Stigmata Stands / The Stigmata Dream

The others stayed behind to wait for the old man to teach them Hamon.

"Qin Mo, Qin Mo, were you just fighting with those so-called Stands? Just as I thought, people without Stands can't see them. I only saw you suddenly disappear and reappear, and then that Polnareff guy got hurt and collapsed."

A Stand battle could be fast or spectacular, but to someone without a Stand, it was simply incomprehensible.

Mei nodded from the side as well. The battle had been completely beyond their understanding, and both of them had worried for Qin Mo. Still, it seemed that Qin Mo had held the advantage the entire time.

"Don't worry. I'll give you Stands by tomorrow at the latest."

Qin Mo had originally thought he would need to defeat two more enemies to gather 200 crystals, but he discovered that defeating Polnareff had actually given him 50 crystals.

After looking into it, the only possible reason was the second main quest: defeat DIO's Stand users.

Polnareff had originally been implanted with a flesh bud by Dio and sent to attack Jotaro and the others. Qin Mo had not expected him to betray Dio already, yet the system still considered him one of Dio's subordinates.

Qin Mo could only say: well done!

"All right, are you ready to learn Hamon?"

Joseph looked at the remaining people and asked.

"I won't need it, Mr. Joestar."

Kakyoin Noriaki shook his head.

Jotaro said nothing, merely standing there in silence. Qin Mo nodded and walked over. "Then I'll be counting on you, Mr. Joseph."

"In that case..."

Joseph took a few steps forward, drew a deep breath, and suddenly struck.

"Hamon Overdrive!"

The fingers of his right hand pierced beneath the two men's ribs and into their lungs in an instant.

"Qin Mo! Hey! What are you doing?!"

Kiana hurried over and supported Qin Mo, who could not breathe after having his lung pierced by Joseph's fingers.

"Kiana... Mr. Joestar must have a reason for this."

Joseph paid no attention to Kiana's questioning. Instead, he said to the breathless Qin Mo and Jotaro, "Like this! Force the air out of your lungs!"

As time passed, Qin Mo gradually felt himself regaining his breath. Hamon had affected his body and altered the rhythm of his breathing. Coupled with the Hamon Joseph had injected into him, Qin Mo sensed abundant life energy spreading through his body.

"Hamon... Nen..."

Jotaro gradually regained his breathing rhythm as well, but Qin Mo realized that this power felt somewhat similar to when he had experienced Kuroro's character card.

Yet upon closer examination, it was different, like two different machines using the same fuel.

"So this is Hamon..."

After cancelling the character card, Qin Mo had constantly tried to comprehend Nen that belonged to him alone, but he had failed no matter what he did.

Yet after coming into contact with Hamon, he seemed to have found some sort of feeling. After all, both were forms of life energy.

However, although both converted life energy, Hamon was less efficient than Nen. Its applications were also much simpler: one only needed to follow a specific breathing rhythm to produce it.

Nen, on the other hand, was far more troublesome. First, one needed to be able to sense Nen.

Though the Nen system was described as life energy, the widely circulated methods for awakening Nen all relied on someone else's Nen. Qin Mo had therefore never been able to understand how the very first Nen came into existence.

"Just as I thought, all of you have great talent."

Hamon training required talent. Joseph's grandfather, Jonathan Joestar, possessed extraordinary talent for Hamon. The life energy he produced upon first using Hamon had not only healed him, but also caused dead wood to bloom again.

Hamon was purely a matter of the master opening the door while cultivation depended on the individual. A teacher mostly taught Hamon's characteristics, allowing students to develop methods suited to themselves based on those traits.

But Joseph himself did not even have a fixed fighting style. His fighting style was having no style at all, adapting to his opponent's circumstances at any time.

Naturally, he had little to teach the two of them, so he turned to Kiana and Mei.

"You two young ladies, would you like to learn as well?"

The two hurriedly shook their heads. Clearly, that brutal attack from earlier was what passed for instruction.

It was painful enough just to watch.

But Qin Mo suddenly grabbed both of their shoulders, one with each hand. Since they had only just been supporting him, neither had time to react before powerful Hamon surged into their bodies through Qin Mo's hands.

"Oh? To use it so skillfully on their first attempt at learning?"

Joseph could not help exclaiming at the sight. "This kid might just be a natural-born Hamon warrior."

Under the effects of Qin Mo's Hamon, Mei and Kiana's breathing was forcibly controlled, their rhythms altered.

"Remember this rhythm. Hamon is very useful against DIO. It can also prolong your life and make you age more slowly."

Though Herrschers had infinite lifespans...

After thinking it over, Qin Mo wondered whether he could use Hamon, this versatile form of life energy, as a bargaining chip after joining St. Freya Academy.

He had originally considered Nen and Stands, but both were far too uncontrollable. There were all kinds of bizarre Nen abilities, and many people in the Honkai world were constantly fighting amongst themselves. He did not want his interference to make the plot he already knew little about spiral out of control, beyond his ability to manage. At the very least, he had to wait until he grew stronger.

Hamon did not require nearly as much concern. While Hamon was quite versatile, its upper limit was right there. For Valkyries, it would merely improve their survivability somewhat. It would not grant outrageous power, nor would it become so bizarre that it caused Qin Mo to suffer an unexpected defeat.

Mei and Kiana naturally would not reject a method that improved their ability to survive. They had merely been frightened by Joseph's rough method of instruction earlier.

In truth, there were naturally other ways to teach Hamon. One could sense another person's breathing rhythm and gradually alter one's own, or use Hamon directly to forcibly control a beginner's body and make them perform Hamon breathing.

But the former took too much time and was generally used for ascetics, while the latter consumed too much Hamon and depended too heavily on the learner's talent.

Thus, using fingers to pierce the lungs and forcibly expel the air, then using a small amount of Hamon to guide the breathing rhythm, had become the more common method of instruction.

Learning Hamon was also directly tied to one's physical condition.

Kiana and Mei both had excellent physical constitutions. The former possessed Kaslana blood, while the latter had mastered Hokushin Itto-ryu. Coupled with their Herrscher transformations, once they experienced the rhythm of Hamon breathing, they immediately mastered it.

But as everyone knew, breathing was automatic. Once you became aware that you were breathing, it turned manual. Yet when your attention wandered to something else, it reverted back.

Hamon breathing was the same. When the two deliberately adjusted their breathing rhythms, it went smoothly. But once they were distracted, they returned to their habitual, instinctive breathing patterns.

"Mr. Joseph, could you prepare three specially made Hamon breathing masks for us?"

Joseph naturally did not refuse such a minor request. He agreed without hesitation.

Stigmata Stand

The first day after arriving in the JOJO world was about to end.

Though he had not actually done much traveling, Qin Mo still felt exhausted, because he needed to come up with a good excuse to explain things to the others. One lie required even more lies to cover it up.

Fortunately, many of his lies could not be verified right now, and no one in the JOJO group could detect lies.

With Kiana and Mei cooperating as well, even though they had many doubts in their hearts, they chose to follow Qin Mo's initial instructions and did not voice them. They merely followed behind him in silence.

It was not until Qin Mo entered the hotel room with the two of them that Kiana finally asked.

She had never been the sort who could keep things bottled up. Making her hold it in for an entire day had been difficult for her.

"Qin Mo, did you really come from the future?"

Clearly, Mei had the same question. But unlike the straightforward Kiana, Mei kept it to herself and waited for Qin Mo to explain on his own.

But since Kiana had asked, Mei had no reason not to listen.

"You could say that, or you could say not."

Qin Mo thought for a moment. He did not tell them that, in his previous life, they had all been characters from works he had read. Instead, he said,

"I know JOJO's future. I know them, and I know them very well, but they don't know me."

"If I had to explain it, I grew up listening to their stories. From Jonathan Joestar a hundred years ago to the final story of Jolyne Cujoh in this world, I know it all. So for this era, it wouldn't be wrong to say I came from the future."

The two nodded, half understanding and half confused, but they still did not truly understand Qin Mo's origins.

But that did not matter. They had already spent several months together. Heroes were not judged by their origins, and neither were friends.

"All right, Mei. What happened today means I can now turn one Stand ability into a stigmata. I'll apply it for you."

"What about mine?"

Kiana hurriedly asked.

"Not yet. Once we defeat that Dark Blue Moon enemy tomorrow, it should be possible."

Qin Mo currently had 150 crystals: the 50 left over from before, 50 for joining the expedition, and 50 for defeating Polnareff.

He had Polnareff's wholehearted contribution to thank for that. Otherwise, he would have had to defeat Strength before gathering 200 crystals.

"I'm giving Crazy Diamond to Mei, because compared to what I intend to give you, Crazy Diamond's healing ability is more important. And once Mei has a Stand, she'll be able to see other Stands too, so she can handle things if she gets attacked."

"Attacked? Didn't you say the enemy we'd face soon was that fake captain?"

Kiana remembered the information Qin Mo had revealed that afternoon. They should have been safe here.

"That was originally the case. But originally, they should have set sail today. Because of our arrival, they stayed an extra day, so something might change."

Qin Mo did not completely trust the plot. After all, enemies were people too, and they would make different moves depending on the information they received.

After converting the character card into a stigmata, Josuke Higashikata's character card became Stigmata: Crazy Diamond.

Stigmata: Crazy Diamond (S)

Effect: Upon equipping, gain the Stand: Crazy Diamond, which possesses the ability to restore.

Description: A stigmata produced through special conversion. It can be directly applied to the back to take effect. Removing it requires a certain amount of crystals. Only after fully mastering it as one's own power can another stigmata be equipped.

The description and effect were simple and direct. Josuke Higashikata himself, the Stand's original owner, had vanished entirely, leaving only the Stand's name behind.

"All right, Mei, take off your jacket. This stigmata needs to be applied directly to the skin on your back to take effect."

At Qin Mo's words, Raiden Mei blushed slightly but did not refuse. She gently undid the front of her sailor uniform.

But the two of them overlooked Kiana beside them.

"No, no, no! Mei, how can you just take off your clothes in front of a boy like that?!"

Kiana immediately pounced over and held down the loosened front of Mei's uniform. It was already beginning to warm up in the Far East by the end of March. Senba Academy's uniform was basically just a sailor uniform, with only underwear beneath it.

Once the front had been undone, that glimpse of pale skin was already visible...

Then Kiana covered it up.

"Turn around! You're not allowed to look!"

Kiana glared at Qin Mo, making him regret bringing her along. Why had he brought Kiana here?

If she were not here, then perhaps...

But perhaps Qin Mo had brought this upon himself. After all, he had initially come to complete the mission, only for that final step to become difficult to cross.

In the end, Qin Mo turned around. Only after Kiana informed him that it was all right did he turn back, seeing Mei sitting on a chair with her back to him, and Kiana Kaslana standing beside her like a white-haired cat, adorably fierce as she glared at him.

Qin Mo walked over and gently placed his palm over Mei's smooth, pale back. He felt Raiden Mei's body tremble slightly.

So cold... Even though she had been wearing clothes the whole time, Raiden Mei's body was much cooler than Qin Mo's palm.

He opened the system and chose to use the stigmata. A white pattern appeared on Raiden Mei's back, centered beneath Qin Mo's palm. Several simple, curved lines formed the outline of a humanoid figure. Upon closer inspection, it looked remarkably similar to Crazy Diamond.

"All done..."

He reluctantly withdrew his hand. Kiana immediately grabbed the blanket she had prepared nearby and wrapped Mei in it, refusing to give Qin Mo even the slightest opportunity.

"Ahem. Mei, give it a try. Just use your thoughts. Treat it as an extension of your own limbs."

The sensation of a Stand was extremely strange. Those who had never experienced it personally could not easily understand, but in truth, it was an extension of one's will. Like when Jotaro first began, he kept rejecting his own Stand and caused Star Platinum's so-called rampage. Yet that so-called rampage was merely Star Platinum carrying out, without hesitation, the things he wanted to do but restrained with reason.

For example, passing by an armored car and seeing all that money inside, then thinking how nice it would be to have so much money. A normal person would only think about it and would never rob it because they still possessed reason. But a rampaging Star Platinum would follow that thought and rob it without hesitation.

Thus, once Jotaro accepted that Star Platinum was his own power, he gained complete control over it.

Of course, part of the reason was that Star Platinum was simply too powerful.

Crazy Diamond was formidable as well, but it did not possess Star Platinum's crushing strength.

After all, when Star Platinum was turned into a DISC, it was so powerful that no one could use it, so Pucci chose to keep it hidden away.

Stigmata Dreamscape

Raiden Mei tried to sense it, and Crazy Diamond's figure appeared behind her. Looking at Crazy Diamond's unusual appearance, Mei blinked. "So this is... a Stand?"

"That's right. This is a Stand. Every Stand has a completely different appearance."