The First Day of Training (Part 2)

4:00 p.m., Fon Clan medical room

After treatment by the staff in the Fon Clan medical room, Hu's arms and legs had finally been set back in place. He was now reclining in a hospital bed, receiving Kaidō treatment.

The door opened, and Fon Shaoling entered with a tall woman dressed in black.

"Yexing-san, I came to see you, and I brought you dinner as well." Fon Shaoling placed a lunch box on the bedside table. The woman behind her fetched her a chair, and Fon Shaoling sat down. "I was truly shocked to hear you had passed the 'fist' test. I thought you would pass the 'slash' test first, Yexing-san."

Hu could only give a bitter smile. "Yeah, I didn't expect to pass 'fist' right away either. Hahaha..." Hu really had no way to voice his grievances. He'd been dragged straight into a fight as soon as he entered. At first, his opponent had given him a few moves to work with, but the fight had only gotten fiercer. Even with Beowulf equipped, he'd still been beaten bloody... He had nowhere to shed his tears.

Seeing Hu's slightly twisted expression, Fon Shaoling laughed. "Could it be that you wanted to defeat Mr. Tessai, Yexing-san?"

Hu really had thought that. He was a transmigrator, after all. Wouldn't it be pathetic if he couldn't beat a Soul Reaper instructor? This was the power of Sparda! Even if it wasn't complete yet, it was still the power of Sparda!

"Mr. Tessai hasn't spent his three hundred years as a Soul Reaper in vain. He has been an instructor for two hundred of those years and trained several generations of the Onmitsukidō. Merely being at a disadvantage in a pure Hakuda fight against him is already something to be proud of."

Since Fon Shaoling had put it that way, Hu could only accept it. Fon Shaoling beckoned the tall woman behind her forward and introduced her. "This is Sakiro. She was supposed to instruct you in 'step' after your 'fist' training ended this afternoon. Although she isn't a top instructor like Cilian or Tessai, her maximum Shunpo range is the greatest of anyone here at the Fon Residence. But in your current condition, you probably can't train in 'step' today, so it will be postponed until tomorrow..." Seeing Hu beam at the news, Fon Shaoling couldn't help finding it a little funny. "Yexing-san, the 'step' test is in five days. Even though you've passed 'fist' now, the time limits for the tests won't be swapped around. Besides, you still have 'slash' training tonight, don't you?"

"But look at me. How am I supposed to train like this...?" Hu waved his four cast-bound limbs vigorously.

"It's already getting late. Instructor Cilian should be here soon, so eat up before he arrives, Yexing-san." Fon Shaoling began feeding Hu, ignoring his complaints...

After a while, Hu finished all the food Fon Shaoling had brought.

Fon Shaoling stood up. "It's about time. I should be going. Yexing-san, do your best in your training."

Hu could only agree and wait patiently for his Kaidō treatment to end.

After leaving the room, Fon Shaoling said to Tessai, who was standing at the door, "Tessai, you went a little too far this time. Was it really necessary to break all four of his limbs?"

Tessai immediately bowed to Fon Shaoling. "I'm terribly sorry, Chief. Hu is very strong. In his last few attacks, the Reishi compressed in his limbs was extremely dense. I truly couldn't take those attacks head-on."

"Attacks even you couldn't withstand?"

"Yes, Chief." Tessai recalled the powerful Reiatsu that had erupted from Hu's entire body, and the faintly visible currents of air swirling around his limbs like armor. The memory still made his heart skip a beat.

Fon Shaoling dropped the matter and turned to leave with Sakiro. Just as Tessai thought he might have botched the assignment, Fon Shaoling's voice reached him. "You did well on this assignment. If he joins the Onmitsukidō in the future, continue serving as his instructor."

"Yes, Chief!" After answering, Tessai vanished as well.

After nightfall, Hu finally finished his Kaidō treatment. With the bandages removed from his limbs, he returned to his room. But as soon as he opened the door, he saw Cilian again, waiting for him in the same spot and the same posture as that morning.

"You're back? You're the first person in a hundred years to pass a test on the first day. Tessai really didn't hold back, either."

Hu walked over and sat down across from Cilian. "You're both like that. As soon as training starts, you beat me up without a word. Shaoling said Instructor Tessai has held that position for two hundred years. Is this really how professional instructors train people?"

Cilian replied, "Professional instructors know how to teach according to a student's abilities, and how to guide them to the required standard as quickly as possible. The time limits set for three of your tests are extremely short. With so little time to reach the required levels, conventional teaching won't be fast enough, and time waits for no one. These are notes on the essentials of Zanjutsu meditation. They describe the path the Reishi in your body needs to follow. The most important thing in Zanjutsu meditation is to focus your attention and mind to a high degree. I'll watch from the side and remind you if your attention wanders."

Hu took the notes and read through them. The contents weren't particularly difficult. He mainly had to meditate while keeping Reishi circulating at a steady rate between the two points, Saketsu and Hakusui.

Hu put down the notes, laid his Zanpakuto across his legs, and began to meditate. After Cilian corrected him several times, he entered his Inner World once again.

Inner World, Demon World Tree, canopy platform

The Zanpakutō spirit sat in a familiar posture on a throne made of resin from the Demon World Tree.

Hu walked over. "Are you cosplaying?"

"Only by sitting here can I truly glimpse a corner of what was in that man's heart back then." The Zanpakutō spirit remained seated, looking down at the buildings beneath the tree. "From up here, even those so-called skyscrapers look tiny. That man spent his life pursuing power. He believed power could change everything and scorned the weak... Yet reality and his own younger brother taught him lesson after lesson. By the time he sat here, he was no longer the man who single-mindedly pursued power."

"So what exactly are you trying to say?" Hearing all this out of the blue left Hu a little confused.

"Eh..." The Zanpakutō spirit sighed:

I gave you a chance, and you still couldn't make use of it.

"If you don't understand what this means, then there's no point discussing my name. Let's continue our earlier training."

With that, the Zanpakutō spirit drew the blade in his hand and charged at Hu.

"What? Why? This is the third time today!!"

Hu was knocked straight out of his Inner World.

"Damn it!"

Hu snapped awake. Cilian didn't seem particularly surprised. "Your Zanpakuto threw you out?"

"It beat me out. I went in, and it suddenly said a bunch of things that made no sense. I didn't understand, so it beat me out."

"Continue! Keep facing your own blade. You need to figure out for yourself what it's trying to tell you."

"But I can't understand it. How am I supposed to figure it out?"

"When you can't understand communication like this in a conversation with yourself, it proves that your heart is clouded by confusion and you can't face the self in your subconscious. You must try to understand him, accept him, and figure out what your own power exists for. Hurry up and continue your Zanjutsu meditation. If you don't want to, we can continue this morning's training instead..." As he spoke, Cilian reached for his sword.

"Instructor! Easy there, I'll get right back to it. Right back to it." With that, Hu hurriedly entered a state of Zanjutsu meditation. Before long, however...

"Damn it!"

"Continue! Face yourself. Don't be confused!"

A while later, it happened again.

"Damn it!"

"Don't stop! If you get thrown out, go back in. You have to persevere!"

Over those two hours, Hu's sessions of Zanjutsu meditation grew shorter and shorter. Toward the end, he was getting thrown out after only a few seconds.

Seeing this, Cilian could only sigh. "That's enough for today. Get some rest." Then he picked up his sword and left the room.

Hu was exhausted too. He washed up and went to bed. But as soon as he fell asleep, his Zanpakuto dragged him into his Inner World. Hu was still wondering what was going on when the Zanpakutō spirit's sinister voice sounded behind him:

"Hu, you had a great time pestering me just now, didn't you? The night is still young. Let's have a good long chat. Whoever runs away is a coward!"