They told us it was a weapon.
A tool. A Shinigami's life. A piece of your soul.
They also said we wouldn't understand it until we were ready.
That part, at least, they got right.
I held the Asauchi in my hands for the first time and felt... nothing.
Not a whisper. Not a pulse. Not some ancient voice in my head whispering advice.
Quiet.
---
Class that day was a joke.
We were told to bond with the sword.
Meditate with it. Carry it at all times.
"Treat it like a limb," the instructor said. "It must never leave your side."
Half the class took that literally. Kids walking around the yard swinging their blades like training weights. Some tried to sleep with the Asauchi balanced on their chests, like osmosis would force a connection.
Idiots.
It wasn't their fault. Most of them didn't know better. I did.
And that was the problem.
---
[Quest Complete: Claim Your Blade]
Reward: +5 Stat Points
Bonus Objective Progress: "Awaken Resonance" (0%)
Note: Soul Connection Uninitiated
[Available Stat Points: 11]
I didn't spend them.
Didn't even open the menu most days anymore. Not in public. Not where eyes could linger too long and questions could follow.
The system was for when I was alone, and lately, I wasn't alone much.
---
It was Daigo who broke the silence first.
We sat across from each other during midday meal, blades resting beside us.
He was chewing something too fast to taste when he said, "You think this thing's broken?"
I looked up. "The sword?"
"Yeah. Mine's still quiet. Like, dead quiet. I was expecting something more... I dunno. Dramatic."
I shrugged.
"Maybe it's just not ready."
"Or maybe we're not," he muttered, scratching at the binding on his hilt. "Heard one of the nobles in Class A already had a spark. Blade hummed when he held it. Can you believe that?"
No. I couldn't. That wasn't how it worked.
But I said nothing.
Daigo leaned forward. "You've been meditating with yours?"
"Every night."
"Feel anything?"
I hesitated. Then lied.
"No."
He nodded, like that comforted him. Like if I hadn't felt anything, then it wasn't just him falling behind.
He didn't know I was holding back.
That I had felt something.
Or maybe not a thing, but a pressure: faint, coiled, buried so deep inside the blade it almost didn't exist.
Like something was asleep in there.
And watching.
---
Nights were quieter now.
Most students passed out early. Zanjutsu drills were longer, Hakuda had started, and Reiatsu control exercises left even the nobles coughing up spirit particles like dust.
But I stayed up.
The field behind the dorms was empty by curfew, and the tree near the stone wall made enough shadow to sit under without being seen.
I kept the Asauchi in my lap.
Didn't swing it. Didn't train with it. Just sat, breathing slow, letting my spirit settle.
I didn't try to force a connection. I didn't ask it for anything.
I just listened.
And after an hour or so of silence… I felt it again.
That pressure.
Barely there. Like the weight of someone watching you from another room. Like a storm a thousand miles away, humming at the edge of the sky.
Still no voice. Still no name.
But something was there.
Sleeping.
Waiting.
[Resonance Progress: 2%]
Continue Bonding in Silence
I exhaled through my nose.
Good.
No one else needed to know.
---