Chapter 16

I know of a certain kai from Universe 7 who managed to combine the Aura-Burning State and the Aura-Flowing State into one powerful technique. 

If my memory serves correct, he called the culmination of these techniques, the Kaioken.

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|DxD|

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Time chamber: 2 Months Later

Outside in the barrenness of the time chamber, Igor was sitting cross-legged with Nakamura's book open in front of him. Wearing only navy pants and black sandals, he was rendered bare to the harsh cold of the vicinity. He hadn't ventured too far into the time chamber, meaning the gravity was only twice the normal level.

Although he could've ventured further, his goal for this month was not to train his body. With his body having reached its peak a long time ago, further training would only be pointless. His objective this time was to properly master his aura. One of the requirements for learning the Kaioken was to have a certain level of mastery over his ki. 

While Igor had almost fulfilled the preliminary requirements to start training the Kaioken nearly a week into his training, he was not satisfied.

[I'm still a kid so my ki capacity isn't as big as I want it to be, and my body isn't as strong as I need it to be. But if I can enhance my ki control even further, I can decrease the amount of ki I release as waste aura and limit the amount of strain my veins have to go through.]

Opening his eyes, he extended both his hands forward like knives. Then, short blue aura blades emanated from his hand with a soft buzzing sound. The aura blades were smooth and triangular in shape. There were visible little strands of ki that were moving around like little string fish.

But while the sight appeared beautiful, Igor thought the opposite.

[Finer! I must make them finer!]

Slowly, the little strings of ki began to disintegrate, allowing the aura blades to have a smooth, more metallic finish.

Igor looked at the book below, specifically on the section dedicated to the latest training method he was on.

…

'Method #6: Iron Sharpens Iron

While not the most elegant of types, the [Iron Sharpens Iron] training method forces the user to take a much cruder and simpler approach to enhancing ki control. As the name implies, we will use your ki to sharpen your ki control ability. To put it specifically, you will grind your ki against each other. Of course, we won't do this internally, unless you want to cripple yourself. 

What you will do, is you will form two aura blades in your hands. You must make them as sharp as you can for this exercise to bring you any noticeable effects. Once you've done that, you will then pit the blades against each other and make them clash. You will know you are on the right path when you will your entire body begins to vibrate, especially your arms and the lower side of your ribs. 

…

Igor did exactly that. He clashed the blades and immediately his body began vibrating. He endured silently while monitoring the flow and sharpness of his ki in the blades. 

Although there was a slight pain…

"Keuk! This is…nothing I haven't felt before!"

He continued making his blades struggle against each other whilst silently recalling the additional information he needed.

…

'It is extremely important that you do not keep the status quo. Most fighters experienced having superior ki control in their dominant hand. If your dominant hand is your right hand, sharpen the aura blade in it while maintaining the blade in your left hand. Once your right blade begins to cut the left one, immediately focus on your left blade and do your best to recover its integrity and improve its sharpness.

To see better…or worse results from this training, place something you hold dear to you beneath the aura blades. My personal favourite is placing a sleeping baby. I assume I do not have to explain any further as to what the impact would be if you fail?'

…

Although Igor didn't have a baby lying around, he did have the very book recommending him to risk the lives of babies beneath the aura blades. 

But despite this, Igor considered this book very important.

[If I fail here…]

There was no other copy in the library. If he failed to bolster his left blade, he runs the risk of cutting the one and only teaching method for the Kaioken to pieces with no possibility of stitching the book together.

To him, this book was more precious than a random baby he didn't even know. To him, anything that could increase his strength was precious because it could secure his future from needless tragedy. He could still remember how Ted broke the news of his family dying. Although it would be a stain on their memory, Igor knew his family died because his father was weak. As much as he respected the man, sometimes he wished he had stayed in Italy. As unethical as being in the mafia was, he was in a position of strength. Willingly letting go of such a position to pursue the life of a 'normal' person was a concept Igor couldn't accept deep down inside him. If his father had remained in the mafia, their entire family, should it have existed, wouldn't have had to die so needlessly.

It was why Igor pursued power. It was his drive to improve and strive to be the strongest. It was why he was willing to take such a risk. Rather than take a less risky but longer approach to mastering ki control, he was willing to use such a method that would provide him with immediate gains…or painful losses. 

If he had to stake the one and only method to obtain the Kaioken and other techniques on the line, then he had no problem.

Because in a contest of willpower, he had plenty to spare.

"GRAAAAA!"

CLANG!

His right hand bounced off into the air. Igor opened his eyes wide, not because of the sudden rebound, but because the quality of his blades had increased to the point that they seemed to have gained their own sword aura.

Igor brought his hands close to his chest, his eyes taking in the higher quality of the aura blades. 

"Wow…"

Now, the blades seemed to be more solid in appearance like a real blade. The dull hum around the blades was even more pronounced than before. 

The amount of densely packed ki amazed Igor to the point that his smile began to widen.

"Haha. Hahaha! Hahahahaha! I did it!"

He cut off the supply of ki to the aura blades and allowed them to fizzle out of existence. Without waiting longer, he channelled ki again into his fingers and formed new aura blades. 

Bzzzzzzzzzzzz

The sharpness and quality was lower but with a little bit of focus, they retained their previous state. 

"This is amazing!"

He could also feel his ki flow much more smoothly than before. He could also feel his ki was much easier to handle, almost as if instead of using one finger to balance a pen, he could now use two. 

While the blonde was happy and swinging around his aura blades, little did he know that he had unconsciously drawn onto the hidden potential of humans. The want and need to succeed had slightly broken the already weakening curse on his potential. The sheer drive he had, coupled with the extreme risk of permanently losing a valuable path to power was enough to crack the generational seal that stuck to humans like gum on the sole of a shoe.

But while he enjoyed the fruits of his success, he knew he still had work to do.

"Alright. Enough playing around."

So, cancelling the aura blades, Igor quickly flipped the book over to the next page.

…

'If by this point my book is still intact, then I will safely assume that you succeeded on the first try. If there was a second or third try, my condolences…*

Anyway-

…

"Pfft!"

Igor couldn't help but let out a bit of a laugh at the statement.

"Although it was dark, I like the old man's humour."

But quickly composing himself, he continued to read.

…

'Anyway, we are still not done yet. If you want to easily attain higher levels of the Kaioken, then you must diligently set a proper foundation. Once your aura blades are perfect, meaning that they look completely solid in appearance, you can then move on to aura sabres and repeat the same exercise as before. Should you succeed in obtaining or maintaining solid aura sabres, you can extend the blades to as much as three-dozen metres. The longer, the better. Although I do not mean to brag, my mastery over ki was good enough to allow me to form an aura sword long enough to cleave the suns of solar systems in half.

Continue to train and you will notice the sharp rise in ki control. If you want to make it even harder, use the Yin-Yang Breathing Method (Push-and-Pull) in conjunction with your aura blades. Breathe in, and lengthen your aura blades as far as you can. Breathe out, and shorten them.'

…

Igor closed the book and placed it behind him. Then just like before, he straightened his hands and breathed in.

As he breathed in, he powered up as fast as he could. At the same time, he formed ki blades that continued to grow in length for the duration of his breath.

But as the blades lengthened, they emitted wisps of blue aura.

[Tch! My control is loosening.]

But he didn't stop. He couldn't stop, not when he could feel his ki more intimately than before. The blonde knew that if he kept practicing like this, he would gain a very high level of mastery over his own ki. 

And if he could control his ki like his own limbs…then mastering the Kaioken would be that much easier.

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AN

1. 'If by this point my book is still intact, then I will safely assume that you succeeded on the first try. If there was a second or third try, my condolences…*

Explanation: What is meant here is if the book was torn from rage. You can imagine that if someone split something in half from failing to strengthen their aura blade, they would tear the book from rage.

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Important Information

Today is Monday in my area. On Friday, Saturday, and possibly, Sunday, I will not be able to upload. My family and I will be travelling.