Chapter 168 - Healing One’s Soul.

If you want to read ahead go to https://www.patreón.com/cornbringer

Discord Server: https://discord.gg/3dAF3qMP

Goals and rewards of the week.

TOP 1 = 3-4 chapters extra.

TOP 2 = 2-3 chapters extra.

TOP 3 = 1 extra chapter.

To clarify. The bleach arc, and sub-arcs will ignore all filler, and well, a lot of things will change, canon in the bleach universe will be fudged worst than the one in Fairy Tail.

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[Adam C. POV.]

The room tilted and blurred as I tried to push myself to my feet. Every bone, every muscle seemed to scream in protest. The dim room swayed, shadows elongating and contracting as my vision threatened to black out. 

I gritted my teeth.

I hated being sick.

I hated feeling this weak.

It was... infuriating.

A rush of nausea forced me to grab onto the nearby table, knocking over a vase. I tried to steady my breath, leaning heavily on the wood, but the floor seemed to move beneath me like a rocking boat.

"Come on..." I whispered to myself, trying to will my legs to carry me forward. With a heavy effort, I took one trembling step, then another. I could hear my heart thudding loudly in my ears, the pulse echoing through my weakened frame.

Suddenly, before I could take another step, there was a rustling sound, like cloth being dragged over wood, followed by an all-too-familiar chuckle. A flash of green and white appeared from behind one of the room dividers. Urahara Kisuke, emerged sliding in socks, crashing into the wall in an utterly ungraceful manner, shattering the wall upon impact.

"Woah! You know, I really need to practice that entrance more," he remarked, straightening his hat.

Despite my situation, a weak chuckle escaped my lips. Sure, I didn't completely trust him, but I had to admit, trust or not, the guy had a way of making others laugh.

"Quite the entrance," I managed to say, gasping for breath.

He raised an eyebrow, tapping the side of his chin with his fan. "Well, it lightens up the mood, doesn't it? And speaking of lifting spirits..."

I watched as he drew out a small vial from his robe, the liquid inside shimmering with an ethereal light. "Guess what, my bed-ridden friend? After a lot of research, tests, and a little eavesdropping here and there, I might have stumbled upon something that could help with your... current predicament."

"A cure?" I asked.

Urahara winked, twirling the vial between his fingers. "Ehm, not exactly. I mean, it could cure you, or it could turn you into a frog. With this stuff you never really know."

I snorted. "Hilarious."

He walked closer, his usually playful demeanor shifting to a more serious one. "Jokes aside, I actually found a solution to your situation."

"You do?" I replied, thinking to myself almost immediately, of course he does, he's fucking Urahara. 

Urahara's eyes twinkled mischievably, and the corners of his mouth curled upward into a half-smile. "Well, you see, there's a slight catch to this elixir of life I've concocted. The solution to your problem is... dying."

...

Say what now?

I stared at him, dumbfounded. "Dying? You can't be serious."

Urahara chuckled, waving his fan in front of his face as if to ward off the absurdity. "Oh, but I am. Temporarily, of course! Think of it as a hard reset for your system. Sometimes you have to turn it off and on again, you know?"

I blinked, grappling with the weight of his words. "I'm not a computer."

He shrugged, snapping his fan closed and tucking it back into his robe. "I'll go to the point kid; your body can't handle your spiritual pressure."

I knew that. 

I have always known that. But was dying really the answer?

Perhaps I would become a soul, like him.

But then again, perhaps I wouldn't.

"This is crazy," I sighed weakly.

"Ah, but insanity often walks hand-in-hand with genius!" Urahara exclaimed, looking exceedingly pleased with himself. "And let's not forget, you're not exactly brimming with options."

I sighed again. "That's true, so... I die, and then what? I'm cured?"

Urahara snorted. "Not exactly."

I blinked. "Could you elaborate on that?"

"Well," Urahara began, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "Your peculiar affliction has not only affected your body, but also your soul, and the inner workings of the same, sure, getting rid of your body will... fix most of your problems, but it won't fix the main issue."

I guess that answers my question of whether or not I would become a soul. But that leaves the question, if not having body eliminated the problem I had, what was left?

I frowned. "What main issue?"

Urahara gestured for me to sit, and as I did, he began pulling out a series of scrolls and intricate diagrams from his seemingly bottomless bag. Spreading them across the table, the diagrams depicted a complex web of lines and nodes, representing the flow of spiritual energy within a being.

"You see," he began, using his fan to point at various spots on the diagram, "Every living being has an innate flow of spiritual energy, a rhythm if you will, that courses through them. Think of it as the bloodstream of your soul."

He tapped a particular node which glowed brighter than the others on the diagram. "This is your spiritual core, the source from which all your energy flows."

I leaned in closer, trying to decipher the intricate patterns. "And mine is broken, I suppose."

Urahara looked up, his eyes searching mine. "Over the years, due to the immense exertion you've placed upon yourself, your soul and spiritual power have undergone severe strain. It's like... imagine a river that's been dammed or diverted so many times, it's lost its natural course."

I see.

I had damaged my soul by the same process that had kept me alive, how ironic.

His fan moved over the diagram, showing places where the lines were knotted or frayed. "These represent disruptions in your energy flow. Some areas have been bottlenecked, creating a buildup, while others have been deprived, causing overwhelming weakness."

I traced a finger over a particularly twisted segment. "So, my soul is just as damaged as my body?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Urahara nodded. "It's akin to an athlete pushing their body to its absolute limits. Over time, without proper care and recovery, injuries happen."

He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in. "Your spiritual injuries, however, are far more complex. They've twisted the very fabric of your inner soul."

"So, this 'death' you're proposing is for you to fix that?" I murmured, looking back at the shimmering vial.

Urahara nodded, a sad smile on his face. "Yes, but it won't be an easy process. It requires a complete severing of your soul from your physical body, a permanent death in terms of your humanity."

So, to live, I had to leave behind my humanity.

"Very well Kisuke," I sighed, weakly smiling at him. "I trust you."

That wasn't entirely true, but what other choice did I have? Out of all the characters in this world, he was possibly the best one to have as an ally, even if that led to being used by him, eventually.