Breathing Style

Breathing Style was a skill designed to strengthen the heart and lungs, allowing a large amount of oxygen to be absorbed into the blood in a short period of time. This, in turn, resulted in a sharp increase in the body's physical ability.

Although he had no complaints about the quality of the skill, Fanny was still somewhat disappointed.

He had hoped to draw a magic skill like 'Explosion Magic.' His physical body was actually already quite strong due to the reinforcements of 'Demon Armor Incursio' and 'Ars Magna.'

Also, his fighting style was supposed to be mobile, long-range, hit-and-run style. But now that his physical body was getting reinforced over and over, was he forced down the path of a melee mage?!

He was already worried whether Blue-Eyes White Dragon would reinforce his image as a knight and change his nickname to Silver Dragon Knight. Changing his fighting style would be tantamount to accepting the name of a Knight.

"I want to be a proper mage!" Fanny sighed in his heart before proceeding to test the effect of the 'Breathing Style.'

A hint of shock and surprise flashed through his eyes under the mask. All disappointment in his heart was instantly blown away.

He discovered that 'Breathing Style' allowed him to absorb energy instead of consuming it. Different from what he thought, 'Breathing Style' was not just a physical reinforcement skill, but it was a cultivation skill.

And it was a semi-passive skill!

Humans needed to breathe. Fanny didn't intend to stop being human, at least for now, so he could not escape that.

Thus, as long as Fanny still draws breaths, he can keep the Breathing Style active. This even included while he was asleep. He could basically keep cultivating his body 24 hours a day.

Fanny's excitement swelled. This new skill could strengthen all of his other skills, except for 'Demon Armor Incursio' and 'Sumire Karaage Rolls.'

Using 'Ars Magna' to enact a powerful alteration in reality would require a lot of energy. 'Sky Dance' also required a steady supply of energy to maintain. 'Breathing Style' directly solved these problems.

Not to mention 'Explosion Magic.' Extending its chant and using 'Ars Magna' could only increase its power to a limited extent; the main factor was still the same magic power as used in Kamar-Taj's spells.

Even Blue-Eyes White Dragon required the consumption of powerful energy sources to evolve. Internal energy was the foundation of all skills. He had substituted this energy source with Kamar-Taj's magic power, but his skills in the Mystic Arts were not good. He could only channel enough power to maintain the portal spell or use a minor buff with 'Ars Magna.'

Fanny was excited that he could finally cultivate his own energy source through skill, but the excitement made his breathing chaotic and deactivated 'Breathing Style.'

Fanny snapped out of his daydream. 'Breathing Style' was very powerful, but it was obviously not an easy skill to control. It would probably be impossible to maintain it without focus.

Fanny activated the skill again, absorbing the energy around him. Perhaps due to the root of the 'Breathing Style,' he felt a surge of power as hot as the sun within him.

He didn't notice that faint red light had quietly shone on 'Demon Armor Incursio.'

Fanny had not seen this anime before, so he had no way of knowing that 'Breathing Style' was accompanied by a specific weapon type called the 'Nichirin Sword' as well as a special martial arts technique. All three were needed for a human to fight against demons in that world.

Fanny had only extracted 'Breathing Style.' Martial arts could be learned, but there was no way for him to bring out the greatest potential of this skill without a suitable weapon.

Fortunately, he had the system and 'Demon Armor Incursio!'

The strongest ability of 'Demon Armor Incursio' was not its impenetrable defense nor its invisibility; it was its capacity to evolve along with the user. Fanny had no way of obtaining a Nichirin Sword, but as 'Demon Armor Incursio' evolved, he might be able to take 'Breathing Style' into a new direction.

For now, the fact that he could cultivate an internal energy source was enough for Fanny to consider the seventh skill worth all the time and effort he poured into it.

Time passed quickly while Fanny was meditating. The hours passed, and the sun rose from the horizon. Almost everyone had recovered.

"Are we going to New York?" Fanny asked in surprise when he saw the familiar city through the window.

"Yes. The location tracker showed that Loki had brought the helicarrier above New York!" Nick Fury stood up from his seat and faced the group. "New intel had just arrived from the helicarrier. Loki had left in a fighter jet. We need a plan."

"Your last plan ended up with us getting bombarded with missiles. I just hope it won't be a nuke this time," Tony replied sharply.

Fanny immediately took a double take at Tony. Did that guy really have to jinx it like that? He was worried about the people of New York City.

"We had underestimated Loki, but he also underestimated us," Nick Fury ignored Tony and began an encouraging speech, "He tried to trap the Knight of Divine Punishment, but he failed. He tried to kill you, but he didn't succeed in that either. It's on us to keep his next plan to rule the Earth from succeeding!"

"What should we do?" However, Captain America already had his share of motivational speeches. He didn't seem to be moved by Nick Fury's encouragement; he was probably still holding a grudge over SHIELD's continued research on the Cube.

"We will split into three groups. Captain, take Barton and the other agents to infiltrate the helicarrier and confirm the situation. Stark, you go back to repair your armor first and then evacuate the area starting from Loki's location. Thor and Fanny, you two go and capture Loki!" Nick Fury hesitated before adding, "Be careful of Dr. Banner!"

Fanny had no objection to this plan. It would allow him to access the Scepter and the Tesseract in Loki's hands, as well as take revenge for the ambush.

Fanny didn't think that he would have any problem dealing with Hulk. He could just open a portal and send the giant to the frozen peak of Mount Everest; though, he was a little worried that Hulk would cause damage on the world's highest peak.

Tony didn't have any protest for the plan either. His armor had gone through Thor's hammer and a bombardment of missiles. It was already tattered, its energy source and ammunition depleted.

As for Thor, his initial plan to catch Loki had not changed.

After confirming the plan, everyone began to move.

Nick Fury had arranged his plan by considering everyone's circumstances. Thor, Fanny, and Tony could fly, so they didn't need the Quinjet with them.

Fanny activated his Sky Dance, Thor lifted his hammer, and Tony wore his armor. All of them left the Quinjet and flew away. From the information that Nick Fury had relayed to Fanny and Thor, Loki seemed to be in the Manhattan area.

"Tony, how long has your new building been finished?!" Fanny asked out of curiosity.