The human body was made up of cells, and cells needed nutrients and oxygen to survive.
Inhaling meant drawing fresh air from the natural world through the nasal cavity, trachea, and bronchi into the lungs. The lungs separated the oxygen from the air and sent it to the heart, which then delivered oxygen and nutrients to every cell in the body through the arteries.
Exhaling meant that carbon dioxide expelled by the cells, along with the body's "waste gases," was carried through the veins to the heart and lungs, then passed through the bronchi and trachea before finally leaving through the nose and mouth.
Compared to chest breathing, diaphragmatic breathing was much more beneficial to the human body.
Diaphragmatic breathing had a special effect on the physiology of every bodily system. It could significantly increase lung capacity, activate the alveoli, and help regulate the stomach and intestines.
Diaphragmatic breathing allowed the body to take in sufficient oxygen, thoroughly awakening and transforming the physiology and biochemistry of every bodily system. This brought Essence, Qi, and Spirit into balance, made it possible to enter a meditative state quickly, and satisfied the brain's need for oxygen.
With brain function fully enhanced and developed, a person could remain energetic and improve their kidney function.
As Kureha carried him home, Mercer recalled those words amid her swaying footsteps. There was no profound, hard-to-understand mystery to them.
The human body was a treasure trove.
Even the most basic act of breathing, an instinctive ability present from birth, held potential that could be explored in depth.
In my previous life, this special breathing method was freely available to anyone. Even if you mastered it, it was just a unique way to maintain your health.
Mercer let his thoughts drift. But in this world of extraordinary powers...
A profound Breathing Technique might well be a special kind of Meditation Method.
A translucent, crystal-blue screen appeared in his vision. He tapped the [Attributes] tab:
[Physique]: Strength: F-→F Stamina: F-→F Agility: F-→F
[Soul]: Willpower: F-→F Perception: F-→F+ Spirit: F-→F
[Special. Mystery (Energy)]: F-→F (Growth bonus from Observation Haki in progress.)
[Special. Charisma]: C- (Permanently enhanced by Devil's Descendant ability.)
[Special. Luck]: C- (Permanently enhanced by Devil's Descendant ability.)
Mercer knew very well that his body was perfectly healthy.
A year had passed.
Although he still couldn't exercise his body, his natural growth, Kureha's meticulous "adjustments," and his conscious, instinctive use of diaphragmatic breathing had all helped him make steady progress.
Once they were home, Kureha casually dropped Mercer onto a chair in front of the bookshelf, then went over and took down a book about herbal medicine.
Compendium of Materia Medica
She picked Mercer up and held him against her, placed the book on the desk in front of them, adjusted his posture, then opened it to the page marked with a bookmark. Pointing to the words and illustrations, she read aloud:
"Black Skin Bamboo, also known as purple bamboo, is a sun-loving plant that thrives in warm, humid climates. It is cold-resistant and adapts well to different climates. Its roots and stems can both be used medicinally. Snow Ganoderma has a stem about an inch tall and white flowers that bloom in the depths of winter..."
Kureha's teaching materials for Mercer's early education were the many books on herbal medicine lining the shelves.
Sometimes, she used old newspapers she'd saved.
Kureha explained things in simple terms, and the pages were filled with illustrations of the actual plants. Mercer rather enjoyed these "children's" books.
In the warmth of the room, Kureha's voice was especially gentle. She enunciated clearly and fluently, teaching him to read as she introduced him to new knowledge. Mercer followed along, but he was still very young, and before long he had dozed off in the crook of her arm.
At some point, Kureha had marked the page and closed the book. Her eyes half-lidded, she repeatedly pressed her index fingers against points all over Mercer's body.
She carefully sensed his body, examining the breathing that had almost become instinctive for him. Her fingers were like precision instruments, checking the changes within his body as he breathed.
Scratch, scratch, scratch.
A black pen sketched and scribbled across a sheet of paper that was already half-covered in notes. Alongside it was a precise, hand-drawn anatomical diagram of the human body, with slender, arrow-tipped lines crisscrossing the page.
As time passed, the arrows and lines on the paper gradually came together out of their initial confusion, forming a precise, almost closed-loop pattern with a beauty of its own.
"Breathing, deep perception, control, Return of Life. The human body really is fascinating. This little guy really is a treasure sent to me by heaven."
Kureha's eyes gleamed.
She had the passion of a true researcher.
A large bed stood in one corner of the room, with a smaller cot surrounded by rails beside it.
Once she had finished taking notes, she stripped Mercer and tossed him onto the cot, then tucked in the covers. Kureha stretched languidly and glanced outside at the sky. "In a while, I'll take the little guy out to gather some herbs and let him get some practice."
Day after day, Mercer's knowledge grew more "profound." The more he learned, the more he tended to draw inferences from what he had been taught.
Kureha was both pleased and exasperated. She was glad to have less trouble on her hands, and exasperated to have less trouble on her hands.
Overall, though, she was satisfied.
Every so often, she still took Mercer to towns and villages around the island to treat the sick. The islanders were surprised that the "witch" had suddenly acquired a child, but they didn't dare say anything.
After all, she was the sort who could kick a hole through a wall. Her temperament might have been eccentric, but she was the real deal.
Merit Points: [558]
Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.
Garp arrived in a hurry one day, then left just as quickly.
He brought another batch of supplies, and asked Kureha about Mercer's health. When she gave him an honest report, Garp breathed a sigh of relief.
That day, the sky finally cleared for the first time in ages. One-and-a-half-year-old Mercer wore a snow-white fur hat and a pair of polarized sunglasses that fit him perfectly.
They were just like Kureha's.
Unlike Kureha, who wore a skimpy crop top, Mercer was bundled up snugly.
With a pack basket on her back and Mercer's soft, white hand in her left, Kureha walked through a forest where a few stray snowflakes drifted down.
"Doctor Doriel, where are we going?" Mercer had a small pack basket on his back, too. "How much farther?"
"What, are you tired already? We've been walking for less than half an hour." Kureha's lips curled up. She held a bottle of booze in her free right hand, took a swig, and laughed. "We're heading toward Drum Mountain, to the east. Don't worry. If you get tired, I'm still not carrying you. I've got a rope. I'll tie you to my pack and drag you along."
Mercer's eyes were speechless behind his sunglasses. He grumbled, "I don't think you've carried me once since I could remember. Haven't you always picked me up like a bag of trash and carried me around?"
He looked down at himself. He was still wearing padded overalls, with two straps crossed over his back, just for lifting him by.
"Are you unhappy about it? Not satisfied?"
Kureha chuckled softly. "Drum Island might not be big, but the wilderness is still dangerous. There are Laboon, reindeer, and all kinds of carnivores. We need both hands free to protect ourselves."
It sounded like an explanation, but also like a simple statement of fact.
Kureha shifted her hips. A Flintlock Pistol and a sharpened, short-handled spade were visible in the straps she'd added around her waist.
There were only two weapons on display, but Mercer knew that inside her clothes she had at least ten Surgical Knives.
Kureha wasn't the only one armed. Mercer's pack basket also held a weapon: a small hatchet he'd described to Kureha, who had drawn up the design and had a blacksmith in a nearby town make it.
A faint red gleam flickered deep in his eyes. Before Mercer could react, a light chop landed on his forehead.
At some point, Kureha had let go of his left hand. She picked him up by the scruff of his neck and held him in front of her. Pushing up her sunglasses with her right hand, she squinted at Mercer and said:
"Little dummy, don't go scanning other people's bodies with Observation Haki whenever you feel like it. It's no big deal if you run into someone who doesn't know the ropes, but if you do it to someone like me, they'll take it as a provocation. You know that?
How many times have I told you this?"
"Doctor Doriel, why can I only activate Observation Haki when I'm calm and focused? Why can't I use it whenever and however I want?
It's an ability growing inside me, so shouldn't I be able to use it as freely as my hands and feet?"
Kureha giggled. "You little dummy. How old are you? You only just learned to walk, and now you want to try extreme parkour?"
"Listen. Even using your hands and feet skillfully takes hard training, let alone a perceptive ability that has no physical form.
You're still a hundred years away from using it however you want."
Mercer nodded firmly and looked up at Kureha. "You're right, Doctor Doriel. That's exactly why I'm using it: to train this ability. But there's only the two of us here, so I can only use you, Doctor Doriel, to practice my Observation Haki."
Kureha's mouth twitched as she listened to him explain himself with a straight face, using her own words to argue back at her.
She released him in irritation, letting Mercer land on his bottom in the snow.
Kureha continued onward. Mercer pushed himself up from the snow with both hands, then trotted after her.
"Use your Observation Haki to sense yourself. 'Listen' to the unique sound your body makes. Use diaphragmatic breathing to adjust your body's state and calm your mind, then enter a meditative state and empty yourself. Become one with nature and sense the state of 'stillness.' Start with that."
Kureha spoke without turning around.
Her instructions were concise, yet they carried a profound philosophy.
Mercer followed behind her, thoughtful. He began adjusting his breathing, making each breath deeper, and walked along unsteadily as he struggled to draw in the Observation Haki he kept sending outward.
Every so often, he became so focused that he stepped into empty air, bumped his head against Kureha's calf, or walked straight into a tree. Snow dumped from the branches onto both of them.
Kureha laughed in spite of herself.
At last, Kureha had no choice but to grab Mercer's hand again. Not long afterward, they arrived in front of a bamboo grove, not far from the foot of the iron-barrel-shaped Drum Mountain.
The two of them had arrived.
It was an endless stretch of purple bamboo. The thickest stalks were wide enough for a person to wrap both arms around. The mature purple-black bamboo stood tall and straight, with plenty of green shoots growing among them.
Thick snow had piled up between the stalks, mixed with bamboo leaves that were either emerald green or yellow-brown. Deep, piercing roars could be heard from somewhere within the grove.
At that moment, Kureha let go of Mercer's hand in front of a purple bamboo stalk. She crouched down, brushed away the snow, and dug out a plump, newly sprouted bamboo shoot from beneath the thick layer.
"Long, long ago, this island used to have spring and summer. It was covered in clear springs, rich in resources, and teeming with life. But at some point, a huge tsunami swallowed the island. The magnetic system that controlled the climate was destroyed, and the ecosystem became the Winter Island we know today."
"But life is tenacious. Purple bamboo, which should have grown in a humid climate, adapted to this perpetually cold weather and survived. It even underwent a transformation of sorts. Its medicinal properties didn't diminish—in fact, they improved."
Perhaps inspired by the moment, Kureha shared a history that sounded like a story.
"And thanks to the eight Drum Mountains surrounding the island, each of them a full five thousand meters tall, some of the animals that had originally lived here also managed to survive that disaster."
"Like what?" Mercer asked, watching Kureha dig through the soil, unearth roots, and snap off bamboo shoots. "Are you talking about the creatures that live in this bamboo grove?"
Using a special technique to gather the medicinal roots she needed without damaging the main root, Kureha smiled. "Clever little guy. Why don't you try it, too?"
Mercer immediately imitated Kureha's technique and gathered Purple Bamboo Root. Kureha rubbed a root between her fingers in the snow, popped it into her mouth, and chewed lightly, savoring its unique, mildly spicy flavor.
The grove contained more than bamboo. There were plenty of medicinal plants growing alongside it, too. Their practical lesson began, and as time went by, the herbs in their pack baskets grew more plentiful.
At one point, while Kureha was explaining a key detail, she abruptly flicked her right hand. A flash of cold steel streaked through the air, followed by a mournful cry from twenty meters away.
Kureha pinched Mercer's cheek, then laughed. "I'll make you Bamboo Tube Rabbit Meat Purple Bamboo Shoot Rice tonight. Happy?"
Mercer felt helpless, and his little face fell. "Doctor Doriel, your hand is so cold. And it's covered in mud!"
This wasn't the first time she'd done something like this, not in Mercer's memory. Kureha often improved their meals by catching something out in the wilderness.
Hearing Mercer's grumbling, Kureha grinned, raised her right leg, and kicked him in the butt. She controlled the force perfectly, sending Mercer flying toward the spot where the prey had fallen.
His chest landed "heavily" against a purple bamboo stalk as thick as a fist. Mercer quickly wrapped both arms around the swaying stalk, then slid down to the ground.
He turned to glare angrily at Kureha, looking fierce despite his tiny face. "Are you trying to kill me?"
Kureha took a swig of booze and laughed. "Quit whining, brat. Hurry up and put the rabbit away."
"Oh, okay." The anger vanished from Mercer's face at once, replaced by delight. "Got it."
Mercer wasn't surprised that he hadn't fooled Kureha. She knew exactly how tough he was.
He headed forward. The prey was five meters away. After three steps, Mercer stopped and curiously looked down at a hairless rat. It was pink and about the size of his two palms.
It was buried in a pile of dead, yellow bamboo leaves.
No, it had fur.
Fine, barely visible white down.
He crouched and poked it with a finger.
"Dead? No, not yet, but it's about to be."
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[Basic Strength Classification]
Ordinary adult: F- rank
Petty officer / 100,000 Beli: F rank
Lieutenant / 1 million Beli: E rank
Commander / 10 million Beli: D rank
Rear Admiral, Vice Admiral / Supernova / 100 million Beli: C rank
Elite Vice Admiral / Admiral Candidate / Yonko First Mate / Shichibukai / 1 billion: B rank
Admiral / Four Emperors: 3 billion and up: A rank
[Weapon Grades]
Supreme Grade Swords: A
Great Grade Swords: B
Good Grade Swords: C
Skillful Grade Swords: D
Refined Weapons: E
Ordinary Weapons: F
Before you continue