Chapter 5. Am I in Danger?
After returning to her dormitory, Fulan put down everything she was carrying and immediately picked up the sheet of paper labeled 【Swift Wind Breathing Method】.
She carefully read through its contents and soon found the corresponding skill on her panel.
【Swift Wind Breathing Method (Not Initiated) (Proficiency: 0/10): Once mastered, you can gain the assistance of the wind while moving.】
This made Fulan extremely happy. The only problem was that the breathing method she had bought was incomplete, yet the panel did not indicate this in any way.
But that did not matter. Since the panel allowed her to practice it directly, she could simply start training. She had long been fed up with her weak body.
As someone from the modern world, she truly could not imagine how adjusting the rhythm and depth of breathing could produce any miraculous effects.
But practice revealed the truth.
She began adjusting her breathing according to the instructions written on the page.
“Haah… haah…”
It had to be said that the breathing method described here was not something an ordinary person could easily perform.
What did it mean to exhale all the air in your lungs and then force out another burst afterward? Her face quickly turned red from holding her breath.
But there was an effect.
After barely completing the breathing pattern as instructed, she felt her body become noticeably lighter, and the speed of her arm movements increased.
“There is nothing after this!”
While adjusting her breathing according to the instructions, she suddenly realized the text ended abruptly—right at about seventy percent of the method.
At that moment, she felt a strange pressure building in her chest, as if a mass of air were stuck in her lungs. She tried repeating the previous breathing steps, but nothing worked.
Finally, she forcefully exhaled, releasing the trapped air in one violent burst.
The sudden lack of air in her lungs caused her to gasp violently. Only after about a minute did her breathing gradually return to normal.
“As expected of an incomplete Breathing Method. It is worth exactly what I paid for it.”
After all, it had cost only five silver coins. With such a massive flaw, practicing it incorrectly could easily cause someone to suffocate on the spot.
Fulan silently called up the panel. There had been a notification earlier, but she had not noticed it because she was struggling to breathe.
【You attempted the Swift Wind Breathing Method for the first time and gained some insight. Proficiency +2】
She estimated the time. Practicing it once took roughly half an hour, and she needed another ten minutes afterward to recover her breath.
Today, she decided to focus on reaching the beginner level of this breathing method first. Improving her physical constitution was the priority.
…
About three hours later, Fulan was drenched in sweat, her skin flushed red. She lay on the floor without the strength to move—but she had finally succeeded in bringing the breathing method to the beginner level.
【You diligently practiced the Swift Wind Breathing Method. You can now allow the wind to assist your movements. Proficiency increased. Skill has reached Beginner Level.】
【Name: Fulan
Profession: None
Attributes: Constitution 1.0, Spirit 1.4
Skills:
Herb Identification, Herb Processing (Proficient)
Harmonization Method (Not Initiated)
Swift Wind Breathing Method (Beginner) (Proficiency: 0/100): You can allow the wind to accelerate your movements.
Astrology (Not Initiated)
Trait: Move With the Wind (Wind clings to your body, making your movements lighter. You possess slight affinity with the wind element.)】
It had to be said that those five silver coins were extremely well spent.
Not only had she achieved her original goal of improving her constitution, she had also unlocked an entirely new section on the panel—Traits.
She tried standing up. Without even using the breathing method, she felt as if something was gently pushing her forward. She rose to her feet with ease.
She suspected that this was the effect of the Move With the Wind trait. If she combined it with the breathing method, her movements would probably become even faster.
But why did practicing this breathing method grant her a trait, while her herb-related skills—already at the Proficient level—gave her nothing?
After thinking about it for a moment, she guessed it might be due to the difference in rank. Even a defective Breathing Method was still something capable of leading someone to the formal rank. Its level was naturally higher than ordinary herb-related skills.
Unfortunately, even after reaching the beginner level, the panel had not filled her mind with knowledge the way it had with Herb Identification.
She had hoped the panel might somehow repair the incomplete breathing method. Perhaps reaching a higher level would make that possible.
Thinking about that made her glance at the Harmonization Method on the panel.
Logically, she should immediately get up and use all fifty portions of materials she had purchased to grind its proficiency. Perhaps doing so might even unlock another trait.
However, she opened and closed her hand slowly.
Her body was already close to its limit. Practicing the breathing method consumed far too much stamina. If not for the Move With the Wind trait, she might not even have had the strength to stand up.
Just as she was preparing to sleep, she suddenly remembered something.
Did she not also have a skill called Astrology?
Perfect timing.
Lying on her bed, she opened the window and gazed at the stars in the night sky, wondering if she could practice Astrology before falling asleep.
Fulan stared intently at the stars outside.
At first, she felt nothing.
But she had to admit—the night sky in this world was completely different. The stars were unbelievably bright. Some of the larger ones were even more prominent than the crescent moon.
Gradually, she began to notice something unusual.
The positions of the stars were not completely fixed. Several times, she saw a star drift slightly to one side before returning to its original place.
Suddenly, inspiration struck her.
She remembered several diagrams she had seen earlier in “Astronomy and the Sea.” Some of the star positions looked very similar to the patterns currently in the sky.
She frantically tried to match the image in her memory with the stars above. Whenever she found discrepancies, her mental power instinctively adjusted the positions in her mind.
Her eyelids began to droop. She was already extremely tired, yet her mind remained strangely active.
Once every star position in her mind aligned with the diagram, a scene suddenly appeared before her eyes.
It was her own back.
She was watching herself from a third-person perspective.
Fulan stood on a barren field, holding a sword. Opposite her stood two people.
One of them looked extremely familiar.
It was the apprentice who had seen her earlier that day and immediately run away.
Beside him stood a man wearing a gray robe and holding a bone staff.
“Apprentice, if I were you, I would stop resisting… Of course, if you tell me the secret of your resurrection, I can grant you a less painful death.”
Watching this unfold, Fulan was shocked.
Someone wanted to kill her.
She quickly studied the man’s face carefully, trying to remember every detail.
At that moment, the version of Fulan within the vision spoke a single word.
“Richter…”
The observing Fulan felt a strange sense of admiration.
As expected of me—straight to the point. That was probably the man’s name. She could try finding him in reality later.
When Richter heard his name spoken, he immediately acted.
A pale beam shot from his staff, while his other hand unfurled a scroll. Several skeletons crawled out of the ground, each carrying weapons.
What happened next left Fulan completely stunned.
Wind suddenly began to swirl around her future self.
She immediately recognized it—Swift Wind Breathing Method.
The breathing method could also be used in battle to enhance the body.
Then her future self moved.
She moved so quickly that the observing Fulan could barely follow the motion.
By the time she understood what had happened, Richter’s throat had already been cut open by a single strike.
The skeletons had been smashed apart, their bones scattered everywhere.
The other apprentice had also been stabbed through the body and died instantly.
Before she could even marvel at how powerful she seemed—
Two notifications appeared.
【By blindly experimenting with Astrology, you miraculously witnessed a scene from the future. Proficiency has increased to Beginner Level.】
【You witnessed a battle using the Swift Wind Breathing Method and understood how to fight. Proficiency +20】
…It works like that too?