The Wind Sweeps Through the Tower Before the Mountain Rain

Half a month passed quietly...

During these two weeks, besides accumulating experience and teasing Unohana, Araki discovered something interesting.

His previous main quest...

[Main Quest: Join the Gotei 13 of the Seireitei.]

It had recently been settled.

As Araki claimed the rewards for the main quest, a new item called a Tier 2 EXP Pack appeared in his mind.

Araki felt a hint of curiosity regarding this item. He reached out with his consciousness to gently touch the Tier 2 EXP Pack, and the answer he received was...

[Tier 2 EXP Pack Note: An EXP pack worth one billion experience points. It can be used as experience for leveling up, providing the host with one billion experience points, or it can be used as fusion material to synthesize a Tier 1 EXP Pack!]

[Tier 1 EXP Pack Note: The highest-level EXP pack, providing ten billion experience points. It can be synthesized using ten Tier 2 EXP Packs.]

"Ah, this..."

After reading the system's explanation of these so-called EXP packs, the corners of Araki's eyes twitched slightly.

Come to think of it, the experience required to upgrade from Tier 3 Spiritual Power to Tier 2 Spiritual Power was exactly one billion, and the experience required to upgrade from Tier 2 Spiritual Power to Tier 1 Spiritual Power was exactly ten billion...

So, that's where the names for these Tier 2 and Tier 1 EXP packs came from?!

At the same time, Araki felt a bit emotional. Compared to the accumulation he had done through daily quests in the past, getting these one billion points was truly effortless...

God knows how long he had spent accumulating experience back then just to raise his Spiritual Pressure to Tier 2!

Thinking of this, Araki shook his head slightly and refocused his attention on his tasks!

Araki still remembered the note attached to his main quest.

[Note: The amount of the main quest reward depends on the rank the host holds within the Gotei 13 of the Seireitei.]

The reward for this quest depended on his position within the Gotei 13!

Since I was ranked as a captain, it gave me a Tier 2 EXP pack. If I were to replace Old Man Yama and become the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, wouldn't it give me a Tier 1 EXP pack directly, allowing me to raise my Spiritual Pressure to the Tier 1 Spiritual Power level?!

Araki thought to himself, but he quickly shook his head...

Defeating Old Man Yama and becoming the new Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13 was something to only imagine in his head. If he were actually asked to do it, he'd rather go find a cool place to take a nap.

Araki wouldn't be so arrogant as to think that Old Man Yama couldn't swing his blade anymore just because his own strength had improved a little...

"Sigh..."

Araki let out a long sigh, then opened his character profile in his mind.

Footwork

Shunpo: LV1(+)

Kido

Hado: LV1(+)

Bakudo: LV1(+)

Kaido: LV1(+)

Araki ignored the information above and looked directly at the Footwork and Kido sections.

Araki had never upgraded these abilities, so they remained at level 1.

Come to think of it, among all of Araki's attributes, only Kido and Shunpo were at level 1. Aside from Spiritual Pressure, almost all his other attributes had reached level 10!

Of course, it wasn't that Araki hadn't trained in Shunpo or Kido; it was just that Shunpo wasn't as useful as the ROOM of the Ope Ope no Mi, and he truly lacked talent for Kido...

It wasn't that high Spiritual Pressure equated to high Kido talent. Kenpachi Zaraki and Kurosaki Ichigo were prime examples of those with high Spiritual Pressure but negligible talent for Kido!

Or perhaps, once Spiritual Pressure reaches a certain level, simply slashing at the enemy is enough to kill them; there is absolutely no need to bother with something like Kido...

Furthermore, in Araki's system, aside from Spiritual Pressure, which used designations like "third-class" or "second-class," all other abilities were represented by LV. The higher the number after the LV, the stronger the ability!

LV1 simply meant that Araki "knew how" to use them; it didn't even count as being proficient...

It was like Araki had just learned the rules of multiplication but hadn't even memorized the multiplication table yet.

However, even so, Araki was able to force his way through techniques like Shunpo by relying on his powerful physical constitution and captain-level Spiritual Pressure.

In other words, Araki's base stats were high enough that even if his Shunpo technique was terrible, he was still faster than those with weak Spiritual Bodies, faint Spiritual Pressure, and superior Shunpo skills!

This was what they called The Miracle of brute force; raw power overcomes all! Araki used Shunpo with zero technique—it was all just raw power...

However, if he were to encounter a monster with stats equal to or even greater than his own, the advantage of technique would manifest!

With this in mind, Araki glanced at his experience points column...

After half a month, or 15 days of accumulation, Araki had saved up a total of 46,890 experience points. The daily training missions issued by the system continued to provide him with a steady 2,000 points, while his daily tasks had changed to checking in at the barracks every day...

Well, without realizing it, Araki had also become an excellent wage slave.

Clocking in and out, and arriving late and leaving early every single day!

As long as he was consistent with his daily habit of arriving late and leaving early, others would mistakenly assume that was simply his designated work schedule.

"System, add points for me!"

Araki didn't hesitate, pouring all of his accumulated experience into Shunpo.

As 11,110 experience points vanished, the level of Araki's Shunpo instantly reached LV5!

Yes, aside from the attributes of Spiritual Pressure and Spiritual Body, which started at a base cost of 10 experience points per level...

Within Araki's system, all technical abilities—such as Shunpo, Hakuda, swordsmanship, and Kido—started at a base cost of 1 point, with a maximum level of 10!

In other words, both the swordsmanship and Hakuda within Araki's Zankensoki were already maxed out! This made Araki's status panel look severely lopsided, so he did a little tidying up of the display.

Although it would only take a little over 1.1 billion experience points to max out all of his technical abilities, for the current Araki, there was no need to max out skills like Shunpo or Kido that had viable alternatives. Having them at level four or five was more than enough.

Watching his remaining 35,000 experience points, Araki frowned slightly. Driven by his obsessive-compulsive tendencies, he went ahead and pushed his Hado, Bakudo, and Kaido—all sub-categories of Kido—up to LV5!

Although level five Kido didn't mean much to Araki, whose Reishi Manipulation had already reached LV10, it did provide a slight boost to his precision.

The increase in strength isn't much, but it's still an improvement, Araki thought to himself.

From now on, the experience provided by the daily training missions issued by the system...

Araki would allocate them to his weaker abilities. Relying on daily experience to increase his Spiritual Pressure level was no longer realistic; with 3,000 experience points per day, it would take a full ten thousand years to accumulate ten billion...

Ten thousand years from now, the opportunity would have long since passed!

In Araki's view, if he wanted to level up in the future, he would have to rely on his main storyline missions and obtain experience packs by completing them.

"Sigh..."

Thinking this, Araki let out a long sigh. He finally left the Captain's Office and headed outside.

As Araki passed the 11th Division's Swordsmanship Dojo, he happened to see Unohana Yachiru...

Or rather, Unohana Retsu as she was known now. She was holding her Zanpakuto, directing her subordinates as they swung their wooden swords in their daily training.

"Retsu, put the training aside for now! Come with me, quickly!"

"If we don't get over there soon, Old Man Yama is going to start nagging again..."

Araki looked at the sweat-drenched Unohana Retsu and drew the Zanpakuto at his waist.

As a green light shimmered, the sweat on Unohana Retsu's body instantly vanished, replaced by a faint, herbal fragrance.

"Very well..."

Unohana Retsu heard this and sheathed the blade at her waist, then walked toward Araki.

"Araki, I get the feeling that you are troubled by something..."

"Are you worried about the reason Captain-Commander Yamamoto has summoned us?"

"If that is the case, I think you need not worry too much..."

"Today is likely just a simple captain inauguration ceremony, meant to allow you to familiarize yourself with the captains of the other divisions..."

Unohana Retsu had spent half a month with Araki and was already intimately familiar with him. She looked at his furrowed brow and asked. At the same time, drawing on her own experience as the captain of the 11th Division, she offered him some guidance.

"No, it is not because of the Captain's Meeting..."

"Retsu, don't you think the Soul Society has been too peaceful lately? Peaceful to the point of being unsettling. It gives me a strong sense of impending crisis!"

Araki and Unohana Retsu left the barracks of the 11th Division and walked along the path toward the 1st Division Barracks.

Yes, a few months after Araki took office as the 11th Division captain, Old Man Yama had finally convened a Captain's Meeting! And he had explicitly demanded that all captains of the Gotei 13 attend, regardless of whether they had other matters to attend to! No personal leave or sick leave was permitted...

This struck Araki as somewhat strange; he couldn't shake the feeling that a storm was brewing.

This was also why Araki had casually raised his Shunpo and Kido—skills he didn't even prioritize—to level 5.

If Araki guessed correctly, a certain Thousand-Year Enemy who had been the companion of the Soul Reapers for a millennium was about to invade the Soul Society.

"Sigh..."

"The Soul Society is truly in a turbulent time!"

Araki said, shaking his head, and led Unohana into the 1st Division Barracks.

"..."

Unohana Retsu did not know how to comfort Araki, so she could only remain silent, gripping her Zanpakuto tightly as she followed closely behind him.

No matter what might happen to the Soul Society, she would stand firmly by Araki's side...