Chapter 1123 ‘Sparring’ part 3

It was getting late so Claire and her group didn't have enough time to explain what they were doing, so they went home after thanking Tessai for letting them use the training ground and told him that they might come by a few more times after today after answering a few of their questions without really thinking about it deeply. In the first place, they don't have to explain to anyone and frankly speaking, going home on time is much more important to them.

Tessai prepared tea for his remaining guests that also went up to the shop after the girls left.

Tessai sat down with the men who couldn't even do a simple warm-up, "I also only met them recently when they randomly went around the town to find a residence they could stay in, so I don't really know much about them." Tessai first said that since he had a feeling that he'd be bombarded by questions he didn't want to answer if he didn't do so.

"From the uniforms they are wearing, they are attending Karakura High, so it's safe to assume that they are teenagers?" Uryu asked after sipping on his tea with a complex expression.

None of them answered but they all recalled one of the questions that they asked which came from Ichigo, 'D-do you really need to go that hard on sparring? You're all bleeding and one of you even broke their arm.'

They wouldn't be able to forget how they all looked at them like they were the weird ones and received an answer, 'We can warm up alone by ourselves and if you're going to spar, might as well learn something from it like a real battle. If you are concerned about injuries, we're fine with our healing techniques, and actually good to be injured since it prepares you when you suddenly feel pain. If it's a real battle, any lapse in consciousness and judgment could easily prove fatal. And not just that. The more often you become injured, the easier it is for you to judge your body's real capabilities so you won't make a mistake like moving your leg a bit too late because you thought you'd be faster than that.'

They could easily understand what Claire was saying and couldn't even disagree with her logic, however, "What sort of environment did those young girls grow up in for them to have this kind of mindset?" Chad muttered.

Even in their times, they'd only go that hard whenever they needed to learn something and time was not on their side. Even if someone could heal your injuries, it doesn't change the fact that it's extremely dangerous, and an emotional scar can't be healed the same way as a physical one.

Ichigo turned to Tessai and asked, "Tessai-san, are there any other societies out there that we're not aware of?"

Tessai shook his head, "If the Soul Society doesn't know anything about them, then I also don't know."

Silence took over the room with each of them having thoughts of their own until Tessai continued speaking, "However, I do know that what they have is not Reiatsu-based like we all know."

The three men all looked at him and Uryu asked, "Then what is it? And how is that possible?"

"How is it possible? I don't know. Unlike us who only ever knew the Soul as the source of power, they separate theirs into three main systems which are Ki, Magic, and Soul. Under that are more subcategories that one could specialize in, either by focusing on one system or combining two or more."

Ichigo rubbed his chin and asked, "Soul... They could also use a similar ability to a Shinigami, Hollow, Quincy, or Fullbringer?"

Tessai poured more tea for himself while answering, "No. It seems they are using it differently from us, but the way I see it, our use of Reiryoku is much more advanced. That leaves the other two, Ki and Magic.

"I'm not sure how accurate this is but it's also something I've heard from them. Starting from Ki, it's the power of life. It's something present in all living things. It's used mostly to strengthen the physical body which you've already seen. Despite them smashing into the ground, ceiling, and walls, creating craters, they were relatively unharmed. But the prime example of this was the blue-haired teen, Tanis, who wouldn't dodge if it meant that she could attack effectively."

"Next is Magic. It's a type of power that's omnipresent and anyone who knows its existence can make use of it if they train enough. It has many uses but the most simple explanation is that it's similar to Shinigami's Kidou. However, don't mistake it for the West Soul Society's [Magic] as that is just a different use of Kidou."

"That's a lot to take in..." Chad commented, "Are they aliens or something?"

Cold sweat started to drip on Tessai's back. He knew that Chad was only making the heavy atmosphere a bit lighter, but it was really hard to laugh when he actually got it right.

"And how are they related to Hell?" Uryu suddenly asked, which made Ichigo and Chad instantly turn their heads to him, "Don't get me wrong. I'm not accusing them as our enemies, but similar to how we couldn't feel anything from those strange Hollows and dead Espada, we also couldn't feel anything from them."

"If you could trust their words, then they are not related to Hell at all." Tessai immediately answered, "Even then, they also knew what type of power these strange Hollows have which is similar to something they already know. Demonic Power, a system derived from Magic Power."

Uryu wanted to ask more specific questions but Ichigo's phone suddenly started ringing. And when he looked at its screen, he muttered loudly, "It's Akon."

Ichigo looked at the other three before pressing the answer button, "Akon, what's up?"

[Ichigo, I'm sorry for bothering you, but could you get me into contact with Tsukabishi Tessai?]

Ichigo immediately glanced at Tessai and saw the latter nodding, "What a nice coincidence, I'm currently in Urahara Shop to borrow the training ground."

[So Tsukabishi is with you?]

"He's listening."

[Great. I'm sending over a video file. Tsubakishi-san, I'm sorry for bothering you, but we'd like all perspectives that we can have on this.]

A few minutes later, Ichigo completely received the video from Akon and immediately played it before placing the phone in the middle of the table.

It was a video of the clash between Serafall and Kenpachi. Akon wants the former Captain of the Kidou Corps' thoughts on it.