Nelliel felt the pressure on her lighten as the terrifying spiritual pressure that had been weighing her down vanished.
But she didn't dare to relax in the slightest. The Shinigami's strength far surpassed hers, and her chances of escape were minuscule.
"Mister Shinigami, I have no intention of fighting you. Can you let me leave?" Nelliel asked in a deep voice.
"I sense a peaceful spiritual pressure fluctuation from you, which means you are not an 'Adjuchas' who has grown through slaughter," Sora said with a smile. "Sōsuke, this 'Adjuchas' should have considerable potential. Go and test her skills."
"Yes, Professor." Aizen Sōsuke stepped forward, slowly drawing his Zanpakutō. "Miss Hollow, please show me your strength."
"It seems a battle is unavoidable. Although you are very strong..." Nelliel's eyes narrowed as she brandished the bone spear in her hand, "I cannot fall here!"
Nelliel's front hooves leaped high, and she fiercely thrust the raised bone spear towards Aizen Sōsuke.
Clang—
Aizen Sōsuke blocked the bone spear with the tip of his blade and commented, "Decent power, but completely devoid of technique."
Annoyed, Nelliel leaned forward, putting more of her strength into overpowering this arrogant Shinigami.
However, Aizen Sōsuke's right hand suddenly released his Zanpakutō, and in that instant, his left hand caught the blade as it was about to fly away.
Nelliel's bone spear lost its fulcrum, and her hind hooves could no longer support her suspended upper body. Her entire body instantly lost its balance.
But having four legs had its advantages. Even in a state of imbalance, once her front hooves landed, she steadied herself after a few wobbles, preventing her humanoid half from crashing to the ground.
Yet, before she could readjust her stance, Aizen Sōsuke's counterattack had already arrived.
Aizen Sōsuke held his Zanpakutō in a reverse grip with his left hand and delivered an upward slash.
In her haste, Nelliel could only raise her bone spear to block in front of her.
A flash of the blade, the Zanpakutō clashed with the bone spear, once again producing a crisp yet ear-piercing sound.
Clang—
The next moment, the bone spear was sent flying. It spun several times in the air before embedding itself in a sand dune several meters away.
"This is bad!!!" Nelliel was instantly horrified.
He was no match for him!
Nelliel had exceptional talent. She had reached her current level not by devouring other Hollows, but simply by absorbing reishi from the atmosphere. However, this also meant that her combat experience was not very extensive.
"Your spiritual pressure is comparable to that of a lieutenant-level Shinigami, yet your combat skills are worse than even a preparatory student at the Academy," Aizen Sōsuke chuckled lightly. "What a waste of talent."
"Don't underestimate me! Try this!" A light began to glow in Nelliel's mouth as spiritual pressure compressed into a ball of light.
"A Cero... this is the first time I've seen one in person. A good chance to test the Kidō the Professor taught me." Aizen Sōsuke raised his right hand. "Ye lord of hosts, ye walls of iron, dragon's march, lion's roar, tiger's howl, wolf's run, sever heaven and earth before the collapse, Hadō #81: Dankū!"
Aizen Sōsuke's talent in Kidō was also very high; he had even mastered high-level Bakudō.
However, he was not yet confident he could block a Cero without the incantation.
A pale red Cero shot from Nelliel's mouth, but its target was not Aizen Sōsuke, but a small sand dune to her right.
Boom—
The sand dune was instantly blasted apart, and countless grains of sand billowed into the air.
The airborne sand instantly obscured the vision of Katori Sora and Aizen Sōsuke. The just-released Cero also filled the area with turbulent spiritual pressure fluctuations, affecting even their spiritual perception, making them temporarily unable to discern the situation within the dust cloud.
Time to run!
After releasing the Cero, Nelliel turned and fled.
She was no fool. She had already planned her escape route before the fight even began!
These two Shinigami were not opponents she could defeat. Staying here would be a pure waste of her life.
However, just as Nelliel lifted her foot to run, she found her body bound by something.
Looking down, she saw that the thing binding her was her own shadow!
"What is this?!" Nelliel instantly panicked. The lingering dust and the spiritual pressure fluctuations from the Cero would soon subside. The window of opportunity to escape was fleeting, yet she was now bound by her own shadow, completely unable to move.
Nelliel struggled with all her might, trying to break free from the shadow's restraint, but found it impossible.
Aizen Sōsuke slowly walked out of the dust cloud and chuckled lightly, "Miss Hollow, you don't have to be so afraid. The Professor has no intention of killing you."
Aizen Sōsuke had long understood his Professor's intentions. The professor was interested in this 'Adjuchas' and had no plans to kill her.
"Not kill me? Then what do you want?"
After the dust settled, Nelliel saw that the shadow entangling her was connected by a black thread of shadow on the ground. The other end of the thread was attached to a Zanpakutō stuck in the ground.
Sora's speed in releasing his Zanpakutō was now extremely fast; he could even achieve Shikai without reciting the release command.
The moment the Cero exploded, Sora had already successfully connected his shadow to Nelliel's.
Using the shadow restraint in his Shikai state required him to plant his Zanpakutō in the shadow.
Sora pulled his Zanpakutō out of the shadow, and the shadow binding Nelliel's body swiftly receded.
"You must rarely fight. To have grown to this level just by absorbing reishi from the atmosphere, your talent is very high," Sora said gently. "You've seen Sōsuke's strength. Even though he only used a level of spiritual pressure similar to yours, you were completely unable to withstand his assault. That is the difference in 'skill'."
"Are you willing to become my disciple? I can teach you these things and make up for your shortcomings."
Sora's words surprised Aizen Sōsuke. He had thought his Professor merely wanted to capture this Hollow for research, not take her as a disciple!
Nelliel was equally astonished. She hesitated and said, "Aren't Shinigami beings who specifically hunt Hollows? I heard there's even a Shinigami army in the Menos Forest!"
"Shinigami come to Hueco Mundo to kill Hollows only to maintain the balance of the three realms and send souls to the World of the Living for reincarnation," Katori Sora said. "Your talent is quite good. I am curious to see what level you can reach under my guidance."
"Then, after becoming your disciple, can I stay in Hueco Mundo?" Nelliel asked.
"Your current strength is decent among ordinary Hollows, but there are strong ones in Hueco Mundo as well. If you encounter them, you are not yet strong enough to protect yourself. Therefore, you must first return with me to the Soul Society to train for a period. Once you can protect yourself, you can return to Hueco Mundo at any time," Sora said.
The Spiritual Arts Academy would start next week. Sora would be busy after that and couldn't come to Hueco Mundo often to teach her.
So it was more convenient to bring Nelliel to the Soul Society for instruction.
"It is my honor to become the disciple of a powerful being like you..."
[Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck requests to become your disciple. Do you accept her as a direct disciple?]
Sora looked at the message that appeared before him. Without hesitation, he immediately confirmed, accepting Nelliel as his disciple.
[Successfully accepted Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck as a direct disciple]
[Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck's Affinity Level has increased. Current Affinity Level: Friendly]
[First Hollow disciple obtained. Acquired extra reward—Shinigami Reishi Vaccine]
[System optimization. Added Tutoring Feedback function for Hollow disciples. Optimized panel display]
Sora was somewhat surprised. After accepting Nelliel as his disciple, the Professor System was actually updating.
Moreover, the Tutoring Feedback function now distinguished between Hollows and Shinigami. The rewards for each might be different.
Sora looked at his own panel. His basic abilities panel had already changed:
[Basic Abilities (Shinigami)
Spiritual Pressure lv90
Swordsmanship lv90
Kidō lv80
Hakuda lv70
Shunpo lv75
[Basic Abilities (Hollow): Spiritual Pressure lv0, High-Speed Regeneration lv0, Hierro lv0, Sonído lv0]
He had gained a Hollow basic panel!
However, the Hollow panel was grayed out. When Sora focused his attention on it, he saw a prompt:
[Activates upon obtaining Hollow powers]
Sora had not yet obtained Hollow powers, so he couldn't activate the Hollow basic panel for now.
He continued to examine the other extra reward:
[Shinigami Reishi Vaccine: Can assist in a Hollow's Shinigamification. After using this vaccine on a Hollow, the power of a Shinigami can be borrowed to make it an Arrancar. Note: This vaccine is valid for 7 days]
Sora had directly obtained an item that could turn a Hollow into an Arrancar!
Unfortunately, the validity period of this 'Shinigami Reishi Vaccine' was a bit short, only 7 days. There was no time to study it, otherwise, he might have been able to reverse-engineer the formula from the vaccine.
However, using the vaccine on Nelliel would provide an Arrancar as a reference subject, which could also speed up the Shinigamification research in his laboratory.
Sora planned to use the 'Shinigami Reishi Vaccine' after returning to the Soul Society.
"Nelliel, I need to find some shells before taking you back to the Soul Society," Sora said.
"What kind of shells is the Professor looking for?" Nelliel asked.
"A large one with a spiral structure will do. The Cero just now scared away all the small animal Hollows nearby, so we'll have to search carefully," Sora said.
"A shell with a spiral structure..." Nelliel thought for a moment and said, "I know a place that has them. I have two companions near there, it's not very far. I can take you there, Professor. It'll also be a chance to say goodbye to my companions."
A short while later, Nelliel led Sora and Aizen Sōsuke to a place with rocky terrain.
There were many holes in the rocks, scattered about. The smallest were the size of a fist, and the largest were bigger than a basketball.
"Hermit crab Hollows?" Sora saw some hermit crab-like Hollows crawling out of some of the holes.
"These Hollows make shells out of sand and bone. The shells they create also have a spiral structure, which should meet the Professor's requirements." Nelliel searched in a hole. "The shells of these Hollows are very sturdy. Even if the body dies, the shell will remain."
Nelliel poked her bone spear into a hole, prodding out the little thing hiding inside.
She checked a few; they were all alive. These small-sized animal Hollows were not aggressive towards larger creatures. After being pulled out by Nelliel, they just retracted into their shells and didn't move.
Nelliel put them back and continued her search.
After a while, she found a few empty shells in a hole.
"Professor, I found some undamaged empty shells. Will these do?" Nelliel held up a shell that was slightly larger than her palm.
Sora took the empty shell and examined its internal structure. It was indeed spiral. To be safe, he took all the empty shells Nelliel had found.
"Professor, two of my companions are nearby. Before leaving Hueco Mundo, I'd like to say goodbye to them. Is that alright?" Nelliel asked.
"Of course," Sora nodded.
"Hollows have friendships too...?"
Aizen Sōsuke was very puzzled. He looked at Nelliel walking ahead and couldn't help but ask his Professor:
"Professor, aren't Hollows' hearts empty holes? I've also read a theory that Hollows need to devour souls to fill the emptiness in their hearts, and that this act is actually a search for psychological satisfaction and comfort. Why do they still have emotions?"
"Emotions are somewhat related to the emptiness of the heart, but they are not equivalent. Based on my observations, it depends on the individual. However, emotionally Hollows are ultimately a minority," Sora replied, based on the Hollows he had seen and his memories from his previous life.
"The knowledge in books still has many limitations. This trip to Hueco Mundo has been quite an eye-opener for me," Aizen Sōsuke said with a smile.
The two followed Nelliel to the front of a cave.
"Pesche! Dondochakka!" Nelliel shouted into the cave.
Nelliel shouted for a while but didn't see her friends come out. A look of confusion crossed her face. "Did they go out?"
"Nelliel, are your friends Menos Grande?" Sora asked. "I don't sense any slightly stronger spiritual pressure nearby."
Sora didn't sense any Menos Grande other than Nelliel.
Nelliel shook her head, "Pesche and Dondochakka are not Menos Grande yet."
"Your friends might be in a bit of trouble." Sora's eyes narrowed slightly. He knelt down at the entrance of the cave and found a few drops of blood on the edge. "Very fresh blood."
Nelliel was instantly alarmed and sensed the spiritual pressure on the bloodstains.
"It's Dondochakka's spiritual pressure!"
Based on the residual spiritual pressure fluctuations on the blood, Sora carefully sensed the nearby fluctuations and found that Pesche and Dondochakka were already outside his perception range.
Sora walked to a sand dune in front of the cave, plunged his hand into the sand, and pulled out a pangolin-shaped Hollow.
The pangolin Hollow was half the size of a person. After being pulled out, it was furious and immediately bit at Sora's hand.
Crack—
After its teeth were shattered by spiritual pressure, the pangolin Hollow trembled in Sora's hand.
"Can you speak?"
"I can... a little..." The pangolin Hollow's voice was airy.
"What just happened here?"
"The Menos Grande from Las Noches... they came to conscript soldiers!"
---
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