"Do you feel a surge of heat?"
"Yes"
"That's just step one. Next, you need to feel like all your blood is boiling."
The book on Flame Breathing talked about this, but none of them really figured it out. All three just stared at the old man, waiting.
Shinjuro sighed. He didn't bother explaining anything with words. Instead, he walked up to Senjuro and Itsuki first.
"Don't move. Just feel it."
He pressed his palms against their chests.
Right away, Itsuki felt a blast of heat rush through him. As his heart thumped, it spread everywhere. It wasn't like that warm current he'd felt before. This time it was like his whole body was on fire. In no time, he was dripping with sweat.
"Keep your breathing steady. Think of yourself as a flame. Nothing else."
Itsuki realized this wasn't something he could waste. He focused everything on syncing his breathing with what Shinjuro said, emptying his head of anything else.
Flames. Flames. Just flames…
Thump… thump… thump…
So hot. Too hot.
Itsuki grit his teeth and powered through it, his body and brain on fire. In the middle of it all, he remembered something from the Flame Breathing guide "drive the pulse of the heart." His body was already doing that, so he just leaned into it.
Thump… thump-thump… thump-thump-thump!
Suddenly, it was like his chest was actually on fire.
Next thing he knew, it felt like someone lit a furnace inside him. His skin turned slightly red, sweat poured out of him, and he was basically steaming.
Shinjuro looked shocked. "This kid…"
It was getting to be too much. Itsuki couldn't just stand there and burn. He needed to let the heat out—fast.
"Now! Push it into your limbs and move forward! Swing your sword!"
As he spoke, Shinjuro slapped his chest again, spreading the heat like popping a balloon.
The pain vanished. Itsuki's body snapped to attention. He threw all that heat into his legs and kicked off the ground—
—and shot forward like a cannonball, leaving dust in his wake.
It felt like rockets were strapped to his feet. The wind screamed past him. It felt like he was flying.
But the heat in his arms told him he still wasn't done.
Remembering the first move in the Flame Breathing book, he raised his sword, felt the timing, and—
Swung Horizontally.
"Whoa…" Senjuro stared, totally forgetting about his own burning chest.
"Flame Breathing First Form: Unknowing Fire!"
Shinjuro's face twitched. He was stunned. "He actually pulled it off…?"
Kanao didn't move. Her mouth hung open.
"Itsuki… you're amazing…"
WHAM!
A loud crash cut through the air. Itsuki hit a wall.
Shinjuro's eye twitched. "...He still can't control it."
"Gah! That hurt…"
Itsuki clutched his arm and wobbled to his feet, dazed.
"Not bad," Shinjuro said, trying not to smirk. "Bet you won't forget that."
Yeah, no. All Itsuki could think about was the pain.
"You," Shinjuro snapped at Senjuro. "Quit gawking and worry about yourself!"
"Y-yes, Father!"
"Don't 'yes, Father' me! You didn't feel that fire properly. You're not strong enough yet. Breathing's useless without a strong body. Get back to the basics—go train with the dojo master."
"Yes!"
"Kanao, same for you!"
"Ah!"
"If you wanna learn Flame Breathing, go ask that guy. Whether you can do it or not is up to you."
"Okay…"
He turned over to Itsuki and spoke
"Itsuki, that's all I'm teaching you. Come back when you can use the First Form properly."
"But—"
"Scram! I'm going back to my room!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Oh, and don't forget—5 jars of that sake for each lesson."
"Yes!"
Itsuki grinned as he pulled Senjuro and Kanao out of there. Score.
"You're amazing, Itsuki-senpai. I think Father really respects you… not like me…"
"Haha, it's nothing. You shouldn't undermine yourself like this. Honestly, I think that fire-roasting training we did helped a bit."
Senjuro groaned. "Please stop reminding me…"
"Ugh…"
Kanao didn't look thrilled either.
"Hey, don't worry. I'll help you once I figure it out better. And Senjuro, your dad's right—you should definitely get your basics down first."
Even so, the mood was kind of gloomy. So, Itsuki decided to drag them into town.
By dusk, Flower Street was glowing with lanterns, and the sounds of people filled the air. It lifted their spirits a little.
Back then, kids could still buy alcohol, so Itsuki picked up the sake without a problem. Senjuro was embarrassed the whole time, while Kanao just followed quietly behind.
Thanks to their uniforms, nobody bothered them on the way back. They were all smiling again by the time they got home. still Itsuki kept a look out just in case anything and made sure to be in areas with populated people.
The next day, Itsuki brought the sake like he promised and got to see the old man's usual routine of yelling, drinking, and sulking. After that, he and Kanao went back to practice while Senjuro headed to the dojo to spar.
Now that they understood how to breathe properly, both Itsuki and Kanao made solid progress. The only thing missing was the full-body heat.
With that goal in mind, Itsuki threw himself into training. He didn't care about mastering everything at once—he just wanted to unlock "Flame Breathing (Uninitiated)" on his quest panel so he could finally use his stat points on it.
Three days went by.
"Man, what kind of busted breathing style is this? None of this stuff makes sense. Forget it—I'm done playing by the rules!"
He didn't even bother with the fire this time. He threw on his coat and walked off to see someone.
"Kanao, keep practicing on your own for now. I'm going to go talk to the master."
"Okay, Itsuki."
Thanks to his current reputation, Itsuki easily got an audience.
"Itsuki, haven't seen you in a while. How's the breathing training?"
"Ugh, it's been rough…"
"Haha, you're still just starting out. Don't rush."
"I mean, I did manage to pull off the First Form once a few days ago, but I haven't made any progress since."
"Oh? You can already use the First Form?"
"Well, once. It was a fluke, honestly."
"Heh… is that so…"
Marume Kurando smile twitched. He really wanted to smack this kid. Pulling off a Flame Breathing form in just over ten days and still complaining?