A Requiem For A Ranger (One-Shot)

"There's something that's just… not… right."

The male thought to himself, his eyes narrowed as he stared a the giant platform in front of himself, his right foot stepping down onto it as he closed his eyes, thinking deeply to himself. Why did I come here…? He wondered to himself as from the marshes below the platform of Hirenyaku that he had created a great amount of beings began to appear, shooting up to where he was standing. "I've slain hundreds of thousands… So many that I've lost count… all of these destructive beings…" The male thought out loud as he reached both of his hands to his head, tapping the fairy bangles as their energy shot into his hands, and he formed his four guns, two in each hand with his pointer and pinky fingers on the triggers. He wasn't here to disturb anything organization wise, he was just here to meditate and clear the infestation a bit.

"I am the flesh of my string…"

He said simply, feeling a great amount of attunement with the objects in his hands, taking deep breaths as he felt the crossbow guns begin to stir, his body moving as he pointed the guns at the several different demons as they appeared, and suddenly the reishi near the male became greatly reduced. This resulted in the great multitude of arrows that appeared in the male's hands, which he then proceeded to turn around with, releasing them from their binds as the massive amount of energy was released from his hands, breathing out a great amount as the massive amounts of arrows were turned, arcing as they all slammed into different hollows, completely devastating them and blowing them away as Gift merely watched, his gaze unmoving as he did so.

"Wood is my body and strings are my blood…"

He repeated onwards, stuck in a deep meditative state. He could feel the energy flowing deep from within him as he attacked the male before him over and over again, repeatedly attacking the demons as they were approaching him, his arrows flying in all direction as the blonde haired male stood there, basking in the majesty as the arrows consumed everything around him, taking deep breaths as he enjoyed the purity of the nature around him, a pure calmness consuming his form as he smashed down dozens of them, before slowly opening his eyes.

"I have created over one hundred thousand arrows…"

He continued to think to himself as hollows began to join the ranks of the hollows, but Gift's arrows were merciless, striking them down without pause as stronger and stronger demons and hollows began to approach, but there was a problem. Even they were beginning to be completely consumed in the blasts that Gift was creating. Hundreds of opponents were dying as their reiatsu and reishi and natural energies were released back into the environment, but Gift knew very well that this wasn't a kind of energy that these creature could use. His head leaned back as e thought about all the hundreds, nay, thousands of beings that he had utterly decimated, the energy they released being converted and drawn into himself. It was strange; no matter how much he generated, it seemed as if he never changed as a result of it. It made him wonder greatly, though there was nothing he could do about it the way things were at this point in time.

"Unknown to War. Nor known to Peace."

He thought to himself, reflecting on his completely unique existence. There was literally no other being who moved in the way Gift did. He slayed hollows and demons innumerably, protecting the land wherever they threatened. He had the power and the skill to do so; his mastery of the environment around his body was nearly unmatched. His massive amounts of skill were used mostly to protect the environment. He knew that nature was a great being that was not to be abused or mistreated in any way; that it should always be treated with respect and reverence. He knew that he got back from nature just from his experiences of peace with the natural world. However, he had begun to wonder lately if nature had been doing something back to him; doing something that gave in return. All he could do, however, was to continue to do what he believed was right.

"Have withstood… POISON… to create many weapons…"

He uttered simply, thinking of all the innumerable poisons that ran through his blood veins and allowed him to deal with his enemies in ways that valued his life. In each of his guns was a different Seele, created from the bangles on his arms as he stared at the beings in front of him, a much stronger demon than the rest appearing before him, acting as if it were going to seriously challenge him. He pulled the trigger mercilessly as from the cartridge the Seele fired, slamming into where the demon was standing. The demon erected a shield to block it; however, it quickly discovered how the shield was being eaten away, its reishi totally dispersing as they returned to Gift, the Seele pushing all the way through the demon as its body was rent and torn, before Gift pressed another trigger, Quincy arrows quickly firing and cleaning up the rest as his other hand continued to move, mercilessly destroying the massive horde that had been coming after him.

"...Yet, these hands shall never hold any arrow."

He said, sounding almost saddened as the arrows and Seele appeared in his guns without the use of his hands, throwing both of his arms out to his sides as his mouth began to open, feeling a strange occurrence deep within his very soul, as untold amounts of spiritual energy began to act within him, before his mouth opened wide, before his heart rate increased, and increased, and began to increase more and more and more and more until finally….

"MY BODY IS ALWAYS UNLIMITED BOW WORKS!"

He practically screamed, as suddenly his entire body was consumed with a massive light, the bangles on his ears shining and glowing as they were consumed with a green light, before suddenly Gift's entire body became consumed with the light, pure reishi showing all over his body and being emitted from it, and yet not leaving his presence. "...Is this… Letz Stil…?" He asked, feeling shocked as his vision became immensely in pain, but it was like a disassociated pain. He looked down at his body, his eyes widening as the green cloak that he had always worn was slowly changing to the color of red… from his own blood. On his chest and legs, the reishi was turning into armor and leggings. He looked up at his hair, and realized… the shock had turned his hair completely white, the stress having removed the coloration from it, as strands fell out of it, his mouth still panting.

"…." He blinked, realizing his bow guns were completely gone as he gripped his right hand forwards, a strange look on his face. "But… With this reishi… I can…" His eyes slowly opened as he grabbed onto… a bow. Spiritual formation was not a thing that he did often; he created arrows ore often. However, this was different. This black bow was very strange. "...Letz Bow. It's my Letz… Bow." He whispered to himself, knowing deep within himself that this was his Last Bow, the pinnacle of his ability as a Quincy, which he currently held in his right hand. ...It's so easy… He thought to himself within his own mind as he brought back the bowstring, before physically gasping in shock as it released a massive torrent of arrows.

…! He was speechless as the massive wave of hollows that had gathered all around him, completely around his body, were suddenly consumed with raw arrows, shooting through them as they dealt massive damage to all the hollows and demons assembled, completely destroying them as the space around Gift was totally decimated of the malignant life, leaving him standing there, staring at the bow in his hand. "...I…" he said simply, the words barely registering in his mind as a single tear rolled down his cheek. "I'm complete…" And in that single moment, Gift's body knew something, even if his mind was mistaken about it.

He had achieved an Ascended State.