Chapter 12: The cursed sword part 2!

The others watched as Grayson blew the larger Hollow to pieces with his kidō, amazed at how powerful his shot was.

"Now then, let's get to work," Grayson said, turning back to look at the others as he rested the back of his blade on his shoulder.

The others all watched in awe not moving for a moment.

"Don't go acting all cool around me!" Jaku suddenly shouted as he quickly dashed forwards, determined not to let Grayson get one up over him.

Both Izumi and Kimiko had to almost slap themselves to focus on the task at hand, rather than on Grayson, who looked way too dreamy to them right now.

Rocko, on the other hand, was also keen to prove himself and quickly jumped in with Jaku, cutting down as many Hollows as he could, even if he could only use his right arm for now.

"Blast it, I won't lose either!" Kimiko also shouted, quickly dashing forwards as she slashed at a Hollow's head, taking it clean off before she landed back onto the ground.

"Kimiko, look out!" Izumi shouted, quickly blocking an attack from a smaller Hollow, that had managed to get behind her in an attempt to pierce through the back with its claws.

Izumi blocked the Hollow's attack with her sword, batting it away before she lifted her blade over her head and cut the thing in two.

"I don't need your help!" Kimiko yelled, shocked that she hadn't noticed the small Hollow, not wanting to owe Izumi for saving her life.

"Hadō 31, Shakkahō!" Kimiko yelled, skipping the incantation so that she could fire the attack off quicker.

They had been taught that skipping an incantation would result in using a kidō spell much faster, however, its power would be lacking drastically.

That didnt seem to matter against the lower-level Hollows as the kidō attack blasted one of them away, causing Kimiko to smile as she had returned the favour to Izumi as she saved her from another Hollow.

"I won't lose to you either." She then said, with both of them locking eyes and nodding to one another.

Grayson watched as the others did their best to cut down as many Hollows as they could, proving that their training and talent weren't for nothing.

Grayson himself cut down another five Hollows with ease, seeing that his exp was increasing each time he killed one.

"I see..." He said as he cut another one in half, seeing the notification appear in the corner of his eyesight.

"Quest complete. Kill your first ten Hollows, you have been awarded 1000 exp." The system said.

"Nice... Plus 100 exp for each one I kill." Grayson also thought, knowing that at this rate he would be able to farm some serious experience points.

Grayson could see that the number of Hollows hadn't decreased, and they still seemed to keep coming, trying to swarm them with numbers.

"Take this!" Jaku shouted, cutting another Hollow down with an overhead slash.

Jaku was pushing forwards as he proved he was too strong for the lower-level Hollows, giving him a boost in confidence.

Suddenly Jaku spotted a large Hollow, standing behind four smaller ones.

"You... You look strong to me!" He yelled, charging forwards with his sword in his right hand.

"Rocko, on me!" He also yelled, quickly cutting down one of the Hollows, ducking under another swipe before blocking the bite of the third.

Rocko jumped into the air, slamming his blade into the back of the head of the Hollow Jaku was holding off, killing it with ease.

"Alright!" Jaku shouted, quickly turning his sword as he cut through the body of another, leaving him to face the big one while Rocko finished the last one off.

"Your mine!" Jaku shouted, jumping into the air as he thrust his sword forwards in an attempt to finish it in one blow.

The Hollow had a different idea though and easily stopped Jakus's thrust attack with its large arm.

"What in the?" Jaku said, not understanding why his sword had failed to cut it.

The Hollow roared, letting off a crushing howl.

"Arggh!" Jaku yelled, trying to cover his ears before the Hollow attacked him, slamming its fist into Jaku.

Jaku was able to get his blade in front of him in an attempt to block the attack, however, the strength behind it was too much for him to hold against and he was sent flying.

"Jaku!" Rocko shouted as he watched what happened, jumping up as he tried to attack the Hollow.

"No Rocko don't!" Grayson shouted, having watched what happened to Jaku while fighting off more Hollows.

"I can't get there in time!" Grayson said, cutting down another Hollow that got in his way.

The Hollow turned its attention to Rocko, snatching his large frame out of the arm with one of its hands.

"Arghh!" Rocko yelled in pain, feeling the crushing sensation around his body.

"Rocko!" Kimiko cried, trying to run to his aid, only to be blocked by more Hollows.

"Get out of my way!" She yelled, cutting three of them down with ease, trying her best to save her friend.

Rocko knew this was bad, knowing he wasn't strong enough to break free of its grip.

"Darn it..." He said, trying to resist crying out in pain.

"New quest. Save Rocko! Reward 2000 exp." The system said.

Grayson wasn't sure what to do, knowing that there was no way he could get to him in time with so many Hollows trying to block his path

"Why the hell give me a quest like that!" He yelled.

"That's it!" He suddenly said, knowing what to do.

"Rocko! Use Shakkahō!!!" Grayson yelled, knowing it was his best bet to survive.

Jacko heard Grayson's words echo from the distance, getting a confused look from the others too as they panicked, still trying to defend themselves and save their friend.

Rocko didn't know what Grayson meant but knew he was out of options.

"Alright... Here goes nothing." He said, lifting his arm as the Hollow opened its mouth, preparing to take a bite out of him.

"Hadō 31! Shakkahō!!!" Rocko yelled, putting as much energy into it as he could.

Everyone watched as the red orb formed in his hand, knowing what was about to happen.

-Boom!!!-

Rockos Shakkahō suddenly exploded, backfiring on him as it always did.

However, the effects of the explosion were enough to damage the Hollow too, causing it to roar in pain before it dropped Rocko to the ground.

"Alright, it worked!" Kimiko shouted watching in surprise.

Suddenly, Grayson appeared under Rocko, catching his large body before he hit the ground.

"Good job Rocko, now leave this one to me!" He said, quickly dashing towards the Hollow, seeing that it had regained its balance and was pissed.

"Take this!" Grayson yelled, slashing down as the Hollow tries to block his attack with its arm.

Grayson felt his sword cut through the Hollow's arm, knowing he had cut the thing off when he heard it smash onto the ground.

-Howl!-

The Hollow roared in pain as it clutched its arm, crashing around as it tried to crush Grayson.

Grayson smiled as he turned to face the large Hollow, seeing that the other lower-level ones had flocked around it as a defence.

"So this one is controlling the others." Grayson thoughts seeing that Kimiko and Izumi had rushed to his aid.

"Looks like Jaku and Rocko are out of it," Kimiko said, smiling as she started to get excited that she was fighting with Grayson.

"Can you beat that thing?" Izumi asked, knowing she didn't stand a chance against it.

Grayson took a moment to think, seeing that there was still plenty of Hollows surrounding them.

"New quest. Defeat the Hollow leader. Reward, 1000 exp and 1 skill point." The system said.

Grayson smiled, using his reiatsu to boost his abilities, something he had learnt how to do himself, without the help of his system during his 8 months of training.

"Here goes nothing!" Grayson said, glowing red as his Reiatsu flared to life.

The Hollow leader roared, forcing the weaker Hollows to attack him in an attempt to stop him.

"I don't think so!" Grayson yelled, cutting down Hollow after Hollow, using his footwork to make small flash steps as he cut down the Hollows before reaching the leader.

Jaku was awake and back onto his feet now, watching from the distance as Grayson took out all of the Hollows in his way, using the flash step they had been shown.

"No way..." He said, clutching at the hilt of his sword in anger.

"Take this!" Grayson yelled dashing at the head of the big Hollow, taking it by surprise as he moved too quick for it.

The Hollow howled as it tried to defend itself, only to have its head split in two by Grayson's attack, causing it to drop to the ground and turn to dust.

"He did it!" Izumi yelled, never doubting him.

"Holy shit..." Kimiko also said, watching in amazement at what Grayson had just done.

"Quests complete. Save Rocko and defeat the Hollow leader." The system said, showing Grayson that he had received 3000 exp in total and one skill point.

Grayson quickly pulled up his stats to get a quick peek, shocked at the amount of exp he had gained.

Name: Grayson.

Level 22. (200/6000).

Class: Student of the Shinōreijutsuin.

Health: 215/215

Stamina: 170/215

Reiatsu: 150/215

Skills- Hadō 31 Shakkahō level 2/10.

Flash step 1/10

Strength: 25/100 (1/10)

Speed: 15/100 (1/10)

Intelligence: 15/100 (1/10)

Enhanced skills -

Zanjutsu: 8/10 (0/10)

Hakuda: 5/10 (0/10)

Kidō: 3/10 (0/10)

Skill points available: 4.

"Alright, I got so much exp for this," Grayson said to himself as he studied his stats, seeing that he had increased his level by two and now had four skill points, as well as having the flash step skill, not remember seeing that last time.

"Grayson! You did it!" Izumi shouted as she ran over to him, amazed at what he had done.

Grayson could see that the other Hollows were now retreating due to their leader being defeated, giving them time to check on Jaku and Rocko.

"Rocko!" Kimiko shouted as she ran over to him, seeing that his body was in bad shape.

Jaku was also hurt, but in no way near as bad as his friend, looking down at him angry that he wasn't able to do anything to save him.

"We need to get the instructors and get him out of here," Izumi said, knowing he was in bad shape.

"What! You can't be serious!" Jaku said, getting angry.

"It's his only chance, if he doesn't get to a medic now, then he could die." She said, looking at the bad burns on his body.

"I agree..." Grayson said, getting a surprised look from both Kimiko and Jaku.

"He needs medical attention, and there is the fact that we might not be able to protect him," Grayson added.

Kimiko knew that Grayson was right and turned to Jaku.

"We need to get him out of here." She said, turning to Jaku, and giving him a serious look.

Jaku remained silent for a moment before he lowered his head in anger, gritting his teeth.

"Fine..." He said, trying to hold it in before he turned around to look away from the others.

Grayson nodded to Kimiko who nodded back, lifting her hand into the air before she shot a kidō blast into the sky, as they had been instructed to do if they needed help.

"There, now what?" She said, looking at the others as they waited.

"Now we wait for help," Grayson said, putting his sword into its sheath as he took a look around.

Jaku watched Grayson from a distance, feeling angry that he was so much stronger than him.

"That bastard has been holding back this whole time..." He thought, realising he had never taken him seriously enough to try.

Izumi was also amazed at Grayson's strength, thinking the same thing.

"Was he really holding back this whole time?" She thought, watching him as he walked over to the edge of a cliff that overlooked a forest.

"Hey, is anyone else wondering what is taking the instructors so long?" Kimiko asked after a moment, seeming to snap the others out of their thoughts.

"I was just thinking the same thing." Grayson then said, turning to face them with a worried expression.

Meanwhile...

"What the hell happened to the barrier unit; I can't get through to them?" The instructor who was in charge of the exercise said, trying his earpiece again.

"I'm not sure, I can't get through to them either." Another said, also looking confused.

"Hmm... I have a bad feeling about this." The head instructor then said, looking over to the direction the students should be fighting.

"Look!" One of the instructors then said, seeing a blast of red kidō shoot into the air.

"Already?" He said, not liking it one bit.

"No way they shouldn't be asking for help so soon." Another instructor said, knowing that the bait that they had used should only have attracted the lowest-level hollows.

"Besides, the barrier unit would not allow any hollow that would be too strong to pass through regardless if they had been attracted or not.

"Look out!" One of the instructors suddenly shouted, alerting the others to the presence of a huge Hollow that had somehow escaped their attention.

The Hollow was huge, standing at over 5 meters in height. Its mask blended into two large horns that zigzagged and had red markings on them. Its body was well built with solid muscles outlined with greenish-blue skin colour and a large cross-shaped scar over its chest.

"ARGGHH!!!" One of the soul reapers screamed as the Hollow crushed him with its arm, cutting another in half with a blade that popped out of the top of its forearm.

"What the hell is that thing!" The head instructor yelled, never having seen such a strong-looking Hollow.

"What the hell are the barrier team doing!" He then said, watching as the Hollow killed another of the instructors, blasting out a high-pressure blast of Reiatsu from its mouth at the others, taking them off guard, and killing all but the head instructor.

"No... I need to contact soul society... We need backup." The instructor said, cowering as he stepped backwards.

-Sound of a Hollow howling in the distance-

"Did you hear that?" Izumi said, turning to where the loud roar came from.

The others all turned to look in the direction it had come from, knowing what it meant.

"I don't think anyone is coming..." Kimiko said, feeling fear as the howling got closer.

"There it is..." Jaku said, feeling his legs shake as the Hollow came into view, walking into the moonlight and revealing the blood that covered its body.

Grayson's eyes opened wide as he caught the size of the monster, knowing he had seen it before.

"No way... That's... That's the same Hollow!" He said, feeling his body go stiff as he looked at the scar on its chest.

"W-We can't fight that thing..." Jaku said, seeming to be the first one to want to run.

The others agreed as they slowly took another step back, trying to fight the urge to run for their life.

Grayson knew it was the same Hollow he had battled back in the Rukongai, even if it did look slightly bigger.

"System... Check its stats." Grayson said, slowly reaching for the hilt of his sword.

"One moment please..." The system said.

"Finished analysing stats..." The system then said as it opened the display screen for him.

Name:????.

Level 40.

Class: Hollow

Health: 800/800

Stamina: 800/800

Reiatsu: 500/500

Strength: 80/100 (3/10)

Speed: 90/100 (1/10)

Intelligence: 40/100 (1/10)

Skills: Reiatsu mouth blast: Hidden blades.

Grayson looked at its stats, seeing that it was at a higher level and stronger than him, completely outclassing him by far.

"No way... How did it grow so strong." Grayson thought, knowing it was no way near as strong the last time he fought it.

"Grayson, we need to get out of here!" Izumi yelled.

Grayson knew that already. But he also knew that they were all dead once they turned to run.

The Hollow looked at the others and then at Grayson, specifically at the sword that Grayson had on his hip.

"You..." The Hollow spoke, pointing at Grayson with its huge hand.

Everyone was shocked that the Hollow had spoken, knowing that they weren't supposed to do that.

"What the hell Grayson, what is this thing!" Jaku said, asking the question everyone was thinking.

Grayson grit his teeth before he answered.

"This is the Hollow that I fought almost a year ago..." He said, causing the others to gasp.

"And now, it's come back to fulfil the curse on this sword," Grayson said, slowly griping his hand around the hilt of his sword.

"Die..." The Hollow said, letting the blades pop out from each of its arms in a menacing stance, causing everyone to look at it in fear.

"Don't have a choice..." Grayson thought. Drawing his sword with one swift movement.

"It's do or die!"

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That's the end of this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it.