Igor went without sleep and spent the next coming weeks engrossed in the texts. There were still three years left, and he knew he'd have to practice to get his healing up to snuff. It wasn't exaggerated as regenerating a limb, but if he mastered the art, then he wouldn't need to fear poison or sword…hopefully…maybe?
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|DxD|- Chapter 82- Improvement Never Stops
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Time Chamber, 1 Month Later, 12 Years + 1 Month Since Entry
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What was perverseness? It was stubbornness, a deliberate desire to deviate from the norm. After years and years, Igor was sure of it. His ancestors were all perverse.
"Is it really impossible to explain things clearly?"
Igor sat on the edge of the hourglass with his legs dangling over the edge. He felt some measure of frustration at the latest book he read. His ancestors—they all seemed to have that desire to write things in a grandiose way instead of getting right to the point.
"Vitality is naturally healing, ancestor. To improve the healing efficiency, I must decrease the temperature of my vitality and spread it all over my body. There. That's a good analogy. I can picture that. Where do waterfalls come from now? Why are you mentioning spring rains? Were you trying to pad the word count?"
Igor had endless complaints. He swore half the time he spent training was used to decrypt the meaning behind their poetry. Healing had a very simple foundation in vitality. When it flowed through the body, it was the head side of the coin. It passively healed and strengthened the body by default.
To increase the healing efficiency, he had to 'tilt' the coin until he found the line just below where his vitality became too volatile for his organs. It was that fine line where the healing rate was best. That was the foundation for every subsequent healing technique. It was balance, no different from finding the right place between hot and scalding hot.
"I blame you, ancestor. It wouldn't have taken me this long."
It was his wilful nature at play. He'd understood the core tenet of healing long ago. What he still focused on were the techniques of healing.
The techniques he knew so far were divided into full-body and area of effect. Full-body techniques fell into vitality's passive healing and relied on enhancing it. It was good for poisons that had spread, mass injuries from explosions, and so on.
Area of effect healing played more on containment and immediate administration. It was good for stabs and other immediate injuries to a small area.
There was not very much to learn about healing. Vitality was already good enough as it was at its job and would always keep his body at its peak.
"But regeneration still seems impossible."
Igor could tell at a glance. The best his training would amount to was reattaching a severed limb if it still existed. There was no hope of ever reaching the level of his ancestors who could regrow arms like hair and fight even with a shattered heart.
It filled him with envy for he too wished to contest against powerful races with nothing but his body. But to reach such a level, it meant risking death by opening his divine strand.
"I'm almost tempted at this point."
He was only twenty-eight. He had plenty of time to properly research the divine strand. High-Class was his chance to lay a proper foundation, not burst his way to Ultimate-Class.
Marcei and Tallus became God-Class by doing everything step by step. He needed to follow their example and iron out every parameter to become an all-round fighter. Only once he found himself competent could he think of researching and experimenting with such a dangerous thing.
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|DxD|
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Time Chamber, 2 Years Later, 14 Years After Entry
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The time chamber was vast, an expanse with no end. But did it truly have no end? One thing was undoubtedly true: the further Igor went into the depths, the harsher the weather became.
Four days—that was how long he spent travelling at a crawl. The time chamber was very, very, very big. He still saw no end, or anything in front of him. The weather had become so perilous that lightning became as common as air.
Igor once thought his body had become strong, but two years ago when he first took this journey, the dangerous weather swiftly taught him that his physique was still lacking.
The deeper one went into the grey, not only did the weather change, but gravity fluctuated unevenly. It could be twice in one moment, then ten-times in the next. It was gradual, and Igor had suffered because of this change. But that suffering brought growth.
Two years of braving the depths had strengthened his body from the very marrow to the arteries. Truly, such a training haven existed beyond his usual boundaries, but he hadn't fully taken advantage of it.
"Whuuu…"
Igor stopped and released a deep breath.
"My back is killing me."
The wind was a roaring hurricane. Heat and cold existed simultaneously. It was hard to breathe and even harder to see.
Igor was naked apart from a pair of pants. To maximise his efficiency, he'd withdrawn all his vitality into his body. But as he stood, he let it bloom once more. Lightning, wind, cold, and heat—the harsh stormy blizzard could only retreat before his energy.
He closed his eyes in focus, and the minutes passed on. He was a fire in the mist, but that fire slowly changed into silver.
Igor heard no more. Only felt the ever-expanding distance. The world was dark and the only light was him. The hourglass had fallen beyond his range, but something else had entered. It was faint, but he saw a myriad of colours coalescing like spilled paint.
It formed a doming boundary that formed what Igor believed was the chamber's end. It would take him a long time, but he wanted to see that boundary with his own eyes before he left. The end was near.
Chapter 82
END