[Haki]
[Trait: Immortality]
[Stats]
Strength: 6.0
Speed: 3.3
Agility: 10.1
Defense: 21.0
Spirit: 102.0
[Skill]
[Archimedean Series – Water Breathing (Novice: 1/100)]
He observed his new panel, especially that last line that had been added. He could feel the satisfying tingle at the back of his neck, the one that usually came after he had accomplished something.
'Really?' Instinct flared calmly. 'What have you accomplished? Why don't you just continue…?'
Haki put his forearm over his forehead and looked to his side as though tired of speaking to his lover. "You already know," he said.
'Since you're basically my instincts,' he continued inwardly, 'what do you think I should do now?'
'Hmph! Thought you'd never ask,' Instinct said mechanically. His tone sounded solemn; when it came to matters like this, he didn't dally around.
'Firstly, there was a flaw in the way you performed the very first iteration of your Water Breathing,' he took the tone of a teacher lecturing his student.
'It'll definitely be hard moving forward, but what you need to do, in essence, is to time the beginning of both iterations; Whale Breathing and Archimedean 'Mana' Spiral, in such a way that they begin at the exact same moment, and their latter processes follow suit.' He ended.
'Okay, so does th—'
***
Days blurred into weeks and weeks blurred into months as he practically lost track of time once again.
It wasn't like time had ever been that important to him, but now, more than ever, it really did become a background thing.
He only counted in 'good iterations' and 'bad ones'.
A 'good iteration' was simple; the moment the first drop of water slid up his nostrils, the 'mana' would also 'slide' out from the 'gate' in the stone, at that exact same instant. Not a heartbeat before. Not a heartbeat after. And since he was just a Novice, the first hundreds were, of course, bad.
He continued his practice, again, and again, and again. He didn't get annoyed or bored, it was just how he lived his life now.
One time, he got it almost right, but he had rushed the third loop.
Later on, he changed the way he trained. He trained while standing, he trained while sitting, and he trained while swimming.
Sometimes he would walk along the bottom of the deep pocket, then he'd inhale water mid-step, feeling his weight and breath change at the same time, and right on that moment he'd trigger the spiral.
Sometimes he would let himself sink limply in the deep part, do absolutely nothing with his limbs, and practice matching timing alone; water in, 'mana' in, perfectly overlapped.
His worst days were when he had to do it under the waterfall. If he was even slightly off, the impact would jolt his body and his imagination apart at once, then his throat would spasm, and he'd lose the pattern as a whole.
He remembered once when Instinct had called him 'Trash' and he had replied with a simple; 'Noted.' Then he'd done it again.
***
One year passed quietly in the pond…
[Haki]
[Trait: Immortality]
[Stats]
Strength: 6.0
Speed: 3.4
Agility: 10.5
Defense: 22.0
Spirit: 110.1
[Skill]
[Archimedean Series – Water Breathing (Adept: 94,087/100,000)]
His Spirit stat hadn't increased by much… if one looked only at the numbers, and in fact, none of his stats had made what most people would call a "huge leap," but the difference between the current eight-year-old him and his previous self a year ago was like the difference between a snake and a worm.
Completely incomparable.
Before the year had even ended, he had achieved what he'd had in mind; precise control over his Spirit stat. The magnitude of his Spirit no longer felt like a weapon larger than his whole body, swinging wild and heavy, but like a carver's knife in the palm of his hand, cutting and crafting in precise detail.
He was currently sitting cross-legged at the bottom of the basin.
There were a lot of things on his mind now; various pathways to follow, new possibilities that had opened… but he cut all of those unnecessary thoughts away and focused on what he had in his hands currently.
'This basin has given us everything it can, for now,' Instinct said quietly.
Haki tilted his head, on top of which sat waist-long hair, black as ink, and his eyes tracked a tiny crack in the stone overhead.
'Yes. It's time.'
He replayed, very quickly, the past 'years' in his head; his first panic, the crawling growth, the finger curls, the waterfall, his countless iterations… all of it. It was enough for a foundation.
*BUBBLE*
A little sound came from his mouth as he pushed from the bottom of the water and his body rose steadily without rushing.
Every one of his moves was smooth, graceful, and most importantly, efficient. Every action he took used the minimum possible energy required for the task. Every part of his body felt like a well-oiled machine.
He moved upwards and his head broke the surface without a sound.
'Let's say hello to gravity, shall we,' he decided.
He moved upwards and his head broke the surface without a sound.
He swam towards the edge of the basin, the path that would lead him out onto land, and as he reached ashore, it required him taking steps to ascend a slope, still underwater.
As he moved upwards the slope, the water line slid down his neck first, then his shoulders, next, his chest and finally his feet. The feet which had always been half-floating even while standing on the floor bed now pressed more and more weight into the stone with each step he took.
STEP
At first, the change wasn't much as the water still clung to his thighs, then his knees, helping him remain steady. His muscles complained a little at the new angle. It was nothing significant though, like adding a thin plate to a bar he'd already been lifting, for years, so he just endured it calmly.
Step by step, the support of the water peeled away and by the time the water reached just below his knees, he could already feel the difference especially in the way his ankles were more 'honest' now; they actually had to work to keep him balanced now.
He observed as tiny muscles in his feet, which had never been truly responsible for anything before, started waking up.
'Huh,' he thought.
He took another step, and another, then another. The water kissed his shins, then his ankles, and finally, it let go. He was fully on land now.
He stood there at the edge, now completely out of the pond.
The wind felt thin and almost shy as it brushed over his wet skin. The noise of the waterfall he had been all too familiar with felt smaller now, like someone had turned its volume down. He had put his head out of the water before, multiple times actually, but he had never been this far from the waterfall.
For a moment, he just stood there and let his body talk to him. He could feel the micro movements in his ankles, spine and shoulders; the way they adjusted, stacked upon each other and settled under new gravity.
It was not hard for him to adapt to this feeling though, considering his very abundant spirit; which worked to help his mind absorb and recalibrate details marginally faster than before.
Then, almost absentmindedly, he turned his head and looked back at his former home. The water near the edge was calmer as light fell in at an angle which flattened the ripples into a natural mirror, and for the very first time since he arrived in this world, he actually saw himself.
He froze.
The boy in the water stared back at him, then he stepped a little closer to the edge so his reflection wouldn't distort too much, he wanted to have a clearer look.
His head held waist-long hair as black as ink which hung down in heavy, wet strands, some of it clung to his cheeks, while a few thinner locks fell across his eyes, covering them partially. He raised his hand which slowly adjusted to the feeling of the world pressing down upon him and lazily brushed the hair away.
Two blood red pupils were revealed, dark and clean, looking out from under his brows, carrying a deep shade. There was a calm and steady intensity inside them that had nothing to do with his age.
His gaze, even as a reflection, felt… heavy, and the fact that his spirit was so high only made matters worse. Fortunately, he'd learnt to control it.
His face though, was still that of a child, but that was only at a glance, easily unnoticed. The lines and angles of his face were a bit too sharp and defined. His jaw was firm and narrow, with his cheekbones being slightly more prominent than a normal eight-year-old. His lips naturally carried no expression, they were straight and neutral, that alone made him look colder.
As sunlight had rarely reached him, his skin, polished by water for years was pale, clean and tight, but not ghostly. It wasn't the smoothness of a pampered noble, but of someone whose body had been ridded of its unnecessary parts.
His neck was lean, and when he tilted his head slightly, cords of muscle would shift under his skin. His shoulders… they were not broad yet, but they set themselves properly on his frame with no slouch. Thin strips of muscle traced from his neck into his collarbones and down into his chest.
His arms were slender, yes, but they still held visible definition. His appearance, as tight as a rope, wasn't bulky or exaggerated, a proper definition for it would be… density.