"Listen carefully. Although these Asauchi have been distributed to you, it's merely to facilitate your training."
"Only after you successfully graduate and officially join the Gotei 13 will you truly possess ownership of these Zanpakutō."
"So, in the meantime, none of you are allowed to gift your Asauchi to others! Losing them is forbidden! And you absolutely cannot..."
The Zanjutsu instructor on the platform continued to chatter endlessly about various regulations related to Asauchi.
In reality, the students below had long since tuned him out.
Aside from well-behaved kids like Momo Hinamori and Izuru Kira, the rest of the students immediately started examining their newly acquired Asauchi with unabashed excitement the moment they got their hands on them.
Even Luca, who already knew about Zanpakutō, couldn't hide the anticipation in his heart.
I'm in the Bleach world. How can I not get my own Zanpakutō?! Choosing the Soul Reaper path was definitely the right call!
Thinking this, Luca took his Asauchi from a somewhat familiar-looking upperclassman.
Despite his inner joy, the Asauchi in front of him was indeed unremarkable.
In the original series, famous characters seemed to have unique Zanpakutō even in their sealed state. But that was because the Zanpakutō was part of the Soul Reaper's soul.
Once Shikai was achieved, the blade in hand was no longer just an "Asauchi." Even in its base form, the Zanpakutō would undergo certain changes.
Like Soifon's wakizashi, the short blade hidden in Gin Ichimaru's scabbard, or the unique tsuba (handguards) most of them had.
These were all signs that the user had awakened their Shikai.
So, although Kenpachi Zaraki was said to be unable to achieve Shikai early on, his jagged blade and unique handguard betrayed the fact that he had actually mastered Shikai long ago.
Of course, even though all standard Asauchi looked identical, it didn't stop Luca from examining his carefully.
However...
Since a Zanpakutō is part of a Soul Reaper's soul, I should be able to take it out with me... right?
Looking at the Asauchi in his hand, Luca felt curiosity and anticipation, but also a hint of unease.
His previous three "Dreamworld Transmigrations" made it clear that apart from the random rewards each time, he couldn't take any items or personal strength upgrades from these worlds.
Like his physical growth, or the cybernetics he installed in the Cyberpunk 2077 world before regaining his memories.
But those were all physical changes or ordinary items. Luca really didn't know if soul-bound items could be taken out.
He glanced at his right arm, which was completely intact in this world...
Forget it. No point overthinking. Let's figure out how to achieve Shikai first, then worry about the rest.
Maybe later I'll get a chance to learn Asauchi crafting techniques from Squad Zero!
With that thought, Luca stopped worrying about whether he could keep the sword. Like the other students around him, he sat cross-legged on the floor, straightened his posture, and placed the Asauchi across his knees.
Deep breath. Calm the mind.
Enter his first Jinzen (Sword Meditation).
The next instant.
Just as Luca closed his eyes, the faint ambient noises around him vanished completely.
It felt like traversing dimensions all over again. The surrounding scenery changed rapidly.
With his excellent body control, Luca immediately realized that in the blink of an eye, without moving a muscle, he had gone from sitting to standing.
The Asauchi previously on his knees had seemingly vanished into thin air.
Subconsciously opening his eyes, Luca was shocked to find that he had "left" the classroom and appeared in a completely new space.
"Uh... Jinzen... is it this easy?"
He looked around.
The space he was in could only be described as desolate.
Aside from the pitch-black ground beneath his feet, which was flat almost to the point of being a mirror, the only thing in his vision was an endless, pure white sky.
Looking out, the horizon was a sharp, straight line dividing black and white. The stark contrast gave the whole world an extremely eerie, surreal feeling.
"Is this my inner world?"
"What kind of decent person has an inner world that's just a monochromatic empty lot?"
At this moment, Luca felt like he had ten thousand sarcastic comments ready to burst out.
But unexpectedly, the moment the thought arose, the black ground of unknown material beneath his feet suddenly began to surge.
Then, geometric columns of varying heights shot up from the ground rapidly. In the blink of an eye, they formed countless pitch-black "skyscrapers."
"Uh... this..."
Looking at this pure black city that resembled a model kit.
Feeling uncertain, Luca gently reached out to touch a nearby wall.
The hard, cold sensation told him this was indeed a real construct.
Could it be...
A flash of inspiration hit him. With a guess in mind, Luca reached out his hand and muttered softly:
"Descend?"
The next instant, the skyscrapers that had just risen seemed to receive a command and rapidly retracted into the ground.
In the blink of an eye, all the buildings protruding from the surface vanished, and the world returned to an endless flat plain.
Seemingly understanding something, Luca focused his mind.
A hexagonal pillar immediately rose from the ground beside him.
Then, with a slight movement of Luca's palm, the ground around him began to undulate like an audio visualizer, jumping rhythmically to the music in his head.
"What is this? Ferrofluid? My world, my rules?"
After a few casual tests, Luca discovered that apart from being unable to change the color, he could form this black-and-white world into any strange shape he wanted with just his thoughts.
However, no matter the shape, it couldn't detach from the ground itself. And upon closer inspection, all these shapes were composed of joined pillars.
"So, if this is my inner world... where's my sword?"
As the thought arose, the ground of the world—which Luca previously thought was only black and white—suddenly lit up with thin, straight blue glowing lines.
These lines, resembling circuits etched into the ground, twisted and turned, all converging in one direction.
Intuitively, a voice seemed to tell Luca that what he wanted was just ahead.
Seeing this, Luca decisively controlled the ground beneath him to raise a wave of pillars, carrying him rapidly in the direction the blue circuits pointed.
Moments later, Luca could clearly see the only blue circle in this angular world.
And stuck right in the center of that circle was a strangely styled...
"Sword? Key?"