Chapter 36
"Call him 'grandfather' he says."
And yet, Igor's words resonated within him. He looked towards his daughter again before he reaffirmed his conviction.
"I'll just need to become stronger than you, brat."
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|DxD|
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High above the clouds, Igor flew across the skies at a comfortable speed of just over half the speed of sound. Stretching out his hand, a white light emanated from it before a rolled-up piece of paper appeared in the blonde's hand.
The domed aura of ki surrounding Igor blocked off most of the wind so the blonde had no problem unfurling the paper to reveal the map within.
At the same time, the blonde took out a compass and held it in his hand.
"I'm almost there. I just have to continue travelling west and I should arrive soon."
Having verified his direction, he placed the map and compass inside the time chamber before surging forward again.
[Power, power, and power are all waiting for me!]
SUUUUUUUU…BOOOOM
Tearing through the sound barrier, he rushed towards the Himalayas, eager to restart his training in earnest.
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|DxD|
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1996/07/08 - August 23rd 1996, Himalayan Mountain Range, India
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A month had passed since the blonde left the country of Japan and embarked on his journey for growth. Knowing that continuing to train in the time chamber would be detrimental in the long run, Igor stayed in the outside world without entering the time chamber for extended periods of time.*
The only time he would enter the time chamber would be to sleep and recover from training with his Kaioken. With his body's potential currently exhausted, the blonde didn't focus much on physical strength but instead on refining his existing techniques.
Igor had chosen to stay high up in the snowy areas of the mountain. With the harsh winds and freezing cold temperatures, most people would be deterred from coming there. Of course, the blonde didn't feel uncomfortable staying there. He had endured far harsher temperatures in the time chamber.
But most of all, Igor valued his spot on the high mountain range for the silence, peace, and convenience. While there was food in the time chamber, the blonde took comfort in knowing that should he temporarily lose access to it, he could simply descend down the mountain to hunt.
As of currently, the blonde was practicing his Kaioken. Even though he was bare-chested, not a single flake of snow was on his body or hair. The reason was, his body was releasing so much heat that any snow that fell on him directly melted.
He was slowly going through his katas, his breaths maintaining a steady rhythm and his mind at peace.
[I can feel it. I'm almost there.]
Through Spirit Control, Igor was slowly increasing the upper-limit of the Kaioken he could hold indefinitely. Right now, the blonde was nearing 60%. Having this much progress in a month was substantial because what he was increasing wasn't his base power but the amount of extra power he could extract from his body without harming it in the long-term.
Just being able to extract 10% more made the blonde extremely happy.
[If I can increase it to 60%, I can start pursuing higher multipliers of the Kaioken. Then maybe I'll finally be able to break through the times-thirty barrier.]
Having been stuck on Kaioken x29, the blonde's OCD was acting up. If it was not a multiple of five, he wouldn't be able to sleep alright.
And so the hours trickled on and night turned into day. The winds calmed down and the sun peeked over the horizon. The warm glow of the morning sun prompted Igor to halt his movements and open his eyes with a smile.
His eyes exuded a certain clarity to them that one only gains when they gain an epiphany.
"I was right. Instead of scraping deeper, controlling what I have is the way. Fifty-percent was the maximum I could dig from my body before I started getting uncomfortable. But now…"
He instantly activated his Kaioken at 60% of its efficiency. There was a burst of pressure that blew the snow away, but there was not a single leakage of aura. Not even a faint outline of red slipped past the blonde's skin.
Admiring how natural the strength increase felt, Igor got into a stance.
"Let's go through a few moves."
In that instant, he began going through punches and kicks as fast as he could.
"Da da da da da da da da da da!"
He went through various combos for a solid five minutes. The force from his punches offset the snow on the ground and shook the air around him. Throughout this whole time, the blonde had a smile on his face. Having gotten back to doing what he loved, he naturally would be happy.
Stopping his motions, the blonde looked at both of his fists that had the sizzling snow on them.
"This feeling of gaining visible strength increases is hard not to get addicted from."
Just thinking of how a few decades ago he could barely cause a punching bag to move, Igor was very proud of himself.
"And now, it's time for the moment of truth."
Clenching his fist, the blonde prepared himself.
"If I don't reach Kaioken x30, I'll write my name backwards!" *
Having resolved himself, Igor stood with his back slightly hunched over. Slightly spacing his feet, he bent his knees and clenched his fists.
Gritting his teeth, the blonde spoke.
"Let's go! Kaioken!"
Gruuu Su Su Su Su
The familiar cloak of red demi-ki surrounded his body. The aura was gentle and didn't fluctuate violently, showcasing the relatively high level of control the blonde had over the Kaioken.
"X4!"
Gruuu!
"X8!"
Gruuu!
"X12!"
Gruuu!
Having boosted his Kaioken over the double-digits, the calm aura began to fluctuate energetically. The aura also became denser due to the blonde finding it harder and harder to keep the demi-ki inside his body.
But this was already a considerable improvement compared to his previous attempts a year ago.
"Let's continue. Times-sixteen!"
Gruuu!
"X20!"
GRUUU
It was after reaching this barrier that he finally had a relatively hard time restraining his aura. Having increased his base strength by twenty times, the amount of demi-ki in his body was humongous and it flowed with such vigor that Igor really had to focus, lest he lose control and deplete his stamina in one go.
So Igor took a few moments to adjust himself to the current level of his strength.
[I can't be rash from this moment onwards.]
Igor had long since learned that rashly skipping to Kaioken x20 would severely deplete his stamina due to his body experiencing a sudden shock. Boosting in incremental values of '4' was currently the maximum number of boosts he could withstand in one go.
But after reaching times-twenty, he couldn't boost himself by four again.
"X22!"
GRUUUUU
"X24!"
GRUUUU
He took a moment to collect his wits before he continued.
"X25!"
GRUUUU!
The blonde stopped at the 25th multiplier for a while. He was losing control of the Kaioken and if he continued boosting himself without grabbing the reigns, then he wouldn't make it past the twenty-seventh mark.
Gritting his teeth, the blonde clenched his fists.
"X26!"
GRUUUUU!
His aura surged like a giant red bonfire. His entire body already appeared red from the copious amounts of demi-ki running through every single fibre of his body.
"X27!"
GRUUUUU!
"X28!"
GRUUUU!
"Times...twenty-nine!"
GRUUUUUUU!
Igor truly had to stop here. The veins all over his body were bulging and his muscle-mass had noticeably increased. The amount of aura surrounding him had even caused his entire figure to appear illusory.
But Igor was determined not to stop here.
"So…close!"
He could feel his control over his aura slowly slip through his fingers like wet soap. Already over half his stamina had been consumed in less than a minute.
But the blonde wasn't going to stop now.
"GRAAAAAAAA!"
GRUUUUUUUUUU!
Releasing a primal yell into the skies, the blonde finally managed to multiply his base power level by thirty. At this point, his aura had become so dense that his figure could not be seen at all. The aura was fluctuating so violently that the ground cracked and the nearby rocks were blasted off. All the snow in the vicinity had melted away while the winds became violent. Igor was releasing so much aura that it became a pillar that towered over eight metres. It was like a beacon that made all the people who made journeys to the Himalayas, whether for holy or casual reasons, look up to the summit. While the mundane looked at this scene with awe, the supernatural hurriedly fled the scene. After all, they could clearly feel the immense pressure Igor was emitting.
Yet just as quickly as this aura surged, it slowly began to plummet. On the summit, Igor could feel that he had exhausted his stamina and almost bled himself dry of ki. Not wanting to experience the feeling of his body going into shock, he gradually decreased the multipliers of the Kaioken until finally, he was in his base state.
*Huff* *Huff* *Huff* *Huff*
The blonde was on shaky legs while visible steam wafted from his body. Yet despite all of this, Igor had a smile on his face.
"I…did it."
*Plop*
Falling down on his knees, the blonde couldn't support his body any longer before he fell face-first on the hard ground.
His breaths were slowing down, his eyes gradually shutting down. And yet, all the blonde could think about was the fact that he succeeded.
Unable to muster enough strength to even enter the time chamber, the blonde passed out on the spot.
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|DxD|
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"..."
Descending from the skies, a short monkey covered in golden brown fur moved over to Igor. He appeared to be elderly and the monk's cassock he wore made him appear even more so.
He approached the youth before lifting him on his shoulders.
"Another talented human. Yet while one possesses the True Longinus, this one possesses the mystical artifact of the Aryans."
The old monkey smiled to himself.
"This is my redemption. I won't make the same mistake twice."
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AN
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1. Knowing that continuing to train in the time chamber would be detrimental in the long run, Igor stayed in the outside world without entering the time chamber for extended periods of time.*
Explanation: It has been mentioned before that the time chamber halts the aging process. Despite being six years old biologically, the reason why Igor looks 14-15 years old is due to a combination of harsh gravity training and healing herbs. This forced his body to 'grow up' in order to better cope/adapt to the training it has to endure. Like how a 700hp truck can pull heavier loads than a 360hp truck. While this adaptation was good for the initial stages, there was a cap to how much he could milk off from his body before he couldn't grow any further. This is also why him staying in the time chamber wouldn't be beneficial. What he needs the most right now is to age. That way, he can 'naturally' grow bigger and his potential can reset itself. Staying outside the time chamber for six years would be much better than training inside it for sixty-years since by the time he comes out, at best he would probably be mid to high-satan class due to only having aged six months.
2. "If I don't reach Kaioken x30, I'll write my name backwards."
Explanation: Rogi actually means deceased in Hindu while the name Igor means warrior and is of Russian origin. Moving on, this could be interpreted as the blonde meaning he will reach times 30 or die trying.
Important:
I haven't eaten a burger since last year. Help me buy one by going to my p@tre0n.
As always, here's the link: p@tre0n.com/HolyGambler
Replace the '@' and '0' with 'a' and 'o' respectively. Or just search for 'HolyGambler'.