Chapter 7: The First Successfully Forged Sword - Tessaiga
Although all swords, the hundreds of weapons materializing along with the dissipating blue lights were each unique.
Tessaiga, Tenseiga, Dakki, Toukijin, Bakusaiga...
Hitokiri Battōsai, Jigoku no Sata mo Kakaru Michi...
The Interpreter, The Pursuer of Darkness, Sky Piercer, Blue Rose Sword, Golden Osmanthus Sword, Heaven Piercer, Time Piercer...
Kokutō, Ace, Murakumo, Gryphon, First Generation Quincy Cross, Wabisuke, Akatsuki...
Gān Jiàng, Mò Yé, Sword in the Stone, Durandal, Spiral Sword, Object, Primal Fire, Wheel of Fortune Interval...
Only when Ailin's Reiryoku was completely drained did the lingering blue radiance finally fade with no more weapons manifesting.
Soon, the tremendous amount of "swords" forged this time prompted a feedback response from his "Unlimited Blade Works" ability.
However, contrary to Ailin's expectations, the gains he received from producing hundreds of arms from other realms was merely on par with the boosts from copying ordinary Shinigami Zanpakutō.
Although his Reiryoku increased slightly, it was vastly disproportionate to the capabilities displayed when creating these weapons.
"Hmm?"
Sensing the abnormal feedback, Ailin opened his eyes. What he saw was the hundreds of "swords" he just produced scattered sparsely across the plain lands of his inner world. Not a single one was stabbed into the sword hill.
Ailin was very cognizant about his own powers. The sword hill was the sole high ground in this inner dimension. Only formidable blades were qualified to be mounted onto that hill. As a bare minimum, they had to be capable of initial release.
Other sealed Zanpakutō could only be planted on the flat plains. It was impossible for them to pierce into the hillside.
Take for example the hundreds of Shinigami Zanpakutō Ailin had copied previously. Only around a dozen managed to make it onto the sword hill. Yet now, not one of the hundreds of conjured fantasy weapons could even stick into the mound? How reasonable was that?
Stepping forward and resting his hand on one sword's hilt, realization instantly dawned on Ailin.
When Ailin had forged Shinigami Zanpakutō in the past, he would first successfully copy another person's manifested Zanpakutō blade externally before producing it within his inner world of Unlimited Blade Works. As a result, the replicated Zanpakutō he created were naturally complete.
"Identify creation concept..."
"Establish basic framework..."
"Duplicate composition material..."
"Imitate crafting techniques..."
"Sympathize with growth experience..."
"Reproduce accumulated years..."
Not a single step was missing from the six manufacturing phases. Yet for the weapons Ailin had just constructed relying solely on memories, only the initial two steps of "identifying concepts" and "establishing structures" were performed.
Everything afterwards like material properties, production methods, maturation experience, and aged accumulation was non-existent.
Thus, intrinsically hollow shells were all these conjured arms from other worlds amounted to presently, devoid of any "soul".
That explained why when Ailin grabbed the sword hilt earlier he didn't obtain its original master's experiences at all.
No wonder the increases were so insignificant despite exhausting tremendous Reiryoku to generate hundreds of blades this time. Given their shoddy quality, it was already impressive they could match the capabilities of Ailin's replicated Zanpakutō - that was indicative of the personal insights he had developed recently towards "sword forging".
"Clang!"
Unsheathing the blade in his hand and swinging it around a few times, Ailin shook his head. These "swords" were nothing more than empty forms without substance.
For the next stretch of time, apart from occasional missions where he would sneak some slack, Ailin immersed himself within Unlimited Blade Works to research methods of manifesting those fantasy world "swords" stored in his mind.
As a dimension containing the embodiment of all "sword" elements, his inner world held the potential to completely construct any blade as long as Ailin possessed its template.
What Ailin presently sought to produce were swords existing solely as memories. He would then have to gather the appropriate elements based on those recollections to fabricate new weapons.
This was an arduous undertaking. Even Ailin was uncertain how much time he needed to succeed in fully materializing just one sword. Thus, he opted for the very first fantasy series that roped him into the otaku world - Inuyasha.
After countless attempts, Ailin finally made substantial progress. Blue light coalesced in his palm as azure veins etched out a weapon's shape.
"Buzz..."
At this moment, the Shin'etsu Kisaragi blade stabbed atop the sword hill abruptly discharged a blaze. This fiery stream directly infused itself into the sword Ailin was forging.
When the blue radiance dispersed, what remained in Ailin's hand was a seemingly worn and damaged sword covered in jagged, sawtooth-like gaps along its very edge - even the blade itself.
The Tessaiga!
"It worked?"
Seeing the completed sword form, elation flashed across Ailin's eyes. Unlike the other inferior products, this Tessaiga now contained a consciousness.
Ailin immediately ignored his present exhausted state and immersed his psyche completely into the Tessaiga's memories.
After quite a while, he finally opened his eyes and sighed, torn between satisfaction and discontent.
He was gratified because this Tessaiga genuinely harbored the experiences of a certain half-demon. Yet he also felt dissatisfied since the Tessaiga was essentially still half-finished.
Other than the giant transformation, the only special move it possessed was the "Wind Scar".
None of the techniques like the "Adamant Barrage" or "Meidō Zangetsuha" were present.
However, unlike its missing red dragon scale patterns and traits, this Tessaiga at least had access to its "Flame Form" transformation for the time being.
That was because according to Ailin's recollections, the Tessaiga should have a flaming shape. Hence, during the forging process, a portion of the fire elemental power from Shin'etsu Kisaragi's Zanpakutō atop the hill had flown in to complement the Tessaiga's "Flame Form".
"So that's why..."
Upon realizing all this, pleasant surprise welled up within Ailin's heart. As it turned out, the weapons he had already manufactured would provide assistance when he forged new arms.
If this trend held true, then the more Zanpakutō he copied, the easier it would become down the line to construct other worldly weapons right?
For instance, if he duplicated Tobiume from the Bleach universe, would there still be any difficulty creating its "First Level Sure Kill - Muramasa"?