'This world's people generate Reiryoku (spirit energy), yet there are those who utilize the atmospheric equivelent, Reishi.' I'd gone for a walk after my enlightening chat with Uryu to process the information. 'It would make sense if one couldn't use their Reiryoku, but... yeah, I can manipulate my Reiryoku easier than I can Reishi.'
Power dynamics not making sense at first glance was something all too familiar to me, but I still seemed to be missing some key pieces of information to completely understand the intricacies of 'spirit power'.
'Even so, what is a cultivator if he doesn't take chances?' It was true, only those who dared to fight fate could exceed the heavens. 'Besides, do I really need to know everything about a system to take advantage of it?'
I'd made some important 'leaps' in logic, in regards to spirit energy. If mine actually did grow in responce to the monster, then encountering another one should grow it some more. I was always of the belief that relying on elixirs made one fragile, so now that I could potentially cultivate my own power, my next step was clear. Reckless endangerment.
[...]
"You know, for a monster, you have quite good instincts. Which is saying something, because mindless beasts rely on them!" I teased the massive masked bear creature.
As it turned out, finding the monsters was rather simple. You didn't. They were quite literally invisible until they decided to attack. Which, thankfully(?), one did after a few hours of searching through the night.
Ideally, I would have wanted to test what exactly about the encounters would make someone's Reiryoku grow. However, with how long it took to find one, it didn't seem feasible until I could more reliably encounter them.
"Whoah! That was a close one, almost had me there!" I laughed at the frustrated screeching that sent chills up my spine. I quickly figured out that the spirit(soul?) reacted to danger. In this instamce, I was letting myself almost get hit before forcing myself to move.
It was stupid and beyond dangerous, but 'This world's people generate Reiryoku (spirit energy), yet there are those who utilize the atmospheric equivelent, Reishi.' I'd gone for a walk after my enlightening chat with Uryu to process the information. 'It would make sense if one couldn't use their Reiryoku, but... yeah, I can manipulate my Reiryoku easier than I can Reishi.'
Power dynamics not making sense at first glance was something all too familiar to me, but I still seemed to be missing some key pieces of information to completely understand the intricacies of 'spirit power'.
'Even so, what is a cultivator if he doesn't take chances?' It was true, only those who dared to fight fate could exceed the heavens. 'Besides, do I really need to know everything about a system to take advantage of it?'
I'd made some important 'leaps' in logic, in regards to spirit energy. If mine actually did grow in responce to the monster, then encountering another one should grow it some more. I was always of the belief that relying on elixirs made one fragile, so now that I could potentially cultivate my own power, my next step was clear. Reckless endangerment.
[...]
"You know, for a monster, you have quite good instincts. Which is saying something, because mindless beasts rely on them!" I teased the massive masked bear creature.
As it turned out, finding the monsters was rather simple. You didn't. They were quite literally invisible until they decided to attack. Which, thankfully(?), one did after a few hours of searching through the night.
Ideally, I would have wanted to test what exactly about the encounters would make someone's Reiryoku grow. However, with how long it took to find one, it didn't seem feasible until I could more reliably encounter them.
"Whoah! That was a close one, almost had me there!" I laughed at the frustrated screeching that sent chills up my spine. I quickly figured out that the spirit(soul?) reacted to danger. In this instamce, I was letting myself almost get hit before forcing myself to move.
It was stupid and beyond dangerous, but insanely effective... until my subconscious registered the lack of actual danger. But I was a cultivator, and as such I extracted every ounce of growth I could from the beast. After dodging by the skin of my teeth failed, I used my Reiryoku to strengthen myself and started grappling with it.
Needless to say, by the time I layed in bed, I was thoroughly bruised, battered and bitten. Maybe even broken... fractured at the minimum.
[...]
"You look like shit." Tatsuki helpfully pointed out when she saw me laying my head down on my desk.
"Thanks Princess, you look good today as well. Should we spread your overflowing positivity to the rest of the class as well?" I grumbled. I was somewhat regretting my previous nights activities. I'd forgotten I didn't have access to enhanced healing elixirs. On the upside, it worked.
My 'spiritual(?)' senses were awakened. I could not only feel my own reiryoku, but other people's as well. Turned out, I was right about Rukia. Her reiryoku was denser and... fuller(?) than almost anyone else's. Almost, because Ichigo's was dense and overflowing.
"My control is bad?" I thought aloud, glancing at Uryu. I heard him stifle a snort, so I guess he heard me. It was pretty funny.
When the teacher starting the days lesson, I let my mind wander over to Ichigo and Rukia. 'dense Reiryok, huh? That sounds like something familiar.' I smirked. If I could make my spirit energy dense, then the logical next step would be condensation.
'What that would look like, I don't know. But this body clearly has some inbuilt way of handling it.' I let myself sink into ways I could facilitate the process.
[...]
"Arashi." Ichigo called, standing by my desk. I'd apparently been in a daze because the class was emptying out. Ichigo was looking at me expectantly.
"Yeah?" I asked, standing up to stretch and Ichigo sighed.
"You didn't hear me, did you? I said we need to talk." He seemed deadly serious, so I nodded and followed him to the roof. There was another student waiting for us there.
"I take it Rukia's joing our little conversation?" I asked lightly with a look towards Ichigo.
"Actually, I'm the one that wanted to talk to you, Arashi. You should stop whatever it is you're doing with the hollows, you're going to get yourself killed." She sternly 'suggested', gesturing at my bruised body.
"Maybe, but I believe that's my decision to make, no?" I responded a little more coldly than I intended. My opponent was the will of the heavens, why would I take orders from a runt? "But, I appreciate the concern. Is that all?"
"This isn't a game, Arashi!" Ichigo barked. "They're dangerous!"
"I get that, that's kind of the point? Unless I'm mistaken in my presumptions, spirit energy grows stronger in life or death situations. I have come to understand that internal Reiryoku is more potent than ambient Reishi." I explained in a 'matter of fact" fashion. Ichigo looked lost, but Rukia seemed appalled.
"How do you know that? Why does it matter anyways? What's your goal?" Rukia was well and truly suspicious of me. It seemed that Uryu was either in the minority of people who understood how this stuff worked, or Rujia thought it was less know. Which was interesting, because that would suggest that one or the other, or both, was a part of some secrect society.
'The plot thickens...'
"Why does it matter? Because I can't get any physically stronger. Naturally the answer lies is spirituality. As for my goal... well, that's always been only one thing. To take control over my own fate. To fight against the will of the heavens." I spread my arms up slightly in a difiant gesture to the sky.
"Fine then, I'll be blunt. Are you planning to invade Soul Society?" Rukia grew cold, and I won't admit to feeling a shiver.
"So there is a secret society?! I knew it! Uryu's also a part of it? Or maybe a different one? Where do Hollows fit in? Do you harvest them? Where do they come from?" I couldn't help but ask the questions that popped into my mind. I continued mumbling to myself while Rukia stood there with an annoyed face and twitching eye brow.
"W-what? Harvest? Why would we- hey..." Rukia struggled, all tension being lost to my inaccurate ramblings. Ichigo sighed and sligged me over my head.
"I'm going back, be careful Arashi." Ichigo said as he left me and Rukia on the roof. I took the opportunity to speak with her.
"So, this 'Soul Society', what's it's purpose?" I asked, shifting into a more relaxed posture. Rukia made to speak, before hesitating.
"Soul Society's prime directive is to maintain the flow of souls into reincarnation."She sighed before pulling out a sketch pad from her pocket... did she have pockets? "It really boils down to two jobs. First, is to send pluses, or souls of people, from the world of the living to the Soul Society. Second, is to purify hollows."
"Purify? Notice you didn't say kill... what, are they demons or something? Corrupt spirits?" I asked, starting to draw parallels between realities. 'If they really are currupt spirits, I might be able to-'
"Yes, actually." Rukia sounded pleased about something. "Hollows are pluses that have lingered too long in the Human World. By 'killing' them with our Zanpakuto, we purify their spirits and allow them entry into Soul Society."
"Corrupt souls... that could still work." I muttered, walking off to think about the info dump.
"H-hey! Where do you think you're going?!" Rukia asked in a huff, eye twitching.