Chapter 422: 398 breathing method compatibility
"Have you ever been in love?"
When Reiger asked this question with a look of curiosity, Liz was almost instantly petrified.
Immediately after, the little princess began to panic.
"What, what are you talking about, Master?"
Liz was both flustered and blushing intensely.
Seeing this, Reiger couldn’t help but be amused.
"You can be shy?"
Don’t blame Reiger for saying this.
You see, the little princess was so daring that she had once wormed her way into his bed and hugged him, who was in the midst of Dimensional Travel with his consciousness absent from his body, for an entire day and night.
This caused Reiger, who had just finished his Dimensional Travel and had awakened, to almost think he had made the kind of mistake all men make upon feeling the warm softness in his arms.
Poor him was so panicked at the time, but when the little princess woke up, she rubbed her eyes and as if nothing had happened, greeted the returned Reiger, and then... then she turned over and continued to sleep soundly.
Now, this young girl was red-faced and bashful from just one sentence, which was quite amusing for Reiger.
"Master!"
Liz, seemingly reminded of that time, her face suddenly turned even redder as if it was cooked.
It wasn’t that she wanted it to be that way; she was simply following her master’s repeated instructions that she must stay close to protect him.
Close!
Do you know what "close" means?
The little princess conveyed the meaning of the word through her actions, demonstrating utmost loyalty and dedication.
It was just that the master’s embrace was so warm, she couldn’t help but fall asleep...
What could she do about it!
Liz:
Seeing his little princess almost turn into the Steam Girl, Reiger considerately changed the subject.
"Alright, I won’t talk about that anymore, you just need to tell me whether you’ve been in love or not."
The second straightforward inquiry made Liz feel her face, which was already hot, could not cool down at all, and was getting even hotter.
"I, I haven’t!"
The little princess shook her head vigorously, her ears turning red.
"Is that so?" Reiger scratched his face and said, "That’s a bit troublesome."
"Why, why is that?" Liz asked in a quiet, flustered voice, "Does my not having been in love trouble my master?"
"Not quite," Reiger patted Liz’s head, oblivious to the fact that he was exacerbating the birth of a certain Steam Girl, and said, "The thing is, if you haven’t been in love, you might not be able to use what I’m going to teach you next."
Because that’s just how it is.
Although Reiger had learned various "Breath Styles," this didn’t mean he could use all of them with ease.
Take Kamado Tanjirou, for example, aside from the Sun Breathing he learned from birth as part of the god Kagura dance, he also learned Water Breathing and Flame Breathing.
However, when it came to using Water Breathing, Kamado Tanjirou faced many difficulties. Even with much practice, his abilities when using Water Breathing were not as strong as when using Flame Breathing, let alone compared to his use of Sun Breathing.
The "Breath Styles" of the Demon Slayer World are like this, with distinctions between what is suitable and what is not. If you train in a style that doesn’t match your own nature, not only is it less efficient, but the power you can unleash is also limited.
This led to Reiger mastering a variety of "Breath Styles," though some were not suitable for him, limiting his understanding of them.
As of now, the "Breath Style" that best suited Reiger’s nature was naturally the Sun Breathing; otherwise, his Sun Wheel Blade wouldn’t turn black.
Among the five fundamental "Breath Styles," Flame Breathing was said to be the closest to the original form of Sun Breathing and the most suitable for Reiger, followed by Thunder Breathing, then Wind Breathing, with Rock Breathing and Water Breathing being comparatively less compatible with him.
Among the derivative styles, Mist Breathing and Reiger seemed fairly compatible, and Sound Breathing also seemed fine. However, the compatibility of Reiger with Snake Breathing, Insect Breathing, and Love Breathing was much poorer.
As for Moon Breathing, which is directly derived from Sun Breathing, it was extremely compatible with Reiger.
If expressed in terms of data, the compatibility between various "Breath Styles" and Reiger would be roughly as follows—
Sun Breathing: 100%.
Moon Breathing: 95%.
Flame Breathing: 90%.
Thunder Breathing: 88%.
Wind Breathing: 85%.
Rock Breathing: 70%.
Water Breathing: 75%.
Mist Breathing: 80%.
Sound Breathing: 70%.
Insect Breathing: 50%.
Snake Breathing: 30%.
Love Breathing: 20%.
That’s right, Love Breathing is the "Breath Style" with the lowest compatibility with Reiger out of all the styles he knows.
Even though the Love Breathing is a branch of the Flame Breathing, and by logic should be close to the Sun Breathing, and thus shouldn’t clash too much with Reiger, the fact was that Reiger really felt awkward when using Love Breathing. Not to mention using it fluently; even forcing himself to use it would lead to a significant reduction in power.
This was a breathing style that Kanroji Mitsuri created to be most suitable for herself, and in her own words...
"This is the embodiment of a girl’s heart! A manifestation of emotions that praises great love!"
This was how Reiger felt when he heard that sentence.
"?"
His mind was full of question marks, but in the end, he chose to express just one, to represent his frustrated mood at that moment.
In any case, according to the founder, a girl in love would definitely be able to bring out 100% of the power of this breathing style.
It was because Reiger suddenly remembered this that he asked Liz such a question.
"What, what is it?"
Unaware of all this, Liz could only look baffled but was very curious as well.
"Is Master going to teach me something related to love?"
Liz might not have realized just how suggestive her question sounded, but it sent a strange feeling through Reiger.
What she said... Why did it feel like he was about to lure an innocent princess into learning some indescribable things?
Reiger quickly shook his head to clear the increasingly unhealthy thoughts from his mind.
"I am going to teach you swordsmanship."
Finally, Reiger revealed his intentions to Liz.
"Swordsmanship?"
Yet Liz still looked utterly confused.
She already possessed one of the top sword skills on the continent, and although she would probably use it less to avoid revealing her identity, swordsmanship in the Akasha continent was not only used for combat.
The primary function of Akasha Continent’s swordsmanship was to refine the body, allowing ordinary people to possess extraordinary strength to stand against magicians who could cast Magic.
So, even if Liz might not have the chance to use War King Sword Skill in battle anymore, she could still practice it without restraint in private.
As long as one continued to practice the sword, to study sword skills, and to hone the body, a Swordsman could continue to become stronger.
Unless one encountered a bottleneck, an obstacle, or a situation that required real combat to test oneself and overcome one’s limits, otherwise, whether one could use sword skills in battle or not, what sort of impact would it have on a Swordsman’s growth?
Besides, in times of real crisis, when it came to the moment to use sword skills, Liz would still use them.
After all, she was now the Master’s Attendant. If the Master were in mortal danger, whether based on the contract or her personal feelings, she would definitely do everything possible to rescue him from peril.
With such thoughts, Liz had never considered learning any other sword skills.
Furthermore, as had been said before, one couldn’t just learn sword skills at will. Setting aside the low-level and high-level sword skills, special-grade sword skills had stringent conditions for training, and few people could meet the conditions for two special-grade sword skills at the same time, which made those who practiced two different skills extremely rare.
Given Liz’s talent, having her learn low-level or high-level sword skills would be a waste of time, and she might not meet the conditions to learn a special-grade sword skill. Therefore, when Reiger said he wanted to teach her swordsmanship, Liz was quite puzzled.
"Don’t think too much."
Seeing Liz’s bewildered face, Reiger could almost guess her thoughts.
Therefore, Reiger spoke up directly.
"Just follow my lead for now. The rest, you’ll understand later."
Hearing this, Liz’s expression relaxed, and she nodded repeatedly in agreement.
Hmm, since it’s a command from the Master, she just has to follow it. No need to concern herself with anything else; this was one of the Attendant’s rules personally taught by Marilyn.
But why did Marilyn say that if the Master asked her to come to his room in the dead of night, she should find a way to get around it without breaching the contract, no matter what, never to go there?
And why did Marilyn look so hesitant when she said that?
Ah, she’d already been to the Master’s room in the dead of night. Would Marilyn scold her for this?
But nothing strange happened at all. Maybe Marilyn thought the Master would take advantage of her when no one else knew, and that’s why she said that deliberately?
If that’s the case...
"Next time, I’ll tell Marilyn that there are delicious things in Master’s room and games to play, especially in the dead of night. It’s not as scary as she imagines."
That way, Marilyn would be reassured, right?
Liz thought to herself.
Until Reiger’s voice reached her ears.
"Start by learning to breathe like this."
Reiger began to adjust his breathing, demonstrating for Liz to see.
"You’re starting with breathing techniques?"
Liz then set aside her miscellaneous thoughts and concentrated, mimicking Reiger’s breathing.
Breathing techniques were indeed an essential part of the sword skills in this world. Liz had been practicing War King Sword Skill since she was 7 years old, so she knew the breathing techniques inside out.
Therefore, under Reiger’s deliberate demonstration and instruction, Liz quickly adjusted her breathing to be in sync with Reiger’s.
"Inhale—Exhale—"
The two breaths began to rise and fall beside the main thoroughfare, growing stronger and clearer.
The sky gradually darkened, but this main thoroughfare was bustling, and the crowds lingered on.