It was the crack of dawn in the Soul Society, in a more peaceful time this would be when all was quiet, patrols and guards would have been dozing off at their posts. Sadly this was not a peaceful time. the sound of fortifications being constructed and Soul Reapers training echoed through the night air. patrol units were fully alert and roamed the streets with lanterns to search for any intruders. The combined light of thousands of lanterns lit up the night and provided illumination even in the most forgotten corners of the seireitei.
however, these lights did not reach the Rukongai, and so they went unnoticed by Torin and Rida as they stood in total darkness. They were in a forest clearing deep in the rukongai where the only lighting came from the moon, even that faint illumination would vanish whenever s cloud passed over the moon.
Torin drew his zanpakto "Are you ready Rida? Once we begin there will be no breaks." he said as he held his sword out in front of him.
Rida groaned and drew his own zanpakto "did we HAVE to come out here at this hour? I heard there's this thing called sleeping that's quite popular lately" he complained
Torin scowled "You know our zanpakto will only reveal their names to us when we push ourselves beyond all our limits, if you have enough energy to complain then it's time to begin." he said
"I know, I know, lets just make it quick so i can go to bed" Rida sighed
Torin tightened his grip on his sword, "here I come!" he said as he charged
"What a drag, but it can't be helped, bring it!" Rida said as his adrenaline started pumping.
Torin swung his sword in a wide slash, purposly falling short of Rida so that he could use the sword's weight to spin him around into another more powerful slash that would crush any attempt to block and frustrate any attempt to read his movements and dodge.
Against any other opponent that would be a fight ending blow, but Rida had fought Torin hundreds of times before and saw right through the move. he gracefully jumped up and over the attack, then formed a platform of spirit energy above him which he put his feet on and sprung back down to counter with an overhead slash.
Torin hopped back to avoid the attack and attempted to slash at Rida to cover his retreat. Rida brought up his sword and knocked the strike high, then used the opening to hit Torin in the gut with a side kick. Torin stumbled back, winded and off balance. Rida took the opportunity to go on the offensive and attacked with a flurry of quick jabs and punches. Torin frantically brought his sword up to block the assault, but kept getting hit by stray blows. In desperation he focused a large amount of spirit energy into his sword and slashed downward with incredible force. Rida stepped back to dodge the slow attack, but the blow caused the ground underneath his feet to explode.
Rida flipped back away from the eruption of pulverized earth but was still pummled by countless rocks. While flying backwards Rida pointed at Torin and said "Hado 4, byakurai!" and fired a stream of pale blue electricity at him.
Torin pointed at Rida and the attack and said "Hado 4, byakurai" and fired his own stream of electricity. The streams clashed in midair and stray lightning sparked out of the clash as it formed a ball of lightning. The illumination of the electrical fury illuminated Torin and Rida with an eerie light, then the ball exploded. The explosion didn't affect Torin, but Rida was hit by a gust of wind and fell much harder than he had planned. His ankle twisted and he sank to one knee, grimacing in pain.
Now it was Torin's turn to take advantage of an opening, he leaped up and came down from above with another spirit energy charged slash. Rida instinctively brought his arms up in a cross-guard over his head, he had no time to think about the fact that his arms would shatter like glass before Torin's blade was stopped. All he could do was close his eyes and wait for the pain of death.
"Rida..." a voice said. The voice was slow and heavy, like one would expect a mountain to sound like if it could speak.
Surprised Rida opened his eyes and found himself in a strange place. Gone were the trees of the Rukongai, in their place was a forest of stone pillars. Rida found his ankle was no longer hurt and that he was standing on a pillar like the rest, only much wider. He walked to the edge and looked down, at the base of the pillar a sea of lava lapped against the pillar he stood on.
"OK... too weird" Rida said "how did I get here, and more importantly, where IS here?"
"Rida..." the voice said "can you hear me?"
Rida spun around to look for the voice, but there was nobody there. "Who's there? Show yourself!" he demanded
"You can hear my voice and yet you do not know who I am... how pitiful" the voice said, it's disdain sounded like it was making the earth shake, then Rida realized the earth WAS shaking. A column of lava erupted behind him, then cooled and formed another pillar of stone. The stone cracked up and shattered to reveal a large man about 3 times Rida's size. The man had red eyes and a head of red rair that looked like it was on fire. Its forearms and lower legs burned with intense flame, but the man did not seem to feel pain from the fire.
Rida stared at the imposing figure before him in shock "w-what... are you?" he asked
"Foolish Rida, can you not realize it? I am ********, your zanpakto, this place is your inner world. I called you here to see if you are worthy of my power."
Rida took a moment to take in the new information "and if I fail your test?" he asked.
"Then Torin's blade will cleave your weak body in two and you will die instantly." the man said
"Well I'd better not fail then, is the test multiple choice or open ended?" Rida joked
"Save your pitiful defense mechanism for your friends, I know the truth behind your bad jokes. Your test is simple, we shall fight, last one on the pillar wins." the man said as he lunged without further warning. Rida dodged the lunge and threw a kick to knock the man off the platform and pass the test, but he would have done more damage if he had kicked a boulder. Istead of knocking his zanpakto off the platform he fell backwards and barely regained his balance.
"Is that all?" The man said as it stood up straight to tower over Rida "perhaps you should spend less time making lame jokes to cover up your weakness and more time getting stronger ."
"What's that supposed to mean? What's wrong with my jokes? I train plenty!" Rida said
"Do you really?" the man asked as he began to push Rida back "don't lie to me Rida, why else would you act like a clown if not to cover up your insecurity about your strength?"
"Why? Because they're funny and people like funny guys like me!" Rida retorted
"Wrong! the fact that most of your jokes suck aside, you really make jokes to conceal how nervous you are. Take the captain's meeting, for example, you mad a joke about it to hide the fact that you were about to piss your pants!" the man roared as he drove Rida to the very edge of the platform
"Well what would you suggest I do, if I show everyone how weak and scared I am they'll turn on me!" Rida said
"If you had no money, what would you do?" the man asked
Rida didn't hesitate "I'd get a job of course!" he said
"And how about if the food you wanted was on a high shelf that you couldn't reach?" the man continued
"Well I'd get a stool or something to make myself taller..." Rida said
"So if you find yourself weak and unable to face danger with bravery and valor what do you THINK you should do?" the man said with a slight growl
"Well I guess I would need to get stronger then... Oh..." Rida said
"Now get stronger or die!" the man roared as he lunged to tackle Rida off the platform. Rida reacted quickly and used the man's tackle to throw him over his head and off the platform.
"Alright, I got it, that's what you want to teach right? Well then, I make to you an oath, upon my life I swear to you, I will be strong! But I need your help to fulfill that oath, will you aid me?" Rida said as the man fell into the water
"Very well" a disembodied voice said "I shall lend you my strength, listen well, I don't like repeating myself, my name is..."
"Kazan no ken!" Rida said in the real world. His arms were now covered in gauntlets and armor that covered his arms and shoulders. The metal was black and red like lava, wisps of flame spiraled off and faded at random, and Rida's knuckles glowed with a red light like the glow of lava.
"So you achieved shikai" Torin observed
"Sure did, getting the stuffing beat out of me is what did it, and now it's your turn!" Rida said with a smirk as he pushed Torin away...
-to be continued