Central Wandenreich

Fwish

Fwish

Twang

The sound of multiple arrows being released from well-carved short bows pierced wooden dummies on the opposite side of the archery training field. Both Quincy in training and eager, brave citizens of the empire wishing to serve under the empire to become soldat. The trainees refined their archery from the break of light all the way until sunset. On this bountiful day, Wolfgang watched over the recruits of the empire, molding them into soon-to-be masterful marksmen, but during training, the use of spirit weapons was prohibited even for those lucky few who wielded the power to form spirit bows already. He listened to the drawn bow strings' tensions, the subtle creaking of the wood bending as they aimed, and the rhythm of their heartbeats. Walking through the ranks, he casually helped fix the postures of the beginner archers as he passed by, then let the instructors further guide them, before crossing into a separate section where advanced archery was practiced using longbows. Despite the skill levels, they all trained the same, learning to breathe as one, and act as one single unit, only allowed to release their arrows when Wolfgang had sensed they all were synchronized. One of the advanced archers missed hitting directly in the center of the bullseye by a couple of centimeters, and his friend beside him mumbled softly in frustration, thinking that their instructor was far enough not to hear them.

“Man, this is stupid. Why does being off by a couple of inches matter so much?”
“You are telling me, and why can’t we use our spirit weapon instead of these ordinary bows?”
Wolfgang stopped his pacing, hearing the frustration of these two with very little escaping his ears, and could sense the auras of a few others growing frustrated. Raising his hand in the air, the instructors halted everyone and directed their attention to Wolfgang with concern as he approached the two Quincys who voiced their frustrations, albeit if they thought it was unnoticed.

“Stand in front of the target, will ya for me? I assure you no harm will come to you, and you feel free to bring out your spirit bow.”

He spoke calmly with a smile to the two trainees, and hesitantly, they did as told, thinking they were about to be made an example in front of the entire courtyard. The one requested with summoning out his spirit weapon channeled around his Quincy cross, forming an ordinary Heilig Bogen. Reluctantly, he drew his spirit bow with a Heilig Pfeil notched, aiming at his friend who stood a few inches away from the center of the wooden dummy before the instructor ordered him to fire. The spirit soared to its mark, but because the archer's nerves were running high with all eyes on him, his aim wasn’t perfect. The man standing by the target could tell the aim was off and was going to take out his eye or even kill it, but his body locked up in fear, causing him to hesitate, moving a few seconds too slowly out of the projectile's path. The entire archery squad held their breaths expecting a gruesome outcome, instead they saw Wolfgang seemingly teleported right beside the man with the spirit arrow grasped firmly in hand, a few inches from piercing the man's eye. Crushing the arrow in his hand in that same motion, he pulled an arrow out of the quiver, then launched it with precision at the one who fired, causing a blur to whoosh past his face, leaving a small hairline cut on the cheek before the thunderous crash of it shattering a hole in the stone wall behind them.

“Why does missing your target by a few inches matter? A few inches too late, stopping the arrow, your friend here is missing an eye, but more importantly, missing by even a margin determines if those you wish to protect live or die. We train with bows because it must become a reflex to instantly recall every aspect of the bow and arrow. Your spirit weapon is unique to you, but it's forged through your imagination and ability to recall every detail of what it is you wish to shape. We, Quincy, turned our righteous resolve into our weapons.”

Wolfgang held his hand out to summon his Heilig Bogen, but unlike the trainee’s ordinary bow, he created a spirit bow resembling two angel wings with beautiful, ornate designs. With a simple motion, he fired a single arrow into the sky before it exploded like a mini fireworks putting on a spectacle of a display. The two trainees came to realize they were made an example of not to be humiliated in front of others, but to inspire. They were not scolded for their frustrations, but instead were instilled with wisdom and insight to help them improve. They all bowed their heads toward Wolfgang with a brand new vigor in them to continue their training, although this time around, their auras burned with a beautiful resolve and determination. A hearty smile appeared on his face, seeing the excitement to train to their fullest in them as he left the area heading to a different segment of the training area where a small coliseum was stationed.

Meanwhile, within the walls of the coliseum soldat, who wished to become Jagdarmee were required to face The Trials of Purifying Light (Leiden von Läuterndes Licht). The first trials were simple one versus one match against another soldat with the winner getting to continue and the loser getting the option to try again next month. In the second trial, they were faced with overcoming different challenges of skill and intellect to prove they were strong enough to carry on. In the third, fourth, and fifth trial they were pitted against actual dangerous combatants of all willing participants who known Wolfgang trials as the Red Coliseum. For the soldat they had to fight these challengers with the stipulation of defeating them without killing them, and each trial consisted of three rounds against different challengers lasting 2 hours, and neither was allowed breaks once the trials began. The challengers themselves were made up of remnants of Arrancar who were loyal to Valiosa, still hoping to prove their worth to Adonai to be cleansed and join her side once again. Hollows captured by Quincy to educate their forces on what they were, and not to fear what they didn’t understand, often being referred to as lost souls from light. Lastly, were the more diverse, interesting lot consisting of those who outlived their use to Josef and survived, looking to jump into a nightmare they at least had control over. For the challengers, they had no restrictions on not killing; they just needed to survive the trial twenty times to earn their freedom, although it was serving the empire in some way. For those who wished to live, the trial became a beacon of light to them, and those who chose death were given it mercifully. Perched up on a ledge overlooking a fight between one of the soldat and a shinigami fighting their final combatant for freedom, coming out victorious. Energetically, Wolfgang jumped down, cheering the shinigami on as she kneeled in front of him.

“I give my life to the empire.”

Smiling big, he reached down, creating blue flames in the symbol of the Quincy cross and branding her palm. This was the mark that challengers who won their freedom and truly wished to join were bestowed. The female shinigami helped the soldat up off the ground, then they both turned to bow respectfully toward each other.

“Today we are no longer enemies, we are brethren.”

Wolfgang looked at the two with content before turning his nose into the air, sniffing.

“Oh, how glorious, I smell spaghetti!”​

Ryker stood motionless in the heart of his personal office, surrounded by his contained works. The Sternritter's eyes were vacant of all color as he pulled on the invisible strings of a monstrosity in a realm beyond. The only sound hovering in the room was the subtle hum of machinery maintaining stasis on the floating figures held behind glass. That was until two separate sounds faintly graced the space, though their origin was not from within: the first, a sturdy clang against stone; the second, the sound of something with great mass descending upon that same surface.

It was then that Ryker reanimated, his body jittering as light restored to his irises. His lifeless expression contorted immediately into one filled with disgust.
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The surgeon vocalized to no audience—well, at least none that drew breath. He turned to face the sole entry point of his inner sanctum, stepping towards it as its mechanisms gifted him an exit. As the vault door parted from the wall, there it was. The monster that had previously cursed the sands of Hueco Mundo sat idle in the ornate operating room. Its body locked in a kneel with its head bowed towards its master. Upon the ground just before the creature laid a present: the stolen weapon of Emillia. While it was not the spine requested by the Emperor, it was a consolation. It would serve as a twisted gateway into a newfound evolution.

Ryker approached the prostrating monster and locked his gaze upon his prize. He crouched down, smiling at the albino halberd before reaching for it with his left arm. As his fingers descended upon the armament, monochrome flames danced along the digits of the reaching limb. As his grasp curled around the weapon, those same flames quickly enveloped its shape. They burnt away the original owner's claim and installed a new name: Adonai.

With that tether severed and a new identity held, it was reshaped. The alabarda warped and bent in upon itself, its presentation reconfiguring to the will of Ryker. Once the process was completed, it appeared as nothing more than a sphere of monochrome colorization. At its center, the prominent gemstone lost its crimson hue and was instead dressed in azure.
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The Sternritter celebrated his small victory for a split second but then abruptly presented the newly reforged spirit weapon back towards the monstrosity. The creature took the orb from its master and stood up immediately afterward.​

And it would seem it did.

Just as quickly as those words breached the air, the monster proceeded to thrust the orb directly into its chest. The sounds of squelching flesh and organs briefly rang out as its innards rearranged and attached themselves to their new component. As per usual, there was no change of expression and no wincing from pain; it was as if nothing had happened to the creature. It removed the breaching hand from its own chest, and the wound closed up a moment later.
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Without haste, the monster's shadow extended outward and enveloped it, rapturing it from the space once more. Solitude was Ryker's once more, and with it, he reached for his cross and established a connection to the Emperor.​

Ryker tapped his foot in wait for a response. It was unlikely Adonai would be against this judgment given the tricky intervention of the reapers, but it did mean a longer timeframe until the acquisition of the Soul King's part. There was also now at least some cause for alarm on both the Hollow and Shinigami fronts; something else was out there, but as to what, they were still ignorant.

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[From: Northwest Wandenreich]

Outside of waving and saying hello to his fellow Quincy Adonai walked in relative silence. The brief conversation with “himself” put his mind in a bit of a spin. He was suddenly faced with the feeling of uncertainty in himself, his performance, and role as a leader. Things have been easy up until now, he has been ruling as a big fish in this small pond known as Lichtreich but he will be stepping out into the ocean of the Three Worlds soon amidst others who know them better than he does. He feels like maybe he and his people aren’t ready to make bold moves, that perhaps he will be over reaching with his mere existence. Then, what will the Quincy think of him? Their leader, fumbling around, unable to guide them through these new times, a fraud.
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The words of his other self echo in his mind again. The version of himself who can lead with confidence and ruthlessness. A side of himself that won’t hesitate to let others know who and what he is and kill them if they say or even think otherwise. He approaches Silbern, inhaling deeply as balance is restored to his fractured mind. The guards outside salute him, he waves and once he steps foot into Silbern, Adonai is whole once more. There is an incoming message and so he lifts his cross to listen to it, and it happens to be Ryker. To think he's done so fast is amazing to say the least, not that he had doubts but he expected more resistance from the opposition.
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Adonai stops walking, it seems like there was resistance afterall, Shinigami of all things. He smacks his teeth, annoyed that they would get involved now of all times.
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While he is talking Valiosa runs up to him and gives him a quick wave, grins and runs off after Adonai returns the gesture.
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Adonai closes communication with Ryker then connects with the communication hub directly.
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Once that message was sent out Adonai sighs to himself, things are moving along in a strange way, the Sinner got away with his Father’s spine thanks to Shinigami showing up. Given the fact that Ryker wasn’t able to obtain it means he must have sent one of his flesh golems, which is the best way Adonai can describe them, in his stead. A smart move, it keeps their presence a mystery just that much longer. But he knows that move won’t go unnoticed, the Shinigami are going to be poking their noses into what it was and how it arrived in Hueco Mundo. Adonai does know one thing for certain, he’ll be glad when his people’s business is done in that place. He isn’t entirely fond of having a secret occupation over a domain that is not his own, it can cause strife and concern amongst any other parties that he’ll have to barter with in the future.
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The older Quincy from before approaches Adonai and bows to him politely.
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The older man sighs.
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He walks off to make the preparations and once he rounds a corner Adonai’s smile fades. All the Sternritter haven’t been gathered in one place, ever so he is hoping their many and varied personalities won’t clash too much. He chuckles and then walks down a hallway different from the one the older man took.
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