Gabriel cracked his neck. Welp, he had some more Shinigami to mess around with.
His golden eyes gleamed with amusement as he got close to the other Shinigami present. It was a woman.
"Alright, sweetheart, let's see what makes you special," he murmured, his fingers pressing deeper into her spiritual body.
She shuddered, trying to pull away, but the restraints held firm.
Gabriel wasn't just testing her—he was testing the very nature of what made a Shinigami... a Shinigami.
He would use this info to further evolve, to further adapt himself into a better, stronger version of himself.
When he had experimented on the Plus earlier, it had been obvious how fragile human souls were—soft clay, easily shaped, easily destroyed.
But Shinigami? Their souls were different.
Layered. Structured.
They weren't just souls with spiritual pressure. Their very essence had been reforged, reinforced through training and experience.
They were something that made them very special.
Gabriel's finger slid deeper. With his power, he bypassed the woman's physical body altogether, only focusing on her soul.
He could feel the refinement of her soul—structured, tempered like steel folded over thousands of times.
He grinned. "You Soul Reapers really do take your time crafting yourselves into weapons, huh? No wonder you think you're so special."
Her breathing was ragged, her eyes wild with fear.
Gabriel kept going.
She felt it... this monster was touching the link... the link between her and her Zanpakutō.
He felt something pulsing at her core, something different from a normal soul.
And then—he found it.
A second layer of her soul.
Gabriel's smile widened. "Well, well... what do we have here?"
Most souls were just that—souls. A singular structure of spiritual particles.
But Shinigami? They had something more.
There was an embedded imprint within their very being. A dormant presence, slumbering until awakened. Gabriel traced his fingers along the edge of it, feeling how it resonated with the woman's reiatsu.
He then picked up the woman's sword.
"This is... your Zanpakutō, isn't it?"
Yeah, the link between the blade and that imprint was quite strong.
The woman clenched her teeth, saying nothing.
Gabriel chuckled. "No need to answer, darling. I can already tell."
A Shikai wasn't just a weapon. It wasn't just a fancy sword.
It was a manifestation of the Shinigami's own soul—a piece of them, refined and shaped into something tangible.
It was why they had to communicate with it. Why they had to call it forth.
Gabriel hummed in amusement. "So, your sword isn't just a sword. It's a fragment of you. You don't wield it—you negotiate with it. A partnership."
He pressed down, forcing his reishi into the imprint.
The woman let out a strangled gasp as her soul shuddered, reacting violently to the intrusion.
"Ah, I see..." Gabriel mused. "Your Zanpakutō spirit doesn't like me being here. It's resisting. That means it has a will."
Fascinating.
So, Shikai wasn't just a power boost. It was an agreement. A moment when the Shinigami and their blade agreed to work together. An alliance, one might even say.
If he disrupted that bond...
Gabriel smirked and ripped his energy through the connection.
The woman screamed.
Her spiritual body cracked. The Shikai imprint, once a harmonious part of her soul, now flickered violently, unstable.
The sealed power within her Zanpakutō was forcibly severed from her essence.
Gabriel watched in satisfaction as the strain of losing that connection caused her to convulse.
Her soul was... incomplete now.
"And just like that, you're weaker," he whispered. "Your power isn't really yours, is it? It's borrowed. A fragile relationship, dependent on your blade's approval. How pathetic."
If all Soul Reapers relied on such a weak link... tch, they weren't strong to begin with.
Though, it was quite satisfying seeing how the Zanpakutō seemed to be made.
It almost seemed like a Gillian... but made of the souls of Soul Reapers... if he had to guess, when Soul Reapers died or had to stop working, their souls got collected and piled together, pressing all of them together until it created a lifeless husk.
A blank slate, ready to have someone's soul imprinted onto it.
To think the Shinigami would go this far to copy Hollow power. How intriguing.
He let go, watching as the woman's body trembled.
She was still alive. Still conscious.
Good.
Because now, it was time for the real experiment.
It was time for him to forcibly awaken someone's Bankai... shit, it might kill them... but it is what it is.
Gabriel turned toward the other restrained Shinigami.
The last one, a man with streaks of silver in his black hair, was glaring daggers at him. He looked older, more experienced.
Stronger.
Gabriel grinned. "You. You're the interesting one, aren't you?"
He placed his hand on the man's chest.
And immediately, he felt it.
Deeper. More intricate.
This one had Bankai.
Gabriel exhaled, fascinated. "Now this is different."
If a Shikai was an imprint—a fragment of the Shinigami's soul—then Bankai was something else entirely.
Gabriel dug deeper, slipping his energy through the first layer, then the second.
And then—he found it.
A third layer.
A fully integrated piece of the Shinigami's soul, something deeper, more permanent.
Gabriel's golden eyes shimmered. "So this is what makes a Bankai."
He could feel it.
The Zanpakutō wasn't just an external weapon anymore.
It had fused with the Shinigami.
Bankai was soul alchemy. The moment when the weapon became part of the user in a way that couldn't be undone.
The moment where the blade and the Shinigami became one... in a sense, the blade and them became one entity.
Though the man seemed not to have reached that enlightenment. Even if his Zanpakutō and he seemed close... it wasn't that close.
"That explains why it's so rare," Gabriel muttered. "Not every soul can handle this level of transformation."
He tapped his fingers against the man's chest.
"So, if I tear this out of you..."
The man's glare faltered.
"...do you just die?"
Gabriel's smirk widened. "Let's find out."
He yanked.
The reaction was instant.
The Shinigami screamed as his soul fractured, spiritual energy erupting in violent, unstable waves. The structure of his reiatsu twisted unnaturally, caught between destruction and incompletion.
His body resisted, trying to hold itself together.
But Gabriel saw the cracks forming.
Without a Bankai, without that final fusion, the Shinigami felt hollow... something that had been part of him for so long was being broken away from him.
He was breaking apart.
Gabriel let go, stepping back as the man collapsed, coughing up blood. His reiatsu was shattered, his spiritual structure barely holding together.
"So that's how it works..." Gabriel mused, running a hand through his hair.
Shikai was an agreement.
Bankai was like a fusion, maybe a rebirth.
And without it?
The Shinigami lost the vast majority of his power.
Like 70% at the very least.
Gabriel clicked his tongue. "Well, that was fun."
The man lay motionless, barely breathing.
The woman beside him sobbed, her own soul fractured, her power stolen.
Gabriel exhaled. "I suppose I should thank you both. You've been very educational."
His eyes landed on the Bankai he had stolen from the man—a clump of energy, vibrating with power.
Gabriel wondered if he could...
Gabriel opened his mouth and swallowed it.
Immediately, he felt a change... a new power, a brand-new moveset implemented into his body.
Oh...
This Shinigami's power was now his.
The Shinigami power seem to be like shadow based, so it was stronger in dark place.
He might lowkey give that to one of his sin.
He had no purpose for it as of now.
Gabriel used his idle transfiguration in order to remove the ability from himself.
Shadow manipulation....hm.
Gabriel walked toward a nearby plus.
Grab the being...before transfiguring it....using the plus energy in order to create a powerful upgrade for his shadow ability.
Hm.
Yuh, he watched as the ability was upgraded....hm, so this could be used after all, fused with his flame ability, if he could steal other people shadow along side his idle transfiguration, and Granz rebirth ability, couldn't he technically revive them.
Make them his minions.
So....opening the gates of hell to get himself his soldier....that sounded fun.
Very fun.
Gabriel cracked his neck. Welp, he had some more Shinigami to mess around with.
His golden eyes gleamed with amusement as he got close to the other Shinigami present. It was a woman.
"Alright, sweetheart, let's see what makes you special," he murmured, his fingers pressing deeper into her spiritual body.
She shuddered, trying to pull away, but the restraints held firm.
Gabriel wasn't just testing her—he was testing the very nature of what made a Shinigami... a Shinigami.
He would use this info to further evolve, to further adapt himself into a better, stronger version of himself.
When he had experimented on the Plus earlier, it had been obvious how fragile human souls were—soft clay, easily shaped, easily destroyed.
But Shinigami? Their souls were different.
Layered. Structured.
They weren't just souls with spiritual pressure. Their very essence had been reforged, reinforced through training and experience.
They were something that made them very special.
Gabriel's finger slid deeper. With his power, he bypassed the woman's physical body altogether, only focusing on her soul.
He could feel the refinement of her soul—structured, tempered like steel folded over thousands of times.
He grinned. "You Soul Reapers really do take your time crafting yourselves into weapons, huh? No wonder you think you're so special."
Her breathing was ragged, her eyes wild with fear.
Gabriel kept going.
She felt it... this monster was touching the link... the link between her and her Zanpakutō.
He felt something pulsing at her core, something different from a normal soul.
And then—he found it.
A second layer of her soul.
Gabriel's smile widened. "Well, well... what do we have here?"
Most souls were just that—souls. A singular structure of spiritual particles.
But Shinigami? They had something more.
There was an embedded imprint within their very being. A dormant presence, slumbering until awakened. Gabriel traced his fingers along the edge of it, feeling how it resonated with the woman's reiatsu.
He then picked up the woman's sword.
"This is... your Zanpakutō, isn't it?"
Yeah, the link between the blade and that imprint was quite strong.
The woman clenched her teeth, saying nothing.
Gabriel chuckled. "No need to answer, darling. I can already tell."
A Shikai wasn't just a weapon. It wasn't just a fancy sword.
It was a manifestation of the Shinigami's own soul—a piece of them, refined and shaped into something tangible.
It was why they had to communicate with it. Why they had to call it forth.
Gabriel hummed in amusement. "So, your sword isn't just a sword. It's a fragment of you. You don't wield it—you negotiate with it. A partnership."
He pressed down, forcing his reishi into the imprint.
The woman let out a strangled gasp as her soul shuddered, reacting violently to the intrusion.
"Ah, I see..." Gabriel mused. "Your Zanpakutō spirit doesn't like me being here. It's resisting. That means it has a will."
Fascinating.
So, Shikai wasn't just a power boost. It was an agreement. A moment when the Shinigami and their blade agreed to work together. An alliance, one might even say.
If he disrupted that bond...
Gabriel smirked and ripped his energy through the connection.
The woman screamed.
Her spiritual body cracked. The Shikai imprint, once a harmonious part of her soul, now flickered violently, unstable.
The sealed power within her Zanpakutō was forcibly severed from her essence.
Gabriel watched in satisfaction as the strain of losing that connection caused her to convulse.
Her soul was... incomplete now.
"And just like that, you're weaker," he whispered. "Your power isn't really yours, is it? It's borrowed. A fragile relationship, dependent on your blade's approval. How pathetic."
If all Soul Reapers relied on such a weak link... tch, they weren't strong to begin with.
Though, it was quite satisfying seeing how the Zanpakutō seemed to be made.
It almost seemed like a Gillian... but made of the souls of Soul Reapers... if he had to guess, when Soul Reapers died or had to stop working, their souls got collected and piled together, pressing all of them together until it created a lifeless husk.
A blank slate, ready to have someone's soul imprinted onto it.
To think the Shinigami would go this far to copy Hollow power. How intriguing.
He let go, watching as the woman's body trembled.
She was still alive. Still conscious.
Good.
Because now, it was time for the real experiment.
It was time for him to forcibly awaken someone's Bankai... shit, it might kill them... but it is what it is.
Gabriel turned toward the other restrained Shinigami.
The last one, a man with streaks of silver in his black hair, was glaring daggers at him. He looked older, more experienced.
Stronger.
Gabriel grinned. "You. You're the interesting one, aren't you?"
He placed his hand on the man's chest.
And immediately, he felt it.
Deeper. More intricate.
This one had Bankai.
Gabriel exhaled, fascinated. "Now this is different."
If a Shikai was an imprint—a fragment of the Shinigami's soul—then Bankai was something else entirely.
Gabriel dug deeper, slipping his energy through the first layer, then the second.
And then—he found it.
A third layer.
A fully integrated piece of the Shinigami's soul, something deeper, more permanent.
Gabriel's golden eyes shimmered. "So this is what makes a Bankai."
He could feel it.
The Zanpakutō wasn't just an external weapon anymore.
It had fused with the Shinigami.
Bankai was soul alchemy. The moment when the weapon became part of the user in a way that couldn't be undone.
The moment where the blade and the Shinigami became one... in a sense, the blade and them became one entity.
Though the man seemed not to have reached that enlightenment. Even if his Zanpakutō and he seemed close... it wasn't that close.
"That explains why it's so rare," Gabriel muttered. "Not every soul can handle this level of transformation."
He tapped his fingers against the man's chest.
"So, if I tear this out of you..."
The man's glare faltered.
"...do you just die?"
Gabriel's smirk widened. "Let's find out."
He yanked.
The reaction was instant.
The Shinigami screamed as his soul fractured, spiritual energy erupting in violent, unstable waves. The structure of his reiatsu twisted unnaturally, caught between destruction and incompletion.
His body resisted, trying to hold itself together.
But Gabriel saw the cracks forming.
Without a Bankai, without that final fusion, the Shinigami felt hollow... something that had been part of him for so long was being broken away from him.
He was breaking apart.
Gabriel let go, stepping back as the man collapsed, coughing up blood. His reiatsu was shattered, his spiritual structure barely holding together.
"So that's how it works..." Gabriel mused, running a hand through his hair.
Shikai was an agreement.
Bankai was like a fusion, maybe a rebirth.
And without it?
The Shinigami lost the vast majority of his power.
Like 70% at the very least.
Gabriel clicked his tongue. "Well, that was fun."
The man lay motionless, barely breathing.
The woman beside him sobbed, her own soul fractured, her power stolen.
Gabriel exhaled. "I suppose I should thank you both. You've been very educational."
His eyes landed on the Bankai he had stolen from the man—a clump of energy, vibrating with power.
Gabriel wondered if he could...
Gabriel opened his mouth and swallowed it.
Immediately, he felt a change... a new power, a brand-new moveset implemented into his body.
Oh...
This Shinigami's power was now his.
The Shinigami power seem to be like shadow based, so it was stronger in dark place.
He might lowkey give that to one of his sin.
He had no purpose for it as of now.
Gabriel used his idle transfiguration in order to remove the ability from himself.
Shadow manipulation....hm.
Gabriel walked toward a nearby plus.
Grab the being...before transfiguring it....using the plus energy in order to create a powerful upgrade for his shadow ability.
Hm.
Yuh, he watched as the ability was upgraded....hm, so this could be used after all, fused with his flame ability, if he could steal other people shadow along side his idle transfiguration, and Granz rebirth ability, couldn't he technically revive them.
Make them his minions.
So....opening the gates of hell to get himself his soldier....that sounded fun.
Very fun.