(Within the underground laboratory, Riven’s POV)
Meanwhile, as the Hypnotist continued to work on Riven’s mind, the Imperial Anatomist continued to work on his body, as Riven was put under intense training to relearn his new form.
To begin with, the Imperial Anatomist assigned him surprisingly mundane tasks, such as separating individual grains of rice from within a large tub of sand using nothing more than a pair of chopsticks.
Or stacking tiny copper coins into perfectly balanced towers, and lifting fragile crystal vials without allowing even the slightest crack to appear upon their surface, as every exercise focused upon rebuilding the fine muscle coordination that his reconstructed hands demanded.
As although the exercises were laughably simple for most adults, for Riven who was re-learning the strength of his own body, they proved to be a nightmare, as his fingers constantly applied either too much force or too little, causing him to crush delicate objects one moment before dropping them the next.
However, fortunately for him, the improvement came quickly.
By the fourth day, he already found himself instinctively judging how much strength to apply before his fingers even made contact with an object, as movements that had required complete concentration only days earlier gradually became second nature.
"Good."
The Imperial Anatomist remarked one evening, as Riven effortlessly separated another bowl of rice from sand.
"Your mind is finally beginning to understand the body that it inhabits..."
He commented, as he decided to increase the intensity of the exercises from the following day onwards.
"You can only catch the silver coins between your first and third fingers.
If you catch the wrong coin, you have to perform fifty push-ups.
If you catch it with the wrong fingers, it’s ten push-ups."
Karen said, as by the end of the first week, assistants had begun flicking copper, silver, and gold coins towards him from every direction, while he was expected to catch only the designated coins between specific fingers without moving his feet, all while continuing to complete increasingly delicate tasks with his free hand.
At first, he missed more coins than he caught, often recognising the correct target only after it had already flown past him.
However, by the time that week came to an end, his eyes had begun recognising their trajectories almost instinctively, while his fingers reacted before he consciously realised that they had moved, making it feel, for the very first time since awakening upon the operating table, as though his reconstructed body was finally beginning to belong to him.
"Good, very good, you’re now starting to get a feel for what your body is capable of, but you are still far from its limits.
We increase the intensity of the drills going forward...."
The Imperial Anatomist commented, as the second week shifted the focus away from his hands and towards the coordination of his entire body.
Six assistants now surrounded him while holding thick wooden planks at different heights, suddenly raising one for only the briefest of moments before lowering it again, requiring Riven to instantly identify the correct target and deliver a perfectly controlled kick before the opportunity disappeared.
*THWACK*
*SHATTER*
Every successful strike gradually strengthened his confidence.
The hesitation that had once accompanied every movement slowly disappeared, replaced by a growing trust that his reconstructed muscles would faithfully execute whatever his mind demanded of them, as every passing day made him feel increasingly comfortable within the body that the Imperial Anatomist had painstakingly carved for him.
By the fourth week, the drills evolved once again.
Eight assistants surrounded him inside the laboratory before randomly launching coloured wooden balls, blunt knives, leather sacks, and colored coins towards him from hidden positions throughout the chamber, with every colour demanding a completely different response, whether that meant catching it, deflecting it, dodging it, or deliberately allowing it to pass untouched.
Initially, Riven’s mind struggled to keep pace.
His body was fast enough.
His reflexes were sharp enough.
Yet his thoughts still required precious moments to recognise each colour before deciding how to respond.
Gradually, however, those moments disappeared.
His decisions became instinctive and immediate, as the gap between thought and movement steadily shrank until they eventually felt like one and the same.
"Good, very good, you’re catching on.
But now let’s see just how far can we take this?"
The Imperial Anatomist commented, as by the sixth week, every previous exercise had been combined into a single relentless circuit.
He was expected to separate grains of rice, catch designated coins, kick moving targets, regulate the immense strength within his reconstructed body while handling fragile objects, and react flawlessly to incoming projectiles without making a single mistake, as a single lapse in concentration forced him to begin the entire sequence again from the very beginning, and perform a hundred penalty pushups.
It was exhausting.
It was frustrating.
Yet unlike the agony of the previous two and a half years, this pain carried with it a deep sense of satisfaction.
Every completed circuit reminded Riven that he was now in command of a body that most others could only dream of.
While his command over it only grew increasingly precise, until at the end of the six weeks, he no longer felt as though he was living inside someone else’s body.
Every muscle within him now responded exactly as he expected it to, while every movement flowed naturally, as he finally felt as though his mind and body had become one.
—----------
"Young Master, we still have seven more days until your father, the Duke, comes to visit you here....
And it is our humble request that you break through to the Ember rank before his arrival, as only then can we finally begin reversing your body’s Aether over-stimulation before it becomes a permanent condition."
The Imperial Anatomist requested, as according to the Hypnotist’s directions, everyone within the laboratory, including the Anatomist himself, had addressed Riven as the Young Master for the past two months.
"How exactly does one break through to the Ember rank?
Forgive my lack of common knowledge, Doctor, but I have never received the education necessary to properly understand Ascension.
Also, what exactly do you mean when you say my body has suffered from Aether over-stimulation?"
Riven asked, as the Imperial Anatomist respectfully lowered his head before replying.
"Breaking through to the Ember rank is, in truth, a rather straightforward process, Young Master.
Before a mortal can step into the path of Ascension, the body must first be capable of enduring the expansion of its Soul Vessel.
For ordinary people, reaching that stage often requires years of training, however, your body surpassed that requirement nearly two years ago, making the breakthrough itself little more than a formality with the assistance of the proper breakthrough medicine and an experienced guide.
As for your Aether over-stimulation problem though, the explanation I am afraid is not that simple.
Unfortunately, as a result of us having flooded your body with vast quantities of external Aether over the past two and a half years, in order to maximise every aspect of your reconstruction, we have now arrived at a situation where your body has mutated adversely to those unnatural levels of stimulation.
As things stand today, if I were to infuse one thousand units of Aether into your body, barely half of it would be absorbed, while the remainder would simply dissipate without producing any meaningful effect.
And we are worried that should this behaviour continue for much longer, your body’s tolerance towards Aether will only continue to increase, making every future breakthrough to a higher tier of strength increasingly difficult for you.
And it is our belief that the only reliable method of resetting that tolerance is to break through to the next rank, allowing your Soul Vessel to expand and your body’s natural capacity for absorbing Aether to increase alongside it.
That, Young Master, is why we are urging you not to delay,"
The Imperial Anatomist explained, as he maintained the same respectful and subservient tone throughout his answer.
"I see..."
Riven murmured while nodding thoughtfully, as though carefully considering every word that had just been spoken.
"Well, it is indeed quite unfortunate that you have managed to mess up my body badly enough that I now need to break through in a hurry just to salvage the situation.
However, I suppose it is what it is. Complaining about it now will neither undo the damage nor improve my circumstances....."
"Very well, make the necessary preparations for my breakthrough and arrange a meeting with the expert within the coming days.
Once I have remedied this situation, I shall begin preparing myself for my meeting with Father."
He instructed, as the Imperial Anatomist immediately lowered himself into a respectful bow.
"Thank you for your understanding, Young Master.
Despite our shortcomings, you have chosen to pardon our mistakes instead of condemning them.
Your magnanimity is truly befitting of a noble born within House Dawnriver, and this old servant shall forever remain grateful for your boundless benevolence," the Imperial Anatomist replied, as he lowered his head even further, not daring to meet Riven’s eyes.
Watching the elderly man bow so deeply before him, Riven simply gave a small nod, before quietly dismissing him with a wave of his hand.
As the Imperial Anatomist accepted the gesture without another word, slowly backing away before leaving the room to begin making the necessary arrangements for Riven’s long-awaited breakthrough.