You have gained the skill 'Adaptive Aura’!

Adaptive Aura: Active. Energy. Lv.1: When hit with an attack as long as this buff is active, reduce the effectiveness of that attack on user. Cannot stack buff. Cost 20 Ene. Sustain cost 15 energy every minute.

I could see the use but I would also need to have an attack hit me... Something to work on when I could ask Maria to hit me with things. I wait until it levelled before I field-tested it. That cost was dear.

Given the fact that my regen was... 13 a minute. I had Pyro infused, acid cloak, and ice. Those added up to 53 Energy per minute... adding Frostflame and Bulwark?

I’d drain faster than a bucket with holes. I might need to start getting Green gems to see if I could nab a regen skill or a cost reduction if I couldn’t develop one myself. Maria groaned at seeing me eye her.

“You want me to upgrade Prayer?” she asked a little miserably. I gave her a smile.

“Like ripping a band-aid off but in your brain,” I said and she glared in my direction.

“Not helping but fine,” she closed her eyes.

“I’m upgrading it. You wanna hear about my paths?” she said softly. I shrugged.

“Upgrades can be a pain so put down Haven first,” I suggested. Maria looked interested and did so.

“Blessed be thy ground: Haven,” she whispered and bowed her head in silent prayer. While Maria recovered. I would walk Chisai through some basic skills he could get or maybe how to handle his walls.

I watched as Maria slowly gave off a slow-moving pulse of silver. I wanted to stand by and watch since entering the Haven didn’t collapse it, only leaving according to Maria. I stared as the pulse actually filled the entire hall until it curved away from the door due to the Dolls which was where I was standing close to. Maria’s Haven was either room-based or much bigger than I thought.

Maria stood up and grinned.

“It levelled up and knocked off an hour of the cooldown!” she cheered. Chisai applauded brightly.

“Your barrier is very impressive. I feel safe under your care,” he complimented her and actually did seem to relax a little. Maria shrugged, looking away.

“It was nothing,” she dismissed, cheeks pink. I was glad there was no silly tension in this group. Everyone was just nice. King was done cleaning and the library looked... well empty. Most of the books were disgusting or oozed.

Maria sighed.

“So, Prayer, the usual ‘ready evolve’ and to choose a path. First one is called ‘Vessel of Verse’,” she read.

“It allows me to store prayers in my soul to use without a chant but it can only store three and it still takes time to heal. I have to pray for 30 seconds outside of combat to store them,” she summed up. I hummed.

Basically she could let loose a stored heal and continue fighting or doubling up on the healing by praying in combo.

“Second is ‘Book of Many Voices’. It’s a bit different,” she mused.

“Allows me to have a second chant to use that instead of healing allows me to deal with curses and minor ailments,” she concluded.

Status effect curer?

“What do you want?” I asked honestly as I examined the barrier from outside.

“Healing is nice... but imagine being able to help people by removing shit or screwing over witches and their curses like the nutjob Yukai! I’d love to slap her down a peg!” Maria grinned.

I gave her a big smile as she pursed her lips.

“Yeah, yeah. You goofy idiot. Follow my heart,” she grumbled good-naturedly. The upgrade hit and her eyes rolled up as Chisai caught her and gently lowered her to the ground. I had no idea who ‘Yukai’ was but Maria was going to wreck her shit with her new chant.

“I have to apologise,” Chisai told me as I tried to measure the curve of the barrier that avoided the enemies. I looked at him.

“I said you get these so easy but... there is a price and you two are willing to suffer to gain strength. It’s admirable,” he said and gripped his sword.

“I can do this too now. I’ll grow strong and become a reaper you can count on...” he closed his eyes and smiled.

“I have hope,” he whispered.

I had an image of a seven-foot tall Chisai with rippling muscles and six Zanpakutos reporting to Unohana that he was ready to heal the wounded and rescue cats. My lips twitched before I stood.

“You’re already a good person so if you become a great reaper... you’re only becoming more amazing,” I promised. Suddenly the System got my attention.

User. Portal was forced to rescue a human and bring them to the safe zone starting area to save their life. She is still gravely injured. System can’t interfere in a Zone so you must get her. Hopefully System can... yes!

Quest: Rescue Tatsuki Arisawa from the Malice Zone. 200 EXP and one ‘P-Whistle’.

Tatsuki... was in the Malice Zone? Injured?!

“What’s a P-whistle?” I demanded as I turned to the still watching Dolls.

Summons the Portal no matter where you are in the Zone. It’s a one time use item for escaping!

Chisai must of gotten the message too because he tried to leave the barrier but I stopped him with a shake.

“You can’t risk Maria while she’s unconscious by breaking the Haven. I’ll need to head off. King is a good tank so if something does happen... she’ll help,” I said seriously.

“Please be careful! Once Maria is up, I am coming after you!” Chisai promised and drew his sword as if expecting enemies at that moment.

“Save the mortal and I’ll guard Maria. I’d give you my sword but... you really don’t need more damage,” he said weakly with a smile as if to encourage me. Bless his heart.

“No kidding, watch this,” I grinned. I created a Sacred Orb and filled it with holy energy.

Upgraded stone combo detected. Refine Sacred Bomb is formed!

My orb began to pulse and I threw it at the glass window where it smashed and landed at the feet of the Dolls. One of them put a hand on the door and the hallway exploded. The bright light shattered the other windows but I didn’t let myself fall into that trap. I made another one and threw it before the first light died down.

Another explosion.

After blinking away stars I saw that there were only three of the original 15 Dolls left. I could manage that.

12X Sheep dolls killed! 168 EXP gained!

My Refined Scared Bomb cost a hefty 20 so I was down 25 Energy. I eyed my total of 325 EXP and felt like grinding at the right levels was much better than farming a dozen G-2 or 1s. I rushed in and Bulldozed the most injured looking one. The odd thing about the Dolls is that they didn’t run or move too fast but as I turned one of them barely brushed my cheek.

I felt a slight feeling of muted syrup overcoming me before I shook it off. I felt like I was suddenly so exhausted or ground down...

Debuff gained: Blank existence: Energy regen is reduced by 1 for 10 seconds. If this debuff is stacked until Energy is not regenerating at all, you will suffer the ‘Empty’ status and be unable to use more energy than the Sheep Dolls for one hour. Sheep Dolls have 5 Energy.

The one who touched me sagged and fell back for a moment as if my touch had repulsed it. I was thinking that it meant they couldn’t just hold me or touched me forever. They suffered from giving me the status. In a horde, I was still fucked, however.

I smashed the one coming to me in the face with my handy mace and it deflated before I stomped as hard as I could with my shield on the fallen one’s head. It also deflated as I nearly bisected it.

I dodged the last ones swiping grope. I hit the wall and Retraced. I ended up four steps back and behind the creature.

“Nothing personal. You just creep me out,” I said as I swung, crushing the last one.

You have gained 42 EXP!

These things were empty on the inside. So devoid of anything that their real world counterparts must think of themselves as... boring or hate their lives. It was sad. I moved on and followed my acid signs back to the Safe Zone. The call before seemed to have drawn most of the walking Dolls so I didn’t meet any more resistance.

I entered the Safe Zone to find Tatsuki curled up. She rocked back and forward and I ran to her.

“Tatsuki!” I touched her shoulder but... her eyes were wide. Besides the awkward bent arm and blood all over her face... she was sweaty and wasn’t seeing me or anything.

You need to invite her. Malice Zones are toxic without System programs in place, for those with power it is manageable but Tatsuki is normal. She will not last.

I sent an invite but she didn’t respond.

“Help me out here,” I pleaded to the System.

System guessed she saw a micro-twitch of a brain nerve ending at the response of the invite appearing. System takes that as a shady yes.

Tatsuki’s face instantly gained colour as she entered the party.

System will be right back... sorry for the wait. The meeting was four hours long and dragged. System’s boss had to walk her through consent training again.

She was barely gone a second... never mind. I shook Tatsuki who groaned in pain.

“Where... am I?” she whispered.

“Somewhere dangerous. What happened?” I asked and her eyes focused slowly on me.

“You’re that guy from... before? I- I was attacked by a white bird. It wore a mask,” she mumbled.

System just wants you to know that she has never forced invites on people. That is nasty and System would never do it maliciously. System sometimes just mistakes subtle human signs for yes when they are close to death, A few six thousand times. That is a lot of consent training meetings, if you must know.

“I’m seeing talking boxes. I’m gonna hurl...” she rolled over and I tried to grab her before looked down and vomited... right on to the Beings no doubt.

Sorry guys... I’ll make it up to you.

Tatsuki groaned.

“Things... freaking out. I’m an Orihime nightmare again,” she gritted her teeth and seemed to be trying to wake up. She eyed me.

“Are you going to melt into Banana pasta with shrimp and lemon? That happens a lot in these dreams,” she wheezed and coughed, staining the floor with flecks of red. Dear lord what food had Orihime forced Tatsuki to eat?!

I picked her up as best I could. I made an ice stone for her swollen cheeks and grinding ribs. She sighed.

“That feels nice... you’re not bad for a food monster,” she rambled. Her blood loss was getting bad.

“You can eat me anytime but you need to stay awake or Orihime’s coming back with dessert,” I said cheerfully. Tatsuki shivered and her eyes seemed to force themselves back open.

“That’s perverted... are you a pervert?” Tatsuki accused and groaned again as we moved through the halls.

“No! I know someone who knows Jesus, that’s like 1/3 sainthood right there!” I promised and Tatsuki forced a smile.

She did lose consciousness so I rushed a little faster into the dark halls.

---

Tatsuki remembered pain. Training pains, aches from bad falls, boys ganging up on her telling her she wasn’t allowed to be the best at Karate... she remembered her Dad leaving and her Mother never quite getting over it.

Tatsuki remembered finally having a friend and then he left her alone.

She remembered her losses as potential coaches rejected her. Tatsuki even remembered the pain of those lonely days when Ichigo was still gone and Orihime wasn’t there.

Everyone left and Tatsuki was forced to watch their backs fading.

Always Tatsuki getting left. Always left behind.

Still, there was something about your ribs breaking that had its own kind of flavor on the pain scale. Yet as she became aware, her body felt not as bad as it should be.

She remembered a delicious lemon-vanilla pie talking to her and making her smile. Really odd dream and it was most likely Orihime’s fault!

“Russ, you basically jostled her ribs about. I swear she had more damage because you were panicking,” a female voice said and someone replied.

The scent of lemon and vanilla filled her nose.

“I had you unconscious, Tatsuki dying, and Chisai looking ready to rescue me!” a man complained but the jest in his voice was clear. He had a sort of slow drawl but in a calming manner rather than someone trying to be annoying or dumb.

“I was worried!” a different guy interjected. He seemed soft-spoken but Tatsuki groaned and the conversation went quiet.

Opening her eyes she saw... a ruined library with almost no books. Three faces peered down at her. A girl with black hair pulled back in pigtails. Her eyes blinked slowly but seemed to be reserved. A man in a weird black robe smiled pleasantly. He had a sword... of all things. The last was someone familiar. The scruffy chestnut hair and slight signs of a beard growing in mixed with his blue eyes and easy going face.

“Does she see me?” the robed man pondered. Tatsuki narrowed her eyes and her foot planted into his stomach before she curled her body and sent him flying over her head with a launch of both feet.

She tried to climb to her feet but the girl raised an eyebrow. Tatsuki had been kidnapped because she had no idea where she was and she was at her school! She launched to put the girl in a chokehold but the demure looking girl frowned before she lashed out with her own leg and as Tatsuki moved to the side, a long chain surrounded her body and she fell over. Despite the spikes on them... they didn’t seem to dig deep.

“I like her!” the girl announced before she bent down.

“Not to be a pain but I just fixed you up, some gratitude would be nice. Russ also carried you throught danger infested halls so you need to thank him too,” the girl said brightly.

“Maria, let her up. She’s just confused. She reacted in a reasonable way from her point of view. If we talk to her we can stop trying to hurt each other,” the man she had met before said. He had a large shield and mace...

What was going on?

“Tatsuki, do you remember being attacked by a bird thing?” Russel bent down and began to help get the chain off. Tatsuki considered going for his throat but he was... trying to help and he sounded kind of reasonable...

“Yeah... at my school,” she admitted and she winced as a spike cut her slightly but she was freed. She backed away from them but the man she had thrown groaned and held his head with both hands, looking sad like a kicked puppy.

“That was a creature known as Hollow and we’re in a special realm called a ‘Malice Zone’. If you look around, you’ll notice it looks like your school but isn’t,” Russel told her, his voice calm and steady. It made Tatsuki relax a fraction of an inch.

Now that she actually stopped looking for a way out, she did begin to see some similar structures to her school but she shook her head.

“Did you bring me here?” she demanded, face scowling.

“No, you were attacked and injured. My power brought you here to help you and then we healed you. Notice the lack of broken bones and bruising?” he smiled. Tatsuki gingerly touched her sides but dropped her hands to the side in case she needed to punch something.

“That’s... crazy-sounding,” she pointed out to them. Russel held out his hand and it caught on fire. Tatsuki jumped back but Russel didn’t even flinch.

“This world is a crazy place, Tatsuki but you’re not alone here,” he promised and held out his other hand to make ice.

“We got a nerd, a kick-ass J-man sister, and a Reaper whose going to be the very best. Why on earth would ya wanna go back to the normal world?” the girl, Maria, grinned. Her chain glowed with light.

“I’m Chisai and I hope we can be good acquaintances!,” the ‘reaper’ bowed politely. Her own chin dipped a fraction due to manners drilled into her by her senseis and mother.

“So, what? I’m trapped here?” she asked. Everything was too much and she wanted fresh air. Russel mused before a damn scorpion tail emerged from his back pointed to a hallway.

“No, exits that way and you’ll be home before long. Come on, we’ll get you out and if you want... we can talk as we walk you home but if you need space we can just go away. Maria is at your school so we aren’t far,” the man grinned and Chisai pointed, mouth slack.

“How many things can you do? I thought Maria was kidding about the tails?!” he cried.

“I’ll show you when we get home. You can feel my tail and I wanna hold your sword like promised. We got all night so we can even tire ourselves out with some night grinding,” Russel grinned. Tatsuki looked slowly between them and Maria gave her a troubled look.

“I honestly can’t tell,” she admitted and Tatsuki really needed that air.

---

Tatsuki was freaked out, I could see that but she did apologise for throwing Chisai in one of the best wake up reactions I’ve ever seen.

“You can walk me back if you want but you leave before I get home. My Mom doesn’t need to know about... that,” she pointed to the Portal.

“Awesome! Can you show me that kick?!” Maria begged and Tatsuki blinked before rubbing the back of her head.

“Sure if you want but need mats and training guards,” she insisted before she walked on.

With four of us, I felt confident we could take on the Hollow but it was nowhere to be seen. We explained Tatsuki about gems, powers, afterlives... and by that time she was looking ready to throw up again or punch a wall.

“Live in villages with no shoes or live with angels with freaky shapes and you make dungeons because of games?!” she nearly hissed.

“Yeah, want in or...” I offered and she looked at outstretched hand.

“What do I get out of it and why would I want to risk my neck?” she pushed back. Maria got to have friends and find Jesus. Chisai got confidence and the ability to train like never before... Tatsuki?

“You’ll become the strongest fighter in the world if you put the work in and I have no doubt you’ll fight opponents you could only dream of,” I said bluntly. Her browns eyes narrowed.

“Fine line between a fight and looking to die,” she stressed.

I looked right into those scared but fierce eyes.

“I didn’t think you were the type to die,” I said so honestly it hurt.

Acidwire, Yammy, Arrancar, Aizen... she survived them all but I wanted more from her. For her.

Tatsuki’s face smirk blossomed across her face.

“Tatsuki Arisawa. Highschooler, martial artist, and I guess mad woman. Sure, I’ll punch some demons if it means I never have to be scared of a damn bird in a mask again. Now... go away. I’m tired,” she said and left to walk into her house without looking back.

“I think that went well!” I said cheerfully.

“Wait until she meets King,” Maria mused.

Oh yeah... that was gonna happen.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine. She’s a tough girl,” I promised to the group.

---

Tatsuki shrieked. Her mother looked shocked as Tatsuki threw a plate across the room.

Quest: Do this dishes!

Tatsuki twitched at the floating box and promised to strangle that smiling airhead! He forgot to remove her from the power group thing!

Rep lost with mother, System guesses. She doesn’t look happy.

“Who...” Tatsuki hissed but the box was gone.

“Tatsuki, clean that up!”

Quest: clean up your mess. Also clean your room. Maybe do some laundry. System has all these low EXP rewards, might as well use them since Russel is homeless.

Tatsuki was about argue until she saw EXP.

She could get stronger already from chores?

“...this has potential but first I need to break down and have ice cream,” she said blankly. Her mother frowned but Tatsuki was cleaning and eating before she could comment.