Marvel: The Imposter Inventor

Chapter 388
With a thought, he stopped the ground beneath his feet that was propelling him forward.

Luca strode to the very center of the black earth, before the 'longsword' that stood straight up in the ground.
"Huh? This is my Zanpakuto?"

As he stepped forward, Luca's eyes kept scanning the strange 'longsword'.

The longsword was entirely black, almost blending into the flat, black earth.

The upper half of the sword, with its anti-slip textured hilt and square guard, appears to be fairly normal.

However, the long, square-shaped sword is covered with dense, fine lines, and the seamless blade has gaps and some openwork on one side.

Because of these one-sided notches, the black sword stuck in the ground resembles a key with an extra handle.

However, the moment Luca reached out and grasped the hilt, pulling the black sword from the ground...

The fine lines originally engraved on the sword blade immediately lit up with flowing blue light, giving the longsword an extra touch of science fiction.

Luca glanced at the 'sword tip' in his hand and then at the notch left after the longsword was pulled out on the ground, and his face immediately darkened.

"Got it. This isn't a key! It's a USB flash drive chip stuck in the ground!"

That's right, if the appearance of the longsword stuck in the ground before wasn't very obvious.

But now that it's been drawn, the smooth 'sword tip' that's tightly connected to the blue 'circuit' on the blade, along with the gap at the center where the other blue lines on the ground converge, makes the black-and-blue longsword in Luca's hand look exactly like a 'slender data chip'.

The cutouts that Luca previously thought resembled 'key teeth' now look more like notches for securing 'screws' next to the chip.
However, before Luca could continue to complain about the sword's design, which was somewhat out of place in the Bleach world, a surge of information related to this Zanpakuto immediately flooded into his mind.

In that instant, Luca's expression of disgust immediately turned into joy.

"A key? It really is a key."

As he sensed the information in his mind, Luca's smile deepened.

"Although the art style is a bit strange, it seems to possess quite impressive abilities~"

"And since it's a Zanpakuto without its own consciousness, doesn't that mean...?"

However, perhaps because he had already mastered the initial solution, he was not allowed to continue exploring and trying.

The next instant, Luca's consciousness left this mental space and returned directly to his physical body.

When he opened his eyes again, he was surprised to find...

The classroom, which was originally a classroom, was now in complete disarray, as if it had been hit by a level 12 gale. The desks and chairs were all scattered and blown away.

The ceiling was torn open, leaving a large hole. The classroom was covered in fine cracks, and the walls looked like they were about to collapse.

Meanwhile, the students in the classroom were all hiding outside the classroom, their faces filled with lingering fear, cautiously peeking through the walls at their own reflections inside.

"Am I always this polite?"

Unbeknownst to Luca, just moments before, after entering the Sword Zen state, the spiritual pressure fluctuations around him immediately began to rise steadily.

Because Luca's spiritual pressure was much higher than that of these ordinary students, many of the weaker students were immediately pressed to the ground.

Once he grasped the 'Core Key' and successfully mastered the Shikai, the spiritual pressure that erupted instantly blew everything around him away.

Fortunately, the swordsmanship instructor had anticipated this and led the other students out of the classroom early on; otherwise, some unlucky ones might have been injured or unconscious.

However, at this moment, no one was really concerned about the previous destruction.

Upon noticing the violent spiritual pressure fluctuations gradually subside, the swordsmanship instructor rushed in, his face beaming with barely suppressed excitement. "Luca! You've successfully mastered Shikai?!"

As he spoke, the sword instructor's voice seemed to tremble with excitement, making it seem to an outsider that this was the first time he had awakened the Shikai of his Zanpakuto.

He glanced at his teacher, who was rushing excitedly toward him, and then at the Zanpakuto in his hand, which had changed from an Asauchi style to a short Zanpakuto somewhat similar in size to a Soi Fon wakizashi.

Luca didn't choose to forcefully conceal it, but simply nodded slightly.

"Yes, I have mastered it."

These words immediately caused an uproar both inside and outside the classroom!
Many students, disregarding the mess in the classroom, rushed in in disbelief.

"He's really awakened!?"

"This is the initial release! This is my first time trying sword Zen!!"

"Truly a genius that comes along only once in a century!"

Not only his classmates, but also students from several neighboring classes came out curiously to inquire about the situation because the burst of spiritual pressure was quite loud.

For a moment, Luca felt as if he were some rare species in a zoo, awkwardly standing there being stared at by everyone.

Upon seeing this, the swordsmanship instructor immediately turned to the other students and sternly reprimanded them.

"Quiet down, all of you! What's all the noise about?! You! Which class are you in?! Go back to your own class!"

The authoritative presence of the supervising teacher instantly suppressed the restless atmosphere in the classroom. Seeing this, the students from the other classes who had sneaked over to watch the drama quickly slunk back.

Of course, having already learned some of the information, they inevitably continued to discuss it after returning to their own classes.

After his outburst, the swordsmanship teacher, seeing that the atmosphere had calmed down, immediately turned back to Luca with a kind smile, much like a Sichuan opera face-changing act, and said softly.

“Student Luca, let’s go, I’ll take you to see the Dean!”

Upon hearing this, Luca's face immediately fell.
Here we go again.

However, the sword instructor, caught up in the moment, ignored Luca's expression and simply said something to the others.

"Study on your own this period!"

He then excitedly pulled Luca toward the dean's office.

After the two left, the classroom became noisy again, with almost everyone unable to contain themselves and starting to talk about everything related to Luca.

Only a few students, perhaps inspired by Luca, focused their attention and continued their sword meditation.

Meanwhile, inside the dean's room on the other side.

Dean Shin'o Spirit Arts, who was just about to brew himself a pot of tea and enjoy this leisurely time, was so shocked by the news brought by his swordsmanship instructor that he knocked over his beloved teapot before he could even take a sip.

"He really awakened his Shikai on his very first try?!"

As they were talking, the dean didn't even bother to straighten his clothes, which were soaked with tea. He stared wide-eyed and walked straight past the desk to Luca's side.

"W-W-Can you demonstrate your initial release?!"

(End of this chapter)