Boom—!
Gusion's figure was sent flying, knocking over several carts loaded with training equipment before he finally managed to steady himself with difficulty.
He glanced at the bamboo sword in his hand, feeling the profundity behind the Captain-Commander's recent strike.
"Young man, that's enough for today. You should have recognized your shortcomings by now."
Across the room, the Captain-Commander put on his wide haori again and looked at the battered Gusion. "If you want to graduate early, you still have a way to go."
Gusion stretched his aching body. "I just want to join the Thirteen Court Guard Squads as soon as possible. I believe only real combat can help me grow faster."
Hearing this, the Captain-Commander paused as he was about to leave the classroom, then turned around and said, "So that's how you think. But you should know, if you stayed in the academy a few more years, you could graduate with a higher rank."
The students present were shocked by the Captain-Commander's blunt words—it was almost a direct hint.
With Gusion's talent, his skills in sword, fist, and Kido arts were already the best in the academy. If he spent a few more years honing his spiritual pressure, he could graduate and directly become an officer, or even a vice-captain, in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads!
But if he chose to graduate early by passing the final exam, because of his current spiritual pressure, he could only become an ordinary squad member—at best, the captain might pay him a little more attention due to his talent.
Gusion met the Captain-Commander's gaze. "Young birds must leave the nest; only in the sky can they soar higher."
The Captain-Commander's mouth curled up slightly beneath his white beard. "In that case, I'll give you a chance. If you can satisfy the examiner, I'll let you graduate early."
With that, the Captain-Commander left the classroom—clearly, this was his last time instructing Gusion.
Gusion walked into the stunned crowd and began healing his wounds with Kaido.
This was already his third time sparring in Kendo with the Captain-Commander. The strongest Shinigami in name and fact—sword, fist, Kido arts—the Captain-Commander had no weaknesses; he excelled in every area.
Including hand-to-hand combat, he'd sparred with the Captain-Commander seven times in total, with zero victories. Trying to defeat a legend whose base attributes weren't even in the same dimension was truly difficult.
But the Captain-Commander's purpose was to teach him, so he would intentionally display advanced combat techniques during the fights, which benefited Gusion greatly.
On his status panel, all his core specialization skills had improved, each by 3 levels.
Master Swordsmanship Specialization:
Level: lv.23/40 (+3)
Specialization Effect: The explorer has achieved considerable mastery in swordsmanship, worthy of being called a master. When attacking with swords as the main weapon, deals an additional 46% damage.
Master Martial Arts Specialization:
Level: lv.21/40 (+3)
Specialization Effect: The explorer has achieved considerable mastery in martial arts, worthy of being called a master. When attacking with bare hands, deals an additional 42% damage.
Master Force Redirection Specialization:
Level: lv.24/40 (+5)
Specialization Effect: The explorer has become more attuned to the flow of force in battle, able to redirect and dissipate powerful impacts, greatly reducing damage from blunt force.
[]
Indeed, the skill Gusion improved most was not martial arts or swordsmanship, but force redirection.
Mainly because the Captain-Commander was so overwhelmingly strong, Gusion was always at a disadvantage during sparring. If he wanted not to be instantly crushed, he first needed to tank hits better.
Otherwise, facing a Captain-Commander whose combat skills were probably at the master level in every area, he would be demolished head-on in an instant.
"Gusion-kun, are you that anxious to graduate?"
After class, Aizen walked with Gusion toward the cafeteria, unable to hold back his question.
Gusion, healing himself with Kaido as he walked, smiled, "What, Sosuke, are you afraid of being lonely?"
"Not really."
Aizen's expression didn't change. "I just think you could stay another two years and improve your spiritual pressure. There's no harm in that. The daily life of a Court Guard member isn't that safe. When doing missions in the living world, anything might happen. If you're unlucky enough to run into a Menos Grande, that could be the end for you."
Gusion thought to himself: I'd love to stay and farm more stats, but the Endspace didn't give me that much time.
In two days, it would be the finals, and the Endspace had clearly calculated the timing—he now had only four days of stay left.
"Sosuke, you know me well. I just want to go out and seek excitement."
Gusion said with a smile, patting Aizen on the shoulder. "If you can't bear to see me go, why not graduate with me?"
"Gusion-kun, you're joking again. My skills are nowhere near yours. How could I graduate early?"
Aizen's expression was calm. "Besides, from the Captain-Commander's words, I don't know about previous years, but this time, graduating early is probably extremely difficult. If a captain is the examiner, there's no way you could pass."
Aizen had analyzed the situation; the Captain-Commander appreciated Gusion-kun and didn't want him to graduate so soon. He wanted him to realize that there were always stronger people out there and to honestly train a few more years, like forging divine steel before sending it to the battlefield.
So, the examiner would be a very strong one—maybe even another captain. With Gusion's top-level skills, even a vice-captain couldn't reliably beat him unless they relied on spiritual pressure.
So, the examiner was likely to be a captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. Even if they suppressed their spiritual pressure, how could Gusion possibly win?
All in all, Aizen figured the Captain-Commander was just finding another excuse to keep Gusion from graduating early.
"But Sosuke, you've already achieved Shikai. Very few Shinigami can do that while still in the academy. You're a true genius—it shouldn't be hard for you to graduate early."
Gusion said, putting a large tray of food on the table, ready to start recovering.
"Gusion-kun flatters me. Since you're set on this, I can only wish you luck in passing the Captain-Commander's test and breaking the academy's fastest graduation record."
Aizen said helplessly. Normally, he could graduate early if he wanted. There were historical precedents of geniuses graduating after only two or three years.
The academy didn't purposely hold back geniuses; as long as your sword, fist, and kido arts were excellent and your spiritual pressure outstanding, you could graduate.
For example, if a student had perfect marks in all core skills and the spiritual pressure of tenth class, they could graduate and become an officer—maybe a lower seat at first.
He already had fifth-class spiritual pressure. If he wanted to graduate, he could. The problem was, that Gusion-kun was just too much of a maverick. This semester, anyone wanting early graduation would have to go through the same ordeal as Gusion-kun—challenging a captain.
So, from his future plans and the difficulty of early graduation, he wouldn't choose to challenge a captain alongside Gusion-kun. They'd just have to meet again in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads.