Grimm repeated the breathing again and again until his head throbbed.
Every inhale, every exhale is measured, quiet, controlled. It strained him at first. His mind felt like it was splitting just to keep count, to correct the flow, to make sure it stayed steady.
But he knew it couldn't stay like this.
He needed the technique to settle into his body like second nature, something that moved without thought. Like walking, like blinking. So he practiced until his chest tightened, until his nose felt raw, until his body started to fall into rhythm on its own.
Slowly, the strain in his mind dulled. His breaths grew quieter, smoother.
Meals were slipped in at regular times. A bowl of edible plants, some meat—better than before, but still plain. At least it was food.
They were locked in the room most of the time, the only exception being when they were allowed out to use the comfort room.
'At least they're not making us piss in a corner,' he thought dryly.
Days blurred. Practice, eat, rest. Practice again. But the longer he trained, the more sensitive he became.
Something strange sharpened in him... while the Sloth Breathing made his body calm, his awareness didn't fade.
He could feel the others in the room.
Qin, with her creepy stillness. Even when she slowed her breathing until she looked like a corpse, he could sense her faintly.
Hui, the quiet girl, calm and precise... her presence flickered like a thread tightening and loosening.
And Haoran, as always, his aura is heavier, harder to ignore even when he tried to conceal it.
Grimm's own breathing smoothed into the same calmness, yet he couldn't let go of watching them.
His instincts refused. So, even as his body relaxed, his mind stayed sharp, mapping where each of them sat, listening for the tiniest shifts in movement.
The technique wasn't meant for this, but to him it felt natural.
...
The four of them were led back to the wide hall again.
Torches flickered dimly on the walls, throwing long shadows that seemed to lean in as if listening.
Grimm could already feel his body slipping into that quiet breathing without thinking about it... it was starting to become natural, just as Crow had said it should.
The man in the crow mask stood on the stone platform again, his posture as stiff and deliberate as always.
His voice carried clearly through the chamber, each word sharp and steady.
"You've done well. A week is enough for the basics. I can already see the Sloth Breathing has begun to settle into your bodies. Some of you hide better than others—but it will not be enough. To survive, stealth must be instinct. For now, you are still loud. Still bright. You breathe quieter, but you exist too openly."
He raised a gloved hand and gestured to the wall beside him.
"Complete stealth requires Ael, and you cannot yet control it with precision. So we will begin with camouflage. Not vanishing, but blending. Camouflage is not just covering yourself in mud or hiding behind rocks. It is the art of convincing eyes, ears, and instincts that you belong where you stand."
His tone lowered.
"If you cannot disappear, then you must become unnoticeable. A stone among stones. A shadow among shadows."
To demonstrate, he stepped down from the podium and into the dimmer part of the hall.
The children's eyes followed him, but the way he moved was strange. His back straight, his steps measured... yet somehow the details of him slipped away the longer they looked.
"Look carefully," he said, his voice echoing faintly.
"Your minds will trick you. Camouflage is not only physical. It is about guiding attention elsewhere. I am here, yet your gaze slides away, yes? That is because I have aligned my stance, my posture, even the angle of my mask to the lines of this wall. I am no longer a man standing before you... I am part of the stone, part of the hall itself."
The torchlight behind him flickered, and for a moment he seemed more like a tall shadow than a person.
"You must learn to read the world as a pattern. Where the eye expects light, stand in shadow. Where the air is thick with sound, let your steps be carried within it. Do not oppose your surroundings. Do not fight to hide. Become what is already there."
He turned his mask toward them again, the hollow black eyes making their spines crawl.
"This is your next task."
The silence after his words was suffocating, as though the hall itself demanded they absorb it fully.
The children stood still, torches crackling faintly on the edges of the wide hall. Crow's figure was half-shadow, half-stone, and for a long moment none of them dared breathe too loud.
Grimm's thoughts pressed first.
'This… this isn't Earth anymore. I already knew it, but seeing it like this—it's undeniable. Tricks like this shouldn't be possible...'
Qin's eyes were wide, her lips pressed together but trembling.
'To vanish without moving an inch… beautiful. Terrifying. If I can master that, no face, no soul, no life will be beyond my reach. I'll steal them all. Every single one. Heh…'
Hui's gaze narrowed, studying the angles of Crow's posture, the torchlight behind him, even the stone cracks on the wall.
'Amazing... He's bending perception, not disappearing. People see what they expect. If I can read those expectations, I can turn them against my enemies...'
Haoran clenched his jaw, his purple eyes burning with frustration.
'Damn it, even I couldn't track him for a second. If I had this skill, I could walk into a room and no one would even know until I slit their throats. I need this. I'll master it faster than all of them. I have to.'
The hall seemed heavier with their silence, the weight of realization settling on each of them differently.
...
The four children scattered back to their claimed corners of the small room, the book on camouflage lying at the center like a quiet predator waiting to be picked apart.
For the first time in days, Qin broke the silence. She tilted her head at Grimm, her long ponytail sliding over her shoulder, and asked, "Why's your name Grimm?"
Grimm rose slowly, dusting his knees with unnecessary care. His face was unreadable as he answered,
"It means handsome."
Qin blinked. "…Handsome?"
She stared at him as though trying to decide if he was serious. Her symmetrical features twisted into a baffled half-smile, a twitch of disbelief flickering across her mouth.
Grimm sat back down, hiding his grin by lowering his head.
'She actually bought it. Ah, this is too good. They actually thought I was serious.'
The others lifted their eyes briefly.
Hui's gaze lingered on him a moment longer, her sharp black eyes narrowing in a quiet analysis, but she turned away without comment.
Haoran smirked faintly, but soon broke the silence himself.
He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms.
"So… what do you all think about these techniques?"
His voice carried a sharp confidence, as if he were testing them again. The question hung heavy, because it wasn't really about camouflage.
It was about how much each of them was willing to reveal.