His fingers shooks.

‘Just say the words!’ he pleaded himself. The creature ahead hadn’t spotted him. Why was this town teeming with them?! Even one every week or so was insane from anything he heard of! He swallowed back the whimper in his throat.

He focused on his energy, his finger formations.

It was one hit or nothing. The creature leaned over the corpse of its fellow Hollow, chewing and crunching the spider hollow with no hint of hesitation. It was better than a person. Chisai knew that from experience now.

“Hado number 4-” Chisai intoned and the crow-like Hollow turned to saw its beak opened sideways to reveal an octopus-like maw. His words faltered as the yellow eyes locked on to his shaking hands.

“B-Byakurai!” he yelled and thrust both hands to shoot out a long bolt of arcing white lightning. The bird Hollow jumped and was airborne. Chisai tried to aim up but the spell was over before it could reach the monster.

He turned and ran for his life as bone-like feathers tried to impale him from above. The sword at his side felt like a heavy judgement and reminder of his failures. Each tap against his leg like a scolding. Chisai gritted his teeth as a feather sliced the edge of his arm.

Chisai ran for the trees, doing his best to lead the Hollow to the wildness and away from people. He just had to keep running! The whistling of air made him throw himself to the side as the claws of the Hollow tried to rip his body to shreds.

“Bakudo Number 1: Sai!” he cried and to his relief, the spell snapped the wings shut as invisible chains settled on the Hollow. There was physical snapping of the energy and Chisai rushed forward with his sword, slashing almost wildly. He got some hits in but the bird screeched, taking off as his Zanpakuto hurt it.

Chisai was sent flying by the sharp wind and hit a tree. He crumpled and laid there for a moment.

The Hollow had flown back the way they had come. Deeming Chisai too troublesome to eat when there was a free Hollow meal not far away. He laid there for a long moment, just holding his sword which felt too heavy for his sweaty hands.

“Get up... get up...” he told himself weakly.

Chisai Shirudo stared at the sky above and not for the first time... just wanted to give up.

But he wouldn’t.

Chisai wished it was because he had willpower but he was honest with himself. He was too scared of not doing his job if someone deemed him actually worth checking to see if he was alive. Chisai was too scared of getting into even more trouble than he already was.

An extended leave in the human world. No backup. No recon point... no way to access the gate. He was officially being punished and he knew no one would care if he died.

Also...

Chisai didn’t want to find another victim. Not if he could make the Hollows chase him or take one out by surprise! He just had to get... up. A moment later, he was limping back to the location of the Hollow.

One more try.

---

My new apple tree was weird.

It didn’t seem to grow towards sunlight or up the tunnel but seemed content to simply umbrella in the Tunnel. The fast-growing apples on its branches were still some time from being ready but the speed was insane.

Maria had to leave because she had a lot of chores and last-minute homework for school tomorrow. She seemed to do extra to make up for the fact that she wasn’t in a club and had an extra day for her church duties.

It was kind of a bummer I couldn’t hang out with her for a while and her time at night would go drastically down. I didn't expect her to balance home, chores, school, and raid all night. I might have nothing better to do but Maria didn’t have to give up her life for it.

I would also feel bad for out levelling her too much. It just meant my skills would have to be my focus as well as finding new Malice Zones! Still, I had Cider the Apple Tree here. I was pondering how best to handle it.

Should I feed it as much as I can or slowly gauge the progress of each apple in many ways before moving on?

I gave Maria a white but she didn’t want anything else. Not the red or yellow or even the other white.

“Listen. I can’t go too overboard here. I’m really struggling to understand what I can do now... you should slow down too or you’ll end up missing something fucking important,” she warned but then patted my arm.

“We owe King a Blue anyway. He’s our hero,” she had winked. She was right. My little bud was making neat flower beds around the tree which he actually transplanted wildflowers down in gentle motions. King was controlling his pure aura enough not to remove the soil unless it made a mess in the tunnel.

King must've thought Cider was lonely.

I called King over and put the white gem on his head. A window popped up.

Would you like to change white gem to blue and use it on summon ‘King’?

I hit confirm. Maria was right. I had enough skills to make an anime character jealous. I needed to start learning how to abuse them more than I needed new ones.

The gem flashed blue before it sunk into King’s head.

King is gaining new powers. Due to affection and high trust, King is granting you access to his window and allowing you to see his choices. King will have the final say, however.

King can learn the following abilities base on his performance and class.

Aiding Mucus: King can produce highly antiseptic and curative mucus once an hour to seal minor wounds and help them heal faster.

King’s Guard: Create a bubble of protection against weak elemental damage and gaseous attacks. Starts at 100% and reduces as it is active. Attacks shaves of percent as damage.

Leaf Healer: King becomes attuned to nature’s needs and gains a basic weak nature affinity. Cannot learn fire/darkness/poison/necromancer/corruption elements.

A protector, a healer, and a druid.

I looked at King.

“All your choice. You damn deserve to do anything you want. You’re not just for combat so think about your own future as well,” I said kindly. King nuzzled my side and the option for Leaf Healer appeared highlighted.

King glowed and his pure white body became ever so tinged light green. When the glow died down. King was looking around with his insect eyes as if seeing the world for the first time. He looked to the flowerbeds and quickly went to dig into the tunnels side in a frantic motion. I watched as King vanished for a moment then...

A gush of water spilt into the tunnel and began to flood the lower end.

“KING! An indoor swimming pool is fun but we need a drain!” I yelled. King dove into the water and was a shadow as he dug. His natural aura and effort made me see he vanished and the water began to lower. King swam back up and began to pack in dirt to the water hole where it was mostly pushed back by the water.

I waded through the water and applied heat with my Pyro-Infusion to the first while my ice did its best to slow the water enough until the gushing river was reduced to a fountain-like stream.

The growing pond vanished down the drain and I looked down to see that King had buried into another tunnel below. I smelled the rushing water more than I saw it.

“King... that’s the sewer. Good thinking but it stinks,” I said as I had a Purity Stone held to my nose to keep the worst of it away. King shook himself off and dropped his own Purity Stone near the hole.

It helped... a little.

Cider’s roots were slithering to the trickle of water now. King’s aura and the stones made the water seem clean enough but I was not sleeping these conditions. I decided to get my Red and Yellow gem done then think about solutions instead of belly aching. King needed water for his garden. Cider needed water full stop.

I didn’t blame my ant for trying to help.

Crushing the red gem, I grimaced at the stabbing pressure behind my eyes.

You have gained the skill ‘Charge’!

Charge. Physical. Active. Lv.1: Move your body in a direct line forward, ignoring some damage. Damage dealt by this skill is boosted by weight, auras, DOT skills, and armour. Is able to break weak binding effects that focus on restricting movement. Cost 10 Energy.

Did I just get a charge attack from a rampaging train monster?

Wait... was my tank build now focusing my gems?! I blinked at the skill. It was... really damn useful. I relied on getting in close. I rubbed my head, that damn pain was getting worse.

“Anyway to stop that pain?” I asked wincing. The System seemed to know exactly when I was talking to her.

Increasing the Mental Stat eases some of the base pain but Levels are what really help. It was designed to stop Users from feeding an army of farmers and fanatics A-rank gems for instant powerful forces. If you consumed an A-rank currently, your brain would melt.

“The gem system seems to be geared more about focusing your resources instead of spreading out, teammates included,” I pointed out.

Basically. The Gem system is... as far as System known commonly used on a planetary scale rather than a single User.

I blinked in shock at that.

“Systems can make whole planets use Gems or Gamer powers?!” I asked in actual surprise and a little horror.

Indeed. System did say she was very low on the totem. When a world is reaching extinction or is about to be invaded or is even stagnating to worse case scenarios. Systems can enact planetary implementation of their own prefered programs. It is never done for testing as we have just detail replica programs to run variables that it’s just cruel to do so. Systems sometimes grow so influential they can take races as their User and not a person. Your System finds that very intimidating to be honest.

I was still standing there in shock but I slowly nodded.

“Right... Systems change worlds and I can melt my brain-” I began but then paused.

“When you say ‘races’ do you mean...” I trailed off. System flashed once.

Humans of many dimensions. Once a User learned to ‘Jump’ as it was termed, we easily mimicked it. Usually a System for a Jumper they had to chain many layers of their User’s existence to prevent soul failure. Those User’s get a whole room to themselves where Systems just chain their works together for ease. System cannot begin to not tell that there definitely not anything in correct terms that is factually right in the idea that System’s may also use Aliens. That sentence was a lie and cannot be proven in the court of Law on 605,621, and counting, Earths.

“...Any hot blue alien woman aliens?”

...Disturbing amounts of them.

---

I left the Yellow gem as I began to do construction on my Tunnel. About ten Purity Stones made the air feel clean but they wouldn’t last.

Purity Stone has reached level 6! Increased radius. Increased Strength. Last longer.

For fun, I began to make them into shapes as I made them. One of King, a doll like one, a dog and so on. It must have been what got me two levels in less than an hour. Just as I finished another one. It levelled again when I managed a tricky bird shape.

Purity Stone has reached level 7! Increased fatigue recovery. Skill will evolve in 3 levels!

Of course, the higher my skill went, the better King’s was as well. The ant had been tearing up the surface rail and stone to create small trenches for the water to flow neatly down. One to the tree and flowers and another that looped in an artistic spiral trench before it hit the drain.

The big drain was a problem but I watched as Cider’s roots emerged from the side of the hole and basically created a multifaceted waterfall that caused tiny frog ponds to form as the roots weaved into basins. It was tightly packed together enough that the I couldn’t see the sewer below and the smell rapidly faded.

I eyed the tree as King packed some dirt in to make it even less obvious.

The tree was simply a tree to the plain eyes but I knew it would start driving me nutty soon. My powers were like that.

With my smell problem gone and a fancy water feature added... I was a lot happier. My little tunnel was beginning to look funky. I wondered if I should get glow in the dark mushrooms but decided against it.

Once you let the mushrooms in, you were stuck with them. I’d be a madman if I let them in and they went magical. Half of them were killers and the other just made you happy. People who decided to use mushrooms as their magical focus had my respect but also my distance.

I pondered the tree. I tried putting the Yellow gem to it to see if it activated a pop-up but nothing happened. I guessed it wasn’t aware enough to use them or didn’t want gems. I think System said it wanted magical ingredients.

I would think about that later. I was gonna save my yellow in case I needed money before I found my next Malice Zone. If found one, my mace was getting a nice upgrade. If not, there was always more Yellows to find.

I whistled as I went to the surface. The sun was setting and the view?

It was spectacular. No office buildings or towering scraper got in my way of that sunset. Damn Karakura could be damn pretty. I wasn't sure if I wanted to travel at night to look for more Zones. Hollows were a thing and knowing how things would go, I’d get run over by Urahara’s van or something.

It would be just my luck...

So I settled down to follow Maria’ advice. I should really be mastering my basics and covering my ass for future fights. If Maria hadn’t been there or was too slow, we’d be squished by PING. I looked over my status in its entirety.

Spoiler: Sheet

Too many skills? I had no idea what you are referring to.

This was the result of my closing third day. This was insane. The skills were quickly becoming out of control...

System assures you that eventually weaker gems will only give base EXP or level up an existing skill by some. Levels are both a protection and a price. You can use higher gems but lower gems become less useful. Thankfully, if so desired, same level gems can be fused to rank up. Two G-1 gems make a G-2. Two G-2 gems make a G-3, and so on. So if you wanted to reach the max of G-10 you would need two G-9, four G-8, eight G-7 and- well the process would be considered high effort low reward compared to fighting where your level is better suited.

“And that’s if I get the same numbers. I could get a 3, 6, and 5 and be unable to fuse them. Interesting...” I mused.

Gems have more uses than merely say crushing them for power as shown with King and improving him. Yellow gems can repair, is another example.

“Reds? They seem pretty single-minded,” I inquired.

Red Gems can be carved and placed in items for passive effects but the cost is the gem would wear down instead of granting knowledge permanently. Blue Gems can be used to create interesting items or bound in place to act as a guardian without using your Energy. Greens can improve medicine or outright heal if crushed into a wound but the effect is painful.

“So if I tried a green gem or blue on Cider, the tree would work with them?” I pondered.

Maybe. This isn’t System’s program so it’s still new to her.

Even my trash loot has uses when I got a high enough level. I loved that in games.

So now gems were just valuable. Not two ways about it. I wish I could give Tatsuki a yellow gem for her to use but since she wasn’t in the zone, the gems wouldn’t work for her. I needed to think about how to talk to her.

Build up friendly talks at the mart? Disguise myself and do the mysterious ‘stranger gives you powers’ shit? Annoying but effective. The classic of acting shifting then having her follow me near a Malice Zone and watching me vanish would also grab her attention.

I really wanted to see what that girl could do given the push.

King has given you 25 EXP for construction and tending to the garden.

Screw it. I’d work on finding a Malice Zone, sticking my head in, seeing the danger and return home to prepare.

“King, let’s go for an enthusiastic walk!” I cheered.

---

Chisai was bleeding. It was so much.

His right arm dangled limp at his side, that was his Kido hand... and his good sword grip hand. Behind him, the bird Hollow was playfully soaring overhead. It knew he couldn’t escape! He turned down an alley and felt too weak to even do a decent jump let alone a hard platform!

He whimpered hard as his arm burned. He nearly tripped as he moved through the oppressive alley. It felt like this area had seen much darkness and now it carried that stain with it.

Chisai hated these kinds of places. Another feather buried itself into his back. He fell and dragged himself to a dead end. The outlines of a murder long passed were his only greeters. He stood to focus, to will himself to move through the physical realm but the pain was making it so damn hard!

He fell and he could hear whistling. He looked up to see claws outstretched, hungry yellow eyes, and knew this was it.

Chisai Shirudo died here tonight. Alone and unimportant.

Nothing new there.

He closed his eyes and sent a weak apology to his unnamed sword he never heard unlike others had managed. He was pulled, instead of cut and he screamed as he was blinded by some glowing invitation The Hollow missed and seemed stunned at the impact to the ground.

“Come with me if you want to live... er... unlive! Do reapers live or exist... Screw it, hit the damn button!” a young man yelled at him and Chisai did as he was ordered as if a seated officer was speaking to him and not a mortal.

Then he saw the person standing next to a demonic portal.

The man pulled him into it and Chisai screamed as the Hollow barely missed his face by inches, unable to follow... almost like it couldn’t see where they had gone!

“What is going on!? Where am I?! What is ‘Save the sad Reaper’ group?!” Chisai asked as they fell.

Welcome, SadReaper ;n;. Entering Malice Zone: The Twisted City. Malice Zone rank: F-4!

Then Chisai hit the ground and everything went quiet.

He felt something brush his face and he looked up to see a giant greenish ant peering at him. He almost thought hollow until he saw the head was real and not a mask.

Chisai slowly sat up.

“Mr Ant... please don’t eat me,” he asked politely, still in shock. The ant seemed to almost pat him on the head.

“King is a good ant. And you...” Chisai looked up at the youngish man with scraggly hair and an afternoon shadow wearing jeans and a shirt that said ‘Jesus loves you but I don’t’.

“The worst reaper I've ever seen,” the man stated. Chisai blinked. He knew some mortals had knowledge on them but he never thought he’d meet one!

“Hello! And... yes... I’m not very good but I try! I’m Chisai Shirudo! I’m an unseated officer of the fourth division. Pleased to meet you... I think?” he said slowly. There was a long pause.

“No offence because I really mean none but... why is a medic out by himself in a town full of Hollows? And not even a seated one?” he asked incredulously.

Chisai looked around for the first time.

“Because I messed up and got a bad assignment...” he trailed off as he saw the city was literally on it’s side as if some bored god had flipped it. The man looked too.

“Yeah, uncreative. Side city? Like we never saw that before? If you see a dude in glasses or a cackling white clone, we need to leave before we get protag’d!” the man beamed. The endless darkness of the void was only broken by a blood red moon high above them, the only source of light.

Chisai looked between it, the man, and the ant.

“This is hell...” he curled up.

He briefly heard the man talking to the ant.

“We may need Maria. I’m feeling bad to be mean to him or snap him out of this,” the man said with a sigh.

That was when from the side of the building, something peeked over.

It was a large shadowy being that made no sense. It unfurled its face and the flaps looked like sails. The bare skull gleaned gold before the hull broke apart into a smile that showed true abyssendlessChisaisawalland nothingmakeitstop-

The thing ducked away and the man grimaced.

“Yeah, you get them here too. Don’t worry, they’re nice madness gods. Just a little... much,” the man said sympathetically.

Chisai blacked out and the last thing he heard was...

“Hey! He can help me with my quest!”

Blackness took Chisai.