After killing his first Hollow, Wayne spent nearly another week exploring the outer edges of this area.
During that time he also killed a fair number of mindless beast-form Hollows, and among them was one stray aberrant-form Hollow that had wandered off alone.
By this point, Wayne had developed a rough understanding of how Hollows were ranked.
Drawing on his hazy memories of the manga from his previous life and combining them with his firsthand experience in this one, Wayne eventually sorted Hollows into the following broad categories.
First, there were six tiers in total: Beast Hollow, Common Hollow, Elite Hollow, High Hollow (Giant Hollow), Menos Grande, and King Hollow.
The details of each were as follows: Beast Hollow: the weakest Hollows, with no intelligence whatsoever.
They take animal forms, cats, dogs, lizards, insects, birds, and the like are the most common.
Even when they have access to Reishi, they have almost no chance of developing into higher-level Hollows with true intellect.
In short: food.
Common Hollow: the low-tier Hollows, comprising aberrant-form, humanoid-form, and beast-form varieties.
Beast-form Common Hollows are mostly large-animal shapes, tigers, leopards, elephants, and the like, though large spiders and wolves are also not uncommon.
Humanoid Hollows, like Wayne himself, have human-shaped bodies ranging from one to three meters in height.
Aberrant-form Hollows look so strange and irregular that there is simply no precise way to classify them by appearance.
The Reiatsu of these Hollows is very weak, and most of them possess no intelligence.
Only a small number of mutant variants, or Hollows that originated from humans rather than native spiritual beings, have any chance of carrying a degree of intellect.
They can only hunt other Hollows by pure instinct, and the Beast Hollows described above are generally their prey.
At the present stage, Wayne’s own Reiatsu falls roughly within this tier, though as someone who crossed over from another life, his higher-order intelligence is currently his greatest advantage.
Elite Hollow: two to three times the size of a Common Hollow, with strength and Reiatsu to match.
Not long ago, after hunting down a dog-form Beast Hollow, Wayne witnessed with his own eyes, from behind a sand dune, a massive ape-form Hollow standing roughly five meters tall walking off into the depths of the forest in the distance.
The chaotic, oppressive surge of its Reiatsu made Wayne deeply uncomfortable.
Not only that, but the Hollow roars that occasionally drifted out from deep within that forest were nothing like the howling of Beast Hollows.
Those sounds were clearly produced under the deliberate control of the Hollow itself.
He had not yet had any direct contact, but Wayne was fairly certain that starting from the Elite Hollow tier, at least some Hollows began to possess intelligence and were capable of communication.
High Hollow (Giant Hollow): creatures standing over five meters tall.
Wayne had never seen one himself, his judgment here came purely from his memories of the previous life.
That said, not every Hollow grows that large during its development.
There are also Hollows with smaller frames whose Reiatsu is nonetheless on par with the giant ones.
In terms of Reiryoku, a High Hollow’s is five to ten times that of an Elite Hollow.
They do not all necessarily speak, but they almost all possess intelligence, though there are a rare few exceptions.
Regardless, in any matchup an Elite Hollow encountering a High Hollow has no choice but to go around it, unless, of course, it possesses the kind of higher-order intellect that Wayne has.
Menos Grande: the transition into Menos Grande marks a watershed moment in a Hollow’s development.
Once a Hollow crosses into the Menos Grande tier, whether it has any future growth potential becomes immediately obvious.
Menos Grande can be further divided into three sub-levels: Gillian, Adjuchas, and Vasto Lorde.
After a High Hollow advances into a Menos Grande, its body undergoes a transformation.
Regardless of what form it previously held, once it accumulates enough Reiryoku to make the leap, it becomes a massive creature standing dozens of meters tall and draped in something resembling a witch’s black cloak.
They typically have white Hollow Masks shaped like a clown’s long-nosed face.
Hollows of this kind are called Gillian, they are the foot soldiers of the Menos Grande.
They have almost no consciousness and operate entirely on instinct.
When necessary, they follow the orders of the higher-ranked Adjuchas above them.
There are, however, a portion of Gillian that retain consciousness, or whose consciousness has not fully disappeared.
For this type of Gillian, the Hollow Mask on their face transforms into something resembling a striped suit of armor.
Because they possess consciousness, they are free to devour their own kind without restraint, accumulating Reiryoku within themselves until it reaches a sufficient quantity, and then triggering another advancement.
They become Adjuchas.
Once a conscious Gillian accumulates enough Reiryoku to advance, it sinks into the sand and enters a period of dormancy.
How long that dormancy lasts depends on the strength of its Reiryoku and its future potential.
The longer the dormancy, the more refined and pure the extracted Reiryoku becomes.
Exceptions do exist, however, quite a few Gillian, after accumulating enough Reiryoku, skip the dormancy phase entirely and transition directly into Adjuchas.
These particular Hollows, however, possess a certain special quality: they are able to make appropriate adjustments to the Reiryoku within their bodies in order to handle the side effects that come with skipping dormancy.
And when they emerge from beneath the ground, they fully become mid-tier Menos Grande, Adjuchas.
The physical form of Adjuchas resembles what Gillian looked like before their transformation.
The difference is that they possess Reiatsu and physical conditioning of a far higher grade, and they begin to carry a correspondingly higher level of intelligence.
Their capabilities are roughly ten to twenty times those of a Gillian.
When some Gillian transform into Adjuchas, their physical form also undergoes dramatic changes, but this does not hinder their mobility.
On the contrary, their mastery over their own bodies becomes better than it was before.
In short: once a Hollow evolves to the Adjuchas level of Menos Grande, it engages in communication and combat with conscious intent.
However, becoming an Adjuchas comes with a certain risk, namely, that as they continue devouring their own kind and absorbing Reiryoku, the moment their Hollow Mask is damaged, they permanently lose any chance of further evolution.
Moreover, if an Adjuchas sustains damage severe enough to force a regression back to the Gillian tier, that Adjuchas will lose consciousness one hundred percent of the time, with no possibility of ever evolving again.
For this reason, within Adjuchas territory, one-on-one fights to the death are extremely rare, unless one side holds an overwhelming power advantage.
Or both sides carry a hatred so deep that one of them must die.
Otherwise, the risk of a third-party Adjuchas swooping in to benefit from the clash is simply too great.
Advancement from Adjuchas: Vasto Lorde.
The undisputed rulers of Hueco Mundo.
They possess the greatest power of all, with Reiatsu that surpasses even a Soul Reaper captain’s.
There are very few of them in all of Hueco Mundo.
Their Reiryoku is at minimum twenty times that of a peak Adjuchas, and if a Vasto Lorde reaches the very top of its tier, its Reiryoku will be a hundred times that of an Adjuchas, or even more.
Above the Vasto Lorde, there is yet one more, the Hollow of legend: King Hollow.
This, however, is already beyond the scope of Wayne’s considerations.
After all, looking at his current Reiatsu level, he is nothing more than the weakest of all existing beings.
Never mind King Hollow, even the Gillian class of Menos Grande is something he does not need to think about for the foreseeable future.
That is simply too far out of reach.
Wayne’s goal right now is to keep growing stronger in this place where the powerful reign supreme, and then…
Survive.
…
Thud!
The dull sound of flesh being pierced by a sharp blade shattered the silence all around.
In the ruins of a dead tree, Wayne slowly let out a long breath as a massive spider-form Hollow crumpled to the ground.
“That’s the seventeenth stray Common Hollow now.
Even if they’re all stupid, the High Hollows inside the forest should have noticed something by this point, shouldn’t they?” For a long stretch of time after that, Wayne kept himself lurking around the perimeter of this small jungle territory.
Apart from hunting Beast Hollows, Wayne also began making probing strikes at stray Common Hollows.
Against mindless Common Hollows, after all, he had absolutely no reason to lose.
Relying on the various traps he constructed from his previous life’s memories, along with fighting techniques he had picked up from the internet, Wayne managed to carve out quite a comfortable situation for himself on the outer edges of this small forest.
As the number of Beast Hollows and Common Hollows he hunted gradually increased, Wayne noticed the warm sensation inside him growing stronger and stronger.
And with that, his understanding of Reiryoku and Reiatsu slowly began to take shape.
Reiryoku, simply put, is the power of the soul within humans, Soul Reapers, and Hollows.
That power is tied to one’s innate soul density, the higher the soul density, the stronger the Reiryoku.
A human’s soul density is fixed.
A Soul Reaper, on the other hand, can increase their soul density, and therefore strengthen their Reiryoku, through continuous training in Soul Society and the passage of time.
Hollows, for their part, strengthen their soul density by continuously devouring others and absorbing Reishi.
And Reiatsu is the pressure that a Soul Reaper or Hollow exerts on others when they release their Reiryoku, it is also the measure of how powerful that Reiryoku is.
The magnitude of one’s Reiatsu shifts with the strength of one’s Reiryoku: the more Reiryoku is used, the greater the Reiatsu released.
While continuously devouring weaker Hollows, Wayne also began gradually learning to control the Reiryoku within his own body.
He still could not externalize it, however, for now he could only use his Reiryoku to release Reiatsu against enemies.
When a Hollow reaches the High Hollow tier, it will comprehend its own innate attribute abilities and forge a set of techniques uniquely its own.
Upon becoming a Gillian, it learns the signature technique of the Menos Grande, the Cero.
After becoming an Adjuchas, it gains access to its own unique special ability.
But before that point, all Hollows fight through brute physical force or the natural traits of their own attributes, devouring one another.
Their limbs and body are their greatest weapons.
And below the Menos Grande tier, the effect that Reiryoku generally produces in all Hollows is an increase in body size along with a boost to strength and speed.
Only a minority of Hollows can use their Reiryoku to enhance mental power, sound-wave abilities, or similar techniques to attack.
After eating the giant spider Hollow’s Hollow Mask, Wayne quickly hid himself.
His current position was already very close to the forest, if he did not leave quickly, once the Reishi released by the spider Hollow’s death reached the High Hollows deep in the forest, getting away from here would become far more difficult.
Rapidly putting distance between himself and that dangerous area, Wayne found a sheltered spot beneath a rocky overhang and began digesting the Hollow Mask of the giant spider Hollow he had just consumed.
A Common Hollow’s Reiatsu is roughly three to five times that of a Beast Hollow, and its Reiryoku is three to five times as much as well.
The Reiryoku that this single spider Hollow gave Wayne was enough to save him several days of wandering in search of Beast Hollows lingering at the forest’s edge.
Warm currents of Reishi flowed continuously through Wayne’s entire body.
This pleasant, warm sensation was genuinely wonderful.
After about an hour, once he had fully digested the Hollow Mask, Wayne began practicing control over the Reiryoku within him.
He focused his Reiryoku into his left fist and drove a punch into the rock face behind him.
The massive boulder shattered on impact.
He raised his right claw and slashed at the flying debris.
Clean, smooth cuts appeared on the chunks of rock still tumbling through the air.
“Well.
Compared to when I started, I should have improved quite a bit by now.” Wayne murmured to himself.
He remembered arriving in Hueco Mundo and barely being able to knock over a small tree with a single punch.
Now he could shatter boulders.
If he divided Common Hollow, Elite Hollow, and High Hollow into high, mid, and low sub-tiers, he would place himself at roughly the mid-tier of the Common Hollow range right now.
At the very least, he no longer felt much concern when facing a stray Common Hollow.
“It’s a shame though — why did the only weapon I have end up on my right hand?” Wayne looked at his right claw, feeling a restless itch in his heart.
In his previous life he had been left-handed.
He had used his left hand far more than his right, and even now, as a Hollow in this new life, he was still more comfortable with his left.
“Still, keeping a nimble left hand in humanoid form isn’t bad at all.
I remember that once a Hollow advances to Adjuchas it can use Cero and Bala — that’s when the left hand really comes into its own.
Heh, I’ve always wanted to try Coyote Starrk’s twin guns.
Oh right — I also seem to remember that Hollows can have the chance to awaken a Soul Reaper’s power and become an Arrancar.
Which means there’s room to put swordsmanship to use as well?” During his brief rest, Wayne sat on the ground staring up at the dim yellow sky, letting his thoughts drift.
His previous life had been muddled and unremarkable.
He hoped this one would turn out better.
“Ha…
thinking this much doesn’t help anything.
It’s still a long road ahead.
Staying alive right now is the real goal.
It’s time to leave this place — if I keep hunting here, a High Hollow from inside the forest is going to notice me before long.
Safety first, for everything right now.
Move on to the next area.” He steadied himself and prepared to leave this forest territory where he had lived for so long.
But before he could take a single step, a powerful surge of Reiatsu crashed into him head-on.
Sensing that enormous pressure, Wayne’s first instinct was to leap aside.
Unfortunately it was not enough, the blast wave from the massive explosion still sent him flying.
“Hmph.
A lowly lower-tier Hollow, daring to hunt freely on my territory.
Today I’ll show you what happens to those who don’t follow my rules!” After the explosion, a voice full of savage menace reached Wayne’s ears.
“Cough, cough…” Wayne struggled to his feet after hitting the ground.
He shook his head and shed the sand from his body.
Looking back, he saw a massive crater in the sand where he had been standing a moment ago.
A giant humanoid Hollow, standing well over five meters tall, its body covered in black totemic markings, stood on the far side of that crater, staring at him coldly with eyes full of killing intent.
“Who are you!” Wayne said, his voice hard.
“Oh?
No wonder you could hunt so many lower-tier Hollows alone.
So you’re a mutant — a lower-tier creature with actual intelligence.” The giant Hollow sneered.
“I am the lord of this forest.
And you, you pathetic lower-tier creature — your actions have angered me!” As he spoke, a surge of powerful Reiatsu swept toward Wayne.
With oppressive force like this, it was obvious without any further thought: the giant before him had reached the peak of the Elite Hollow tier.
If he were to devour a few more lower-grade Elite Hollows, he would likely advance to High Hollow before long.
“Heh.
But ever since I claimed dominion over this forest, it has been quite some time since I encountered a lower-tier Hollow I could actually talk to.
I’ll give you two choices right now.
One: submit to me.
I will offer you this forest as your territory.
Two: become my meal right here and now.” The giant Hollow’s voice was savage and ugly.
“Do I have any other options?” Wayne relaxed his body, spread both hands open, and then slowly walked toward the giant Hollow.
He came to stand before it and slowly bent his knee.
“Hmph.
A wise man knows when to yield.
Come with me then.
The lower-tier Hollows inside the forest are yours to hunt freely.
Once you’re strong enough, we’ll go after the upper-tier ones together.
But you must…
hmm?
Ugh — what are you doing!” Before the giant Hollow could finish speaking, Wayne seized the instant his guard dropped and sprang upward.
The handful of sand his left hand had quietly scooped up flew straight into the giant Hollow’s face.
So what if it was a peak Elite Hollow?
So what if it had developed intelligence?
When it came to actual combat, what did it have beyond brute strength?
If this came down to a battle of wits, how could it possibly outthink Wayne, who had once been human?
With the sand thrown, Wayne immediately redirected his Reiatsu, accelerated, and circled to the giant Hollow’s back.
A large body meant limited mobility, that was one of its disadvantages.
Even if its Reiryoku was ten times Wayne’s, in that split second the giant Hollow had no way to react.
Wayne raised his right claw and slashed with all his strength at the giant Hollow’s Achilles tendon.
But the gap in Reiryoku was simply too large, this strike only tore through half of the giant Hollow’s Achilles tendon rather than severing the foot entirely.
In turn, the impact shattered two of the blade-claws on Wayne’s right hand.
In this exchange, despite Wayne being the one who attacked, he had somehow come away with the greater injury.
“Damn you!
You lowly maggot — you dared to wound me!” The giant Hollow stumbled, steadied itself, turned, and hurled a fist straight at him.
The gap in tier was simply too vast.
Even though Wayne could read its movements, the sheer weight of that Reiatsu gave him no room to dodge.
He could only set his stance, deflect away from the core of the blow, and brace himself to take the edge of the punch.
BOOM!
The colossal force, mixed with savage Reiatsu, sent Wayne flying.
He had only caught the edge of that fist wind, yet it nearly tore him apart under the weight of that Reiatsu.
The point of contact was his right arm, and the impact snapped it in at least three places.
But it was that very punch that instantly put considerable distance between Wayne and the giant Hollow.
Run!
His legs were completely uninjured.
Running was not a problem.
The giant Hollow had the Achilles tendon of one leg severed by Wayne, so it could not run at the moment.
For it to catch up to Wayne now, it would need to use Sonído.
As long as Wayne put enough distance between himself and this area before its tendon healed, it would not give chase, because for the giant Hollow, venturing outside its own territory meant it could very well end up as prey inside another High Hollow’s stomach.
Let alone in its current injured state.
It could not afford to take that risk.
➤ Next: A Thrilling Battle of Wits