The Blade ditation Chamber.
Incense smoke curled upward in the corner of the quiet room.
A gentle fragrance lingered in the air, bringing peace and serenity to all within.
The Asauchi had already been distributed. The students sat cross-legged in orderly rows on the chamber floor, imrsed in their Blade ditation practice.
"Calm your hearts and empty your minds. Use your spirit to feel the power that resides in your soul," Nanatsuki paced back and forth through the room, checking to see if any students were losing focus during the ditation.
"Your Asauchi is on the floor," he said as he knocked the head of a drowsy student with his wooden sword.
"Ack—sorry, sensei!" The half-asleep student quickly picked it up.
"Don't apologize to . You're doing this for yourself."
Nanatsuki glanced toward Chijō Kana. Her performance caught him off guard—she had already slipped into a ditative state.
'Maybe it's because she doesn't have too many complicated thoughts bouncing around in her head,' Nanatsuki mused.
He continued his rounds.
Though he sounded like he knew exactly what he was talking about, Nanatsuki himself had never successfully completed Blade ditation.
He couldn't enter his inner world through the practice.
Once a Shinigami reached a certain level of proficiency in Blade ditation, they could step into their inner world and communicate with their Zanpakutō.
If they could learn its na, they would unlock Shikai.
But even after years of practice, Nanatsuki had never managed to enter that space.
He could feel that the step of forging the Zanpakutō had already been completed, yet for so unknown reason, he was still unable to enter his inner world—unable to communicate with it at all.
Suddenly, sothing stirred within him. He sensed an unusual fluctuation in Reiatsu.
He turned—Chijō Kana was the source.
That ant she had already entered a deeper level of Blade ditation, one where the essence of the soul was being etched into the Asauchi.
"She's progressing fast..." Nanatsuki was surprised by her growth. At this rate, she would soon possess her own Zanpakutō.
He continued checking the room. Muguruma Kensei and Hirako Shinji had also entered a ditative state, though there were no signs yet of that sa unusual Reiatsu fluctuation.
It wasn't until right before the session ended that those two also began emitting the sa distinct Reiatsu signature, indicating that they too had reached deep levels of ditation.
Today, only three students with S-rank talent evaluations successfully entered the Blade ditation state. The others had yet to reach that point.
Nanatsuki dismissed the rest of the students for free activity while he stayed behind to watch over the ditating trio, just in case anything went wrong.
He ended up waiting until evening.
"I'm starving!"
Chijō Kana was the first to awaken, clutching her stomach.
Fortunately, Muguruma Kensei and Hirako Shinji soon snapped out of their ditation as well.
Nanatsuki checked their Status Interfaces. For a first-ti Blade ditation session, the gains weren't bad—their Reiatsu had all increased slightly.
Just then, a new prompt appeared in Nanatsuki's view.
The reward summary for the Blade ditation lesson had co in.
[Class Completed — Rewards Calculated]
[Reward Obtained: 10 Blade ditation EXP]
[Thanks to your attentive guidance, the students were especially focused during their training. Three of them successfully entered a ditative state. Bonus reward granted.]
[Reward Obtained: 30 Blade ditation EXP]
[First-ti Completion of Blade ditation Lesson — Bonus Reward Granted]
[Item Obtained: Asauchi]
This was Nanatsuki's first ti receiving Blade ditation EXP.
When practicing Blade ditation, consuming this EXP could strengthen the bond with one's Zanpakutō.
The extra bonus reward for completing the lesson was even more surprising—it had directly given him a new Asauchi.
Since the students were still present, he decided not to take it out just yet.
And that wasn't all. Rewards also ca in from the disciples who had completed their ditation:
[Disciple Chijō Kana completed a Blade ditation session under your guidance. Reward Calculated.]
[Reward Obtained: 40 Blade ditation EXP]
[Disciple Muguruma Kensei completed a Blade ditation session under your guidance. Reward Calculated.]
[Reward Obtained: 20 Blade ditation EXP]
Combining the academy's lesson rewards and disciple feedback, Nanatsuki had earned a total of 100 Blade ditation EXP.
However, this experience could only be used while actively practicing Blade ditation, so he couldn't try it just yet.
"You're all hungry, right? Let's go grab sothing to eat. It's too late to prep dinner now, so I'll take you to Granny Jiang's place," Nanatsuki said to the three of them.
"I'll pass," Hirako Shinji replied instinctively.
"Hirako, the cafeteria's been closed for hours. Are you planning to starve all night? You're in your Reiatsu growth phase—don't go to bed on an empty stomach," Nanatsuki said with a smile. "Co on now, don't be shy with your teacher."
Hirako hesitated, but Muguruma Kensei slung an arm around his shoulders. "Hey now, don't act like a stranger. Katori-sensei's one of the rare good ones. Don't brush off his kindness!"
"...Alright. Thanks, Katori-sensei," Hirako rubbed his stomach. After all, Blade ditation had left him famished, and skipping dinner would probably keep him up all night.
Before long, the four of them arrived at Granny Jiang's izakaya. It wasn't far from the Katori-ryu Dojo, and the Spiritual Arts Academy wasn't too far either.
The izakaya was small—just a few tables inside—and you could see straight into the kitchen from the entrance.
Granny Jiang was a kind old lady. Her hair was gray, her face wrinkled, and she'd shrunk with age. She wore a neatly kept kimono.
"Granny Jiang, we're here!"
"Katori-kun! It's been a while since you last dropped by."
Back then, Nanatsuki's cooking skills were just average, so he'd occasionally co here to treat himself.
"I've been busy lately. Took on so students," he said with a smile.
Hirako silently confird what he'd been suspecting—the two classmates did, in fact, share a deeper bond with Katori-sensei.
"Oh? So the Katori-ryu Dojo is back in business again? Wonderful news!" Granny Jiang bead. "And these are your students? Co in, co in. Tonight's on the house."
She greeted the three behind him with enthusiasm, then called into the back, "Lisa-chan, we've got guests. Co tidy up the tables!"
Hirako opened his mouth to clarify that he wasn't actually a disciple, but seeing Granny Jiang's cheerful face, he couldn't bring himself to say it.
"Lisa's helping out again?" Nanatsuki asked.
"Winter's coming," Granny Jiang replied.
When the forested mountains grew cold, hunting beca difficult. Every year before winter, Granny Jiang would have Lisa co help out at the izakaya—at the very least, it ant she'd have a full stomach.
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