[19 — Breathing?]

This morning, I woke up amazed.

No... 'amazed' isn't the right word. To be exact, I woke up proud of myself.

Somehow, I'd been managing to stick to a routine: getting up early every single day to train. Stretching, eating healthy food, keeping every activity neatly slotted into its time. And the best part: No one had to force me into it.

Honestly, the whole schedule thing reminded me of when hitting the gym was the biggest fad back on Earth. You couldn't scroll through a single social feed without tripping over it. Posts, ads, selfies, videos; everywhere you looked, people flexing in the mirror.

That fever got so bad that even I—who hated trends with a passion—ended up jumping on the bandwagon. I quit before hitting three months, but that little slip-up still stained my otherwise flawless record of never leaving the house.

Definitely not my proudest moment.

Anyway…

Ever since that day at the training ground, Ruru's been helping me with swordsmanship. I was a little worried it might slow down my quest for independence, but having an instructor is better than fumbling around with zero experience.

I'll admit, it was a bit tough having to adjust. Posture, breathing, footwork, even the way I gripped the sword. I had to forget everything I knew—or thought I knew—just to start from scratch.

"Destroyer-sama. I'm your mentor now, so… hm… don't blame me if I go hard on you."

I had the impression she was enjoying this training way more than I was, but... there wasn't much I could do. She was doing me a favor, and as the saying goes: never look a gift horse in the mouth.

"You're doing it wrong! Keep your feet together! What's with that weak breathing? Can't even hold a sword?! Why are you slacking off?!"

…Okay, maybe she leaned a little too hard into the 'go hard' part. Still, it didn't take long before I shook off most of my bad habits.

Maybe I really did have some talent for this.

"Well… I wouldn't call it good… but I guess it's enough to move on to the next stage."

"..."

Ruru never missed a chance to humiliate me.

"Alright, Destroyer-sama. Next step: controlling your breathing to avoid wasting stamina. First, let's imagi—"

"Ah, ah, ah… Hold on, Ruru. Just a minute…"

"Ara~ didn't you say you could handle more?"

Ugh. She's definitely doing this on purpose.

I took a sip of water, caught my breath, and went back to the center of the training ground. The dummy was still staring at me with that creepy face.

Note to self: draw him a new one when I get home.

I went over everything I'd learned in the previous stage and straightened my posture. Gripping the sword with both hands, I spread my legs slightly and locked my eyes on Ruru's.

"W-what are you doing?"

"Huh? What do you mean? Didn't you say I should watch the target's eyes?"

"Y-yes, but… not for this exercise. C-could you stop staring at me?! Uh… over there! Go sit in that corner, Destroyer-sama!"

"..."

I still had my doubts about whether she was actually qualified to be teaching me.

I sat by another practice dummy leaning against the wall. Unlike the one in the center, this one had no face, but somehow, it still looked like it was laughing at me.

"Perfect, Destroyer-sama. Now… uh…" Her voice dropped lower and lower until I couldn't hear her at all.

"And now?"

"Well. Now…" She glanced around nervously. "I think this spot's a little damp. How about moving over there?"

She pointed across the room.

"..."

I had no idea what she meant by 'damp,' but since she was my so-called mentor, I obeyed.

"There. Done. Now what?" I sat near the racks of wooden swords, spears, and shields.

Seriously, if she says we need to move again—

"D-don't you think it's too bright here?"

"..."

I exhaled, turned my back to the window.

"We won't have any problems with the lighting if we do it this way. Everything set now?"

"Ha…ha, yeah. You're right."

I swear she's just stalling.

"So, Destroyer-sama… c-could you please take off your… shirt?"

Just like she asked, I pulled off my shirt.

My eyes caught on the bandages around my arm. I almost asked, but… yeah, not the time.

"D-done."

She's seen me shirtless before, but it still felt weird.

"O-okay."

The moment her hands touched my back, I flinched. With all the sword training, I expected them to be rough and calloused, but nope. They were unexpectedly soft.

…And warm. Really warm.

"Ruru? Something wrong?"

"Ah? N-no… it's just… the wounds…"

Yep. They were still there. The damn system hadn't given me a single healing skill.

"Don't worry. Just scratches. I don't even feel them anymore."

"..."

Her palms slid up until they rested over my lungs.

"Let's begin. Keep your back straight and take a deep breath. Fill them as much as you can."

The sudden seriousness threw me off, but I did as she said. I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly through my nose. Bit by bit, I traced the air's path down.

To picture it better, I dug into my mental library for an image of the human body. Dug back a few years… until I found it.

Buried in my high school memories, that cursed red anatomy dummy. The one teachers dragged to the front of the class every time they explained something. I'd lost count of how many nightmares I'd had about the thing.

"D-Destroyer-sama? Are you okay?! Breathe!!!"

Crap. Guess I wasn't supposed to hold it.

"I was just… testing if you were paying attention."

"A-ah. I see. Well… repeat that for a few minutes. Focus on the airflow. It'll help us control it later. After that, I'll correct anything off."

"Got it."

Still with her hands on my back, Ruru began pressing her palms against my skin. She put in a bit of strength, but it didn't hurt. I felt like that was the trigger for me to focus, so I repeated the breathing exercise.

With that dummy in my mind, I could clearly trace the air flowing from my nose down through my throat, trachea, bronchi… uh… what were they called again? Whatever. Point is, all the way to my lungs.

My diaphragm rose and fell. Each time my chest swelled, Ruru pressed down harder. From the way she moved her fingers(spreading them apart) I figured she was checking if there was something wrong with my body.

To be honest, I really wished that wasn't the case.

Beyond just her fingers, she began moving her hands across my back. I realized she was perfectly following the path of the air, almost as if she could actually feel the flow inside my body. That caught me off guard. With Ruru around, I wouldn't need to worry about a stethoscope.

She pulled her hands away, only to place them back, this time more gently.

With just her fingertips, she traced little circles across my skin.

At first, I wasn't sure what she was doing, but then it hit me: she was probably analyzing my circuits. After all the anime I'd watched, that method was no secret to me anymore. She was getting ready to inject energy into me. 

I held my breath.

Ruru noticed I was ready, so she slowly slid her hands upward, from the center of my back to my shoulder blades. Then she traced along my ribs, moving toward my side—wait… does air really flow through my arms? What the hell is she—

"Take this! Haha!"

"HAHAHAHAHA! Quit it, Ruru! Haha, seriously, stop, stop!!!"