~ Ayano's Pov, In the night... ~
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Being honest with myself, I wasn't sure why Yukari even told me that story to begin with... Still, I could tell she truly loves her daughter... Even if felt like she, no... She was begging me to protect her.
'It's best not to focus on this kind of thing. Focus on improvement.' I gathered my bearings for the night. I needed to push myself even more if I wanted to get ahead, why? I didn't even know, but my gut was telling me to prep myself for the future. It's clear this world wasn't normal; and I don't want to be on the receiving end of it.
Thinking of ways to improve myself, I thought of my training mastery passive. From what I understood from it, anything I want to learn physically, I'd make the most progress out of it by simply just thinking about it, but using it for only martial arts seems to be waste...
'The skill doesn't inherently limit me to just martial arts, at least not technique wise. Doesn't this mean I could theoretically improve anything as long as I put my mind to it...?'
'But, what the heck should I even improve first?'
Aright... Think of short comings...? One of them was definitely my memory, while I wasn't an amnesiac, I do tend to forget things a lot. Another thing might be more mundane aspects of my life, like breathing, and walking, maybe...?
"..."
Now I feel as though I'm talking out of my own ass. But... It certainly doesn't hurt to try them to feel out the mastery a bit more.
I sat down and looked up those these three things first. They were a start.
'Let's just start with memory first.' I turned on my computer, and quickly browsed up some techniques on memorization. I looked up all the known techniques that worked, and which had seemingly well documented results for everyone that tried them.
First thing on the list was something called the -Memory Palace- technique—also known as the Method of Loci.
It sounded a bit bizarre at first: visualizing a place in vivid detail, then placing information within that imagined space as if I were arranging furniture in a house... But the more I read it, the more it sort of made sense to me, as weird as it all sounded. According to me very limited research, the human memory wasn't built for raw data—it was built for imagery, space, and context. Stories...
At least, based on what I was reading. So, I got to work and closed my eyes.
I breathed in, 'I just hope this all works...'
I sat still and tried to picture my first childhood home; the layout still fuzzy at the edges, but familiar enough to start. I slowly walked through the front door in my mind, dragging the memory of a formula—Euler's identity—into the living room, and placing it on the couch, like it was a guest...
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Then next were a list of a bunch of vocabulary terms in the kitchen drawers, like silverware. Next were a long chain of martial arts katas I had learned across the hallway, each of the movements were frozen like a photo pinned to the wall... They weren't clear, but I think it was close enough for a beginner.
And just like that, thinking... it was actually a little easier. Oddly enough too, I felt sharper to be honest, but barely... All the things I knew of started to essentially anchor themselves in my mind—not perfectly, but it was definitely enough for me to feel a slight shift in my mental state...
I opened my eyes...
"Hmm."
Still seated, I could feel my pulse steady, my thoughts tiny but less scattered...? Feeling a bit Encouraged, I leaned back in the chair, and turned my focus to the next idea that had crossed my mind: Breathing. On paper, it sounded like a stupid thing to train—but, if martial artists practiced it for combat, if even monks used it to clear their minds, then maybe there was something to it.
'Might as well give this one a try too...'
This next technique I researched was called diaphragmatic breathing. Essentially, breathing from my belly.
I read up that most people breathe shallowly—using their chest, and shoulders—while proper, controlled breathing comes from the diaphragm. Supposedly, it helps not only with oxygen intake, but clarity, endurance, even emotional control. It seemed small, unremarkable even, but if there was a thread to pull for any kind of advantage, I wasn't above tugging at it in my current position.
I sat up straighter in the chair, feet planted firmly on the floor. One hand on my chest, the other just above my stomach this time. Inhale through the nose… slow, deep. I paid attention—made sure the hand on my stomach moved, not the one on my chest.
Hold it...
Then exhale through the mouth—equally slow.
"Fuuu~"
It felt a little awkward at first. Super mechanical was the word, almost like I was impersonating someone else's breathing. But as I kept going, repeating the cycle again and again, until the tension in my jaw eased a little. My shoulders dropped slightly. There was no lightning bolt of revelation, no panel alert, or sudden stat increase, but there was a strange... alignment. As if for the first time in a while, my body was in agreement with my mind, or getting close to it...
Like everything was working in tandem...
I don't know how long I stayed like this, just breathing. But eventually, I opened my eyes again and glanced at the time. Not much of the night had passed—but I felt like something had changed. Like something inside had clicked, just a little bit as well.
'Strange...' I thought.
'This really is working... even if just barely.' I continued doing it some more.
'Still, If I do commit to this every day for at least a month or so, I should see some results... Hopefully speaking.'
With that in mind, I'll just stop here for now. I can continue with my memorization training tomorrow when I got back, for now, I wanna at least get the proper breathing method down, if I could make it my normal way of breathing. I should be set for now, and maybe I'll even see some results.
I inhaled... And exhaled.
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~ Ayano's Pov, the next day... ~
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I woke up bright and early. I felt, refreshed...
'No way; just breathing properly had these kind of benefits...?' As much as I didn't want to sound like an over surprised fan-girl. I genuinely felt like brand new me, my mind felt like it was ready for the day, and I felt like I slept like a brick, and not just that...
I could tell, I was still performing the breathing method, although it was still just a little Shakey; It was still much better than what it was before, in a few more weeks. I think it'll eventually become permanent, I don't think I've got any doubts about that one
'Alright, it's time to get the day going.'
I looked over at the clock, seeing that it was around 6 AM, it was already starting off well, I can get to old man Jang a little before 7 AM, and train until 10 AM...
'As hilarious at it is, I felt like getting my bum whooped with a clear mind wouldn't be that bad of a thing...'
I got my lazy arse off the bed, and headed for the shower. Yukari was probably still sleeping, and I don't really want to wake her right now when things are so awkward between us, so I'll have to extra be careful, or... all of it is for naught and she'll be up anyways. Still, a man can dream right?
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'It's 6:48 now... I'm just on time...' I wished the walk here wasn't so long, but it beats using a taxi and the walk was pretty good. I just wished time froze while I did it.
While on the way to the old man's place, I looked down the alleyway. 'It's a damn shame those guys aren't here today. I want to get this quest over with...' I just walked by, disappointed. I made my way past it, and went to where the old man lived.
And as I got closer, I heard multiple people talking in there, sounded like only elders like himself, and with himself included... Was it a bad time to come, or something? It'll disappoint me that I can't get some training in today; but I'm not so greedy to interrupt the time that old man has with others...
*Sigh...*
I shook my head, and decided to turn around, makes no sense. Might as well go and train memorization when I get back home, it'll be something at least.
"And where do you think you're going, youngster?
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"Huh?" It was Eli's voice, but how? There's no way he heard my from here while talking with those old men? Right?
Before I could question his ridiculous senses, his door suddenly opened.
Thwap...!
"Like I said, where are you going? In fact." He smiled at me. "You came just in time!" he finished, but when I glanced behind him, there were multiple others inside, nearing ten too being different elders, some looked younger than the others at a glance, but one thing was for sure.
All those old coots gave off the same vibe old man Jang did...
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Before I knew what was even going on, a small chill ran down my very spine.
'Why do I have the feeling that today's gonnasuck...?'
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END