Chương 4: Chapter 4
1991-1995, August 6th (Sun), Kuoh Town, Japan (Hyperbolic Time Chamber=40 years)
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"Ninety…niiiine…huff, huff, huff, huff…One-thousannnd."
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The barbell fell off his shoulder to the ground. He stumbled forward a bit due to the sudden weight loss. It didn't help that he just did squats with a total of a hundred and twenty-kilograms in ten-times the normal gravity of Earth.
*Breathes in…*
"Fuuuh…"
He opened his eyes, wiping a drop of sweat that ran down his cheeks.
"That was a good one. My legs feel like noodles right now."
Igor looked at himself in the mirror. After nearly forty-years of hard training, his body had gained massive definition. The combination of torturous training in increased gravity coupled with herb-filled baths allowed his strength to soar to previously unattainable heights.
He had grown* taller as of late, taller than an eight-year old would be. While gravity should've worked in keeping him short, the healing herbs he bathed in everyday worked to mitigate that side-effect. And while Igor did grow taller, it was because his body was forced to. In order to better handle the strain that he inflicted on it, the growth of his body was required. In short, while his bone age would remain the same as that of a four-year old, the density of them was something else entirely.
Igor made his way to the bathroom while stretching his body on the way. He didn't even bother turning off the enhanced gravity. Entering the bathroom, he made his way to the massive cupboard that kept the stock of herbs.
Upon opening it to find it nearing empty, he sighed.
"That time is coming again."
He took one of the three last bundles of herbs and threw them in the bathtub.
[What a pain.]
Turning on the faucet, he allowed himself to mellow on the thought a bit before shrugging.
"Meh. I'll just make do with training outside the chamber."
He took off his clothes, armbands, and boots that landed on the ground with an audible 'thud'. Looking at his weighted clothing on the ground, he couldn't help but grin.
"Armbands: 30 kgs each. Boots: 60 kgs each. Undershirt: 100kgs. It's a shame I can't wear weighted pants though, the boots do make up for it. But I should get weighted leg warmers as well."
He jumped into the bath and leaned his head against the still-running faucet. Feeling the hot water run all over his face, his body vibrated in pleasure.
"Yeaaah. This is the stuff."
He let his body soak up the essence of the herbs in silence. He made sure to stay completely submerged just for the sake of it. It helped improve his lung capacity and if the herbs could make him have a manlier face, then it was all the more motivation.
Over the years, Igor had worked hard and faithfully followed the book written by Nakamura. In the end, he had chosen to use ki since he really didn't have a demon that could help him. He did consider MAYBE, getting a contract with a devil but Nakamura said in his book that devils were a deviation of angels, not true demons. Devils were simply angels that managed to incorporate the spiritual aspect of chakra (called mana) into their ki. Such a combination is referred to as magic. It is a good substitute for chakra but while magic inherited the benefits of both sides, it lost the power.
It was to the point that Nakamura stressed in his book that it was better to learn ki on its own.
'While magic offers mild benefits from both chakra and ki, you do not want to be in a fight with someone who purely uses ki or chakra young one. To put it in simple terms, you will get smashed.'
So with that information, Igor took to working on his ki. For the first five years, he couldn't unlock it. The curse from Yahweh weakened his potential and insight so much that he had to train extremely hard to compensate. So everyday without fail, he got up and trained as hard as he could. He would hole himself up in the gym and work on his muscles like his life depended on it. He found his maximum lifting power and worked on that. As long as he could lift it for one rep, he would stick with that weight until he got used to it.
By engaging in such a style of workout, he forcefully tapped into his body's reserve power, forcing it to flood through his body. It also did wonders for his willpower since despite feeling intense vibrations in his arms and calves, he forced himself to continue lifting until he couldn't feel them. While this style of workout would've rendered him crippled, the herbal baths worked wonders in healing him. But the herbal baths could only do so much before his body truly needed rest to adapt. So every three or four days, he would take the time to walk far into the landscape of the time chamber. With only the clothes on his body and a straw mat tucked between his elbows, he would willingly walk into areas with spontaneous weather changes to temper his body and willpower. He would sit on the straw mat and meditate, releasing occasional grunts of pain. But gradually and through repetition, he adapted.
'Only through repeatedly breaking your limits, can you soar into the skies.'
Such practice finally allowed him to tap into his ki during his fifth year of training. He just woke up one morning and felt that his body was lighter than before. When he meditated to see what had changed, he was full of joy when he felt a foreign energy run through his body. It was a wonderful tingling sensation that was produced from every cell in his body before converging in his stomach. When he tried to circulate the ki, he was surprised to find that it came to him instinctually. He could easily manipulate his ki like his own hands.
Such a monumental occasion gave a world of boost to his confidence and conviction. So out of awe and curiosity, Igor tried to direct the ki outside of his body and the result…was like releasing so hard he reached nirvana. He had promptly passed out for the next three days.
When he woke up, he quickly consulted Nakamura's book and found that;
'Upon awakening ki, please do take care not to release it outside of your body, young one. The ki you gain upon awakening is only a miniscule amount. Releasing all of it outside is the same as draining yourself of all your blood at once. So for the first few days, only release the ki through your fingers just to get a control of it. To increase the amount of ki in your body, you have to continue training vigorously. The stronger your body, the more ki it can store. And the stronger your will and convictions, the purer your ki will be.'
And so for the next thirty-five years, Igor held true to the doctrine of the grind. Pumping up the gravity while wearing weighted clothing, Igor diligently trained himself. He also didn't neglect to practice martial techniques. Favouring martial arts that focused on speed and precision, he worked to create his own mixed martial arts technique that incorporated techniques from Wing Chun, Boxing, and Muay Thai. With the passive benefits of ki enhancing his strength coupled with the harsh conditions of the lookout, his strength soared to high levels.
Getting out of the bath, Igor made his way to his bedroom. Knowing what was about to happen tomorrow, he didn't sleep naked like usual. Instead, he wore his martial arts robes and boots. His attire was dull blue in colour while his undershirt, armbands, belt, and boots were black in colour.
[The timer's going to run out soon and I'll be kicked out for a month.]
It was an abrupt discovery that had caught him off-guard thirty years ago. One moment he was sleeping in his bed and in the next, he was waking up on the forest floor. Upon trying to reenter the time chamber, he panicked when he realised he couldn't enter. He could only look at it like one looks at items through a window. He was about to lose his mind when he caught a glimpse of the two hourglasses slowly rotating. It was then that it clicked in his mind that he could only stay for a certain amount of time before leaving. So he stayed within the forests of kuoh and brought meat from butcheries with money stolen from…less-than savoury people.
It was also during this time that the time chamber restocked itself on all required necessities and also, cleaned itself. Igor was especially happy with the last feature.
So calling it a night, he let himself fall asleep.
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|DxD|
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In a small bedroom filled with all kinds of dolls and stuffed toys, a five-year-old girl with long black hair and violet eyes was looking at the calendar with avid anticipation. 'August 7th ' was circled with a bright red marker while the preceding dates were crossed out.
"W-will he be there again?"
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AN
1. "He had grown* taller as of late, taller than an eight-year old would be. While gravity should've worked in keeping him short, the healing herbs he bathed in everyday worked to mitigate that side-effect. And while Igor did grow taller, it was because his body was forced to…"
Explanation: As specified, his growth is a result of adaptation. For his body to handle the immense loads Igor places on it, it had to grow. A wider centre of gravity, wider shoulders, etc. To put it simply, it is like a truck having its 360hp engine swapped for a 560hp engine. The latter option can cope with higher loads.
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