Chapter #3 - Cero Variations!

The rest of the battle came faster than he expected. Hammerhead Adjuchas was extremely strong and resilient. Despite the opening he left, he managed to block Kizuna's fiercest attack because of his thick skin. Kizuna, of course, could not use Cero at that moment.

The situation was going in Kizuna's favor as the intensity of the combat increased. He was taking full advantage of the size difference. He was thinking of using his sonic roar once more in an opening where he felt he was ready, but something unexpected happened.

The Hammerhead Adjuchas tried to escape after all! Taking advantage of a momentary opening, he began to run with all his might.

He had to admit that even if only for a moment, it was as if he had put aside his clumsiness. He even managed to surprise Kizuna for a moment. Maybe it was the fear of death, Kizuna didn't know, but either way, this was the first time he'd had the opportunity to use his Sonido. He hadn't seen any particular reason to use it all this time. He was already extremely fast and he wanted to use the Sonido as a last trump card for the time being.

After all, no one would expect him to accelerate suddenly, right? Well... Kizuna hoped so, at least.

And it seemed like his hope was justified.

"What kind of speed is that!?"

Hammerhead Adjuchas exclaimed in panic. Instead of saying anything, Kizuna brought the claw down on his neck, pinning him to the ground without giving Adjuchas a chance to react!

Adjuchas' pleas and offers to hunt together filled his ears. If this was the first time, he might have believed it, but he had encountered two or three more like it in the past few weeks, and the result had been betrayal and backstabbing.

Naturally he was not stupid enough to believe it.

He opened his mouth and bit his neck, ripping off his head. Kizuna licked his lips as blood splattered everywhere. He was getting more and more used to it.

"Delicious..."

As he continued to eat it, he heard a robotic voice in his mind.

[User, Special Ability: Congratulations on awakening Sonic Howl! Congratulations on your fierce battle! Considering the difficulty and the possibility of death, you have earned 100 WP!]

Kizuna paused as he continued to gleefully consume his prey. This was his first earning in several weeks. He was slightly surprised but satisfied. He could feel that it was worth the struggle. After satisfying his hunger once more, he put the leftovers into the Storage Room, or Inventory as he called it.

Then he murmured softly:

"Ability Tree."

<Expendable 100 War Points:>

<[Active] Sonic Howl (Adjuchas): The user fires a sonic howl at the target.< p>

Cannot be upgraded for now.>

<[Active] Cero(Gillian): The user fires a powerful blast of concentrated spiritual energy at the target.< p>

Can be upgraded. Upgrade Cost: 100 WP>

Gillian, Adjuchas, Vasto Lorde. These leveling in the system were terms that expressed the power output he could extract in abilities. Kizuna predicted that Sonic Howl, which the system defines as a Special Ability, would start as Adjuchas. In fact, it would be ridiculous not to classify it as an Adjuchas level ability, considering that it did considerable damage to a Hollow whose skin he could not normally break through!

When he asked the system why Cero was low enough to be classified as Gillian, the answer was that he was weakened by 'mutation'. And it's time to eliminate it.

<[Active] Cero (Adjuchas): The user fires a powerful blast of concentrated spiritual energy at the target.< p>

Can be upgraded. Upgrade Cost: 1,000 WP>

Immediately after the upgrade, something happened that surprised him. The skill list was updated and two new skills appeared on the list!

<[Active] White Cero: The user fires a blast of concentrated spiritual energy at the target. Can be fired faster than normal Cero.< p>

Unlockable. Unlock Cost: 1,000 WP>

<[Active] Cero Howl: This technique is a synthesis of Sonic Howl and Cero. The user fires concentrated spiritual energy in sonic waves at the target.< p>

Unlockable. Unlock Cost: 2,000 WP>

He looked at the ridiculous rates on the pricing and sighed. It seemed certain that he would not be able to get them for long. At least that was his first thought. But the difference in the wording caught his attention.

It said technique for the Cero Howl. Logically, having both the Sonic Howl and the Cero, he should be able to develop it on his own, right?

Well, given that he had nothing but time on his hands, he more or less figured out what to do with the time he had left. He set off for a walk in the Menos Forest.

***

Years have passed since these events. At least that's what Kizuna thought. It was difficult to perceive time. He could ask the system, but frankly he wasn't that interested in finding out.

His hunting routine in the Menos Forest had been interrupted to some extent. His curiosity to explore and his desire for more prey had led him, after an undetermined period of time, to leave the Menos Forest and look around for Adjuchas to hunt.

He searched for prey and hunted frantically, trying to improve his understanding of his abilities and trying to obtain the Cero Howl. There were one or two more Hollows that would challenge him, but they were not able to give him more than 100 points.

Over these years, he had worked so frantically that it would not be an exaggeration to say that the Silver Fur Hollow's fame had reached the point where it was heard throughout Hueco Mundo.

But on the bright side, he finally got what he wanted. After his last attempt, sonic waves of powerful beams swept the area. A rock in front of him instantly turned to dust!

Kizuna stopped howling and breathed a sigh of relief. He had finally succeeded!

He was almost dancing with joy. He had been dealing with this for so long that he couldn't explain it, but he had finally done it.

Sonic Howl was an extremely powerful sonic ability. Cero was notable for its explosiveness. The two didn't seem to have much to do with each other in principle. But what the system called Cero Howl was not something that could be related to their relevance.

When Kizuna removed the unnecessary explanations, he could basically liken it to a form of marvel character Cyclops' beam-throwing ability sent out in rings. If you ignore details like the fact that Cyclops shoots the beam out of his eyes, he shoots it out of his mouth, and he has more control over it.

The worst thing about this technique was that it ate a lot of reiryoku. He couldn't use Sonic Howl very often because of the fatigue he was already experiencing. This technique not only drained his reiryoku too much, but also made him tired.

In short, it was one of the few trump cards he didn't plan to use unless he was in a pinch. The interesting thing was about to happen right now.

[Congratulations to the user for creating a technique from the Ability Tree without getting help from the ability tree. Thanks to your hard work and persistence, you have earned as much as the unlocking cost in the Ability Tree].

He could detect a tone of praise in the robotic voice, or perhaps Kizuna wanted to believe it. Either way, he had to pause for a moment to digest what System said. Then he opened the Ability Tree.

All were upgradeable except for the Cero Howl! The Cero Howl was a ridiculous five thousand.

He hesitated between upgrading the others or not. Because a power output that would exceed its capacity would also mean more reiryoku to waste from it. So he chose to leave it untouched for now and turn it off.

Instead he asked:

"How many years have I been hunting here, System? Why haven't I evolved yet?"

[You have progressed differently from an ordinary Hollow so far. You are literally a different mutation. This is because of my help, as you know, but also because your body was molded into a suitable shape by your wish. But despite all this, you are a Hollow for the time being and lack the most basic thing].

He was surprised to hear the answer from the system.

"The most basic thing? What is that?"

As the system answered in its robotic voice, it seemed to have lost its senses over the years. It sounded like a teacher trying to teach.

[Hollows are creatures born of despair and regret. At least that is the case with ordinary Hollows. When you become Menos, you fight your kind from the inside. If you become the superior one, you become Adjuchas. And what makes you the superior one? Desire, of course!]

When he heard what the system said, he frowned and began to think.

"Desires? Until now, fighting like a wild animal, I never had a chance to think about my desires. I didn't see the need, and to have this as a necessity... It's very disturbing."

Clearly his first wish was to become Vasto Lorde and then try to acquire a humanoid form, but it was not to be so easy.

'What would the system be like?'

Honestly, he didn't know exactly what would happen. The desire was very broad. He wanted to be human. He also wanted to be the strongest and to be at the top of the food chain. It had so many desires. Shouldn't he transform then?

And the system spoke as if it were a reality check.

[By desires, I mean motivation. Do you think you've ever seriously thought about these things and obsessed about them?]

"To desire... to obsess..."

No matter how much he thought about what he might desire, nothing came to him. It was like emptiness. As much as he remembered his old memories, he no longer felt connected to them. At least that's what he had started to think these past years.

'So what is my desire? My purpose in life... What?'

As he thought about these things, he felt that his mind was as clean as a page. Nothing that he could consider obsessing about himself could appear in his mind.

While he was thinking about all this, he was in the lotus position in the middle of the sand, out in the open. Although his perception of who might be around him was always open, he was in the middle of something more important.

As he was thinking this, a peaceful looking gazelle approached him softly. It had a strange but somewhat endearing mask on its face and fur that was green on the outside and white on the inside.

Kizuna noticed it, but seeing that it did no harm, he turned a blind eye. Why bother with something he could kill with a single paw strike?

Yet the innocent-looking hollow was a curious and powerful Adjuchas.

Kizuna was absorbed in his own purpose of existence. So he did not notice her curious gaze.

'Purpose of existence... Lust? Nonsense. The last thing I want right now is blabbering womens. To be the strongest. No, no... As much as I want to be the strongest, I'm not obsessed with power...'

That's when he heard the system's voice.

[The user is engaging in unnecessary thoughts. You can't achieve desire or obsession with just one thought. Stop thinking about it for now. Keep hunting and improving yourself. You will realize it at one point and reach the next step].

He took a deep breath after hearing the system's advice. It didn't seem wise to act directly. After all, no matter how much he thought about it, he could not think of anything fixed.

He sighed lightly.

"System, I guess you're right. Why should I try so hard? I should just go on as it is for now."

As he stood up, the gazelle, which was close to him, got scared and jumped back.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you. At least not today. Come on, shoo, shoo."

The strange gazelle looked at him for a while without making a sound. It seemed curious, even if it understood. But then it walked away without saying anything.

He sighed when he saw this.

'Hollows are so strange.'

So he went back to his hunting routine.

...

No matter how much time passed, Kizuna was licking his wounds, having finally hunted three Adjuchas.

'Huh... The last one really managed to wound me. It's the first time I've seen a Hollow who is using poison.'

As he was thinking this, he noticed a cave entrance in the desolation around him.

'I guess it's okay if I rest here for a while. Right, System?'

[User should still be careful.]

'All right.'

He had taken a full step into the cave when he asked the system. But suddenly his instincts warned him to step back.

Following this, he quickly jumped back.

"I'm not here to harm you."

Hastily raising his arms in surrender, he looked at the woman pointing a knife at him. She was very much human. Except for the large knife that replaced her right hand and arm, she appeared to be dressed in a white assassin's suit. Her face was also mostly obscured by her mask, though the blond hair on top was visible.

'Fuck. Is that Vasto Lorde!?'