Her punch also created wind that kicked up a lot of dust. It was an impressive showing of strength. Just imagining what kind of damage her punch could do to a human made his eyes light up in awe.
Instructor Canes straightened herself and said, "Fire explodes. What you just heard is the explosion of the force within my body."
"I will teach you the first breathing technique, the fire breathing exercises, and the fire fighting technique. These three go hand in hand and form a foundation that fuels your transformation until you reach the sixth transformation."
Then she asked, "Any questions?"
He raised his hand to indicate that he had a question.
She nodded and said, "Go ahead."
He quickly got onto his feet and bowed to her and everyone else. Then he asked, "How long does it usually take to learn these techniques, and how long does it take to reach the sixth transformation?"
She asked someone else to stand and answer him.
The person said, "It takes from one year to two years of hard work to learn the mana breathing technique and break through to the fourth transformation."
"As for the fourth transformation to the sixth, it usually takes four years. So if you enter the training facility at 13 years old and are diligent with your training, you will reach the sixth transformation by 20, just in time for your graduation."
Instructor Canes was satisfied with the reply. She said, "Good answer."
Everyone clapped, including Arthur, as the boy took his seat.
The instructor turned to him and asked, "Any more questions?"
He shook his head and said, "I am satisfied, instructor."
She nodded and brought out a sheet of paper from her robe. She threw the paper to him.
It flew through the air and landed in his hands. He took a look at it and saw that it contained instructions and annotated diagrams of the human respiratory system. The lungs in their different stages of inhalation and exhalation were shown vividly.
Before he asked, the instructor cleared his doubts. "That is the mana breathing technique. You were supposed to receive this in your second class, but now is also as good as any."
"You take that back home with you and keep it safe. You have to return it when you graduate."
He nodded in understanding as she said, "Now pay attention. I'll show you how to do it."
She said to the rest of the trainees, "There is no need for you to pay attention anymore. You can begin your fighting session. Remember the rules. I'll punish any trouble maker."
The trainees stood up and paired up to fight. Meanwhile, instructor Canes walked over to him and said, "Watch me."
She breathed in deeply, which caused her chest to rise visibly. Then she held her breath for three seconds.
Next she exhaled sharply. Air exploded out of her lungs and out of her nose as if she was a punctured balloon. Then she repeated the cycle.
She did this three times before she said, "It is more complicated than it seems. There are some things that happen within my chest that you can't see. You will have to consort the paper for that."
"You will have to muddle your way through mastering the internal. But the core of the matter is to increase the ratio of time that air spends in your lungs against the time it takes to exhale and inhale."
Arthur nodded in understanding. He had seen the diagrams, so he knew that the internal mechanics of the breathing technique that she was talking about were the different stages of the mobilization of the intercostal muscles and other muscles of the chest and back.
These muscles would be contracted and relaxed in synchronization in such a way that the lungs are turned into a bellow while the body is turned into a furnace.
The bellows's job is to provide air for the furnace to burn brighter. In this case, the lungs provide mana, which the body will burn to fuel its transformation.
He said to her, "To increase the ratio, the time spent for inhalation and exhalation will be reduced drastically."
She nodded. "That is true. But that is complicated work that requires the coordination of a lot of muscles. So it is for later when you have increased the time that air stays in your lung."
"For now, we will improve your lung capacity and how long you can hold your breath for. So take a breath and don't exhale for as long as you can."
He nodded and did as she told him to do. That's how his training began.
He trained for four hours. He spent half of that time holding his breath while the instructor tutored him. He spent the other half being submerged underwater with instructor Canes keeping him down there to force him to hold his breath for longer.
These were things that he should be doing in the second class. But he was too strong to be put together with kids that were around 14 years old. Instead, they made him train with kids that were at least 14 years old.
While he was being tortured underwater in a bucket, the other kids were fighting each other. It was more of a spar, but there were important things at stake.
The trainees were fighting for the opportunity to earn the rank-1 major blood pill. Only the best 20 fighters every day would get the pill.
As for Arthur, even though he didn't get the rank-1 major blood pill, he was given the rank-1 ox lung pill. It is the pill that the students in the second class labor for.
Only the top 15 in the second class who could stay underwater the longest were qualified to get the pill. But since he didn't have any competition, he was given one too.
When he was done, he dragged his weary body to the gate. His body was fine, but his mind was tired because of being starved for air for four hours.