Chapter 17

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

.

|DxD|

.

3 Months Later Inside the Time Chamber

"[Aura-Burning State!]"

SUUuuuu Su Su Su Su Su Su Su Su Su Su Su

An aura of ocean blue ki covered his form. But unlike before when the aura was like a violent fiery shroud, it now stuck to his form like an illusory curtain. Although his figure was vaguely visible, the blonde could keep most of his ki inside his body.

Igor inspected his form, his grin gradually widening.

"I feel like I can stay longer in this state for twice as long. And…"

He formed long aura sabres in his hands. Despite being in a state of constant erratic ki fluctuation, the aura blades still appeared solid with only a faint amount of aura emission. It was unlike the times when they were spectral and illusory in appearance.

But his purpose wasn't to train with aura sabres this time. 

"I think-no… I'm ready now."

Dismissing his aura sabres, Igor clasped his hands together in a prayer gesture. He focused on himself, ignoring the fiery heat of the area he was in. Having been training for so long, a little heat could do nothing to his trained body, even if he was wearing nothing on his torso.

Despite standing under 4x the gravity of Earth, it did nothing to dull Igor's focus. The blonde focused on the flow of his ki and began to prod at it. He fully immersed himself in the feeling. He could visualize the flow of ki in his body in real-time. But as much as he wanted to enjoy the feeling, he knew he didn't have much time.

So forming metaphorical hands all over his body in the river of his ki, he began to hasten the flow of the ki running through his veins.

"Ack!"

But it was not a procedure without pain. With his veins having never had to endure more than the normal flow of speed, they underwent a sudden shock. 

It was only through his arduous training that his veins quickly adapted to the sensation.

[If I had attempted this forty-no, thirty years ago, I would've crippled myself.]

He did not immediately double the speed of flow. Instead, it was a gradual process like how someone would slowly turn the volume knob up. The blonde slowly endured, and in return, he could feel a change in his ki. The reckless burning of his ki caused by the [Aura-Burning State] was being calmed. The sudden change in the flow of ki acted like a whirlpool that pulled in the aura of ki that was being emitted.

Igor could immediately tell how it was happening.

[This is like how water flows into the drain in the sink. The fast flow of my ki pulls in the emitted ki, allowing my body to gain a boost in physicality. But…I can't move like this.]

The faster his ki flowed, the heavier that Igor felt himself get. It was like his whole body began to grow sluggish. 

But he expected that. It was a particular trait of ki that Nakamura highlighted in his book.

…

'While some have always wondered, there is a reason why the flow of ki cannot go beyond the body's capabilities. It is because the faster ki flows, the denser it becomes. The particles of ki cluster together under high speed, which makes them heavier. This is helpful for releasing long-range energy wave attacks since this prevents the attack from dispersing once it travels too far from the wielder. However, this same trait will slow down your body should you try to circulate your ki faster.

It was also because of this particular trait that even though countless tried, no one could fuse the Aura Burning and Aura-Flowing States into one technique.'

…

Even though his body felt like it was about to collapse under its own weight, Igor continued to hasten his ki flow until he finally managed to double it.

But instead of something monumental happening, Igor suddenly felt a grinding pain all over his body.

"KAAGH!"

He immediately spit out blood, his eyes wide open. All of his ki seemed to have suddenly clogged up, causing his whole body to seize up and a whole cacophony of reactions to ensue.

The blonde fell to his knees, his hand desperately clutching his heart. Veins all over his body were threatening to burst while steady streams of blood fell through his gritted teeth.

The aura of ki around him still emanated and even though the blonde tried to revert the flow of ki back to normal…

"W-WHAT'S HAPPENING?!?!"

…he could no longer feel any of the ki in his body. To be precise, he could feel it but he could not 'touch' it. His ki seemed to have a mind of its own and was outside the realm of his control.

But through this all, the blonde grit his teeth and endured.

[Is this the 'surprise' that Nakamura said would happen?]

It felt like explosions were rocketing through his body, especially in his heart and core region. Even though the blonde tried to persist, the immense pain he was feeling was causing him to lose consciousness.

Falling over, he was able to catch the last passage of the book lying open on the ground.

'Only those determined to pursue the path of strength, can learn the Kaioken. Good luck.'

Before he closed his eyes, he only had one thought in his head.

[Ba...stard.]

.

|DxD|

.

Time Chamber: 1 Month Later (6 Months After Entering)

Igor was still lying unconscious on the ground. He had not woken up once during this whole time. The only indication that the blonde was alive was the steady breathing of his body. But his suffering was not for nothing. His body somehow appeared to have grown by two years, making him appear thirteen instead of eleven. His hair had also grown longer, his blonde locks stretching just past his shoulders.

A few more hours passed and the blonde's breathing hastened to that of an awake person. Igor slowly opened his eyes, his senses subconsciously spreading throughout his surroundings. The first thing the blonde saw was Nakamura's book lying open on the last page he saw. The gravity of the area ensured that the book remained unaffected by the winds.

It was why the blonde was able to see the last passage, specifically the last two words in the passage.

*Vein Bulge*

" 'Good luck' your mother's ass!!! I almost died, you bastard old man!"

He almost threw the book away but when he saw the pages almost flip, he stopped.

"What…"

He used his fingers to flip over to the next page and to his surprise, he was able to grip the page and flip it over.

"I can flip it over now? How, when I couldn't before?!"

Igor could perfectly recall how he tried to flip the page over, only to fail each time. Whenever he tried to grip the corner of the page, it would appear as if that page and all the following pages were bound together with super glue. 

In the end, the blonde had given up and continued following the previous instructions that had caused him to spit blood and fall unconscious.

Remembering the amount of pain he had to go through nearly made the blonde want to rip the book apart in rage. 

But rationality won and told him to see what was on the next page.

"Bastard. This better be worth it."

…

'Before we go any further, I would like to offer my congratulations. You being able to reach this page means you have been able to acquire the Kaioken. You see, the Kaioken is a divine technique, meaning only the worthy are allowed to learn it. But it isn't the technique per say that is divine but the potential it harbours.

No, I do not mean the multipliers. There are plenty of other techniques that can multiply the user's power. What makes the Kaioken different, is that it can temper your body and prepare it for divine ki, more commonly known as god ki.

The requirements to unlock the Kaioken are as follows:

1. Minimum ki capacity or control that can hold the Aura-Burning State for 7 minutes or more.

2. A body strong enough to survive a metropolitan-level attack or withstand ten-times the gravity of a low-tier planet.

3. Most importantly, the will to live and the tenacity to succeed.

The fourth hidden requirement that I kept from you, was access to a sliver of divine ki. There are three ways of getting divine ki. 

The first method is having someone who can use divine ki, imbue it into you. Local gods, kai, and other people with access to divine ki can help you.

The second method is meditating long enough to sense divine ki. Now, here's the problem. It already takes months, if not years for a person who's on a god's planet to sense the divine ki that is quite literally, flowing around them in abundance. Now you can imagine how many decades or centuries it will take for someone who's on a mortal planet to sense divine ki.

The third method, is what I hope you just did. Instead of seeking other's divine ki, why don't you tap into your own? All creation has a sliver of divine ki in them. But that sliver is usually so tiny that it cannot be tapped into. Only through extensive stimulation can that sliver turn into a strand that can be interacted with. Using the Aura-Burning State and then accelerating the flow of your ki by exactly 100% will result in your ki overflowing, causing it to clog up your acupoints. If you do not satisfy the requirements listed above, your body will simply explode. Nothing more would need to be said. But if you satisfy the requirements above, the excessive state of your body will stimulate your divine ki. That divine ki will feed off your normal ki and grow. At the same time, your body will start to stabilise since all that erratic ki is being absorbed by your divine ki.

Changes do however, come with the awakening of your divine ki. Should you be older, your body will grow younger and should you be younger, your body will grow older. Although the changes will not be much due to the small amount of divine ki you will have, this will present your start to breaking the shackles that limit the potential of humans.'

…