BAAM Chapter 5: The Hermit (Patreon)

                                 ~Hermit~

-{contemplation, search for self, self-reflection}-

Turns out training Hamon is a lot like cultivation from Wuxia novels.

You sit in a lotus position for hours on end while keeping your breathing style in a specific way and chanelling your internal energy through your body.

Yep, that's pretty much cultivation.

Hopefully my ego doesn't inflate like a balloon and I end up like those arrogant young masters from cultivation novels.

Anyway, onto Hamon.

Hamon. I discovered acts sort of like magnetism.

Gather enough of it and it acts like lightning. It can push and pull, sort off, it can also be used to basically glue organic objects together like magnets.

After all it's called ripple because it causes ripples on whatever it touches right?

The ripples it causes on water surfaces resembles magnetism waves for a reason.

Hamon passing through objects is like electricity passing through a machine to an extent.

Running Hamon which is life energy through an organism can basically put them into "Overdrive".

I managed to test this by holding a dying flower in my hand while using Hamon. Why did I have a plant? Because apparently I wanted a plant in my room but was too busy doing whatever to care for it.

And after running my Hamon through it I was surprised and gleeful at the fact that the dying plant within a dozen seconds started looking healthy and even sprouting flowers again.

But my excitement somewhat interfered with my breathing which made my Hamon less effective.

Hamon breathing isn't easy. You have to take very specific breaths and a steady pace. And I must say training Hamon is a workout and a half and your lungs.

I had made a training method for myself. Which consisted of staying seated in a lotus position and doing Hamon breathing while trying to channel as much Hamon through my body as I can.

It is exhausting. Turns out running Hamon through your entire body is like a full-body exercise. Pros, is that I will be fucking jacked sooner than later thanks to my Hamon breathing.

Cons. I am fucking tired.

I have been training my Hamon vigorously for a few days now, and I must say this thing is the bomb.

Just a few days of Hamon training and my body has like I have been working out every single day for a month or two. The mansion staff were a bit confused and intimidated at the sheer speed I went through food but they don't get paid out of my inheritance to stand around being confused.

My body is strong and my energy is high. And apparently training my hamon is enough to generate points. Not too many mind you. 28 to be exact.

Yeah that Destructive Power upgrade seems awfully distant. I am pretty sure I can gain points from killing things but you know...

It's fate, not much to kill here.

Even if I decide to go lord death of murder mountain and start killing innocent people en masse that sounds like a brilliant way to summon some counter guardians to your location.

I am not picking that fight thank you.

Maybe dead apostles?

...I don't even know where to start with finding them.

So do I just do closed cultivation for several years and come out a Hamon demigod with a measly 3,000 points?

...Well, there is one thing I can do. I have been avoiding it because I am a bit afraid of what might if I do it but...

Fuck it, I am getting nowhere by being this indecisive.

Alright. I'm going to use it.

I am going to give the biggest fuck you to science ever. I am going to go under my bedsheets to perform interdimensional movement and travel the multiverse.

my heart feels like it's about to burst. Just a few days ago, I was just like your average guy, paying his taxes one leg at a time.

And now, I had a system(?) A punch ghost dressed as [appearance] with the ability to do inter-dimensional travel. And can harness the power of the sun by breathing.

I can't keep avoiding it. This is one of the most powerful tools in existence, access to sn infinite amount of dimensions. Not using it is like having a trillion dollars and choosing to be homeless.

But first I need some precautions, first I lifted my bedsheed and tied it around myself like a cape. While I am not really a cape guy, a cape is basically mandatory with D4C for easy access to inter-dimensional travel.

With a steak knife in my backpack just in case something goes horribly wrong I threw another bedsheet over me and activated D4C.

'Holy shit.'

It felt like instead of a bedsheet falling over me it felt like I went through an open door instead. Right now everything was dark but I had a feeling that I could open a door.

And so I did, opening the door and stepping through it.

...

Branch World #1

A bedsheet appeared on the floor of the identical house. On the exact same spot, Dio had placed it. And suddenly the sheet was pushed up and Dio climbed out from under it.

Wow. Okay, this is fine. This is certainly an alternate universe considering the bedsheet is still in place. This really was an alternate universe.

I picked up the blanked from the floor and brought it with me just in case I needed to throw it over myself to escape.

Now, not knowing what exactly to do I just decided to head to the kitchen where the smell came from. And once I came into the kitchen I was face to face with me holding a sandwich.

We both froze up. Dio #2 hadn't even touched his sandwich.

I was beginning to feel that this was awkward before I realized it.

We are connected?

Yes, I felt a connection between both of us, like the one I have with my stand D4C. In fact, the connection was almost the exact same. With a simple thought, I made him flip me off. Yep, that's a stand connection but why?

Checking the abilities tab of D4C I found a new entry.

⟨Paralel Singularity Existence [X]⟩

As you exist as a singularity while at the same time possessing an infinite amount of yourself. And of your other selves are connected to you as you are the "Root" and they are "Branches".

I guess you could compare them to Warcraft 3 characters. I can order them to do anything and they will and if I leave them alone they will get back to what they would be doing.

And I am sure D4C didn't work like this. From my knowledge, Valentine had a tacit understanding with his Branch selves and had them help him because they knew he was the root and they were the branch.

But this works even better for me. With this, I basically have a different version of Shadow Clone jutsu. The other selves may not have my stands but they still act with the same intelligence as me without the individuality.

Regardless my curiosity has been satisfied. Now how do I exploit this ability for my benefit?

I could freely use parallel universes as training grounds, places to figure out secrets and steal from them. After all branch worlds aren't really real and there isn't anyone capable of dimension travel across parallel words.

Except the old vampire troll who I am 99% sure knows I exist already. You can't just have the ability to control parallel worlds and not notice someone strolling between them.

Anyway, I can exploit parallel worlds like this.

I grabbed the sandwich my [Parallel Self] had his servants make and took a bite out of it. It was quite good, a well-made chicken sandwich with mayo, lettuce and tomatoes.

...For some, I could imagine a singular tear rolling down my alternate selves face as I took a bite out of it but that vanished when I blinked. Strange, but I don't think that was particularly important.

Hmm, I could bring my other self along with me to the root world but that opens too many cans of worms. What if the Root or whatever freaks out at the fact that 2 of the exact same people are coexisting at the same time?

Besides, it's not like I would have any use for my alternate self at the moment either. And I don't have enough points to upgrade my interdimensional travel either which costs a whopping 1,000 points too. So my access to parallel worlds is not too useful at the moment.

At my current level, my Dimensional Travel is rather limited. For example, I can only go to parallel universes that are almost identical to the root universe. So I can't really throw a bedsheet over myself and go from Unlimited Blade Works to Prisma Illya just yet.

Next, I can't bring over identical items to a world that has the same item. For example, I can't take Pen A from this world and take it to another world with a Pen A. Very frustrating. I need to find more ways to earn points to remove the restrictions of my ability so that I can fully show its might.

Maybe hunting stray magi could work? The Clocktower should probably have a list of magi that need eliminating that they couldn't be bothered to eliminate themselves. Worst case I can go to an active battlefield and kill people there to increase my FP, that shouldn't piss off Alaya that much right?

I wonder how I trigger tasks exactly though. I still haven't gotten a single one. Well, I can figure that out later. I should return to my [Root World] and resume my hamon training.

I untied my blanket cape and threw it over myself with the intention of returning to my root world and went through the same motions again, opening a door to my original world.

But as I lifted the blanket from the ground and crawled out from under my heart almost stopped.

Because on top of the bed was a wooden box that definitely wasn't there before.

A/N: Multiversal parallel world shenanigans unlocked. I wonder what mysterious figure could have left such a package behind for Dio to discover? Truly an enigma.

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