Unlimited Blade Works

This body is made of steel. Iron is my body, and fire is my blood. I have created over a thousand blades. Unknown to Death, nor known to Life. Have withstood pain to create many weapons. Yet, those hands will never hold anything. So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works. ... Inside the dormitory, Ailin opened his eyes and looked at the Asauchi resting on his lap. No, at this point, this sword could already be called a Zanpakuto. Stroke his own Zanpakuto, Ailin felt an ineffable emotion in his heart. In his past life, Ailin was an utterly ordinary corporate drone whose only hobby was anime and light novels. Perhaps due to some great existence's whim, thirty years ago Ailin reincarnated into an anime he once liked, and furthermore, he possessed reiatsu. At the time, completely convinced he was the protagonist, Ailin endured countless hardships in the Rukon District and finally succeeded in joining the True Zero Spirit Arts Academy. Back then, Ailin was arrogant and conceited, thinking that as the protagonist, becoming a Vice-Captain in three years and a Captain in five might be too much, but a seat officer in ten years and a captain in a hundred wasn't asking for too much, right? Yet unfortunately, after six years at the True Zero Spirit Arts Academy, Ailin barely passed the Gotei 13 examinations, becoming one of the countless cannon fodder recruits assigned to the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force. Over the past century, the war between Soul Society and Hueco Mundo had been raging fiercely, turning the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force into a literal meat grinder of death. It was only because Ailin's shunpo wasn't bad that a Punishment Corps examiner took him in. He never could have imagined that twenty-four years after accepting his own utter mediocrity, he had actually successfully nurtured his own Zanpakuto. Moreover, because of his understanding of this ability, without his Zanpakuto needing to tell him, he already knew its name and powers. In the Shinigami world, a name also represented power! Once the nurturing of the Zanpakuto was complete, Ailin's reiatsu also rose by a rank, currently standing at Fifth Rank Reiatsu. Feeling his suddenly surged power, Ailin felt that even without releasing his Zanpakuto, he could now be considered an "elite" within the Punishment Corps. Then, let's test how my own ability in the Shinigami world compares to the one in Fate! Ailin placed his right hand onto the hilt of his Zanpakuto, and blue light erupted from his hand, turning into intricate blue lines that covered his Zanpakuto. Appraise Creation Concept... Envision Basic Framework... When these blue lines completely covered his Zanpakuto, Ailin could sense that the manufacturing process of a weapon had been added to his mental world. Dispersing the light in his hand, Ailin entered his mental world. Gray earth, crimson-red skies, and at the edges of the mental world countless flames and turning gears. Unlike the soul spaces of other Zanpakuto, within the mental world of Ailin's Zanpakuto, there was no materialized figure of a Zanpakuto. Or rather, this entire space was the materialization of Ailin's Zanpakuto. Extending his hand, blue spiritual energy bloomed within Ailin's palm. Projection--Start! The next moment, under Ailin's control, a massive amount of spiritual energy extended into the shape of a Zanpakuto, and lines of blue light spread across this spiritual energy blade. Replicate Constituent Material... Imitate Manufacturing Technique... Empathize Growth Experience... Reproduce Accumulated Years... Surpass, complete numerous projects... The blue light dissipated, and in Ailin's hand, an extra Zanpakuto appeared. Furthermore, the might of this Zanpakuto was identical to the one he had in the outside world. With a casual wave, this Zanpakuto fluttered a few times in the air before embedding itself into the tallest hill in this space, casting a long shadow under the illumination of the crimson light from the sky... ... Although he had completed the nurturing of his Zanpakuto and achieved its initial release, however... Thinking of his Zanpakuto's ability, and the situation encountered by a certain talented prodigy two hundred years later, Ailin ultimately shook his head. Soul Society did not allow two identical Zanpakuto to exist! Yet with his Zanpakuto's ability, was it merely limited to two identical ones? Given enough time, mass-producing and selling every Zanpakuto that had ever appeared throughout Soul Society wouldn't be difficult at all. If those nobles were to discover his ability, heaven knew how they would deal with him. Before he had grown strong enough, it was better not to use his Zanpakuto's true ability in front of outsiders. Therefore, in the Second Division, Ailin continued to slack off just as before. When there were missions, he went on them alongside his comrades; when there were none, he trained in the Second Division's training grounds. Upon returning to the dormitory at night, he would conveniently forge the Zanpakuto he had recorded within his mental world. His Zanpakuto was named Unlimited Blade Works. Yet rather than calling it a "blade-works," it was more akin to "sword forging." This space contained countless "sword" elements; as long as Ailin possessed the blueprint of a "sword," he could forge that "sword" out. Moreover, the "swords" forged by Ailin not only possessed their original abilities, but even their owners' combat experiences in using those "swords" would be copied along with them. Under the current general environment of Soul Society, it was impossible for Ailin to use the abilities of the "swords" he forged, but the combat experience of their owners attached to these "swords" also benefited Ailin immensely. With every additional sword he forged, Ailin would gain decades or even centuries of combat experience from it. After absorbing these experiences, his Four Shinigami Arts—Zanpakuto, Shunpo, Kido—were improving at a jaw-dropping rate. In addition, every time another Zanpakuto was forged within Ailin's mental world of Unlimited Blade Works, his reiatsu would correspondingly increase a bit. Ailin had originally scraped into the Punishment Corps by the skin of his teeth; arguably, every single Shinigami in the Punishment Corps possessed strength superior to his. The stronger the forged Zanpakuto, the more Ailin's reiatsu increased. In these short few months, the improvement Ailin gained was several times greater than what he had acquired over his entire previous thirty years. On this day, Ailin had just finished forging a Zanpakuto in his mental world when he suddenly heard the sound of a gathering signal echoing out. Bang, bang, bang... bang, bang, bang... The rhythmic striking of a wooden mallet against a wooden board beat out a tight triple tattoo; this was the signal for an emergency mission. With no time to absorb the experience from this newly forged Zanpakuto, Ailin quickly put on his attire. He wore a full-body black Shinigami uniform, with a hood covering his head that left only his eyes exposed, making his entire person look like a "ninja." Stepping out from the dormitory, "ninjas" much like Ailin hurried swiftly toward the Punishment Corps gathering point.