What's up guys! Long time no see! There are still no reviews to answer and it is starting to hurt! Lol just kidding. I write this because I love to! I want to thank kaiovieira142 for following the story! I really appreciate it! Anyways, I am sorry this took so long and I hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
Dangers bring fears, and fears more dangers bring.
Richard Baxter
Chapter 9
Elijah's POV
The door we now stood in front of looked just like any other. It was a large, white, and boring. Like everything else in this place there were no markings anywhere on the door. In fact, the only thing that made it stick out was a key card slot on the right side of the door frame. This was the only door I had seen so far with a card reader.
"Oh portal to the dark world, open for this soul so that he may learn the dangers of this world!" Morgan chanted.
"Magical codex match, please insert level 115 security clearance ID card now." the door responded.
Morgan complied and slide a plastic card into the slot. There was a slight hum as the computer verified the card. The slot spat the card out and the door slid open revealing nothing but a swirling darkness.
"What is this?" I demanded.
"This is a place of great turmoil. It is known by many names, the dark realm, purgatory, hell, and others. Your task here is to survive. In this place, the slightest mistake will kill you. If you can survive in the Dark Realm for three days, then you will be truly able to use Eclipse magic to its fullest potential. Now, go if you think you can do it." Morgan explained. I nodded, prepared to walk forward into the swirling blackness. "One more thing. This world you are about to enter does not follow any of the conventional rules. The only way to survive will be to use your abilities as a Shinigami and a mage to survive"
"Take this as well." another voice added. I turned to see Levi standing behind Morgan. "This watch is set to tell you when three days are up. Time there is much different than it is here. Three days here equals three months in there. This door will only open up after three of our days have been completed."
"Thanks for the heads up." I stated as I caught a pocket watch Levi had thrown to me. "I'll be back and ready for you to teach me how to use my abilities."
"I hope that is the case. Good luck." Levi nodded.
I took a gulp and stepped through the door. I wasn't sure what I would find, and I didn't know how prepared I was for this challenge, but I find away to survive. My mission depended on it.
Levi's POV
"Master Levi, do you think he will survive?" Morgan asked quietly.
"The boy is too stubborn to die. He is also too determined to save his poor mother." I replied with a thin smile. "Besides, Ken no Dorobo will not allow his "master" to die so easily."
"Do you think he will learn the secrets of his Zanpakuto?"
"It is a possibility, however, I find it doubtfully." I said as I turned. "That is enough questions for today, now we must make preparations for infiltrating the Soul Society. Once he returns, we will begin have six weeks before the construction of the modified Senkaimon is complete and tested. Until then, we will plan our assault."
"What about the girl? She went to see that Kisuke Urahara character."
"Urahara will have plenty of other things to worry about. Soon Hueco Mundo will be making their move. When they do, the Soul Society will have a two way war." I said while snapping my fingers. A display not unlike a computer appeared just ahead of me. "These are the feeds that we are receiving from both the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo."
Using my right hand, I touched the two images that had popped up. One showed the picture of a large castle while the other showed the massive size of the Seireitei. I clicked the image of Hueco Mundo and instructed the camera to zoom in. It showed several different figures battling in a mock battle. All of the figures were dressed in a reverse uniform of a Shinigami. Several of the figures had numbers on their bodies.
"These will be the opponents of the Soul Society. They are a loose coalition of Hollows known as the Espada. When Sosuke Aizen and his two compatriots betrayed the Soul Society, they quickly became the leading force in the Hollow World. The Espada all were high level hollows that gained Shinigami abilities. All of the Espada are Captain level power wise, though the weakest is just barely. Even many of their subordinates are as strong as some captains. Overall, they are a formidable force. We would be small fry compared as we have only five mages that could defeat a captain with ease."
"And what of the Soul Society. How are they preparing for this impending attack?" Morgan asked.
"They are doing it the most rigid way possible. Some of the squads actually seem fairly relaxed, the only exception is Squad Eleven, but that is no surprise. At the rate that the Espada are preparing, we estimate another five weeks before the Espada actually begin probing the Soul Society's defenses. Until then, I suspect that they will send in scouts to assess their assets here."
"According to our plan, we begin operations in six weeks. Why do we not start when the major fighting beginnings, when both sides are busy attacking each other?"
"The time frame won't allow it. I haven't told anyone this, but if we wait any longer than eight weeks, the spacial shift will have dissipated." I explained.
"Then we would have to use one of the other less pleasant options that were discussed" Morgan mumbled. "We probably wouldn't have another chance like this either."
"Exactly. Now, we need to get our men ready for the coming storm." I said as I snapped my fingers again. This time the screen disappeared.
Elijah's POV
"What is this place?" I asked myself as I walked through a mist shrouded forest.
The forest was dead quiet. Not a soul or a sound could be heard. The trees were all dead and barren of leaves. The ground was covered in dead grass and rotting foliage. Overall it was a foreboding place. I turned back to the door, only to see it rotting away before my very eyes.
"Well, that wasn't creepy at all." I mumbled.
I began to look in all directions for a hint of where is should go, but the forest looked the same no matter what direction I looked. Sighing, I picked a direction and began moving forward.
Hours I walked, and hours I only heard the sounds of my own foot steps crushing the leaves beneath. The silence was starting to get to me, and I was quickly realizing why this would be like torture. Three months in a lifeless forest with nobody to talk to, would drive anyone insane.
"You shouldn't be here, Soul Reaper!" a grumbling voice whispered urgently.
"You must escape! You must run!" a higher pitched voice groveled.
"Who's there! Show yourself!" I yelled as I reached for my Zanpakuto.
"The Shadows are here!" the two voices screeched in unison.
"Get out here! Show yourselves!" I yelled again.
Suddenly two distinct screams could be heard. Both of them shrieked like they were being torn apart by wild animals. The sounds of snarls also filled the air as did the coppery smell of blood.
I began to trudge toward the noise, determined to find the source. The sounds increased as did the smell of death. A few trees ahead of me, I could see shadows prancing though I didn't see anything that could cause them to move. Drawing my sword, I slowly crept up to the closest tree.
The sight I saw was horrific. There were four shadows surrounding two corpses. Both corpses had been completely dismembered to the point that I really couldn't tell what they were.
The four shadowy figures I saw however could only be describe as demons. They all were very tall and wore black cloaks that seemed to waver even when there was no wind. Their arms were long and pasty white and ended in two black tipped claws. Their legs similar to their arms were also the same pasty white, but their legs were reversed like a bird's and their feet ended in black, four toed talons. With their backs turned to me, I couldn't make out their faces, but it didn't take a genius to tell that they probably looked just as horrific as the rest of them.
One of the creatures scooped up what looked like an arm and began to drink the blood that was flowing from it. The act made me sick to my stomach and I nearly lost it.
In my moment of weakness, I let my arm slip from the bark of the tree I was hiding behind. The slight sound I made caused my heart to stop. I quickly pulled myself out of sight before any of the creatures could see me. When I didn't hear anyone coming I peaked back around the corner.
My heart nearly exploded as I saw that none of the creatures were there anymore. I swung myself around to run away only to meet face to face with the four shadowy figures. Fear began to bubble up inside of me.
My earlier guess was correct. They had pasty white faces with with long, pointed noses. They had no ears and their eyes were little, beady dots. Their mouths were extremely large for their bodies and I could see large teeth sticking out from the upper jaw.
One of the creatures inched forward and began smelling me. A second later, its mouth turned up with a hideous grin. It raised one of its large claws overhead, ready to bring it down on me.
"Shinigami!" it screeched as its claws came crashing down.
I barely had enough time to bring my blade up to counter. The strength from the blow sent my sword swirling through the air where it landed in the dirt several feet away.
The creature began to make strange croaking sounds that vaguely sounded like laughter. It raised arms above me ready to deal a final blow.
"Be gone!"
Out of nowhere, a large fire ball splashed onto the ground in between the four creatures. The three creatures were doused in fire and began screeching in agony. The fire turned from orange to bright white as the flames licked up every part of the creatures. When the fire subsided, only ashes remained.
"So you are the foolish one to open up the gate to the netherworld. I thought I felt the presence of a death god. What is your purpose here?" a man that looked to be dressed in some type of fur cloak said.
He was a tall man, though the term giant may have suited him better as he was nearly two feet taller than I was. He had tanned skin and toned muscles. He had scars all over his arms and a pronounced scar on his face that traveled from one side of his forehead to the other. He had no facial hair or hair in general that I could see. The gray fur cloak he wore covered every other part of his body. In his left hand, he held what appeared to be a walking stick.
"Wh-who are you?" I managed to mumble out.
The man's gaze seemed to glaze slightly, as if he were lost in a memory. "I have given up any name I once had. Again I ask, what is your purpose here? Is it to kill me?"
"What? No! Why would I kill you when you just saved me from those⦠what were those things?"
"I call them Vampires." the man stated simply.
"Creative." I mumbled again.
"Creative or not, the name is fitting. Those creatures kill whatever they find and drink only the blood."
"You didn't answer my first question." I stated.
"Nor you mine."
"Fair enough." I said. "I am here to train to be a mage."
"You are from Break then. That is interesting." the man said thoughtfully. "Come with me."
"Why should I go with you? You haven't answered my question yet." I asked indignantly. His lack of explanation was really irritating me.
"I am not forcing you to come with me. Just be warned, there are creatures far worse than vampires that reside in this forest." the man said as he turned and walked away.
"What for me!" I called.
I could barely keep up with the man as he zigzagged through the trees. The man, obviously a long time resident of the forest moved so quietly I thought that I was following some kind of ghost. For all I knew, that was exactly what I was doing.
"You can stop now. We are here." the man said as he halted in place.
He stood in front of a very large clearing. In the middle of the clearing, was an old worn down house that looked like it would fall over at any minute. The man walked forward into the clearing. As he moved, he shimmered with a bright light and disappeared.
"He really was a ghost!" I yelped.
"You surprise me Shinigami. You claim that I am a ghost when in fact, you are much closer to a ghost than I." the man voiced with humor, though I could not see him. "Now, come toward the clearing."
I gulped and took a step forward and another until I reached the place the man had disappeared from. I looked at the clearing as hard as I could but I couldn't see anything that made it out of the ordinary.
With a sigh, I walked through. I didn't feel anything while passing through. In fact, it felt the same as anything else. However I could see the man from before so I know it wasn't my eyes playing tricks on me.
"What was that?" I asked.
"It is a protective barrier I created." the man replied as he place his staff against the outside wall of the decrepit, old house. "Come inside."
I followed the man inside and was surprised that the inside of the house wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Most of the walls were still intact as were all of the doors. The floor was hard wood, which needed a decade worth of polishing. The walls were made from wood slabs and all of the windows were boarded over. Shelves with various knickknacks were on most of the walls. There were only two doors that I could see. One seemed to lead to a kitchen while the other led to a hallway.
"I have a guest room down that hall. It hasn't ever been used so I use it as storage. If you clear some of the junk out, you can use it for the night. Kitchen is through that door. I will make some dinner for us. If you are not here when it is done, then you will not eat, no exceptions."
"Man, you play it hard." I mumbled as I went toward the small hallway. "What should I call you?"
"Like I said, I gave up my name a long time ago." the man replied.
"I have to call you something."
"If you are going to keep bugging me, you can call me Johann." he replied with an annoyed growl.
"That your real name?" I asked suspiciously.
"At one time it was." Johann replied as he walked into the other room.
When Johann said he used the guest room as storage, he really meant that he used it as a junkyard. There were piles of junk everywhere. The way Johann acted, I didn't think that he would have been a pack rat. I got to work, clearing what had to be a bed.
After several disgusting encounters, I made the bed something that remotely looked clean enough to sleep on. I really didn't want to sleep on it considering that the old mattress could very well have bed bugs, or lice, or something that would be a detriment to my health, but it was better than the cold hard floor.
I was about to place my sword down, when I heard rapping on the door. I got up and opened it to see Johann standing in the door frame.
"Dinner." he stated simply before walking off.
I walked into the kitchen and saw that it wasn't much more than a few cabinets and a potbelly stove. There was a rickety old table in one corner that held a couple loaves of bread and a large bowl of some kind of stew. I sat down at the table in an old chair and looked at the table's contents hungrily.
Johann sat down across from me he placed two bowls heavily on the table then began filling his bowl up. He looked at me and shoved another bowl toward me then handed me the ladle he had been using.
"Thank you for helping me." I said as I filled my bowl with the stew. Johann stayed silent.
I then began eating. The stew was extremely good. Probably one of the best dishes I had ever had. Within minutes, I devoured the entire bowl.
"That was great! What did you put in there?" I asked excitedly.
"Vegetables and mushrooms I foraged as well as salamander legs." Johann replied.
"You're kidding, right?" I asked hopefully. When Johann shook his head, my stomach just about ejected its contents.
The rest of dinner went slowly as Johann quietly ate his meal. After finding out what was in the stew, I opted on nibbling on a loaf of bread.
"Johann, why are you here by yourself?" I asked.
"I have done many despicable things. Living here is my punishment."
"Then why did Levi send me here? Is he trying to get ride of me?"
"No, he wants you to learn to survive. He also wants you to find something." Johann replied.
"What does he want me to find?"
"This is a desolate place. Death lurks in every corner and the chances of survival are nil. However, there is something that will help you survive." Johann looked me in the eyes and studied them for several long seconds. "Tell me, how well can you use magic?"
"I know every spell the Eclipse Seed taught me." I started.
"Let me guess. You know how to use the spells, but you don't know how to summon the magic to make them work."
"That sums it up." I confirmed.
"How well can you use your Zanpakuto?"
"I can perform a partial release. It allows me to boost my strength and speed. It also gives me an attack that pours all of my spiritual pressure into a single strike at the cost of my defense."
"I see. In other words you are weak. Very well then, I will train you to do what must be done. You must learn Shikai and how to call on magic. To do that you must be put in harms way. Tomorrow, we will journey into the forest. We will not return here until you are ready to leave."
"How can you train me to use Shikai?" I asked.
"Earlier, you asked me what Levi wanted you to find. He wanted you to find me. Before I banished myself, I was like you. I was once a Shinigami. Later, I could not take what the Soul Society was doing and I left. At that moment, I chose to study to become a Mage."
The morning looked about the same as the night. The sky was a constant dark gray. The only difference was that the night was a slightly darker shade of gray. We marched through the gray woods in silence. Johann moved with the elegance of an antelope, while I moved with the elegance of a rampaging bull.
"Your first lesson shall be to quiet your movements. If you move like that here, you will die. Vampires and Trappers love prey that makes noise. It makes it easy for them to sneak up on you and kill you." Johann whispered.
I paled as I tried to step more carefully. "What are Trappers?"
"They are the original denizens of this plane. They were once human, but they changed when they allowed magic to flow out of hand. In a sense they destroyed themselves. Those that survived the initial destruction transformed into Trappers." Johann started. "They are humanoid creatures that look, sound, smell human. That is their ploy. When something gets too close, be it a human or another creature, trappers unleash their true forms. Their chest cavity opens up and shoots out barbs that injects the victim with poisons. Once the creature dies, the trapper ingests the victim through tubes that are located inside the barbs. The problem is that the poison doesn't kill quickly. It can take days of pain and agony before the poison finally kills you. During that time, the trapper will gather leaves and bark and cover itself and the victim in a secretion that acts as glue. It covers you up, making it impossible for anyone to find you."
"Lovely." I mumbled.
"Yes and they are only the lowest in the hierarchy of monsters here. Next are the Vampires, then comes the Brutes, after the Brutes come the Crashers, and finally comes the Evolved."
"So Trappers become Vampires, Vampires become Brutes, Brutes become Crashers, and Crashers become Evolved."
"Yes, right now. You may be able to defeat a Trapper, but it would be a massacre if you tried fighting a Vampire." Johann confirmed.
"That's nice to know."
"Shush! There is something ahead!" Johann whispered urgently.
We both stopped in our tracks and watched through the trees ahead. About fifty feet away was what appeared to be a human.
"Trapper." Johann whispered. "Looks like it managed to capture a Vampire. Rare, but not unheard of. Go kill it."
"What?" I asked out of astonishment.
"You want to be strong? Survival comes first. You survive then you train." Johann whispered back.
I gulped as I took a few quiet steps forward. I drew my sword and readied myself. If I did things right, I would be able to take the creature down with a single strike.
I could see the creature was distracted; covering its prey with something that looked like leaves and other debris. I leapt forward as quickly as I could, hoping that I could take the creature by surprise. I brought my sword over my head then swung it down while I was still in the air.
The creature was in fact caught off guard. My sword cut cleanly through the top of its skull, but my sword didn't go through. Instead, it just stopped as if it had hit a steel plate.
The Trapper, angered by my sudden attack, grabbed the blade that was sticking out of its head and lifted it up. It hissed as it yanked me forward. With a single arm it threw me and my Zanpakuto at a large, dead tree. My back hit the tree with so much force that there was a loud crack.
I cried out as I fell to the ground. When I could look around again, I saw that the trapper hadn't moved. It was staring at me now, hissing in the worst ways possible. Then I saw the tubes in its exposed chest. They were still connected to its victim, but that was quickly changing. In total, there were ten tubes and one by one they were retracting into the Trapper. As soon as the last of the Trapper's tubes had retracted, it stood up and began to shamble toward me. I scrambled for my Zanpakuto and instantly tried to use my partial release.
The Trapper hissed again, broke into a mad dash before I could activate my sword. My hair stood on end as I prepared to counter the dash with a vertical strike, but was again caught off guard as the creature lunged and grabbed the sword.
We fought for control over the blade for several long seconds. The creature was unnaturally strong as it took every ounce of strength I had to keep the hilt from slipping from my grasp. Finally, I ended the deadlock by giving the Trapper a quick kick to the gut or where its gut should be.
The Trapper staggered back several steps. I took the opportunity to use a downward strike. My blade caught just the tip of its face on the outside of its left eye and left a jagged gash in its wake. The Trapper unleashed a terrible shriek as it scratched at its face.
With out warning, it jumped high into the air. It continued its shrieks as it came back down on top of me. Its weight dropped me to the ground. It was on top of me scratching and punch with no strategy whatsoever. It didn't matter as I was defenseless on the ground. I tried to cover my face as best I could but the Trapper had one of my arms pinned.
"Is this really all you have? I expected so much more from someone who had a just cause."
"You here to just torment me with my failures?" I asked as I stared at the shadow of a Zanpakuto.
"You came all of this way. You learned the secrets of the Eclipse Seed. You obtained a partial release, you even join an organization with powers that are only known in legends and you die because of a creature that is the lowest of its own hierarchy. Pathetic."
"Shut up!" I roared as the vision of my Zanpakuto faded. "Take what you can! Ken no Dorobo!"
Spiritual pressure flowed around me as the Trapper was blown back. I leered at the Trapper before I launched forward. I didn't even take notice of my sword's appearance, or the fact that I now held two blades. I swung in a downward motion with my right hand. A large gash opened and the creature jumped back, shrieking in pain. I leapt forward and stabbed with my left hand. The creature shrieked one last time before it fell to the ground, dead.
"You were that close to Shikai?" Johann questioned.
"I guess. I mean I could use my partial release." I shrugged before glancing at swords. I as startled by their appearance, and couldn't help but shout. "Holy crap!"
"What is the matter?" Johann asked out of concern.
"The Bowie knife I have used before. It was my partial release. But this!" I waved around the large sword in my hand. "This is that orange hair guys! His Zanpakuto is exactly like this!"
"Interesting." Johann mumbled as he came closer. He studied the blade from several different angles before he took it from me. "It seems that you have one of the cursed blades, the sword thief, if I am not mistaken."
"But I didn't take that guy's Zanpakuto! Hell, the guy almost caught me in five seconds flat!" I replied.
"Chances are, you only needed to cross blades with him for you acquire his power." Johann replied.
"What exactly are the cursed blades?" I asked.
"Come, we needed to find a place to rest." Johann answered back.
We walked for a few more hours before we came upon a small cave. I entered first while Johann brought up the rear. I looked behind me and saw Johann wave his staff at the opening. Decipherable letters appeared and flew forward. They then sealed the door with a wall of stone.
Johann took no notice at my slack-jawed expression and began to speak. "The cursed blades are three Zanpakuto that do not die with their masters. Instead, once they have lost their master they go to sleep and await for someone to has the power to summon them as their own Zanpakuto. Your sword clones the abilities of an opposing blade, another blade causes the Zanpakuto to rebel against their wielders, the last one completely destroys a Zanpakuto."
"That sounds kind of ridiculous. If someone were to have one of these. No Soul Reaper alive would be able to touch them!" I said.
"That may be the case, but these blades have a severe limitation. While most Zanpakuto gain additional abilities they also drastically boost the users strength, durability, and stamina. The Cursed Blades will give only small boosts to their wielder, meaning that if you were to copy a Zanpakuto that can destroy a mountain while being wielded by its master, you would only be able to destroy say, a boulder unless you have an equal or greater amount of spiritual pressure."
"So my Zanpakuto will always be the weaker unless I become stronger." I concluded.
"Yes, however, you can get past this weakness if you are creative enough. For example, I would augment my Zanpakuto's strikes using my magic when I first learned magic."
"What is your magic? Earlier, I saw you shoot flames from you staff, and just a minute ago you created a wall out of nothing."
"I am a Rune user. I can write enchantments then cast them at my target." Johann replied before he wrote some more runes and created a small fire as an example. "Get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow.
"There is nothing like a life threatening situation to motivate one to push past their limits." Ken no Dorobo spoke as I stood in one of the alleys of my inner world.
"Ya know, sometimes I wonder if you find me nearly dying entertaining!" I shouted.
"I would not go that far, but I do find it satisfying when you go beyond expectation." Ken no Dorobo replied. "In the end, it does not matter. You are here to learn something else. By obtaining Shikai, you have gained the ability to use another's Zanpakuto. I have already been able to obtain reishi from two different Zanpakuto."
"I have already seen one. Its heavier than a fork lift on Jupiter!"
"Yes you have seen one. However, you have not been able to use its abilities. In order for you to use those abilities you must take them from the Zanpakuto themselves." Ken no Dorobo explained.
"I'm guessing that you have them here?"
"You know me too well." you could tell that he was grinning as wide as he could.
As always, I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. Ever since I saw bleach, I wondered why our heroes didn't have a villain that could steal their abilities. (This was before the thousand year blood war arc, even then, the Quincy only stole Bankai not Shikai.) That is where I came up with the idea for this story. I could see the problems with an ability like that so I came up with a limitation that I hope will balance out the overpowered idea of stealing one's Zanpakuto. Hopefully, the cursed blades idea makes sense as well. I took inspiration of that from Muramasa and Nanao. Muramasa because he is literally based off a legendary cursed sword, and Nanao because her Zanpakuto is passed down generation to generation. Anyways, if you have anything to say, be sure to leave a review or pm me. If you are enjoying the story, be sure to smash that favorite/follow button! This is shieldliger001 signing off!
