Chapter 15
"I'm on a time limit old man. So let's make this quick."
Tswii! Swoosh…CLASH!
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|DxD|
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1995/08/09 - September 3rd, 1995(Sun), Kuoh Town, Japan
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Four weeks had passed by peacefully. Over the days, Igor had been sparring with Baraquiel, allowing his combat experience to soar and become more refined. Without fail, Baraquiel would give a pointer mid-spar and the blonde would learn, astonishing the cadre with his uncanny comprehension ability.
Currently, it was morning and both Igor and Baraquiel had went out for their daily sparring session, leaving both Shuri and Akeno alone at the Himejima residence.
Igor's schedule was pretty simple. At four in the morning, he would wake up and begin meditating. If it was in the time chamber, he would begin his regular excercises before eating at a later time. But since he has Baraquiel to spar with, he resolved to meditate instead. His meditative sessions would last until Baraquiel woke up, which usually varied between 6:00 and 8:00. Either way, once he woke up, the Fallen would meet up with Igor in the woods for their morning sessions.
Once there, Igor would power up and enter his [Aura-Burning State]. With his ki capacity, he could only hold it for roughly five minutes before he burnt out nearly all his ki. The ramifications of the technique weren't too harsh, but due to having a very low amount of ki, his speed, striking power, and defense would decrease by a noticeable margin.
That made whatever punches Baraquiel dished out after that state just that more painful. But it also helped to increase his body's natural toughness and resistance, especially to lightning. Having endured the bolts tearing through his body, his reactions to it have lessened.
Their morning sessions would usually end around 10:00. Both would go back to the house where Shuri would've prepared an entire breakfast for them. Although Igor was initially predisposed to it, he had come to enjoy eating with the family.
If it was during the weekdays, then Akeno would've long since went to school. That was quite sad for both parents since the blonde and their daughter would seemingly bicker about the most random of things. It was a happy sight watching them fight over simple things like which is better between honey or sugar in tea.
After breakfast, it was sparring again until evening. This time, Baraquiel would be more thorough in pointing out whatever errors Igor was committing or what he needed to watch out for during a fight. It was a very much-needed experience that helped the blonde stop fighting with the mindset of a human and fight with the mindset of a supernatural. With there being various races with various abilities, martial arts for humans wasn't going to work when an enemy could fly or had extra appendages.
It was how Baraquiel had shown him in the beginning. When Igor had tried to get close like in boxing, the Fallen simply released his wings to stab the blonde. It was one of the things Baraquiel highlighted during the spars.
'In the supernatural world, you want to focus more on evasion and precise strikes since you do not know what the enemy will bring out. This goes doubly for you, brat.'
And so time passed by with Igor gaining tips and tricks from the experienced cadre. Although the blonde wouldn't easily admit it, he did enjoy his time around Baraquiel and his family. It was why that even though a month had passed, there was that bit of reluctance to part with them.
He had informed the family he would leave, which is why while both Igor and Baraquiel were out, Shuri and Akeno had stayed behind to prepare a massive parting breakfast for the blonde.
While setting the table, Akeno looked out the window to where flashing lights and thunderous booms could be heard.
"Mama. Does Igor really have to leave?"
"Unfortunately, my child."
"Oh…"
Shuri stopped stirring the pot and smiled.
"Ara~. Is my little Akeno going to miss her big brother?"
Akeno turned around with a pout.
"H-he's not my big brother! Papa said he's younger than me!"
"Fufu~. But like he said. He's taller than you, which makes him the big brother."
"But, but…no fair!"
"Nothing in life is fair Akeno-chan-"
Tremble Tremble Tremble Tremble Tremble
"Mama! Come look!"
Shuri ran to the window and what she saw, shocked her.
"W-what is that?!"
In the sky, a massive golden sphere was hovering above. Although Shuri couldn't quite see it, Akeno could see the tiny figure of Igor underneath the ball.
But before she could focus on that detail, both her and her mother heard the frantic shout of Baraquiel.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING YOU BRAT?!?!?!?!"
"HAHAHAHAHA! THIS? THIS IS MY GIFT TO YOU, OLD MAN!!!"
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|DxD|
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A vast area of the forest was destroyed. Spreading from the middle of the forest, a large area of wasteland was created. Where there was clustered greenery, was now a desolate expanse of rubble. There were brief constant flashes and flickers of golden lightning all over the desolate wasteland, a result of Baraquiel's efforts to stop the spread of the golden domes explosion.
The cadre looked on from the skies at the destruction. The barren wasteland below was like a gaping bald spot in the entire forest. As for Baraquiel himself, his coat was torn apart. His entire muscled torso was showing while his pants had a few minor tears.
But instead of being angry, Baraquiel find this entire ordeal humorous.
"This brat. Is this payback?"
Just recalling the entire scenario made him smile.
"You got me good this time kid. Let's see if you can do the same next time."
Without dawdling any further, he flapped his wings and went home for breakfast, knowing full well that the two women waiting at home would be sad at Igor vanishing without a goodbye.
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|DxD|
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Seven Days Later In The Time Chamber
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Igor woke up with a start, his eyes quickly scanning his surroundings. Once he spotted the familiar dreary landscape of the time chamber, he got up with a smile on his face.
Happy tears spread to his cheeks as he spread his arms.
"Home! I'm finally home!"
The previous energy sphere he launched at Baraquiel had drained him of his ki to a dangerously low level. Just before he fell into an unconscious state, he willed himself to enter the time chamber before passing out.
He took in the familiar sight of the colourful auroras in the sky before walking with determination to the library.
"I already got the drop on that old bastard once. But if I want to beat him in combat, I need to learn some techniques. A Galick Gun and a bastardized Spirit Bomb won't cut it next time."
Not caring the least about walking around with his damaged clothing, he opened the door to the gym before making his way to the library. He did pass by his room to collect Nakamura's book called: 'Ki or Chakra. The Dilemma'. He had finished it prior to exiting the mindscape before having picked up another book.
That other book was simply titled: 'Aura Handling' by Nakamura. Igor was already on chapter two of the book which talked about two methods of energy handling called [Aura-Burning State] and [Aura-Flowing State]. Although he was confident in his ability to use the Aura-Burning State, he gave the book a cursory lookover just to refresh his memories.
There was another technique he wanted to learn that could give him an edge against Baraquiel.
'Chapter Two: Power Amplification
Now then, young one, we will now delve into the intricacies of power augmentation for both ki and chakra. I have two elementary techniques for you to learn depending on which energy system you use. For ki wielders, it is the Aura-Burning State and for chakra wielders, it is the Aura-Flowing State.
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1. [Aura-Burning State]: This technique isn't tricky to master. If you have read my previous book called 'Ki or Chakra. The Dilemma', then mastering this technique will not be difficult for you, assuming you did the appropriate ki-control excercises. Executing this technique will allow your overall strength to increase by a hundred percent for a total duration that is determined by the capacity and quality of your ki. In this state, your ki will be 'burnt' and in exchange, you will be able to repeatedly use energy attacks without care. Techniques that would drain you of stamina quite quickly can also be repeated without regard in this state.
But in exchange for all these benefits, this technique will NOT stop until your body is drained of nearly all its ki. Once the Aura-Burning State ends, you will barely have enough energy to fire a simple ki blast. Your overall base combat ability will decrease by 80% while your defense will decrease by a further 20%. Furthermore, you cannot forcefully recharge your ki after the technique has expired. It HAS to build up NATURALLY. I cannot stress this enough. I have seen a great deal of warriors take pellets that would boost the recharge rate of their ki only to irreparably damage their veins.
To execute this technique, you have to carefully ignite your ki with the tiniest bit of your lifeforce. I cannot specifically quantify how much, but a minute of your lifespan will be enough. If you do not know how to feel your lifespan, then go back and read my first book, young one. You will understand that accessing your lifespan would require you to be able to sense your own soul through meditation.
2. [Aura-Flowing State]: Same as before, this technique isn't tricky to master if you read my previous book. This technique belongs to the chakra energy system and is generally used by demons. But that does not mean the concepts of the technique can't be inducted into the Aura-Burning State technique. But before we delve into stealing the concept, let us first understand what exactly the Aura-Flowing State is. This technique, as the name implies, accelerates of the flow of chakra in a person's body by a predetermined multiplier of 1.5x. The stronger the person's physique, the faster they can circulate their chakra and the more powerful they can be. The flow speed of chakra directly correlates to the power-up they receive. So if for example, a person accelerates the flow of their chakra by three, their combat ability will triple.
But like every good thing, this technique comes with its own drawbacks as well. For one, energy attacks are unusable in such a state. The chakra flows too quickly for you to be able to mould enough for another technique. It is equivalent to trying to form ice in a fast-flowing river. The faster the river flow, the harder it is for ice to form. This means that until you cancel the Aura-Flowing State, you will be UNABLE to form or use any other technique. Furthermore, extensive use of this technique will damage your chakra coils. If your chakra veins feel all as if they itch, CANCEL the technique IMMEDIATELY as your coils are on the verge of bursting.
To execute this technique, you must WILL your chakra to accelerate faster. It is like placing your hand in a tub of water and swirling it around. Refer to the chakra excercises in my previous book for more.
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While both techniques have their own benefits and disadvantages, my goal here is not to simply teach you about these techniques and be done with it. As I stated before, it is possible to combine the concepts of these techniques with enough mastery. 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.