Wood Goes Easy on Her

"Gion, your swordsmanship is superb, and your combat experience is astonishingly extensive. I'm completely convinced by my defeat, and I have no complaints whatsoever."

When Wood saw the look on Gion's face, as if she were ready to fight him again if he wasn't satisfied, he wisely chose to back down.

But it was precisely this attitude that made Gion feel as though her victory had been completely unsatisfying.

And that feeling only grew stronger in her heart.

Honestly speaking, Wood's swordsmanship was no weaker than hers. He had also mastered Soru, the technique for moving at high speed, and had overwhelming advantages in both stamina and strength.

She had been able to defeat him only because she knew just how shameless he was.

If they had been meeting for the first time, and their spar had been a true fight to the death, would she still have won?

The answer was obviously no. She had won, but only because she'd been lucky.

Thinking of this, Gion felt dissatisfied all over again. She was just about to find a chance to challenge Wood to another fight when she spotted the heartless fellow already ingratiating himself with Teacher Zephyr.

According to Wood's earlier agreement with Zephyr, he needed to either defeat Gion or draw with her for the Cursed Blade Tenku to be his.

But for various reasons, Wood thought that getting on Gion's bad side would only give him more trouble, so in the end, he deliberately lost.

"Based on the strength you just showed, you should have been able to beat Gion, right?

"And you clearly cared a lot about Tenku, yet you deliberately lost."

Zephyr was a Marine Admiral. Though Gion and Wood were both quite capable, in his eyes they were little different from beginners.

Wood's final actions might have fooled everyone else, but there was no way they could fool Zephyr.

With his keen eye, it wasn't hard to see that both when Gion used Soru earlier and when she launched her final counterattack, Wood's body had reacted before his mind.

There was only one way he could have done that: Kenbunshoku Haki.

That was also why Zephyr had looked just as surprised as everyone else while watching the fight.

Based on what he knew of Wood's strength, he'd originally thought Wood wouldn't be able to beat Gion.

But he'd never imagined that, in just one year, Wood would make such astonishing progress.

He had not only mastered Soru, one of the Six Styles, ahead of schedule, but also learned External Slash and awakened Kenbunshoku Haki.

Soru was one thing. With systematic training, most people could master that technique.

But a Swordsman's External Slash and Kenbunshoku Haki were different. They couldn't be learned through training alone. They required talent, insight, and extensive combat experience.

And over the past year, Wood should have been doing what most of the others did: studying basic subjects and training his body at the Marine Academy, right?

The boy wasn't even eighteen yet! When Zephyr had been that age, he'd only just entered the Marine Academy!

And if Wood could improve this much after a year of basic training, then with another year of advanced training and Zephyr's personal instruction, the kid would take off like a rocket!

"You really wanted Tenku, but you deliberately lost the spar. Does that mean someone matters more to you than the sword?

"As far as I know, quite a few people are pursuing Gion, and you're a little younger than her, too..."

Before Zephyr could finish, Wood hurriedly cut him off, insisting that it wasn't at all what he thought.

But Wood couldn't exactly say that he thought Gion was a pain to deal with, so he agonized over it for ages and couldn't get a single word out.

Seeing Wood's embarrassment, Zephyr gave him a knowing look. Young boys were always awkward about these things. He'd been the same way himself.

Not wanting to make Wood uncomfortable, Zephyr tactfully dropped the subject and glanced at Tenku in Wood's hand.

"A promise is a promise. Since you didn't beat Gion in the spar, I can't award Tenku to you.

"But you've made excellent progress this year and haven't let me down. I can sell you Tenku at market price."

Wood had been feeling rather dejected at Zephyr's first words, but when he heard the rest, his face immediately lit up.

If Tenku had been an ordinary Fine Grade sword, Wood couldn't have afforded it at market price, not with his current means.

But while a Cursed Blade was still a Famous Sword, swordsmen didn't seek them out because of their ill omens, so they sold for very little on the open market.

Zephyr offering to sell Tenku to him at market price was basically giving it away.

After Wood and Gion's sparring match, the other Marine elites who had been held back lost some of their arrogance.

There was no denying that, as the top students held back at the Marine Academy, they knew they were being trained as Marine officers. Coupled with their youthful pride, it was only natural that they'd become a little conceited.

But after seeing Wood and Gion fight, they finally understood that they had no reason to be proud.

Wood and Gion were about their age, or even younger, yet the strength they'd shown was enough to crush the rest of them with ease.

After Wood and Gion's fight, the others were also told to face off in pairs for some practical combat training. The results were just as Zephyr had expected.

These so-called Marine elites were outstanding in both physique and academic performance, but when it came to actual combat, they were clearly all style and no substance.

Worried that if he stayed any longer, the others would ask about his strength and Gion would keep pestering him, Wood told Zephyr that using the Cursed Blade had made him feel unwell and asked to leave early.

After returning to the dormitory, Wood gazed lovingly at Tenku in his hand while removing all the heavy weights he'd been wearing.

For every course—martial arts, swordsmanship, or the Navy Six Forms—the Marine Academy had skilled instructors to train the students.

Over the course of the year, the Marine elites could choose one subject to specialize in and receive systematic training. They also took part in a large-scale combat exercise once a month.

At first, these practical exercises were limited to fights among the students. But during several exercises later in the year, Zephyr even took them out to sea on a warship to hunt pirates.

Of course, Zephyr was only there as a precaution. Even if they encountered pirates, he generally wouldn't step in, instead letting the students deal with their enemies themselves.

Toward the end of their training, Zephyr didn't even accompany them on the ship. Instead, he sent Wood and the others out to sea on their own to confront pirates.

Since they were in the first half of the Grand Line, the pirates weren't especially strong. But whenever a battle broke out, casualties were inevitable.

Anyone who wanted to become a Marine, especially an officer, needed to know how to command in battle and remain calm in a crisis.