"Now this! This is what I'm talking about!"
It doesn't matter that it's an uncommon skill, or that it has 'novice' right there in its name. What truly matters is that it can be improved through practice.
Thanks to the ASTER Augmentation surgery, my physical baseline is already firmly in the range of superhuman feats. However, if I were to also master this 'simple' breathing technique, it might take my strength to the next level.
At this point, I might even be able to stand my ground against an Emperor-class Honkai beast, or a few Chariot-classes without being completely overwhelmed.
Looking down at my own hands, I remembered a time when this body could barely hold a 22-pound bag of rice for more than a few minutes without crying for mercy. At least, that was the case in my past life.
Now, I could easily carry groceries, or even a person twice my weight class without much trouble, and probably throw them like a frisbee if I really wanted to.
Such a massive leap in capability would excite just about anyone, and I'm hardly an exception. After all, real-life gains aren't usually as easy as rolling lucky on a multiversal Chaos Gacha.
The pencil between my fingers suddenly burst into a purplish, mist-like flame before reshaping itself into something much heavier: a 50kg dumbbell. I had been training myself on this ability ever since that warehouse incident that had almost blown my cover.
I had managed to mimic a person's appearance from memory back then, and that was exactly how I'd slipped away. However, I later realized my execution wasn't flawless.
When I checked myself in the mirror afterward, I noticed minor discrepancies — like a mole being placed on the wrong side of the face.
Of course, I didn't expect to instantly master every power I pulled from the gacha, unless it was something instinctive like Adept Spycraft.
Even a powerful ability like Flame Bone of the Starving didn't suddenly make me equal to an S-rank Valkyrie in combat capability. Sure, the raw power behind it was immense, more than I expected.
However, if I couldn't fully control it, I was no different than a kid waving around a loaded handgun. I could certainly pose a threat to others, but an experienced opponent could easily catch me off guard and snatch the weapon away before I could do any real damage.
And that was precisely why I wasn't just sitting around being a model student doing homework. I was also sharpening my control and imagination over my Mist Flames by constantly reshaping them into different objects every few minutes.
"I cast Manual Breathing... just kidding."
Naturally, I didn't stop there now that I'd just received such a wonderful new skill. I also started practicing Total Concentration Breathing while grinding through my math homework at the same time.
It was brutal. There was a reason the technique was named the way it was. It demanded immense focus, and being a novice, my brain could barely handle multitasking even a little, forcing me to pause my Mist Flame drills for a moment.
If I tried to run both simultaneously, I wouldn't have the bandwidth for anything else, even with my enhanced superhuman faculties. After all, utilizing this specific ability and skill at the same time placed a heavy cognitive load on my mind.
It felt like trying to run a heavy AAA video game while rendering a massive graphics project in the background. If the system crashed, you could simply swap out the broken hardware.
In my current situation though? If my literal brain-system failed, I'd likely end up braindead and becomes a disabled superhuman drooling on the carpet.
After about ten minutes of struggle, I started getting somewhat comfortable maintaining the breathing rhythm while jotting down answers for my assignment.
Eventually, I finished the homework and hovered my hand a few centimeters away from my face. A mist-like flame flickered to life once again, molding itself into an Oni-like mask. The details were still messy, the lines looking like something drawn by a grade-schooler with a shaky hand.
I had lost track of time while cycling between Total Concentration Breathing and Mist Flames, realizing only when I noticed how dark it had gotten outside that I needed a break.
If my stomach hadn't started grumbling loudly and demanding a sacrifice, I probably would've kept staring blindly at my desk for hours. So, I pushed the training aside, stood up, exited my bedroom, and headed downstairs.
While preparing my ultimate go-to meal in the kitchen, naturally it's instant noodles, I also kept up my text conversation with Mei to fill her in on what she'd missed in class that day.
Knowing her, even skipping a whole week wouldn't really torpedo her grades; Mei wasn't like a certain Tuna. Honestly, I'd preferred she stayed home until the mess with her father blew over, rather than returning to an academy where she'd likely be treated worse than air.
When I suggested as much to her, her response was entirely predictable and sounds exactly like her.
{You know I can't do that, Haru-san. My perfect attendance record might already be ruined since I technically skipped today, but I can't keep running away just because I'm scared to face my classmates, right?}
Just like she said, scandals like this took time to untangle. It didn't matter if she was granted a month-long leave of absence; she would have to face them eventually.
Instead of cowering and hiding from reality, Mei wanted to tackle the problem head-on, and that kind of quiet resolve looked genuinely admirable in my eyes. For a moment, I couldn't help but recall a certain cinematic scene that played out on a high-school rooftop from an old Gacha game.
"'If saving you is a sin, I'd gladly be a sinner,' huh?"
{Well, if things ever get too heavy for you, don't bottle it up. You can let me know, and I promise to be a good listener. I might not look like it, but I can be remarkably reliable. A friend of mine once asked me for relationship advice, and his girlfriend broke up with him the next day!}
{Pfft. That's what you call reliable? Are you sure you aren't confusing the word with 'irresponsible,' Mr. Relationship Breaker? Fine, I'll be sure to notify you before I start taking advice from the voices in my head, alright?}
Even through a glowing text screen, I could picture her laughing at my self-deprecating humor and firing back with a witty jab of her own. It still felt surreal. Just a week ago, she was nothing more than a fictional character I admired through a computer monitor.
And now? Here we were, trading lame jokes back and forth like we'd known each other for years. Technically, I had an unfair advantage since I already knew her whole life story, making it a bit of a one-sided dynamic, but she didn't need to know that. At least, not yet.