After the house was built, Meninas prepared to leave.
"Thanks for your help, Meninas. Come in for tea," Sora said, taking things from his pack. "You're really strong—such power in someone so small."
Sora observed how Meninas moved heavy objects effortlessly, relying entirely on her own strength rather than utilizing Blut for enhancement.
"My power's huge!" Meninas flexed her arm, grinning.
"Your Blut is also amazing. You can move things that require machinery!" Menina's face was full of envy. "Unfortunately, I don't have enough merit points yet. I'll need to save up for a few more years to learn Blut. Mastering it is like having one foot in the door of the elite Quincy…"
"You need merit points to learn Blut?" Sora asked, confused.
The Wandenreich had a merit point currency system. The soldiers' living expenses and material purchases all required merit points.
"You don't know?" Meninas remembered that 'Kurosaki Usaki' was from the human world. "Oh, right… You're from the outside."
"Our training doesn't include Blut. The instructors in the outer city won't teach it to us, unless… You spend merit points to hire a private tutor," Meninas explained.
"I'm a Quincy from the human world, so no post or merit points. Living here's tough…" Sora admitted with a strained smile.
Only the returning Quincy could be immediately assigned to posts, usually the ones they held before going to the human world.
'Kurosaki Usaki's' identity was a Quincy born in the human world. She would not be assigned a post in the short term and, therefore, had no source of merit points.
"Meninas, want to train with me?" Sora asked.
"Ah… but I don't have that many merit points…" Meninas looked like she wanted to agree, but was dejected due to her lack of points. "I'm a new soldier. Even by saving every month, I've only saved up a little over two thousand… a single private lesson costs tens of thousands!"
"You can pay in installments. Just give me part of your points each month," Sora said.
"Really?!" Meninas was clearly tempted.
"Hmm… but my family adheres to the principle that techniques should not be taught lightly. Blood is only passed down to heirs and disciples. If you want to train with me, you'll have to become my disciple," Sora continued to bluff.
"No problem!" Meninas nodded repeatedly. "I want to become your disciple!"
Meninas was not the descendant of a powerful Quincy and had no family heritage. It was difficult to obtain better teaching resources in the Wandenreich, so she did not hesitate.
Sora glanced at the new information on his panel:
[Meninas McAllon requests to become your disciple. Accept as a direct disciple?]
He could even take a Hollow as a disciple. As expected, a Quincy was also possible!
"Just know, betraying my school isn't tolerated—I'll step in if needed. In return, I'll train you seriously," Sora warned.
"I'm ready! Here are my saved points—they're yours," Meninas said, holding out the card.
She knew that 'Kurosaki Usaki' was a powerful Quincy and didn't want to miss this opportunity.
Earlier, as they built the house together, Sora had both intentionally and unintentionally showcased his powerful Reishi Manipulation and Blut Arterie abilities in front of her.
"Hmm… from now on, you are my disciple," Sora took half of the merit points from the metal card. He had also been issued such a card, and he only needed to touch the two cards together to transfer the points. "You still need to live, so I won't take them all."
"Thank you, Professor!" Meninas exclaimed, her relief palpable. Moments before, she'd been gripped by anxiety over how she'd make ends meet until the next merit distribution. Now, gratitude surged through her—her new professor had thoughtfully left her half, and she felt truly seen.
Sora looked at his panel. A new notification had appeared.
[Successfully accepted Meninas McAllon as a direct disciple.]
Meninas McAllon's Affinity Level has increased. Current Affinity Level is Friendly.
Current training mission added: Guide Meninas McAllon to complete Blut Vene training (In progress).
Current training mission added: Guide Meninas McAllon to complete Blut Arterie training (In progress).
[Having disciples of the Shinigami, Hollow, and Quincy races, the Ultimate Task has been unlocked: Path of Transcendence]
[Path of Transcendence: Guide disciples who reach the limits of a Shinigami, Hollow, and Quincy (In progress)]
The last pop-up message caught Sora's particular attention.
"Path of Transcendence?"
Sora pondered.
His intuition told him that this mission was related to surpassing the limits of a Shinigami, Hollow, and Quincy.
"But… the difficulty of this mission is very high!"
He wasn't worried about the Shinigami side; Sōsuke Aizen would pave the way for him.
As for the Hollows, he currently only had Nelliel and Harribel as disciples, and he wasn't sure if they could reach the limit of a Hollow.
"In the end, the Hōgyoku is still needed…"
Sora remembered a setting where the Espada had a Hōgyoku form. That should be the limit of a Hollow, or perhaps even beyond it.
He had even fewer Quincy disciples, only the newly accepted Meninas.
The limit of a Quincy was benchmarked against the newly revived Yhwach. Sora hesitated, anxiety prickling beneath his rational thoughts—even with his guidance, it felt almost impossible for Meninas to reach that daunting height.
"It's very difficult… do I have to wait for Ichigo Kurosaki to be born? Besides Yhwach, he is the Quincy with the most potential."
If he could take Ichigo as a disciple, then he wouldn't have to worry about the Quincy side.
But the biggest problem with this path filled Sora with quiet dread—it would still be a long, restless wait until Ichigo's birth.
"Is it possible for Ichigo to be born earlier?"
"The key to Ichigo's birth is Isshin Shiba, Masaki Kurosaki, and the 'White' created by Sōsuke Aizen…"
Note: For those who may not clearly remember the original Bleach story, the line about Ichigo's birth refers to his unique origin. Ichigo isn't a normal human; he was born from the union of Isshin Shiba (a Shinigami Captain), Masaki Kurosaki (a pure-blooded Quincy), and an experimental Hollow created by Aizen named "White".
This Hollow "infected" Masaki before Ichigo's birth. To save her, Isshin had to sacrifice his Shinigami powers, becoming trapped in the human world. As a result, Ichigo was born with all three powers (Shinigami, Quincy, and Hollow) latent within him, making him a hybrid being with immense potential. What Sora is considering here is the possibility of replicating those conditions.
Sora analyzed the components of Ichigo's existence.
Aizen was also a key figure in Ichigo's birth, perhaps even the most important catalyst.
Without Aizen's Hollowfication experiment, Isshin and Masaki probably would not have gotten together.
"It's time to check in on when Sōsuke will make 'White'… and I also need to keep an eye on the Kurosaki orphans in the human world."
Finding a wife for Isshin was not something that could be done overnight. Sora temporarily dismissed the idea.
"Meninas, there's no time like the present. Let's start today. But first, I need to test your foundation."
Sora looked at Meninas. "Is there a training ground nearby?"
"There is!" Meninas was very familiar with the area and pointed to the right. "I actually live nearby. A few hundred meters in that direction, there's a public training ground… no, wait… It's not convenient for a professor to teach in a public training ground. We'll have to rent one."
As a nation where the entire populace was a military force, the Wandenreich's training grounds were as numerous as basketball courts in a modern country. There were many of them in the residential areas.
The Wandenreich respected strength, and there were also rank differences among the soldiers.
The stronger you were, the higher your rank, and the more merit points you would be issued.
Therefore, to live a decent life, one had to continuously improve one's strength.
A moment later, the two arrived at the training ground.
The public training grounds were free to use, but anything you did there could be seen by others.
However, you could spend merit points to rent a private training room.
"We need to rent one… for three hours!" Meninas took out her card and handed it to the administrative soldier in the hall.
"Do you need an instructor?" the soldier asked.
"No!" Meninas shook her head repeatedly. She had a professor now, so, of course, she didn't need to spend extra money hiring an outside instructor.
Meninas watched painfully as the soldier swiped her merit points, but when she thought about what she could learn from her professor, she felt it was all worth it.
"One moment," the soldier quickly handled the matter and handed a key card to Meninas. "Training room 4."
Sora followed Meninas as she led him to the training room.
It was equipped with many Quincy spiritual tools and targets, which could be used freely by those who rented the space.
"There are quite a few spirit bows…" Sora looked at the rack of various bows and crossbows.
Besides those, there were also conventional weapons like swords and spears. These weapons, like the spirit bows, were not ordinary. They could be used with the Reishi Manipulation ability to create a reishi blade on them, increasing their attack power.
"Actually, my standard-issue weapon isn't as good as the ones here!" Meninas stuck out her tongue.
She was just a new soldier, and the standard-issue weapon she had received was an ordinary saber that couldn't have a reishi blade attached to it.
Better spiritual tools also had to be exchanged for merit points.
However, this was the system during peacetime. If the Wandenreich went to war, even a new soldier like her could probably be issued standard spiritual tool equipment.
"Since you've become my disciple, I should prepare a gift for you."
Sora took out a spirit blade tool from his reishi-space pocket.
Before arranging for the Reigai puppet to enter the Wandenreich, he had also prepared a reishi-space pocket for it, filled with many Quincy-related items.
If he were to be searched, these items could also add credibility to his fabricated identity.
But running into Sōken Ishida had saved him a lot of trouble.
"There's a gift too!!!" Menina's eyes seemed to sparkle. "Thank you, Professor!"
"Train hard. If you learn Blut, I'll reward you with a spirit bow!" Sora nodded slightly.
He had many years of experience in taking disciples and knew very well how to get closer to them.
He glanced at the panel. As expected, a new notification had appeared:
[Meninas McAllon's Affinity Level has increased. Current Affinity Level is Close]
"I will definitely work hard!" Meninas was very glad to have met such a good professor in the relatively cold and competitive Wandenreich.
"First, let's test your foundation. Use what you're best at," Sora beckoned to her, signaling her to attack.
"I'm better at close combat, and I'm relatively strong," Meninas said, swinging the new weapon her professor had given her a few times to get a feel for it.
"Here I come!"
A faint reishi glow appeared under Meninas's feet, and her Hirenkyaku activated!
Her flight speed might have been among the top for new soldiers, but in Sora's eyes, it was full of openings.
"Too many unnecessary movements!"
Sora raised his fingers, and three small reishi arrows shot out from his fingertips.
Pew, pew, pew—
With his current Reishi Manipulation ability, the reishi arrows he released were powerful even without the aid of a spirit bow.
However, he knew the power of his moves and deliberately slowed them down.
After forcing Meninas to change her position, the three small arrows accurately landed on the three targets behind her.
Bang, bang, bang—
The heads of the three humanoid targets were instantly blown off.
Meninas turned her head and was shocked. While attacking her, her professor still had the spare energy to control the arrows to hit the vital points of the targets!
"So powerful… he can shoot such strong arrows with just his fingers…"
Meninas was stunned. Even with a spirit bow, she could definitely not shoot an arrow with such power!
These humanoid targets were not ordinary objects; they were spiritual tools with considerable defense.
Even if she learned Blut right now, her defense would not be higher than these tools!
In other words, if her professor had wanted to, her head would have been blown off just now.
"An arrow just flew past my neck…" thinking of this, Meninas's face turned pale.
She was a new soldier still in the basic training phase and had no real combat experience. Realizing she had just brushed with death, a chill ran down her spine.
"What are you standing there for? Your opponent won't go easy on you!"
Meninas came to her senses, turned her head, and her face went pale with fright.
A reishi arrow was already right in front of her!
She could even feel the terrifying power contained within it!
Her heart began to race, and a surge of adrenaline shot through her body.
She frantically activated her Hirenkyaku and dodged the arrow.
When faced with a crisis, Meninas performed extraordinarily and was no longer intimidated by the reishi arrow's power.
"Her use of Hirenkyaku is also very average… it seems I underestimated her talent and overestimated her level of training…" Seeing her performance, Sora frowned slightly.
He had seen that her Reishi Manipulation ability was higher than that of many soldiers and had thought she already possessed a certain level of strength.
Now it seemed that her talent was good, but she hadn't undergone much training, and her ability had grown to this level on its own.
"I have a general understanding of your situation now. Your training plan needs some changes."
Sora's level was much higher than hers, and he quickly got a grasp of her foundation.
"I need to first create some spiritual tools to assist your training," Sora didn't know the traditional Quincy method of learning Blut, but he had his own way.
Although Meninas was a Quincy and her combat power mainly relied on Reishi Manipulation, Sora still felt she needed to train her ability to use spiritual pressure.
Blut could be filled with external reishi or with one's own spiritual pressure. If he could improve her ability to use spiritual pressure, learning Blut would be a natural consequence.
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The Bleach story will come to an end in December. I want to thank everyone who has been reading this project; your support has been crucial in getting to this point.
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