Becoming the Strongest Arrancar

"Can't you fly?"

Apache shook her head at his question. "I can use Reiatsu to make footholds beneath my feet. But that's not the same as flying... and it uses up a lot of Reiatsu."

The high concentration of Reishi in Hueco Mundo made it harder to create footholds in the air.

In the World of the Living, where Reishi was less concentrated, any Hollow could fly, but Apache's cautious approach to survival had led her to give up flying because it used so much Reiatsu.

"Make footholds?" Cangya murmured, his wings continuing to beat rhythmically.

He gathered Reiatsu beneath his feet and immediately felt a stable platform appear. "Like this?"

"You learn fast." Apache offered him a rare compliment.

"But I don't think this uses that much Reiatsu."

"..."

If she had fingers, she would definitely have given him the middle finger.

Cangya chuckled.

With nothing else to do, he began training the abilities of his race.

As a creature that acted on instinct, he had a basic understanding of each ability.

Mastering those racial abilities was only a matter of time and effort.

While fooling around with Apache, he ran into another Hollow and swiftly dispatched it with a powerful Cero.

He was grateful to have reincarnated as a Vasto Lorde. Ordinary Hollows and Adjuchas posed no threat to him.

For now, his greatest concern was the Hollow who ruled Las Noches.

He had nothing in his arsenal that could counter that skeleton guy's "decay" ability. It was wise not to provoke him.

"That reminds me of Ulquiorra. Wasn't he a natural-born Arrancar?"

He saw a glimmer of hope for completing this seemingly life-threatening task.

Ulquiorra had become an Arrancar after accidentally breaking his own mask, so other factors must have been involved.

"Do the Espada already exist?"

He remembered that Aizen had made his own Hogyoku and experimented on Hollows to create Arrancar.

However, he knew nothing about the Espada's current situation.

"Forget the Espada for now. I should set some personal goals."

He shook his head and pondered his personal goals.

After all, everyone needed something to work toward to make life interesting.

His goals were simple: travel across Hueco Mundo to find Tier Harribel, push his Vasto Lorde powers to their limit, and then become an Arrancar.

He also hoped Apache could become an Arrancar, so he could fool around with her.

It should be easy to tempt her.

He sighed, his gaze wandering. "Let's take it slow. One day at a time."

He had only just been born. As a Hollow, he had plenty of time to try out new ideas.

"It's always night in Hueco Mundo. Didn't you know?" Apache mocked. "You idiot."

"..."

In Hueco Mundo, the concepts of day and night, entertainment, and law were as absent as cheerful colors in a graveyard, as though its creator had shaped the place in mockery of hell.

Tired of the desolate surroundings, Cangya sought shelter in a natural cave in the mountains.

"Aaagh," he groaned in frustration. "Tite Kubo, you bastard. This is too hard."

Apache gave him a strange look. "Kubo? Who's Kubo?"

"I don't know," he said with a sigh. "I'm a little frustrated."

"Why?"

"I'll tell you later. Let's rest first."

Apache felt the same way and lay flat on the ground.

Her position exposed the transparent Hollow Hole in her abdomen, and the symbolism behind Apache's Hollow Hole could not have been easier to understand.

She was tired of being hunted. As a result, she longed for the strength to survive.

He had oversimplified her present desire because he could not gain a deeper understanding of her past life.

"Good night."

Cangya folded his wings, making them as small as possible, then rested his head against Apache, carefully avoiding her Hollow Hole so as not to make her uncomfortable.

His wings irritated him somewhat, so he turned onto his side.

"Where do you think you're sleeping?!"

"We have a deal, remember? Let's add something to it. I'll use you as a pillow, and once you become an Arrancar, you can use me as a pillow too."

She wasn't very tall in her Arrancar form, while he was nearly 1.9 meters tall—possibly taller since becoming a Hollow.

He could handle her easily.

"Fine." Apache huffed and rested her head on the ground.

He was the rudest person she had ever met, though she hadn't had a chance to get to know anyone else well. "Ignorant fool."

"If anyone tries to attack us, wake me up. Don't fight alone."

And he was also the most considerate.

Cangya touched his mask, fear welling up in his heart.

He hesitated over whether to tear it off, because one wrong move could mean death.

"I need to find some Hollows to experiment on, preferably Adjuchas."

Apache glanced at him from the corner of her eye. His quiet contemplation made her uneasy. "You keep going on about Arrancar this and Arrancar that. What exactly is an Arrancar?"

"A Hollow that's essentially closer to a Soul Reaper. Apparently, we can gain that power by removing our masks."

"Are you crazy?" Apache countered. "Our masks are part of our souls. If we remove them, we lose our ability to control our Reiatsu. We might even die or turn back into Gillians."

Once an Adjuchas regressed, it could never regain its form.

It would wander Hueco Mundo forever as a huge, mindless Gillian.

No Adjuchas wanted to suffer that fate, which drove them to devour other Hollows.

Cangya reached out and playfully tugged the unicorn-like horn on her forehead.

"You have to believe in your determination to challenge convention... Well, who am I trying to reason with? If I hadn't stepped in just now, you'd already be dead."

"I..." She wanted to say something, but hesitated.

"There's no point... Arrancar or not... we're just putting off death. This is Hueco Mundo, damn it. Don't make me spell it out."

They would die someday. She had understood that after witnessing the cycle of Hollows devouring weaker Hollows.

If possible, she wanted to die peacefully.

Cangya hadn't expected his teasing to provoke such a strong reaction from her. She was emotional over her eventual death.

"What's so obvious? That we're just clinging to life? Or that a Hollow we can't defeat will show up and swallow us whole?"

Apache nodded vigorously. "We can never become the strongest."

"You're underestimating the power of a Vasto Lorde Arrancar," he countered, his voice forceful.

"One more thing. After we Hollows died in the World of the Living, shouldn't we be enjoying life here to the fullest?"

"Are you ready to give up and let some disgusting bug tear you to pieces and feast on your delicious legs? Would you let it happen without a fight?"

He had felt weak all his life, and he never wanted to experience that fate again.

She gritted her teeth and glared at him. "Of course not. I want to live in peace..."

"Then say it with me: I'm going to kick the ass of everyone in Hueco Mundo and become the strongest Arrancar."

"Why are you making me say something so embarrassing?"

"Say it."

His whisper brushed her ear, and she complained.

"I'm going to kick the ass of every... one of them and become... the strongest Arrancar!"

Before saying it, she had doubted herself.

But his conviction made her believe that a Hollow like her, whose Reiatsu barely qualified her as an Adjuchas, could become the strongest Arrancar too.

She felt invigorated and even repeated it with excitement: "I'm going to become the strongest Arrancar!"

Cangya smiled at the sight of her brimming with confidence. "We're off to a great start, little lady!"