With a symphony of screams calling for help and the accusatory looks of everyone in the training hall, I walked with my jian in hand to a far angle of the room. The first thing to do for achieving the [Erratic body] was to rebuilt it in a way that my innate movements wouldn't put strain on it.
That of course entailed a lot of cutting and healing in a specific way.
It was also clear that tendons and articulations were much more important than actual muscles.
What was the way to train them? Indeed, break them and heal the repeatedly. Of course in a specific way as well.
I started with my knees and ankles, they were the easiest to reach at the moment and I couldn't really give someone the task, since even the breaking and cutting needed certain angles.
Weaving illusions and casting [Pretender] to effectively disappear from everyone's sight and hearing, I started the self torturing process. I didn't miss how once healed Cael tried looking for me, I didn't even care that the teachers were a wrong decision away from coming my way.
This was the only time I could spare for this practice and by the end of the time at our palace I wanted to already have the [erratic body].
By the time Gerd and Yom's teacher called for me and Cael, fragments of broken mirrors were all scattered around me.
The phantom pain and trauma of self inflicted harm was still there, but I could also feel the effects on my legs.
I was immediately thrown in the hands of our house instructor, since he already knew my form and shit, and while Cael had a standard fight and form with Gerd, the instructor of Disorder didn't waste a moment to break both my shoulders with speed I couldn't even think of reacting.
The heirs went pale, my brother ready to jump in and diss the man, but I immediately noticed it.
A mirror broke and the instructor smiled sharply.
"Was that the right way? I noticed you were continuously remaking your articulations in specific directions…"
"YES! But the upper body is a little hard to work on, are you confident you memorised everything? Do you want me to explain it?"
The instructor was confused, this was the first time I didn't react like a normal young man after receiving a beating from him, but he soon realised I was after something and nodded.
"I don't need the whole thing, but if you tell me the correct way and body parts we can work on it together."
I started talking about specific breaking points, angular cuts and fractures, precise healing process and so on and so forth, but the more I talked, the more everyone listening was going pale.
They looked like they all were in a ghost story. Even instructor Gerd and Cael stopped their sparring match to listen to my parable.
"Lord Crow, don't think I want to disrespect you or anything, but if you proceed with your plan, you won't be able to study any martial art at all."
I looked at the instructor that held a mix of pity and worry in his eyes and just smiled.
"I'm no fool. I'm aware that my body is different from that of anyone else. My posture, my form, even my normal walk holds a slight dissonance with how people normally walk. I'm aware that I could never even compare to a beginner holding the sword for the first time if I were to practice standard martial arts."
"You could still focus on your magic and just workout."
Everyone nodded, they all wished for me to not go through with my plan.
What if during my path some changes occurred again and these damages became irreversibile? But I knew better… and I trusted my kin.
"That's simply unacceptable for the son of Duke Dionen Morvane, also… mana is not infinite. I will create my own martial art. If there is something I'm confident about is my brain."
That effectively shut up everyone, it was a well known fact that I was able to produce results in a secret project the house of disorder was studying for ages in merely a couple of weeks, if my brain was anything less than a genius, they were all just worms in the sand.
With renewed focus and enthusiasm, the instructor and I began modifying my body until my mana was just enough to keep my clones stable, after that we'd switch to all the possible basic moves I could now achieve that would be impossible for others and slowly build up muscle mass.
That's how the days kept passing. During the day I would personally go through with the body conditioning I wished to achieve while my doppelgängers were either studying or crafting mirrors I kept breaking for healing, meals kept increasing in substance and at night I would enchant the mirrors for my personal use while some of my doppelgängers, teaming with an architect were building a mirror pavilion for my meditation. Of course I knew all the details, and the project was simply unbelievable, something I couldn't even begin to think of achieving without the prowess of House Morvane.
When I first described what I was trying to do, dad asked me if it was something I could share with the others, which I didn't disagree with, but advised that it would bring about pure madness if they weren't properly prepared with a bunch of charms and artefacts.
That was also explained to the heirs during a dinner one night and everyone agreed to at least give it a try.
Only Cael was adamant in saying that if I could go without mental protection, he could as well.
He of course accepted to use some charms when I explained I had indeed personal charms and would be using them.
And finally, at night I'd dismiss the doppelgängers to assimilate all the knew knowledge accumulated during the day. Sometimes I directly passed out from the pain, but every time, without fail, I woke up with a bundle of silver hair nuzzled on my chest.
Of course I knew that Cael was developing some form of affection for me, I just didn't know the kind nor the intensity since all he did was chat about mana manipulation and how his rune evolution had brought enormous benefits for him.
I also discovered his rune evolution path and damn… the main families were really something else.
I stupidly thought that the last step for his rune would be [Storm] just like I felt that mine would be [Error].
It turned out that I was way too naïve.
The last evolution for his rune was [Sky].
When I asked about the other he flat out refused to say anything and said that I'd need to ask myself, but he doubted anyone except for Rovan and Eira would tell me.
Of course he assumed I already knew that the rune [Confusion] turned out to have [Entropy] as its last evolution and that it didn't simply affect the mental world, but even the physical world.
* "how did you expect His grace to make that filth explode so easily?" *
Those were Cael's words when I asked about my dad's status and I felt like I really dodged a death sentence with whatever reason the duke had for not killing my rude ass in the spot in various occasions.
I also tried to ask him why he kept sleeping in my room, he just said my bed was up to his standards and that he didn't have time to pack his bed when they were all moved in the estate.
Of course I didn't believe shit, but I let it slide since the feeling was good and the novelty of watching him blush every morning was entertaining beyond reason.
The days kept passing in this newfound routine, until finally two achievements were reached.
Tha mirror pavilion was completed and ready for inspection, and I finally, after all that body abuse and self harm, my [autocorrected body] passive skill evolved in [erratic body].