[Breathing lvl 1] was such a mundane skill that no normal human being would have ever accepted it as their first-ever skill. However, a young man was in dire need of this one.
Who would be unable to breathe? Wouldn't be me, huh?
Despite his sarcasm, an intrinsic sense of gratitude overcame him. Yet, another part of him feared that this might have been his only chance at a skill. Could there be a better choice than [Breathing lvl 1]?
With a hint of doubt, he eventually understood that this was a basic necessity for him. A quiet sigh escaped his lips, entering the medium-sized hospital room he slept in.
His index finger closed the distance between its original position and the mysterious blue screen. Reluctantly, he accepted the skill.
A slight tremor hit Johannes' body, followed by a small azure glow around his torso. Gradually a stream of oxygen was sucked in by his mouth without any effort to breathe it in. This influx increased to what felt like a strong wind that created audible noises. Johannes had to gasp, breaking the rhythm of his breathing. Primal fear overcame him, one that fears to suffocate.
Knowing the unusual breathing could be his end, he started to choke. In his terror, he hammered onto his chest with the bit of strength he had in an attempt to catch his breath.
Am I going to die today?
The glow changed to a bright turquoise, indicating the process changes.
Just a few seconds ago, he almost suffocated. But now he could merely feel an annoying sensation that came out from the tubes in his body. Something truly magical had happened. He did not have to rely on machines for the first time ever. It appeared as if his lungs had finally been connected to his heart. However, there was no way for Johannes to prove this.
The fragile man's heartbeat also seemed to stabilise. Controlling his heartbeat felt much easier now.
This cannot be. What is happening? Without a hint of his earlier depression, his body fully concentrated on his breath. He started to wonder why his skill was level 1.
What followed was something that nobody should attempt to do by themselves. Johannes just barely gripped the tube that used to stabilise his very core of living and tried to pull it out. With just a slight pull, he managed to get it done, though the feeling was nerve-wracking.
The tube slightly scratched against the insides of his throat. Not enough to leave damage but enough to feel itchy. He longed to scratch the insides of his neck - something impossible for a good reason.
This was a painful procedure that had to be done.
Though Johannes was scared for most of the time. He feared that he signed his own death by removing the only thing that had kept him alive for roughly 25 years.
As he started to properly breathe, his lungs expanded more than he could have imagined. He constantly ached for this, and now it had happened. The Trachea sucked in the air of the whole room. At least, that was how it felt for Johannes.
Some would be weirded out when they saw what he did. Since he had never been able to fully utilise his body, his breathing must have almost looked comical if anyone else had been in the room.
While his body received no repercussions from removing the tube, the breathing machine went full berserk. It had assumed that Johannes was on the verge of dying as it was designed to keep up his breath.
The screen he was looking at had a dark red tinge. It blinked while it showed an error sign that signalled that something had happened. Panic overcame him. What if the nurses were going to find out immediately? Was he going to get into trouble?
Not even a minute later, one of those regular nurses he knew slammed open the heavy door and ran towards Johannes; her face looked shocked. Sister Betty glanced and looked as if she had just seen someone dying.
"What are you doing? Have you gone mental? Do you think that's funny?" Sister Betty screamed at him in an anger he had never experienced. Johannes gulped and struggled to process that he was being screamed at. For a second, tears gathered around his eyes, but he managed to hold them back for now.
This kind of woman seemed to really care about her patient and probably had a hard time believing that Johannes did not attempt to kill himself.
"Wait. Wait. Wait. I can explain everything. I... uhm... can breathe now." Johannes stammered. He struggled to find the right words, knowing he could not say too much. His breathing became unstable, and the nurse noticed how much he struggled to keep up his rhythm.
"Don't you dare lie? You will not die on me. Look at your breathing. I'll connect you to this damn device again." She had already grabbed the tube and Johannes' breathing mask. In an attempt to apply those to Johannes, she did, in fact, notice a difference.
"Johannes, did you actually say the truth? Your head would have lost its colour or even gone blue by now if you couldn't breathe."
"Yes, for the sake of God. I did. Please don't make me use this mask again." Johannes trembled a bit, barely able to contain his tears. He did not want to use this machine again - not today nor ever again.
A silence entered the room. Her gaze went dark and met his eyes. After what felt like an eternity, she grinned at him as if she had just won the lottery.
"No, don't smile at me like that. I know what you are going to do, Sister Betty."
"Please, I will just tell the other nurses so they won't be as shocked as I was. Okay?" A smile escaped her lips, and Johannes knew this was not going to be kept secret.
"Okay, you win." It was, in fact, not okay, but he had no other choice than to accept it. The nurses would have noticed sooner rather than later.
After Sister Betty left the room with the biggest grin he had ever seen, an urge to move rose into his brain, caused by the shock he just experienced and the influx of oxygen that accompanied the situation. Both went into his head and his blood. Strangely enough, he felt alive.
The grey walls did not feel as grey anymore. The moonshine illuminating his room felt like the prettiest thing he had ever seen. He could not wait until he could buy another skill.
Now, the frail young man felt a sense of guilt. "Have I completely forgotten what happened?" he accused himself. "This is not something I am allowed to enjoy as much as I currently do."
Johannes notices how it gets harder for him to breathe. This incident happened out of the blue and immediately refreshed his memory of what would happen if he kept having those thoughts.
Blocking off those thoughts was not easy, but he eventually managed to temporarily forget about them again. Or, rather than forgetting, he just pushed them away. Thus, his breathing resumed normality.
Looking at his pale and dry hands, he noticed a newfound strength flowing through him. It was not like he was suddenly strong, yet he felt he could shove mountains away with a single finger.
Driven by this thought, he wanted to test out how strong proper breathing had made him. He took one of those hand grippers his dad used to gift his fragile son so that he could build a bit of a grip to still hold bottles.
I have never been able to use those...
With all of his strength, he fully pressed down the 10 KG hand gripper once. This was not a small feat, considering he could barely hold a bottle a few minutes ago.
Johannes felt joy. He did not particularly want to feel joy.
Yet he knew he had to live out his positive emotions to keep his newfound ability.
I can't wait to tell my mother and my sister. They will not believe their own eyes.
Johannes' cheeks were wet from tears of joy. He knew that they were still dealing with the grief of such a loss, and even if this would bring them some kind of delight, it would not make up for what had happened.
His new plan was not to let them know until he had more to show.
The more, the better.
The next morning, he would start to work on his breathing.
Level 1 should imply that it is possible to keep leveling... right?