17 CH17: The Hogyoku

Moka and Yukari were near art class. They were supposed to return to the ship. Did Ishigami call her for something? At first, I wasn't worried. Kurumu was with me in the kitchen, eating blueberry pie with a cup of steaming coffee. In the background, the wine barrel bubbled and released gas through the cork into the bubbler. In the garden, my kaiju blueberry plant soaked up what little sun it could while menacing any student who dared to approach my garden. Then, Kuyo vanished from my senses, along with several of the PSC students around him. Ishigami also vanished near Moka, and I was done waiting around.

"Hold down the fort. I'll be back soon." I said and left the ship's exit.

"Are you sure you don't need any backup?" Kurumu asked.

I shook my head. "Lock the door to the ship, and don't let anyone in until we get back. Moka was probably captured along with Yukari. So, I'm going to be busy all night." When I closed the door behind me, I waited for the ship to pressurize before I sped off, even though I wasn't in any shape for a boss battle. Kurumu had beggared my qi reserves, so I probably only had a few seconds of aura.

"There is always my help. If you can listen, I will tell you my name." My zanpakuto said.

I could feel the sword and its connection to my qi. My people believed in the soul and how they frequently became corrupted monstrous things. The very qi that animates our bodies and carries our wills can become a prison for our souls, preventing us from passing on. I was strong, but I never truly stepped on the path of cultivation or learned any cultivation techniques. So, my qi couldn't keep my memories clear through my reincarnation. If not for the system, I wouldn't remember anything. There was so much I could remember, but names escaped me. A zanpakuto was an expression of the soul's power; using it made my qi denser. A strong soul forced a vessel's qi to match it and vice versa."

Qi was not spiritual pressure, but it was a medium where spiritual pressure could flow. "Stop thinking about nonsense and listen to me. You aren't capitalizing on the powers you have at your disposal. You want to train and get stronger, but how you're going about it is stupid. You're sitting on eyes that let you cast illusions and a magical wish-granting device. Not everyone gets a second chance, so you should take every advantage you can get." My zanpakuto spirit said.

A fury came over me. "If I do this, it will be like admitting I'm too weak and my training was for nothing. How can I give up when I've tried so hard? With time I can get even stronger than I am now."

My zanpakuto never wavered. "This isn't the end of training or an instant power-up. You know the hogyoku will give you options you didn't have before. It will allow our relationship to advance beyond Shikai, Bankai, and the final into true fusion. All but the worst, burnout will heal quickly, and you can finally step up your training. Think of it as a training aid if you must but use what you have."

From my inventory, I pulled free a hogyoku. Using it would put me on another level entirely. It was even better than a sacred gear. The hogyoku could help me transcend boundaries and seek my heart's desire. Using it would put me on the path to defeating my adversary. Of course, from what I recalled, Aizen only evolved after reaching the limit of shinigami powers. If I didn't train, then I wouldn't reach my potential all the hogyoku did was allow me to reach beyond my limits.

But more importantly than that, it would let me save Moka. That was worth my dignity.

I pressed it into my chest. I felt an overwhelming power erupt within me before the blue orb slid into place. There was a moment of confusion from the orb as I felt it analyzing my qi and bonding with my soul. After a moment, it went silent before I felt all the little aches and pains I've gotten used to vanish. The scars on my back from Tsukune's breath attack vanished, leaving my body fully healed.

I sucked in a breath and let it out, feeling my qi reserves regenerate and multiply by 10. Then the orb fell asleep.

"She's still very young and can only do so much right now. But I think she likes your heart." My zanpakuto said.

My aura erupted around me in a dark shade of green. My whole body felt better than ever, from my joints to my bones and muscles. Perhaps when the drug was perfected, I should take a sample of that too to further improve my power.

"So, what kind of zanpakuto are you. Do you have any cool powers?" I asked.

"I am the lesson written in your heart: no matter your power, nothing is static. There will always be someone stronger and a new meta. So call my name and show the world my true form. My name is…."

Despite his speech getting good, I still couldn't hear his name. We weren't there yet. All I could hear from him was the rush of water crashing over rocks. That was definitely a hint but not enough. So did that mean my zanpakuto was water-based? That was cool. It would help my farming, at least because all my plants were thirsty.

"I thought for sure you would hear me this time. Do you remember what your lesson was? It's why you work out constantly. You even threw away your pride for it. But you don't remember." My zanpakuto spirit said. "The lesson doesn't need to be vocalized so long as it resounds through your heart."

The doors to the art class ripped off their hinges with a flick of my aura. "Hello, human. I've been waiting for you."

The teacher said. And before my eyes, her hair transformed into snakes. She held up a little red drug, and I snatched it from her hand-poked her in the forehead, and returned to where I had been standing. Her eyes widened as I tossed it into my inventory.

Earlier, Gin said something about some girls going missing. Well, I had found the culprit. I raised my phone and took a picture. "You're a medusa, so I'm guessing the girls who've gone missing were turned to stone."

I kneed her in the gut and lifted her body off the ground. Her snakes struck my aura and failed to penetrate my improvised aura shield. It wasn't a real skill, only a use for aura manifestation. With a flick, I tossed her off my knee and let her roll until she hit a wall. The aura surrounding my body condensed, forming a green cloak with a high collar. Yes, I was ripping off spawn. But qi clothing was a staple of aura manifestation.

She glared at me in a mix of shock and something I didn't want to get into. "That bastard lied; no human could be that fast unless you're a sacred gear user. Well, human, you are a male with all the weaknesses your gender entails." Small flashes of red lightning popped across her body, and I realized she had used the drug before. That meant she definitely wasn't in her right mind.

The woman said and raised her shirt, revealing her bra. I could feel my fingertips becoming stiff. A green mask formed on my face blocking out some of her petrification powers.

I wasn't amused at all. This wasn't fun for me, and the threat of petrification didn't make this fight any better.

Ishigami PL55

She was a weak opponent with a hack's ability. Petrification was dangerous, but who cares. She can't hit me with it, and I have a long-range attack. My mask blocked off the visual medium for her petrification, leaving only the snakes.

A piece of my aura cloak split apart, grabbed her wrist, and flung her against a wall. It was a simple application of aura only viable with a full manifestation like my aura cloak. She would go down with a few more hits, and I could find Moka and Yukari. The medusa slowly rose to her swaying feet.

Sometimes it was better to put them down. So I formed an aura sphere between my fingers and blasted Ishigami with it. Then I heard a dart fire out of nowhere. It slammed into Ishigami's chest, and her body shook.

Her snake hair developed blades, her body grew more muscular, and her speed increased. I punched forward and felt my knuckles break against her skin before throwing a knee into her gut. Snakes bit through my aura cloak, and I felt their tiny fangs bite into my skin. The snake hair forced me to fall back on the heels of my feet because they were faster.

She ripped her clothes off, exposing her breasts before cackling. "I know you want, me teen boys like you can't help but drool after experienced women."

Her already dark skin turned black, and scales formed over her skin. Her youki increased, and her snakes each grew a single eye before one opened its mouth and fired a beam of youki. I dodged out of the way as it struck several desks and a wall. Bladed tendrils formed from my cloak and chopped off some of her snakes, only for two to grow in their place. Their blood sizzled on the ground, slowly melting through it.

With every additional monster the drug was used on, it seemed another power was added to the mixture. I couldn't play around with nonlethal strikes if I wanted to win this.

Ishigami PL100

Three aura spheres impacted her as I sent bladed tendrils after her hair. I could feel my fingers growing rigid even through my mask. But If I held back, winning would be impossible. I drew my zanpakuto and gripped it with both hands. This time I formed a physical body for it with aura and shot forward. I stabbed through her scaley hide through the heart and as her snakes attacked.

I lifted a hand from my blade; a freestyle formed an aura sphere and pressed it to her chest. She screamed as the destructive force burrowed into her chest before exploding.

Ishigami PL110

A red crystal exposed itself in Ishigami's chest and opened an eye to look at me. I swung down on it only for a purple barrier to block my finishing blow. More qi empowered my blade giving its pseudo-physical form the power of all my aura manifestation. Finally, a piece of the barrier started cracking, and I smiled. They wouldn't get their drug back this time.

I felt a sharp blow smash into my ribs and then a kick. Next, I felt a rib crack as a red-haired woman moved at incredible speeds, kicking me repeatedly. I couldn't sense her, and her attacks were impossible to follow. Blow after blow smashed into my chest as I attempted to call my aura back into a qi cloak for more defense. A final kick blasted me against a wall.

My vision swam as I tried to memorize the woman's appearance. She wore a doctor's uniform and had her hair up in buns. When I really focused, I realized she wasn't really invisible, but something was masking her qi signature with her environment. Finally, she turned her attention away from me to collect the drug in a syringe.

On reflex, my blade turned its way with an air slash. She pulled back as an aura sphere fired at the syringe in her hand.

She pulled the syringe away from the attack at the last second. "So, you're the one who shows promise. Well, thank you for the battle data.

I felt the wind flowing through my aura more than ever before. Something clicked when I narrowed down the path my wind could take. Lightning crackled around my aura, and the woman gave me her full attention but hadn't moved or said anything more. Instead, she stared at the invisible blade in my hand as I grasped my air slash skill.

If I wanted a stronger attack, I needed to narrow down the wind tunnel to increase pressure.

Qi Control: Master 26%

Qi Enhancement: Adept 80%

Air Slash: Intermediate 10%

Aura Manifestation: Beginner 90%

The windows in the classroom shattered, and as I swung, the ground cut apart. By narrowing down the scope of the wind to the blade of my zanpakuto, I increased the power of the attack several-fold. Then after my first slash, it clicked that I could use air slash with every swing. I narrowed the scope and used my aura to concentrate the excess wind only in the direction my blade swings.

Four of the woman's fingers hit the ground, and she stared at them and then at me. "You aren't supposed to be this powerful." Her eyes widened when my return slash came immediately. She twisted, stretching her body out, and spared most of her body. Chitinous black armor surrounded her skin, and my blood started pumping.

She pressed the syringe to her chest. "Don't get cocky. I'm just an entry-level agent. You're nothing compared to a senior agent, much less a manager."

The woman raised a gun and fired a flurry of darts loaded with the drug. I caught them with my bare hands and tossed them into my inventory. She took a step back as I prepared another air slash.

When she said entry-level, I thought of a random drug addict or a prostitute fresh off the street. My impression of her fell like a stone.

Moka was down below, and she wasn't worth my time. She threw herself out the window as my air slash took her foot. I slashed twice more, taking another arm before she made it out the window. I chased her with an aura sphere and descended the stairs.

Arakan PL 115

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