Breathing was the most fundamental method of survival.
All living beings breathe in their very own way. For humans, breathing was incredibly important yet most people take it for granted.
There's a popular saying that says: 'Humans can survive weeks without food, days without water but only mere minutes without breathing.'
Midwives would resort to physically hurting an infant so that they would cry, causing their lungs and diaphragm to contract so that they could start breathing. Hurting an infant like that was bad, but if it keeps them alive, then it will be done.
Even in the memories he inherited from the previous owner of his eyes, Cedric vividly remembers the teachers of that man repeatedly emphasizing the importance of breathing. It was the most basic activity one could do yet the benefits it brings were immense, especially when it's done properly.
When Cedric firmly decided to start learning the proper way to breathe, his mind instantly compiled all the information available in his memories to aid in his quest. At this point, he could perfectly recall any memories he wanted to, another benefit that his eyes brought to him.
At he sat there on the bench under the shade of a huge tree, Cedric inhaled slowly and methodically.
He focused on the sensation of air passing through his nose, carrying various scents that his mind automatically identified, flowing through his respiratory system, and making its way out of his mouth. His breaths were deep and slow, he wasn't in a hurry at all. His mind concentrated on the sensation brought forth by simply breathing like this.
Cedric paid close attention to each inhale and exhale. As his concentration deepened, he was able to closely follow the process of how his body reacted to each breath.
Gradually, his consciousness delved deeper and deeper into his body. It reached the point where he could almost say that he was witnessing the finer details of how his body works personally.
It was then that a sharp chime interrupted his exercise, jolting him awake.
[Alert! You have learned the 『Breathing (Lv.1)』 and 『Smelling (Lv.1)』 skills!]
*
『Breathing (Lv.1)』
: You have re-learned to how Breathe, this time as a Superhuman. Breathing is one of the most fundamental skills for survival. Increase your mastery of the skill to unlock more of its mysteries.
: Spend Demon Souls or train the skill extensively to increase its level.
『Smelling (Lv.1)』
: You have re-educated yourself in the Art of Smelling. Your nose is now a proper tool that will serve you well in your work as a Superhuman. Increase your mastery with this skill to unlock more of its mysteries.
: Spend Demon Souls or train the skill extensively to increase the level of this skill.
*
'Two in one, huh...' Cedric wore a slight smile as he dismissed the information panels.
He was originally focusing on the Breathing skill alone, yet he also learned to smell well. In hindsight, he should've expected this but it's a nice surprise either way.
Cedric had no plans on using Demon Souls to upgrade these skills. Although he would love to see what they can do at the maximum level, he simply does not have enough Demon Souls available to upgrade them all the way to that level.
Upgrading any of the two requires 10,000 Demon Souls already. Cedric only has a little more than 5,000 owned right now, so even if he wanted to, he couldn't.
Besides, even if he had the sufficient amount to do that, he wouldn't. The reason is that his body would react violently to the sudden upgrades. It would be best to tread carefully or else, he'll be risking injuries that he might not be able to heal from.
"Silence the notif sounds, System. Alert me only if it's an emergency." Cedric ordered.
[Do not disturb mode, on.]
Nodding to himself, Cedric once again closed his eyes and focused on continuing his breathing exercises.
As he continued breathing like this, Cedric could feel his entire body heating up. It wasn't uncomfortable. In fact, he'd say that it's actually pleasurable.
Each breath he takes causes his body to shiver in glee, it's as if he is breathing for the first time all over again. The warm currents coursed throughout his entire body with each breath, nourishing every morsel of his body.
At the same time, Cedric's mind began registering different scents carried on by each breath he took. Each time he breathes, the more vivid the scents become.
He smelled the soil, the flora and fauna around him. Some were fragrant while others smelled bad. The more he smelled scents around him, the more he was able to tell what he was smelling.
The scents and the depths of his breath only improved the more time passed. Under the shade of this huge tree, Cedric's senses were being constantly honed.
He sat on the bench unmoving like a rock, peacefully in a meditative zone as he solely focused on breathing.
Eventually, Cedric's breath became so shallow that he seemed to have stopped breathing altogether. His presence started blending perfectly with nature. Shortly after, birds and squirrels began hanging out around him. These small creatures didn't sense any malicious intent from him. If anything, in their eyes, this human was just like the tree behind him, firm, sturdy, and one with nature.
In truth, Cedric hasn't actually stopped breathing at all. His breath was just extremely short and shallow but make no mistake, he might not taking in as much air as before but that doesn't mean that the quality of breaths decreased.
No, that's not the case at all. In fact, the quality of each breath he takes massively increased at this point. It wouldn't be wrong to say that he's receiving the maximum quality of breath with the barest minimum of air intake. This...is one of the stupendous aspects and mysteries of the Breathing skill. One that would prove incredibly useful and beneficial to all Superhumans out there.
At the same time, Cedric could now differentiate between organic and inorganic through their scent alone. He even got the ability to discover tracks through scent as well. Through his smell, he could tell if there was movement around him or not.
His range wasn't that impressive yet, especially compared to the range of his Vision, 20 meters from where he is was the maximum range he had right now. But that's respectable since he just started today.
Sometime later, Cedric opened his eyes. The small animals around him sensed this but they only looked at him briefly before continuing what they'd been doing.
A small smile appeared on Cedric's face as he noticed this. He felt so light at this moment that he felt like he was floating on clouds. His breathing pattern was disturbed since he got distracted but it only took him a few breaths later and he's back on track again.
His agenda before the end of this day is to have this breathing pattern constant, even as he sleeps. He was confident about his chances thanks to his Learning skills. For now, though, he allowed himself to relish on feeling of strength coursing through his veins.
Cedric has never felt this strong before. It's like he could lift several boulders at once without breaking a sweat. Of course, his mental clarity told him that this was just an exaggeration, yet at the same time, he knew that if he truly wanted to do it, he'd probably be able to.
It was only now that he felt like a real Superhuman. It's funny that he just had to learn how to breathe properly first before he could feel this way.
Still, his theory was more or less proven at this point. Learning the proper way to breathe was indeed important before anything else. He was glad that he decided on this first right before everything else.
"System, disable the DnD mode."
[Do not disturb mode, off.]
What followed that was a string of notifications cascading on his face.
[Alert! You familiarized yourself with the 『Breathing』 skill. Experience gained. Notice! Skill 『Learning (M)』 boosted the experience gained!]
[Alert! You familiarized yourself with the 『Smelling』 skill. Experience gained. Notice! Skill 『Learning (M)』 boosted the experience gained!]
[Alert! You familiarized yourself...]
[Notice! 『Breathing』 skill, leveled up!]
[Notice! 『Smelling』 skill, leveled up!]
These system alerts caused Cedric's mouth to turn agape. To his surprise, he opened his information panel and checked the status of these two skills just to confirm if it was real.
『Breathing (Lv.3)』 『Smelling (Lv.3)』
Seeing those just confirmed it for him. Indeed, both of the skills he just learned today leveled up twice within an hour or so.
Forget leveling up actually, the fact that he learned two skills just by directing his focus on it, was already absurd on its own!
It had to be known that learning a skill has never been that simple. There's a reason why the majority of Superhumans rely on buying skills on the System Shop instead of learning them through repetition. It's because it requires an absurd amount of effort to learn a skill that way!
What's crazier is that he had leveled up these skills TWICE in less than an hour after learning them.
'Seriously! The 『Learning』 skill is way too broken!'