Boom—!
With a thunderous impact, Luke was sent flying backward. He adjusted his posture in midair, then took several rapid steps back after landing to bleed off the force, skidding across the floor before finally coming to a stop.
He glanced at the bamboo sword, now snapped cleanly in two, and tossed it aside. Rolling his arm, which still ached from the shock, he grinned. "Instructor, that definitely wasn't Level 17 Spiritual Might, was it?"
Fujimoto looked a little embarrassed. In that instant, his instinct to protect his vital points had kicked in, and he had unconsciously used his Spiritual Pressure to defend himself. That was the only reason he had managed to blast Luke away.
Only now did he realize that his back was soaked in sweat. That brief exchange had felt like walking the line between life and death.
Luke's actual strength was clearly much lower, yet in that moment, Fujimoto had felt an overwhelming pressure from him. That wild, crushing intent to overwhelm him had shattered his nerves and triggered his body's instinctive self-defense response.
"Luke, you're exceptional. Have you received any swordsmanship training before?"
After steadying himself, Fujimoto asked curiously. As an instructor at Shin'o Academy, he was not petty enough to fly into a rage over such a thing. If anything, he admired Luke's outstanding skill with a blade.
"Swordsmanship? Never learned it."
Luke shook his head. He was telling the truth. He had never studied this world's swordsmanship. Blade techniques, on the other hand... he knew a thing or two about those.
According to Endspace's assessment of his specializations, he possessed Master-Level Blade Mastery. That sounded decent enough.
In his original world, there had been very few people left who practiced martial arts.
Though he hated to admit it, the grim truth was that the people he had killed represented, in a sense, the pinnacle of martial arts in that era.
Even Wang Luo, hailed as the Blade King and enhanced by an exoskeleton that boosted his physical capabilities, had lasted only ten moves against him.
Wang Luo had wielded a custom-made alloy-steel blade from his corporation. When Luke killed him, he had used nothing but an ordinary butcher's knife.
After killing that group of so-called martial arts masters, Luke had been rather disappointed in that world.
Whispers filled the dojo. Everyone had clearly been stunned by the outcome of the spar.
Within the crowd, the eyes behind Sosuke Aizen's black-rimmed glasses gleamed faintly. His roommate seemed rather interesting. It appeared his years at Shin'o Academy would not be boring after all.
"You mean... you've never learned swordsmanship?"
Fujimoto was astonished by Luke's answer. But upon reflection, Luke had merely been a drifter. Naturally, he would not have had access to formal swordsmanship training.
Didn't that make Luke's talent all the more incredible?
He had never received a formal education, yet at the same Spiritual Might level, he had defeated Fujimoto, a swordsmanship instructor, head-on. The child Captain Unohana had brought back might be a once-in-a-century prodigy!
When Luke gave a blank-faced nod, Fujimoto grew even more excited—then promptly felt deflated.
He was thrilled to have discovered such a genius, but disappointed because he seemed unable to teach Luke anything.
Yes, he had to admit it. Even if he had not underestimated Luke earlier, if they had sparred at the same Spiritual Pressure level, he would likely still have lost.
What truly amazed him was not Luke's first strike, but his second. Borrowing the recoil from their clash, Luke had drawn back his blade and bled off the force. Then, while redirecting that force away, he had guided it back around like diverting a current of water, launching another strike from an impossibly tricky angle.
That level of control over power and that refined technique were beyond anything Fujimoto could accomplish. No, it was more accurate to say that no school of swordsmanship taught such a technique. The theory might exist, but anyone capable of putting it into practice would be a one-in-ten-thousand genius.
Was that why Captain Unohana valued him so highly...?
"Luke, take your seat for now. We'll cover some theory first, then move on to sparring practice."
Fujimoto calmed his complicated emotions. Class still had to continue.
Under gazes filled with shock, curiosity, and admiration, Luke walked back into the crowd and sat beside Aizen.
"You're really strong, Luke. I've never seen anyone defeat Instructor Fujimoto during swordsmanship class."
Aizen spoke with apparent admiration.
Luke smiled at him. "You can't do it either, Sosuke?"
Aizen's expression remained perfectly natural. "What are you talking about? I'm fairly good at swordsmanship, but I'm still nowhere near skilled enough to exchange blows with Instructor Fujimoto. I'll have to rely on your guidance from now on."
Luke felt faintly sick of it. He could not understand the pleasure Aizen got from playing the weakling while concealing his true strength. Nor did he know why Aizen was hiding his abilities at this stage. Was he already plotting to take the throne?
Perhaps because Fujimoto wanted to accommodate Luke, who claimed he had never studied swordsmanship, the instructor spent the rest of the session covering basic swordsmanship theory.
Luke did not tune him out. He listened closely and discovered that this world's swordsmanship did have its merits. Fujimoto was weak; swordsmanship itself was not.
He could not help wondering how powerful Unohana Yachiru's swordsmanship must be, considering she had mastered every school in Soul Society. Just imagining it made his blood stir.
Of course, he was not suicidal enough to challenge Captain Unohana. The gap between their Spiritual Pressure levels was worlds apart. In terms of Endspace's status panel, their attributes might differ by dozens—or even hundreds—of points.
For now, he needed to grow stronger. Only then could he challenge true masters and savor the thrill of battle.
He had already completed the first phase of his Main Quest. The second phase had now been issued.
[Main Quest: Phase Two — Speedrun Shin'o Academy]
Quest Objective: The Explorer must complete every course at Shin'o Academy within three natural months and graduate by skipping grades, achieving the fastest graduation in Shin'o Academy's history—a feat no one has ever accomplished.
Quest Difficulty: Hard to Nightmare
Quest Rewards: 3,000 Endspace Coins, Asauchi, Return Qualification
Failure Penalty: Erasure
The upper limit of this quest's difficulty was rather high. Luke had played games before, and the word "Nightmare" certainly made it sound challenging.
Looking at it objectively, he probably would not encounter much danger at Shin'o Academy. But if he wanted to graduate early, he would almost certainly have to take an unconventional route.
Soul Society was enormous, and Shin'o Academy had existed for so many years. Surely it had produced no shortage of geniuses. Yet the quest description said no one had ever achieved this. Graduating at breakneck speed would not be easy.
Ordinary Gotei 13 members might indeed possess Spiritual Might around Level 20, but that did not mean someone with Level 20 Spiritual Might or higher could simply graduate from Shin'o Academy.
If a student was exceptionally talented, Shin'o Academy would want to nurture them carefully rather than rush their growth. So even gifted students would be kept at the academy for further education, joining the Gotei 13 only after they had become stronger.
Luke watched his classmates begin their sparring practice and fell into thought. What, exactly, would be the greatest obstacle to completing this quest?
More to come.
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