Useless Skills?

However, no matter how Senju Kyogawa called out this time, the system did not respond in the slightest.

Senju Kyogawa gritted his teeth in his heart.

[Forget it, at least I managed to get a skill from that dog system and learned the monster's weakness.]

Yet, the moment the skill was granted, Senju Kyogawa felt a scorching heat spread through his limbs and bones; he now felt that the very air he exhaled was scalding.

Senju Kyogawa took a deep breath by instinct. He felt the inhaled air travel from his nasal cavity to his trachea and finally reach his lungs. The breath filled his lungs, lingering for a long time before passing back through his trachea and nasal cavity, finally being exhaled by Senju Kyogawa.

The breath Senju Kyogawa exhaled was extremely hot, as if it carried away all of his day's exhaustion and numbness.

After exhaling this breath, Senju Kyogawa felt an incomparable sense of comfort throughout his body, and he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

[Could this be a Breathing Style? If I can maintain this breathing during combat, it should be easy to mobilize the strength of my entire body.]

[It seems this so-called Breathing Style is just pure physical exertion?]

[But what exactly is a Nichirin Sword?]

At this moment, Senju Chenghe suddenly retreated a few steps, his face filled with terror as he asked uneasily:

"Ky-Kyogawa-kun, the skin on your body is so red... it's like you have a fever..."

Because Senju Kyogawa had been locked in a small room for years and rarely exposed to the sun, his skin had been bloodlessly pale. Even after he was released and his nutrition became slightly more balanced, his complexion hadn't changed much, merely shifting from pale to a healthy fairness.

Precisely because of this, the flush rising from his skin was all the more obvious.

Senju Chenghe was somewhat frightened; he had never seen the reactions of those monsters when they mutated, so seeing Kyogawa's unusual appearance made him fearful and anxious.

In these extraordinary times, any slight movement would make the already high-strung Senju Chenghe suspect everyone and everything.

Senju Kyogawa was stunned upon hearing this; it seemed that his attempt at the Breathing Style had caused some kind of physical change.

Senju Kyogawa touched his forehead, but he didn't feel anything different.

Perhaps because Senju Kyogawa was born with a "flame" ability, his body temperature had always been much higher than an ordinary person's. In winters past, Senju Haruko would often use Kyogawa as a heater while she slept.

Senju Chenghe remained far away, not daring to approach Kyogawa. His legs were slightly apart, his body hunched, and his upper body leaned forward, assuming a defensive posture.

Seeing his tense stance, Senju Kyogawa couldn't help but laugh dryly:

"Brother Chenghe, don't worry, I'm perfectly fine. My body temperature has always been on the higher side; I might just be too tense right now, which is why my skin looks so red."

Senju Kyogawa raised his hands, turned his face toward Senju Chenghe, and said candidly:

"Brother Chenghe, look at me now—don't I look less red than before?"

Seeing that Kyogawa spoke clearly and logically, the heart that had been in Senju Chenghe's throat finally settled. He leaned forward with relief and carefully observed Senju Kyogawa.

The moon was currently partially obscured by dark clouds, making the light quite dim.

However, Senju Chenghe's eyesight was decent enough to see that Senju Kyogawa's skin tone was slowly returning to normal, and before long, it reverted to its fair state.

Furthermore, Senju Chenghe did not sense any dangerous signals at this moment.

Thus, Senju Chenghe felt reassured. He let out a long breath and said, "Phew... Kyogawa, you scared me to death. I thought you had also..."

Senju Kyogawa understood Senju Chenghe's fear. No one had ever encountered such a sudden situation before, and it was only human nature to fear that a teammate you once faced the unknown with had turned into a monster.

In truth, it wasn't just Senju Chenghe who was afraid. Whenever Kyogawa recalled the pastry the noble lady had handed him, he couldn't stop the lingering fear in his heart. He felt lucky that he had been cautious enough not to eat it, otherwise, he would be one of the monsters now.

Senju Kyogawa looked at the sky. The weather was poor tonight; there were no stars, and the moon was completely blocked, making it impossible to tell how long it would be until dawn.

The monsters in the courtyard had been clawing at the wall, struggling to climb up, but after they could no longer see the two of them, they had gradually quieted down and were now motionless.

Senju Kyogawa walked behind the earthen wall, cautiously poked his head out, and glanced into the courtyard, seeing only a few scattered monsters wandering aimlessly.

Kyogawa said to Senju Chenghe, "Brother Chenghe, it seems we are safe for the time being. You should rest for a while; I'll keep watch. I'm feeling very energetic right now and am not sleepy at all."

Senju Chenghe didn't decline just because Kyogawa was a child. His nerves had been stretched to the limit for so long that he was already exhausted. If he didn't rest properly now, it would be much harder to deal with the monsters later.

Therefore, Senju Chenghe agreed to Kyogawa's suggestion and fell asleep right where he was.

Because he had learned a new Breathing Style, Senju Kyogawa felt incredibly energetic, as if every breath was absorbing energy from the air.

He opened the system shop and searched for "Nichirin Sword."

The results appeared, and Senju Kyogawa was dumbfounded.

There was a vast variety of "Nichirin Swords," each corresponding to a different breathing style, such as Flame Breathing, Water Breathing, Mist Breathing...

But correspondingly, the prices were also exorbitant. The string of zeros trailing behind the numbers was clearly not something Senju Kyogawa could afford.

Senju Kyogawa couldn't help but sigh. What was he to do now? Without a Nichirin Sword, could the Breathing Style still be used?

Senju Kyogawa took out a kunai, intending to test whether he could execute [Sun Breathing, First Form: Waltz].

He gripped the kunai tightly as if it were a sword, closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and then mobilized all his strength to swing the kunai.

With a "crack," the kunai shattered.

It shattered into powder.