“Bwahahaha!” Laughter echoed through the room, coming from the wide television screen in the sitting room. Ken was slouched on the sofa opposite it.

  On screen, a stand-up comedian was performing.

  "I used to be addicted to the hokey pokey..." the comedian began.

  "...but then I turned myself around."

  A short silence passed before the crowd burst into another round of laughter.

  "Bwahahaha!!"

  "Thank you. Thank you," the comedian said, bowing repeatedly.

  Ken blinked. He stared at the TV with a bored-to-death expression.

  "The fuck's with this audience," he muttered in disgust. "This is the worst joke I've heard in years."

  "Stop taking it out on the poor guy," Ryūma said as he walked into the parlour.

  "Any comedian would quit their career after seeing that expression on your face," he added.

  "Tch." Ken clicked his tongue and settled deeper into the sofa. "Whatchu want?" he asked, brows furrowing.

  "Thing is, I need you to teach me how to stabilize my tenzen core," Ryūma replied. His gaze turned serious. "I became useless in the battle after using the heartburn technique."

  Memories of the fight against Aghnis flashed through his mind.

  "I want to know how to stabilize the heartburn technique so I can last longer in battle."

  "No," Ken cut in. His eyes stayed lazily on the screen, not even sparing Ryūma a glance.

  "What... why?!" Ryūma exclaimed.

  "It's a pain," Ken mumbled.

  "A pain?! Anyone would be happy to have a student under them!" Ryūma shot back.

  "Sheesh," Ken sighed. He sat up, coiling his arm around Ryūma's neck as a grin slowly crept onto his face. "Man, only some donations can get me up and about from here," he said, rubbing his thumb against his forefinger.

  "Tch." Ryūma's face fell. He dipped his hand into his pocket, produced his wallet, and pulled out some cash.

  "Hehehe. What a really smart kid," Ken chuckled, taking the cash and tucking it into his pocket. Then he rose to his feet.

  "Let's get it over with," he said.

  "Tsk, that money-obsessed bastard!" Ryūma clenched his jaws, glaring at his nearly empty wallet as he followed him.

  ...

  "Blood dominance grants you the ability to steal a demon's power after you've defeated it."

  Van and Code stood at the centre of the wide circular hall. The marble floor glistened as sun rays reflected off it.

  "Normally, this power seems invincible," Van continued. "However, its potency diminishes in the presence of powerful demons. Because, of course, the stolen powers of a low-class demon cannot compare to the power of an upper-class one even when amplified."

  "Yeah, I know all of that already," Code replied. "Terror already made me realize."

  "Good," Van said, raising a thumbs up. "The major reason you lost to him wasn't because you're weak... it's because you over-rely on your powers, not paying attention to the tenzen flow within your body."

  "What do you mean?" Code asked. "I thought tenzen already exists in every part of my body?"

  "That's right," Van nodded. "But such tenzen is just enough to keep your body functional."

  Van gradually pointed a finger toward Code as he spoke. "So what happens when you utilize that tenzen?"

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  A gust of wind hit Code.

  "Wha?" Code muttered as he felt a warm liquid flow down his waist. His gaze fell to it, and his eyes went wide in shock.

  "Man, what the hell!" Code exclaimed, staring at the gaping hole through his torso.

  "Had to make it visual," Van said casually.

  "You could've hit my balls!" Code exclaimed.

  A split second later, sinew and flesh surged out of the wound, twisting and squelching until his stomach was healed.

  "So, you're saying this is what happens when I utilize the ambient tenzen in my body?" Code asked, lifting his gaze to Van's.

  "That's right. The body part involved either explodes or withers," Van answered.

  "Oh," Code hummed, touching his chin. 'Was that the reason why my body felt heavy during the battle?'

  "So, what's the other tenzen that I've to use?" he asked.

  "Simple! The one from your core," Van replied, pointing to Code's heart.

  "My core?" Code repeated.

  "Exactly," Van said. "The core, located in the heart, contains and serves as the supplier of tenzen to the body."

  "Now, would you look at this?" Van announced, turning as Code's gaze followed him and locked on a huge cylindrical object that hung from the ceiling.

  "Is that a punching bag?" Code asked.

  "Yup. Why don't you give it a try," Van said, gesturing toward it.

  "Uh... alright," Code said, tone sceptical as he walked to it.

  "Hmph!" He grunted, throwing a fist forward.

  The bag folded in, and a burst of air ripped out from behind it.

  "Hmm, nice." Van clapped, approaching the bag.

  He slowly raised a finger and flicked it, blasting the bag into pieces.

  "What the hell!" Code shouted in disbelief.

  "That's what happens when you utilize the tenzen from your core," Van said proudly.

  'Still can't compare to Nico's,' he sighed inwardly.

  "In a normal human, there's just one core, which is the tenzen core. But a zero possesses a tenzen and an anti-tenzen core, which somehow is dormant in you," Van explained.

  "So what I need to do is force tenzen out of the core into my body?" Code cut in.

  "Nah, it isn't as easy as it sounds," Van replied. "But if you can understand it, then surviving against a sphere's effect wouldn't be hard."

  "What do you mean 'effect'?" Code asked, brows furrowing.

  "Man, you ask a lot of questions," Van groaned.

  "An example of an effect is your blood dominance. Or in Terror's case, duality. It's simply a unique law created by one's tenzen or anti-tenzen."

  'Oh, so defeating a demon and stealing its power is my effect, as in law of dominance, while Terror's duality of push and pull, where everything is either attracted or repulsed, is his own effect,' Code thought.

  "However, things get kinda spicy in a sphere," Van continued. "A sphere is an alternate reality located in the core, which is bound by one's tenzen effect. Its structure is constantly sustained by all the tenzen present in the core."

  "Meaning to activate it, you must pour out all your tenzen, creating a space inside reality where cause and effect are overridden, and your effect is the only law of reality."

  'Just like Hina's sphere where belief equals death,' Code recalled. "But wait, if I keep pouring out my tenzen, then there'd be no tenzen left to sustain my body," he asked, puzzled.

  "That's where the problem lies. If you keep pouring out your tenzen, then there'd be none left for your body to thrive on, and this will drive it into a state of survival-at-all-costs, where your own body begins to eat away your life force to survive," Van explained.

  'So that's why Hina fainted after using Vox Nihilia. She must've poured out too much tenzen to activate that sphere,' Code realized.

  "The only way to stop such an event from happening is by creating an axis," Van said.

  "Axis?"

  "The limit or boundary of a sphere. It's a technique used by a sphere wielder to control the tenzen consumption by his sphere," Van replied. "However, the disadvantage is that the wielder must constantly focus on maintaining the axis as long as the sphere is being used."

  "Another disadvantage of using a sphere is that its user mustn't move throughout the time it is in use. If he does, his sphere would take effect against him. This makes him vulnerable to any attack during the time of activation."

  "Arrgh," Code sighed. "Meaning it's both a blessing and a curse."

  "That's right," Van nodded. "A blessing in that it creates an alternate reality where your tenzen effect is the law of reality, and anyone within it is crushed under the law, but a curse in that it could lead to the death of its wielder."

  "Hence, there are two ways to survive in a sphere," Van said, raising two fingers.

  "One. Distract the wielder and shift his focus from maintaining the axis, or two, create a sphere that's more powerful than your opponent's."

  "You might wanna spell out what you mean by 'more powerful,'" Code said.

  "What a drag," Van sighed. "A sphere's power is measured based on the amount of tenzen it possesses per cubic meter. The greater the amount, the stronger the effect of the sphere.

  That tells you that a small sphere is more powerful than a large one."

  "Hmm," Code hummed.

  "So, what I'll teach you is the latter," Van announced. "Creating a sphere that's more powerful than your opponent's."

  "Cool," Code whispered.

  "It's not so cool, y'know," Van warned. "It takes an average sorcerer about ten years to perfect a sphere, a first-tier sorcerer three years, and me? Instantly. I don't know about a ninth-tier though."

  "Man, that's not funny at all," Code snapped.

  "Anyway, let's get to it," Van said, waving. "All you need to do is cause your core to supply tenzen to every part of your body, then slowly emit it outwards."

  "Ah... okay," Code replied, shutting his eyes. 'I just need to focus, right?' he thought.

  Silence filled the room.

  "Suuu..." Code exhaled.

  'I can hear my heartbeat.'

  But suddenly—

  "BLUEGH!" Code gagged as blood burst out of his mouth, eyes snapping open.

  "Haha, I was about to warn you," Van chuckled. "If you try to do both stages at once, your heart goes boom," he explained.

  "What a hassle," Code murmured. He straightened up, shut his eyes, and fell back into focus.

  Van grinned. 'Now, let's see how long it'd take a ninth-tier sorcerer.'