After reading the breathing technique, the details were immediately imparted into his mind. He closed his eyes and concentrated deeply. He drew the first breath, and a stream of very cold air filled his lungs.
[+2 darkness added]
A notification came from the system that he had gained darkness; the amount was little, but it was progress, and that made Alex happy.
He continued the breathing for close to four minutes, but his body temperature had dropped to a level where he was shivering and had to stop.
The description said nothing about the drop in temperature, but it seemed it was a drawback to circulation. He had to stop in order to not risk his life.
By the end, he had made about four darkness points, taking about five circulatory breaths for every minute.
So now he had 2,040 darkness points.
It took about two hours for his temperature to return to a safe level, but by this time, he was really tired and so he slept.
---
And so nine months passed, and Alex was finally a year old. In that year, he had used the circulation breathing every day for four minutes.
At the end of the nine months, he had a total of 11,000 darkness points. Even though for the whole nine months nothing had changed at all, he consistently used circulation.
But today, as soon as he hit his one-year birthday and finally reached eleven thousand, he got a notification.
[You have gained enough darkness points to unlock basic darkness manipulation]
Alex was excited when he saw that notification; he had been so eager to find out what he could unlock.
Now that he had gained dark manipulation, he stretched out his arm, trying to make use of his new ability.
Nothing worked for a bit, but then after a while, he began to feel a cold flow through his body, and a black tendril similar to the one that had surrounded him in the past started flowing out.
It wrapped around his finger and started going up his arm all the way to his shoulder. His excitement rose so much that he forgot to be cautious of his environment.
Suddenly, the door opened, and his father walked in. He saw Alex standing there, controlling darkness. Immediately Alex spotted his father, he stopped as fast as he could.
He was incapable of making full sentences yet, since he was only a year old, so he couldn't explain himself aside from looking at his father with dumbfounded eyes.
His father ran to him and picked him up from the ground. Alex expected that his father would not be happy at the fact that his son had darkness, but on the other hand, his father burst into laughter.
"I can't believe it, I can't believe it, you are capable of handling darkness without being a marine or getting corrupted.
I have to study you; you might become the key, but I have to convince your mother."
His father kept rambling while Alex looked at him, dumbfounded.
Later that night, his father spent hours explaining what he saw and what he would like to do. She was adamant about not letting him do as he pleased.
But he found a way to sweet-talk her into allowing him to carry out some basic tests on Alex from time to time, and also to train his darkness.
After much talking, she gave in, only allowing her husband to do it because he promised that he would also find a way to suppress the darkness within their son.
She didn't want to imagine what sort of future he would have to go through if people found out about his darkness.
---
That night, for the first time in a whole year, she finally took Alex outside. She opened the door of their home and stepped out with Alex in her arms.
The bright lights from the two moons in the sky allowed him to see around. The massive city seemed modern, yet still old.
The houses were close together, and there were also many-story buildings in order to accommodate more people.
Humanity had been cornered into living in walled cities because of the crawlers and the ever-encroaching darkness.
Alex took the time to appreciate the city he was living in. He knew his future here would hold a lot of troubles for him, as even the system said he should survive.
So in the meantime, while he had the time to be a baby, he would use circulation and grow his darkness. Regardless of what the world thought, he saw his ability as a gift that would enable him to survive.
He was built to be a workaholic, just like in his last life; he would keep grinding and moving, gathering the small wins and building them up to become something great.
After a while of silently looking outside, his mother spoke.
"I didn't want you, my child, to be a part of the fight in this world. I wanted you to just be with me, safe. When your father came and told me about your darkness, I was scared to my bones.
I shivered at the thought that you would have to become part of this whole thing. The world is cruel, but I still pray that you will be far from all that is happening, and that you will be able to smile."
After she finished speaking, she kissed Alex on his head.
Alex didn't know why, but he had a feeling that his mother may have just raised a dark flag, not a red one, a dark one.
He just felt that she shouldn't have said all these things just now, but then again, he could just be overthinking.
He would try his best to keep both of them safe in his own way. He didn't want to be alone, especially in a world that he didn't know anything about.
They both looked at the skies for a bit more before she took him inside to sleep.