The Rules of Engagement
Chapter 5 – Into the Abyss
AN: I would like to give a quick shoutout to Kwoah who pointed out I have been misspelling some names. I should have that fixed now. This chapter is the first of the Huceo Mundo arc. It will consist of this chapter, the chapter after it, and the beginning of another chapter. As always any feedback is welcomed and encouraged as long as it it given with good intentions.
Radientensho: It's not too bad. though, why do I have the feeling that his form could be likened to Kamen Rider Kiva? anyway, will there be major improvements to the cast with his mentorship? this will be epic. until then, later!
Answer: I have never seen Kamen Rider but I looked that up and it is pretty similar to what I imagined in my head. My character is not really the mentorship type so I won't say there will be too many major improvements to most but a select few may be able to benefit from his presence in some way
It has been eight months since I improved my powers. During that time, I have made more progress than ever before and made several amazing discoveries. The simplest of which is that yes, I can make ceros from my hands. I can also make them in several other places such as my chest, mouth, and forehead. I have been trying to replicate other hollow abilities such as a bala and instant regeneration. I have had less than ideal-success so far. Bala is hard because it is all guesswork, with cero Kisuke was able to describe how one is formed to me but since he has never seen a bala performed that isn't possible in this case. I can regenerate, but it is definitely not instant. It takes me about three minutes to heal a moderate wound. My armor, which I guess is like my version of hierro, is strong enough to make Kisuke actually need to tryto break through in most places. I have also made a few personal techniques, namely my cero slash and cero sword. Cero slash is pretty straightforward I create a cero on the edge of my sword and then swing it as I release the cero, pretty sure I stole the idea from Tier Harribel but who really cares. Cero sword is much more interesting, it is an idea I stole from future Ichigo. Basically, it is a cero that I use to coat my sword to add attack power. It can also explode on command so that makes it even more useful. The last hollow ability I have mastered is the gran ray cero which I can fire from the tip of my sword and nowhere else. Moving on from hollow abilities and into fullbringer abilities and man have I got news on that front. First I have finally fully mastered the quick ink ability and I can make or unmake rules with only a tap of my book. Secondly, I have inherited some echoes of the fullbrings I absorbed. I'm pretty sure from Jackie and Ginjo I got the armor and enhanced sword respectively. From Tsukishima I got the ability to erase memories of the people I cut temporarily. The best power I got by far was from Giriko, which isthe ability to manipulate time on a small scale. Basically what I have the power to do is slow time for a short moment, while active I can make what would be one second for others be two seconds for me. I can only use it for 1 second right now but in the future, if I can get it to like 5 seconds it will be extremely powerful. From Riruka and Yukio I got nothing that I have been able to find so far. Not really bummed out about that, I barely remember what their powers were. That is really about it, I have also been working on a few small side projects but nothing that really moves the needle.
It was good that I finally got a handle on my hollow abilities because Kisuke told me the garganta device would be done any day now. Being able to shut down my opponent's cero ability will be vital in Hueco Mundo. My plan is mostly to get to the forest of menos and farm gillians until I no longer get a boost from them, then I'm going to go hunting for bigger game. Going after Adjuchas from the get-go is risky even though Kisuke says I am low captain class currently. Adjuchas sometimes form groups and sometimes have abnormal abilities both may be a problem in my current condition. I am bringing all of theitems that I have mastered using soul manipulation on in a special expandable pouch that Kisuke made. There are over 300 of them so carrying them around regularly would be a problem. Yoruichi has also been kind enough to take my stealth training to the next level so I don't get swarmed constantly by hollows. It will be weird being away from Kisuke and Yoruichi for a while. They have pretty much been the only people I have interacted with regularly for the past almost 2 years. I can tell Kisuke still doesn't trust me but surprisingly Yoruichi and I have grown decently close. I enjoy flirting with her and she enjoys teasing me so I guess it makes sense for a real friendship to develop. One would think that Kisuke and I might bond over being morally dubious or form a bond with all the time I've spent harassing him but if anything, I sometimes think it has had the opposite effect. The more time we spend together the more he thinks I'm a loose cannon who will betray them if it becomes convenient. I am a loose cannon, but loyalty is one of my many positive qualities. I won't betray them unless they make me, I'll go down with the ship if things go poorly. Still, I'm pretty sure he does have at least some fondness for me because he helps me and hasn't killed me yet. Hopefully, I will be able to expand my social circle soon by adding a bunch of the Soul Society's hotties to it. Until then I will have to make do with Kisuke and Yoruichi. I go to the underground training area and see Kisuke standing there waiting for me.
"Jack, Ifigured you would be down here soon. I finished putting the final touches on my garganta device this morning, it's ready." Kisuke said in his normal tone but I also detected a hint of pride in it as well. He is always so happy with himself after he invents something. Still creating a handheld device that can summon gargantas is pretty impressive so I'll let him have this one.
"Sweet, I'll go gather my things and get ready to head out. Where is Yoruichi? I'd like to say bye to her before I go." I say. I want to say goodbye to Yoruichi before I leave. I don't want her to get mad at me over not saying bye.
"She should be up in the main area of the shop. I'll be down here when you are ready to go." Kisuke says. I head up to the shop and start searching for Yoruichi. It takes me a minute to find her but eventually, I find her lying on the couch.
"Oh Jack, have you come to challenge me to your daily game of tag? You know I've never had a suitor as persistent as you, maybe one day you will catch me, andthen we will have so much fun together." Yoruichi teases as usual. She likes to taunt me with the fact that I will never catch her, little does she know that with my new abilities, I might do just that.
"No sorry to disappoint you my beautiful little minx but I'm here to say goodbye, Kisuke has finished the device and I will be leaving after I finish gathering my stuff." I say interrupting our normal games with a topic that is actually serious.
"So you are actually going? I told you that it is a bad idea that is just going to get you killed. Don't be a fool Jack there is nothing but death for you in Hueco Mundo." She says sternly with an underlying hint of concern bleeding through.
"Jesus Yoruichi I can handle Hueco Mundo just fine and you know it. You're just mad because your favorite piece of eye candy is leaving, aren't you?" I say with a confident smirk, attempting to break the tension. She has never really been on board with me going to Hueco Mundo. She thinks I'll get myself killed by some adjuchas or an arrancar.
"Be serious Jack!" She smacks my arm. "You could die there it is not a joking matter! One does not simply waltz into Hueco Mundo and come out unscathed." She says worried. Man, she is being a real drama queen right now. I put my hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes.
"Yoruichi, I appreciate how concerned you are but I will be fine. I have prepared for this, I'm not just going there on a whim. I need to do this, I need to get stronger." I say seriously, trying to show her that her fears are unfounded.
"Why? Why do you need to get stronger so quickly Jack? You are already strong! You are still making improvements during training too. If we aren't training you enough I can fix that." She says with frustration. Fed up I snap back at her.
"God dammit Yoruichi! You don't get it! Going from low captain class to slightly higher low captain class is pointless! The people we are fighting are well above that and if I am not as strong as them I will end up sitting on the sideline watching some fucking 18-year-old science experiment do all of the fucking work! I refuse to be just another pathetic worthless nobody crying out, waiting to be saved from beings I have no chance against! That is not who I am! I am a warrior and I will fight and I will win or I will die!" I yell. Calming down I finish my little rant. "Look Yoruichi I get that you are concerned and that you will miss me, hell I will miss you too, but I need to do this. I am going like it or not, now say goodbye and wish me luck or don't but that will not change the fact that I am going. End of story." I say in a calm but firm voice, never taking my eyes away from hers. She starts to say something back heatedly but deflates before any words come out. Then she does something I do not expect, she reaches out and hugs me. I am momentarily stunned but quickly return the hug. I try to remember when the last time that someone legitimately hugged me was and come up blank.
"Just don't die Jack. Come back safe or else." She says with emotion.
"Anything for you beautiful." I reply trying to muster up my normal confidence. I then start trailing my hands down slowly inching towards that magnificent ass.
"Keep going and you will be lucky to make it to the hospital, much less Hueco Mundo." She says. I stop, but not because I am scared or anything. It is because … because… I respect women? Yeah, it is because I respect women. I break away ending the hug.
"Goodbye beautiful and know that when I get back I will be beating you in tag for sure." I say with a confident manly smirk. She rolls her eyes at me.
"Goodbye Jack, and good luck." She says with a beautiful smile. I turn and head to my room to grab my stuff.
Once I have all of my gear I head back down to the training area to meet up with Kisuke and head to Hueco Mundo. I see him and let him know I am ready to go. He gives me a nod and shows me how to operate the garganta device. I pay close attention since if I forget how to work the thing I will end up stranded there like Ashido. After he finishes I take the device and give one last look to him and notice Yoruichi standing over in the distance. I give her a wink and a smirk. I turn around and use the device. A garganta opens up before me, looking like a black tear in the fabric of reality. I breathe out and step into it. It closes behind me and I start making the reishi pathway and running ahead. Unlike Ichigo, my pathway is pretty steady and smooth if a little thin. Eventually, I get to the end and hop out. I immediately take note of my surroundings, I am on the dunes of Hueco Mundo and fortunately, there are no hollows in sight. I mask my presence the best I can and start searching for a drop-down to the forest of menos. After maybe an hour of searching I find it and go on down. What greets me is exactly what I wanted to see, hundreds of gillians all waiting to be slaughtered. Man, this is going to be a fun trip I think as a grin works its way onto my face.
I take my sword out, tap my book writing 'no ceros', and bringer light up to the head of the closest gillian. It sees me and screeches at me, then it tries to charge a cero to attack me but is filled with pain for its effort. I cut through its head like butter and immediately bringer light over to the head of the next gillian and repeat the process. As I slaughter my way through the hundreds of gillians in this pack I revel in the feeling I get when they die. The rush of power is far greater than anything I have gotten from regular hollows even in the beginning. I feel amazing, I can feel myself become more powerful with every kill. My grin is wider than I even thought possible as I revel in their screeches and how my sword cuts through them. They are unable to mount pretty much any defense against me without the use of ceros. The only real obstacle is how many there are and how long it will take me to mow through them. I also spy several other groups just as large as this one in the distance. I wonder if after all this work I will even put a dent into the local gillian population. For all I know there could be millions down here. If I keep growing at the rate I am now I could be high captain class by the time I finish with just the gillians. I know that is unlikely, but it never hurts to dream a little bit. I notice something a bit odd out of the corner of my eye, a gillian that has a slightly unique mask is actually fleeing the slaughter instead of just screeching at me and standing there like the rest are. I realize that it must be a unique gillian, one that will one day turn into an adjuchas and maybe even a vasto lorde. I take off after it, it isn't hard to catch as the body of a gillian is not built for running. As soon as I get in front of it I see its eyes widen and it tries to swipe at me with its short stubby arms. I laugh as they never even get close to hitting me, I ready my sword and prepare to end its life. I wonder if it will give me a bigger boost than the other ones. As I am there wondering I see its jaws open wide and it lunges forward to try to swallow me whole. I leap back with a bringer light and admonish myself for getting careless. The regular gillians may be too stupid to fight back but these unique ones aren't. I will have to keep that in mind so I don't accidentally die to a fucking gillian, that would be humiliating. I leap up in the air and come down with a vertical slice cutting through its head easily, I do get a bit more of a boost than normal but it is nothing special. I return to the group of gillians and resume my slaughter. Realizing after at least an hour or two that I'm barely halfway through the group I settle in for the long haul.
It has been a week since I first came to Hueco Mundo. I have been slaughtering gillians nonstop for almost that whole time. I have just now gotten to the point where I am starting to get diminishing returns from the gillians. Soon I will have to move up to hunting adjuchas, maybe in a week at most. I have seen a few around while slaughtering the gillians but for some reason, they have left me alone so far. That is far more concerning than them attacking me on sight like I thought they would. I don't know what their explanation is but I know it does not bode well for me. I get to the gillian herd that I will be slaughtering today, tap my book, and start going at it. A couple of hours in and it is going fine so far. No unique gillians, I didn't realize how rare those were when I encountered the one on my first day here. I have only encountered one more in the week since and I've probably taken care of more than fourteen groups of gillians at least fifty per group. I just cut through the head of another one when I felt a large spiritual pressure pop up behind me. I quickly spun around, barely having time to block the claw swipe of the leopard adjuchas that had snuck up on me. It went for a bite but I was able to narrowly dodge it and send it away with a powerful kick. I then felt another two spiritual pressures pop up behind me. I turn and spot a gorilla hollow and a horned beetle hollow. The horned beetle hollow charges me with its horn, but I am able to deflect its horn to my right using my sword. I then swing my sword in a diagonal slash aimed at its head, it brings up its arm to deflect the attack but I activate my time manipulation ability. Faster than it can react my sword cuts its head off and I get a decent rush of power when it dies. No time to celebrate my victory as the gorilla hollow is on me instantly. It throws a powerful punch aimed at my head and I barely dodge in time. I counter with a horizontal slash of my sword that it leaps out of the way of. I feel the leopard hollow approaching from behind me and it dawns on me what a bad situation I am in. Especially as I sense the approach of two more adjuchas class hollows to my left. I doubt I will be able to dispatch both of these before the others arrive. I perform a quick bringer light to gain a little distance and grab two items from my bag. The leopard hollow lunges for me but I dodge out of the way and follow up with a slash on its side. The gorilla moves in for another swing off its powerful arms but I bringer light behind it and try for a backstab. The leopard intercepts me forcing me to execute a quick bringer light. The other two adjuchas are almost upon me I realize and I start to execute the plan. I bring out my pair of sunglasses and a flash-bang from my pouch, I put the sunglasses on and tap them to manipulate their soul so they block out all light, I then manipulate the flash-bang to supercharge it and throw it up above my head. A light far brighter than the sun explodes out from the flash bang and as soon as it is over I take off my glasses and put them back in my pouch. I see that all four hollows were severely stunned by it, the leopard and gorilla are the closest. I dispatch the gorilla with a vertical slice down its body and quickly follow it up with a decapitation of the leopard. The other two hollows which I now see are a marlin hollow and an ostrich hollow, sonido away before I can kill them as well. They are still stunned so I should be able to kill one before they fully recover and take out the other one, one on one. I ready myself to do just that when I feel 4 more adjuchas class hollows closing in fast. Fuck, I can not catch a break today I think. I quickly bringer light over and dispatch the marlin hollow with a decapitation strike. The ostrich engages me shortly after, I try to dispatch it quickly but it proves more agile than the others have been. I feel that the others are almost on me and I have to act fast if I am going to have any chance against them. I activate my time manipulation ability in the middle of a slash at the ostrich and it is unable to dodge the sped-up slash and goes down. Just in time too as a hollow of a creature I didn't recognize was lunging at me from behind. "Die soul reaper" It shouted at me. I was barely able to deflect it in time. A lion hollow instantly moved to follow up and slashed at my midsection, this time I was unable to dodge or block. My armor stopped it from being fatal but its claws still ripped into me. It was surprised I didn't die from its attack and was left unprepared for my counter slash which killed it. I desperately tried to bringer light away but the other three caught up to me immediately. I know I can't fight all three of them in my current condition but it appears escape is not an option. I desperately try to think up a plan that doesn't end with me dead as the hollow that I don't recognize lunges at me trying to bite my head off. As I bring up my sword to try to block the hollow's attack a blur passes in front of me. The hollow then splits apart vertically and I see behind it someone I recognize, he had a hollow mask covering his face and some kind of fur covering his traditional soul reaper attire, it was Ashido Kano. The other hollows lock in on the new threat and turn their backs to me. I watch them both attack Ashido and when he kicks the lizard hollow away I make my move. I quickly bringer light behind it and slice through its head before it can react. Ashido makes quick work of the other hollow and turns to me.
"Follow me. There are more on the way." He says in a monotone voice. I nod and he flash steps away and I quickly follow him to what I hope is safety.
I follow behind Ashido until we reach a cave and duck inside. After I realized that we had gotten away I promptly fell against the wall and passed out. When I came to I noticed that my healing factor had taken care of my wound which was nice. I also noticed that Ashido was staring at me intently.
"You are not a soul reaper." He states in his normal monotone.
"You are correct. I am what is known as a fullbringer." I say back pretty monotoned as well.
"What is a full bringer? Why are you here?" Ashido asks/demands.
"A fullbringer is a human with the ability to manipulate the souls of objects. I am here to increase my power because forevery hollow I kill I absorb some of their reiryoku." I explain. I realize it is probably best to just give him the simple truth. It is not like he has any reason to object to my goals.
"Why do you feel like a Hollow?" He presses. Jesus, he is really paranoid and not a great conversationalist either.
"Fullbringers get their powers after a hollow attacks their mother and she survives. I also have several hollow abilities such as cero. That won't be a problem will it?" I say in a business-like tone.
"… No. The hollows that attacked you are a group I have been hunting for a while now. They run this side of the forest of menos. Will you help me go after them?" He asks.
"Yes. How many are there? Will we be going for all of them at once or can we split them up into groups?" I ask wanting details. I would prefer if we can split them up into groups and kill them off separately. He seemed surprised by my quick acceptance of the situation.
"Around fifty in total. They are usually in groups of eight to twelve so it's best if we ambush those before going for the leader and his pack." He says still monotoned.
"When do you plan on starting? I am ready to go now if that works for you." I let a bit of eagerness slip into my voice at the end there. I am itching for some revenge and to continue to increase my power. This time I will be taking them on my own terms.
"Now works, there should be a group not far from here." He says and I nod in response and a few moments later we head out.
We search for a while for this group until after an hour or two we find them watching over a pack of gillians. We look at each other and silently communicate our plan of attack. He sneaks up behind the one with the most spiritual pressure and decapitates it. The others instantly lock on to him and begin trying to attack him. That is when I make my play, I charge up a cero on the edge of my sword and perform a cero slash from behind them. They hear the sound but by then it is too late. Ashido flash steps as soon as my attack goes off and I manage to take out five of them. The two that remain do not escape unscathed either. They both try to charge ceros of their own in response, but a tap of my book puts on the 'no ceros' rule and they recoil in pain before they are able to get them off. While they are recovering from the pain I quickly bringer light in front of them and dispatch them with a wide sweep of my great sword. Ashido lands next to me and gives me a nod. We then set off looking for the next group to dispatch.
We have killed about three more groups since that first one. Altogether we have taken out thirty-eight hollows with me killing the vast majority of them as well. I had definitely gotten quite the boost these past two days. We were just now coming upon the leader and his group. I couldn't recognize most of them but the leader was a large crocodile hollow and there were 11 others of various shapes and sizes. We quickly form a plan of attack centered around killing as many of them as possible in the first few seconds of the battle and then cleaning up the rest. I decided that until their numbers were below four I would not use the cero rule so that I have options. I didn't need to tell Ashido that since he had no idea how my powers worked and probably didn't even know I could take away their ceros in the first place. I gave him the signal and he swooped down and killed the hollow that was a bit separated from the pack and grabbed all of their attention.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the resident soul reaper. You must be the reason all my men have gone missing. I will make you pay for that soul reaper trash!" The lead hollow yells out and begins to charge a cero in his mouth at Ashido while the others all gather around him to watch the soul reaper die. However unbeknownst to them I was in the air above them and had just cut my hand with my sword. I pointed the tip down and the gran ray cero began to take shape. The leader sensed it and looked up, he tried to call out to his men to scatter but it was too late. I fired the gran ray cero off at full power, it raced toward where they were gathered and when it got there it detonated in a massive explosion. When the dust settled I took note of the damage, five dead and two more critically injured. Not as much as I hoped but it will certainly do. I move to finish off the two wounded. As soon as I get close a rhinoceros hollow charges at but I ignore it and bring my sword to finish off the wounded. Right as it is about to gore me Ashido swoops down and dispatches it with a clean slash through its head. Now it was four on two, much more manageable odds. I look at Ashido and nod my head to the left indicating I will take the hippo hollow and the chimpanzee hollow which were the two strongest besides the leader. Ashido will take the leader and the weaker hollow next to him. I quickly bringer light to the chimp which is the weaker of the two and go for a horizontal slash. He manages to jump out of the way just in the nick of time and the hippo fires a cero at me from its mouth, bringer light out of the way and respond with a cero slash. They both sonido out of danger but I follow the chimp and bringer light to where he sonidos to. I swipe at him with a one-handed slash but he jumps away to the left and moves to counterattack. That is when I reveal the fully charged cero at the tip of my finger on my left hand, I point it right at where it is and there is no time for it to dodge so it obliterates him. No time to relish my victory as the hippo charges at me and tries to take a bite out of me with its massive jaws. I dodge and counterattack but my sword gets stuck in its incredibly thick skin. It takes the opportunity to try to take another bite out of me but I am able to get the sword out of it in the nick of time. That skin is not natural I think to myself, this must be a special ability of this hollow. I unfortunately do not have a rule that can disable that so I will have to try plan b. I charge up a cero on my sword and manipulate it to coat the blade, I then go back in for another attack. It takes the attack head-on and prepares its counterattack, I penetrate far deeper this time but the thick hierro still stops my blade. The hippo tries to take another bite out of me and manages to scrape my armor with its tusks but is unable to fully penetrate my protection. I realize I have no choice but to detonate to cero point blank. As it swings its head around for another bite I do just that. An explosion rocks both of us, it does far more damage to the hippo but I am not unscathed either. I can feel the internal bruising from that attack already, I look over to find that the hippo had been completely obliterated by the explosion.
I look over and try to find Ashido, I spot him looking around frantically. I spot the corpse of the weaker hollow from earlier but no sign of the leader. I start to go over to ask what the deal is when the sand underneath Ashido explodes and the leader hollow shoots up jaws wide open trying to swallow Ashido whole. Ashido did his best to dodge but was unable to get fully out of the way and the hollow was able to bite him in his side. He screamed out and fell to the ground where the hollow looked to finish him off. Before he could I bringer light over and kick Ashido out of the way and take a two-handed power slash at the hollow. The crocodile dodges out of the way and snarls at me, enraged that I interrupted his kill. He tries to snap his powerful jaws at me but I am ready and dodge to my right countering with a powerful horizontal slash. I manage to clip him but it doesn't do any damage that isn't easily healed with his regeneration. He snarls again jumps up and dives nose-first into the sand, the sand swallows him and he disappears. An eerie silence takes over as I wait for him to try the same thing he did to Ashido on me. I have a plan to counter it but the waiting is nerve-wracking. I know that if I get injured like Ashido did it is over and both Ashido and I are as good as dead. Right then the croc hollow explodes from the ground to my left and comes flying at me jaws wide open. I immediately activate my time manipulation and push it to its limits. The first second I use to dodge, the second second I use to swing my sword directly into his jaws aiming to cut him in half horizontally, straining myself I use the third second to make sure the attack connects. The attack cuts him in half and I drop to my knees, even after gaining the biggest boost so far from him I am completely worn out. I have never used the time manipulation for even two seconds before much less three. Still, it is good to know that I have made some tangible progress since coming here. I walk over to check on Ashido and find him bleeding heavily and unconscious but still alive. I apply the spiritual first aid that Tessai taught me and toss him over my shoulder to head back to the cave and figure out my next steps.