31 - How to Get Stronger
Once the day was over, Rumi was about to go to sleep and let Sloth work on storing reiryoku for the next level up, since she was already so close to getting the required stored reiryoku for levelling up. But before she could fall asleep, she got a notification from the System.
[Congratulations for officially becoming a seated Shinigami in Gotei 13. Path to become a Shinigami has been achieved. Because you managed to get a Sixth Seat position, extra rewards will be granted.
Rewards : Soul Enhancement. ]
"Wait, Soul enhancement as a reward? I can't choose this time?" Rumi muttered, puzzled because the trend so far had been different. Rumi had always chose one out of the three or four options for rewards or missions so this time, not being able to choose caught her a little offguard.
But, looking at the description, Rumi had no objections about it.
[Description: It is a one-time enhancement to your soul. The enhancement process will start once you fall asleep and strengthen your soul.]
"Strengthen my soul, huh?" Rumi muttered. Since she was just a soul now, would that mean her natural capabilities would improve as well? Would her maximum capacity for reiryoku be improved? Rumi was quite curious of the extent of this soul enhancement.
It was almost difficult to fall asleep and let the soul enhancement process start but with the help of Sloth's passive skill, Rumi didn't have much diffficulty falling asleep despite her excitement.
The next day, when Rumi woke up, it was already almost noon. She didn't feel much different upon waking up but Rumi was excited to check for any possible changes.
Stretching her body a little, Rumi quickly checked on her progress of stored reiryoku and what else could have changed after the soul enhancement.
[Name : Fujiwara Rumi.
Age : 170 days. (Soul Society).
Race : Enhanced Soul (Shinigami).
Relationships : Abarai Renji (Close Friends), Rukia (Close Friends), Hinamori Momo (Close Friends), Kira Izuru (Friends), Hitsugaya Toshiro (Mentee).
Reiryoku level : Moderately High.
Stored reiryoku : 9271/10,000.
Spirit class : 5.
Skills : Sloth (Passive), Guradian's Vigil (Passive), Fire Resistance (Passive), Cold Resistance (Passive), Mind's Momentum, Falsifier.
Abilities : Zanjutsu(Intermediate), Kido (Intermediate), Hakuda (Advanced Beginner), Hoho (Intermediate).
Tools : Zanpakuto, Disguise Pendant.
Zanpakuto : Kazehime (Shikai).]
Except for the increased reiryoku progress due to Sloth and her race changing to enhanced soul, Rumi didn't see any other apparent changes. It could be that the effects weren't that apparent or the enhancement didn't really impact her other stats, Rumi guessed.
After a sigh, Rumi decided to pay more attention to the reiryoku progress.
"9271...so it seems like I still need about ten days or so to fill up the progress.." After asking the System to do the calculations, Rumi confirmed that it would approximate take ten to eleven days with her current pace.
Ten or eleven days wasn't a long period of time in Soul Society, actually not even a few years was considered long here at all, just because of how long Shinigami could live. That was why Rumi's Shikai achievement in about two months amd graduating in less than six months had caused an uproar in Seireitei. Some of the lesser noble families even approached her and offered to adopt her into the family just before her graduation, they justified it as a Win-Win solution because Rumi would get a noble standing even if it was a lesser noble family while the family would get a talented Shinigami, reinforcing their family standing. Rumi had declined all the offers because she didn't feel like being in a family for such political reasons and didn't want to follow noble family non-sense rules.
In short, Rumi was considered a prodigy because she only took less than six months to get where she was, and even a few years meant little to the Shinigami with longer life spans. So, Rumi figured ten days would pass quickly before she knew it.
"Alright, let's go and patrol for a while." Rumi finally got up and headed out.
As a sixth seat, it turned out that she was supposed to bring a team of non-seated officers with her on patrol. The team consisted of five non-seated Shinigami and their reiatsu levels weren't exactly impressive or noteworthy, but Rumi did recoginize two of them. They were in the group of Shinigamis who wanted to teach her lessons just yesterday.
"Okay, seems like we'll be going to patrol together. Yoroshiku ne~" Rumi said to the group.
Meanwhile, the two Shinigamis looked at Rumi with a curious look. They still weren't very happy that a newcomer got a higher position without going through a ton of exams just to get a non-seated position in Gotei 13 like them but they figured now was their chance to see if she actually deserved it, or as noteworthy as the rumors told her to be.
Rumi more or less guessed what the group of non-seated officers were thinking. It was a natural reaction when someone new had come up and snatched the position of superior or being put in charge of more experienced ones than her.
Maybe Kaien wanted her to prove herself to the division that she was worthy of being their Sixth Seat, or that was just a coincidence. Either way, Rumi didn't care much. She just wanted to finish the patrol quickly and go back to sleep so that her reiryoku would fill up more quickly.
The patrol itself was pretty uneventful, from walking to the designated area to encountering a few hollows.
One release of her Shikai was more than enough to deal with those hollows and Rumi barely broke a sweat doing it.
The non-seated officers in her patrol team also seemed pretty impressed and awed by Rumi's display of power, so that was a plus. Rumi figured her first patrol was a success.
After the patrol, Rumi did a short report and then she was free for the day. Well, not exactly free, since she was officially supposed to be learning about the division matters and stuff, but Rumi was actually planning to sneak back to her room without anyone knowing.
She was excited to go back to sleep and speed up the progress of levelling up her reiryoku but when she was on her way back to her room, she ran into Kaien.
"Yo, Fujiwara." Kaien raised his hand and called out to her. "Back from the patrol already?"
"Sir Kaien, what a coincidence to run into you, haha." Rumi laughed and greeted Kaien as if she just hadn't be caught sneaking back to her room. "I just finished patrol early and was about to learn about the other stuff I need to do in the mean time, but I found that I forgot my favorite notebook in my room." Rumi quickly thought of an excuse.
"Huh, is that so? Well, scratch that." Kaien said, "Follow me, Fujiwara."
"Eh? Follow you?" Rumi was a bit puzzled on what Kaien wanted with her, but since he was her superior, she followed him as he said.
Rumi noticed that Kaien picked up his speed using Shunpo so she did the same to follow him easily. Soon, Kaien stopped at the area where he sparred with Rumi for the first time.
"So I wasn't wrong when I thought your Shunpo is almost as fast as mine." Kaien stated, after coming to a stop. "Still a little rough and less refined, but the speed was there. How long has it been since you learned Shunpo?"
"Umm...a little over four months." Rumi replied.
"Right, you were only in the academy for less than half a year.." Kaien muttered, "My point is, Fujiwara, you have potential, like a lot of it. I'm sure that was why Ukitake taichō invited you to our division in the first place."
"So, I want to see all your Zankensoki progress, Fujiwara." Kaien continued.
"You mean all four techniques?" Rumi asked.
"That's right, when we sparred the other day, I only got to see your Kido, Shunpo and Shikai. I want to see how your Zanjutsu is without Shikai and of course, also Hakuda as well." Kaien said. "What do you think, Fujiwara? Up for a challenge?"
Rumi broke into a smile, "You know I'm not exactly a fan of getting beaten up, sir Kaien."
"Then, try to beat me." Kaien laughed.
"Please, I'm not that strong.."
Kaien finished Rumi's sentence, "Yet. You mean you aren't strong enough to defeat me now but would be in the future."
"I didn't say that, sir Kaien." Rumi smiled.
"Well, enough of word play. Get into action." Kaien said, throwing her a wooden sword. "Come at me with that sword, Fujiwara. We'll start with Zanjutsu today."
"It seems like you give me no choice, sir Kaien." Rumi replied, picking up the wooden sword.
"I told you I want to see your Zankensoki." Kaien said, "Do you know how many people in the division wants to be trained by Lieutenant Kaien that everyone loves?"
"A lot?"
"A lot." Kaien said with a smug look. "Now, if you understand, get moving."
"Alright, here we go." With a sigh, Rumi made her move.
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The sun was setting in the horizon as they finished the sparring/ training session. Rumi was leaning against a tree, slightly out of breath and stared into the sky with the setting sun.
The scenery was beautiful and the breeze on her skin felt wonderful, especially after the intense spar. It felt peaceful.
Rumi could still feel the numbness in her hands from holding the wooden sword tightly and fought with Kaien head on. She had never been known for superior strength or endurance. She had always relied on combat sense that came with Mind's Momentum and her speed. With her Zanpakuto taken away, being forced to face Kaien who could match her speed head-on was a bad match-up for her.
"You're a fast and efficient type fighter, like an assassin." Kaien said, "although at the same time, your Zanjutsu itself carried less power. You have the moves and reflexes yet you lack the power burst without your Shikai. That's why you can't hope to beat me like this."
"Well, I kind of agree to that." Rumi replied after a moment of silence. "I always knew I'm not physically strong or durable. That's why I always resolved to reading the opponents and take advantage of their weak points with my speed. That's how I always managed to win in spars with my former classmates everytime."
"You know, that would only work with opponents slower and has less experience than you." Kaien said, "The moment your opponent is faster or has more experience, you would lose. Still, your fighting style isn't a problem itself. Everyone has their own style of fighting that works for them."
"But, you see..if you want to continue with your current fighting style, you need to increase the power behind your attacks. If you're less durable, you need to overwhelm your opponent in a few short time with far greater power and speed to ensure your victory." Kaien explained, "If you lack one of that, you can't win."
Rumi nodded, "I understand."
She understood what Kaien had pointed out to her. To be honest, she had also thought that her lack of power burst was limiting her Zanjutsu level. It was just that she didn't pay much attention to it until now. Why did she do that?
More importantly, how would she increase the power behind each attack? Reiatsu? Physical training?
"Well, stop with the long face." Kaien said with a laugh, "You know this is your first day, right? Surely, no one can perfect their Zanjutsu in such a short time."
"I guess.." Rumi sighed. Now that the issue was on her mind, Rumi wasn't sure she could feel okay until she found a solution.
"Just give it some time to think." Kaien said, "Tomorrow, if I have time, I'll call you to come here again."
"Okay."
Rumi left the area and went back to her room with questions in her mind. How do she increase the power for her attacks without using Shikai? That was mostly on her mind as she walked back all the way and once she was back in her room, she went into sword meditation state to go into her innerworld.
She figured she could ask Kazehime about it.
After all, two heads was better than one.
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A/N : This chapter was kinda hard to write but here we go!
I hope it wasn't too bad.