Chapter 34: Reverse Flow Breathing.

“What happened to your weapon?” Teo asked, seeing Lane empty-handed.

The poor guy panicked when he became the center of attention. Teo was quite intimidating in his eyes. How could a man who had tamed the beast that slaughtered their entire group singlehandedly be an average joe?

“I lost it somewhere when the ghoul was chasing us.” He said, looking down.

That wooden stick was the only form of weapon an aspirant going through a dungeon trial would get for free. It was a god-given item for people like him who were weak and untrained, hence lacking the ability to earn too many coins in a short amount of time. But what else could he have done? The situation was pressing. He had to throw it away because it was getting in his way when running.

“That’s an annoying problem. Do you remember where you dropped it? If possible, we should go and retrieve it.” Teo inquired.

Without a weapon, Lane wouldn’t be able to deal enough damage. It’d defeat the whole purpose of why he wanted to recruit them. They were already weak, as it is. Besides, he didn’t lack meat shields.

He was going to deal with skeletons from now on. They were stronger, sturdier, and used weapons made from bones. Their slight intelligence enabled them to perform simple combat maneuvers, making them one of the more dangerous monsters to face when still under level ten.

“I remember.” Lane nodded. He had a good memory and thus remembered the exact location where he discarded it.

“Alright, we’ll go get it now.”

“Right now?” Lane was startled.

“Of course, now. Don’t question the sir. Do as he says.” Dan spoke up with enthusiasm as his lone eye glared daggers at Lane.

Teo raised an eyebrow at the scarred man, then shook his head. His behavior reminded him of the scavenger team leaders who’d try to be chummy with the [Players] at the expense of their subordinates.

What a nostalgic scene.

He thought, chuckling to himself. During his time as a scavenger hunter, Teo was often subjected to this treatment, becoming a scapegoat for this his team leader to show off in front of the [Players].

Lane trembled, then nodded his head. Even his leader had agreed with the man; what else could he do?

“Ye… yes, sir. We will go and get the sword now.”

His sour face made Teo chortle with amusement.

“Good. Lead the way. I’ll follow.”

Dan and Lane gave their silent agreement before walking away. Teo turned around and stared at the back of the ghoul. The beast appeared busy with its food and didn’t look like it’d finish in a matter of minutes.

Forget it.

“Come.” He called while activating Dominator.

As his willpower churned, the ghoul reacted. It stopped grinding on the zombie corpses and came over on all fours. Teo noticed that although the beast had a humanoid body shape, all its four limbs were explicitly designed to be used at the same time. In other words, it had hind legs and forelegs instead of hands and legs.

Teo scrunched his nose as the foul scent of rotting eggs overwhelmed the air. He took several steps backward, then brought out the other level-two zombie core and flicked at it.

The beast lunged at the marble-shaped object with the enthusiasm of a dog that saw its favorite treats.

Level 1 Ghoul consumed the mana core of a Level 2 zombie.

+20 HP

Attack increased slightly.

You fed your subordinate with a valuable object. Its loyalty increased to some degree.

Two points of Leadership are freed.

The effects are halved! Why?

He had not expected such a change and wondered if it was because of the low quality of the core. After all, this particular core was obtained from that half-dead zombie. It was already in a sorry state courtesy of Gloria when they met.

Forget it. I don’t know anything about this. It’s better not to waste time on needless thinking.

Then, he walked away with his minion following behind in the shadows.

***

“I met them,” Gloria’s voice was heard when he arrived in the small hallway. His head whipped in her direction as he came over.

“What do you think?” He said, eyeing her face that seemed to be void of all emotions. He was a bit taken aback but didn’t think much of it.

“Below average.” She grunted before shooting a glare at Teo. “Tell me honestly, Teo, why did you add them to our party? It’s not to use them as meat shields, is it?”

Teo picked up an edge in her tone and smiled.

As expected of a descendant of an Elder Frontier. She was kind even to someone whose actions might’ve killed her.

“Of course not. I need some damage dealers. My minion is enough as a meatshield.” He responded after flopping down next to her. Giving her a sideway glance, he asked: “They could have been the reason for our deaths, and you still worry for them?”

Gloria relaxed considerably after she confirmed that they were not going to be sacrificial pawns. She exhaled a long breath and leaned her back against the wall.

“Worry? Not even close. It’s just… I dislike mindless killings. They brought the ghoul to us, but it’s not their fault. Besides, didn’t we ultimately defeat it? We even got ourselves a powerful minion. So, I don’t have any enmity with them.” She shrugged, then looked at Teo, a smile tugging on her lips. “Teo, I’m glad that I’ve not misjudged you.”

“Heh. No wonder you were looking at me like one would to a scum when I returned. How dare you doubt me?” Teo playfully elbowed her sides.

“You can’t blame me for that. I still don’t know much about you. Not even half a day has passed since our meeting. Who knows what sort of person is hiding behind that face of yours.”

“That’s harsh. At least phrase it in a way that isn’t so scathing.” Teo complained.

“I suck at sugarcoating.”

“I bet you don’t have any friends.”

“Shut up! How dare you doubt my social life? I’ve many friends. Okay?”

“Yes. Yes. Indeed.” Teo suppressed a snigger and nodded. “By the way, how about you teach me that thing you told me about now?”

“What thing?” Gloria said, raising an eyebrow.

“The reverse flow breathing.”

“Ohh! Yeah, that—” Gloria remembered them talking about that when she first met. “Did not you laugh at me just now? Why should I teach you?”

“Hey! You can’t be this petty!”

“I can and I will. What can you do?”

“You—”

Seeing him at a loss for words, Gloria couldn’t help but giggle. Shaking her head, she sighed, “You’re lucky I’m not that narrow-minded. Let’s start; first, sit cross-legged, back straight, and chest puffed out.”

Teo quickly assumed the stance she asked for. “Then?”

Gloria took his left hand and placed it on his upper abdomen, then she did the same with his right hand, placing it on his lower abdomen.

“The theory of this breathing is as such; expanding the abdomen while breathing out through the nose and then compressing it while inhaling through the mouth. By this method, the flow of mana inside our body will be reversed. There are many benefits to this breathing method, but the biggest one is providing resistance to all kinds of negative status effects.”

“Wo..wow!” Teo couldn’t help but exclaim. He could already tell how difficult it would be to master this breathing. Going against one’s instinct was never easy, but he would have to do it all the time.

“I know, right? Look here. I’ll show you the way it’s done.”