Chapter 39: A Chance Encounter
Narrator POV
Akira slowly stood up, his breathing heavy and his torso covered in sweat. His shirt and cloak had been set aside ever since he began training; he couldn't afford distractions or anything that might get in the way. His single visible eye glowed faintly as he exhaled deeply and rubbed the back of his neck, easing the tension that had built up.
He had spent hours training the Heartburst Liberation Fist, and although he'd given it everything, his progress was minimal. It wasn't an easy technique to master.
This martial art focused on brute strength and pure power, designed to crush the opponent with a relentless chain of blows that shattered their defenses completely. That didn't bother Akira in the slightest — in fact, he thought it was perfect. But executing it properly… that was another story.
The secret of the style lay in making the heart beat explosively, synchronized precisely with the impact of each strike.
That synchronization forced the body to release immense amounts of adrenaline, allowing it to break through its physical limits and unleash far greater strength than any human should be capable of. However, achieving that coordination between body, heartbeat, and strike was devilishly difficult.
It required total mastery of the body. Precision. Control. Willpower. And Akira was only scratching the surface of it all.
Not even someone as talented as Garou had managed to master that style while he was human. Only when he lost his humanity and became a monster did he finally replicate it perfectly. Akira knew that… and even so, he refused to give up.
If he wanted to change the fate of others… he had to break his own limits first.
"This is harder than I expected…" he muttered, wiping the sweat from his face with his sleeve. "Making the heart beat explosively isn't exactly simple."
His eyes swept across the surroundings. The 20th floor had been completely cleared. His shadows had taken care of everything in his absence while he focused on training his fighting style. Even so, he couldn't help but sigh in frustration.
"This is such a pain… but there are no shortcuts if I want to go further. If I really want to get stronger, I have to break my own limits."
With a lazy stretch, he searched through his inventory for a new shirt, calmly put it on, and gave one last look around. It was time to leave. He wanted a hot bath, a good meal, and to sleep in a decent bed — not on the cold stone floor.
"Now that I think about it… I should put a bed in my inventory. That way I could sleep anywhere, like in Minecraft," he said with a laugh, amused by his own thought.
In front of him, his shadows began regrouping — mages, assassins, knights, Igris… even the Gillian. All of them had grown stronger during their time in the tower.
"Good work, everyone. You've all leveled up… even you, Igris. And you too, Gillian," he observed with a faint smile.
One by one, his shadow soldiers began to fade away, returning to their master's shadow, ready to be summoned again when needed.
"All right… time to get out of this place."
With that, he turned around and began walking toward the exit, leaving behind the 20th floor of the Demon Tower. His training had only just begun… but every step brought him closer to his goal.
.
.
.
.
Akira emerged from the portal that connected him to the Demon Tower, immediately covering his eyes with his forearm. The sunlight hit him full force, making him squint.
After spending so much time inside the tower, where there was no way to tell day from night, the brightness of the sun almost felt unnatural.
"Tch… damn sun," he muttered, frowning as he slowly adjusted to the light. "I look like a mole crawling out of its burrow…"
The summer heat beat down hard, but Akira seemed unfazed. He didn't sweat, didn't pant, didn't feel the slightest discomfort. Maybe it was thanks to the ring on his finger, or the heat resistance he'd developed after hours in the scorching levels of the tower. Either way, the heat was no longer an obstacle for him.
"Ugh… whatever."
With a resigned sigh, he started walking. He had gained several levels, his power had grown considerably, and although he didn't show it with arrogance, he knew it well. He would need it soon.
If he planned to rescue Rukia, he had to be ready to face the worst the Seireitei could throw at him… even the captains of the Thirteen Squads.
Just as he was lost in thought, a familiar female voice snapped him out of it.
"There's Yoruichi!! Akira!! Over here!!" someone shouted, waving from the window of what looked like an abandoned building.
Akira froze. He clearly heard his name and raised an eyebrow as he looked up. Sure enough, it was Orihime, accompanied by Chad… and beside them, a black cat with sharp, intelligent eyes.
A faint, teasing smile curved his lips. So, they had already begun their own training.
"Orihime, what are you two doing up there?" Akira called out curiously, gazing at the window they were leaning out of.
"You should come in! I can't explain everything from here — come on, get inside!" Orihime replied, waving energetically to get his attention.
Akira nodded silently and walked calmly toward the building. He climbed the stairs, his firm steps echoing faintly through the quiet place. But the moment he stepped into the floor where Orihime, Chad, and the black cat were waiting, something unexpected happened.
The cat's fur bristled instantly, her body trembling slightly as if she'd just sensed a natural predator. Her tail puffed up, and her golden eyes widened in alarm.
Yoruichi's feline instincts — always sharp — had detected what ordinary humans could not: the overwhelming, sinister, and foreign energy radiating from Akira, even as he tried to suppress it.
(W-what the hell is this…? This pressure… this power… How is this possible?) she thought, heart racing as she kept her eyes fixed on him.
Orihime, unaware of the feline's distress and noticing nothing strange, greeted Akira with a warm smile, as if reuniting with an old friend. Chad simply nodded silently, calm as ever.
Neither of them were particularly sensitive to spiritual energy, which was why they didn't notice the monster of cursed energy that had just entered the room.
Yoruichi, still in her cat form, swallowed hard as she examined Akira from head to toe. His appearance was the same… but his essence, his power — it was as if she were standing before an entirely different being. How had he gained so much strength in such a short time?
"So, Orihime," Akira finally asked, folding his arms as he looked at them with a neutral expression, "why did you ask me to come in here?"
"Oh, right! I almost forgot. Well… what we're doing here is training!" she said with her usual enthusiasm, smiling from ear to ear in that bright way only she could.
Yoruichi said nothing… but inside, she was more alert than ever.
"Training?" he echoed, raising an eyebrow, clearly skeptical. "From Chad, I can believe it… but you, Orihime? What exactly are you training?"
He didn't mean it offensively, but his tone made it clear that he couldn't imagine what kind of power someone as sweet and seemingly fragile as her could have.
"We're training our powers," Chad replied with his usual calmness. "Yoruichi asked us to find you. She said that, like us, you must have awakened some abilities when all those Hollows appeared."
Chad spoke with conviction. In his mind, it made sense that Akira, just like him and Orihime, had gained powers through Ichigo's influence. After all, they were all tied to the same events.
"What are you talking about?" Akira feigned confusion quite naturally. He had to keep up appearances.
"Yoruichi can tell you! She explained a bunch of stuff to us, but we didn't really understand much," Orihime admitted with a nervous laugh, gesturing toward the black cat beside her. "Although… now that I think about it, Yoruichi, all your fur is standing up… did you see a dog or something?" she asked sweetly, petting her to calm her down.
Yoruichi looked at her with a mix of resignation and irritation.
(Silly girl… it wasn't a dog… it was something a thousand times worse…) she thought, never taking her eyes off the boy with the piercing gaze in front of her.
Akira's blue eyes met Yoruichi's golden ones, and in that instant, a chill ran down the former captain's spine. There was something in him… something deeply unsettling. Powerful. Dangerous.
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End of Chapter