Chapter 34: Style

Standing on the edge of the forest, still within sight of the camp, I watched as Pyrrha, whose wound had finished healing from the night before, sparred with Winter.

Salem's appearance had been a bit of a… Wakeup call for the duo. While they had been taking their training seriously before, they were truly putting in all their effort now. Winter had stopped holding back and was steadily overwhelming Pyrrha.

Seeing Pyrrha's step falter and Winter moving in with her blade, ready to strike her down, I stepped forward.

"I think that the both of you should be more than warmed up by now," I interrupted, putting an end to the spar.

While Pyrrha's Aura regenerated a lot faster due to her skill with Total Concentration Breathing, I would still prefer it if she didn't have to start from scratch, especially with what I had planned for today.

Stopping the fight immediately, Winter sheathed her blade and stood stiffly, waiting for further instruction, with a faint, almost unnoticeable eagerness.

Looking a little confused, Pyrrha followed Winter's lead and strapped her weapons to her back. Maria and I normally left them to spar for hours on end, or at least until their Aura dipped below 30%. Today however would be different.

"What's this about, Coal?" Pyrrha asked.

"I'm going to try and teach you something different today," I replied. "I originally wanted to wait until after you completed the final step of Total Concentration Breathing, but, with what happened yesterday, I thought it would be better for you to start learning now."

"Um… Not to change the topic or anything," Pyrrha began. "But what is the final step of Total Concentration Breathing?"

Seeing that Winter began to pay closer attention, eager to learn as well, I smiled. There shouldn't be any issues with letting them know about Constant. In fact, it could be beneficial for them to know the final step.

"I suppose I could let you know. It's really not that different from what you're doing now," I explained. "The next step is called Total Concentration Constant. To master it, you'll need to be able to use Total Concentration Breathing constantly, day and night until it becomes instinctive and you're able to keep it active while sleeping."

Pyrrha's eyes widened and even Winter looked a little shocked by what she'd just heard.

"That's…. That's insane," Pyrrha muttered. "…And you've mastered it? Is that really the next step?"

"I mastered it a few days before I arrived at Argus," I replied. "It might sound impossible, but I'll be here to help the both of you learn it when you reach that point. Just focus on your breathing for now and we'll eventually get there."

Teaching them Constant was going to be more than a little boring and tiring, seeing as I'd have to spend a few nights monitoring their breathing and waking them when it faltered… Maybe I could rope Maria into joining me, at least that way I wouldn't be alone and we would be able to play cards throughout the night.

"Today, however, we're going to see if we can figure out your Breathing Style," I continued. "It's a little different from what you've already learned. Total Concentration Breathing builds stamina and passively improves your body, while a Breathing Style Actively improves your body at the cost of exhausting it faster."

"Like sprinting?" Pyrrha asked.

"That would be one way of describing it," I hummed. It was a little more complicated than that, but sprinting was a good metaphor. "So… Are you ready to give this a shot?"

Pyrrha nodded resolutely with fire burning in her eyes. "Yes."

Good. I'd already helped Oscar learn this to a point and he'd managed to get the very basics through trial and error. Now that I could see into the Transparent World, things should go much smoother.

"Alright, so the first thing you're going to need to do is focus your attention inward, similarly to when you stopped yourself from bleeding last night. Try feeling for how your blood flows from these points," I suggested, poking the spots that appeared optimal for blood flow.

"Okay," Pyrrha hummed as she began to follow my instructions.

Watching as Pyrrha focused her breathing, I occasionally chimed in, letting her know when she'd slipped up or made a mistake. Once I was confident that she had a grasp on the basics, she would be able to practice on her own while I helped Winter out with her problem.

…
Ping!
A new skill has been created.

Observe (Active) Lvl Max
Through use of the Transparent World and understanding of the body, you can now see the Breathing Styles of those you focus your attention on.

…
Pyrrha Nikos
Breathing Style:Flame
…

That was new and more than a little helpful. I wonder why it decided to kick in now, instead of much earlier. I had an idea why it reacted like that, but I would need to look into it a bit later… Once I had a moment to myself.

"Flame Breathing, huh?"

Red flags were immediately raised when I saw Pyrrha's Breathing Style. Of all the ones she could have potentially had, it had to be Flame.

Pyrrha, who would have died to an arrow through the heart, was going to learn Flame Breathing, like Rengoku. I was going to need to keep a closer eye on here, there were just to many parallels between the two for me not to feel worried.

The moment she mastered Constant, I was going to have to see about teaching her how to manipulate the placement of her organs, specifically her heart.

"Um… Coal. Is everything alright?" Pyrrha asked, worriedly. "You have a strange look on your face. Did I do something wrong?"

I took a long, deep breath.

"Nothing's wrong. My Semblance just did something that caught me off guard," I answered "Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you."

Explaining why I was really worried would be a lot more work. I'd already altered things drastically. With how fast she had been advancing, Pyrrha should be more than ready for anything Cinder was planning.

"It's alright," Pyrrha hummed. "I was just worried that I was doing something wrong. This is a little different from what I'm used to and I want to make sure that I'm doing it right. Do you want to take a break?"

"I'm fine, Pyrrha," I replied, smiling fondly. "I was just caught off guard. Let's start again. Be sure that you don't overdo it yourself, alright?"

Pyrrha was on the right track to using Flame Breathing. She just needed to practice it to the point where she could use it at a moment's notice.

"I won't," Pyrrha replied, returning my smile.

…Breathe…

Leaving Pyrrha to practice the very basics of Flame Breathing, Winter and I headed back to the cabin, passing a few workers as we entered the camp.

Last night, I'd told her that I might have a way to help her with the problem she was having with Total Concentration Breathing and I intended on following through… The only problem was, I didn't know how to bring it up.

"The Breathing Style that you're teaching Pyrrha… Does it require me to learn Total Concentration Breathing first before I learn it?" Winter suddenly asked.

"…Kind of," I shrugged, a little unsure. "I… Could probably teach it to you, but it wouldn't be as effective. Total Concentration Breathing builds stamina and Aura reserves while a Breathing Style takes advantage of that. If you learnt it first, you could probably use it, but you would end up tiring yourself out much faster."

Sun Breathing had been incredibly taxing to me initially, but that could be chalked up to it being an extremely exhausting Breathing Style and my own inexperience with using it.

"I see," Winter said, humming in contemplation. "This method that you mentioned last night… Could you tell me about it? I remember you mentioning that it could end up being uncomfortable."

Awkward would be a more appropriate word.

"Although it might not feel like it, your body is constantly stressed, it's the main thing that's slowing your progress with Total Concentration Breathing," I explained, stopping in front of the cabin.

"You've mentioned as much already," Winter said, stopping beside me. "This method, is it similar to what you've been doing already?"

She wasn't exactly far off.

"Something like that," I hummed. "The main problem that you're having right now is that your body's too tense. Your blood flow is stifled by tense muscles and it also prevents you from using your lungs to their fullest extent. Using pressure points has helped your body relax and improved blood flow, but a more… Hands-on approach should help you relax much faster."

…Breathe…

"Ugh," Yang grunted as she watched the workers move around the camp, building more cabins and facilities from her vantage point.

It was incredibly boring work and worst yet, it gave her entirely too much time to think. That was the last thing Yang wanted to do right now.

Yesterday had started off on a slightly stressful note. She'd gotten to learn about her birth mother, something that her dad seemingly wanted to keep from her at all costs… Not that she could blame him.

Hearing how Raven was a wanted criminal and a bandit leader that occasionally raided towns, killing innocent people was tough. She didn't know what to think about that. It had been on her mind the entirety of yesterday, at least until they were attacked by that thingand introduced to the freaking Grimm queen, Salem.

Fighting Grimm wasn't exactly a new experience for Yang, but that creature from last night looked like it came straight from a nightmare. She couldn't forget seeing the pulsing flesh that had been exposed when Coal had cut the Grimm down. It had been a person before… A few people.

Then there was Salem.

A shiver went down Yang's spine when she recalled how that woman had looked at her as if she was less than an ant. Regardless of how Coal tried to reassure them last night, Salem was intimidating. The woman had the Grimm at her call and was the one that created such a monstrosity.

Her uncle was part of a group that fought Salem, there was an immortal man out there that stole people's bodies and also happened to be the Headmaster for Beacon, some fairy tales turned out to be real… It was too much.

Yang needed a good fight to take her mind off of things. Unfortunately, she was stuck sitting here, looking after the civilian workers as part of her training trip with her uncle.

Another thing weighed on Yang's mind. Ruby had been exposed to the exact same things last night and barely reacted. It didn't seem like she was falling into a depression again, but at the same time, she had become a little closed off. When she had tried to offer a few comforting words, Ruby just hummed and shrugged.

"Damnit, why am I even up here? It's not like there aren't any cameras around to warn everyone of a Grimm attack," Yang hissed. "I just wanna have a fun fight and forget last night."

"Then go and enjoy yourself, missy."

Jumping, Yang spun around, her arm cocked back, ready for an attack only to come face to face with Maria.

"When did you…"

"A while ago," Maria interrupted. "You've got a lot on your mind. It's understandable with what happened last night. Go and unwind a little," She suggested, pointing towards Pyrrha who was practicing with her spear and shield. "You said you wanted a fight, right? I'm sure Red over there could use a sparring partner."

"I don't know… If Qrow catches me, he'll probably be pi…"

"Your uncle's on the other side of the camp. He won't notice if you're missing."

A bright grin came to Yang's face. "If that's the case… Thank you!"

"Yeah, yeah," Maria said, waving Yang off. "Go and enjoy yourself. If Qrow comes around here, I'll tell him you needed the toilet."

Watching Yang dart off towards Pyrrha, Maria could only chuckle.

…Breathe…

Taking a slow breath, Pyrrha spun around, her spear held tightly in her grasp as she lunged at an imaginary opponent. A bead of sweat dripped down her face as she took another slow, controlled breath.

Flame Breathing was completely new to her. Unlike Total Concentration Breathing, it was actively exhausting and felt a little alien to her, but she knew that she would eventually adapt to it and the best way to do that was to practice until she couldn't anymore… All she needed to do was concentr...

"Hey Pyrrha, wanna fight?" Yang asked boisterously, breaking Pyrrha's concentration.

"I… What?" Pyrrha asked, turning to see Yang eagerly bouncing on her heels.

"I saw you practicing from up there," Yang said, gesturing towards her previous spot. "And thought that you could use a sparring partner… So, what do you say? Wanna fight?"

She was supposed to be practicing her breathing, but… Pyrrha had missed her morning spar with Winter. Their fight had ended a bit prematurely. She might be able to get some practical experience with using Flame Breathing against a real opponent.

"I would be happy to have a spar with you," Pyrrha smiled.

"Awesome," Yang cheered.

Now they just needed to…

Pyrrha's instincts flared and she dodged to the side as Yang sailed past her with a wild grin on her face. A loud crack sounded through the area as Yang's fist shattered the base of a tree.

"You're quick," Yang said, stepping away from the falling tree. "I guess you're not called the invincible girl of nothing."

"So are you," Pyrrha replied, steadying her breathing. "I wasn't expecting that."

"Heh, sorry. I guess I'm just a little eager. I haven't had a good fight in a while," Yang apologized, cocking her gauntlets. "Here I come again!"

Shifting her spear back into its short sword form, Pyrrha met Yang's attack head on, redirecting her one punch while bringing her shield up, bashing Yang in the face.

Falling backwards, Yang wrapped a leg around Pyrrha's, halting her fall. Pulling herself back up, Yang's gauntlet went off, the shotgun round harmlessly bounced off Pyrrha's shield.

Landing several heavy blows with her sword against Yang's body, Pyrrha ducked under an incoming punch and lashed out with her shield, heaving Yang off her feet.

The fight wouldn't last that long, as fierce as Yang was with her attacks, she just wasn't able to keep up with Pyrrha's speed or skill. That much was clear… And yet, Yang climbed to her feet and wiped the dirt from her face, grinning excitedly as her hair lit up and her eyes turned red.

"That's what I'm talking about," Yang muttered.

Pyrrha quickly came to the conclusion that Yang was using her Semblance. What said Semblance did, however, was anyone's guess. So far it appeared to surround her in a fiery aura, but what that aura would do when it came into contact with Pyrrha's body… Well, it probably wouldn't be good.

She had a few options available to her. Pyrrha could dodge Yang's next attack, she could use her Semblance and throw Yang off completely, or… She could try something new.

Taking a focused breath, Pyrrha lowered her stance and prepared herself. Seeing Yang launch herself forward, Pyrrha responded in kind.

Pyrrha was briefly taken aback by her newfound speed, having not expected such a boost. Holding her shield in front of her, she prepared herself for the inevitable impact.

Fist met shield in a loud clang as all of the energy from Yang's attack was released in one single punch. However, instead of overwhelming Pyrrha, like she expected it would, Yang found herself being pushed back as her attack was completely overwhelmed by the force behind Pyrrha's leap.

The duo found themselves both barreling into the forest, having lost control of their momentum.

Reaching out with her Semblance, Pyrrha latched onto the metal in Yang's gauntlets and the metal in her own armor, slowing their speed until they were both lying in the forest, staring up at the tree tops. Yang's Aura briefly flickered, but ultimately held strong.

"I'm so…" Pyrrha began, turning towards Yang.

"Holy crap, that was awesome," Yang laughed. "You just completely overwhelmed my Semblance, do you realize what that means?"

"Um… No?" Pyrrha replied.

"My Semblance absorbs the force behind each blow I receive and releases it all at once," Yang explained, smiling happily. "You just overwhelmed the combined force of each one of your strikes."

"Oh…" Pyrrha hummed, looking back up at the tree tops.

"Yeah, oh," Yang laughed.

It had been a fun fight for Pyrrha. While Yang wasn't quite able to keep up with her, it allowed her to see just how far she had come since she began her new training.

If she had fought Yang back in the Mistral Regional Tournament, she likely would have had to rely on her Semblance to win the fight, but now… She only needed her Semblance to help Yang and her come to a stop.

Lying on her back next to Yang, Pyrrha felt herself relaxing as she stared up at the sky.

"So, I think I'm gonna need a minute to recharge," Yang began. "You up for round two?"

"I think I would enjoy that," Pyrrha hummed.

"Great," Yang breathed. "You were really good. I don't think I landed a single blow, it's almost as if you knew what I was going to do before I did it."

"Oh, that's something that Coal taught me," Pyrrha replied. "You read what your opponent is doing and if you can figure out their pattern, you'll be able to control the flow of the fight."

"Sounds interesting… So what's the story between you and mister strongest Huntsman?" Yang hummed.

"Well, we met in Argus when he was visiting Sanctum Academy with his Grandmoth…"

"Not that," Yang interrupted. "I mean, what's the story between the two of you… You were pretty snuggled up to him this morning."

Pyrrha paled slightly before the colour came rushing back to her cheeks. "You… saw that?"

"And heard it. The two of you weren't exactly that quiet last night," Yang replied. "So what's the deal there? Can any of us use him as a snuggle buddy when we have a nightmare or is that strictly a you thing?"

"I…" Pyrrha let out a relieved sigh as a Bullhead suddenly roared over them, heading towards the camp. "Oh look, a distraction… I mean, we should go see what that is. Winter mentioned that we're not scheduled for another supply drop for another two days."

Letting out an amused snort, Yang slowly pushed herself up, only to wince when she leaned on her hand. "Yep, that's a sprain," She muttered, moving her hand around experimentally.

Heading back to camp the red and blonde duo were greeted to the sight of nearly a dozen workers scrambling to offload boxes from the newly arrived Bullhead. The Schnee Dust Company logo engraved on the side.

"No, not over there. Those boxes need to go under a cover. There's rain clouds on the horizon and that equipment can't get wet," A feminine voice demanded. "The Dust vials... No, that's for my weapon, not any of the equipment here. You can place that separate from the rest. I'll figure out where it goes once everything is settled."

"What fresh hell have we walked into?" Yang muttered loudly as she caught sight of a bossy looking girl that resembled Winter.

"Excuse me?!" The girl snapped, catching sight of Yang. "Who exactly do you think you… You're Pyrrha Nikos… What's Pyrrha Nikos doing here?" The girl mumbled, instantly forgetting her anger upon noticing Pyrrha.

"Um… I was… Invited by Coal," Pyrrha explained. "You're Weiss Schnee, right? Coal mentioned you a few times when we were in Atlas."

"He did?" Weiss smiled. "I guess that explains why you're here. As for the other one…" Weiss's gaze turned to Yang.

"Hey, I was invited too," Yang defended. "…Sort of."

Weiss nodded, a little less enthused. "I see… Where is Coal now? He likely has no idea that I was planning on visiting while he stayed here."

"He went off with Winter earlier," Pyrrha explained. "But I'm not sure where they are right now."

"My sister," Weiss smiled proudly.

Shooting a glance to Pyrrha, Yang winced as her wrist began to throb. "Look, we'd be happy to help you find them, but I first gotta ice this wound," She said, her Aura a little too low to fully heal her wrist.

"If you must," Weiss sighed.

"Great," Yang said, already planning on taking advantage of the detour in order to grab a brush from her room. There was bound to be some sticks and dirt in her hair after she tumbled through the forest.

…Breathe…

Winter's bed creaked as she let out a soft gasp, lurching upward before dropping to the bed below with a content sigh.

"Sorry… This is new to me," Winter apologized, a small amount of blood flowing to her cheeks.

Yeah, I sort of guessed that before we even started. Winter hadn't seemed like the kind of person who would go for something like this.

"You don't need to keep apologizing every time you move," I hummed softly.

Shifting my hands further down her back, I pushed down and there was a loud click as Winter sunk into the bed in relaxation.

So far, the massage seemed to be working. The stiff and tense muscles in Winter's body were starting to relax and her blood was beginning to flow unhindered throughout her body. The Transparent World had come in handy when it came to giving a massage… Who would have guessed?

Winter was fairly vocal during the massage, letting out soft moans fairly often, which was strange when I was seeing blood, muscle and bone instead of skin… It made for a really odd sight.

Without the Transparent World, this all would have seemed a little sexy, but with it, I felt like I was in a strange horror movie.

Hearing a mechanical clicking sound, I ignored it in favor of focusing on Winter. Sliding a finger up her spine, ensuring that everything was aligned properly, Winter reacted vocally once more, letting out a soft moan as she leaned up, just as the door to the room opened.

Looking up, the world shifted back to its normal, non-transparent state as I caught sight of Yang and Weiss of all people, both frozen in the doorway.

"W…Winter?!" Weiss spluttered, covering her eyes with her hands only to peek through her fingers. "Coal?!"

"Weiss?!" Winter said, looking like a deer caught in a pair of headlights.

This… This looked bad. Winter wasn't exactly naked, but at the same time, she wasn't fully clothed either, having taken her shirt off when we started, leaving her with a modest white bra.

"Hey Yang, I got some ice for your wrist," Pyrrha announced, heading towards the room. "What are you… Looking… At?" The ice shattered in her hand.

And it just keeps getting worse.

"This… Isn't what it looks like," I tried to explain. "I was…"

"I call next," Yang announced with a shit-eating grin on her face.

"The hell you will," Weiss snapped, her face flushed red in embarrassment as she grabbed Yang's jacket. "Do… Do you realize what you're saying? You… They… You can't!"

Yang smirked smugly. "Yeah, a massage. What do you think was happening here, huh?"

"Massage?" Pyrrha clung to the word like a lifeline.

"Ruby gives them to me all the time, especially if I get hurt in a friendly spar," Yang explained, before looking down at her chest, before glancing at Weiss's. "I also occasionally get backaches from these puppies. Don't worry Weiss, that shouldn't be a problem for you."

"Thank you, I… HEY!"

"So yeah, nothing embarrassing going on here," Yang finished.

Holy crap, Yang just disarmed that entire situation. I thought for sure that she would have added more fuel to the fire.

"So, what do you say?" Yang asked, turning to me. "Can I go next?"

Looking towards Winter who was still frozen, I turned back and nodded. "You know what, sure."

I still had a few things I wanted to work on by myself, but I could do them a little later… Especially after Yang just helped me out like that.

In which Pyrrha gains a new death flag by learning one of the breathing styles, Coal learns a little more about his Semblance, Yang gets to blow off a little steam and Weiss makes an appearance, only to walk in on her sister and Coal in a seemingly intimate moment and has her imagination run on overtime.

Anyways, I'm up to chapter 39 on the P word website.

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I go by the name of ThatKircguy. Just copy the name and paste it in the Patty Rio On search bar. It'd help me out immensely, but don't worry if that's not your style. I will be uploading weekly, so it's not going to be stuck there permanently.

Also, I post my original stuff there as well. It's nothing much, just two short stories for now, but I'll post more as I write them.

The next chapter will be posted on the 23rd of December.
See you all then dudes and dudettes.
Have a great day or night... Whichever comes first.