(Old Ice's new book has been released, it's called <The Alchemist in Fairy Tail>. Just wanted to advertise it, feel free to add it to your favorites if you're interested.)
Back in his dorm, Chen Fan took out his Zanpakuto, closed his eyes, and tried his best to sense Zanpakuto. He suddenly felt a message from his Zanpakuto: 'hunger.' It seemed to want to continue devouring these Hollows. Zanpakuto is a part of one's own soul that has been separated out. Although Chen Fan's Zanpakuto was not yet fully formed, it made Chen Fan realize what he needed to do. Now that he understood his needs, Chen Fan saw no need to waste any more time here.
The next morning, Chen Fan asked the teacher for permission to graduate early in class, which surprised everyone. It wasn't uncommon for people to apply for early graduation, but Chen Fan was the first to do so without even having condensed Zanpakuto.
"Do you know the requirements for graduating early?" Professor Masaki Tamaki asked, looking at Chen Fan.
"Defeat the Shinigami with the strength of Seat Officer, right? No problem!" Chen Fan said.
Masaki Tamaki nodded to Chen Fan and said, "You can go back and prepare now. The exam will be in three days!"
"Okay!" Chen Fan said and left. He would go back to practicing his basic swordsmanship. Chen Fan felt that once he swung his sword a certain number of times, there would be another qualitative change. Erza and Kagura both grew stronger through battle. Now that he had lost his superpowers, he would continue to train his swordsmanship, for his own sake and for theirs.
After Chen Fan left, everyone in the class started whispering among themselves. As time passed, the voices grew louder and louder, almost to the point of shouting, "Who does he think he is?"
"Someone who's at the bottom of the class is still so arrogant."
"He would have died there if the captains hadn't intervened yesterday!"
"He got into the Shino Academy through connections."
"Just wait, he'll taste defeat in three days!"
"You'd better come back to class obediently...!"
"Bang...!" Masaki Tamaki Zanpakuto directly onto the lectern;
"Enough...! You bunch of idiots...! Don't say you're my students when you leave...!!" Masaki Tamaki shouted.
Everyone in the class was stunned, wondering why their teacher, who had always taught them 'slashing techniques,' would be so angry.
One of the students, the one who had ultimately stabbed the Hollow in the back of the head to kill him, asked somewhat nervously, "Wh... what's wrong, Mr. Tamaki!"
"You bunch of idiots! You think Chen Fan is really a loser? You bunch of morons! Remember yesterday's combat exercise? Was that knife really used by the captain...?!"
Everyone was stunned again, then carefully recalled what they had seen. They had only felt a flash of light, so fast that they hadn't even seen what happened. Someone had said the captain had made a move, and they had all echoed it without thinking it through further. People have this habit of blindly accepting what they already believe to be true.
Hearing Teacher Masaki Tamaki bring it up again, they fell into deep thought. Suddenly, those with better slashing skills remembered the angle of the flash, their expressions changed, and they stared wide-eyed at Masaki Tamaki, saying, "The angle of the flash! Could it be..."
Masaki Tamaki nodded, his face serious, and said, "That's right! Chen Fan killed that Giant Hollow yesterday. His sword speed was so fast that even I, his teacher, couldn't see it clearly. Chen Fan's swordsmanship has far surpassed mine, and his strength is probably greater than mine too! I really don't know whether to be happy or sad about Taoism such a student." At the end, Masaki Tamaki gave a bitter smile.
The conjecture was confirmed by Masaki Tamaki; everyone stared wide-eyed, speechless.
That was the end of the lesson; Masaki Tamaki wasn't in the mood to continue, and the others weren't paying attention.
Three days passed quickly. Chen Fan arrived at the examination venue at the agreed time. Seeing the scene before him, he smiled wryly. Besides his swordsmanship teacher Masaki Tamaki, he saw the Third Division Captain, Jushiro Ukitake; the captain of the 8th Division, Shunsui Kyoraku; his vice-captains, Lisa Yadomaru, Kaien Shiba, and Miako Shiba; and two other people, a man and a woman. The man's name seemed to Sentaro Kotsubaki, and the woman's name seemed to be Kiyone Kotetsu.
Upon seeing Chen Fan, Shunsui Kyoraku raised an eyebrow, then turned to Jushiro Ukitake with a smile and said, "Is this your team's newest treasure?"
"Captain! You can't describe a man as a 'treasure,' you have to use..." Suddenly seeing the teasing look in Shunsui Kyoraku's eyes, and realizing what "treasure" meant in various books, her face instantly turned red. And she herself had said those words! Her body trembled slightly, and her hand reached for the Zanpakuto at her waist.
Shunsui Kyoraku was startled when he saw this, and quickly waved his hands together to indicate that he knew he was wrong.
Then he turned his gaze to Jushiro Ukitake. He had just run into Jushiro Ukitake when he was bored, so he came along to take a look.
Jushiro Ukitake laughed and said, "Yes! Hehe! Don't underestimate Chen Fan just because he hasn't condensed Zanpakuto yet. He's an extremely powerful expert!"
Upon hearing Jushiro Ukitake's words, Shunsui Kyoraku became intrigued by Chen Fan, turning his gaze to Chen Fan with a slight smile.