Bleach: The Hunter Prologue

“Where am I?” When I opened my eyes, I saw a street that stretched forward; in the distance, there was a hill. Around this hill were white stone buildings.

I have never seen these kinds of buildings before.

Considering how different they were from the ones I was next to. The ones around me were… shacks, ragtag of buildings made from scraps… 

Basically, at the poverty level.

‘What is with this contrast?’

“That look. You are a newcomer, welcome to Soul Society.” A middle-aged man walked over. He was dressed in cheap-looking robes.

‘Or more like a Kimono,’ at the corner of my mind, I thought.

“Who are you? And where is this place?” I asked. The confusion is starting to get to me.

“Hold it, kid. One thing at a time. This is the Afterlife, and you are in Soul Society.”

My eyes widened for a second. 

‘Afterlife? I have died?’ I looked at my hand. It looks normal.

“Regardless, welcome to Rukon District number 1, Junrinan.” The man introduced me to the place.

One of my eyebrows went up when I heard that. It was a bit of a strange name to me.

“I see. Well, my thanks.”

“No problem, newcomer, what is your name and where are you from?” He asked me curiously.

I was about to answer him, but it was blank! I could not remember anything about myself.

“...I… have no idea. The last thing I remember was that I was at home. Then blank.”

“...I see… that does happen. It means you were eaten by a hollow.” The man sagely nodded as if being a professor.

“Hollows are corrupt souls; they lost their heart, which caused them to develop a hunger that they can’t contain, they become monsters that eat other souls, sometimes even people with strong reiatsu.”

The more he spoke, the more I was confused.

Corrupted souls? Strong ryu something…

“...What are you talking about?” I sighed.

“Come with me. Let me explain.” The middle-aged man who looked like he was from the Middle Ages of Japan took me aside next to a small water stream. He took a stick and began to draw on the ground.

He drew the entire soul cycle, how souls get into the afterlife, led by actual Soul Reapers, and how there is this Spirit energy thingy that attracts these corrupted souls that are named Hollows.

“When Hollows eat souls and then are purrified by soul reapers, they end up here. Sometimes they lose their memories, or in your case, partial memory loss.”

I slowly nodded while looking at the water. I saw my reflection. It would seem I was around… seventeen or eighteen. Does age even mean a thing in the afterlife?

Regardless, it would seem that the afterlife gave me a set of simple clothes at least.

“I see, you have my thanks.” I thanked him.

“No need, I am one of the few who give tours to new souls.” He smiled while saying that.

It would seem it was his job to explain to me.

“...I see. In that case, I won’t hold back. Tell me about that place.” I pointed at the fancy white stone buildings in the distance.

“That’s the Seireitei. Where Soul Reapers reside. If you ever want to set foot there, you need to join the academy and become a soul reaper. That is, if you have a decent amount of Reiatsu.” 

The way he explained it was obvious that this is what everyone is asking when they appear here.

“I see. In that case, explain to me about Rukongai. Is it like cities everywhere, or could it be different?”

“There are 80 districts that stretch in all directions. The further you are away from Seireitei, the less lawful it is. I suggest not wandering beyond District 30.

The bigger the number, the less civilised it is.”

‘I guess I know where I will be going. So much for fancy afterlife.’

I snorted internally at this lie.

Not only they couldn’t send me properly to the afterlife. Not only that, but it sounds worse than the living world.

It’s a borderline lawless Eastern Asian medieval world. 

‘Who thought that Chinese? Or is it Japanese that rules the afterlife! That’s hilarious, honestly!’

“I see. My thanks, old man.” With that said, I got a better idea of this place. All I have to do is walk further away from that white castle.”

“Old man!? I'm not even a hundred years old! Damn you, brat! I and my name is Fujimaru!”

I ignored his ranting as I waved at him while walking away.

‘First things first, I need to find a water stream, hunt some game, and maybe find a forest that has some fruits or berries.’

‘Thank god I camped when I was alive, otherwise I would end up at the mercy of these Soul Reapers, they sound like those snotty nobles who look down at others from their marble towers.’

~~~

And I was right, the more I looked at this, the more I realised that indeed it was like a medieval society.

Farmlands, hunting grounds, and all that are controlled by the Soul Reapers that feed their high-class citizens in their marble palaces.

But that doesn’t last that long.

The further I was from the Seireitei, the less there was a Soul Reaper presence. That includes forests and river valleys.

And all that stuff. While I did feel a bit hungry, it was different… It was not like having hunger after working for 4 hours or something.

I've been exploring for several days. It was a test, one would say. According to what I heard, normal people don’t hunger, and those who hunger depend on their Spiritual Pressure.

Or the exact word is Reiryoku. The spiritual energy in their bodies, those with strong Reiryoku need to eat and those who have barely any don’t need to eat at all.

‘This sounds like life without meaning. Purely existing.’

Food is essential; it stimulates one's desire. If you have no desires, then it’s just existing. It’s not normal. But this IS the afterlife, it shouldn’t be normal in the first place.

‘Yet… I want to eat.’

…

…

…

I found a forestry area that is decent in size, has clean flowing water stream. There are even some animals there as well.

A Good enough place to live like a hermit.

At first, I started with a location for a hut.

Since I had no tools, I needed to improvise. There were stones and a selection of vines. 

It would seem I will be going back to the Stone Age. But at least I won’t be tied down in some labour camp.

‘Who knows, maybe they exist.’

I pondered for a minute, but then building a make-shift shelter took priority.

To start with, I collected dry wood, vines, and decent-sized stones for a campfire.

This is where I realised that hard work is what builds up hunger.

So, I went around and collected some berries.

In one of my eating sessions, I pondered on this whole spiritual power thingy.

Since I have it, it means that I should be able to use it.

That realisation caused me to start testing this theory out.

I went through an array of things, like motions, intent… I got a reaction to the visualisation.

It did make sense. Since I was a soul, not a living, breathing human, mental stuff like imagination should make sense.

Before long, I began to practise this power.

At first, it was simple exercises, like imagining helping in starting a fire, something like sparks, or sharpening rocks.

Eventually, by the time I had basic tools made from stones, sticks and vines holding them together, I felt that I had made some progress.

Like there was a flow from the core of my being to my hands.

To test it out, I decided to chop several trees. It was training as well, as I needed to get the timing right.

My hand would swing and the energy would flow into the hand, then into the axe, before releasing the extra force into the tree.

I failed a bunch of times, but eventually, I got the timing right, and there was a visible difference.

I stopped chopping and began to inspect the trick.

A stone tool is nothing like steel, iron or even bronze. It’s shit to say the least…

But with this energy… this Spiritual thing…

A small smile appeared on my face for the first time since I awakened in this ‘paradise’.

‘If I master this power… then I should be set for life… or more like afterlife.’

With a boost in morale, I continued with the task of cutting a tree down. Once it was down, I continued with debranching and removing the bark. All of this was done with the utilisation of this energy.

Improving the control, utilisation and flow, getting better and better at it.

However, I couldn’t just chop trees, because I would get tired. So I made a fishing rod from a stick and vines that I turned into a thin rope.

I would fish in the river, weirdly, the fish were identical to the world of living.

But fish and berries were not enough, as my only clothes would wear out, so it led to the next big thing.

Hunting deer and boars.

I saw them, so it was time to make a bow, arrows and a spear.

Spear and arrows were quite easy, but the bow was a bit of a struggle as the wood had to be bendy enough, and the string was a pain in the ass.

It was different from fishing rod line. Hell, the grass would even attract certain fish, but to shoot arrows?

That was a different thing altogether!

But then I had a breakthrough, instead of vines found on trees, I located a certain grass that was firm but elastic, almost like rubber.

With a new bow ready, I was ready to get a deer…or a boar.

~~~

It was early morning when I left my primitive hut made from sticks. The log house was a work in progress, but having wild game meat would be a great motivator.

So I left my small valley and went to the other side, where I barely visit. This is a quiet place—a good place for a wild animal.

After sneaking around and checking out, my eyes perked up when I saw a deer.

‘I practised for a couple of days, but this is the first time hunting a moving target.’

I took a deep breath and slowly focused on the target. I felt that I had entered this strange hyper lock-in state, the peculiar energy surged from my gut and spread through the whole being before shooting the arrow. 

The arrow left a blue trail before slamming into the deer’s head. There was a pop sound before the animal dropped on the group.

“...”

“...”

I stopped for a second and looked at what just happened.

‘It would seem in certain intense situations, this power reacts with higher intensity.’

For a second, I stopped and pondered how I should include this in my training.

‘It would seem that I need to keep hunting, to get the best out of this.’

With that realisation, I walked over to the deer and inspected it. 

The arrow looked a bit different… like it was refined by this soul energy.

‘...Interesting.’

Once I pulled the arrow, I went over and collected the deer and brought it back to my camp, where I began my work on removing the skin and then removing the guts of the animal with my set of stone knives.

It was something else to do this. Never did I imagine I would do it. At the same time, I wondered if this is what I always wanted in life, but I got it in the afterlife?

“Well, as crazy as it sounds, I'm starting to like this more and more.” 

I chopped one of the legs and brought it over to the campfire, and began to cook it. 

I might not have a selection of spices, but it will be the first warm meal in days.

‘Or even more, since I have no idea how long this reincarnation process lasted.’