Ultimately, the battle between Silver Chariot and King Crimson ended with Polnareff fainting from excessive blood loss.
However, under Crazy Diamond's healing, Polnareff naturally recovered quickly, and even the wounds burned by Red Magician in the morning were healed as well.
But Polnareff didn't wake up, so Avdol had to carry him back to the hotel.
The others stayed behind, waiting for the old man to teach them Hamon.
"Takatsuki, Takatsuki, were you just fighting with that so-called Stand? As expected, people without a Stand can't see it. I just saw you suddenly disappear and then reappear, and that person named Polnareff was injured and fell down."
Stand battles can be quick and exciting, but for those without a Stand, they are simply baffling.
Mei also nodded beside him. The incomprehensible battle made them both sweat for Takatsuki, but it seemed Takatsuki had the advantage just now.
"Don't worry, I'll give you your Stands by tomorrow at the latest."
Takatsuki, who originally thought he would have to defeat two more enemies to accumulate 200 crystals, found that defeating Polnareff actually gave him 50 crystals.
He studied it and realized it could only be from the second main quest, defeating Dio's Stand users.
Polnareff had originally been implanted with a flesh bud by Dio to attack Jotaro and his companions, but unexpectedly, he had now betrayed Dio and was still considered Dio's subordinate by the system.
Takatsuki could only say, well done!
"Alright, are you ready to learn Hamon?"
Joseph looked at the remaining people and asked.
"I don't need to, Mr. Joestar."
Kakyoin shook his head.
Jotaro didn't speak, just stood there silently, while Takatsuki nodded and walked over: "Then I'll trouble you, Mr. Joseph."
"In that case…"
Joseph took a few steps forward, took a deep breath, and suddenly struck.
"Hamon Overdrive!"
His right hand's fingers instantly pierced into their lungs from beneath their ribs.
"Takatsuki! Hey! What are you doing!"
Kiana quickly walked over and supported Takatsuki, who was unable to breathe because his lungs had been pierced by fingers.
"Kiana… Mr. Joestar must have a reason."
Joseph didn't pay attention to Kiana's questioning, but instead said to the gasping Takatsuki and Jotaro: "Just like that! Push the air out of your lungs!"
As time passed, Takatsuki gradually felt he could resume breathing. Due to the influence of Hamon on his body, his breathing rhythm changed. Coupled with the Hamon injected by Joseph, Takatsuki felt abundant life energy permeating his body.
"Hamon… Nen…"
Jotaro also gradually recovered his breathing rhythm, but Takatsuki found that this power was somewhat similar to the feeling he had when experiencing Chrollo's character card before.
But upon closer inspection, it was different, like two different machines using the same fuel.
"This is Hamon…"
After canceling the character card, Takatsuki had been trying to comprehend his own Nen Ability, but no matter how he tried, he failed.
However, after coming into contact with Hamon, he seemed to have grasped a certain feeling, as both are life energy.
However, while both are transformations of life energy, Hamon's efficiency is lower than Nen, but its application method is simpler, only requiring a specific breathing rhythm to produce.
Nen, on the other hand, is more troublesome; first, one needs to be able to sense Nen.
Although the Nen system is said to be life energy, the widely circulated methods for awakening Nen all rely on the Nen of others, so Takatsuki has always been unable to understand how the original Nen came about.
"Indeed, you all have very strong talents."
Hamon requires talent. Joseph's grandfather, Jonathan Joestar, had extraordinary Hamon talent. The life energy produced by his first use of Hamon was able to make withered trees bloom after healing himself.
Hamon is purely a matter of the master leading the way, with personal training. As a teacher, it's more about teaching the characteristics of Hamon, allowing people to develop their own suitable methods of use based on Hamon's characteristics.
However, Joseph himself does not have a fixed combat method; his combat method is to have no method, adapting to the opponent's situation at any time.
So he naturally had nothing good to teach the two, and instead looked at Kiana and Mei.
"Two young ladies, would you like to learn together?"
The two quickly shook their heads. It was clear that the rough attack just now was what he called teaching.
Even just watching it was very uncomfortable.
But Takatsuki suddenly grabbed their shoulders, one on each side. Because the two had just been supporting Takatsuki, they hadn't reacted immediately, and a strong Hamon surged into their hands.
"Oh, oh, to be able to use it so skillfully on your first try."
Joseph couldn't help but exclaim when he saw this: "This kid, he might even be a natural Hamon warrior."
Under the effect of Takatsuki's Hamon, Mei and Kiana's breathing was forcibly controlled and changed rhythm by the Hamon.
"Remember this rhythm. Hamon is very useful when fighting Dio, and it can also prolong life and prevent aging."
Although Herrscher have infinite lifespans…
However, after much thought, Takatsuki considered whether he could trade Hamon, this versatile life energy, as a bargaining chip if he joined St. Freya Academy.
Originally, he had considered Nen and Stands, but their uncontrollability was too high, with all sorts of bizarre Nen Abilities. Moreover, many people in the Honkai world are constantly fighting amongst themselves. He didn't want his intervention to cause the already limited plot to spiral out of control to an uncontrollable degree, at least not until he had grown stronger.
But with Hamon, there was no such concern. While Hamon's versatility is not low, its upper limit is clear. For Valkyrie, it merely increases some survivability and will not bring exaggerated power, nor will it lead to bizarre and unexpected mishaps.
Mei and Kiana naturally wouldn't resist a method that could increase their life-saving abilities; they were just scared by Joseph's rough teaching method earlier.
In fact, there are other methods for teaching Hamon. One is to slowly change one's own breathing rhythm by feeling another's breathing rhythm, and another is to use Hamon to directly force control a beginner's body to perform Hamon breathing.
However, the former takes too long and is generally used for ascetics, while the latter consumes too much Hamon and depends heavily on the learner's talent.
Therefore, the method of poking fingers into the lungs to forcefully expel air, and then using a small amount of Hamon to guide the breathing rhythm, became a more mainstream teaching method.
Furthermore, learning Hamon is directly linked to physical fitness.
Kiana and Mei both had good physical qualities. The former possessed the Kaslana family bloodline, and the latter was a master of the Hokushin Ittō-ryū, in addition to her Herrscher transformation. Therefore, after sensing the rhythm of Hamon breathing, they immediately mastered it.
However, as everyone knows, human breathing is automatic. When you become aware that you are breathing, it becomes manual, but when you are distracted by other things, it reverts to automatic.
Hamon breathing is the same. When the two deliberately adjusted their breathing rhythm, it was very smooth, but when they were distracted, it reverted to their habitual, instinctive breathing rhythm.
"Mr. Joseph, can you prepare three special Hamon breathing masks for us?"
Joseph naturally wouldn't refuse this small request and agreed without hesitation.