Chapter 19: The swing of things?

Lieutenant Momo had finished showing Grayson around the rest of the squad five barracks and soon enough he was left alone to settle in. The barracks were quite large, complete with a training hall, a mess hall, and living quarters for its members and officers as well as their families.

Grayson himself had been shown to his own private living quarters, as were the perks of becoming a seated officer.

"Looks like I got my own room again." He said as he sat on the bed, noticing how comfy it was but how empty the rest of the room was.

"Not bad, but a couple more things would be nice." He thought, slowly standing up as he noticed the time.

"I'm sure the lieutenant said that food was served three times a day at the same time each day." He thought as he noticed the time was 5:30 pm.

With that Grayson got up and left for the mess hall, remembering to leave his zanpakuto in his room as one was not allowed to carry it during peaceful times.

Grayson walked through the streets that led him out of his living quarters and towards the main barracks of squad five, where the mess hall was located. Naturally, it wasn't very far at all, seeing that the officers living quarters were in fact closer than the others.

Soon enough he arrived at the mess hall, entering to see the large number of soul reapers that were either already sitting eating, or waiting in line to be served.

"Ah well, if it isn't our new 5th seat." A familiar voice said from behind him.

Grayson turned to see who it was, seeing none other than the 4th seat and the 6th seat, Tesho and Bosetsu.

"I see you are finding your feet then?" 4th seat Tesho said with a smile.

Grayson nodded.

"I guess no one told you that any seated officers from 10th seat down have their own mess hall." the 6th seat, Bosetsu said, crossing his arms with a smug expression on his face.

"No way, I guess the lieutenant must have forgotten to mention that part," Grayson said, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's not a problem, I'm sure she had a lot to explain to you in a very short amount of time." 4th seat Tesho said with a smile.

"Here, follow me." He then said, offering to show him the way to the officer's mess hall.

Grayson nodded and followed the two of them, watching as the other soul reapers they passed in the mess bowed and greeted them out of respect.

Grayson and the others entered another separate hall from the soul reapers mess, seeing that it was signposted for officers only.

"Ah, looks like I missed the sign." He thought, feeling a little silly.

"Here, this is our food hall." 4th seat Tesho said.

"Yeah, besides, we get better food and faster service than the lower ranks." 6th seat Bosetsu said, acting a little smug about it.

"Is that right," Grayson said, trying to play along as they all walked over to one of the tables and took a seat.

"What can I get you, sir?" A soul reaper that looked more like a waiter said, taking out a notepad and pen, waiting for them to answer.

Grayson had to admit it was all a big change from his life in the academy and wasn't even sure what was on the menu yet.

Both of the others picked up their menus off of the table and ordered what they wanted before the waiter looked over to Grayson.

"What can I get you, 5th seat?" He said, waiting for him to answer.

"I guess I will have the second one," Grayson said, flashing a goofy smile as the waiter nodded and took his order.

With that the waiter headed off to put the order in, leaving the three of them alone.

"So, tell me, Grayson. I hear you only completed one year at the academy, yet somehow managed to attain the highest score when graduating." Tesho asked, making conversation after a moment of silence.

"That's right, I only completed one year at the academy," Grayson said, noticing the look he was getting.

"Rumor has it that you were able to survive and push back a hollow that not even the captain of the sixth squad could kill." Tesho then said, getting a scoff from Bosetsu.

"Please, I bet it was pure luck." He said, clearly not liking Grayson.

"I guess you could say it was mostly luck," Grayson said, maintaining his goofy expression.

"So, they let you graduate because of that? How the hell I am supposed to accept that." Bosetsu then said, this time raising his voice a little.

Grayson noticed that Tosho didn't say anything this time, maintaining a look on his face that Grayson didn't like before he decided that it was time that he said something himself.

"I believe that decision was up to captain Aizen, clearly he must have felt I was better suited to the position, even if I did only complete one year at the academy." He said with a serious expression, looking Bosetsu in the eye as he said it.

"What was that you little punk? I bet you haven't even learned how to release your zanpakuto yet!" Bosetsu said, suddenly slamming his fist onto the table.

"I think that is enough, Bosetsu," Tosho said, crossing his arms as he finally spoke up.

"You know there is only one way to settle a score with another member of your squad." He then said, clearly stirring the pot as he pretended to keep a neutral position.

"That's right... I challenge you to a dual, 5th-seat Grayson. I, Bosetsu will defeat you and attain my position as 5th seat back!" He roared, letting everyone else in the mess hall know about it.

Grayson could tell he had been baited into this as he looked at Tosho.

"Well, what say you, 5th seat? Are you willing to accept the challenge, or will you chicken out and set the impression on the whole squad?" He said, wearing a small smirk on his face as he looked down his nose at Grayson.

"Looks like this was their plan all along." Grayson thought, knowing that he couldn't turn the challenge down without losing respect.

"And here I just wanted to enjoy my food on my first day in the squad." Grayson then said with a large sigh.

"But I guess I have no choice." He then said.

"I accept your challenge."

Grayson soon found himself back in his room after the whole thing that had gone down during his mealtime. Naturally once he had accepted Bosetsu's challenge the two of them simply smirked and left Grayson alone to eat, letting him know that they had clearly been planning this from the moment they met him.

Of course, once he had accepted the challenge the system burst to life once more, letting him know the quest details, so at least there would be some reward to this whole mess.

"I guess if I am going to fight someone who holds a seated position, I should take a good look at my stats and see what I can do, after all the fight is set for tomorrow at noon," Grayson said to himself, talking out loud as he often did.

Name: Grayson.

Level 25. (3400/12000).

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

Health: 235/235

Stamina: 235/235

Reiatsu/Reiryoku: 245/245

Skills- Hadō 31 Shakkahō level 3/10.

Hadō 1 Shō 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: 1/10 (1/10)

Zanpakuto name: Jūryoku no Megami.

Hakuda: 5/10 (0/10)

Kidō: 3/10 (0/10)

Skill points available: 10.

Grayson studied his stats carefully as he tried to decide what he could place his points into.

"I guess I could use a couple of more points into intelligence to help boost my spirit pressure... I also certainly want to improve on my flash step too. And it couldn't hurt to boost my Kidō some too. I guess that way I would be more well-rounded rather than only good at one thing." Grayson said out loud again, sitting on his bed with his legs crossed.

"That settles it." He then said after a moment, placing four points into his intelligence and watching as his spiritual pressure increased.

"I feel stronger already," Grayson said, flexing his arm jokingly to himself before looking back at his stat screen.

"Next I will put three points into my flash step." He then said, doing just that before he felt the instant knowledge as the skill upgraded to level 4/10.

"Now I only have three points left," Grayson then said, looking at his Kidō perk before opening the skill tree to see what he could unlock.

"Seems I have unlocked a few more things thanks to my increased intelligence skill but is there anything that could be of use to me in this fight tomorrow." He asked himself, wondering if any Bakudō spells might come in handy.

Suddenly the memory of when Grayson battled the hollow entered his mind, particularly the part where the captain of the 6th squad had used a spell to bind the hollow in place, before his mind drifted to the part when he awakened his zanpakuto and unlocked his Shikai.

"Things have been so busy since then that I haven't even had time to try and do it again, never mind talk to my sword." He said after a short pause, turning to look at his sword for a moment.

With that Grayson closed his stat screen, keeping his last three points for the time being as he closed his eyes, trying to relax his mind and connect with the spirit of his blade.

A few minutes passed by, and Grayson could feel and hear nothing, causing him to open his eyes with a questioning look.

"What the hell... How am I supposed to do this again?" He said out loud, scratching his head as he tried to think about the last time.

"I guess another point in my Zanjutsu skill won't hurt." He said, opening the menu and placing one more skill point into it to see if it helped.

"So, you have finally tried to hear me..." A voice said, catching his attention.

"It worked..." Grayson thought as he quickly closed his eyes, trying to listen to the voice again.

"I can hear you." He said, waiting for it to respond.

"Yes... and I you." It spoke.

"Please, I want to learn... I want to know you, Jūryoku no Megami." Grayson said, feeling a sudden sensation as he spoke its name.

"So, you have finally returned." The voice said, sounding closer than before causing Grayson to open his eyes, seeing that he was now inside his inner world once more.

"A dual between the 6th seat and the new 5th seat! No way, does the captain know?" Lieutenant Momo said, having just received the news from the 3rd seat.

"Yes, he has been made aware of the events." 3rd seat Sezaki said.

Momo looked at him confused.

"Is that all? We have to stop this. Surely the captain will not allow it." She spoke, turning on her heels as she was about to march towards his office.

"When the hell did this even happen?" She then said, clearly annoyed by it.

"Actually, Lieutenant. The captain seemed fine with it and has acknowledged for the dual to proceed, allowing the use of zanpakuto's too." the 3rd seat said, taking Momo by surprise.

"He allowed the use of zanpakutos? What in the world is he thinking!" Momo said, clearly not happy with what was happening.

"Oh boy, what in the world has this Grayson got himself into?" Momo then said with a large sigh before she placed her hands on her hips.

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Thats the end of this chapter! Again, sorry for the wait, work has been very busy, but hopefully get another one out soon!

Have a great day!