"Gion's swordsmanship is remarkable, and her combat experience is truly impressive. I lost fair and square, and I have no complaints."
Seeing Gion's expression, which seemed to suggest, "If you're not satisfied, we can go another round," Wood quickly chose to back down.
However, this attitude only made Gion feel that her victory was somewhat hollow.
This feeling kept growing in her mind.
To be honest, Wood's swordsmanship was not inferior to hers, and he had even mastered the quick movement technique "Shave." Moreover, he had the advantage in both stamina and strength.
The reason she was able to defeat him was entirely because she was very familiar with Wood's shamelessness.
If the two of them were meeting for the first time, and if the sparring match had been a real life-and-death battle, would she still have been able to win?
Of course not. Although she had won, it was purely due to luck.
Thinking about this made Gion feel somewhat dissatisfied again. Just as she was about to find an opportunity to challenge Wood to another match, she realized that this carefree guy had already run over to Teacher Zephyr, eagerly trying to please him.
According to Wood's earlier agreement with Zephyr, he needed to either win or draw with Gion for the cursed sword Tenku to become his.
However, for various reasons, Wood felt that provoking Gion would only give him more headaches, so in the end, he lost the match.
"With the strength you just displayed, you should have been able to defeat Gion.
And you clearly care about Tenku, yet you deliberately lost."
Zephyr, being a Navy Admiral, saw Gion and Wood's skills as impressive, but still viewed them as rookies in his eyes.
Wood's final actions might have fooled others, but they didn't escape Zephyr's notice.
With his sharp eyes, Zephyr could easily see that whether it was Gion's "Bunny Hop" or her final counterattack, Wood's body reacted even before his mind did.
The only explanation for this was "Observation Haki."
It was also this that surprised Zephyr during the match.
Based on Zephyr's understanding of Wood's abilities, he initially thought Wood wasn't a match for Gion.
But he never expected that in just one year, Wood's growth would be so astonishing.
Not only had he mastered "Shave" from the Six Powers, but he had also learned to perform external sword slashes and had awakened "Observation Haki."
Mastering "Shave" is one thing; with systematic training, most people can learn this technique.
But sword slashes and Observation Haki are different; they can't be learned just through training—they require talent, insight, and a lot of combat experience.
And Wood, like most others, had probably only been taking basic courses and doing physical training at the Navy Academy during this past year, right?
This kid isn't even eighteen yet! At that age, Zephyr himself had only just entered the Navy Academy.
And in just one year of basic training, Wood had grown this much. With another year of advanced training and Zephyr's personal guidance, this kid might soar to new heights!
"You wanted to get Tenku, but you deliberately lost the sparring match. This means that something—or someone—matters more to you than Tenku, right?
As far as I know, quite a few people are pursuing Gion, and you're younger than her..."
Before Zephyr could finish, Wood quickly interrupted, insisting that things weren't the way Zephyr imagined.
But Wood couldn't directly say that he found Gion troublesome, so after hesitating for a long time, he ended up saying nothing at all.
Seeing Wood's awkwardness, Zephyr gave him a knowing smile. Young love is often like this, Zephyr thought, recalling his own youth.
To save Wood from further embarrassment, Zephyr tactfully changed the subject and looked at the cursed sword in Wood's hand.
"A promise is a promise. Since you didn't win the match, I can't give you Tenku as a reward.
But given your impressive growth over the past year, and since you haven't disappointed me, I'll allow you to buy Tenku at market price."
Wood, who had been disappointed by the first half of Zephyr's words, was suddenly overjoyed by the second half.
If it were a regular quality sword, buying it at market price would have been impossible for someone like Wood.
But while cursed swords are still famous blades, their ominous reputation makes them less sought after by swordsmen, meaning their market price is much lower.
Zephyr's offer to sell Tenku at market price was practically a gift.
After the sparring match between Wood and Gion, the arrogance of the other so-called "Navy elites" who had been selected to stay at the academy had significantly diminished.
As the top students left behind at the Navy Academy, they knew they were being trained as future Navy officers, and with the arrogance of youth, some level of self-satisfaction was inevitable.
However, after witnessing Wood and Gion's battle, they finally understood that they had no right to be arrogant.
Whether it was Wood or Gion, despite being around the same age as them—or even younger—the strength they displayed was enough to defeat them effortlessly.
After Wood and Gion's match, the others were also required to pair up for their own sparring matches, but as Zephyr had predicted, the results were as expected.
These so-called "Navy elites," despite their excellent physical fitness and theoretical knowledge, turned out to be nothing more than show-offs when it came to actual combat.
Fearing that staying any longer would lead to more questions about his abilities or further entanglement with Gion, Wood used the excuse of feeling unwell due to the cursed sword to ask Zephyr for early leave.
Back at the dorm, Wood admired Tenku lovingly while removing the heavy training weights he had been wearing.
Whether it was martial arts, swordsmanship, or the Six Powers, the Navy Academy had experts in each field to train the students.
Over the course of a year, these Navy elites could choose one area to specialize in for systematic training, and each month there would be a large-scale combat drill.
In the beginning, these drills were just internal battles among the students, but by the middle of the year, Zephyr would even personally take them out to sea to hunt down pirates.
Of course, Zephyr was just there as insurance. Even if they encountered pirates, he generally wouldn't step in, letting the students handle the enemies themselves.
As graduation approached, Zephyr didn't even accompany them on missions anymore, leaving it to Wood and the others to venture out to sea and engage pirates on their own.
Being in the first half of the Grand Line, the pirates weren't particularly strong, but in any battle, casualties were inevitable.
To become a Navy officer, especially one who could command others in battle, you needed both strategic skills and the courage to remain calm under pressure.
Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 95 at patreon.com/Betek.