The system didn't notify me immediately.
It waited until I was alone.
After dinner. After patrol rounds. After everyone else had gone back to their rooms.
I stood beneath the same tree I used to meditate under in my first month here, where I first began to feel the weight of the blade, not just carry it.
A soft chime sounded in my head.
---
[Secret Quest Complete]
Encounter with Gotei 13 Captain-Class Officer: Yoruichi Shihōin - COMPLETE
Demonstrated Shikai Release under Combat Observation - COMPLETE
Reward Granted: +25 Stat Points
I let out a slow breath.
I'd been expecting something.
But not this much.
Twenty-five points… this much for merely releasing shikai in front of a captain-class commander?
It was a message.
Not just a reward, a recognition. The system saw Shikai not as an end goal, but as a beginning.
And so did I.
I opened the allocation window.
Available Stat Points: 25
I reviewed my current spread. Even after weeks of grinding, the numbers still looked modest - barely stronger than the average upperclassman.
But now…
Now I had the opportunity to tilt that balance.
---
I thought back to my last training session.
Slipping through shadows. No sound. No trace. But also…
No offense.
I couldn't attack while transitioning. Couldn't block. Couldn't even chant a spell.
My Zanpakutō — Kage — was built for movement, not overwhelming force.
It was an opening tool. A positioning tool.
A silent assassin, not a battlefield monster.
That meant I needed to shape the other half.
Not more Reiatsu. Not more Kido.
I needed Zanjutsu — real sword technique. Power behind each strike. Precision. Finishers.
And for that, I needed Strength.
---
[Allocate Stat Points?]
--> Zanjutsu: +15
--> Strength: +10
Confirm?
Confirmed.
---
The moment the points settled, I felt the difference.
My center of gravity shifted. My grip tightened reflexively. My stance stabilized — even just standing still under the tree.
I lifted the blade.
It felt lighter, sharper, not because it had changed…
…but because I had.
---
I spent the next hour running through forms — quietly, alone.
The standard Zanjutsu drills we'd been taught in class felt tighter now. Cleaner.
Where there had been hesitation before, there was flow.
Where my strikes used to echo the form, now they cut through it.
This wasn't flash.
Not flashy like a Kido barrage. Not noble like a named strike. Not explosive like a raw Reiatsu surge.
This was foundation.
And it fit me better than anything else ever had.
---
[Stat Sheet Updated]
Name: Katsu Joro
Race: Soul (Shinigami Trainee)
Level: 7
— Zanjutsu: C
— Hakuda: F+
— Hoho: E
— Kido: F
— Reiatsu Control: E
— Strength: D+
— Endurance: E
— Perception: E+
Zanpakutō: Kage (影 - "Shadow")
— Shikai: Stealth in Darkness (Yami no Itsukushimi)
— Ability: Slip between connected shadows. Cannot attack or defend mid-transition.
Notes:
— Stealth-based combat style.
— High future synergy with Hoho and assassination-type skills.
— Caution: Avoid prolonged engagements without physical superiority.
---
The system faded. The night returned.
And I knew, without a doubt, that if Daigo challenged me now, I could end the fight in two moves.
But I wouldn't.
Not yet.
They still saw me as average.
Forgettable.
A body in a uniform.
And that was exactly how I wanted it.
For now.
---