It had been three days since Kaneki was kidnapped, and right now he was probably trying his best not to vomit while he was unraveling human corpses or something.
Maybe he was being beaten up by some random ghoul. Unfortunately, the present Kaneki doesn't have a shred of the conviction needed to use Rize's kagune.
Several characters make this more than clear – the total quantity of rc cells as well as their "quality" affect the kagune, but the user's willpower, intellect and imagination are even more important elements.
A sufficiently skilled kagune user has been shown to be able to subvert common sense about them, altering their shape and size with great freedom.
But this doesn't just apply to ghouls and their kagunes, many anime, series and films work like this: the protagonist constantly loses until the moment he makes up his mind and decides to fight.
In more serious cases, this is called "pulling power out of the ass".
"Leaving aside Kaneki's possible suffering, I wonder what I should do now... I'm already 'practicing' to control puppets and my idea of controlling vitality needs me to awaken a kekkijutsu, which will take time... so I think it's time to start developing my 'supreme blade'." Lucian rubbed his chin as he thought about what to do during his "free time".
While reading a manga about a pink-haired vampire, he saw a technique that really enchanted him, the "Hougetsu Jigen-tou", a "sword" that uses a movement between dimensions to cut through all matter.
Although far-reaching techniques that destroy everything in a large area are very interesting, he still prefers such a technique capable of ignoring all resistance and killing the opponent with ease, especially considering how stylishly it is used throughout the book.
Beheading opponents with his bare hands is very much in keeping with his fighting style.
Even if this technique isn't that useful when fighting immortals… after all, they regenerate.
But a well-known fact is that spatial abilities have a superiority over many others.
Want to kill me? Try, I can teleport to a place a thousand kilometers away.
Do you want to run away? You can try, but I can appear directly in front of you.
Are you fast? No matter how fast you cover a distance, you can't be faster than getting to point B instantly.
Is your defense unparalleled? In the face of the power of space, all matter collapses without resistance… or almost.
Is your attack powerful? No matter, look at a portal returning your attack.
Of course, the uses of space powers aren't just in combat, just look at the infinite castle and you'll know that those with powers of this kind never run out of places to sleep.
"Too bad my powers are still limited at the moment. But the 'dimensional blood' should be enough for that." Even though it's a relatively low-level spatial ability, it's still a spatial ability.
As for the infinite castle... this is a very specific skill, which unfortunately has purely logistical capabilities.
At most, it can prevent certain people from entering or reorganize the internal environment to gain an advantage.
With a thought, a crimson belt of blood came out of Lucian's body, taking on the role of an extra limb. Soon, he picked up a thick wooden stake and placed it upright in the ground.
Whether it was for training, trying out some idea or any other purpose, Lucian had many of these stakes and a lot of other things stored in various storage spaces. There didn't seem to be a limit anyway, so why not carry a lot of stuff around?
It'll come in handy at some point.
It would certainly be easy for him to break that stake with a single movement, quick and easy. But at the moment the aim was not to use physical strength to complete this feat.
Therefore, he slowly tried to insert the belt into the middle of the stake.
"Just as I expected." Lucian nodded when he saw the results.
He had failed. Failed completely.
Not even scratching the surface of the wood.
It would be unexpected to succeed on the first attempt.
He knew from the start that simply creating a portal wouldn't be enough to get the result he wanted.
"How do I do it? How to do it? How to make the space 'vibrate'? Following the same principle as a vibrating blade and jigen-tou, the greater the 'vibration', the greater the damage. I imagine a 'portal' would do that."
After thinking for a while, Lucian came up with a possible solution to his little problem.
Opening a portal to teleport is using a distortion in space to arrive at a certain point in space instantaneously.
Creating two opposing distortions would probably be the easiest way to cause a rupture in space and destroy the matter in the way.
"In short, create 'portals' that 'flow' in opposite directions to 'rupture' the fabrics of space, and naturally, the greater the amount of 'flows' and 'distortions', the greater the destructive power, which actually means greater speed in attacks and the ability to break through spatial barriers."
With a low number of distortions, this dimensional sword would only work on static targets, they need to happen quickly and constantly so that the sword doesn't lose its cutting power.
"With the theoretical part 'done', now all that's left is to try the practical part."
Theories are easy to make and many of them are often wrong, but he couldn't say for sure that it was right, at least not yet.
He could only be sure when he tried it in practice, figuring out how to make the theory a reality and adjusting any errors that might be in it.
Talking is easy, doing is difficult.
And even if he succeeded, it would be a while before the frequency of spatial ruptures became fast enough to be considered good.
Fortunately, his kekkijutsu spared him from what would be the first and most difficult step – sensing and affecting space.
This can be said to be one of the greatest benefits of awakening a kekkijutsu, no matter how difficult it would be to learn a similar skill, when you awaken a kekkijutsu, you automatically get to learn how to use it.
So the moment he obtained this kekkijutsu, he knew how to teleport and create storage spaces.
But of course, further development and application of the ability is completely up to the user.
And that's what he'll do next, develop a technique taking a ability as a basis.
Having made up his mind, he started trying to use his version of Jigen-tou. Creating dimensional blood and letting it flow is easy, but creating two portions that "move" in opposite directions is quite difficult, especially considering how specific the collision between the two portions would have to be for success to be achieved.
In his various attempts, the biggest problem he was encountering was the collapse of his blood band, which exploded directly due to the violent collision between the two blood flows.
"Let's... collide only the power, not the blood that carries it," he said as he concentrated as hard as he could, fearing that he would make a mistake when he was close to succeeding.
And his worries were right, because he still failed.
After all, only those generic isekai protagonists succeed on their first attempts or, in some cases, without even trying.
"Wait... going to another world... being powerful from the 'start'... having a harem... oh my god, am I a generic isekai protagonist?" Suddenly a thought crossed Lucian's mind as the dots connected.
"At least I didn't meet any gods offering abilities."
If he couldn't get it while he was concentrating, could he get it while he was distracted? The answer was naturally no.
His belt exploded again and thanks to his distraction, he ended up bathing in his own blood.
"That girl is better than I expected, her skills are very good..." Mitsuri burst in, but the scene she was confronted with stunned her, preventing her from continuing, "What are you doing?"
"Just trying something," Lucian replied as the blood in his body receded, gradually disappearing.