Here I am again with the twenty-fourth chapter of the week. Here we will focus on activating Ichigo's magic circuits and part of his training to test his potential. I hope you enjoy.
On reviews:
140: Since you're talking about that, let me say that I don't feel any sympathy for Ritsuka since unlike Ichigo and Shirou he doesn't seem like a rude guy, and he always lets any of his Servants do the work for him, unless I'm wrong since he still did not know Grand Order at all. There is also the fact that while Shirou or Ichigo experienced a tragedy that made both of them what they are, no details are known about Ritsuka's past before arriving in Chaldea.
Jose19: Yeah, I guess Bleach needs to have badass women save Ichigo's ass someday so that he'll realize that they're not all damsels in distress. Well, at least Neliel was the first to do it when she saved a defenseless Ichigo from Nnoitra and kicked the latter's ass.
Angelvan105: Thanks again for your compliments. Maybe the next chapter like you.
I would like to respond to the reviews of the others to make some things clear, but since they are from different chapters, I don't think I can. Sorry.
Chapter 24: The Ichigo's training
08/09/2021
Orihime sighed as she continued to stand looking out the window at Fuyuki's night view. It had been half an hour since Ishida informed them that Waver and Rider went to visit Kurosaki while she had gone shopping together with Kon and Urahara, while Ishida and Saber stayed to watch over the eighth Master. What the Quincy told her had surprised her. Apparently, the young British magus had discovered Caster's secret hiding place and his Master and Rider had insisted on going there and invite Kurosaki as well. But the most shocking part was that Kurosaki agreed to accompany Rider to Caster's lair.
The orange-haired girl couldn't help but be so concerned for the boy's well-being to go there so suddenly without first doing the experiment of activating his magic circuits. That was insane. On the other hand, he also knew that this was to be expected knowing how stubborn Kurosaki is. The fact that he had witnessed Caster's unforgivable atrocities and how determined he was to stop him served to reinforce his determination to attempt a show of force with Saber who had nearly ended up with a brain injury for Kurosaki.
In fact, that was the Kurosaki that she had always looked up to all this time. So determined and direct to achieve his goals. But above all stubborn. Dangerously stubborn. Despite his strength and mental fortitude, it does not leave the fact that he was now just a normal human, well, with some reiatsu and now a means to turn his reiryoku into magical energy since he lost his Shinigami powers 17 months ago. Although from that moment on, he would not become a target of the hollows, it does not leave the fact that this could be temporary as Urahara had informed them that Kurosaki could regain his powers at any time. Upon learning of this, she and Sado had made the decision to train and grow stronger to protect the former Shinigami from any danger that presented itself until he regained his powers. Precisely today, this war was the occasion to demonstrate her duty to protect him against the other Masters, but unfortunately she could not react when Kurosaki ran like a crazy towards Berserker in an attempt to save Saber.
She still shuddered at that memory and again relied on her healing powers to restore it. But it was good. Unlike Kuchiki, she was a pacifist at heart and her job was always to heal serious injuries to any of her precious nakama. Therefore, no matter how serious Kurosaki and Saber's injuries are, she will be here to heal them without further ado. That is her duty in this new war known as the Fourth Holy Grail War.
However, there are also certain wounds that she was unable to heal herself.
"Geez. I wonder what those retards are doing there." Kon said as he stood next to Orihime's feet. "It's been a few minutes since we arrived and they haven't even returned."
Orihime said nothing as she continued to stare at the window as if she expected to see them return from here. After a moment, Kon saw the bubbly girl's state and decided to cheer her up.
"Ah, don't worry. You know what that dumb is like. He's a tough nut to crack, even without his powers he was able to give a good beating to a bunch of bullies some time ago, remember?" He said with an encouraging smile.
Orihime remembered that with a small smile. As long as he could remember, Kurosaki was well known in Karakura Town as a lone thug (sometimes with Sado) or a rebel who got into fights with a group of thugs, but involuntarily out of self-defense or defending someone who was being abused.
"Besides, he also has Ishida, that big king and that lesbian knight with him (he was lucky he didn't say that in front of Mordred. Xd).
Orihime really wanted to believe that. With Ishida, Saber, in addition to Rider and Waver covering him his back, it was unlikely that Kurosaki was in danger, however, no one knew what would happen in the heat of battle, so anything could happen that could affect anyone, especially Kurosaki. She couldn't help but worry about the possibility.
Seeing that her mood did not change or deteriorate, Kon began to worry.
"Come on, don't make that long face. I don't think that idiot was killed again, so-
"It's true."
"¿Huh?"
"I also think nothing bad has happened to Kurosaki-kun since even without his powers, he's still someone to be reckoned with." Orihime said in an encouraging tone before looking down at the stuffed lion with a sweet smile. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Kon-kun."
Mesmerized by that bright and charming smile of the human girl, more than human she seemed to be an angel or a goddess as her influence seemed to be somehow divine, the Mod soul could not prevent his cheeks (made of cotton) from blushing due to to the praise of the lovely and kind bubbly girl.
This is the human girl who had always captivated him, aside from her good breasts, but physical beauty and gentle personality were the main thing for him, and Orihime embodied all those qualities.
"Ah-ah ... you don't have to thank me. I was just doing what any friend would do." Kon said with a shy smile while rubbing the back of his neck. It really felt quite comforting to have the sweet orange haired angel thanking her wholeheartedly and was also glad that jerk Ichigo and his 4-eyed partner weren't here to spoil the scene.
"You already know me, right?"
"Yes. You are kinder than Kurosaki-kun used to tell you when he and I were studying at his house, but I think you care about him too." Orihime added with the same smile. Kon's expression suddenly changed to one of surprise and disbelief.
What exactly did that orange haired dumbass say about him while they were in his room studying for an exam? And even more ... She really think he worry about that bastard?
Before he could retort, he heard Orihime gasp in surprise alerting Kon who looked at the girl, her looking closer at the window as if she had seen something. Kon couldn't help being so curious.
"What's the matter?" He asked how he began to climb up the girl's legs until he reached her left shoulder. He too began to inspect the window and saw nothing but the view of the night and the starry sky. It was then that he saw something that was moving at high speed like a shooting star, but it was not as bright as it should be.
Quickly, the object began to be visible to the naked eye as it got closer and immediately took the form of a kind of flying chariot pulled by 2 bulls. He knew immediately who it was.
"Are they!" Kon exclaimed identifying the flying object as Rider's charriot approaching. "Those two have already returned."
A great joy came over Orihime's face when she confirmed it and she couldn't help but smile a big smile knowing that Kurosaki, Ishida and Saber were already back, and she hoped it was in one piece. She wasted no time finding out when she ran towards the exit and when she got out, the great chariot Gordius Wheel landed a few meters from her. Orihime scanned its passengers starting with Rider, but her attention was focused on the people she wanted to see, especially Kurosaki.
Orihime couldn't help but widen her smile a little as she saw that everyone was safe and sound.
"Well, well, look who has arrived." Urahara commented while came out to, excited by the arrival of his former apprentice.
Ishida was the first to go down.
"Sorry for worrying you." The Quincy apologized when Ichigo and Saber got off as well.
"Oh, it's fine. You guys have been through many dangers and difficulties before, haven't you?" Urahara replied with a smile before turning to Rider. "I hope they didn't cause any problems, right?"
"Oh, of course not. We managed to infiltrate Caster's lair by being an irrigation canal, but we didn't find anyone there."
This caused the shoopkeper, healer, and Mod soul to blink in surprise at the revelation.
"Didn't you find Caster there?"
"Unfortunately not. Although if you want to know more details, better ask Saber or your spirit archer friend." Rider indicated in a solemn voice to the two mentioned.
Urahara and Inoue could only looked confused at the tone used by the legendary Macedonian-Persian king so low and serious as if it detonated something grave and somber. They also noticed the expressions of Ishida, Kurosaki, and Saber. The former seemed somewhat serene, but with a seriousness that was unusual for the young Quincy, indicating that he had seen something that had disturbed him.
Kurosaki seemed to be more or less the same as the first one, but a quick scan indicated that his eyes seemed somehow empty, and although he tried to hide it, Inoue was able to see him beyond that. As for Saber, she seemed unflappable with her steely eyes and her typical scowl made it difficult for him to tell if she was disturbed as well. Either way, it seems that what they found there kept them speechless and Inoue couldn't help but feel concerned.
"Anyway, we'll try our luck another day." Rider said before pulling on the reins and the bulls whinnied before taking off and soaring into the skies. "Farewell, Hero of the Winter War!"
And with that, the chariot sped away through Fuyuki's night skies in a rare sight that would recall Santa's sleigh, leaving the eighth Master, his Servant, and the Quincy alone on the ground. Once on the ground, the Quincy looked nervously at the expectant expressions of both Urahara and Inoue and knew very well that they had both begun to suspect that what they saw there was not to their liking, and in a sense it was.
After this awkward little silence, Ishida was the first to speak. "I know you have questions, but we'll talk inside, okay?"
The shopkeeper was the only one who nodded and led the teenagers inside to sit comfortably while Urahara served each of them tea. Ishida was the one who began to explain to them when they entered Caster's supposed lair, omitting some details such as the pile of children's corpses, until the discovery that Assassin was alive, which surprised the shopkeeper quite a bit.
"Let's see if it was clear to me." Urahara began after taking a sip of her tea. "When you found Caster's supposed hiding place , you decided to explore inside to find him and his Master , but in the end, you didn't find anything there, being completely abandoned, right?" He received a couple of nods from Kurosaki and Ishida in confirmation, and Urahara continued. "And shortly after you were ambushed by 3 copies of Assassin, right?"
"Yes. I think Assassin's ability is to multiply and create copies of himself." Ishida explained by stating his theory. "If that's true, then the Assassin that Waver and the rest of the Masters they witnessed earlier was just one of those copies."
Urahara touched his chin as he reflected grimly on that fact and how dangerous this conflict had become. The mess that Caster caused had the attention of almost all the Masters placed on him while the Assassin's Master was able to take advantage of his cards to go unnoticed even easier than he had planned and attack when he least expected it, as in the case of Kurosaki and Waver.
"I see. I guess this complicates it even more." He said with a serious tone.
"It's not that bad either." Saber said suddenly with a carefree tone that caught the attention of the others. "I already killed one of them, so there are already two."
"Yes, but we still don't know how many there will be and who knows what they will do if we go out again." Ishida retorted.
"It's true. One wrong step and it will be over." Urahara argued seriously. Of course, Saber didn't take it seriously and snorted a bit. As if she needed someone's advice.
"Well, I guess after that, you left the place, didn't you?" Urahara continued to summarize the story while looking at Ishida.
"Yes." The Quincy responded with a slight nod, ending his story. At least for the former Shinigami captain, he knew there was something else he hadn't told them yet. While Ishida kept his composure well to a certain extent, Kurosaki seemed to be an open book as it would be enough to see that blank expression as if he had seen something quite unpleasant.
Whatever they saw, he didn't want to pressure them to tell him.
"Urahara-san." The entire room was stunned to hear the voice of the former substitute, so they turned their attention to him. Said teenager just gave him a hardened and determined look.
"Please activate my magic circuits at once."
The entire room went into a state of sudden shock upon hearing those words.
"¿Kurosaki-san?"
"I'm more than sick of waiting idly while those bastards are still on the loose." Ichigo said as he got up from his seat and kept looking at the former captain with a face that said he didn't have time for any more discussions. "I don't know if you have understood my situation at the moment, but two years ago I lost my Shinigami powers and now I'm been involved in a war that I have never heard of and I am at a complete disadvantage since my opponents are magi as strong as hell, and my only advantage is that I also have my magic circuits, but they are still deactivated. There is also the fact that I will not be able to fight Caster this way, and if that was not enough, I almost ended up being killed by one of those Assassins if it weren't for Saber."
"Wait. Did you say you were about to be killed by one of those Assassins ?" Urahara asked in amazement at the news. Orihime and Kon were also surprised by this as the Quincy hadn't mentioned any of this.
Ichigo paused in his statement as he processed the last thing he had blurted out and remembered that that last part was omitted so as not to worry Orihime. Ishida just patted himself his face because of his friend / rival's stupid carelessness.
"Well, it doesn't matter. The point is, I don't have to go on like this for long, and even though I don't like the idea, I need power to be able to face them and beat them all. So stop all this shit and help me activate my new power!"
The room fell silent after hearing the demanding and impatient words of the former spirit fighter and Urahara himself did not seem at all surprised by this. He knew the son of Isshin too well to know that he would not stop at any difficulty and would always fight against the possibilities presented to him.
It was clear that what he saw the most apart from being almost killed by Assassin reinforced his determination and understood his need not to waste any more time and become stronger and not be seen as a burden and protect his friends even with the unknowns implied in pouring reiryoku into his magic circuits. With that, he couldn't get in his way.
"Alright" replied the shopkeeper, drawing the attention of some. "I'll help you activate your circuits right now."
Ichigo managed a small smile when he saw that Sandal-hat finally decided to cooperate.
"But..." He spoke with a serious tone looking at him. "Remember that once you do this, there will be no going back."
"I'm ready." Ichigo replied without hesitation in his voice. He had already been through worse.
And so, they got to work.
If he wanted to be honest with himself, Ishida had no idea that this was the right thing to do. They were still grappling with something they didn't yet know despite having learned a little just a few hours ago, but they still didn't know if it would work with Kurosaki without first testing it thoroughly rather than directly.
Not long after Urahara agreed to try to activate Kurosaki's magic circuits, the former indicated that the first thing he had to do was remove his shirt, which generated confusion for him and the rest, but the shopkeeper assured him to do so and the former substitute did as he was told, exposing his well stocky and muscular torso that made Inoue blush at the sight of him.
After that, the Quincy waited for the former captain to do the following, although he had his suspicions remembering what Saber told them earlier.
"What are you going to do now?" Ichigo asked looking at the shopkeeper.
"Turn your back and sit down." Was what Urahara answered him next.
Ichigo frowned a little at that direct answer, but did as he was told, turned his back and sat on his butt on the floor. Urahara squatted in front of her back looking at her carefully.
"Well, the first thing I'm going to do is examine your soul to find the location of your circuits and see what their condition and quality is."
"Quality?"
"Yes. As I said before, the number and quality of a magus's magic circuits are determined at birth. For example, a magus can be born with 5, 10 or 20 circuits and their quality varies according to their condition. Now let's see your case . ... "
The former captain's hand came into gentle contact with Kurosaki's spine and he closed his eyes as he analyzed the interior of Kurosaki's soul… As expected, everything seemed to be normal there from the very day he woke up from his coma after the launch of the Saigo no Getsuga Tenshō, however upon closer inspection he found some strange anomalies that shouldn't be there.
Whatever it was, it seemed to be embedded in the ancient substitute's soul, and according to his "spiritual vision", they were shaped like streamers that split into various sectors of Kurosaki's body. Now there was no doubt what they really are ...
"Interesting." Urahara said as a scientifically amazed a little fascinated to see an unusual experiment. This immediately caught the attention of the others.
"What's the matter?" Ishida asked worried.
"Nothing. I'm a bit surprised." He replied before giving an enthusiastic smile. "From what I saw, Kurosaki-san has 24 inserted circuits, 10 of which are more or less active probably due to the reiatsu flow that Kurosaki-san launched earlier, while the rest are totally deactivated."
Ichigo and the others absorbed the information and got a bit engrossed by this.
"And what about the quality?"
"I'm afraid I can't say precisely." Urahara responded by shaking his head. "But we will know when I have fully activated them. All a magus has to do is immediately infuse his magical energy to force activate them. I can also transmit my reiryoku into you and try to force activate them, but I don't know if it will work and more if it works out for you ".
Ichigo frowned at what the merchant said. Didn't he make it clear to you that whatever happened, he would take the risk? His mindless worry was getting really annoying.
It was then that the shopkeeper gave a jovial smile, eliminating the serious atmosphere. "Well, anyway, we'd be wasting precious time now that we've come this far." The shopkeeper commented with a comical atmosphere. Of course, Ichigo didn't find it funny at all and looked at the blond with more annoyance.
"Just do it." He responded impatiently, not in the mood for his jokes.
"Okay." Urahara said as if accepting a challenge. "Get ready."
Following the signal, Ichigo closed his eyes and braced himself for whatever Sandal-hat had in mind. It wasn't long before he felt a strange tingling sensation where Urahara's hand had been placed and then spread across the inside of his body. He grunted when his body temperature rose. Urahara's hand was still pressed on the boy's back; his fingers glowed with a bluish glow and seemed to seep into Ichigo's skin.
"Wait a bit." Urahara guided him to calm Kurosaki and not lose focus. "This will take a while."
Ichigo remained rigid as the burning sensation continued to penetrate inside his body. He could feel the familiar reaitsu of his former sensei in him and also how something familiar was beginning to awaken within him.
Her friends silently watched this strange show with concern as Saber stared stiffly as if she was reliving that ordeal.
Urahara continued to infuse his reiryoku in his former student without losing concentration or worrying about the state of the young Kurosaki although with the minimum care so that nothing bad happened to him. At that time it was going well as he could feel his reiryoku flooding the serpentine shapes that are the circuits at a slow but steady pace. He could also feel himself aligning himself with Kurosaki's reiatsu urging him to move and flow through the circuits. This process of fully reactivating his reiryoku was more or less similar to when Rukia gave him all of her Shinigami powers instantly that night, although the method was different and the scale was smaller because he didn't know what would happen if he was wrong to give him an exaggerated amount of his reiryoku, plus he had no intention of turning him back into a Shinigami.
He just had to force the circuits to activate and make them useful to the eighth Master.
After a minute he felt how he managed to activate 3 circuits and now he was leaving with the rest.
Ichigo could finally feel his reiatsu begin to emerge from within him as his body was surrounded by the unmistakable bluish color of Reiatsu's aura and he also felt his veins stretching out, filled with something warm. Ishida, Inoue and Saber could also feel how Kurosaki's reiatsu had started to emerge at a slow but steady pace and they continued to watch warily expecting something unforeseen.
In a few minutes, Ichigo's body temperature had risen, although not so much since he felt like he was in the middle of a sauna. His toned back was drenched in sweat as he inhaled and exhaled. At this point, Urahara had already activated most of his circuits and now there were few left.
It hadn't taken him 3 minutes when he activated the last one and cut his reiatsu lineup with him. Once finished, Urahara withdrew his hand a bit exhausted and the bluish aura that surrounded Ichigo disappeared. The latter was breathing heavily, his entire body submerged in his hot sweat. 'Damn, I'm really gonna need a shower after this.'
Once it was all finished, Urahara silently stared at the results and the rest were equally anxious.
After a moment of silence, the shopkeeper spoke. "Are you all right?"
Ichigo regained his senses and then started to stand up. He still felt somewhat numb from the process of reactivating his magic circuits, but for the most part he felt fine. More flexible. It felt complete.
"How are you? Do you feel something?" The blond Shinigami asked eager to know the results of his arduous task. The others were also looking at him in the same way.
Ichigo said nothing as he inspected his arms for any signs that made him feel different. Flexing his arms and clenching and opening his fists, the orange-haired boy felt in top form as if his body had reformed after a harsh punishment, a feeling very similar to when Inoue always restored his body or... when he was in Shikai or Bankai. However, he didn't feel anything special at all.
"I think I don't feel anything." It was the answer that the former Substitute launched to the great surprise of Ishida and the others, except for the adult Shinigami.
"You really don't feel anything?" The shopkkeper asked to confirm whether he had heard correctly.
Ichigo shrugged unable to answer exactly this. He certainly couldn't feel anything out of the ordinary since the rite of activating his circuits was over. I still felt that feeling of complete renewal, but nothing special with what should feel like something 'unnatural'. Either way, this started to worry him a bit.
"Are you sure you did well?" Ichigo asked, unsure, thinking that this could be because the shopkeeper probably made a mistake during the transfer.
Urahara shook his head slightly in response. "I don't think so. It seems to me that I did it well, although it will surely be that-
"He may not have activated it himself yet." Saber suddenly interrupted. All eyes turned to her, who was looking at Ichigo like a stern teacher. "Suppose you managed to wake up your circuits, but the energy transfer does not work independently since it is the user who must activate and deactivate them at will."
Everyone absorbed the information and immediately understood the concept.
"Oh, now I get it. So, it is Kurosaki-san who must activate his circuits so that his reiryoku circulates through them and turns them into magical energy, right?" Urahara spoke with a smile. A nod is what he received from the blonde.
"If so, I think this would be like turning on reiatsu." He added below. This was what Ichigo had to hear.
"I see. If so, it will be worth a try." The teenager said as he began to concentrate his body remembering the times he had released his reiatsu countless times as a Shinigami. Even after 17 months of inactivity, he still remembered the method.
However, before he could take any action, his former sensei's voice stopped him.
"Wait a minute, Kurosaki-san." Urahara exclaimed loudly causing the orange haired boy to stop and look at the confused former captain without understanding his interruption. "Listen, I know you want to get started as soon as possible, but let's make sure we don't rush too much."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Ichigo asked not understanding why he was so cautious. He had just activated his magic circuits and it was time to take advantage of them right now. "Why not do it now that I can?"
"I know, but that is precisely the reason why you should rest to do the experiments in another safe place. Yoruichi-san told me what happened when you managed to pour your reiryoku into the Reishūkaku, and we don't know what kind of results it will give, and much less here, do you understand?" Urahara explained carefully so that her words reached him safely and they understood the situation.
For the former substitute's friends, Urahara's concern and caution about what might happen was understandable, and since he had mentioned what happened on the mission to rescue Rukia, they remembered when they made a stop at Kūkaku's house to create a cannonball using his reiryoku on the Reishūkaku each. Only Ishida, Inoue, and Chad were the first to test successfully. As for Ichigo, well, he had a hard time mastering it until, thanks to Ganju's advice, he managed to successfully create a cannonball, but due to the huge reiryoku he possessed back then, the bullet that he created was exaggeratedly huge compared to what it was his companions did.
Even if Ichigo now possessed a smaller fragment of reiryoku than back then, they didn't even want to know what it was capable of once they were modified by the magic circuits.
"So it will be important to save this for tomorrow and let your body get used to it a bit, okay?" Urahara finished with a smile.
Ichigo only suppressed a sigh upon seeing another setback, but decided not to discuss this any more and rest until tomorrow. Tomorrow will be the day he expected.
The next day
Dawn had come to Fuyuki announcing the day and Ichigo was getting ready. It wasn't long after the first rays of sunlight appeared that the orange haired Master decided to wake up and put his newly acquired abilities to the test so that he could master them full time before the war resumed. Not only was he trying to get stronger so he could improve his connection with Saber or get stronger so he could fight Caster, but he was also fighting time to improve his abilities.
It was for this very reason that he had decided to get up early to start his training as soon as possible.
Shortly after waking up, he and his friends went to the Mackenzie residence, taking advantage of the fact that the elderly couple had decided to go shopping a little while ago to begin practice without being discovered.
Currently our protagonists were in the garden.
"Okay Kurosaki-san, since we finally managed to awaken your magic circuits, our first step in handling them is learning to turn them on at will as Saber-san said." Urahara began the lesson with a smile. Ichigo paid attention to what the shopkeeper was saying. "From what I read in the book and discussed with Saber-san; a magus is able to ignite his circuits by means of a mental trigger in his mind. Each trigger varies by user, like the hammer of a gun or as the case of Saber-san, impaling an enemy with a sword. In your case I don't think you should meet one of those requirements since turning on your circuits is more or less similar when you turn on your reiatsu."
Ichigo nodded knowing what he had to do. With that in mind, he decided to give it a try.
Closing his eyes, he emptied his mind of thoughts leaving it blank and focused his inner reiryoku to manifest within his body. At first, he could not feel anything until he 'saw' in the middle of a great darkness, which is the inside of his soul, 3 bright blue lines manifesting and moving through the darkness, and then he felt his body temperature rise and a strange tingling sensation flooded his body.
Not long after, his body was bathed in the unmistakable color of reiatsu. Everyone seemed puzzled at this. As Ichigo continued to concentrate, he also noticed the change and opened his eyes to be the next to be surprised to feel the familiar sensation of his changed reiatsu.
From Uryū's point of view, Kurosaki's reiatsu flowed delicately, nothing to do with when he was a Shinigami, however, its quality seemed to be excellent almost on the same level as the ones he released before, except this time he seemed more balanced and was well controlled. However, there was another important detail that caught the Quincy's attention more.
"What is it that glitters on your left arm?" He asked pointing to said arm. The others also noticed that in Ichigo, and the latter raised his left arm to put it in front of him and his eyes widened at what he was seeing.
His skin was furrowed with a serie of 3 bright blue lines that seemed to cross like a DNA sequence down his arm like a tattoo until reach his hand. Ichigo was shocked.
"What the hell is this?"
"What you carry is the physical manifestation of your magic circuits." Urahara replied as he approached the surprised boy and then examined the glowing lines with interest.
Ichigo was surprised to hear that and looked at his supposed magic circuits to take a closer look. At first glance they seemed somewhat strange and uncomfortable seeing how these lines were stuck to his skin glowing like his Command Seals. But the strangest thing was the tingling that ran through his arm, but he didn't feel numb or anything like that. Rather, he felt… strengthened. He could feel a small increase in his muscle strength, he didn't know to what extent, but it was as if he had been lifting weights a thousand times or doing a thousand push-ups without getting numb. It was a strange and comfortable feeling.
"How does it feel?" Urahara asked suddenly as if he had guessed Ichigo's physical change. "You seem to be in great shape, don't you?"
Ichigo didn't frown at the shopkeeper's irritating words of humor as he flexed his biceps and then opened and closed his hand. In fact, he was right that he was in great shape. It was a similar feeling to when he was in Shikai. Immediately Uryū, Orihime and Saber approached to look closely and observe the strange phenomenon.
Urahara had finished analyzing the structure of this strange energy source and concluded that just as he had thought, its essence was very similar to reiryoku but modified into a type of raw energy. In other words, it could be some kind of magical energy variant.
"Congratulations, it seems that you have finally obtained your own magical energy." Urahara congratulated with a proud smile.
Ichigo was still absent as he evaluated himself and let his new reiatsu flow through his body. I didn't know what to say about this energy, except that it looked a bit familiar to me. He couldn't tell what level he was at either, though he guessed that he probably didn't compare to when he was a Shinigami.
"Well, since you're like this, we can start training." Urahara announced making Ichigo focus on him carefully now. He may not know about his new power yet, but this is what he wanted, right? Now he had finally gotten what he wanted so he could kick the bad guys out and protect his friends again.
"What are we going to do?" Ichigo asked with enthusiasm.
"The first thing will be that you stay here without doing anything while you keep releasing your reiatsu." Urahara responded immediately and directly. Of course, this only served to confuse Ichigo as he didn't get the point.
"What do you mean?"
"We still don't know anything about the scope of this new power, and it is very important to know your own limits." The blond replied. "Therefore, you will stay here motionless, and we will wait how long you can hold out."
Ichigo frowned a bit upon hearing that he will have to stand with his reiatsu still on. Still, he understood the sense of logic to know some limit and, if possible, remedy it in some way.
Suppressing a sigh, Ichigo did what Sandal-hat suggested and stayed that way for some time. After a few minutes, Ichigo began to feel his body begin to tense up from the elevated body temperature of his reiatsu that seemed to come from within.
Urahara and the others were able to notice this change and Inoue couldn't help but be concerned about his condition. It was only a matter of a few more minutes that Ichigo couldn't take it anymore and he deactivated his magic circuits causing his aura and the lines running down his arm to disappear as a result. Once his temperature returned to normal and the tension was gone, Ichigo let out a long breath.
"Mmm I see." Urahara announced while analyzing Kurosaki's condition. "Looks like you could only last 10 minutes. Impressive."
Ichigo winced even in his state upon hearing that. 10 minutes? Is that how long it would last if he were in a real match? He really needed a way to remedy this inconvenience.
"And what can we do about it?" Ishida asked in anticipation.
The former captain was a bit thoughtful at that question and rubbed his chin with his head lowered as he pondered the matter. Ichigo and the others looked at him expectantly in silence waiting for an answer. It wasn't long before he spoke again.
"Inoue-san, restore Kurosaki-san's state to when he released his reiatsu." He directed the aforementioned girl who went to work immediately. It was not the answer they expected, but the first thing would be to cure the fatigue of the orange-haired boy.
"I think I have an idea." He said next with a big smile.
Ichigo and his friends could only looked a bit in awe at what appeared to be a Sandal-hat job. Not that it seemed ridiculous or embarrassing like the other outlandish ideas the former president of the S.R.D.I. had come up with, but they also didn't see the point in getting a thick wooden column and hanging it from a rope on a branch in front of them giving the impression that it was some kind of punching bag or something.
"Well, this will do." Urahara commented proudly as he touched the pillar next to him and looked at the confused teenagers.
"What's it for?" Ichigo asked although deep down he already suspected the answer.
Urahara widened his smile a bit before answering. "It's your punching bag."
The surprise seized a large part of the spectators without being able to believe what they had heard. A punching bag?
"Is this some kind of stupid joke? What the hell did I need a wooden punching bag for? Weren't you going to teach me Reinforcement or Projection?" Ichigo asked looking cryptically at the shopkeeper. Urahara was unfazed by his former apprentice's skepticism and decided to clarify.
"To begin with, part of this training is to improve the quality of your circuits a bit and, consequently, the Reinforcement."
Ichigo and the others looked at the man in confusion.
"As I explained before, there is a difference that determines the magic circuits of each magus and those are the number and the quality. While, from the first moment, one would think that the number is the fundamental element since the more circuits a magus has, more spells he will be able to do or the stronger it will be, but this is not always the case. The number is not everything, since the quality makes them stronger." Urahara explained by letting the information sink into the teenagers's minds.
"In a sense, the functions of the circuits are very similar to those of the muscles. You see, when a person exercises lifting weights, doing push-ups or sit-ups to strengthen their muscles, what happens is that this does not increase their number, rather, it just increases the size and strength. The same could apply to the magic circuits of a magus or the reiryoku of a Shinigami or Arrancar so that their quality can improve over time, do you understand?"
Understanding seemed to penetrate the minds of his audience and they immediately understood this concept.
"I see. So while Kurosaki does physical exercises, he will get stronger, right?" Ishida pondered the matter.
"In theory yes. In addition, the improvement of increasing the quality of the circuits would also apply to improve the Reinforcement. You can use the Reinforcement to strengthen your body, strengthen your muscles, endurance and strength including speed, so if you manage to master it and channel your energy through your muscles, you will be able to do anything an average human cannot. However, that does not mean you can use Reinforcement to channel objects from the outside. "
"Why?" Ichigo asked without understanding.
"It's pretty obvious. Remember that your power source is reiryoku, nothing to do with mana, so it would be incompatible and therefore highly unlikely that you can connect to anything related to mana. You could only do so with an object that contains reishi."
Ichigo absorbed that and understood the situation, so he would only settle for using Reinforcement to increase his physique and Projection to create a weapon with his mind.
"Well, putting that aside, the only important factor would be how long it would take to improve them." Urahara replied. "Even for a Shinigami who is still studying at the academy, it would take time to master his reiryoku or improve his connection to his Zanpakutō. Although, of course, unlike these, it didn't take you 10 years to learn both Shikai and Bankai." He said this while looking at Kurosaki with the smile of a teacher proud of his prodigious student.
Ichigo had to agree to this. The Shikai and the Bankai were two difficult phases to achieve and according to Yoruichi's words, it would take more than 10 years of training to reach the last one, but he had achieved both in a short time and even at first he did not know anything about it. Even Byakuya was completely shocked when he showed him his Bankai.
"Let me remind you that Kurosaki-san's power is something out of the ordinary, but he needed experience to be able to fully master it, and that's why I trained him for 10 days before going to Soul Society. Although I only taught him what basic, it was amazing how quickly he matured and adapted to the point where he could go and learn the rest on his own. "
The former substitute's friends absorbed this well when they remembered what Kurosaki had been capable of being still a complete rookie as soon as he arrived at Soul Society, when he faced Jidanbō and the former managed to break both axes at the same time and have sent the giant flying by the force of the impact. This may have been only a minor feat, but noteworthy in the opinion of those who witnessed it. There was also the fact that he had defeated a lieutenant and remotely powerful 2 captains.
Even now, he found it hard to believe that a 15-year-old could have accomplished that in such a short time.
"Anyway, the key to success is for Kurosaki-san's body to adapt well to the use of his new power and he could become stronger in no time." He kept adding the merchant and this gave the eighth Master more encouragement.
"Well, this is all I can tell you. Come on, activate your magic circuits again and use your energy to strengthen your arms. Remember to use it like the reiryoku from when you were a Shinigami."
This time Ichigo had nothing to discuss and re-ignited his circuits. Now that his condition had been restored thanks to Inoue, he felt no fatigue and was fit to train.
"First, focus your energy through your arms." Urahara indicated. Ichigo did as he was told and transferred part of his reiryoku to his arms. As a result, he felt the temperature of his arms rise and saw 3 ramifications of his circuits in each arm extending into his hands, and he also felt a large increase in muscle strength in both arms. Once ready, he concentrated on targeting the hanging wooden pillar that will serve as a giant punching bag.
Ichigo struck a fighting pose and raised his fists ready to start as his gaze was fixed on his target. Urahara and the teens just watched silently waiting for the orange haired boy to start and see the results. It wasn't long when Ichigo drew back his right arm and then pounced his fist forward at breakneck speed.
*THUMP*
The impact on the thick wood was so strong that the trunk jerked violently and swung back like a swing as if its weight were as light as a sandbag. They all looked in shock at this.
It was incredible! No normal human would have been able to shake something so heavy and hard except for Chad, of course, let alone come out unscathed from the sudden impact of his fist. Instead, Urahara just watched the results with a proud smile.
"Well done, Kurosaki-san." The shopkeeper congratulated the astonished teenager. "It seems that you are capable of handling this very well."
Ichigo still couldn't find the words necessary to express this. It is true that as Shinigami he could do many totally superhuman things such as moving at higher speeds (Shunpo) walking in the air (reishi control) launching attack techniques from his Zanpakutō (Getsuga Tenshō) and accessing 2 evolutionary phases of his Zanpakutō (Shikai and Bankai) but the superforce was not included. Well, except when he pushed Aizen's pompous face and destroyed his Kidō with a single wave of his hand. Anyway, this surprised him since the blow he felt was not at all painful as it would be for at least an ordinary human, he could not even notice how the bones of the fist broke from the force of the impact.
In fact, he could feel its strength or durability as strong as the hierro of an Arrancar.
"Well, it looks like we've already passed the test of reinforcing your strength with your circuits. Now we have to figure out how long it might take if you keep hitting this."
"Wait, I have to keep hitting this until I get tired or break my hands?" Ichigo protested at the idea of continuing to hit the huge wooden pillar and even more so with his circuits activated to drain its energy.
"Not necessarily." Urahara replied simply with a smile. "All you have to do is hit the pillar as hard as you can until you notice any signs of exhaustion and then you will stop."
Ichigo suppressed a sigh as he returned his attention to the hanging pillar. Actually, he was no stranger to hitting a punching bag, but hitting a large bag made entirely of wood for a long time was something very different. This was going to be a headache, but as Sandal-hat said, he had to know a limit and try to adapt to it as quickly as possible.
With everything fixed, he began his first training session by adopting the same fighting pose as before and began to hit the huge pillar with both fists consecutively. The pillar was violently shaken by the former substitute's utterly inhuman force and sent him backward like a swing. This was the prelude to a series of non-stop blows aimed at the pillar.
Ishida, Inoue, and Kon stared in amazement at Kurosaki's incessant blows that were as fast as lightning but accurate. It was clear that he now seemed to have the same strength and stamina of the gentle giant and during these 17 months the former substitute had continued to practice boxing constantly.
"Slow down, Kurosaki-san." Urahara realized suddenly when he saw how the orange haired boy rushed forward with the magnitude of the blows he gave him. "Remember that you have to do this little by little."
Ichigo heard that and decided to slow down the blows to the point that the pillar shook slightly like a normal punching bag. Spending a few minutes Ichigo kept hitting and hitting the pillar relentlessly and despite hitting it for a long time he did not feel any tiredness or deterioration and surprisingly no pain in his knuckles despite hitting a harder and more resistant material as if he had insensitivity to pain.
The minutes continued to pass until Uryū felt that 10 minutes should have already passed and Ichigo continued to hit the pillar as if nothing had happened, but it was at this point that he felt that the movements of the fists began to slow down and wear out from so much hitting along with his energy draining which also began to take its toll. He was reaching his limit. It was only after about 4 more minutes that Urahara saw that it was enough.
"Okay, Kurosaki-san is enough."
Ichigo barely heard his ex sensei and kept hitting for a while until he decided he had had enough and stopped hitting. The pillar kept rocking back and forth as Ichigo caught his breath a little.
Amazing…
With only 15 minutes of hitting the pillar nonstop, his arms felt exhausted and numb. Normally it could last at least 30 minutes under normal circumstances and with a normal punching bag, but this is...
Although it was normal since he had expended energy to keep his arms strengthened to the maximum. With that in mind, he deactivated his circuits and his body returned to normal.
Then he inspected his hands and what he saw made him wince.
His skin seemed to be somewhat worn with some bruises on his knuckles as if he had been hitting a material hard enough for the average person to take it… and it hurts like hell! Just by flexing his fingers, he felt like his bones were a little shattered and numb, but nothing compared to what would have happened to a normal person.
'Next time I'll wear boxing gloves...'
"Wow, this doesn't look good." Urahara said suddenly standing next to Kurosaki inspecting his wounds in amazement. "I already told you not to overdo it."
"Shut up." Ichigo said quietly annoyed at not being in a good mood for Sandal-hat's comments. Uryū, Orihime, Kon and Saber also approached him to look with concern at Ichigo's injuries.
"Looks like you did a good job anyway. Look at that." He pointed the merchant towards the pillar and Ichigo looked there, his eyes widening in puzzlement at what he was seeing.
The area where he had been hitting was marked with multiple dents that appeared to have been produced by the impact of many blows. They weren't very deep, but still the thick bark didn't seem to have withstood Ichigo's powerful blows, so it was wearing away and deteriorating until it broke and exposed parts of the trunk.
He couldn't help but be so surprised by the strength he had just exerted thanks to his new powers that it gave him the impression that he had the same strength as Chad, and he wondered if he would be able to compete with the latter in hand-to-hand combat.
Uryū, Orihime, Kon, except Saber, were also shocked by the results of the strength test to the point that he might have somehow become some kind of cyborg (typical of Orihime) or something like that.
"Right now you have the strength to compete with Sado-san in unarmed combat, but even if you train a little more and improve, it won't do you any good against an experienced magus capable of reinforcing his own body and much less against any Servant of this war, although you could hit Caster if you attack him by surprise (in the case of Rin with Medea) although it would only be for a moment." Urahara added next to give him more encouragement and give Ichigo an idea.
The idea of being able to hit that sickly bastard was quite tempting now that he had the strength to do it. Even if it was just for once, it would be satisfying to see his disgusting face twisted in pain and surprise at being hit by a mere human.
"What do I have to do now?" Ichigo asked looking determinedly at the shopkeeper to accept another challenge.
Urahara gave him a smile before answering.
"The next thing you have to do is focus your reiryoku on your legs to reinforce them and see if they give the same result with your arms." He pointed to the legs.
Ichigo didn't think about that for an instant as he turned his circuits back on and concentrated much of his reiryoku on his legs. An instant later, like his arms, he felt the temperature rise a little and his muscle strength suddenly increased until he was at the height of an Olympian.
"Good. Now try to take a good jump." He indicated below.
For a moment, Ichigo was a bit hesitant to do so, but he knew there was no time to argue as it was a good way to find out how far the strength of his reinforced legs could go.
His friends moved away a bit to give him more space and Ichigo bent his knees to gain momentum. Having gathered enough strength, he took a strong leap as he lifted his legs and his body soared into the air up to... 7 meters high. Much of the audience saw this action puzzled, although some were not so surprised, as even a Shinigami and Quincy could do this so easily.
Ichigo landed on his legs on the ground and his feet barely felt numb from the impact. This was almost the same as when he was a Shinigami.
"Well done, Kurosaki-san." Urahara congratulated again by clapping his hands. "You also managed to gather enough energy to take that big 7 meter jump. Not bad."
Ichigo was also surprised by the results. Even if this wasn't something new to him, it had been a while since he didn't feel this feeling of superhuman superiority. It really felt good to be empowered again, not to be some kind of superhero or the envy of the neighborhood, but to kick some bad guys' butt and protect his friends and helpless people.
"Okay, now we will do a speed test." Urahara said then drawing the attention of the orange haired young man.
"Speed?"
"Yes. Let's see how fast you are and how long you can hold out." Urahara revealed. "I don't think you can do a Shunpo and I would have preferred we were on a race track, but I think this field will work for us, so you'll have to do a couple of laps."
Ichigo headed to the bottom of the hill and once he got there, he waited for the signal from the former captain, which didn't take long, and Ichigo shot off like a bullet and ran around the hill that dominated the landscape.
Spectators were hardly surprised to see the speed with which the former substitute was moving. Even if he wasn't using Shunpo or something similar to Hoho due to the unavailability of reishi in the environment, it seemed like he was moving at the standard speed of any Shinigami.
Despite the large area the hill made up, he managed to complete a few laps in less than a few moments and that speed would make many average athletes look ridiculous.
It was 8 complete laps without stopping running until Urahara warned him to stop and he kept running, but from the eighth lap his walk had started to slow down little by little. It was only until another 2 more laps that Urahara decided he had seen enough.
"Alright, that's enough for today!" He yelled out loud for he to hear him. Ichigo stopped midway and deactivated his circuits to regain his strength. The young man had his back bent down with his hands for support on his thighs.
Inoue wasted no time coming to their aid as Urahara and Ishida remained in place to ponder the outcome of the tests carried out with Kurosaki's new power. It was nothing comparable to when he was a Shinigami, but ...
"What do you think?" Ishida expressed to the former captain to get his opinion on the results. At first, he said nothing as he watched the healer restore the boy's state.
"So far so well". He replied in a satisfying tone. "I see that Kurosaki-san is still a box full of surprises with or without his Shinigami powers. I still don't know to what extent he could become stronger if he continued training, but I think for the moment he would be on par with when he had Kuchiki-san's powers a while ago. "
The young Quincy didn't know whether to agree with the deduction of the former president of the S.R.D.I. from Kurosaki's level. He firmly agreed that it was quite a special item that kept surprising everyone how much stronger he could get with every training or actual fight that he lived like an experience gaining machine. He still had a hard time believing that he was a natural hybrid of the 3 spirit classes of his world, but it would not have been a mystery where all that force came from.
Even with Kuchiki's powers, he was able to unleash an enormous force capable of wounding and driving away a Menos Grande and causing trouble for a lieutenant to some extent, but not a captain.
He could only imagine what he would be able to use with the magical energy created from his hybrid reiryoku.
Meanwhile, Saber also didn't know what to think of her Master since she discovered what he once was. At first, she had been a bit skeptical even if she didn't show it, but at the same time she was curious to know if it was true. At first, she thought that just by seeing this training to master his prana-reiryoku she would see some testimony of what he once was, however, it turned out to be nothing and, although he has now gained power, perhaps enough to deal with the other Masters that didn't mean that he could fight a Servant in the slightest.
She still had a hard time believing all those things that her Master was a spirit warrior of the same caliber as the Heroic Spirits and he had suddenly lost almost everything to defeat that Aizen who seemed to be someone as warlike as Vortigern. What bothered her about him was his stupidity of throwing himself towards a stronger enemy without a second thought as in the case of Berserker or breaking into her fights just to help her as in the case when she was caught by the tentacles of Caster's familiars, and he risked releasing her out of his greatest frustration. She didn't want to depend on anyone, much less someone weaker.
Her Master is a bit of a strange character. His stubbornness and recklessness in believing that he can handle anything annoyed her to some degree, and his grumpy nature and his embarrassing reactions when she teased him somehow amused her as if he were more or less a buffoon. Despite his stubbornness and tough air, he was not a swashbuckler or a braggart at all, and he took everything else seriously and was a good fighter when he showed it to her in their fight yesterday. Nor did he seem to be someone who would stop and hesitate in the face of any situation that was coming and always find a way to move forward with those eyes so full of determination and courage that they reminded him so much of any warrior he knew as her former comrades and fat-
Wait a minute.
'What the hell am I thinking?' She berated herself for that last line of thought. It was not normal for her to admire others, including her former comrades. The only one she idolized from the beginning was her father, the great King of Knights, and she was proud to carry his blood in her. She wanted to be someone like him and be her successor, but unfortunately, due to his indifference and inability to understand the hearts of his subjects, including his own knights whom he called 'friends', he never denied her that right because of her sinisters origins or for being the pawn of his witch stepsister.
All that was left of her was intense anger and pure hatred towards the person she once adored and called 'father' and since then she has never respected anyone or anyone again. And she was not going to redeem herself with her enigmatic Master. Although she had fun with him at times, their relationship is more of a necessity than a simple friendship. The relationship between Master and Servant was just a pretext to achieve a common goal, and for her it went very well. Regardless of whether they got along well or badly, as long as the two have a common goal, the team will have no problem getting along or using each other. Ichigo was just her mana deposit that keeps her tied to this world and her duty, in addition to fighting and defeating her opponents, is also to protect him until they reaches the Grail and from there, their association will be over once they have achieved their respective wishes.
And nothing that happens next will change her mind.
That is all for today. Now let's explore what we have seen.
As I mentioned before, the method we have seen to activate Ichigo's magic circuits was very similar to that used by EMIYA to activate Shirou's. The lessons we have seen are just small experiments to test Ichigo's abilities of his reiryoku-prana in either super strength and speed which is specifically Reinforcement. Suffice to say that at the moment they are more or less similar to those of a Fullbring.
The scene of Ichigo boxing with a thick wooden pillar occurred to me when I saw episode 83 of the filler saga of the Bounts where Koga has a flashback from his past where Cain is shown training with his huge pillar used as a sack boxing.
Oh, if you ask why Ichigo grew weak from having expended a lot of energy in a certain amount of time, the truth is that I'm not sure what he was writing. You should know that I am still new to this and I am not yet an expert in this matter. So excuse me if I was wrong about something.
One last thing. It seems that Mordred has begun to develop feelings for her enigmatic Master although at the moment she does not want to admit it. Although who knows, she might end up changing her mind later.
Ja ne!