"I learned Hiryūkyaku!"
After flying several laps through the air, Bambietta landed with a satisfied grin.
"I knew I was a genius! Only took me one day to master it!"
Despite some initial setbacks, Bambietta had finally grasped Hiryūkyaku.
Because she couldn't yet control her explosive talent well, she often triggered blasts mid-movement, making the learning process more painful than expected.
"Very impressive," Liltotto said flatly. "But I learned it in one morning."
"Nobody asked you!" Bambietta rolled her eyes.
As soon as Bambietta completed the training, Nanatsuki received a system notification:
[Disciple Bambietta Basterbine has completed Hiryūkyaku Training. Reward Calculated.]
[Reward: 2000 General Ability EXP]
Elsewhere, Candice and Meninas were sparring.
Nanatsuki wanted to test Candice's combat abilities, so he had them face off.
Crackle!
Candice raised her hand. Lightning surged wildly through the air.
She too was a naturally gifted Quincy—able to convert Reishi in the air into lightning to strike her enemies.
Meninas focused on dodging the incoming bolts.
"Not bad! How many training cycles have you done?" Candice asked.
Becoming a full-fledged Quincy required mastering a great deal. The boot camps had broad, multi-year curricula.
For an average soldier, it took more than ten years to complete them all.
But talents like Candice and Meninas didn't follow the usual pace.
Top-performing Quincy were allowed to "skip levels."
"Two." Meninas answered quickly. Candice's attacks were too fast for small talk.
"Only two, and you're dodging this well?" Candice was surprised. Meninas was exceeding her expectations.
"Evading dense attacks like this is normally part of the fourth cycle."
Candice had just finished the fourth cycle and believed her ability development outclassed Meninas.
"That's because Teacher trained me!"
After enduring Nanatsuki's bullet hell of Reishi arrows, dodging Candice's lightning didn't feel all that difficult.
In the next moment, Meninas skated behind Candice on a stream of compressed Reishi.
"Normal punch!"
The punch looked basic—but it packed terrifying power.
After several days of training, Meninas had significantly improved her Reiatsu control, now using it to enhance her strength.
Before this, she'd relied entirely on instinct.
Candice raised her arm to block, a crackling orb of lightning gathered around her hand—her usual trick to counter close-range attacks.
Normally, her lightning would shock the enemy before they even landed a hit.
Crack!
To Candice's shock, Meninas's ordinary-looking punch shattered the lightning orb.
Her arm took the full blow and she crashed to the ground.
"How are your punches this strong?!" Candice winced, rubbing her arm through her gloves. It was already swelling.
"I'm just... naturally strong~" Meninas rolled up her sleeve to show off her not-so-obvious muscles.
"I underestimated you..." Candice muttered. Her numbed arm made it hard to keep fighting—this round, she'd lost.
She hadn't expected one punch to do that much damage.
Their strength was actually close. But Meninas's ability was harder to detect. Without Blut Vene, even a single hit from her could deal serious internal damage.
"I get the gist of your style now," Nanatsuki said. "Your lightning's too dispersed—it's lacking focus and impact."
He paused, then continued, "You and Meninas are both joining the Sternritter recruitment. Spend these days sparring together to sharpen your combat instincts."
"Lightning's so hard to control..." Candice scratched her head in frustration.
"Just directing it where I want is a pain."
Her ability development wasn't very advanced.
"You still need to improve your Reiatsu control. Once that's solid, shaping lightning won't be so hard."
Nanatsuki took out two pairs of spirit wristbands from his Reishi pouch.
"I made extras when prepping for Liltotto. One pair for you and one for Bambietta."
"Liltotto, show them how to use it. Meninas—come on, time for your dodging drills."
Nanatsuki resumed Meninas's evasion training.
Thwip-thwip-thwip—!
A dense barrage of Reishi arrows rained toward her.
"Not good!"
Meninas shot upward with Hiryūkyaku to dodge.
"No wonder she's so good at dodging!"
Candice finally understood why her lightning had failed to hit earlier.
Compared to Nanatsuki's thunderstorm-like barrage, her own attacks were like drizzle.
"You'll be training like this too," Nanatsuki told her.
"Guess I'll need to carve out time somehow... Still got patrol duty. Ugh!" Candice scratched her hair, clearly annoyed.
"They say we can't take leave, but our captain shoved all the work on us while he ran off to train!"
"You can train with the wristbands while on duty," Liltotto said practically.
"When you make officer, you can toss that lazy captain however you like."
"...True. I should make the most of this." Candice nodded, finally taking things seriously. She listened closely as Liltotto explained how to use the spirit tools.
—
A few days later, the Sternritter recruitment day arrived.
Quincy from across the Wandenreich gathered outside Silbern, some to participate, others just to observe.
In the central plaza, the examiner read the rules aloud.
"Didn't they used to pick people through tournament matches? What's with this method now?"
"This... this is just pushing people into a death trap..."
The new rules caused an uproar. Smart soldiers quickly picked up on the danger.
Nanatsuki stood in the crowd with his disciples. He, Meninas, and Candice were all participating.
"Only 1 out of every 100 makes it through?" Bambietta frowned. "Isn't that way too dangerous?"
"Idiot." Liltotto analyzed calmly. "The top scorer can exit early. When they leave, second place becomes first.
So technically, many people could escape—
…but the fewer Quincy remain, the harder it'll be to survive. If the Hollows inside are strong, staying longer means more danger."
The examiner hadn't revealed what grade of Hollows would be inside. But Liltotto deduced that they wouldn't be weak.
The hunting ground was sealed with a Reishi barrier—so no one could sense the inside.
"Good analysis, Liltotto." Nanatsuki nodded. "Once you're inside, don't let your guard down."
"You won't just earn points from killing Hollows.
You can also steal points from other participants. Be cautious of other Quincy."
Meninas and Candice were still unripe talents—not yet ready to stand alone. Nanatsuki didn't want to lose them in this death trap.
"I'll be careful!"
"Understood!"
The girls nodded seriously.
"Too bad I'm not a soldier yet..."
Bambietta stared at the hunting ground. This recruitment was only open to enlisted soldiers or those who returned from the World of the Living.
She and Liltotto weren't eligible.
"Silence!"
The examiner's voice boomed like thunder, instantly quieting the crowd.
"The recruitment begins now. All participants line up here to enter the hunting ground!"
"Nice!" Meninas clapped. "They're not stopping us from teaming up!"
"We can go with Teacher!" Candice beamed.
Teaming up with strangers risked betrayal. Going solo made you an easy target.
Being with familiar allies was safest.
"Now it's group warfare..." Liltotto rubbed her chin. "The intensity will definitely rise."
"Does the Sternritter not care about the outer-district soldiers at all...?"
Nanatsuki frowned, connecting the dots to the Quincy war in the World of the Living.
After days of investigating, he confirmed that most soldiers sent to the World of the Living came from the Wandenreich—along with their descendants.
"They're just sending them off to die?"
Nanatsuki's heart skipped a beat.
The more he thought about it—
the more it all made sense.
Yhwach was reclaiming power.
"Is he absorbing strength this way because he can't use Auswählen while dormant?"
If that were true, Yhwach's condition was different from the original timeline.
On the bright side, it meant Yhwach probably hadn't awakened yet.
Otherwise, he wouldn't need to collect power this way.
"I can't let this go as planned."
Nanatsuki began thinking of how to sabotage the selection process.
If this recruitment was helping Yhwach recover, he needed to delay it.
"This is serious. Liltotto, Bambietta—don't stay here."
He turned to his two non-participating disciples.
"Pack up. Prepare to leave."
"...Leave?" Bambietta blinked, confused.
"Is it really that bad?" Liltotto frowned. "Even if we go… where would we go?"
"The war in the World of the Living is over," Nanatsuki said.
"We can find a quiet place to train in peace. Things might not get that bad, but we should be ready."
"Got it. Be careful, Teacher."
Liltotto dragged the still-puzzled Bambietta away.
"Come. We'll enter with the first group." Nanatsuki scanned the barrier and felt confident he could get them out.
"Right!" Meninas and Candice nodded.
They lined up easily. Most people hesitated, wanting to watch the first batch before jumping in.
Those eager to go first were either overconfident—or very well prepared.
"Once you enter, the hunt begins immediately. Don't let your guard down," the examiner warned as they approached the gate.
Nanatsuki and his students passed through the entry one by one.
A Reishi spell enveloped the gate.
As Nanatsuki stepped in, his world spun violently.
"...Teleportation technique."
He looked around.
No one.
The entry gate scattered groups deliberately.
"This forced separation makes fights more likely… even reunions could trigger conflict."
The test was designed to push participants into killing each other.
"Meninas and Candice landed in different areas. First, I need to regroup with them."
He locked onto their spiritual signatures and headed toward the closest one.
The environment mimicked the Forest of Menos in Hueco Mundo—
pale, eerie, barren.
Jagged stone columns rose everywhere.
"AAAGH!"
Distant screams echoed.
Some Quincy had already been ambushed and killed by Menos Grande.
Nanatsuki raised his left hand.
A Heilig Pfeil shot through a lurking Menos trying to ambush him.
SCREEECH
The Menos howled and collapsed.
"...They're really using Menos Grande in here?"
His spiritual sense detected many more nearby.
"This must be the point marker."
He spotted a bright mark on the shattered Hollow mask.
The marked shard turned into Reishi and entered his assigned wristband.
Each Menos had a tagged spot. Collecting the tag awarded points.
"Come out. I saw you already."
Nanatsuki turned toward a rocky outcrop.
"Ooh, we've been spotted! Scary."
Three Quincy stepped out from the stone forest.
They'd been lucky—landing near each other and regrouping fast.
"You're not a soldier. I don't recall training you. You must be a returnee from the World of the Living," one said.
"Ah, where are my manners. I'm Keith Flake, instructor of the Sixth Military Police Regiment."
"A Military Police instructor, huh?" Nanatsuki smiled calmly.
"You guys want these points? We just got started—and you're already scrambling to steal them?"
"No, no—we came to invite you to join us," another Quincy quickly added.