Tanya POV

It's been 7 hours since we left the Senzo VR training room. My men and I are now in Ainz Ooal Gown's suite. Our meeting has been going smoothly since we started catching up with the Nazarick group since we were on good terms in our previous "school" adventure. Naturally, we are here to,

"Ainz-dono, I recall in our previous 'school' experience, yourself and your Floor Guardians wielded great magical arts. I hope this time around, we can exchange our knowledge to benefit both our nations."

"Yes, Hans-dono. We can exchange our knowledge. Your spells will benefit Nazarick greatly."

Yes, we are here to exchange our combat arts. As we are talking, we suddenly hear the intercom,

"Hi everyone. Kirito here. I just want to remind you all of our first Senzo arts session starting tomorrow morning at 8 am in the VR training room. Sensei understands if no one shows up due to the events earlier today. If enough people attend, Sensei will proceed with the session. Hope to see you there!"

"And there's the new Senzo Arts training that will benefit us both. Will you attend, Ainz-dono?"

"Yes, I will. How about you, Hans-dono?"

"Oh no, not me to be frank. I prefer a little more time away from the VR machine. Lt. Colonel Degurechaff, you don't mind attending tomorrow's first session, right?"

"Yes sir. I don't mind. Actually, permission to speak freely Lt. General Hans?"

"You may."

"May I be the only attendee of our group? I wish to have extensive amount of time with my new Sensei and discuss with him how my men can be trained. I promise to have my men start attending by this Monday."

"You may Lt. Colonel. You can help sort out any kinks that could interfere with our Senzo Arts training."

"Thank you, sir."

xx

The next morning,

"Thank you all for attending this morning. I thoroughly appreciate your resolve to study and learn my people's arts." Says my alien-sensei after he seats himself in a seiza position in front of us.

We are gathered in the Senzo VR world wearing keikogi uniforms seated seiza style in a semi-circle around Sensei. The setting is interesting: the floor beneath us is the wooden deck covered with a tatami mat. Something you would expect in a dojo. Yet, there are no walls or a roof and we are surrounded by a naturalistic scene you would see in rural Japan complete with cherry blossom trees and mountains. Present are myself Tanya, and:

Kirito

Kazuma

Subaru

Ainz Ooal Gown

Naofumi

Sora and Shiro

"Now…the first thing to cover is the mindset behind how my people interacts with the universe around us. The mindset is simply this: To will what you desire and force it to be reality, minus the will of another soul. Of course, if you clash with another individual with the same mindset, it comes down to who has the stronger will. Naturally, you have a corporeal form you reside in now that limits how you can act out your will.

Now, I want to ask you all this question:

How do you typically grow and/or get stronger?"

I raise my hand. "Yes, Tanya-kun."

"You normally have to eat and train."

"Mmhm, yes. Kazuma-kun?"

"You have to defeat, kill, or eat other creatures."

"Right. Yes, Ainz-kun?"

"I actually want to ask you something. May I Sensei?"

"Yes you may."

"So you survived my 'The Goal of All Life is Death' buff by simply willing to not accept death?"

"In a way, yes. The slightly deeper answer is I willingly refused to accept what your move is trying to accomplish on me. Part of my people's mindset is refusing to accept even a universe's mechanics imposed on you. There's actually a lot more going on behind the scenes. But back to the main subject:

Can anyone tell me what all those methods of growing stronger have in common?"

Sora rises his hand, "If I have to guess, it's the food chain."

"Correct. But what is the starting energy source for the food chain?"

"The Sun."

"Exactly!

My people have discovered long ago how to bypass the entire food chain and go straight to the source of all energy, mana, and even experience points: the star! Now don't just interpret it as merely being 'solar powered'. It goes deeper than that! It's how we grew to the heights of power you witnessed yesterday.

Of course, we had to master the art of utilizing and absorbing the enormous output of a star before reaching such a high state of being. This combined with the mindset of willpower makes up what we call Sorato, the will of the stars – and we call it so to honor where our power and life first came from. In walking this path, we also discovered how to utilize any source of energy to sustain ourselves.

Now, can anyone tell me another highly abundant energy that exist in our universe aside from solar/plasma energy?"

Shiro raises her hand, "Dark Energy."

"Exactly! The energy that never dissipates while inflicting the expansion of the universe. That too, can be used in place of normal means of eating and growing stronger."

No way….

So the Senzos are a people that have mastered the frontier of human knowledge, Dark Energy?!

My other classmates are in awe or perplex. I raise my hand.

"Yes, Tanya-kun?"

"Sensei, do you know ALL there is to know about Dark Energy?"

"Sadly no. We still couldn't quite master how to stop Dark Energy from expanding the universe. However, mastering Dark Energy ties deeply into my people's main goal of bringing the universe immortality. BUT…I don't want to dive too deep into that subject—not yet anyways. There's a specific way I want to show you all what motivates my people to such a goal. For now, I want to focus on jump starting your Sorato training today. Please allow me a few moments."

Gulielmus reaches out his right hand. A glowing ball of plasma forms in his open hand. It grows from nothing until it is the size of a beach ball. We only feel a gentle heat when we should be burning alive! It looks just like a mini sun.

"First things first. You need to directly absorb a star's essence in order to start walking the Sorato path. In front of me is a tiny fraction the Sun's essence I grabbed earlier this morning for you all. Now, I'm actually making this as easy as possible for you. Without me, you would have to closely approach your home star in a precise manner to absorb correctly.

Clear your mind of everything you think you know.

Think about the goals you shared with me a few days ago.

Trust this star's essence will nurture you the same way any food or battle does.

With that resolve in mind, reach out and touch this mini star."

We all take our time following Sensei's instruction. While doing so, I thought a bit about how I was quick to trust this guy's word when he sent the invitation back in my world. Was I that thirsty to bring Being X down? Just as I am going through every reason why I should not trust this alien, I remembered my future self did write that tablet for Sensei. I can at least trust myself then. More questions fill my mind as I keep trying to "empty" my mind. I really do need that one-on-one with him today.

When I finally cleared my mind, I reach my hand out to the mini star trusting as best I could in accepting this star's essence.

"!"

I feel a strong hot sensation on my hand making its way up my arm into my body. I feel…stronger? Free? A feeling of blessedness? This is a very similar feeling to whenever I pray to Being X. So a star's essence is this strong?

I pull my hand out when I feel I absorbed enough. My classmates do the same. However, one of us seems to be struggling,

"Mmgh! This burns as if I'm being purified by light magic!"

"Ainz-kun, Pull out!"

He does so.

"Now tell me Ainz, why do you think the essence is causing you harm?"

"Because I'm an Undead who is weak to holy and light magic."

"That's just it, Ainz-kun. You still kept in mind your classic weaknesses. Thus, you had the mindset of wanting to resist the star essence rather than absorb it willingly. Try thinking – and believing – you are not just an undead but you are Ainz Ooal Gown who wants to see his friends again and is willing to be one with the star to achieve it."

Ainz for some reason is taken aback a bit stronger than usual when he heard his name. Could it be due to his past as a human?

"I see. I'll try again Sensei."

After a few moments, Ainz readies himself and reaches his hand out to the mini sun. He still flinches upon contact but this time resolves to keep his hand steady in the mini sun. The star essence makes its way up his arm and into his body. He eventually pulls out. This time, he looks unharmed.

"Arigatō Sensei. Your direction did help."

"Glad to see it so. You can now practice the mindset of 'I'm an undead who is NOT weak to holy/light magic'."

That actually sounds pretty scary knowing how strong Ainz is already. Then again, Gulielmus is helping all of us get stronger.

"Does anyone feel different?"

"I feel maybe…lighter? Let me check my adventurer card." Answers Kazuma to Sensei's question.

"Eh? I'm now level 100?! And my stats are almost triple in power too!"

"Excellent! Would you like to test your newfound strength?"

"Oh, would I?! Of course I will!" Kazuma is getting very excited, isn't he? Can't blame him though.

"Alright, one moment please."

Sensei then reaches his right hand out to one side of our dojo platform. Then with his mind, opens a giant chasm about 250 meters wide.

"Kazuma-kun, when you're ready, go ahead and jump across. Do not use any of your magic buffs."

"O-Oh. Okay, Sensei." Ho? Is Kazuma getting cold feet now? Mental smirk

He does his best to compose himself. Then he takes a runners position and takes off. He jumps at the cliff of the chasm.

That jump actually looks pretty good! Just as I am preparing to congratulate him on a successful jump, he loses momentum halfway across and starts falling.

"SHIT! AAAAAAHHHHHHaaaaaahhhhhh!

TELEPORT!"

And Kazuma is right back where he was before running.

"Now, tell me Kazuma-kun. Why did you start falling? What was going through your mind?"

"Oh, I don't know! I was thinking these crazy numbers on my card are just too good to be true! And I was right! I always have this crappy stat cap in any world!"

"What you just said is why you failed: you are still believing in your shortcomings instead of trusting what the star's essence is doing for you. You must completely trust and accept as fact that you no longer have a stat cap in order to walk the Sorato path. Now there is a science behind all this as well. But it is best explained after you successfully embrace the essence."

"Wakatta. I'll keep trying."

"No. There is no try. It's do or do not."

"…Was that a Star Wars reference?"

"Maybe. Why you ask?"

"…Nevermind."

xx

We go through Sorato training for an hour more. In that time, Ainz grew more confident in his resistance to light/holy magic. Subaru is able to more comfortably control this "Hand of Providence". Kazuma got around to leaping smaller chasms, climb trees with just his feet by "changing the laws of gravity" on himself. Sora and Shiro are able to answer Sensei's complex questions at higher speeds than before (Sensei measures the response time in milliseconds!). Naofumi gained further control of his legendary shield – he now can throw his shield out in the direction he wants and recall it back. Kirito has already been training for a year so he's only fine tuning his Sorato. As for myself, I'm able to "call" forth a power boost. It's not as strong as when Being X curses me, but at least I don't have to depend on him for a power up.

"You've all been making great progress for just Day 1 of Sorato training and I'm proud to see this! However, I believe we can stop here. I wish to allow you all time to build up the resume I've asked for yesterday and need to allow your companions the opportunity to attend sessions with me. Does anyone have questions before leaving?"

I raise my hand. "Yes, Tanya?"

"I wish to speak with you privately, Sensei."

"I don't mind. We can talk once everyone leaves. Anyone else?"

The "dojo" remains silent.

"Alright then! Enjoy your Saturday!"

"Thanks! You too, Sensei. Bye!" x7

Once everyone logged off, Sensei and I sit facing each other.

"Now Tanya, what do you wish to discuss?"

"I want to talk about what I will learn to kill Being X and how much you know about him."

"I see. Very well then. Recall our brief mention of Dark Energy?"

"Hai."

"You will learn to master Dark Energy to the point you can weaponized it against Being X."

"I see. That brings up a third question then. Why are you helping me bring him down so willingly?"

"Because your description of him from your future self's tablet matches one of the gods my people confronted long ago when we tried to work with them to bring the universe immortality. In fact, Being X was actually the spearhead of their opposition to us. He is sure to foil any attempts to achieve my people's goal. Apparently, many gods move onto being deities to people in new universes once their current followers' universe no longer supports any life.

As much as I want to cover this subject more, I want to show it a particular way to everyone when the time is right. And trust me: it will come well before this program is over.

Do my answers satisfy you?"

"They do. Arigatō Sensei.

…Wait. When I read my tablet two days ago, I didn't see anything written about Being X on it. What's the deal?"

"Your future self wrote on a layer inside the tablet that only someone who is well practiced in Sorato will be able to detect."

"Okay. Guess you will have to show me that hidden layer another time. Oh…something else came to mind. What about the deities Aqua and Tet? Would they move on and abandon their universes too?"

"Don't know yet. They are what my people would call the new generation of gods. They may have a different opinion compared to gods like Being X. Time will tell what they will ultimately choose."

"I see. Now I did promise my superiors I will get clarity on how my men can be train. So I can now explain Sorato training to them. Would it also be fair to say they all can wield the Type 95 operation orb?"

"It would be fair – as long as they fully believe the Type 95 will not explode on them. The only issue is, Being X will notice something is off right away the moment he sees people operating Type 95s without his aid. In fact, if any Sorato is used while in a universe under Being X's watch, he will respond in a not so kind manner for sure. I will still train you and your men, but the process will go more smoothly if everyone, especially your group, knows about Being X's true nature. That way, they will appreciate why they can't use Sorato until we have the upper hand against Being X. However, exchanging magic arts between your fellow classmates' worlds is fine. After all, you've already been transported once before to this 'school' world with most of them."

For now, I want to train you with a secret mission in mind. The mission will be to find out if Being X has any countermeasures in place against the Senzos without being discovered and relay that information back to me. Once we can come up with a plan of attack without Being X noticing, you and your men will be free to use Sorato openly and we will be able to bring him down. Do you accept?"

"I accept the mission, Sensei. I will also try to get back to you shortly on telling everyone about Being X."

"Arigatō, Tanya. I'm truly grateful for you. If nothing else, you may go enjoy your Saturday."

"Yes, Sensei. I will take my leave then."

"…Oh, one more thing!"

"Hai?"

"When preparing your resume, please include how you've come to know Being X. I know you have good reason not to tell your own men but you can still tell the naval officers of this world about him since Being X cannot touch this universe."

"…Will do, Sensei. Again, thank you very much for assisting me!"

"You're welcome, Tanya. See you Monday morning."

"See you too."


XXXXXXX


Author's Notes: And that's Chapter 9! By the way, I want to thank my few readers who read up to this point. I'm grateful for the attention this story is getting. I hope this new approach to dealing with Being X is more than digestible to Yōjo Senki fans. As always, any reviews is appreciated.

Until next time, take care all!