1 Year later
"Haaaa!"
The rhythmic sound of a blade slicing through air echoed across the plains. Under the golden light of the setting sun, a young man swung a crude, makeshift sword with practiced precision.
Facing him was a woman dressed in flowing white robes, her long black hair swaying gently in the breeze.
Despite being unarmed, she effortlessly blocked each of his strikes with a simple movement of her hands, her expression calm, patient, almost amused.
"That's enough for now, Lucy" Unohana said
"Alright" Lucy panted as he out his sword down.
He was proud of himself. A year ago, he wouldn't have lasted a second against Unohana. But now? He could at least keep up for a few minutes.
...before she completely dismantled him
Lucy could still remember the early days where he had to build a proper foundation. Workouts and swinging swords were all he did day and night.
Training under Unohana had been—
No, it hadn't been training. It had been torture.
Lucy's mind drifted back to the hellish first week of his so-called "lessons."
Day 1: Basic sword swings. Easy enough.
Day 2: More sword swings. Some footwork. Still manageable.
Day 3: Even more sword swings. Unohana casually mentioning they'd only move to the next stage after completing 100,000 repetitions.
Did he sleep?
Of course but only for like an hour
Why? Because Unohana Retsu
"To think she would heal me and then make me train again, only using one hour of sleep for mind rest"
On the fourth day, he purposely overworked himself to the point where he couldn't move, thinking 'Heh more rest for me'
Only to be met with a smiling Unohana who had a yellow glow on her hands.
"All good now Lucy, you may continue"
"... Seriously?"
Since then, he had given up on trying to escape training.
'This woman is a monster…'
Shaking those painful memories out of his head, he then looked at his sword.
It was nothing more than the sharpened bone of a beast Unohana had killed. She had reinforced it with reiatsu, making it much sharper than it had any right to be.
It still looked ridiculous, though.
"A year of training, and I'm still using a caveman sword…"
He was just about to swing again when he heard a sound he hadn't heard for a year.
[Quest Completed: Learn Swordsmanship from Unohana Retsu]
[Reward Received: Trash Ticket×1]
Lucy froze.
Then,
"AHHH, FINALLY IT'S DONE!"
Unohana raised an eyebrow as Lucy threw his arms into the air like a prisoner finally being released.
"Unohana," he said, grinning ear to ear. "Let's stop for today. Something important just came up."
Unohana, fully aware of his usual antics, gave him a curious look.
But Lucy wasn't trying to escape training this time.
She could see it in his eyes.
"Very well," she nodded. "May I ask what's so important?"
Lucy's grin widened.
"Because we're about to get a new friend."
Unohana blinked.
A soft, intrigued look crossed her face as she lightly touched the hilt of her unseen blade.
"A new companion…? How exciting."
For a year, it had been just her and Lucy.
Not that she had minded. But she had to admit, introducing another presence into their small world would be… interesting.
Lucy then opened up his system and went straight to the summoning panel
[Use Trash Ticket ×1?]
[Y/N]
'Yes'
The moment he confirmed it, a beam of light erupted in front of him.
It pulsed for a moment before vanishing—leaving a small green creature standing in its place.
Lucy and Unohana both stared.
The green thing stared back.
A long silence filled the air.
Lucy slowly rubbed his temples.
"What the hell is that?" Question marks pop up in my head as I look at the small green imp in front of me.
The tiny creature, no taller than Lucy's waist, had green skin, pointy ears, a long nose, and wore nothing but a ragged loincloth. In its tiny hands, it clutched a crude knife.
Its eyes were small, beady, and way too expressive for something that looked like it belonged in a horror novel
"Kiii!"
It screeched happily, nodding its head as if confirming its existence.
Unohana tilted her head, studying the goblin with polite curiosity.
"It doesn't seem to be a hollow" Unohana's curiosity was peaked as she saw a monster that didn't exist in her world, but wasn't surprised
Lucy looked at the figure with scrutiny when it hit him, a small stature, green skin, pointy ears, a simple cloth covering his bottom, and a knife in one hand
"It looks like… a goblin"
"Kiii" the goblin screeched and nodded as if understanding and agreeing with what I just said
Lucy's face twitched as he mentally face palmed "what did I expect, it was labeled trash ticket for crying out loud"
Lucy then turned his eyes to the goblin, he could tell it was intelligent but only around a kid's level. He could also feel that it actually had quite a peaceful aura compare to what his previous world's fiction would have him believe.
"At least that confirms that the summons are loyal, if even something like a goblin would behave itself"
The goblin whilst having a mischievous personality, could only become calm as he would only act when and how his master permitted.
Unohana curiously asked Lucy about goblins, to which Lucy shared what he knew about them. Of course it was only fiction from his last life so he didn't know if all of it was true.
"So it's a humanoid monster then…" Unohana said
"I guess"
The goblin just tilted its head as Lucy and Unohana talked.
"Now what to call you... I can't just keep calling you goblin after all"
The goblin tilted its head, waiting.
Lucy pondered for a long moment.
Then, his eyes lit up.
"I got it!"
Unohana leaned in slightly, expecting something profound.
"Your name is… Gob."
Unohana's smile twitched.
She had spent an entire year training this man and this was the extent of his creativity?
Meanwhile, the goblin cheered. The goblin however simply screeched in happiness as he got a name from his master.
Lucy grinned. "See? He likes it."
Unohana mentally sighed.
"…I should have expected this."
Still, she supposed there was a certain charm in Lucy's simplicity.
Lucy was now thinking about what to do next, since a quest hadn't popped up yet, he had to decide on his own what to do next.
For an entire year, his world had consisted of training, surviving, and talking to Unohana.
That was fine.
But now…
"Let's travel around the world" Lucy says as he looks at his summons.
With this Lucy would be able to fulfill his dream of traveling and adventuring the world whilst also trying to find clues to help in one of his goals.
To explore the world and enjoy himself to his hearts content, to remove the boredom that has haunted him way before he was transmigated.