There were 10 people in the class, not counting him. Kurt honestly thought there would be fewer ( none with some luck) people willing to attend a class imparted by him, but apparently learning Pneuma was that attractive a prospect.

  Well, he thought while looking at one of the attendants, at least she’s here, that should make this smoother.

  No one in the class was older than him and, in fact, most of them were younger by a couple years, with only three people being the same age as him. This was to be expected, really, given that in the order, which numbered about 40 members, the number of people older than him could be counted with both hands. After all, the order existed, at least partially, to give children with magic talents that had no place in 'regular' society a place to, well, belong just as much as it existed to battle the forces of evil.

  "First," He said, "You must know that the stages of Pneuma are three: Breathing and moving, where you must control your breath to gather your Od and perform controlled, yet wide, motions to make it go from your diaphragm to whatever you’re trying to fortify. Second, there is Still Breath, where, while still having to control breath to gather Od, you can redistribute it with a thought, no moves required. And third and last known stage."He explained, while allowing those smokeless white flames to envelop sections all around his body. At the edge of his sight, he saw the Stamina number dropping to 97.5 %. "Breathlessness, the stage I am currently at, where Od may be gathered at any part of the body, not just the diaphragm, allowing for a much simpler, more efficient usage. Any questions?"

  A younger boy with dirty blond hair raised his hand. "Umm," He muttered timidly, "How did you figure Od out in the first place? I-I mean, how was the first time you used it?"

  "I figured it out while killing a small dragon." The boy recoiled, eyes wide as saucers.

  What?, he thought, what did I say that was so…

  His eyes went to the screen above the kid’s head.

  Dragon Hearted Human

  Marcus Campbell

  LV:11

  Shit.

  "No, no,no," He said, hands fluttering with every 'no' "I really did figure it out while hunting a dragon. I was about your age, or a year or two younger. It was winter and and a party of 8, me and Mr. Anderson included, had been deployed to hunt a feral wyvern the size of a horse that had been spotted at the Olympic National Park. We split up to look for it, and I found it. Well, rather, it found me," he recollected. The boy’s eyes were fixed on him. " At one point in the fight, that thing hit me in the chest with its tail, taking my breath and sending me skittering through the snow until I hit a tree. While that thing was approaching and I was trying to regain my breath, sword somehow still in my hand, something… changed."

  "Changed?" Asked Marcus, drawn into the story. "How so?"

  "It was as if everything in the world became clearer; the definition of reality itself increased. And then, when that thing was looming right over me, magic around it so thick even I could feel it, I took a breath. A breath so deep and refreshing that any before it felt like wheezing. I brought my sword, so useless before that beast’s scaly hind just before, towards its face and, in a blast of tar-black blood, right through it. That was the first time I ever used Pneuma, and I've spent the last three years developing it, and any skill that would help me use it, until the point you see now."

  "Wow…" Marcus uttered, amazement clear in his face, eyes once again wide, " You think anyone can reach that level?"

  Anyone, Kurt thought. Could anyone reach this level that had been so gruelling for him to attain?

  ‘If someone like you could attain this strength through Pneuma, then…’

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "Maybe, if you try hard enough," he said sourly, unsincerely.

  Marcus, not catching this, began smiling in delight and anticipation.

  And then Kurt kept talking. " It’s all the anatomy you’ll have to memorize that's gonna be the problem. Now that will feel like hell."

  "Anatomy?" Marcus said, smile frozen.

  "Memorizing?" Someone from the class asked.

  "We are gonna have to study?! I thought this was a combat class!" Yet another one exclaimed.

  Kurt turned to look at the group, expression slightly indignant. "Well, yes! You guys thought you could just put Od in your arms and go around throwing cars?" The faces in the small crowd told him that yes, yes, they had "You need to have at least a grasp of each bone, muscle group, and major vital organ in your body if you want to use Od effectively. If you simply pool Od in your hand and forearms your punches aren’t gonna be faster nor stronger, you will just have a very strong grip which, while helpful at throwing punches, isn’t what you guys want, right?" They groaned in approval.

  "Great! I hope you guys enjoy this class." He said, " Because it’s going to be the last easy part about mastering Pneuma."

  He took a breath, letting his dry mouth rest for a second, and then he continued.

  "There are two ways to use your Od: Cycling and Flaring. Cycling is when you pool it in a certain organ or section of your body to increase its vitality and functionality to superhuman levels. For example, cycling Od through your eyes can make your sight better beyond human levels, same with your eardrums and hearing. Or you could cycle it through your nerves to increase your reflexes."

  "Do we also have to memorize every nerve of the body?" Asked Marcus, seeming nervous at the prospect.

  "Only the main ones," Kurt answered."You know optic, sciatic, ulnar, the spine, of course… But not every last one, that’s impossible."

  "And second," he continued, stretching his arms outwards, flares shining brighter," is Flaring, where you shoot Od from your body in the form of these white flames you see, which endows whatever body part you’re using it through with resilience and power…" He threw a quick jab, too fast for any of the onlookers to perceive. A sound like a gunshot was heard. "… beyond human capacity. It does, whoever, consume stamina faster than cycling and strains the body on top of it, even to the point of being self-damaging. Any questions?"

  The crowd remained speechless.

  "… How difficult is it for you to punch like that? " Someone finally said. "Like, how many of those can you throw before you can't anymore?"

  Kurt turned to his side, the crowd now to his left. "At the beginning?" He lowered his posture. Hands at each side of the hips. Feet planted firmly. "Very difficult, and as a result, very few. After three years of training, though?" He twisted his hips and threw his right fist forward, left foot sinking slightly into the ground. This punch was slower than the last one, but heavier and stronger. A cloud of dust and wind as tall as himself exploded upwards, trying to fill the vacuum created. "It isn’t excessively more tiring than a regular punch." Hips twisted. Left fist blasted forward. "Puts a good deal more stress on the body, though." Another right. Another dust cloud. "That’s why control and knowing your muscles and bones' capacity is important." Left fist in position. Od-flares intensified across his legs, hips, back, and arms. "But so long as you keep tabs on that…"

  For repeatedly straining your body without harming it, your strength has increased.

  STR 12-->13

  What? No, no way…

  "Mr. Kurt?" called Marcus. "Are you feeling well? Why did you stop?"

  "Nothing, Marcus, just… remembered something. " Kurt stood back up, last punch left unthrown. "Okay, everyone! Let’s get to the practical part."

  He reached for his bag, procuring from it a long, thin cylinder made of bronze, with a small, silvery crank on one end. His expression soured briefly, and he tried not to look at it until after he had placed it on the ground.

  "The reason," He started explaining " that breath is necessary to rouse your Od, at least in the first two stages, is because of just what breathing entails: The injection of foreign matter and energy within the body with each inhalation, and the rapid expulsion of the major part of it with each exhalation" He walked right in front of the group and placed the canister in the ground.

  "The same thing happens at a magical level," He continued, " The energy of your body, your Od, rejects the magic energy in the air before it can go from your lungs to your bloodstream, pooling in the diaphragm afterwards. Those who are able to feel this process may then direct that energy to other parts of the body, reaching thus the first stage of Od control."

  Kneeling in front of the canister, Kurt reached his hand for a small, ornamented protusion at the center of the crank, grabbing it between two fingers before extracting it. The crank began to spin slowly, and both it and the canister began glowing a deep red.

  "Okay, everyone! Form a circle around this!" He ordered, stepping back, " This artifact was… crafted by Mr. Anderson for this class. It will charge the air around it with magic so that the rejection effect in your lungs will be more pronounced, and thus easier for you to perceive and get a hold of. Any questions?"

  One member of the crowd, an African American boy about his age, raised a hand, "Wait." He said, "So… that’s everything it takes? Breathing some magically rich air? If so, how come no one else in here has gotten it yet, with how much magic is flying around?"

  Orunmila’s Apostle

  Jason Adebayo

  LV:14

  "Great question," Kurt answered. "I believe that there are multiple conditions for the first stage to be achieved: A healthy body, so that lifeforce is abundant. Maximum concentration on one’s lungs and breath, for obvious reasons. And finally, breathing in a considerably larger amount of magical energy than the body is used to, in order to ensure your Od will reject it in a way you can feel. I believe getting the second condition while under the last one is the key to Pneuma being so rare, which is why we are fulfilling it under controlled circumstances." He pointed at the glowing canister. "You guys are to stand around it, working on your abdominal breathing. You all know how that one goes?" Everyone nodded. "Good, you guys do that. I will be doing some training of my own in the meantime. Anyone got a question you come ask me, okay? Everything clear?" Again, they all nodded. "Good."

  As the group got around following his instructions, he walked to the other end of the small terrain they were occupying, lost in thought.

  That screen, he pondered, if what that screen said was true, does that mean I got stronger just throwing a couple of punches? That doesn’t feel right.

  He looked at his hand. He didn't feel any stronger. Still…

  He had to test this. With Od flaring all over his body, Kurt Celik began his training.