Inside a dimly lit room that smelled of pleasant incense, Adam sat cross-legged with three blades floating around him that occasionally vibrated or shook.
Woken up from his meditative state, Adam opens his eyes with an ugly frown before his mind settles.
Kyoka is floating around as if the surroundings were filled with water and she was swimming. She curiously looked at Adam when his facial expression shifted. "Did you receive another Future Vision, Master?" She asked in wonder.
Adam looks absentminded for a moment before he turns his eyes to the silent Muramasa in the room and then Kyoka Suigetsu who is literally in front of his face and floating upside down.
"Is it finally time to act? Mine blade grew dull without any flights to sharpen its edge." She complained while looking helpless and pitiful. Though, that wouldn't work on Adam.
"Even if it is, it's not yet time for you to act." Adam said as a matter of fact which left Kyoka Suigetsu pouting and calling him with various nonsensical names like idiot or meanie. Just a childish tantrum before she calmed down again because while she is throwing a tantrum, she also wouldn't want Adam to think of her as a bother. So, she keeps it in moderation.
"Hmph! I know and I am grateful that you trust me that much to make me a trump card for your fight with the X guy. But why wouldn't you use me at all?" She gave up throwing a tantrum rather quickly this time, Adam noted as she immediately lay flat on all four in the air while floating. "A sword is meant to be used, you know? I know that we liked to be treated as more than just a tool. But Zanpakuto are tools too. If you let us idle for too long, the blade will lose its edge and rust."
Adam sighed. He knew there was no way out from this if he wanted Kyoka to stop pestering him. He had to come clean and he is surprised he can keep her in the dark for almost two months already before she notices something is off and comes to pester him.
"Well, Omniscient and Clairvoyance isn't a power unique to me only. There are more beings out there that can use it and are even more powerful than mine." Adam said and Kyoka Suigetsu quickly and easily figured out the answer for him.
"Oh! I know why… The bad guy X will learn about me, right?" She reached the answer rather fast.
"Yes." Adam nods.
"But I'm bored! I'm bored! I'm bored!" She suddenly threw another childish tantrum again which had become worryingly frequent.
Seriously, Kyoka Suigetsu's ego is very volatile lately. He himself has no idea why since he isn't a proper Shinigami and neither did memories of Aizen have any clue regarding this issue. But according to Muramasa, he also experienced changes although much more subdued than Kyoka Suigetsu which he speculated was caused by the bond of Adam with his Zanpakuto.
Normally, a Zanpakuto is created to reflect a Shinigami's power and soul. They are a unique existence that is essentially a crystallization of a Shinigami's ambition, goal and most importantly, a reflection of their true heart.
Hence, Muramasa theorized that because Kyoka Suigetsu and himself is not Adam's own Zanpakuto and instead were obtained through an unconventional circumstance, through the ability of his original Zanpakuto, which itself is another can of worms to open.
Basically, this kind of circumstance never happened before and is unique only to Adam, hence, Muramasa have no idea or advice to offer to Adam in regards to their changes. As for why he is the least affected is simply because he is the least used and the mending of the bond is sped up through continuous uses, apparently.
Although, the one good news from this is at least, in Muramasa's experience, the changes are with positive benefit. After all, this is Zanpakuto's own attempt to fix and properly bond back to Adam's soul like it intended to instead of the current bond which was like two ends of a rope tied into a knot instead of a one singular rope connecting the both ends.
Adam sighed as it is not her fault either she is acting annoyingly like this. He could only give in and appease her for now and hope this issue will be fixed before the day of the battle arrives.
"Alright. Why don't we go out for a walk?" Adam stood up on one knee and gave her head a good rub which made her face immediately brighten.
"Yay! You promised. Alright! You must accompany me for a walk!" She immediately smiled and latched herself on one of his arms after her form turned corporeal thanks to Muramasa's ability.
"Yes." Adam nodded but before he left. He looks at Muramasa who nods knowingly before he bowed to send Adam off with Kyoka.
While Adam brought Kyoka down to Earth for a pleasant morning walk. Muramasa is attending to a task entrusted to him by Adam. It was regarding the Void Archive.
As much as he wished it wasn't the case. It unfortunately was and Void Archive as expectedly, fell short in performance in comparison to his Zanpakutos.
The reason? The Void Archive was never meant to be used as a weapon. That is a fact and truth. So, its performance falling short is something Adam predicted despite not wanting it to be the case.
So, not only does Void Archive is incapable of matching up its capacity of the copied Divine Keys, they are also fragile as they are mere imitation and Void Archive itself is equally fragile, incapable of withstanding Adam's higher energy output. Which means it cannot be brought into a serious fight unless he wants to break it.
So, what is Muramasa up to? Well, Adam wanted to fix the inherent flaw of the Void Archive. Which was its creation. It was created through mortal means which are bound to fail. Unlike Zanpakuto which is technically a living being. Even if a Zanpakuto is fragile, it can be honed and tempered with uses and grow alongside its wielder.
Adam is indeed trying to make the Void Archive into something resembling a Zanpakuto. Although, not through normal methods since it is not possible. All he did know from Aizen's memory fragments is that Zanpakuto blades are forged from a multitude of Shinigami's souls or whatever that is. But basically the raw material is strong soul and Adam did, he created a metal ingot resembling iron with his Reishi and forged it into steel then created a carbon copy of Void Archive minus the 1st Herrscher Core. Then he disassembled the original Void Archive and transferred its components into a better and sturdier vessel.
Although there's a problem. The AI he replaced in Void Archive might constitute an artificial soul. However, the problem is it's not a real soul either. There is a barrier in place where one is spiritual while another is digital.
So, how did he resolve this problem?
The answer is The Key of Castigation or Key of Corruption. It is the only known thing so far that Adam knew could freely access the physical, spiritual and digital world with its ability to project its consciousness to corrupt things as its name stands as the Herrscher of Corruption.
Adam foresaw the need for the Key of Castigation and kept it when he was in Honkai Verse.
Well, with the 12th Herrscher's Core. Adam is trying to convert the currently digital AI into a spiritual soul. Only that the process isn't easy and very time consuming especially when he wants no chance for error so, he is giving it as much time as it needs to complete and Muramasa is guarding this meditation room which was surrounded with numerous countermeasures to prevent scrying and divinations.
Once it is done, growing Void Archive's power will be in the realm of possibility as the Core of Reason will no longer be just a component of a tool but a living weapon capable of growth and exceeding its limit, a part of the soon-to-be artificial Zanpakuto.
There's also a possibility of accessing the zeroth power of the Divine Keys as long as the Core of Reason can mimic even the Herrscher's core used in those Divine Keys itself since Adam is capable of understanding the Herrscher's Core and thus capable of replicating it.
Thus, this job is rather important and entrusted to Muramasa who despite taken away from his original Shinigami by force, is very fiercely loyal to Adam because unlike his previous owner, Adam acknowledged Muramasa and his loyalty instead of using him as just another tool in his disposal despite able to do so.
———
Unohana had joined Adam's crew for a few months and she had taken quite a lot of curiosity of various healing techniques available within her access. From scientific to futuristic or fantasy to magical methods.
She is very curious about them and very diligently tries to master all of them. Especially Aura and Healing Magic or Magecraft. Which filled the majority of her schedule for the past few months and she almost forgot the real purpose she was here.
For that reason, for once since her arrival, Unohana joined the group training.
Aside from the familiar former Hollows, the Arrancar and also the Quincies. Unohana meets the Servants when she walks up to the sparring ring and sees the sisters, Jeanne and Jalter dueling rather intensely that each move and strike kick up a fierce wind. Although they seem to be relaxed enough to still be able to engage in chatters.
"My. My. You got so strong that all I could do was to fight defensively."
"You too have gotten rather weak lately, Jeanne." Jalter remarked with a hint of mocking in her tone while standing straight and proudly with her chest puffed out while wearing her Servant outfit.
"Well, unlike certain someone. This poor me cannot get direct mana transfer from Master." Jeanne said in a teasing and coquettish manner.
"Don't tell me you want to bitch about unfairness just because you lose against me, Jeanne." Jalter said and sensed that Jeanne is plotting something.
"So what if I am?" Jeanne said with her trademarked smug grin that irked Jalter just by seeing it.
"Oh no you don't. He can fuck any woman he wish and I don't give a shit. But I refuse to share him with you and that's final."
"Oh, don't be a sore loser, Jalter. Besides, I have a legitimate reason for it. We need to be in tip top shape during the battle and what better method it is than an intimate Mana transfer~"
"Over my dead body, you slutty saint!" The infuriated Jalter charged at Jeanne with reckless abandon with her black flagpole poised at Jeanne.
It's hard to determine if Jeanne truly meant what she said as Jalter is in some way, sharing a similar way of thinking as Jeanne and Jeanne truly do not see herself as a Saint or any sort of religious or leadership figure. She sees himself only as The Village Girl, Jeanne, even as a servant. Thus, she had little reserve in the matter of romance. If not because of following the god's teaching to not indulge in adultery and extramarital sex, Jalter doubts there's anything else stopping Jeanne from slipping into Adam's bed. In short, Jeanne also does seek out Adam just as she did. But she dislikes the notion of Jeanne and her sharing the same man. It's illogical but it's akin to a sibling rivalry to be better than others and this is the same case.
"Haah!" Jalter's eyes turned red as she slammed her flagpole down and charged at Jeanne.
As for Jeanne, she is evenly matched with Jalter since they only use their physical strength and technique. However, there's that minute difference between them which Jeanne fell short behind Jalter.
Servants intended to grow stronger as their bonds became stronger. A servant may perform beyond their capabilities simply due to encouragement and trust from their master. Conversely, a strong Servant may fall short because of the lack of confidence and distrust of their Master toward their capabilities. Jeanne is missing out on that advantage which made her fall short in this exchange of blows.
Each of the clashes caused the air to tremble and shake. Jalter rained down a barrage of stabs and slashes but Jeanne calmly blocked and parried all the attacks until Jalter realized fighting haphazardly in rage was futile and snapped back from her enraged state.
Unohana noted that Jeanne is actually purposely making Jalter angry to squeeze more out of her in their duel. Clearly, Jeanne is more experienced and calm while Jalter is more hot headed and brutish in her technique. This is for a simple reason as Jalter is created not as a clone of Jeanne in her entirety. But merely Jeanne focused on the part where she was betrayed by her people. So, she didn't gain all the battle experience that actual Jeanne has. However Jalter can compensate for it with her strength that is one rank above Jeanne, her special metaphysical flame that originally borne out from her desire for revenge and the fact Jalter entire skill set is for offense unlike Jeanne who is the opposite, which is to defend.
Moving on. Unohana also saw the Mechanical Quincy that Adam talked about before. Those Mechanical Quincies are exactly what it sounds like. But unlike the original Quincies. The Mechanical Quincy possesses a hive mind. Each and every mistake it learns is learned by the entire army.
The more you fight it, the more it learns about you and it will formulate countermeasures the next one you fight. Making each battle even harder, provided they hadn't already adapted to you mid fight.
In theory, the Mechanical Quincy Army can take on opponents stronger than them and won't because the Soldat Rank Quincy Android will be cannon fodder to collect information and their losses are negligible as they are designed to be expendable and easily replaced.
The information they gathered will be gathered and used by the higher ranked, Sternritter Rank Quincy Android that is stronger than Soldat Rank Quincy Android not just because of superior body, but also access to better abilities and powers that differentiate them, an elite from cannon fodder, to combat the enemy. They will have access to information like their opponents attack pattern, attack type, etc to formulate effective countermeasures and battle tactics to exploit weaknesses and gaps of the enemy.
Of course, Unohana is skeptical of their usefulness considering Quincy only truly effective in a Reishi rich environment which were unique locations not easily accessible outside of her own world. Unless the battlefield offers that advantage, Unohana doubts they will be much use. Then again, Adam is capable of future sight. Maybe he foresaw the future and created the Mechanical Quincy Army knowing they will be useful or have methods to make them useful in the future battle.
Seeing how the Quincy ladies Adam recruited is diligently training with the Mechanical Quincy Soldats and how they are having hard times despite being Sternritters because their pattern and habit had already been copied from their numerous training, make Unohana forced to accept that the Mechanical Quincy is indeed a credible force instead of just bunch of fancy tin cans.
It made her wonder. If she repeatedly trains the Mechanical Quincy her own combat pattern and habit. Isn't it possible to create an ultimate counter to herself? Just thinking about it made her blood boil in excitement to see what challenge they could present to her as she joined the Bambies to train the Mechanical Quincies.
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