As I dozed fitfully in a relatively intact shack, clutching my swords, I had a dream… It was about a young woman.
She was a golden-blonde with long hair, wearing a black full-face mask adorned with gold patterns that spiked upward like the points of a crown.
She was tall, taller than I am now, closer to my old height.
She wore a luxurious white trouser suit that accentuated her curves, paired with a black shirt and a red tie.
Black leather gloves covered the hands that held a sword I recognized, and the ensemble was finished off with equally stylish shoes.
The thought crossed my mind that the only things missing to complete the look were a white gangster fedora and a Tommy gun.
We stood in a fairly wide circular arena, which was essentially a platform moving upward through an endless archive.
An endless, empty archive.
I greedily etched her image into my memory, as if under a spell.
Her neon eyes, visible through the slits of her mask, seemed to be searching for something within me in return.
This went on for quite some time, and I could not for the life of me figure out what she was looking for.
But the moment she found it, she honored me with a deep bow.
I wanted to ask something, reach out to her, and accept her vow, but I was suddenly thrust back into the real world.
Was that my Zanpakuto?
It must have been.
I wouldn’t just dream up a lady with a katana out of nowhere.
Thumping the back of my head against the wall in frustration, I examined my swords.
Outwardly, they hadn’t changed one bit.
But what would my Diary have to say about this?
Item: Right Zanpakuto Blade
Name: █████
Rank: B
Properties: An ideal conduit for spiritual energy.
Blade Spirit Vessel.
Description: The Hero’s spiritual essence permeates this sword.
The spirit within eagerly awaits the next encounter.
Right…
that’s a bit unsettling, but that woman seemed to look quite obedient in front of me.
What about the second one?
Item: Left Zanpakuto Blade
Name: █████
Rank: B
Properties: An ideal conduit for spiritual energy.
Hollowfied Blade Spirit Vessel.
Description: The Hero’s spiritual essence permeates this sword.
The spirit within is hungry.
The spirit within is glad to return to the Hero once again.
I stared at the notification for a long time, trying to make sense of it.
“Once again”— that word gave me pause.
Had I somehow restored my Hollow nature?
Where could it have come from in the first place?
I understand that Hollow power acts as a catalyst for Fullbringer abilities, but I was supposed to have undergone Conso…
There are theories that I lost it when I was cleansed upon death, yet now it has returned.
Does this mean I was a Hollow all along, before I died?
Maybe it’s like the situation with Ichigo after Mugetsu?
When his powers returned after he absorbed the captains’ reiatsu through a special sword.
I don’t have a more precise theory for now.
Oh, well…
is eager to meet, who am I to refuse him?
I still have a little food left, but after that, I’ll most likely have to head into town to look for work.
I sat in the lotus position and placed both blades across my knees, infusing them with my essence.
After an hour of fruitless meditation, I realized something was wrong.
Attempts to summon the spirit or delve into my inner world also proved unsuccessful.
I alternated between the swords, hoping to find a working combination, but to no avail.
That is how most of the day passed.
What am I doing wrong?
Or am I not ready for this meeting yet, and they simply won’t let me in?
Information Note: The Hero must increase the rank of the Meditation skill to gain the ability to independently enter the inner world.
But it’s already D-rank!
I’ve spent so many years just to reach this point.
What more do you want?
Besides, the word “independently” sort of implies she could just force it to happen.
So why is she waiting?
Is this some kind of test?
…
The Note function didn’t respond.
Ugh, I could never figure out how it works…
And now that my Hollow Power has found a vessel, who knows what will happen to it next?
But that’s a matter for the future.
For now, I decided to check on my skill progress.
Skill: Meditation
Rank: D
Rank Progress: 19/100
Description: The Hero can enter a state of trance and tranquility to focus their mind, improve morale, alleviate certain negative effects, or reduce stress.
Meditation accelerates the recovery of spiritual energy by absorbing it from the surrounding environment and allows the body to relax, relieving physical tension.
Sigh…
I really hope that reaching Rank C is all it takes to dive into my inner world.
To level up this skill faster, I’ll have to spend my stamina and Reiatsu reserves almost to zero every day, as I did at the very beginning of my journey.
Ugh, grinding again.
If I really push myself, and get a little lucky, I might just hit the required level before enrollment.
I hope that by then, she’ll start inviting me into her inner world on her own.
With a troubled mind, I carved the word “OCCUPIED” into the wall of my house and headed for District 42.
To start, I set aside some funds to make myself look presentable.
I bought a couple of cheap male yukatas.
They’d be far more comfortable than a kimono in the summer heat.
Just to treat myself, I picked up a few hairbands and a comb.
Hey, why not?
I like my ponytail.
Renji, for instance, used to walk around with a pineapple on his head, and nobody said a word to him.
Except Ichigo.
But who really cared what our “Strawberry” had to say?
For the first time in all my years in the Soul Society, I bathed in a public bathhouse rather than the river.
And, to be honest, I preferred the river.
But I won’t go into the details.
After chatting with the owner of a nearby tavern, I found out what kind of work was available, and…
well, let’s just say I found something suitable.
Though I did have to lie and claim I was a survivor from the 43rd District.
I had prudently deactivated my titles so they wouldn’t overly influence how people perceived me.
To be honest, I thought I would never have to clean floors or deliver orders again.
But there were improvements!
Back at Lin’s, I did it for a crust of bread; now, I was doing it for actual coins.
I was moving up in the world.
Surprisingly, my scrubbed-up, well-groomed face even landed me a few invitations from cute girls to come sit with them.
Figuring this was how one became a hostess, I’d sometimes accept.
Until I was called away for the next order.
By spinning them the same sob story, which was completely fabricated, of course, I’d occasionally pick up a few tips and some moral support.
Still, even with those pleasant interludes, the day was damn exhausting.
By evening, I was itching to tell my employer that my true calling lay in dispensing violence, but that would have blown my entire cover story.
Tired and dissatisfied with life, but having eaten for free and earned a little money, I returned “home”.
After meditating for an hour to perk myself up, I went into the woods to put myself through the wringer.
With my current reserves of Reiatsu, I could afford to throw it around however I pleased.
And that is exactly what I did.
A long time ago, as soon as I got my sword, I thought about trying to replicate the Getsuga Tensho.
It would seem like a banal energy slash, but everything turned out to be not so simple.
While unleashing a crescent-shaped wave of Reiatsu from the blade wasn’t difficult, I just couldn’t seem to turn it into a reliable technique.
Still, I didn’t give up.
I kept hurling chaotic, deep-red slashes until I had completely exhausted my spiritual energy reserves.
Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I noticed that the peaceful clearing had been transformed into a battlefield by my training.
I stood there, utterly exhausted, surrounded by churned-up earth, severed trees, and uprooted shrubs.
The sun hadn’t set yet, so I continued meditating and experimenting.
After a while, I felt fresh again, right as rain.
Meditation was worth cultivating if only for such a rapid recovery of combat readiness.
But back to the experiments.
I had to accept that I wouldn’t be able to master this skill without a “Getsu”-type Zanpakuto, the kind Isshin mentioned.
On the other hand, I still have plenty of free time and a surplus of raw power.
By deep night, when the ditches all around had begun to resemble trenches, I seemed to have made some headway…
yet a sense of dissatisfaction remained.
Perhaps because I was lying in a crater, utterly exhausted, spitting out dirt?
Skill Acquired!
Skill: Spirit Energy Burst
Rank: F
Rank Progress: 2/100
Description: Strikes the target with explosive force generated by infusing a massive amount of spirit energy into the weapon and instantly releasing it.
“I invented the Point-Blank Getsuga.
Victory!” I thrust my fist toward the sky, but immediately let it drop back down.
I had no strength left for anything, and that verdict was final.
I could have tried meditating while lying down, but I would most likely fall asleep.
But I’m not suicidal enough to sleep in an unfamiliar forest, in a ready-made grave.
Leaning on my swords as if they were ski poles, I made it home.
Of course, I apologized to them for it later, but I have a feeling this mode of travel will become a habit until I level up Meditation to Rank C.
I didn’t even notice sleep overtake me.
My eyes closed of their own accord, and we found ourselves once again on an ascending platform inside the infinitely long archive tower.
“█████ ████████, █████,” the young woman in the white suit said something, but I didn’t hear her.
Not a word escaped my lips when I tried to answer her.
I could only muster enough strength to point at my ear.
Her bright eyes dimmed slightly, and I drifted off into an ordinary sleep.
I woke up deeply disappointed once again.
As it turned out, this would become a recurring pattern.
I went to work, occasionally strolled through the market, and kept up my training in the woods.
To break the monotony of life, I helped people clear away debris and haul logs for the construction of new homes.
Yes, parts of District 43 were still considered largely uninhabitable, but people were slowly beginning to return to its outskirts.
Only one thing remained unchanged.
Every night I would meet with my Zanpakuto, yet I never heard her voice.
Two weeks later, I replaced full-fledged sleep with meditation and thus began to hear individual words from the girl in the mask.
Rank C was within reach, and my newly acquired Burst skill had already hit Rank E.
I couldn’t just give up.
Even if I hadn’t achieved Shikai, I had to enter my inner world on my own before enrollment.
At the start of August, word spread through the districts that the Academy of Spiritual Arts was beginning recruitment.
Since I’d managed to scrape together some savings, the time had come to leave my old job and head to Seireitei.
It’s a shame, really.
I had made some friends among the cute girls and a few drinking buddies… though things started out with fistfights between us.
A funny story, really.
I tried not to get too attached, but I admit I’ll miss our shared drinks and desserts.
And so my pilgrimage continued.
As the district numbers decreased, the quality of life improved, though not quite as drastically.
Within the first ten districts, the opulent mansions of lower-ranking noble families would occasionally tower over the surroundings.
I even caught sight of the Ise clan’s Shinto shrine.
It is said that only girls are born into their clan.
Rumor also had it that, due to specific rites and rituals, members of the family are unable to awaken their own Zanpakuto.
Instead, the head of the house inherits a sword passed down through generations.
My records even provided the name of that blade.
Shinken Hakkyōken.
So, Nanao comes from that family?
Interesting.
And so, I arrived in District 1 of Northern Rukongai.
The prices here were, of course…
well, fortunately, there were cheap inns for aspiring students like me.
It was here, by the way, that I met Ushoda Hachigen, the future lieutenant of the Kidō Squad during Urahara’s time and later a Visored.
I hadn’t realized he was that old.
Although his canonical appearance suggested someone in their fifties or sixties, what did that actually mean for powerful, long-lived Soul Reapers?
Regardless, the person standing before me right then was a slightly chubby young man with short pink hair, not a walking, mustachioed barrel.
As expected, Hachigen was keenly interested in Kidō.
He even knew a few of the lower-numbered spells from the Paths of Destruction and Binding.
Persuading him to teach me at least Sai and Shō turned out to be not too difficult a task, he proved quite amenable.
However, he flatly refused to provide any further education.
It was “unsafe,” you see.
̶M̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶f̶r̶i̶e̶n̶d̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶p̶a̶n̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶w̶h̶o̶m̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶h̶e̶a̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶A̶c̶a̶d̶e̶m̶y̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶S̶p̶i̶r̶i̶t̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶A̶r̶t̶s̶.̶
Quest completed
All objectives met
Hooray.
And no reward, as always.
But nothing can dampen the fact that I’ve finally reached Rank C in Meditation.
God, how I miss sleeping while lying down…
But it’s no time to relax.
Diving in!
…
Me.
Her.
An endless archive.
And a lift ascending toward unreachable heavens.
We gazed at each other in silence, unsure of how to begin the conversation.
Her bright green eyes pierced me from behind the slits of her mask, searching for a flaw, but finding none.
“Welcome, Master,” came a soft voice from behind my Zanpakuto’s mask.
“I can finally hear you!
…Hello?” Honestly, I had never imagined exactly what my first words to my Zanpakuto should be.
“Your resolve has finally strengthened, allowing us to meet in person, Master.” The young woman drove her sword into the platform beneath us.
It screeched to a halt, making me tense up in surprise.
Meanwhile, my Zanpakuto dropped to one knee and bowed her head
“Resolve?..” I muttered questioningly.
Wasn’t it a matter of a looted Zanpakuto or spiritual power?
Or the Meditation skill, after all?
“A Shinigami’s blade is an extension of his will, Master,” she replied, looking at the floor.
“If a Shinigami lacks the will to embark on his path, where would the sword find it?”
She raised her head, catching my gaze like a snake catching a rabbit.
“And why should the blade grant power to someone who cannot even begin their journey?” Venom and resentment seeped into her calm, measured tone.
I couldn’t think of an answer.
“But that is in the past, my Master,” she said, lowering her gaze once more.
“I was with you the moment your hands touched this sword, and I shall remain until they let go of it for the last time.”
“Good to hear.
So… will you tell me your name?” I took a shot in the dark.
“Not now; you aren’t ready for the Trial yet,” she said, shaking her head.
Failure!
But, deep down, I agreed with her.
This wasn’t the sort of situation where I should rush in headlong.
She’d obviously wipe the floor with me.
For starters, standard methods of bonding with a Zanpakuto would suffice.
Philosophical discussions, sparring sessions, and so on.
“So, you’re the first to meet the Hero, █████?” came a thoroughly lazy, grating voice from behind me, and I spun around instantly.
“It’s a pity.
He really isn’t ready yet.”
She was a cute, petite teenage girl wearing a black hoodie and criminally short denim shorts.
Her appearance matched that of my second sword, which she carried on her back.
Aside from sharing my hair color, she stood out for the stark white irises of her eyes set against black sclerae.
Her face was also deathly pale, an utterly inhuman shade.
But the strangest thing was that she was barefoot.
“Hero’s Diary?” I ventured.
“That’s…
not my name,” she grinned, lazily tilting her head to the side.
“But part of our power.
It was interesting to read what happened to you in all these years without me.”
She performed a few demonstrative twists, cracking her back.
“You know, it’s damn good to be back with you.
Even if it is in the form of a Zanpakuto.” She looked herself over as if seeing herself for the first time.
“Without that inner void, you’re sort of…
too passive.”
“Do you remember my life in Gensei?” I asked, seizing upon the faint hint.
“Oh, if only,” she said, slowly shaking her head.
“That would clear a few things up, wouldn’t it?
But alas, I remember only what you remember.
And some of that Zanpakuto stuff, of course.”
“I won’t let you teach him while our Presence Concealment skill is so low, █████,” Golden spoke up.
“Oh, I want a cute nickname too,” Cobalt said, smirking and ignoring Golden.
“Okay, I like it.”
“Are you reading my mind?” I asked rhetorically.
“Of course—we are parts of your soul, after all,” said the empty part of me.
“You know how it works.
A fragment of your essence merges with the Asauchi essence inside the blade, and that’s where the magic happens.
It’s a good thing the Hero’s Diary warned you about the two swords.
Otherwise, we might have accidentally nipped your path as a Shinigami in the bud.
Or you would have ended up without me entirely if you’d turned down the quest.”
“Wait, what?
Explain, please.
”
“Well, if you decided to devour the bodies of Hollows and Shinigami using only a single Zanpakuto, you’d very quickly turn into a low-level Hollow yourself.
You’d likely be lucky enough to retain your self-awareness, since the Nail of that deity won’t let us completely consume one another…
But in all likelihood, you’d just get cut down by the nearest passing patrol.”Cobalt explained, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.
“Hmm…
By the way, why are there two of you?
Aren’t you supposed to be a single Hollowfied Zanpakuto?” I asked, a bit confused.
“So, does that mean you’re a dual Zanpakuto, with one part of you Hollowfied?”
“Yes and no,” she began, as if working her way toward an explanation.
“Look, that’s exactly what I was getting at.
At first, she and I weren’t one—not at all.
But!
When you consumed the Hollows, I reappeared in your soul, and █████ and I began to merge.”
She brazenly pointed a finger at Golden.
“However, with help of the Nail, we voluntarily separated so that I could be sealed within a separate sword.
The one whose spirit I had consumed.
And just so you understand: I am literally sealed away.
There is no spiritual exchange or growth between us, the way there is with your actual Zanpakuto.
That means my powers won’t grow naturally unless you feed me other Hollows.
Cobalt paused to reflect before uttering the following words.
“By the way, if you do voluntarily release my half of the Zanpakuto, an irreversible process will begin, turning you into a Vizard.
And we can’t let that happen in the Soul Society.
You’ll certainly get the chance to use both of us as a dual Zanpakuto someday, but for now, you’ll have to settle for just her,” she said, pointing a finger at Golden again.
“Does that mean I’ll be weaker?
”
“In the grand scheme of things?
Yes.
But your potential as a Shinigami remains unaffected.
After all, I was never truly part of your Zanpakuto to begin with, I was just a Hollow.”
Well, that cleared a few things up, but it was still all too confusing for me.
I shifted my gaze to the masked girl, then back to Cobalt, and narrowed my eyes suspiciously.
“You know, for an Inner Hollow, you’re surprisingly peaceable,” I said; she merely looked away, making little effort to hide it.
“She is sealed, Master,” Golden repeated.
“Her power is literally the sum of those five consumed Hollows.
She stands no chance of suppressing me.”
“Well, excuse me—not everyone inherits Vasto Lorde from their mom,” the Hollow said, rolling her eyes.
“And stop acting like you’re the one in charge here.
I was with him long before you!”
“Alright, alright…
calm down.” We stood in awkward silence for a moment, and then I turned to Goldie.
“So…
what about the training?”
“At any moment,” Golden said, instantly drawing her sword from the platform and lunging at me.
Yet, notably, the platform itself remained stationary.
I blocked the attack, barely managing to draw my Zanpakuto in time.
Damn, now this was a real opponent.
“If you’d used your Fullbring to condense the air in front of her, you could’ve bought yourself a couple of seconds,” the Hollow offered as a hint.
“I told you not to teach him,” growled the usually calm girl, continuing to press in on me.
“He doesn’t need to use Hollow Reiatsu for that, so your prohibitions are useless, Sweetheart,” Cobalt snorted caustically.
My swordsmanship skills were abysmal, a fact my Zanpakuto never failed to point out.
The only thing actually stopping her from kicking me around like a soccer ball was my Fullbringer power.
Yet, every time I used it, she only grew angrier and pressed the attack harder.
“By the way, did you know that with enough control over your Reiatsu, you can manipulate the spiritual matter of your own body and become intangible to physical objects?”
“Is this a ‘Day of Fun Facts’ or what?” I wheezed, struggling against the pressure of her blade.
God, where does she get all that raw power?
Losing the contest of strength, I was sent flying by a powerful kick, only to be stopped by an invisible barrier that kept me from falling off the platform.
“Do you understand why she’s angry?” the Hollow asked me.
“Most likely, she wants me to defeat her using only our Zanpakuto.
Sort of like proof of my right to wield her name,” I said, shrugging as I caught my breath.
“If you understand that, then why do you do the exact opposite, Master?” she asked, holding her combat stance.
“Because right now, I don’t stand a chance of beating you either way.
Besides, dragging out the fight helps me level up my skills more than just falling down and getting back up over and over again.”
The Golden one turned to the Hollow with an unspoken question, and the Hollow gave a serious nod in response.
“Very well, I grant you permission to use Fullbring.
But don’t think you’ll be able to use it during the Shikai Trial.”
“Of course,” I said, grunting as I got to my feet and resumed the fight.
I continued to get beaten and tossed around, but I felt like I was finally gaining some understanding of what it’s like to fight someone who outclasses me.