'Cough, cough, hack, ptooey.'
'That's what I heard, alright.'
'But still...'
'This is way too filthy!'
At 8:19 AM, Rayleigh and Ardi showed up at the address for the key.
The second he opened the door, a cloud of dust that looked like it had been sitting there for centuries blew out and almost knocked him on his ass.
Beside him, Ardi stared at the place in horror and took two steps back.
'Tch.'
Rayleigh spat the dirt out of his mouth. He was covered in grime before he even lifted a hammer!
He drew his blade.
"Growl, Haineko!"
Boom!
The raw power of his Shikai made his spiritual pressure surge.
Ardi's face changed as she felt a crushing weight rolling off Rayleigh.
But the crazy thing was just starting!
The Zanpakuto in Rayleigh's hand weathered away, dissolving into a swirling gray mist.
Swoosh!
Under his control, the gray mist expanded and turned into a mini storm.
The storm rushed into the house, grabbing all the loose dust and dragging it outside.
Dust dragons whipped up from every corner, smashing together to form a massive sphere.
Rayleigh controlled the sphere and slammed all that dirt into a nearby coal truck.
After that, he deactivated his Shikai.
The mist pulled back together and solidified into a blade and Rayleigh sheathed the sword.
Ardi, who watched the whole thing, asked in shock, "Rayleigh! How did you do that? The sword... it actually turned into... that?"
Seeing her looking all stunned and hyped, Rayleigh felt pretty damn good about her reaction.
He broke down Haineko's abilities for her.
Ardi listened quiet as a mouse. Her face kept shifting until she just looked really hyped by it.
"So my sword... my Zanpakuto... is it going to be that... badass?"
"Hell yeah," Rayleigh said, stepping into the workshop.
Now that Haineko had swept out the dust, the place wasn't sparkling, but it wasn't a filthy shit-hole anymore either.
Ardi followed him inside, having a hard time wrapping her head around it.
'Just a minute ago, this place was a nightmare. Now there isn't a speck of dust anywhere.'
'A Gentle Breeze-type Zanpakuto... the power to control dust?' she thought.
'That's really cool!.'
"First, we gotta fire up the furnace," Rayleigh said, loading fuel into it.
'Time for ignition.'
"Hado Seven: Hioku."
Rayleigh casually threw out the low-level Hadō spell, pulling a gasp of amazement from Ardi.
"Rayleigh, you can use magic!"
"Yeah, I can."
"It really suits you. It fits your blacksmith vibe."
Rayleigh just smiled and left it at that.
His "magic" was Kidō.
Setting aside Kaidō, the Hadō and Bakudō paths each had ninety-nine spells. The higher the number, the harder it hit.
This was just Number Seven.
A basic Kidō spell that was even weaker than Hadō Four: Byakurai.
They chatted while waiting for the furnace to heat up.
...
A couple hours later, Rayleigh pulled out the white-sheathed Asauchi.
"Alright, we're starting. Follow my lead to the letter, got it?"
"Uh... okay."
'Mm.'
Rayleigh gripped the Asauchi, closed his eyes, and focused.
A few seconds later, the Asauchi flared with a blue light. It shimmered so hard it didn't even look solid anymore.
Rayleigh looked dead serious while pointing the blade at Ardi. "Don't move. You won't get hurt."
Ardi watched, a little spooked, as Rayleigh stepped up with the blade. But because she trusted him, she didn't flinch.
Then she watched the glowing blade pass right through her body!
'I... I got stabbed?'
'But... it doesn't hurt at all.'
Ardi stared at Rayleigh, totally lost.
A second later, she felt a tremor deep inside her.
The feeling didn't come from her brain, her muscles, her blood, or her heart.
It came from somewhere way deeper she couldn't even explain it.
Then, a word Rayleigh kept throwing around popped into her head.
'Soul.'
That was it. She felt her soul tremble!
Then she noticed Rayleigh's hands were empty. The blade he was holding a second ago had magically appeared in her own hands.
She had no clue how it got there.
"Ardi, put the blade in the furnace."
"Right!"
The girl did what she was told, sliding the blade into the furnace. She felt a weird, magical pull—like the sword had locked in some kind of connection with her.
Inside the furnace, the Asauchi glowed red-hot.
Rayleigh watched the blade cook.
The second he knew the time was right, he yanked it out with the tongs, threw it on the anvil, and went to work with the two-handed sledgehammer.
Clang!
Clang!
The nonstop forging left Rayleigh drenched in sweat.
Its not just the workshop's insane heat, but also the heavy drain on his stamina and spiritual pressure.
He could feel the Zanpakuto in front of him hitting the final stages of fusion.
"Just one last step!"
"Ardi."
"Grab it!"
"This is your Zanpakuto!"
Blown away by the forging process, Ardi stared at the blade.
It was hot enough to sear skin and melt flesh. For some weird reason, the blood in her veins started to boil!
Shaking, she reached out and grabbed the hilt.
The second she touched it, she squeezed her eyes shut, expecting the worst.
But the pain never came.
Instead, she heard a voice greeting her.
It even introduced itself and gave her its name.
Everything just clicked into place.
'So that's it.'
'That's your name.'
'My Zanpakuto!'
Ardi's eyes snapped open.
The Zanpakuto in her hand, wrapped in heavy spiritual pressure, started to shift.
'Nejibana.'
The original Asauchi vanished.
In its place was a Western-style longsword and scabbard.
Seeing this crazy thing happen, Ardi finally got what Rayleigh meant.
'The shape isn't the issue.... the soul is what matters.'
Holding the sword, it felt like an extension of her own arm. The design matched her taste to a tee.
'Huuuh.'
Rayleigh let out a long, exhausted breath. He slumped onto a stool and rested his hands on his knees to catch his breath.
"I can feel Nejibana's presence," Ardi said. She closed her eyes and ran a hand down the blade.
'It's incredible.'
"I'm beat. I'm heading back," Rayleigh groaned.
His head felt heavy as hell. "Just wire the commission fee through the Guild."
...
After splitting up with Ardi, he barely remembered the walk home. The second he hit the Familia's base, he face-planted into his bed and passed out.
Meanwhile, Ardi checked the time and booked it to the fountain plaza in front of the Tower of Babel, her new Zanpakuto strapped to her waist.
"Sorry I'm late!"
Her party from the Ganesha Familia was already waiting for her.
Leading the pack was a tall, gorgeous woman with short blue hair.
"I'm sorry, nee-san."
The woman Ardi called "Nee-san" looked a lot like her.
But as the older sibling, Shakti was way more mature. She gave off a calm, boss-like vibe—the exact picture of a capable badass.
Ardi, on the other hand, still looked like a kid next to her.
"Don't sweat it," Shakti said. "We were just about to head out anyway."
She shot a glance at the new weapon on her little sister's hip.
Shakti knew what Ardi was up to, but she didn't think it would take this long.
In her experience, running late usually meant trouble—unforeseen scenario, uncertainty, and danger.
"Alright, let's move out."
Following Shakti's lead, the Ganesha Familia rookies made good time.
They hit the Middle Floors in no time.
As the Familia Captain, Shakti was leading this run to help the fresh Lv2 members get used to the brutal pace of the Middle Floors.
Everything from the 13th Floor down was considered the Middle Floors.
It was a high-difficulty zone that Lv1 Adventurers had no business with. Only High-Class Adventurers who hit Lv2 were qualified to run it in parties.
From the Middle Floors on, the monsters weren't just tougher. They swarmed you in massive numbers and respawned at a relentless pace.
Rookies hitting the Middle Floors usually ended up in deep shit because they couldn't adapt to the fast-paced combat.
But having Captain Shakti with them was a game-changer.
Even though she wasn't a Lv5 First-Class Adventurer yet, her Lv4 stats were more than enough to handle eighty percent of the bullshit the Middle Floors threw at them.
Backed up by a few Lv2s, their run was pretty much foolproof.
"Watch your left! Warrior, cover the archer!"
"Ardi, buy the Mage some time to chant!"
Shakti wasn't just barking orders; she was the team's anchor. Her calm, dead-on commands kept the battle's rhythm locked down.
"On it!"
Ardi rushed two incoming monsters, swinging her sword to force them back.
The 13th Floor was mostly home to two types of monsters. One of them was the Hellhound, which the Ganesha crew was dealing with right now.
These calf-sized mutts weren't just fast; they had a nasty bag of tricks. Their fangs, claws, and insane agility were already a bitch to deal with.
But the real pain in the ass was their long-range fire attacks.
These bastards always hunted in packs.
If a fight dragged out too long, their numbers would just keep multiplying.
Seeing the Hellhounds backing off, Shakti quickly yelled out to her sister.
"Wait, Ardi! Don't stray too far from the group!"
...
Originally, a Zanpakuto's shape, state, and abilities were determined by the Shinigami's soul.
Rayleigh Skill, Soul Blade (Zanpakuto), allowed him not only to forge Zanpakuto but also to name them and define their powers.