Teaching?
"Sorry, but no. Not yet."
I quickly shook my head in denial. After all, this skill is too dangerous to learn. One misstep, and they'll die for sure. I'm just something like an outlier since I manage to survive all the time despite having nearly 100% Negative Karma.
Primo did try to teach me the reverse method, the one that burns bad karma, but we ran out of time and I couldn't master it. I haven't even managed to use it successfully yet.
"Why? Is it that your teacher forbids you to pass it down?"
Zeshion, unable to read my mind, was tilting his head in question. I gave a wry smile before shaking my head.
"No, it's because training on only half of the skill is extremely dangerous, and I have yet to learn the other half."
"The other half? You mean, it's a joint skill?"
"Rather than joint, they're like two individual skills in a set, but they should be learned at the same time."
If we weren't short on time back then, Primo would have taught the skill to me simultaneously. However, the regressors had limited stocks of energy left, so in the end, we only rushed the Flame of Evolution, which was more beneficial in the meantime.
"I see... So you're technically still halfway through learning it..."
Zeshion sighed as he sat back down in his chair. He was about to lean on it again, like a rocking chair, but seeing the hole he made on the floor earlier, he gave up. It would be embarrassing if he fell off his chair while relaxing, after all.
"If that skill was taught to other tamers, then we'd probably be able to double or triple our fighting strength in just a short while."
"..."
As expected of a God-tamer, he's thinking on a grander scale compared to me. After all, I've thought of teaching it to the Seimei and Luo Families after mastering the two skills.
"Then, when do you think you can master it?"
After a while, Zeshion asked again.
"When..."
I wonder about that too. Primo and the others are temporarily in hibernation mode to conserve their energy. If it were an emergency, they could still help, but doing so would be detrimental to their very existence.
After all, since they're energy bodies, or souls, to be specific, losing all their energy is tantamount to suicide. They'd be unable to stop the cycle of reincarnation from pulling their souls toward the afterlife.
"In two months, I guess?"
That's the minimum amount of time they'll need before they can resume their activity. By then, it's already too late for our current situation.
"Or, I could also try to learn the latter half by myself..."
This one's a lot riskier since I wouldn't have a guide, but I basically know all about the skill already. As long as I'm careful with it, focusing on purely learning the skill alone, I should be able to master it in a month at most.
I just sighed before resuming my original plan, preparing coffee to pass the time. Since Goddess Zeta is here now, I made enough for three and prepared sugar and milk just in case they needed it.
As I brought it to the table, the two quickly took one cup and added things to their liking. One added only a single teaspoon of sugar before taking a sip, while the other poured loads of milk and sugar, took a sip, then added more.
Goddess Zeta preferred coffee with little sugar, while Zeshion basically turned his into coffee milk. Seeing them enjoy their drinks while relaxing in their seats, I can't help but think that it should be the other way around, but well, everyone has their own preferences.
Really, nothing beats a peaceful day.
---
The night passed, and the girls stayed down without even having dinner. They must be so tired; they were completely knocked out for almost twelve hours straight. When morning came, as if to take back what they missed during dinner, everyone ate about twice as much as they usually do. Although I thought it was a bad idea, as they'll be fighting against Zeshion shortly, they still did as they wished.
This time, since Goddess Zeta was back, Ember was once again out of the team. It was a large downgrade now that they lost their playmaker. I, on the other hand, left the group and stayed somewhere farther away.
For now, as I planned earlier, I would be training on the reverse of the Flame of Evolution, the Flame of Regression... No, it doesn't return you to the past, but rather works the opposite of the Flame of Evolution.
If a tamer learned this alone first, then their tamed monsters would earn ten to forty percent less power for every evolution they gained. This, when piled up, means that their tamed monsters would get really weak compared to others in their level after just a few rank-ups.
Other than burning off bad karma, it also absorbs energy from around the tamer like a black hole. If used without the help of the Flame of Evolution, you would end up losing all your energy in the blink of an eye.
Furthermore, since it requires an active action to turn off, fainting means the flame would continue to burn, making you sleep for all eternity as it absorbs your energy endlessly. This is the main reason why it's dangerous to train.
"[Karma Value]!"
As I shouted the words, a small yin-yang symbol started spinning on top of my palm. Slowly, it stopped rotating and showed me the ratio of my good and bad karma, black and white.
"Damn, that's low..."
But it seems like I have yet to recover my good karma to usable levels. It was only around 5% of the entire circle, which was too little. At this pace, it would take two to three weeks of staying in closed-door meditation to restore its previous balance. I wouldn't do that, though, since that's not my style.
"Fortune comes after a series of misfortunes; good karma comes after having a series of bad experiences!"
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺