Your Excellency Is Strong, But My Art Style Is Above Yours! Chapter 3

"Forget it~"

Iori merely smiled without speaking. Yuki was equally forthright. "They're all trivial matters. No matter how many secrets you have, all I know is that Iori Aizen is my 'family'—that's enough."

The boy knew that no matter how careful he was, he could not possibly hide every trace of himself. Thus, he did not pay much attention to such things, carrying himself with ease and nonchalance everywhere he went, only holding firmly to his bottom line. Yet in Yuki's eyes, that attitude instead felt incredibly familiar.

—Because she, too, had a secret she hid from everyone, and she was confident that it was even more shocking than Iori's.

After all, no one would have imagined that a mere Bleach student already possessed Vice-Captain-level reiatsu, and that her Zanpakuto possessed the power to command all things!

"There's one more thing." Yuki composed herself and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Beneath the setting sun, her ink-black hair seemed draped in a crimson veil, while a faint fragrance like gardenias gently wafted through the air.

"Thank you for putting these glasses on me... I really like this gift you gave me."

"Because we're 'family,'" Iori said gently. At one moment, his pupils contracted slightly, and his heart surged with excitement.

Just then, a notification rang out in his mind:

CG Recorded

Black-bellied Glasses: The First Day

Category: Bond CG

Rank: C+ (increased item drop rate)

Quality: Legendary (increased chance of high-grade rewards)

Drawing...

Calculating...

Reward List—

Attributes:

Physical Strength · Slight Increase

Endurance · Slight Increase

Mental Strength · Minor Increase

Talents & Skills:

Spell Discard Chant (Mastery)

· Skill, upgradeable

Shortens or omits the incantation required to cast Kido. The side effect is reduced Kido power, but the higher the proficiency, the smaller the reduction.

"Mastery" means Kido power can be maintained at roughly 40–50%.

Black-bellied Glasses

· Talent, cannot be upgraded

Wearing glasses makes it easier to leave others with the impression of being a nice person. This does not reduce one's presence, but instead makes one seem "harmless."

Required item: Old-fashioned glasses (or naturally narrowed eyes).

—

Tch! It's only a Bond CG?

Although the attribute boosts and skill are precious too, I still want a special CG that can increase Art Style Value~

After all, this was "Bleach," a world where art style determined everything!

Protagonist Card · Iori Aizen (Current)

Identification Name: Iori Aizen

Race: Human & Spirit Body

Class: Bleach (Candidate)

Status: Rapid Growth

Upgradeable Attributes: Physical Strength, Endurance, Mental Strength, Mobility, Accuracy, Evasion

~Specific values not displayed~

Art Style Value: 28

(You can't keep a low profile, because no one would overlook your hidden flamboyance—no, your inner refinement.)

Reiatsu Limit: 390

Current Reiatsu: 375

Talents:

Perfect Shinigami (from Aizen's Genius Bond)

· Balanced development, rapid growth, Hexagonal Warrior.

· Persistent training brings comprehensive improvement. Spreading effort across multiple fields will not result in knowing a little about everything while mastering nothing, nor will it create weaknesses.

· On the contrary, because every field is a specialty, it makes one seem to have no particular distinguishing feature.

Poetic Elegance (from Shunsui's Ronin Bond)

· A talent that enhances outward charm and inspires favorable impressions regardless of gender.

· Flirtatious in speech and conduct without being vulgar, lustful without being obscene, maintaining elegance while remaining composed and free-spirited.

Black-bellied Glasses (from Aizen)

· Wearing glasses makes it easier to leave others with the impression of being a nice person. This does not reduce one's presence, but instead makes one seem "harmless."

Required item: Old-fashioned glasses (or naturally narrowed eyes).

—

Techniques:

Swordsmanship · Minor Accomplishment

Hakuda · Minor Accomplishment

Flash Step · Minor Accomplishment

Kido · Minor Accomplishment

(All above improve evenly under the influence of talents.)

Spell Discard Chant (Mastery)

· Skill, upgradeable

Shortens or omits the incantation required to cast Kido. The side effect is reduced Kido power, but the higher the proficiency, the smaller the reduction.

"Mastery" means Kido power can be maintained at roughly 40–50%.

Using Ordinary Cheats Was No Longer Enough

As someone with limited reiatsu potential, it was nearly impossible for Iori to make something of himself in Soul Society. But perhaps he had accumulated too much virtue in his previous life, because while God had closed the front door on him, He had also opened a little window:

Complete CG Collection Album!

This thing, which kept popping up in Iori's mind like some shady advertisement, could barely be considered a cheat. It was one of the foundations upon which he had built his life after transmigrating.

However, unlike the cheat systems popular in web novels—sign in for rewards, lie flat to level up, complete unconventional missions, and so on—Iori's system was rather... troublesome.

Simply put, it was a system that exchanged randomly collected CG images for rewards.

CGs were divided into four categories: Normal, Bond, Completion, and Art Style—their rarity increased in that order.

Among them, "Normal CG" and "Bond CG" both dropped attribute points, skills, or talents. The former had a pitifully low drop rate, and even when something did drop, the rewards were usually meager. The latter, on the other hand, were comparatively valuable and could directly enhance one's strength.

"Completion CGs" were ultra-rare CGs that could only be obtained once a storyline had reached a temporary conclusion or the world setting had unfolded to a certain extent. Their rewards were equally astonishing:

Opening a door to another world.

In other words, this album system had the ability to let Iori travel freely between different worlds.

In fact, after entering the Central Spiritual Arts Academy and gaining the status of an Apprentice Shinigami, Iori had indeed obtained one. He had even tried it... though the actual experience had been somewhat subtle.

That other world... was not exactly a paradise either.

All three of the above CG types had their uses, but the one Iori wanted most and relied on most was the last kind:

Art Style CG

· Grants a variable amount of Art Style Value depending on the circumstances. In essence, it collects the influence one has upon the world, solidifies it, and applies it to the user, manifesting in a form compatible with the current world setting.

· In other words, it increases the size of one's own "container" by a certain ratio, breaking original shackles, accelerating growth, and making potential tangible.

(Using "Bleach" as an example, with Iori's natural aptitude, he could originally only raise his reiatsu to around 100 before encountering a bottleneck.

But with the enhancement of Art Style Value, his upper limit could rise to the thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even beyond!

And before his reiatsu reached that value, he would grow rapidly without encountering any bottlenecks!)

· The exact conversion ratio of Art Style Value fluctuates based on the importance of "art style" within that world setting.

For example, art style—one's aura of prestige—was extremely important in "Bleach," so the ratio was the highest possible, one to ten. Ten points of Art Style Value granted 100 points of Reiatsu Limit.

But in "One Piece," the conversion ratio for Haki would only be around one to three.

· The recovery speed and purity of converted energy will also rise to a level appropriate for the corresponding realm.

—

This thing was incredibly useful!

According to the description, even if he went to the Cultivation World, Art Style Value could still be converted into Magic Power Limit. And the phrase "rise to a level appropriate for the corresponding realm" meant that as long as he had enough of it, reaching the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm would not be a problem—while also refining his magic power in the process!

Of course, forcibly advancing realms like that in a cultivation world would probably get him struck down by Heavenly Dao Lightning Tribulation...

But most anime worlds, including "Bleach," did not have such things as lightning tribulations, so Iori naturally did not need to worry too much.

Although the other CGs all had their uses, none were as valuable as this one. Iori had always placed great importance on it.

Over the past few years, he had gradually collected 28 points of Art Style Value, greatly expanding his own "capacity." Combined together, they had raised his Reiatsu Limit to 390.

And just as expected, he had not encountered the slightest obstacle on the path of cultivation. Like fruit ripening naturally on the vine, he had grown to his current level without issue—375 reiatsu.

That number might not seem high, but based on Iori's usual contact and perception, even Vice-Captain-level Bleach probably only possessed five or six hundred reiatsu.

As for Captain-level Bleach... Iori had basically only interacted with the like-minded old rogue Shunsui, along with old man Yamamoto, who occasionally came to inspect the academy. With Iori's current strength, he could not gauge the depths of either of them at all.

Under normal circumstances, even a Bleach with sufficient talent would need over a century to reach Vice-Captain level.

Yet Iori had only transmigrated three or four years ago. He had officially entered the Spirit Art Academy and begun training less than two years ago, yet he was already nearing that standard~

And for Iori, this was only the beginning!

The stronger he became, the more important figures he would encounter. That would, in turn, improve his efficiency in collecting CGs, causing his Art Style Value to rise along with the tide. His "aptitude" and "capacity" would then explode geometrically!

His leveling speed would eventually surpass geniuses like Aizen and Toshiro, as well as cheat-user freaks like Ichigo.

Unfortunately, CG triggers carried a certain degree of randomness, and he could not control what type would appear.

Sometimes, one would pop up during an interaction with someone else. Other times, one would appear automatically for no apparent reason even though he had done nothing.

For instance, he had once pestered Aizen every day, hoping that their interactions would trigger a CG, but he ultimately got nothing.

Instead, one day while working at the shop, after he, Granny, and Aizen finished their work and chatted together with smiles, a Bond CG appeared: True Family.

Later, Iori gradually figured out the pattern. He felt that the key might lie in things such as "iconic scenes," "commemorative significance," or "fashion value."

Following that pattern, he had collected quite a few CGs over the years. Although the drop rate was comparable to certain mobile games, and precious Art Style CGs remained few and far between, after stacking numerous attributes and raising his original Reiatsu Limit, he could now be considered somewhat accomplished.

In the eyes of others, Iori was already a "prodigy." After all, he had only been enrolled for a little over a year, yet his reiatsu was already comparable to veteran members of the Thirteenth Division. Even if he were placed in the Thirteenth Division right now, he could still obtain a seated officer position!

Do not underestimate the mere position of seated officer—one of the top ten within a division. It might not sound like much, but if a Bleach born in Soul Society rose to that point, they would absolutely be considered successful. Even the noble class would view a seated officer-level Bleach differently.

Given Iori's "starting line," having seated officer-level reiatsu at his age meant that his future was limitless. Calling him a "genius" would not be an exaggeration.

But Iori knew perfectly well what use the title of "genius" had:

No use at all!

Reaching seated officer level in two years made him a genius?

Did they know Gin Ichimaru graduated in one year and solo-killed the division's Third Seat before he was even fully grown?

Did they know Aizen had reached the limits of a Bleach in just over two hundred years, with nowhere further to advance?