Chapter 22: Teaching a lesson!

Grayson stood tall as he re-sheathed his sword, looking over at the 6th seat he had just defeated, hearing the whispers and murmurs of the crowd as they had just watched what happened.

"Wow, what was that power?" Momo asked, trying to figure out what his Zanpakutō's ability was having watched closely.

"Whatever it was, it sure made light work of Bosetsu." The 3rd seat, Sezaki said, keeping his arms crossed over his chest having watched everything carefully.

"Well, there we have it." Captain Aizen said after a moment, not seeming interested in what was going on any longer.

"Now that things are settled, I will leave the rest to you, Momo." He said, turning around before flashing her a small smile.

"Yes, sir." She said, deciding to head down toward Grayson to give the announcement.

"As you have all bore witness to, 5th seat Grayson is the victor of the bout," Momo said, getting everyone's attention.

"Now, I suggest you all get along, otherwise you will have me to answer to." She said, causing all of them to sweat a little before she returned to her happy cheerful self.

With nothing else to see most of the soul reapers decided to leave, attending to their daily duties, leaving Grayson alone with Lieutenant Momo and 3rd seat Sezaki, while 4th seat Tesho took the 6th seat away to the medical unit.

"Causing such a fuss already and it's only your second day, 5th seat," Sezaki said, stroking his small goatee.

Grayson rubbed the back of his head, not really knowing what to say.

"Anyway, make sure to get yourself cleaned up, oh and get some new clothes from the barracks," Momo said, seeing that he had rips and tears in his uniform from the fight.

Grayson nodded, still not saying much to them, simply placing a hand on the butt of his sword resting it there.

"Of course, thank you, lieutenant," Grayson said, making sure to show her the proper respect.

"Oh, and Grayson. Do try and stay out of trouble." Momo then said, flashing a kind smile at him, causing Grayson to do the same.

"Of course, I'll do my best." He said, bowing a little.

With that both Momo and Sezaki took their leave, deciding that there was nothing else to be done here, leaving Grayson to sort his affairs alone.

Finally... Grayson thought, allowing him to open his stats screen now that they had gone.

Name: Grayson.

Level 27. (8000/17000).

Class: Soul reaper of squad five. 5th seat.

Health: 220/255

Stamina: 240/255

Reiatsu/Reiryoku: 290/380

Skills- Hadō 31 Shakkahō level 3/10.

Hadō 1 Shō level 3/10.

Flash step 4/10

Strength: 35/100 (1/10)

Speed: 25/100 (1/10)

Intelligence: 65/100 (1/10)

Enhanced skills -

Zanjutsu: 4/10 (1/10)

Zanpakuto name: Jūryoku no Megami.

Hakuda: 5/10 (0/10)

Kidō: 3/10 (0/10)

Skill points available: 3.

Grayson looked over his stats, seeing that he had been rewarded with a large amount of Exp and another skill point for defeating the 6th seat.

I guess I'll play with those skill points later. Grayson thought, seeing that he had three to play with now.

But first, I had better sort some things out, starting with a new uniform. He then said to himself, heading off to get things sorted.

Before Grayson knew it a week had passed allowing him to start getting into the swing of things and learn what was expected of him being the 5th seat of a squad.

However, to his surprise his actual duties didn't consist of much, having only one or two things that he needed to do every day, leaving most of the time he had free, allowing him lots of freedom to roam the grounds.

Thanks to his dual with the 6th seat Bosetsu Grayson had already earned a name for himself with the lower ranks, seeming to have gained their respect, including Tsuburo Yasuyosu, who had also joined squad 5 with Grayson from the academy.

At first, he had clearly not been a fan of Grayson, having lost to him in their final exam, however, after witnessing his battle with a seated officer, he soon realised just how far he was outclassed, giving his respect to Grayson for proving he was stronger than he had thought.

With little to do other than potter around the Squad 5 barracks, Grayson found himself in the training hall during most of his free time, even offering to train some of the other soul reapers and take charge of some of the training sessions that 4th seat Tesho usually led, something the 4th seat wasn't all too happy about.

Grayson didn't really care all that much, having gained more popularity than the 4th seat had anticipated, leaving him with little option but to let him do as he pleased for the time being unless he wanted to receive backlash and lose respect from the men.

Grayson found himself leading a sparring session, using his new subordinate Yasuyosu as a training partner in the large training hall or dojo that belonged to squad 5.

"That's it, but do it more like this," Grayson said showing the group another time as he disarmed Yasuyosu before sweeping his legs from under him, making it look easy.

"Wow, so fast." Some of the soul reapers said, watching his technique.

"Now, everyone find a partner and try it out for yourself. Remember, if you can disarm your opponent, then you have already won half the battle." Grayson said, getting a nod from the group before they started to practice themselves.

Grayson watched them all go off and try it for themselves, keeping an eye on their technique to see if they were doing it right.

Grayson couldn't help but remember back to the time he had fought Jujo back in the fight pit during his time in the Rukon district. He had used pretty much the same technique on him that he was showing them now.

So strange how time works... Grayson thought, crossing his arms over his chest with a chuckle, letting his awareness slip a little.

Suddenly the doors swung open, slamming and announcing the people standing in the doorway.

Everyone stopped what they were doing, looking at the three men that were standing there before looking back over to Grayson.

"What are you teaching here?" A familiar voice asked, not sounding happy.

Grayson looked over to see both the 4th and 6th seats, along with a new face he had only seen once before now.

"Ah, nice of you to join us for practice, Tesho, Bosetsu... And?" Grayson said, not remembering the name of the other man as he looked him up and down.

"7th seat Semano Ashige." The man said, introducing himself with a slight nod to Grayson, seeing that he outranked him.

Grayson could see that he was rather tall, had long black hair that he kept tied back in a ponytail, and also seemed to have good muscle tone around his body.

"Nice to meet you," Grayson said, not holding any ill will toward any of them, simply smiling.

"Anyway, like I said, are you here to join us, or do you need something?" Grayson asked after a moment, clearly pissing off the 6th seat, causing him to scoff.

"What in the hell are you teaching here?" He said, walking into the training hall before he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm teaching some Hakuda, actually," Grayson said stating the obvious.

"Why?" He then asked, not looking happy.

"I believe what Bosetsu is trying to say, is that we usually focus more on Zanjutsu training here." Tesho suddenly said, stepping in for the time being to stop Bosetsu from trying to start a fight.

"Well, I thought I would mix it up a little," Grayson said, this time crossing his arms over his chest.

"What need have these men of using their fists when they have swords." 7th seat Ashige asked, stepping forwards.

Oh great, another challenge... Grayson thought, seeing exactly what was going to happen here.

Everyone else in the room could also feel the tension between the seated members but knew it was not their place to say anything.

"Well, how about a challenge?" Grayson asked, deciding to get this over and done with once and for all.

"I would be more than happy to show you just how effective Hakuda can be," Grayson said, causing the others to raise an eyebrow.

"What did you have in mind?" 7th seat Ashige said, seeming to take the bait.

"How about you pick from all of the men in here, choose as many or as little as you wish for them to fight me all at once, and hell, they can even use their training swords," Grayson said, thinking this would be a good way to not only show them but also finish teaching his lesson at the same time.

Ashige could see that there were 20 men here in the training hall, knowing that even if Grayson was the new 5th seat, there was no way he could take them all on unarmed.

"Ok, you have a deal." He said, biting, along with the 6th seat who also piped up.

"Fine, I would love to see you take everyone on unarmed." He said with a smirk on his face, thinking the same thing the 7th seat was.

"Very well, the first man to land a blow on 5th seat Grayson here will be relieved of all of their duties for a whole month." 4th seat Tesho suddenly said, seeming to make up the rules for the arrangement, getting an excited whisper from the men.

So it's like that is it... Grayson said to himself, watching as everyone else looked at him to see if he would agree to the challenge.

"Very well, I accept your terms. You heard him you lot, grab your bokkens and feel free to attack me as you wish. Anyone to land a strike will be rewarded as 4th seat Tesho said before." Grayson said, watching everyone nodded their heads as they slowly picked up their bokkens from the racks at the side of the dojo.

"Very well, let's see you handle this." 6th seat Bosetsu said as he lifted his arm, getting ready to give the signal for them to start.

New quest: Don't get hit and defeat the men. The system suddenly pinged in Grayson's mind.

Reward, 2000 Exp.

Why am I not surprised? Grayson thought, knowing that he was going he hear from his system because of this. Still, he was happy for the easy Exp, having found it a slow grind just training by normal methods.

Grayson could see that the soul reapers were taking this seriously, having a chance at a month's holiday was a big deal for them, leaving no room for them to pick their favourite officers at the moment.

"Begin!" Bosetsu shouted, waving his arm as he gave the signal for them to start, watching Grayson like a hawk, hoping that he was going to get clipped around the head and cause him to lose respect.

"Sorry sir!" One of them suddenly yelled, jumping into the air as he tried to attack Grayson head-on, swinging his wooden sword down at Grayson's head.

However, Grayson was much too quick, stepping to the side before he gripped the hilt of the bokken between the soul reaper's hands, twisting it away from him and sweeping his legs from under him in one swift motion, using the technique that he had just been showing them on him.

The soul reaper hit the wooden floor hard, getting the wind knocked out of him causing the others to flinch a little as they thought twice about attacking head-on like that while watching him roll around on the floor in pain.

"That's one down, 19 more to go," Grayson said, dropping the bokken to the floor, causing it to bang on the cold wood, seeming to give the signal for the others to attack.

Grayson used his speed and flash-step ability to dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge everything that was thrown at him, punching and kicking anyone within range as he either knocked them out or disarmed them, taking them out of the fight in a flash.

"So fast!" Some of the remaining soul reapers said, keeping to the back as Grayson dropped another bokken onto the ground, having hold of the soul reaper in a choke from behind, pushing him to the ground and allowing him to scurry off.

"What the hell are you doing, hurry up and attack him all at once!" Bosetsu yelled clearly angry that Grayson was proving too much for them to handle.

"Like I said. Hakuda when applied correctly is not to be underestimated." Grayson said, making sure the soul reapers were listening to him, using this to drill in a key point to the lesson.

"Now, come at me and we can finish this lesson once and for all." Grayson said, taking a fighting stance as he waited for the next wave to attack him, seeing that only 7 of them were left.

Each of them looked nervous after seeing his speed and ability, not only being able to avoid all of their attacks but also being able to disarm each of them without even using a weapon.

Tsuburo Yasuyosu was also among those that were left as he circled around Grayson, having already fought against him once, and he was keen to not make the same mistake of charging in twice.

"Argh!" One of the men yelled, rushing in from the left, prompting another to attack from the right, both of them working together as they attacked at the same time.

Grayson didn't mind at all, simply taking a step backwards to avoid both of their downward strikes, causing them to almost hit each other.

Grayson quickly dropped to his knee and kicked his leg out in a fast sweeping motion, kicking both of their legs out from under them using a mortal kombat sweep.

Now is my chance! Tsuburo Yasuyosu yelled, seeing that Grayson's back was exposed, giving him a chance to attack him from behind.

Yasuyosu attacked with a downward strike, using all of his strength and speed to attack, knowing that if he pulled his punches he would pay for it.

"I've got you!" Yasuyosu yelled, watching as his bokken was not an inch away from the back of Grayson's head, about to make contact with his skull.

However, Grayson had already planned for this, knowing someone would attack his blind spot, taking advantage of his low position on the floor as he spun around on his knee, using his open palm to guide the side of Yasuyosu's bokken away from his head and his other hand to slam a knife hand thrust into his stomach, hitting just below the belly button.

"OGHH!" Yasuyosu yelled out, feeling the horrible sensation of pain drop him to the ground while Grayson slowly stood up.

"Sorry about that, Yasuyosu." Grayson said, flashing him a somewhat apologetic smile.

Now only four of them remained, but none of them looked like they wanted to risk attacking, knowing they were no match for him with their current ability. Something that the other officers could also see, knowing the test was over.

"Clearly they don't stand a chance against you, so how about sparring with me?" 7th seat Ashige said stepping forwards to everyone's surprise.

Grayson raised an eyebrow, not liking the cocky attitude of the 7th seat considering they had only just met.

Quest complete. You have been rewarded with 2000 Exp. The system suddenly said in Grayson's mind.

New quest, defeat the 7th seat. Reward 3500 Exp and one skill point. It then said, issuing him a new quest and an easy one at that.

"Sounds good to me." Grayson said, accepting his challenge.

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End of this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it!