In the year 1503 of the Sea Circle Calendar, after being forced to spend an extra year in the Navy Academy, Wood finally reached the moment of graduation.
During this year, apart from his sparring match with Gion, Wood continued to keep a low profile as always.
Under the systematic training of the year, Wood mastered Paper Drawing, Finger Gun, and Tempest Kick.
As for Moonwalk and Iron Body, Wood self-taught them in the mountains through extra training on his own.
So, everyone, including Zephyr, believed that Wood had only mastered four of the Six Powers—Paper Drawing, Finger Gun, Tempest Kick, and Shave—when in reality, he had mastered all six.
Even mastering just four of the Six Powers placed him among the top students.
After all, in just one year, only one person in his class had mastered all six techniques—Gion.
The young woman was particularly displeased by how Wood had used "Shave" to outmaneuver her during their sparring match, so she initially chose the Navy's Six Powers as her focus.
In addition to training in the Six Powers, Wood also took up some martial arts combat training during the year.
When Zephyr and Gion learned that Wood had chosen martial arts instead of swordsmanship, they were both surprised.
From Gion's perspective, Wood's choice was entirely misguided. At his age, becoming a swordmaster already indicated that Wood had exceptional talent in swordsmanship.
The proper path would have been to continue refining his swordsmanship to advance even further. Yet, he chose to study martial arts, which had nothing to do with swordsmanship.
The Six Powers could be understood, as techniques like "Shave" and "Moonwalk" were auxiliary skills useful in both swordsmanship and martial arts.
However, martial arts and swordsmanship are fundamentally different. A young swordmaster abandoning his exceptional talent in swordsmanship to pursue martial arts seemed outright foolish!
Zephyr also tried to persuade Wood when he learned of his decision. Zephyr himself was proficient in martial arts, but he would never advise Wood to give up swordsmanship.
A person's energy and time are limited; even the most gifted individual cannot excel in both swordsmanship and martial arts simultaneously.
Rather than trying to juggle both and ending up achieving nothing, it would be better to focus on the path most suited to oneself.
However, despite Zephyr's earnest advice, Wood remained unconvinced. A person's path is theirs to choose, and though Zephyr felt some regret, he knew he had no right to interfere with Wood's decision.
This was why Wood, despite being a swordmaster, was regarded by everyone as a fool for also training in martial arts.
He clearly had exceptional talent in swordsmanship but chose to waste it by learning something he wasn't good at.
When the school year began, the sparring match between Wood and Gion had made everyone believe that Wood was the second strongest among them, right after Gion.
But after a year, Wood, whom they considered a fool, chose to pursue martial arts, resulting in little improvement in his swordsmanship. As a result, most of the others had surpassed Wood in overall ability.
In short, Wood, who was originally second in rank, had now become just an average performer in the group.
It was as if he had been dealt a strong hand, only to play it poorly. Many mocked him for it, but was that really the case?
True, martial arts and swordsmanship are vastly different, and it's impossible for a person to excel in both simultaneously.
But Wood was an exception, someone who couldn't be judged by common standards—because he was a man with a cheat.
A person's energy is indeed limited, but by using the "Life Simulator," each simulation for Wood was like gaining an entire lifetime's worth of energy and time.
Others might not be able to balance martial arts and swordsmanship, but for Wood, it was no problem at all.
And even while studying martial arts, Wood had never slacked in his swordsmanship training; the wild boars on the mountain every night could attest to that.
The belief that his abilities had stagnated was just a fixed idea in their minds after Wood chose martial arts, reinforced by Wood's deliberate concealment.
Wood graduated with average grades, which didn't qualify him for an idle junior officer position.
As for Gion, who graduated at the top of the class, she was immediately assigned to the position of Sergeant.
And that Sergeant position was only temporary—given Gion's abilities and performance, her rank would likely rise rapidly within two years.
Smoker and Hina, who also had excellent grades, were selected to stay for further officer training this year.
Before leaving the Navy Academy, Gion even sought out Wood and expressed her desire to spar with him once more.
Unsurprisingly, Wood outright refused this thankless request, insisting that someone of his mid-level abilities could never hope to compete with a genius.
"Even though you wasted a year, your talent in swordsmanship is still exceptional, and you're several years younger than us.
If you abandon martial arts and return to the right path, you could still catch up with me, perhaps even surpass me!"
Gion herself didn't know why she was saying these things to Wood. Perhaps she regretted seeing his talent go to waste, or maybe she had come to see him as a rival over these two years?
"I never said I gave up on swordsmanship. Just because you see something doesn't mean it's true, Gion."
As soon as Wood finished speaking, Gion felt a breeze pass before her, and a sudden sense of danger washed over her. She instinctively reached for the hilt of her sword, Kinpira, only to find a blade with a sky-blue sheath already at her throat!
Gion was stunned! She hadn't seen a thing when Wood made his move.
Although she had been completely unguarded, the aura Wood exuded at that moment made Gion's skin crawl, even as a fellow swordmaster!
The young man whom everyone regarded as a fool hadn't just maintained his swordsmanship over the past year—he had grown even stronger!
"Please keep this a secret. I don't want to be assigned to some dangerous position because of this."
Perhaps it was Gion's earlier concern for him, or maybe Wood thought that since they would be assigned to different places, they wouldn't cross paths again.
Whatever the reason, Wood ultimately decided, against his better judgment, to show Gion the results of his year's training.