Chapter 15: Asauchi

Chapter 15 - 15: Asauchi Katori Nanatsuki arrived at the office. Today, in addition to class, he also needed to arrange for the students to receive their Asauchi. The Asauchi distributed by the Shin'o Spiritual Arts Academy were essentially nameless Zanpakutō. Through continued communication with the Asauchi, a Shinigami gradually imprints the essence of their soul into the blade, thereby creating their own unique Zanpakutō. The shape, form, and abilities of a Zanpakutō are all forged based on the Shinigami's own soul. "Why the long face, Sakai-sensei?" Nanatsuki asked as soon as he stepped in, noticing the green-haired teacher sitting across from him looking troubled, brows furrowed like something was weighing heavily on her mind. Sakai-sensei taught Kidō. She and Nanatsuki were in charge of the same class, so they'd been interacting quite a bit recently. "Ah, Katori-sensei... sigh, I just heard from our Kidō division head that exams are coming soon. You know how our class is... we're bound to rank at the bottom again," Sakai-sensei said, resting her face on her hand, clearly dispirited. Most of the students in Nanatsuki and Sakai's class came from Rukongai, so their foundations were weak. It was only natural they'd struggle in exams compared to students born in Seireitei. "They're already testing? It's only been a month since the semester started," Nanatsuki frowned slightly. His class was indeed lacking in basics—even with his own stat bonuses, it wasn't nearly enough time to boost them meaningfully. "This autumn assessment is just a way to evaluate the new students' foundations. It'll be held in two weeks," Sakai explained. Just then, a new message flashed across Nanatsuki's Status Interface. [The Autumn Exam is about to begin. Rewards will be distributed based on student performance after the exam concludes.] Nanatsuki raised an eyebrow. He didn't expect the autumn exam to trigger a reward-based mission. "Thanks for the heads-up, Sakai-sensei. Our Swordsmanship Division head is never around. If I hadn't heard it from you, who knows when I would've found out." The Swordsmanship Division head was currently seconded to the academy and barely involved anymore. He no longer taught a class and rarely came around. "Oh, it's nothing." Sakai waved casually toward the door. "Good morning, Tsunayashiro-sensei." A short-haired young man entered, nodded at the two of them, and walked straight past without saying a word. Nanatsuki had seen him before—he was the swordsmanship teacher for the class with well-born students: Tsunayashiro Tokitani. That guy was cold and aloof. He barely said a word in the office. Rumor had it he skipped classes often too—attending his lectures was practically the same as self-study. Nanatsuki took the chance to glance at his Status Interface before Tokitani walked too far. [Tsunayashiro Tokitani] [Talent: S–] [Reiatsu: lv85] [Reputation Level: Unfamiliar] His interface looked similar to Kotetsu Ayane's, but his status wasn't visible. Nanatsuki guessed that when someone's Reiatsu vastly exceeded your own—and your relationship with them was weak—their status data couldn't be viewed. "Tsunayashiro-sensei is so hard to approach," Sakai muttered, annoyed. "Anyway, it's about time. I need to take the students to get their Asauchi." Nanatsuki checked the time. Judging by now, the students should've arrived. He left the office and headed toward the sword training hall. The students were clearly looking forward to it—everyone had arrived on time, not a single one late. "Before we start class today, we'll head out to pick up your Asauchi. Chijō Kana, Muguruma Kensei, Hirako Shinji... and Kobane Jin'emon—you four, come help carry the blades." Kobane Jin'emon was the student who had previously cried in class, vowing to learn swordsmanship from Nanatsuki. The kid had left quite the impression. "Huh? Why'd he call me...?" Hirako Shinji blinked, a little dazed. He'd always kept a low profile since enrollment, so he didn't expect the teacher to remember him. "Tch. Talented people shine no matter how hard they try to hide it." Shinji groaned inwardly. Things were starting to get annoying, but directly defying the class leader was even worse. With no choice, he got up and followed along. Nanatsuki led the four students to the logistics department. "Sensei, how long does it take for the Asauchi to become a Zanpakutō?" "It's different for everyone—it depends on how smoothly they can communicate with their blade." "Did your communication go smoothly, sensei?" "Not really." "Ah, I wonder what kind of ability my Zanpakutō will have. I hope it makes food taste better!" "You... might actually pull that off." Shinji glanced around at his classmates. He noticed Muguruma Kensei and Chijō Kana seemed to know the teacher pretty well. They soon reached the logistics department, where Nanatsuki saw Shirai Riko again. "Shirai-sensei, where's our class's Asauchi?" "Oh, Katori-sensei. Your class gets thirty-two Asauchi, right? I've already sorted them." Shirai pointed to several bundles on the floor. "Thanks a lot, Shirai-sensei. By the way, did the new wooden swords arrive? I heard the autumn exam is coming up, so I want the students to get used to sparring," Nanatsuki asked. Even with Asauchi available, academy students didn't spar with real blades. Normal practice still used wooden swords. Nanatsuki had previously found the current batch of wooden swords to be refurbished stock. Many had internal splits in the wood grain. They were passable for Suburi or stance practice, but easily damaged during sparring. "Not yet. They're still pending approval. At best, we might get them next month. We'll have to make do with this batch for now," Shirai said helplessly. She honestly doubted even next month would work out. Something strange was going on. She'd reported the issue to the department head, but it was immediately buried, with no one pursuing the procurement team's responsibility. "Looks like we won't make it in time," Nanatsuki sighed. These refurbished wooden swords just weren't up to sparring standards. Not every student had learned Reiatsu control techniques to protect their weapons. With the autumn exam looming, the swordsmanship portion would definitely involve practical duels. Nanatsuki had wanted to let the students get used to that ahead of time—but now, he'd have to find another solution. There were more than thirty students in the class. Even the Katori-ryu Dojo couldn't supply that many wooden swords. The dojo hadn't taken any disciples for centuries, and wooden swords required upkeep—they couldn't just be stockpiled indefinitely. Nanatsuki decided he'd go speak with Headmaster Kotetsu and see if there was any workaround. "Sensei, if it's wooden swords you need, I might be able to help," Chijō Kana said, raising her hand. Her family had recently opened a new forge in the Fuwai District, and they also sold wooden swords. She'd just picked one out from the forge a few days ago. The shopkeeper even suggested she bring a few to the academy to hand out to her classmates as a form of promotion for the new store.