The Martial Unity

He wasn't surprised that the potion was going to be administered in gaseous form. It was easier to get into the bloodstream and had the least chance of failing due to unforeseen factors during digestion.

He followed the instructions of the doctor.

"We will begin the procedure now."

A red gas passed through the pipes of the gas mask before he inhaled them.

His eyes widened as his pupils dilated.

He felt like he had just inhaled spikes into his lungs.

"Rgh!" He grimaced.

Sharp piercing pain ravaged his lungs, causing him to writhe in agony, doing his best to control his movements.

"Restrain yourself, Senior Quarrier."

It was easier said than done. Thankfully, he had been preparing for the torturous pain thus he was able to handle it a lot better than he could have otherwise hoped for. An unknown amount of time passed as he endured the sharp stinging pain that ravaged his lungs.

The roaring dragon blood potion destroyed and reconstructed the lungs of a Martial Artist in a manner that was no dissimilar to the Squire evolution breakthrough procedure. The only difference was that while it was supposed to reconstruct his lungs, it didn't rely on Darwinian evolution, it relied on the blood of the roaring dragon to empower his lungs.

It relied on principles that were decidedly esoteric in nature, Rui suspected that it relied on some compound in the roaring dragon's blood that allowed for its lungs to be so powerful.

"DAMN," What was supposed to be a murmur became a shout. He was aware that this would happen, of course, but the euphoria had overwhelmed any considerations.

He reduced his effort to a whisper.

"Finally, back to normal. I guess this will have to be the norm," Rui whispered, returning to his normal volume. He felt like he was breathing with vigor unlike he ever did before. "Take some time to adjust, Senior Quarrier," The doctor's voice echoed in the chamber. "It will take some time to get used to. But it is best you at least recalibrate your effort to match your enhanced respiration. Thus far, we are pleased to inform you that no anomalies have been detected, your procedure was a perfect success."

"I'm glad to hear that, doctor, I appreciate your services," Rui replied, closing his eyes as he tried different levels of effort to replicate what was normal before. "I think I'm getting the hang of this for now."

He employed a little bit of self-hypnosis to accelerate the process. The principles could be employed at any time, but given that he hadn't refined the image over time, it couldn't be considered at a technique level.

But it helped with conditioning his mind to lower the effort and force he put into his breathing even subconsciously, which was the most important part.

"Would you like to undergo a sneeze test?" The doctor asked him. "It allows you to test just how much control you gain over the force of your respiration. There are certain safety standards that you will need to adhere to, otherwise, you will be hurting and killing people left and right every time you sneeze or yawn."

"Let's try it then," Rui nodded. A strange gas filled the entire chamber, tickling Rui's nose.

"Achoo!" Rui sneezed.

Much to the medical team's surprise, it was a normal sneeze and not a lethal one. "Incredible!" The doctor exclaimed. "I have never seen anyone gain control over involuntary respiratory spasms in such a short amount of time!"

He was defying the norm, which was the norm for him so he didn't even bother acknowledging it.

It appeared that his high affinity for mental techniques allowed him to be much more effective with hypnosis-based mental conditioning, allowing his subconscious mind to change much more rapidly than it normally would.

"Achoo!" Rui sneezed once more. "I think I've -achoo!- passed the test doc."

"Indeed," The doctor remarked with great interest as the sneezing gas was drained away. "You are truly as remarkable as I've heard, Senior Quarrier. This must be record-time for acclimatization to the effects of the roaring dragon blood potion. Come, we must conduct a few more simple tests before we are ready to discharge you. I must document everything about this historic case!"