It felt oddly good to get back to work.
A strange thought to have.
But I played around enough for a few days.
I looked up at the Tree. The sapling, despite its already large size. The…child? Could I call it a child? The Child of the World Tree that now grew inside my soul.
It was weird to say that it was using my soul to grow, like some kind of parasite, but that was far from the case.
More like, it was growing by watching?
Frankly, I couldn't say I knew exactly what was going on, but I knew for sure that it wasn't harmful in the slightest. Beyond my own guesses and understandings, as limited as they are, I wasn't the only one here to judge it.
It was warm and comforting too.
It reacted to my touch as I placed my hand on it.
"My soul is a really fucking weird place." I said out loud.
"Every soul is unique." My Zanpakutō responded. "Yours is just a little bit more unique than most."
Says the sword spirit, looking at the dragon—Ddraig—lying on one of the highest branches of the World Tree growing inside of me.
Though I liked being called unique, it made me feel happy. Maybe it's stupid to be happy over something like that, but it helped my mood.
I sat down in the shade of the young World Tree and set Mirage on the ground. It was easy to manifest it in my inner world, where I had proper control.
I began to set my other swords next to it.
Dawnbreaker, Ascalon, Sword of Destruction, Whisper, and even Greed.
Greed wasn't dangerous here in my inner world, where I was just making a mental copy of it basically.
I set out my Longinus, my Boosted Gear, my Staff of Magnus, my Divine Sword Ame-no Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, and finally, my Gae Bolg.
I had a lot of treasures, and it made me very happy to see them all out like this to admire. My devil nature, my dragon nature—I don't know which it was that made me like admiring my own treasures so much, but I didn't overly question it.
These were mine.
And I had the feeling that they would be playing more roles here in the future.
I picked up Gae Bolg. "I'm ready; let's go."
I spun the spear in my hands. The training I've been having with Scáthach recently has helped me quite a bit.
We had been focusing on the spear and movements almost entirely.
It helped me realize where I was failing.
And it certainly helped that she was the best teacher in the world.
That isn't to say I suddenly mastered the spear in the time we've been practicing it, but my skill had gone up a notch or two, I'd like to think. I can't claim to call myself a genius with a sword when I stand next to the likes of Artoria and Raikou. But I like to think I'm skilled enough that even if I'm not quite so good with a spear, I can cover some distance in acquiring the needed skills by referencing everything else.
A mirror rose up from the ground, and it reflected me, but different.
I was used to it at this point as my mirrored self walked out.
He held his own Gae Bolg still with a cocky smirk on his face. "Round two?" He asked.
"Round two." I nodded.
My Zanpakutō didn't need to initiate it or give a countdown. As soon as my other self stepped out, the battle had already begun.
He moved.
And it was almost the same exact move that Scáthach always started with.
A full-bodied lunge forward into a stab.
It was a type of greeting.
If you can't stop this, then you deserve to die and aren't worth my attention.
I grabbed my spear with both hands and slashed it downwards, colliding with the tip of his spear perfectly.
All the power in his strike scattered in an explosive release.
Immediately, his grip slid upwards towards the tip of his spear, allowing him to pull it back without losing momentum even as I slashed at his neck.
With one hand, tucking the shaft under his arm, as if wielding his spear like a sword, he deflected it.
I followed up by spinning my spear, the butt of it coming at him from the side to hit his ribs. It was deflected again, and I continued at his other side with the blade of the spear tip aiming at his left leg. With a deflection, my spear was already moving again towards his right eye.
Gradually, the speed increased.
We both turned into a blur with sparks flying before the ringing of weapons could be heard.
He was the first to shift his posture, and he tilted his spear downwards, aiming at my fingers. I had to quickly adjust my grip, making me lose my aggressive pressure.
I loosened my grip on my spear, letting it slide out of my hand until I was grabbing the very end of it, then used my entire body to swing it in an arc around me.
He was forced to take a few steps back to dodge.
"Hooh." He let out a breath. "Not bad, you improved. You definitely picked up the right mindset for wielding a spear over a sword. A spear isn't just a sword on a long stick, you know." His spear dropped down his hand until he was holding it properly again. "It's all about controlling the momentum."
I took a practiced stance. "Well, that and other things."
Compared to a sword, the way you grip a spear is significantly different.
If you hold it close to the blade, it can be used like a sword in close quarters. If you hold it near the butt, it can be swept like a naginata. And of course, a proper grip at the center means that it can shift however you want.
Again, he took the same stance as before, but his pressure was completely different.
This wasn't a simple greeting anymore.
I felt like his spear was already pressing against my neck.
He leapt at me again, and it was intended to kill me with everything he had.
I spun my spear up, and the butt of it collided with the tip of his spear with a resounding reverberation.
He followed up immediately with a kick that I side-stepped, and my knee went for his sternum. He caught it with his palm and shifted his entire body to put my leg in a lock and pulled me to the ground, twisting me to make me lose my balance.
I saw the blade of his in front of my eye.
I quickly jerked my head, narrowly avoiding it and pulling myself free.
Within the breath, I slid myself back, using my spear to deflect a follow-up from him as my feet tore into the ground.
His use of grappling took me by surprise; that was my mistake, and he began to capitalize on it as I was now on my back foot.
It annoyed me to admit, but in terms of spear skills, he was still far ahead of me.
He was like a whirlwind.
His spear came from below to sweep at my legs, and just barely as I dodged it, it had already aimed at my heart, which I narrowly deflected, only for the butt of his spear to swing around in an arc and smack me on the side of the head and send me skidding across the ground.
It dazed me only for a brief moment, but my danger sense screamed at me, and my vision was filled with a burst of bloodlust and magical energy that sent a tingle down my spine.
I responded in the best way I could in that moment, gathering my own power and letting out a shout as I thrust forward to meet his attack head-on.
The eruption of energies sent me bouncing backwards off the ground before I came to a stop and slid back onto my feet, letting out a haggard breath.
I eyed my opponent, who, while not coming out of that exchange clean, was also not particularly hurt.
Meanwhile, I felt the blood rising up my throat and dripping down my nose.
I think I fractured my wrist too.
He casually spun his spear as he took a few steps forward. "She taught us that lesson, didn't she? When you make a decisive blow, put everything you have into it."
I grunted, straightening my posture. "A half-assed attempt at killing someone leads to a half-alive enemy that can retaliate."
My mirrored self laughed.
"Well, I'll say it again. You got better, but you're still not my match when it comes to the spear."
"Yeah." I let out a sigh. "But I'm not a spearman; I acknowledge that. However, you're forgetting one thing."
"What's that?" He asked curiously.
"This isn't a fight about swordsmanship." I let out a long breath, tapping my shoe against the ground before kicking off the ground.
I hadn't been training in swordsmanship as my focus.
It was something I was picking up alongside the 'real' training. Even Scáthach acknowledged that my focus wasn't on the spear and didn't attempt to change that.
If even both of us understand that, then why would my Zanpakutō spirit make a challenge focused on spearmanship?
One logical answer is that it's common sense to round out all your abilities to a certain degree. But the more practical answer is that this whole 'test' wasn't a test focused on Spearmanship.
His expression changed.
Like me, he has an instinct that's bordering irrational.
He noticed something and shot at me at his full speed. And running from point A to point B, I would also say he has me beat there.
Of course, I was a bit hampered; I didn't have all my stuff and abilities to use, but I couldn't use that as an excuse. He can run faster than me; that's just a fact, and it flowed into our fight.
But then again, I had something he didn't.
I don't run in the same way.
His spear pierced towards me, and I pushed off the ground in a burst of Shunpo.
His spear tore through a hazy figure reminiscent of my silhouette that I left in my wake. Shunpo was a technique; it wasn't an expression of physical exertion, and I still had plenty to learn.
I came to a stop behind him, and my spear was aimed at his back.
He quickly pivoted on his heel to deflect it and tried to counter, but I had moved again. My spear was aiming at his back again from the other side.
His spear barely touched mine again; the sound of the collision had just reached our ears as I moved to his side.
Faster and faster.
It wasn't the first time I've done this. When I fought the double Berserker Lancelot back in the Orleans Singularity, I did the same thing. I took advantage of his dwindled mental capacity at that time and utilized my Shunpo to maneuver with precision to disable him.
But that was the 'me' with everything available.
And that was an opponent who was hindered by their enhanced strength and madness.
Now, it was different.
Faster and faster.
The point of my Bankai training was to push my limits and overcome them. Pain? What did that matter here in this world?
I turned into a blur.
I didn't even wait for the sound of our weapons meeting before moving again; I weaved in fakes and distractions, and I kept pushing my speed further. I could feel blood trickle down my bloodshot eyes as I continued to push myself. I felt some of the muscles in my legs snap, but I ignored it and pushed forward.
And I think I saw it.
The realm of what Yoruichi prides herself on when she calls herself the Flash Queen.
Suddenly, there were dozens of afterimages all around him.
Speed that even Izzy acknowledges as absurd in the same breath that she calls them mortals in her eyes.
At least, in the eyes of a goddess, she acknowledged that many of the Shinigami of that world had breached the realm of gods.
And he couldn't keep up.
My spear brushed past his guard and touched his cheek, drawing a line of blood before pulling back.
He swung his spear through an image of me when I was already dozens of feet away from him, stabbing forward as he twisted his body and got cut along the waist.
Blood began to splash across the ground every second. The sparks and echoes of steel were being drowned out by the sound of his flesh being severed with each passing moment.
"Like I would lose this way!" He let out a roar as dozens of afterimages all bore down on him, dozens of deadly cursed spears trying to claim his life. His magical energy erupted outwards, and he slammed his spear right into the ground below him.
All my hazy afterimages dissipated as I got hit by the outer edge of the explosion he created.
His eyes burned brightly in the dust that surrounded the area, focused with bloodlust as he let out another roar and shot through the obstructed debris.
He was practically covered in blood from head to toe, mostly of his own hand, and then he put everything into stabbing at me as I barely touched back on the ground.
Scáthach always said that the biggest taboo for someone who wields a spear is to be flat-footed.
"I'll have your heart!"
"Not if I take yours first!" I stabbed at him the same way.
He grinned wickedly as he held up his other arm and threw it in front of my spear, using it as a shield as it pierced through his forearm, and he flung it to the side, completely giving it up as the flesh and bone were torn away.
Yet, his spear was still aimed right at my heart.
So, I let go of my spear, and my feet left the ground as I barely arched my body over his thrust, narrowly avoiding it.
"Fool!" He yelled, twirling his spear, and tried to readjust his aim at my body that was now midair. He only had one arm; his speed and strength had diminished.
I think he noticed my cocky smile.
I swung my arm at the spear I had abandoned less than a breath before. A piece of fabric, or rather leather, slapped around the shaft. I used my belt as a means to pull my spear back to me to block his strike.
My feet hit the ground, and he had yet to recover himself.
I stomped forward, twisted my wrist, and thrust forward with all my strength, and my spear pushed through his chest as his own Gae Bolg was dropped from his hand and his body was carried backwards by my strike as he became impaled on the World Tree.
I collapsed onto the ground.
"I win!" I declared before falling back completely. "It's my win." I said again between deep breaths.
Tired.
I closed my eyes with a sense of relief.
[Line Break]
Musū Tengai POV
"Well fought." I said softly as his eyes shut tight and he disappeared into his inner world.
He had pushed past his previous limits while also being hindered in his current state. His gains here will be elevated when he has his full power.
"Good fight, brat." Ddraig also commented as he flew down from the tree. "You know, I was annoyed at first when he wasn't using me in every fight. But I kind of came around to the idea of being a trump card. If I was used for every little thing, I think it would lower my prestige."
I rolled my eyes. "Yes, of course."
He chuckled. "Seeing the brat get stronger is fun. It reminds me of when I was a young little dragon. I look forward to seeing what else he's going to do."
"I look forward to it as well." I smiled in agreement.
"Well, I'm going back home to sleep." Ddraig yawned. "Later."
The Dragon disappeared back into the Boosted Gear.
That is two opponents down now, Wilhelm. But you still have a bit more to go.
I will talk to him once he's had a chance to mentally recover. While he will not face physical pains and damage within his inner world, the mental and spiritual toll can be high.
I looked towards the mirrored potential of him.
"How long are you going to pretend to be dead?" I asked.
The version of Wilhelm that was pierced into the nascent World Tree cracked open his eyes. "Well, shit. It felt awkward to say something." He coughed up a mouthful of blood. "Can you do something? This isn't exactly comfortable."
I snapped my fingers, and the spear disappeared.
He slumped to the ground. "Ugh, I guess that's it for me. I'm kinda annoyed; I wanted to say something cool at our last meeting."
"I can relay your words."
"Nah, the moment passed." He grumbled. "I guess I'll be heading back to my maybe nonexistence now. I wonder if I really do exist out there somewhere, or maybe I did exist or will exist."
"Does it matter?" I asked.
"Nah." He grinned. "You should know that better than most. We don't have those kinds of unnecessary deep thoughts. Just live your life how you want to; don't care about that kind of thing." He let out a sigh, leaning back. "So, how long are you going to pretend?"
"...pardon?"
"I can't blame him for not noticing, considering his perspective is skewed. But I'm sure the other 'us' he fought also noticed and was just too polite to say something." The potential version of Wilhelm stated. "You should tell him."
"....."
"Right." He just grunted. "I guess it isn't my place to say anything anyways. But it's just going to be worse when he eventually finds out, right?"
"I will bear any consequences without complaint." I said simply.
"You know, that's always such an easy thing to say when it's someone else that's getting hurt." He stated. "But what do I know?"
He dissipated back into the reflection of possibilities.
"...my goal has never changed." I looked up at the growing World Tree. "My priority has always been Wilhelm."
[Line Break]
A/N
If you want to read 10 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
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