I whistled as I walked through the abandoned hallways. In the daylight, the tiles and chipped walls looked tired and weary. Compared to the oppressive aura from last night, it was interesting. From the windows, I spotted another cheerful day on its way. The soft light floating into the building helped me feel assured that the Beings in the Abyss weren’t around.

I was glad I didn’t dream of them.

The hospital was pretty much secluded unless you got lost or were heading here on purpose so I didn’t exactly worry about being spotted as I climbed higher and higher to the room I had been searching for.

A casual use of Observe let me know I had it right.

Sealed door to Direction Mori’s Office. The previous director of Quiet Mesa Hospital. Status: Flimsy.

I gave the knob a twist but it was stuck tight with a lock and a thin strand of faded yellow tape. Having little desire to kick a door in, I put my hand on the wood above the knob and let Acid Cloak turn on for the first time.

A thin green hazy appeared over my hands and clothes. I experimented by taking off a shoe and once it stopped touching my body, the green haze vanished on it.

Neat. I wonder if I could do an Acid Whip with a chain? I focused on the wood and smoke began to build as the green liquid splashed down the door and ate through the rusty locking mechanism. I nudged the door open as I turned the cloak off.

Even the acid that had clung to the door vanished at the same time. No lingering effects it seemed. The office before me was a faded memory of the room I had talked with Mori in. Some changes had been made but not much. I looked at the mould covered armchair the man seemed to have liked so much.

Despite the Malice Clearing, I felt this room had a certain lingering chill to it. This must be the last ‘2%’ must be lingering. What was it Greed had said?

His father just dumped this all on him?

I highly doubted that was the entire version, as true as it might have felt to Greed. But the quickest way to get answers was to talk to the guy himself. Which meant I might need to work on the whole Spirit Sensing skill.

I barely met an echo of one but it was enough to get me started.

I sat in the middle of the floor and closed my eyes. I breathed in and out. Chained Spirits that often hid in the building or earth were missed by Reapers as they couldn’t be detected. Unlike a lot of spirits, the long someone was chained, the angrier they became.

So, I just had to find that source. If I couldn’t get it on my own? Then I have to piss the thing off.

I did my best to reach out with my senses but I just got the same dark vibe to the room that felt very monotone in feeling. I wondered if the spirit was hiding from me? I did do some weird shit like summon an ant and glow.

I supposed that might even freak a ghost out.

20 minutes later, after no luck and no decent skill upgrades. I blew out a sigh.

“You know, when your Dad said you drove this place into the ground, I didn’t think he meant also clinging it to it like a demented sea captain as you went under as well,” I said and did the room just get colder?

I did have a spare stat point but I would only use it on Spiritual if I couldn’t do this any other way.

“What you even going to do now? You can’t own money or sell the place, you’re dead,” I continued and I was feeling a slight odd prickle on my face. I wondered if he was right in front of me screaming.

I focused on that feeling. I did my best to feel how it impacted me... the direction...

Spiritual Sense has reached level 3!

The room’s temperature dropped and it felt like I was being pressed in from all sides. Still, nothing I could see. I frowned and looked around.

“Did something go wrong? Did you get bad advice? Did you steal the money-” I asked and there was a faint sound, like a faint echo.

The rattling of chains.

Spiritual Sense has reached level 4!

I saw a shadow. It moved like a blur and angry wind blew past my ears. The image flickered and it strained my eyes to look too long at it. I mentally tried to fell Spirit Sensing and felt it was maybe ten percent full in the levelling up progress.

It wasn’t a perfect estimate but close enough.

Okay, this was taking a tad bit too long.

I frowned and reached for that same blueish feeling I got off the ghost and looked within myself for that energy.

It was pitifully small but I did find it! I tugged and pushed on it. I felt a slight flare that didn’t even breach my skin.

Spiritual Pressure unlocked.

SP: Ability to channel the spirit and soul to affect the world around you.

Now that was better. I tried moving my pool of 40 SP around and seeing what I could do. It was much harder to hold than the Energy I was used to working within my journey so far. It felt like wispy water that simply did not want to leave the body or go in any one direction.

Annoying.

Let’s see... Reapers used pressure, long chant spells, fast movement, hard skin, and bullshit swords. Hollows used... well laser beams and more animalistic weapons until you got to Arrancar. But besides that, it was pretty much the same.

Fullbringers used items of pride and Quincies used tools.

Not much for me to really go on.

I pulled out a pebble and tried to fill it with my SP. Nothing happened at first but it did sort of began to flicker with a pale white aura.

I flicked the stone and it didn’t do much. The blue glow flickered as it hit the far wall.

Was... that supposed to do something? I tilted my head as the system decided it did.

Bland Spiritual Infusion. Active: Infuse an object with greater spirit particles than surrounding objects. Allows an item to interact with a spirit. Lasts one hit. Cost 10 SP.

It wasn’t like passive physical abilities. Active ones didn’t seem to net me those sweet passive buffs. I needed a spiritual exercise. Something that would let me flex my soul so to speak.

I really had no idea what that migh-

I pursed my lips.

It should have occurred to me.

I left the room and went to my new ‘Ant Chamber’ by the receptionist desk. I needed peace for this and the Demi-Hollow breathing down my neck wouldn’t be helping. I blinked as the room seemed bright. King touched two feels together and a Purity Stone grew as it gathered in Energy from his body. The ant dropped the stone near a pile of dirt.

I saw another tunnel ahead already being cleared out. The room this once had been very different. The soft flat earth had been neatly arranged and all corners of the room had been smoothed out to make a domed shaped.

A single raised platform had my sleeping bag on it.

It smelled earthy, clean, and refreshing despite there was no airflow down here...

I decided to leave King to his work and tried my best to gather myself on the platform. I inhaled and tried to detach myself from the physical world. I remembered a dozen cheesy self-help books about anxiety and stress. I called upon them now.

I breathed, holding it for some time. I counted then inhaled again. Focusing only on the breathe I held. I imagined a relaxing sensation starting at my toes. I was aware of them. I spent some time feeling each of my toes. When I was ready I imagined that relaxing flow travelling up my legs, each muscle becoming consciously away in my mind.

Inhaled and exhaled.

Soon my whole body was under this conscious wave of awareness.

Each thought coming into my head, I noticed them and then pushed them away. Time was not important... pain and worry were becoming distant, I felt at complete ease as I knew only my breathing.

Distracting ideas almost made me lose the state but I pushed them away and only knew...

Breathing.

In this blackness of in and out... I felt an undercurrent of myself. I lively pulsing sense that mingled with a wispy ethereal stream. The flowed through my bones, muscles, and blood.

Well done! You have gained Meditation!

Meditation. Passive: Release stress and centre your mind. Become in synch with your soul. Allows enhanced relaxation methods and may allow deeper soul searching later. Every 10 levels grants 1 Spiritual Stat!

I lost my trance as the words blazed before me.

Good news that I got a stat giving skill. The bad news was that I didn’t get a regen ability to go with it. I might need to massively improve it...

I looked between my two options. Hm...

I assigned my new stat to Spiritual. Another few EXP and I level anyway so it wasn’t a big deal.

King has risen the tunnel’s sanitary levels to above 90%. 1 EXP rewarded.

I walked over to the tunnel and bent down.

“King, if you find anything besides dirt and bad chemicals, put them here. All the nice pebbles you can find!” I called down and I got an answering positive pulse back from King. If he was going to go digging, he might as well stockpile ammo.

I sat down and gathered myself. I focused on the pebble, infusing it and trying to centre myself as the energy flowed.

It was... not easy.

---

“I’m telling you that it feels different.”

“But the Demi-Hollow is still present?” Kiskue Urahara asked lightly, his white paper fan moving slowly back and forward. The cat at his side sighed.

“I saw it howled in annoyance but yes. I got odd scents around the place but I watched the place all night and no one was there. I left before the sun rose so... perhaps there might be more clues?” Yoruichi mused.

“Or it could be a deliberate trap. We shall... watch from a distance. My trackers are able to get a basic feel of the location. IF... someone appears, we’ll act. I can’t very well lay traps where people might go. It might also be a distraction,” the man hummed.

“All these four steps sideways and not a one forward,” the cat said sternly.

“It is how it is. We act too soon and we play our hands. The world is an odd place. It might have nothing to do with us or it might. But if it feels more pleasant. We have a few options. We have an exorcist roaming. I salute the man of the cloth or the woman with the beads. If it is our local Quincies...” he trailed off.

“It is not. Those prideful scions do little to seek Hollows. The child is growing impatient however,” Yoruichi warned as she licked her milk.

“The reaper shift change won’t be for some time. The current one is... actually a funny guy but his shift is supposed to end in about 3. No four months if the routine hasn't changed,” Urahara mused aloud.

“You know they haven’t. Soul Society changes as much as the sun rises backwards,” Yoruichi shook her head.

“Our current ‘protector’ of the town is a bit of a... I doubt it was him, in any case. Just got to keep our eyes open and her swords close,” Urahara finished his tea.

The cat flicked her tail.

“Things are moving, Kisuke,” she warned and left the front porch, vanishing around the corner.

“They always have been... they’re just stepping into the light now,” he replied darkly.

He finished his tea in silence.

---

Meditation has reached level 4! Increased ease and awareness!

Bland Spiritual Infusion has reached level 5! Increased density and control. Skill will evolve in 5 levels.

Spiritual Sense has reached level 4! Increased range.

I stood and stretched. I felt pretty good and loose. I looked down at the pile of pens, chunks of rocks and a smaller pile of 3 pebbles. King had been busy! I pocketed the loot into my inventory and decided to see if my new spirit senses would tingle a bit better now.

I retraced my steps, finding the sun had moved a lot... it looked to be afternoon now.

“How long was I meditating?” I mumbled.

4 hours and 32 minutes.

Yeah... doing that one the battlefield was going to suck even if it did have an energy regen later. Ah well, I retraced myself back to the Director’s room and I felt the ghost. It was like a movement in the corner of my eyes.

I turned and the image faded but then came the whispering.

“Mine... make… re, bud?!”

“Are you Director Mori’s son?” I called and the shadow moved to my face.

“I AM- CTOR MORI! TH- NE THAT MATT-” came broken yelling. It was right next to my damn ear. I focused on that, trying to let my body adapt to the odd sound that didn’t travel in the physical world.

Spiritual Sensing has reached level 5. Improved visual sight.

I blinked once and before me appeared a bloodshot eyed screaming man, his face contorted in rage. He reminded of a fast food manager given an inch of power and gone mad on the new employee that had been only hired a week before himself.

It was a face I wanted to punch.

“Mine! MY HOSP- MY MONEY!” he growled at me. I infused my fists and punched him.

My hand didn’t have much impact but it was enough to make his eyes bulge. I had a horrible reminder to a certain frog.

A cheap haircut and an ugly purple sweater. This was Mori’s son? I felt sorry for the sharply dressed man who thought this slacker was enough to run a hospital

“Shut. Up,” I warned. He bared his teeth and his chain rattled. A hole slowly opening behind where the chain connected to his body was about a quarter revealed.

“You hit me!” he yelled as if trying to summon some security or make a scene.

Spiritual Sensing has reached level 6! Max level to be gained from current spirit training.

Great, he wasn’t even going to level my skill that much anymore either.

“What are you even doing here?” I demanded. He looked pissed off and those bulging eyes made me just want to hit him again.

“What its it to you, bud?! This is my hospital! It’s mine! It’s going to make me rich!” he swung at me and he passed through me. He snarled and kept trying to attack me.

“You’re dead, what good is money to you?” I asked, honestly confused. He paused then sneered.

“Get out or I’ll haunt you,” he taunted, gesturing to the office.

“This my office and I want you out!” he tried to prod my chest.

I eyed the remains of tasteful furniture and rotted books victim to water damage.

“If you did anything in this room other than sit in Director Mori’s chair, I’d eat my foot,” I said with a dismiss. He stared, lips quivering in pissed rage as he tried to answer.

“The old ass left, it’s mine!” he sneered again. It was the only two expressions he knew. Pissed off or sneering.

I thought of the polite old man who offered me tea, helped me and asked me to help this pain in the ass despite how much of his son was a horrible person. My eyes narrowed and I let my holy Glint aura appear.

The moment it did, the Mori brat backed up, covering his eyes in fear.

“Ah, that light again! S-stop it or e-else!” he said, tripping over his own legs to the ground.

I Observed him now I had a moment.

Watari Mori. Chained Ghost. Demi-Hollow. G-0

The greedy son that failed at his father’s dynasty. Clings to the last symbol of power he held in life. Thinks he can buy his way into the afterlife.

“What happens if I reduce a ghosts HP to 0?” I asked as I eyed the cowering man.

If spirit is destroyed without harming chain. Spirit would be reduced to a phantasm that would slowly reappear when gathered enough Spirit Particles. Russel lacks any purification or Reaper tools to completely end the cycle. Many tools require devotion and actual faith to truly work. Solving the spirits problems may help them move on but due to the desire, you would need to give the man equal to what he thinks the hospital is worth to perhaps break the chain.

That will not be cheap.

Yeah, screw helping this guy.

Your other option is breaking the chain to make the hollow and dispersing the energy back into the afterlife without the person reforming. However, Hollows are at least... D rank.

I blew out a sigh.

“So I have to find a priest, a death god, or fight a hollow? What a bad joke,” I muttered. I turned to the guy.

“Question, why do you think your money is worth anything in the afterlife?” I had to ask. The man still didn’t look at me directly.

“Fool, money is power. Even gods need money!” he spat.

I walked past him.

“I’ll be back once I find a cute nun or a handsome priest. Hold tight and don’t...” I trailed off, making a gesture over my face to indicate a mask. Watari looked confused as I shut the door to his office and killed the light.

“Do your taxes or something. I’m sure God wants to see those receipts!” I called cheerfully.

I was sure the Devil wasn’t so picky but I didn’t tell him that. I called King and got ready to dismiss him. He nudged by about the unfinished project.

“I’ll find you a better one or go underground. Don’t worry, we’ll be back depending on my success,” I promised and the ant seemed cheered by this. Then... I walked into the sunlight.

I was going to find religion or a portal to a pseudo-hell.

Whichever came first really. I turned nodded at the building and gave my hospital stay a 3 out of 5.

Good entertainment and awesome Old Man Director. Terrible company and a bit of an infestation of insects.

Not that I had anything to do with that.

After all... King had devoured most pests. If anything my infestation cured their infestation so it equalled out.

All hail the King.

---

An hour later, Yoruichi stared in annoyance as the damn ghost babbled about the holy light and giant bugs.

Why were all these human spirits so touched in the head?

Then... she saw the hole.

---