Chapter 002: Alright, Let's Go!
Having a goal meant having direction.
Matsushita Yusuke didn't let up for a single moment in the time that followed.
On one front, he kept focusing on calligraphy to maximize his contact opportunities with Aizen Sosuke. On the other, he was grinding his own stats up.
Shin'o Academy's curriculum ran roughly like a university system.
Everyone had required coursework that couldn't be skipped. Everything beyond that was more or less elective, chosen based on the student's intended path.
That said, "elective" didn't mean "optional" in any real sense.
If anything, it was the opposite.
The Academy's course structure was specifically designed so that students mapped out their future careers from day one of enrollment.
Planning to join the Gotei 13? Then Zanjutsu was the top priority. Hakuda was a close second, too important to ignore.
Aiming for the Kido Corps, or the Onmitsukido? Then Kido and Shunpo were what needed the most work.
As noted before, Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hoho, and Kido were the four required disciplines for any Shinigami. But in practice, each one served a different purpose depending on the career track.
Biting off more than you can chew: generally not a great idea. Very applicable here.
For Matsushita Yusuke, though, the situation was a little different.
"So the foundational technique of basic Kido is centered primarily on the application of reiryoku. You gather it, focus it, and then release it from..."
Sitting in the classroom while the instructor droned on, Matsushita Yusuke took a quick glance at his quest log.
[Learn Basic Kido Theory]
[Profile: Simple as it is, every skill tree starts at level one. Even the most basic knowledge requires real effort to nurture before it can grow into something towering.]
[Rewards: Basic Kido Knowledge +1]
About a dozen quests like this were lined up in his log at any given time.
Thanks to how the quest completion system worked, he didn't actually need to pay close attention in class most of the time.
Completion was based on results, not participation.
Same as university, really. You showed up, so you were counted as present. Whether you actually listened? Didn't matter. Wasn't going to affect the professor's paycheck either way.
Which was exactly why Matsushita Yusuke had signed up for essentially every available course that offered any kind of stat improvement.
Major practical courses on actual combat application, minor theory lectures like this one: he hadn't left out a single one. He took everything on the menu.
Made sense, really. He was an orphan from Seireitei. No family, no one waiting for him anywhere, and basically no hobbies outside of classes. Shin'o Academy covered room and board in full. If he didn't use this time to get stronger, what was the alternative? Waiting around for the Wandenreich to invade and getting flattened like a speed bump?
Studying was the whole point.
That said, as he'd already noticed before.
For courses that were limited in what they could actually teach, the side quest rewards were just as limited.
It was labeled as Basic Kido Theory, sure.
But what he actually got felt a little off from what was advertised.
Not even a direct Kido stat point. Just a life skill entry, same category as calligraphy.
Which said a lot about how much substance these classes actually had.
Like those junior college instructors who showed up with a PowerPoint deck from twenty years ago to teach kids how to find a job.
Rough. Really rough.
But as the class wrapped up and Matsushita Yusuke started packing his things, the System chime he'd been waiting for came through right on schedule.
[Quest complete... Rewards acquired]
[Basic Kido Knowledge +1... Your basic Kido knowledge entries have reached full accumulation. Crystallized into skill: Basic Master]
[Basic Master: For Kido numbered 10 and below, chant can be reduced without affecting power output, enabling rapid casting.]
The panel had a way of consolidating all those scattered knowledge pickups into something unified.
And what he'd just received was exactly that kind of consolidated payoff.
Matsushita Yusuke found himself thinking about the other main quest again.
Joining Aizen Sosuke's team would hand him the relevant technique directly. That alone showed just how significant that quest was compared to everything else.
For now, though, all he could do was stare at it with envy. Pushing for deeper contact with Aizen without a natural opening was asking for trouble. One wrong move and he'd be stepping on a landmine.
Careful. Had to stay careful.
He let out a quiet breath and refocused.
Start with the small quests. Build up through the easy stuff first. That approach was still the right one.
He did have some reservations about the low-numbered Kido in general, admittedly.
He remembered a scene from the original story where Captain Kyoraku Shunsui used a low-tier binding Kido to restrain Yasutora Sado. But that was a pure power gap situation. A captain dunking on a kid who hadn't even mastered his fullbring yet, of course it worked. That wasn't the Kido, that was just the difference in strength being absurd.
Still, a skill in hand was a skill in hand. Not testing it would be wasteful.
He lifted his right hand and, following what had been covered in class, started gathering reiryoku toward his fingertip.
Hado #1: Sho!
The most basic of the numbered Hado. Simple and direct in every sense.
Channel reiryoku to the fingertip, constrain and focus it, fire it as a bolt of force like a flash of electricity.
Alright, let's go!
The point of light at Matsushita Yusuke's fingertip burst outward in an instant, a crack of bright impact that cut through the air and skimmed across the lower back of the girl walking in front of him.
"Yah!"
"What's wrong, Keiko?"
"N, nothing... it's just, something just touched my... ah, I can't say it, it's too embarrassing, forget it!"
Matsushita Yusuke was already walking away at a brisk pace, face burning.
Nearly a public indecency incident. Great start.
But regardless of the extremely awkward landing, the attempt itself gave him a real boost of confidence.
Cutting the chant made the whole thing significantly more practical. Against someone strong it wouldn't do much of anything, but against fellow first-years? He could absolutely get some mileage out of this.
Good. Keep building on this.
Time moved on. Another week passed.
Only this time, Matsushita Yusuke did not see the person he'd been expecting at the front of the room.
The figure standing at the podium was someone considerably more surprising.
"Uh, hello everyone. I know this is probably not what you were expecting, so let me explain first."
Standing at the podium was a man with long blond hair and an air of quiet melancholy about him.
Slender build, Shihakusho underneath, but the haori draped over his shoulders made his identity immediately clear.
A captain of the Gotei 13.