Breathing Technique

Although the future remained uncertain, life had to go on. Despite the "hell mode" difficulty, the start was decent enough, and from this point on, Borne's desire to grow stronger became even more urgent.

Ever since Borne learned the breathing technique, the Captain of the Knights would often see him practicing it in various postures, much like a child who had just received a new toy.

Slowly, Borne became able to integrate the breathing technique into his daily routine, even reaching the point where he practiced it continuously while walking, standing, sitting, or lying down!

Of course, in the history of the Ioulaum family, it wasn't as if no one had tried this before, but no special effects had ever occurred.

However, the Captain of the Knights didn't intend to interfere much. This breathing technique was only most effective the first time it was practiced; its effects would diminish with each subsequent attempt, becoming essentially useless after seven or eight times, though it remained quite effective for accelerating physical recovery in daily life.

The Ioulaum family had always been this way, maximizing the utility of the breathing technique, and his daughter Cecily would do the same in two years' time.

After all, in this world, the infant mortality rate was far too high. As long as they were descendants of the family, they would be taught the breathing technique at the age of two or three.

After that, barring any major accidents, they would generally be free from minor illnesses, ailments, and the common cold.

This was also a hidden inheritance of the Ioulaum family, which Borne only learned later, leaving him completely dumbfounded!

This is more like black technology than getting a bunch of vaccines. As expected, the development of history is shockingly similar. Although the world of Toril has spent tens of thousands of years moving toward the transcendent, some behaviors are always the same!

In fact, any family or clan with a long history would have one or two methods to protect their descendants.

The dew from the Elven Mother Tree—the Tree of Life—could also ensure that descendants grew up healthy and free from disease.

With the awakening of his memories, Borne slowly began to understand his own situation. The "delayed development" was likely a form of rejection brought about by the world after his transmigration. As he became more "compatible" with the body, the aftereffects slowly subsided, meaning that even if Borne did nothing, his "condition" would gradually "improve" as he aged.

The fusion of souls from two worlds placed a great burden on the young body, especially since Borne's brain had developed faster than his body from a young age, with nutrition primarily being diverted to the brain, which was why he suffered from such physical weakness.

Of course, there were both bad and good sides. The benefit was that his mental power had grown stronger after the transmigration, making him more sensitive to his body. After practicing the breathing technique, he faintly sensed the flow of "Qi" within him.

Qigong?

Internal energy?

This made Borne very excited, so he found the Captain of the Knights to inquire. Naturally, he wasn't naive enough to think that he was the only one who would have such a feeling.

"Oh, you've sensed 'Qi' so quickly!" the Captain of the Knights said with some surprise. "It seems our little Borne has very keen mental power. Count Ioulaum and your grandmother both experienced similar situations; it appears you also have excellent talent as a spellcaster."

Viscount Gordon was very happy because he had a similar experience and was subsequently identified as having the talent to become a spellcaster. However, the Viscount, being free-spirited by nature, couldn't stand the tedious study of magic. Talent was merely a "stepping stone"—one had to be able to endure loneliness and settle down to research in order to go further, so he eventually gave up in frustration.

Basically, as long as one's mental power was slightly above average, one could sense that "Qi" flowing in the body, but it only served to strengthen the physique and had no other anomalies.

The transmigrator's broad perspective and way of thinking made him feel that this was unusual, especially the moon-shaped family crest of the Ioulaum family, which led Borne to speculate that this was related to the inheritance of Monks.

Borne began to probe indirectly.

"Monks?"

The Captain of the Knights rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, and said, "You mean the temple guardians? The monasteries are all in deep mountains or dense forests far from human habitation. To prevent attacks from wild beasts, some monks master profound techniques. I've heard they are very mysterious; of course, some people call them Monks."

"That's it?"

Borne asked in surprise. Could it be that the monasteries had disappeared and the Monks had declined?

"Yes! They've disappeared, at least in our country. It seems there is still an inheritance in the Far East," the Captain of the Knights said with a serious expression. "This involves issues of faith; it is best if we do not touch upon matters concerning the temples."

"Okay, I understand."

Borne nodded to show he understood.

He was very confused in his heart. Clearly, the Monk was one of the basic classes in D&D, yet it had disappeared here in Netheril. Could they be any more ridiculous...

"It was Rodney who mentioned it, right? What a learned scholar, to know even this. Since he didn't explain it to you, don't ask around about it."

After saying this, he ruffled Borne's hair and went back to check on little Cecily.

Damn it!

If I remember correctly, in the D&D setting, Monks are based on Eastern culture, somewhat similar to Elven Druids, but Monks do not worship deities; instead, they worship something similar to the nature of the universe and the Eastern 'Dao'.

Could it be that the "Monk" class was wiped out during the struggle for divine faith?

Borne: ...

As expected, in a world of divine faith, deities were the biggest backers. Even Borne's grandfather, Count Ioulaum, a high-level Arcanist, worshipped the Goddess of Magic, Mystra—though the extent of his faith was unknown, that was what was conveyed to the outside world, and basically everyone in the family did the same.

In Borne's memory, the Monk was a very strange class, the only one among all classes with an Eastern background, somewhat similar to the setting of a martial arts master!

There were many schools of "Monks," but most had no faith, except for a small number of schools that worshipped deities, such as the Dark Goddess Shar, the God of Endurance Ilmater, and so on.

Except for the few deities born at the beginning of the world who did not rely on the faith of believers, the acquired deities who rose during the "Crown Wars" all had to rely on the faith of believers to survive. The struggle for faith was extremely intense, and how could a group of people who basically didn't worship anything be allowed to exist?

Borne knew that Monks must still exist in other parts of the world of Toril, and they were a bunch of cheating monsters!

It seems that the disappearance of Monks in Netheril definitely has unknown secrets, perhaps even related to deities, to the point that even the high-level combatant, the Captain of the Knights, is unwilling to mention it!

Borne was now almost certain that the "breathing technique" was indeed the inheritance of the Monks, but it was incomplete and lacked key functional information!

Monks had a deep understanding of the life energy within living things.

They called it "Qi"!

In the setting, it required continuous, brutal training to master and control the energy of Qi!

A class with an Eastern background—why does it require brutal training to master Qi?

Borne had a guess in his heart. Could it be that there are accompanying movements required?

If there were accompanying movements to activate "Qi," perhaps it would be easier. The effect of Qi could directly improve all the basic physical indicators of the body!

However, his current metrics were nowhere near the standard required to activate Qi. Not only was he young and physically weak, but he had been training for less than two months. Zhang Wuji had trained from childhood to adulthood, leaving only after his internal energy had reached great completion.

"It seems I need to set a small goal first: build a solid foundation and focus on internal energy!"

Since the Breathing Technique had no limit on the number of practice sessions and certainly wouldn't lead to any "deviation of Qi," he was safe to proceed.

Borne began attempting to incorporate various training movements from the movies and television shows of his past life.

He tried pairing every movement he could think of—Taiji, Xingyiquan, Bagua, Wing Chun—with the Breathing Technique to see if there would be any effect.

The others merely smiled at Borne's antics; after all, he was still just a child, and it was normal for him to find his newly learned martial arts novel and play around with them.

The children slightly older than him often played games of "Dragon Quest."

Only then did Borne realize that being a child was quite useful at times; at the very least, even if he did something strange, it would just be dismissed as a farce.

Of course, it wasn't without results. When he tried to imitate the horse stance of the Shaolin monks while executing the Breathing Technique, the "Qi" within his body became noticeably more active!

Borne speculated whether it was a matter of stimulating the human body through self-inflicted hardship.

Since he was exploring this on his own, Borne could only proceed through slow, trial-and-error experimentation.

As time passed, he finally reached his fifth birthday!

Borne's grandfather, the High Arcanist Count Ioulaum, would be coming to see his adorable grandson and celebrate his birthday.

Upon receiving this news.

The smile Borne wore was uglier than a grimace.

Viscount Gordon assumed Borne was merely shy and reserved because he had never met his grandfather before, so he comforted him, "Don't worry, be at ease. Although your grandfather is rather stubborn and rigid, he is still quite..."

Viscount Gordon struggled for a long time before finally blurting out, "Hmm... he still loves us very much."

"Heh..."

Borne let out a dry, expressionless laugh.

Viscount Gordon felt a bit awkward, telling Borne to prepare himself to welcome his grandfather's belated "love" tomorrow before hurrying away.

Watching Viscount Gordon leave, Borne shut the door and lay alone on his bed.

It seems the relationship between this cheap father and Count Ioulaum is even worse than I thought—or perhaps, it's fear!

Borne didn't know much about professionals, but judging by the physical fitness of the Knight Commander, they were practically minor supermen!

Leaping seven or eight meters high, throwing watermelon-sized rocks like cannonballs—they were practically a different species from normal humans!

The higher the rank of a life form, the harder it was to conceive offspring. High-level professionals were effectively distinct from normal humans; they wouldn't even die immediately if struck in certain vital areas!

High-level mages dealt with magic year-round, and their bodies were permeated by mana, making the probability of having offspring very low.

Of course, low probability came with high rewards!

The higher the life form, the more outstanding the offspring; Viscount Gordon himself possessed the talent for spellcasting.

Although Borne hadn't been tested, he was already certain of his own.

Viscount Gordon clearly had the talent for spellcasting, yet he hadn't studied magic properly under Count Ioulaum. If he weren't the only heir, the Count would have beaten him to death long ago.

He had already confirmed that his grandfather was an Arcanist of Netheril, and it should currently be the early period of Netheril, before the floating cities had been established.

In other words, the development of arcanum was still in its infancy, and Arcanists were not yet as powerful as they would become in the later eras.

He just didn't know which field his grandfather specialized in.

Would he be able to see the flaws in his soul?

"There is too little useful information. It seems I will just have to play it by ear..."