Boom—!
Amid the thunderous crash, Kurosaki Rei was sent flying backward.
He adjusted his posture midair, landed, then retreated several steps in succession to disperse the force, finally skidding to a halt after carving a long mark across the wooden floor.
He glanced at the bamboo sword in his hand, now snapped cleanly in two, tossed it aside, rolled his aching arm, and grinned.
"Teacher, that wasn't seventeen levels of spiritual might, was it?"
Fujimoto's expression was a little awkward.
Yes—at that critical moment, he had instinctively protected his vital points and unconsciously activated his own spiritual pressure to defend himself, which was what knocked Kurosaki Rei away.
Only now did he realize his back was soaked through with sweat.
That brief exchange had felt like walking the edge between life and death.
Clearly, the opponent's actual strength was far weaker than his own, yet in that instant, Fujimoto had felt a terrifying pressure—an overwhelming, berserk aura that crushed his nerves and triggered his body's instinctive self-defense response.
"Rei-kun… you're exceptional. Have you received any formal swordsmanship training before?"
After steadying himself, Fujimoto asked out of curiosity. As a Shin'ō Academy instructor, he wasn't the sort to lose face over such a thing. On the contrary, he found himself admiring Kurosaki Rei's outstanding sword skills.
"Swordsmanship? Never learned it."
Kurosaki Rei shook his head.
He was telling the truth. He had never studied this world's swordsmanship.
As for blade techniques… Well, that was another matter.
According to Terminal Space's specialization assessment, he possessed Master-level Blade Technique proficiency—which seemed… decent enough.
In his original world, practitioners of martial arts were already few and far between.
As much as he hated to admit it, the grim truth was that the people he had killed had, in some sense, represented the pinnacle of martial arts in that era.
Yet even with exoskeletons enhancing their physical capabilities, the so-called Blade King, Wang Luo, had lasted no more than ten moves against him.
Wang Luo wielded a company-customized Alloy Steel blade.
Kurosaki Rei had killed him with nothing more than an ordinary butcher's knife.
After slaughtering those so-called martial arts grandmasters, Kurosaki Rei had grown somewhat despairing of his original world.
Now, whispers filled the dōjō. The students were clearly shaken by the outcome of the spar.
Among them, Aizen's eyes behind his black-framed glasses glimmered with interest.
He found his roommate increasingly fascinating. It seemed his years at the Shin'ō Academy wouldn't be boring after all.
"You're saying… you've never learned swordsmanship?"
Fujimoto was genuinely stunned by Kurosaki Rei's answer.
But thinking it over, it made sense—Kurosaki Rei was a vagrant. There was no proper channel for him to receive formal sword training.
Which only made things more astonishing.
Didn't this prove his talent even more?
No formal education, yet able to defeat a swordsmanship instructor head-on under equal spiritual pressure.
The child Captain Unohana had brought back might be a once-in-a-century super genius!
Seeing Kurosaki Rei nod calmly, Fujimoto grew even more excited—then, almost immediately, a sense of loss crept in.
Excited, because he had discovered a true prodigy.
Dejected, because he realized he might not be able to teach Kurosaki Rei at all.
Yes—he had to admit it.
Even if he hadn't been careless just now, and had truly sparred with Kurosaki Rei at equal spiritual pressure, the one who would ultimately lose… would still be him.
What truly amazed him wasn't Kurosaki Rei's first strike, but the second.
That second strike used the rebound force to retract the blade, disperse the power, then—during the dispersal—guided the force back like flowing water, finally releasing another cut from an extremely tricky angle.
That level of control over power…
Such exquisite technique wasn't something he could do.
In fact, no swordsmanship school would teach something like that. The theory might exist—but those capable of executing it were one in ten thousand.
Is this why Captain Unohana values him so highly…?
"Rei-kun, please take a seat for now," Fujimoto said, calming his turbulent emotions. "Today we'll first cover some theory, then move on to paired practice."
Class still had to continue.
Under the gazes of students filled with shock, curiosity, or admiration, Kurosaki Rei walked back into the crowd and sat beside Aizen.
"Rei-kun, you're really strong," Aizen said with genuine-sounding admiration. "I've never seen anyone defeat Fujimoto-sensei during swordsmanship class."
Kurosaki Rei smiled and asked, "Not even you, Sōsuke?"
Aizen's expression remained perfectly natural. "What are you saying? My swordsmanship grades are decent, but I'm still far from being able to spar with Fujimoto-sensei. I'll have to trouble you for guidance in the future."
Kurosaki Rei felt a bit irritated inside.
He honestly couldn't understand Aizen's enjoyment of pretending to be weak, nor what exactly Aizen's goal was at this stage. Was he already plotting to ascend the throne from this early on?
Perhaps to accommodate Kurosaki Rei—who claimed he had never learned swordsmanship—the remainder of the lesson focused on basic fundamentals.
Kurosaki Rei listened attentively instead of zoning out.
He realized that this world's "swordsmanship" wasn't without merit. The problem was Fujimoto—not the sword.
He couldn't help wondering just how terrifying Unohana Yachiru, who had mastered every sword style in the Soul Society, truly was.
The thought alone made him feel excited.
Of course, he wasn't suicidal enough to challenge Captain Unohana.
The gap in spiritual pressure between them was astronomical. If translated into Terminal Space's attribute system, the difference might be dozens—if not hundreds—of points.
What he needed to do now was grow stronger.
Only then could he challenge true experts and savor the joy of battle.
By now, the first stage of his main quest was complete, and the second stage had been issued.
[Main Quest · Stage Two: Speedrun the Shin'ō Academy]
Objective:
Within three natural months, the Explorer must complete all courses of the Shin'ō Academy and graduate by skipping grades, achieving the fastest completion in the academy's entire history.
Difficulty: Difficult ~ Nightmare
Rewards:
3000 Terminal Coins, Asauchi, Return Eligibility
Failure Penalty: Erasure
The upper bound of the difficulty rating was… unsettling.
Kurosaki Rei had played games before. The word Nightmare alone screamed challenge.
On the surface, he likely wouldn't face much danger within the academy. But if he wanted to graduate early, he clearly wouldn't be able to follow conventional paths.
The Soul Society was vast. Since the academy's founding, had there really been a shortage of geniuses?
If the mission description stated that no one had ever accomplished this feat, then achieving a "speedrun" graduation clearly wouldn't be easy.
Ordinary Gotei soldiers might only possess around twenty levels of spiritual might—but that didn't mean that having twenty or more automatically qualified someone to graduate early.
If a student was truly talented, the Shin'ō Academy would prefer to cultivate them carefully, rather than rush their growth.
Even exceptionally gifted students would often be kept at the academy, allowed to mature further before joining the Gotei Thirteen.
Watching his classmates begin their paired practice, Kurosaki Rei fell into deep thought.
If I want to complete this task… What will be the biggest obstacle?
And also—