How Does One Communicate With a God?
Prayers, blessings, and rituals.
Unlike the prestigious Ise Clan—famous for their generations of shrine-priests—the Kisaragi family's Nibone Shrine was tiny, remote, and woefully under-equipped when it came to methods for communing with the divine.
Even Kisaragi Akira knew only the three most basic approaches.
Of them, prayer and ritual offerings were the most used.
The details, though?Those had been taught to him by Ise Shizune.
Once Akira made up his mind, he rose to his feet without hesitation. Ignoring the puzzled stare of the Sword-Zen instructor, he grabbed his asauchi and walked straight out of the dojo.
The moment he reached the doorway, Aizome opened his previously half-closed eyes.
He watched Akira's figure disappear down the corridor, a flicker of doubt sliding across his usually calm gaze.
What's that guy up to now?
Considering how often Akira did inexplicable, logic-defying things, skipping class now and then barely counted as noteworthy.
"That brat's getting more and more undisciplined…"The Sword-Zen instructor muttered under his breath after Akira was out of earshot.
He had wanted to stop him, but once he remembered the "power gap" between them, his protest died on his tongue.
After all, Akira wasn't holding a bamboo practice sword.
He was holding a real asauchi.
Even if it wasn't yet infused with a soul to become a proper zanpakutō, its durability and sharpness were far beyond anything a bamboo blade could compare to.
If that reckless kid got hot-blooded for even a second, the Sword-Zen instructor might end up as a corpse on the dojo floor.
For the sake of his continued survival, retreating at critical moments was the smart choice.
"Teacher, I'll go bring him back."After hesitating briefly, Aizome finally decided he should follow and see what Akira was planning.
With the instructor's reluctant approval, he too left the dojo.
Following the faint trail of Akira's spiritual pressure, Aizome tracked him all the way to the dormitory building.
And the scene he witnessed there utterly shattered yet another layer of his worldview.
Akira had filled the desk with protective talismans, candles burned with wavering orange flames, and the atmosphere was both eerie and strangely sacred.A large black banner hung beside him, marked with a single giant, ominous eye.A bronze ritual bell swayed gently, chiming with a clear metallic ring.
Then, with utmost care, he placed his asauchi in the spot meant for enshrining the god.
Aizome stood frozen, baffled.
And then—The usually sunny, carefree, almost lazy Kisaragi Akira suddenly transformed.His expression turned solemn, his posture rigid, his presence radiating a powerful spiritual authority—almost like a real shrine priest descended from a sacred lineage.
"…This guy…"Aizome whispered, thoughtful."Is he really planning to perform a ritual offering… to complete his Sword-Zen communion with his zanpakutō?"
Of course he figured it out.Not only because he was smart, but because—
He knew Akira.
Because of his strange temperament and unconventional behavior, Akira had exactly one friend in the entire Spiritual Arts Academy: Aizome.
But honestly—could anyone blame the others?Anyone associated with Akira tended to face… unpredictable consequences.
Even their teacher, Kaede Jun, had ended up in the infirmary with a private room.Everyone else simply stayed far away.
"In the name of Kisaragi, shrine priest of the old line—let the ritual begin…"
Akira's fingers moved like fluttering wings, forming sacred, intricate mudra. As he chanted under his breath, he focused on the target of the ritual deep within his mind.
What should a zanpakutō even look like?Just… a sword?
Countless possible images rose up, but he crushed each one as soon as it formed.
He wasn't sure if this ritual method would even work.But one thing was certain—He couldn't just randomly imagine a blade and expect to fool fate itself.
Suddenly, information about zanpakutō flickered through his thoughts.
If a zanpakutō was fundamentally forged from a Shinigami's own soul…
Then couldn't the ritual's target simply be—
himself?
To communicate directly with his own spirit.
Akira's eyes brightened like starlight reflecting in candle flames.
Once he fixed the ritual's target, he used the asauchi as the medium and continued the ceremony.
The bronze bell rang again—And a violent wind erupted from thin air, swirling through the room.Objects lifted off the floor and crashed into each other with splintering sounds.
Akira poured his spiritual pressure into the bell, using it as the key to call the "god" he sought to reach.
Somewhere in that storm, an invisible thread seemed to connect his soul to the asauchi.
Aizome's eyes widened, finally losing his calm.His youthful face shifted from composure to outright shock.
He… actually succeeded.
He really used a shrine ritual to replace Sword-Zen and communicate with his zanpakutō.
What kind of brain does this guy have!?
Spiking. Surging. Exploding.
The instant Akira's soul linked with the asauchi, his spiritual pressure skyrocketed—becoming a physical force that crushed the entire room.
If he had been calm enough to check his status panel, he would have seen—
[Spiritual Pressure: Lv22 → Lv23 → Lv24 → Lv25 → Lv26 → …]
The numbers kept rising with no upper limit in sight.
The outward effects were even more dramatic.
Wooden floorboards cracked.Wallpaper and plaster ripped under the pressure of the wind.Furniture shattered midair before even hitting the walls.
But the loudest sound wasn't the storm.
It was—
His heartbeat.
A deep, thunderous pounding, as if a bolt of divine lightning had struck his chest and was trying to break free.
Aizome's expression shifted again and again.
Of course.If you refuse to follow the rules, you won't get normal results.
Kisaragi Akira, the eternal rule-breaker, had charged straight into a completely unknown realm.
Even with perfect grades in History of Spiritual Arts, Aizome had never heard of anyone experiencing such a transformation after communicating with their zanpakutō.
And Akira's spiritual pressure was still rising.
From standard Shinigami trainee level—To seated-officer tier.
[Spiritual Pressure: Lv45]
Twelve-grade spiritual authority!
Meanwhile, Akira's eyes had rolled white, his body frozen like a wooden doll.His consciousness had already been pulled into a completely unfamiliar place.
More accurately—
A world.
[Sign-In Condition Met][Location Sign-In: Zanpakutō Inner World][Reward: Spiritual Pressure +1 → Current Lv46][Reward Acquired: Exclusive Perk — "Feather-Light Step"][Feather-Light Step: Body light as a swallow. Movement speed increased by 50%.]
A familiar voice echoed in his ears.
Staring out at the boundless world before him, Akira felt confidence swell in his chest.
As expected—
When it came to rituals, he was a professional.