Chapter 3
This story is nonprofitable work. Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo, Studio Pierrot, Viz Media, and TV Tokyo. The OCs are owned by me.
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Three months have passed since I've arrived into this world. Remember the stereotypical scene in western movies that two cowboys standoff in the middle of town. That's the situation I'm in at this very moment. My eyes focused, staring down at my opponent; I'm wielding the katana my teacher lent me. Who could be my adversary, you're wondering. Well, I'll tell you. It's none other than...
...
...
...
... A Rock...
...
...
...
Yeah. I'm supposed to cut it in half as my final test before being eligible to participate in the Final Selection.
I may look the same as before, facial wise, but my body has definitely changed. It became more swimmer's build. I think my muscles have grown a little denser and bigger.
Also, you may be wondering; "How do we get here?"
{Flashback}
My eyes slowly flutter open. The whole image is blurry at first, but as my vision adjust; I'm facing a wooden ceiling. I got up, looked around to see I was in an empty room.
"Where am I?" I asked confusedly as I rubbed my forehead with one hand. As I was getting my bearings together, that's when it clicked, "Oh that's right, I passed out after going through that hellhole." I said when suddenly, I was greeted by many screens popping up at once.
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Congratulations!!!
You have completed a Quest!
Rewards: New Skill, 1000 EXP
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You have leveled up by 2!
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Name: Laichi Reberuappu
Race: Human
Title: ???
Tier: 1
Lv. 4
Exp: 500/600
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HP: 400/400
RP: 4000/4000
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STR: 21
AGI: 24
END: 26
INT: 16
WIS: 16
LUC: 16
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SP: 40 ¥13211
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Sennōri (War Mind) has leveled up by 3!
Chīsai Bodi (Lesser Body) has leveled up by 5!
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I stared at the screens, blankly nodding at it, before closing all of them down. One thing I've noticed is that I feel better. Like a hundred percent better. I scanned my body to see that all of my injuries from last night are healed up. Is this another benefit from the system? If so, it's very beneficial.
I opened up the inventory, taking out my new skill book. This book has the similar look as the last one, except its leather brown with a drawing of a wizards hat.
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Do you want to learn Mana Manipulation?
Yes / No
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I shouldn't be surprised at this point; but holy shit! I can learn magic. Hell yeah. I wanted to scream out in excitement but managed to hold myself back.
I mentally replied, 'Yes' as the screen vanished, just to get replaced with another one.
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Congratulations!!!
You have learned Mana Manipulation.
Mana Points (MP) have been added.
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I opened up my stats to see a new addition.
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HP: 400/400
RP: 4000/4000
MP: 5000/5000
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I will experiment with my new powers at a later time. I walked out of the room, getting ready for my first day of training.
In that month, I ran through the same path I traversed before except they became increasingly more and more dangerous each day. Other than that, basic exercises were added to the mix. The benefits from it became very apparent as my stats have been growing rapidly, hence the Chīsai Bodi and Sennōri ability grew many times, at least until it became stagnant.
My rapid growth has caught the attention of my teacher. He made the training itself more difficult than it already is. On one hand, it helped with the small additional growth with the aforementioned stats and abilities. On the other hand, I always ended up being exhausted and feeling cramps all over my body.
Every night when Urokodaki fell asleep, I snuck out of the house to practice channeling my mana. From many sessions, I managed to create two abilities.
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Majikku Tama (Magic Sphere), Lv. 1
RANK B
A sphere made with mana. More the user charges it up, the attack power increases.
ATK: 30
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Majikku Baria (Magic Barrier), Lv. 1
RANK C
It creates a dome of mana around the user to protect it from any attacks.
1000 MP per minute.
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The first one is when I managed to shape it into a ball; granted it took a lot of effort to even get to this point, but it's all worth it. Then I got a flash of inspiration from watching one of my favorite anime; I launched it into a tree, let's just say that the tree is no more.
The other one was basically creating a dome around me. I can't maintain the barrier for long periods of time since it's a huge cost of my mana. I needed to find a way to increase my mana reserves. It didn't take long to find the solution to the problem, at least part of it. Long story short, I was meditating under the waterfall. After a while, it became a new skill.
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Meditation, Lv. 1
RANK D
A state of calm mind; it helps with restoring mana.
+100 MP per minute.
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This skill was a godsend. I was able to rapidly level up my mana abilities since now I can restore my reserves.
Second month rolls around. He teaches me how to utilize the technique known as Total Concentration Breathing. Hence the moment I start learning it, it creates a new skill.
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Total Concentration Breathing (PASSIVE)
RANK B
It's a breathing technique created by the progenitor, Yoriichi Tsugikuni. It increases your strength, agility, and endurance stats by 20.
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It adds a very nice power boost since now I'm breathing differently than what I used to. Shortly after, I found out that my teacher was a former Hashira, specializing in Water Breathing. He also explained that they were five main breathing techniques like Flame, Stone, Wind, Thunder, and Water. The other techniques are derived from the main five.
Upon obtaining the knowledge on how to use it, instead of being a completely new skill, it was a sub-skill. It was under that passive ability that I've gotten not too long ago. It has ten forms in total.
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Water Breathing
One of the six elements directly derived from Sun Breathing. It contains 11 forms.
First Form: Water Surface Slash
Second Form: Water Wheel
Third Form: Flowing Dance
Fourth Form: Striking Tide
Fifth Form: Blessed Rain After The Drought
Sixth Form: Whirlpool
Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust
Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin
Ninth Form: Splashing Water Flow, Turbulent
Tenth Form: Constant Flux
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From reading the description, it left me confused. He told me they were five main elements, but the system is telling me otherwise. It leads to another question; what is Sun Breathing? What is the connection between that breathing style and their progenitor?
Why did Urokodaki not mention any of these? Either he didn't want to tell me or perhaps the information for these subjects might be lost to time. Eventually, I put these thoughts aside for a later time.
{Present Day}
Rest of that month went by; which that moment leads to now. I tightly gripped the rough-textured handle, raising the sword up high, then I swung it downwards, using my full strength. The boulder stood no chance as it got split in half upon contact. I did it with little to no effort at all. I returned the blade back to its sheath as I stared, admiring the work I've just done.
I turned slightly to the left to see my teacher was standing there. I couldn't see his facial expression due to his mask, but from his body language, he was in total shock.
"Of all of my students I have taught over the years. You're the very first that you cut the boulder in half on the first try. You are a prodigy. I will approve you to go to the Final Selection." Urokodaki said as we walked home together. That night we had a celebratory dinner for my success.
When morning came, me and my teacher were facing each other as I was ready to depart for the Final Selection.
I was dressed in my new clothes. It was the same clothing as Urokodaki's except I opted to keep the shoes I'm wearing, it also came with the white and blue fox mask hanging off of my neck.
"I'll be heading off now. I'll see you when I get back." I bowed before turning to leave. I turned my head slightly to wave at him, which he did the same, then I took off running on a rough dirt path where it would take me a few days to arrive there.
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As I'm ascending on the stairway made of cobblestones. It just became night not too long ago, but I can see the stairs well. It was mainly thanks to the glow of Wisteria trees that surrounded me. Apparently, I found out that Wisteria is poisonous to demons. I'll keep this in mind for later.
Once I reached the top, I was greeted by the sight of red pillars, varying in height; they're decorated with flags that have symbols on them. This place is occupied with a lot of people. Naturally they glanced at me for a moment before going back to whatever they were doing prior. I leaned against one of the pillars, sitting crisscrossed, closing my eyes, entering into my meditative state.
Some time has passed, I heard two syncing footsteps approaching. I got up, facing the newcomers. They were identical twins. They have the same short haircut, eye color, clothing, and decorative flowers sitting on top of their heads. The only notable difference is the hair color, one is white while the other is black. They are both holding the lantern.
"Everyone, we thank you for attending the Demon Slayers' Final Selection tonight." They said in sync with a monotone voice.
"Here on Mt. Fujikasane, the Demon Slayers have captured a number of demons alive. They are unable to leave."
"That is because wisteria, which demons hate so much, blooms year-round from halfway down the mountain."
"However, they don't grow from this point onward, thus there will be demons about."
"To pass the Final Selection, you will need to survive here for seven days."
"And now, be on your way." They concluded as we all started moving.
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Quest Alert!!!
Survive the Final Selection.
Rewards: ¥???, ??? EXP, New Title
Failure: Death.
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I mentally close my interface, and begin to walk towards the dark forest where I'm going to reside for the next seven days.
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I ran through the forest to spot three demons lurking about. They heard me approaching in their direction. They all got into position to attack, but unfortunately for them, it was already too late.
"Water Breathing. Third Form: Flowing Dance." I announced as I performed a dance-like maneuver around the three of them. All of their heads getting chopped off in the process, thus turning them to ashes. I sheath my sword as I kept moving.
Seven days just went by. It was the last night of the test. Honestly, I have to say, I'm disappointed.
There was no challenge from fighting these demons. Like at all. They were just fodder. Because of that, I gained some low experience from these encounters and only leveled up one time.
I'm hoping at least there will be a challenge by the end of tonight.
"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!"
I stopped dead in my tracks as I heard a loud agonizing scream. It sounded like it was nearby. I immediately rushed over towards the location where the sound came from. Once I got there, I saw something that made my blood run cold.
What I'm seeing in front of me is a few dead bodies scattering over a small diameter of the area. Some were headless, others had bullet holes, and the rest had missing limbs. I'm no investigator, but I can tell that they were just recently killed.
I was so frozen in place that I didn't notice that something's coming towards me. At the last second, I snapped out of it when I heard a loud noise. I quickly put up Majikku Baria to surround myself with a dome of mana energy. The projectile was vaporized when it came into contact.
"That's the first time somebody blocked my first shot." Said a raspy voice as it revealed itself to be a man of average height. The man looks pale as snow with markings on his face, sporting glowing purplish-blue eyes, a thin beard, and a dark brown straight hair that goes down towards his neck. He seems to be wearing a blue colored, military uniform. It comes with golden buttons, a white strap that goes over his left shoulder, golden trims present in the outfit, red tie over his neck, white belt with golden buckle, and black shoes.
He wields two weapons, the first he's currently holding is an old fashioned gun that looks to be a carbine, but it's covered in fleshly-like substance. The other is a sheathed sword sitting behind him; it has a cavalry design with a brown leather handle, a golden pommel and a guard that goes over the wielder's hand.
He looks at me with a stern expression. "You are a strange specimen." His eyes scanned and analyzed me like I'm a new creature. "I have never seen a human that has the capability of doing this." He points at me, referring to the barrier I just summoned, "Tell me, how did you get this power?"
"That's none of your business." I replied. We stared at each other.
"Hmph. Not like it matters anyway since you're about to die. Then I will devour you to gain this power."
"Not gonna happen." I declared as I took out my sword, getting into a fighting stance.
"If you think you can defeat me then you're no different than the other corpses around me." He started as he pulled the trigger, producing a loud noise. With quick thinking, I summoned another barrier around me, blocking the bullets.
I charged at him, readying myself to perform a technique, then when I got within striking distance, he jumped back, while in midair, he took another shot. I ran forward to dodge the projectile.
I jumped up. 'Water Breathing. Second Form: Water Wheel.' Maneuvering into a 360 degree flip, slashing his gun and the arm that is holding it clean in half; leaving a water trail behind. I landed in close proximity to the target, swinging my sword with full strength, aiming for his neck. He front flipped out of the way. I did a U-Turn to see a blade coming at me; I jumped back to try to avoid it, but I was already too late as the tip of the blade slashes through my stomach. I looked down to see my blood rapidly flowing down. I could've sworn that I felt my intestines wanting to come out.
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WARNING!!!
You have Bleeding status effect.
1 HP per second
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"Shit! Shit! Shit!" I panicked trying to think of a way to stop the bleeding. It was bad enough that the attack took a quarter of my health, now it is rapidly declining. I was either dodging or parrying the attacks from his blade. 'I can't think of anything while he's coming at me.' Having enough, I deflected the weapon to the side, then I kicked him in the chest with my full strength, knocking him far back. He dropped his sword while falling. Then that's when it clicked.
"I better hope this will work." I murmured as I covered my left hand with my mana then pressed against the wound, using the heat of my energy to sooth the opening until it hardened, stopping the blood flow.
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Bleeding status effect has been stopped.
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Deeply exhaling in relief, "Thank kami." That good feeling didn't last long as I got shot on the shoulder blade. I hissed in pain as I covered the newly created wound with my left hand. He charges towards me. I summoned the barrier just in time to block the bullet and another and another. The whole sequence repeats for a period of time, which is bad for me since I can't keep up this barrier forever as my Mana slowly drains. Then I dropped the barrier, charging a mana ball on my left ball then propelling it towards the demon, causing an immediate explosion upon contact. The force behind it causes me to fly back a distance before roughly landing on my butt on the cold, hard ground.
I quickly got up, relieving the pain, while preparing myself for his next move. As the smoke cleared out, the demon was still standing, but the majority of his face, an arm, and a leg was missing. Most of his clothes were destroyed. His body was painted with ash. The body regenerated soon after, along with the gun. Now he sports an angered look on his face. He pointed the gun at me.
"You and your little tricks are getting annoying. Just die already!" He angrily yelled, as he was preparing for another shot, I shot out another ball of mana, aiming it at the ground, causing it to explode. The demon uses his free arm to cover his eyes as my action created a smokescreen. The surrounding area was now covered in brown smoke.
Knowing the general location, I ran through the smoke until I saw the shadow of the figure which signaled that I was in front of the target. I took the Ray gun out of my inventory. I shoot both times in a blink of an eye, taking both of his arms out. This was my chance.
'Water Breathing. First Form: Water Surface Slash.' I swung my blade horizontally with a trail of water forming behind it. It successfully slashed through his neck; with a shocked look on his face, his head fell to the ground. His body dropped to his knees.
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That's the end of Chapter 3. While I didn't struggle as much as I did writing Chapter 2; It's still hard especially the action scene and getting the personalities right.
The Demon Slayer Arc will end either next chapter or the chapter after next, then we'll finally meet the cast of Bleach.
Anyway I hope all of you have a great day and see you in the next chapter of The Gamer of Bleach.
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Name: Laichi Reberuappu
Race: Human
Title: ???
Tier: 1
Lv. 5
Exp: 420/900
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HP: 500/500
RP: 5000/5000
MP: 10000/10000
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STR: 60
AGI: 57
END: 52
INT: 69
WIS: 66
LUC: 59
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SP: 50 ¥13211
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