a minute or two. I call it 'Corazon Rankings' trademark pending" he finished with a smirk as he laughed it off.

Giving him an unamused look, he sighed at his failed joke and got into the criteria of his 'dumbly' named system.

"Alright let's base it on this the grading will go from a 'F' which would equal a baby to an average working man, the absolute weakest a human could be.." he started before I quickly cut him off.

"That seems like a very wide spectrum for a single ranking" I pointed out quickly. He seemed annoyed that I interrupted him before sighing and explaining his reasoning.

"Ok how about this Law I'd rank you at a C right now, you obviously have potential and you have an extremely powerful devil fruit. Not even to mention you being a 13-year-old kid that could take on 10 grown men and most likely win." He finished giving me my ranking. 'So basically middle ground? I wonder who is in the guest teir.'

"So what would you consider a 'D' ranked person?" I asked while holding in my curiosity about who would be in the highest rank.

"That's where things get kind of tricky, it's honestly vast. For example, it would be a kid with strong parents who would most likely have the potential. However, it also governs literally any decent Pirate or Marine with sufficient training. You also have to factor in if their potential could even be realized" he finished causing me to quirk an eyebrow in interest.

"Think of a pirate stuck in one of the blues, if they stay there too long they end up wasting their potential or even a kid with the potential to be the strongest in the world stuck on an island with no port with no knowledge of ship or raft building. At the end of the day luck is also one of the greatest factors."

"Huhaha, and what would my 'Corazon Ranking' be? Patent pending of course." I heard a strong voice ask as the man I call 'Captain' looked down on us from one of the tree branches hanging overhead with an extremely amused smile marking his features. Corazon seemed a little too surprised by his sudden appearance to answer immediately but after a while he seemed to regain his bearings.

"Well, I might have over-exaggerated my ability….. Slightly" Corazon said humbly as he reached into his hood and scratched the back of his head in what I can guess was embarrassment.

"Nonsense, as your Captain I will be the judge to see if your ability has merit. Now please, continue" Kal said with a smirk as he motioned for him to get on with it. With a flurry of confidence, Cora quickly produced a paper and motioned us forward.

"Well basically I usually do this in my head but here is the process. Now I know it will sound like guess work at first but guarantee a 75% success rate!" Cora said with confidence as he wrote down what I can guess were his criteria.

"To start we'll go with the person forte as it were, for you Captain I'd start with swordsmanship ranking you at B, compared to the best which is Hawkeye Mihawk as well as Emperor Shanks who both sit at the pinnacle of S rank. Going on to compare further there is the Vice-Admiral T-bone as well as the Flower Sword Vista sitting squarely in the Rank of A..." Cora finished going over a myriad of categories until he flipped the paper over. Kal lit one of his cigarettes before looking it over with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Well…. I've got to say, this is very impressive. Most people would think more broadly and compare things like speed and strength only, but you took this a step further. Removing the broad categories and focusing on strengths and weaknesses….." He said with a smirk as he flipped the paper for me to see.

Fated D Kal

Swordsmanship-B

Devil Fruit-N/A

Unarmed Combat-C

Firearms-D

Haki-C

Combat Speed-A

Battle IQ-B

Potential-S

Overall Ranking-B

'The Captains only a single rank higher than me!' I thought in stupefied surprise as I turned to see if he'd rebuttal his ranking to only seem content with the results. Noticing my gaze he gives me a cocky smirk before turning to Cora.

"Alright let's see the kids itemized results" and just like that Corazon jotted down my results about twice as fast as the Captains, forcing me to raise an eyebrow in surprise.

"What kid? I've known you for a fourth of your life?" Cora said like it was obvious as he flipped a new paper over, forcing me to abandon my questioning look as we all curiously turned to the paper.

Trafalgar D Water Law

Devil fruit:S

Medical Abilities:S

Fruit Utilization-C

Unarmed Combat-D

Swordsmanship-D

Battle IQ-D

Haki-N/A

Potential-A

Overall Ranking-C

Looking over my results I can't help but turn my head robotically toward Cora in annoyance. "Cora… why did I receive more 'weaknesses' in mine than the Captains," I said in mild annoyance, noticing I had 2 S ranked and one A, significantly better than the captains.

"No, that is a very good result, honestly it is still pretty biased in your favor," Captain said with a smirk as he turned to Cora who began to sweat. 'Huh? It seemed the opposite'

"Well, Captain I said it wasn't one hundred per.."Cora began before he was cut off.

"No, it's fine. Let me explain it to you this way. Your ability to fight is at best a D+ and that is honest, including your devil fruit as well as your prodigal utilization of it. However, when you factor in your insane ability as a medic it breaks your threshold into C rank if that was all that is being tested. In the grand scheme of things, you have one category that is a glaring weakness that will never let you pass the B Ranked barrier. Not even to mention your C ranking of now." he finished to which Cora sighed, but I was more focused on this blaring weakness he spoke of.

'What could he mean? My fruit utilization? No, it couldn't be, he said himself it was great. My Battle IQ? Very possible. Then there's Swordsmanship, but as the same with battle Iq I could progress both on my own with experience. So that only leaves…..' I thought before my eyes widened in understanding.

POV CHANGE-KAL

"Captain….. What exactly is Haki and why does it factor so greatly into my possible fighting capacity?" My ghostly subordinate asked with an odd resolve in his eyes.

'Jeez, I will never get used to a twelve-year-old boy sounding so.... Smart? No that's not a good word, he's obviously intelligent. It's more like his comprehension is insane for someone his age... well at least I'm not in a world where children are soldiers responsible for squads of adults, commanding assassination missions and large-scale warfare' Finishing the thought as a shiver ran down my spine at how hellish that sounded. Noticing I drifted off into my thoughts I turned back to the kid's stare. A rare light of resolve shone through his usual dead eyes. 'Eh fuck it. Needed to test him sometime soon anyway'

"Cora, seeing as how it's already been three days I can assume you two already found your treasure?" I asked curiously as I turned to him.

"Yes Captain, though it isn't that amazing I'd say we have a shot?" He said confusedly as he look over at me with a questioning gaze.

"Perfect.... Return to the ship.." I ordered turning away from him and drawing my blade and facing the twelve-year-old boy like he was one of my targets, obvious bloodlust leaking into the air causing the boy to fall to a knee.

"Captain!" Cora yelled as I could practically feel his protective gaze fall on the boy as he took off in a sprint towards him.

"That was an order, Intelligence Commander" I said with a smile after I flashed in front of him, cutting his path towards his charge. Turning my gaze behind me with the same warm smile I could see him widen his eyes in surprise at his new designation. "Congratulations on the promotion by the way, though I believe I gave you an order…." I said as my kind gaze changed into steel.

He seemed 'extremely' hesitant to leave the boy alone but one look at him struggling from mere bloodlust forced him to avert his eyes and nod towards me. 'Yes Corazon, you understand. This will be the boy's first trial' I thought with my own resolve forming while I looked at the still kneeling boy. Lightning a smoke I decide to think over what the best way to go about this would be.

After waiting a minute with no change I decided I waited long enough for the boy to realize Corazon isn't here to save him.

"Stand"

(A/N. So... its been awhile about a month and a half...ish? Your boy got a promotion so I've been swamped with learning all my new 'responsibilities' (insert bs=More dolla signs). Though I have preserved my friends and I am happy to say I've returned to greet you all with the best fic ever?(Insert insane amounts of biased/bravado ;)