Breathing technique (1)

Draven grumbled as he sat up once the pain soothed after comforting the torment. He experienced being in hell once, and the cute, gentle pain he experienced only startled him and nothing more.

Draven returned to the lotus position, and as he ignored the stay still sneered Selena towards him.

'Isn't this a breathing technique only owned by the Four Ancient Families? Although there is a rumor of some people have breathing techniques they cultivated. The well-known and well-renowned breathing technique is owned only by these Four Ancient Families. It greatly enhanced their Physical body to the point they could even become Superhuman without using their soul power!' Draven exclaimed in his thought.

'However, I heard only those people who had the actual bloodline of the Ancient Family could cultivate their own respective breathing techniques. Well, if others could, the Ancient Family might not be existed till today, since many people coveted their breathing technique. But how come I attempt to cultivate a breathing technique when I don't even know if I can?'

Draven's eyes widened as he slowly realized something.

"However, didn't the Goddess bless me? And the blessing creates my Physical body? Does that mean…"

Draven immediately tried the breathing technique once more despite the numerous failed attempt. He finally made milky specks of light float around him and entered his nostrils without obstruction. Draven was exhilarated when he realized this, and his Physical body slowly regenerated.

He was aware of the missing flesh that caused his bones to be exposed were being regenerated. It was a magical sight and awe-inspiring to watch something generating back to life. Is this the power of cultivating a breathing technique? Draven wondered while he shivered from excitement.

"Hmm?" Selena noticed the quiet still of her surroundings, and the curiosity building up caused her to stop her cultivation.

She opened her eyelids and was astonished to see Draven successful in performing the breathing technique that she should be the only one who could cultivate it. There were different types of breathing techniques, and they came from different origins.

Selena, the personification of the moon, owned this technique to cultivate the energies coming out from the moon. It was also the only way for her to reach Godhood based on her understanding. However, seeing another existence cultivating her self-breathing technique, and a mortal at that, made her enraged.

"Wake up!"

Selena forcibly interrupted Draven's cultivation by swaying her arm vertically while a beam crescent of milky white charged through Draven. The latter's instinct screamed, and Draven hurriedly jumped out and dodged the incoming projectile threatening to kill him.

"Why?!" Draven asked.

Draven asked a question with an increased tone and stern expression on his face. However, he was panicking inside not only because he was afraid of how did he offend Selena but also because Selena could actually summon the terrifying white crescent beam. He was reminded of the crescent shape of the moon.

"Why, you ask?! Do you know what you are bringing yourself into? Is being a mortal a sin to be ignorant of how forbidden it is to imitate and copy God's doing? Not only that, you are even successful in gaining a cultivation technique solely owned by the Goddess! Me! You want me to kill you?!"

Selena forced out another beam of crescent milky white dashing through Draven. Draven immediately utilized his boosted Physical body to dodge it. As soon as he successfully evaded the projectile, he immediately extended her arm, indicating he surrendered as he exclaimed.

"Selena, stop! Goddess, stop, please! You are destroying our only house!"

"Do you think you have to worry about that?! Worry about your life first!"

A crescent milky white beam was shot out one after another, making Draven's dodging space becoming harder. Sometimes he had to dodge in an awkward position to prolong his life.

'No! I can't last long enough! I should convince her to stop!'

"Selena! Did you forget about your future self-doing?! I forgot to inform you, but I'm undead!"

Selena's attack halted as she stood in her position with a dumbfounded face. Undead? How can it be related to how he could cultivate my breathing technique? She wondered before she remembered Draven's first question.

"How can I know what she did to you?" Selena asked.

Although she stopped attacking Draven, it did not mean she did not intend to attack him once Draven would not give him a satisfactory answer. Draven immediately heaved a huge sigh of relief and processed his thoughts. He cleared his throat as he began with an explanation that should satisfy Selena.

"I'm an undead and being an existence that might not be accepted by the community. Your future decided to bless me, and for some reason, I gained a physical body. She did that, so there will be no trouble coming at us every day and night. After all, she gave me a mission to look out for you!"

"Look out for me?! You're overestimating yourself!"

Draven realized he subconsciously said something inappropriate as he hurriedly explained.

"What she meant was to become a tour guide for you! After all, you are still unaware of the change of the Earth. The Earth you probably know might still be in Ancient times or the previous Era. An enormous change happened on the Earth and it might be more dangerous than you think. Remember how could a Goddess like you forcibly transferred in a single night? It does not mean it will not happen to other existence comparable to you! Remember that you became a mortal, Selena!"

"You don't need to remind me!"

Selena's eyebrows knitted as her eyes lost their brightness. She was confused as she processed Draven's explanation. Why her future-self would bless a mortal when she only met him for a day? Was it a fortuitous counter to Draven played by Fate? Was there even the Goddess of Fate I know?

"So you are telling me you have free will to cultivate my breathing technique? Convince me first or else," sneered Selena.

Draven was frustrated when he heard it, but his face showed the happiest smile, as though he wasn't bothered by it. He had no choice but to persuade her.

***

The moon drifted according to its path and was now lying on the west side of the horizon. The time should be three o clocks in the morning, but Draven's rundown apartment doesn't have a clock or anything else that would defy the specific current time.

Unless he checks on his phone, but he was currently sleeping on the rugged, uneven floor. He did not mind lowering himself to let Selena sleep on the sofa all by herself. It was part of the persuasion plan, after all.

Currently, Draven's facial expression twisted roughly, as though he was in the middle of a nightmare. In his dreams, he was from a kid's perspective and based on the kid's appearance. He might be the younger version of Draven. Draven was dreaming about his past.

The kid seemed aged eight, and the event he dreamed happened probably ten years ago, during the cataclysm. Draven, the little kid, was kneeling at the back of the military. The back of the car does not have a roof; it was open, and it would make the people sitting on it would be drenched once the weather upset.

The little kid, Draven, extended her arm in the opposite of the car's moving direction. Draven's eyes were watered by his tears as her blurry pupils reflected a scene that was so horrifying to watch. A horde of monsters was chasing them, or precisely two people who were running, but they slowed down their pace as they watched Draven gaining the distance between them.

Before long, Draven watched as the two people getting devoured by the horde of monsters.

"Father! Mother!"

Draven woke up from the nightmare, and he was covered with sweat. He was panting while his beautiful face was drenched with tears.