Why am I reasoning about all this?
To answer that question, we need to go back in time.
After my Seventh shell finished growing, a period of stabilization set in.
Yes, that’s right.
As it turned out, you can’t just start performing great magic right away.
The strain on my body was so great that it rested for a good one to two months.
All because of my desire to get more benefits.
You see, while my Seventh shell was growing, I gave it a “command” to expand both inward and outward.
Because of that, my mana channels covered every part of my body.
I suspect that not all wizards have as many mana channels as I do.
If you look at my mana channels from the outside, you’ll notice that there are main highways along which mana travels.
And from them, smaller channels branch off, reaching the “body parts” near the main channels.
That’s how it would be with a normal awakening of the Seventh shell.
But I’m “special.” I wanted more.
So I have even smaller channels growing from the “medium” channels.
If you look at them, you can immediately see that they’re brand new.
Undeveloped, small, fragile, threatening to tear under any significant pressure.
I’m going to have a lot of trouble with them.
And the first bit of “trouble” is stabilization.
You see, as I said before, the “growing” or “awakening” of the Seventh shell is stressful for the body.
And the formation of unplanned channels, channels not intended by “nature,” is twice, if not three times, as stressful.
That’s why I needed two months to stabilize.
All that time, my new mana channels were strengthening, passing both my own mana and mana from the environment through themselves.
They were coming into a “working” state.
And all that time, I didn’t train in magic.
I only read the books Lord Black had brought.
Well, I also did yoga with my mom.
You see, childbirth is a big stress on a woman’s body.
So the body needs to be put back in order.
That’s why Sara started doing yoga for prevention.
And as it happened, she still does yoga.
Why?
Because your humble servant, as soon as he was able to move around on his own, also started doing yoga.
Well, “started” is a strong word.
At first, it was just a comical parody.
Not everything works out the first time.
From the outside, it was even more comical to watch.
You don’t believe me?
Just picture it.
***
*Sara’s perspective, one year after Kael’s birth.*
A year had passed since my son’s birth.
A wonderful year.
So many feelings and emotions, Tom and I had lived through, more than I could count.
But one small problem had arisen.
My figure.
So I needed to do something.
I didn’t want Kael to be embarrassed of his mommy.
My first thought was to join a gym.
But then I’d have to leave my son with someone, which would mean spending less time with him.
And I didn’t want to leave my son with anyone.
He was my son, and I would raise him myself.
Because of that, I had to look for options for physical exercise that didn’t require leaving the house.
At first, I chose gymnastics, but after doing it for a while, I realized that wasn’t it.
After some time, I settled on yoga.
What did I know about it at the time?
Well, first, it originated in India.
Second, it was something like gymnastics, but with differences.
And that was it.
I didn’t know anything else.
Only over time did I learn many new things.
For example, yoga is not just physical development.
It’s more about harmony with yourself through physical exercise.
At first, an irrational thought popped into my head: why do I need harmony with myself?
I’m already in harmony.
But after doing yoga for a week or two, I realized how deeply wrong I was.
After yoga, I felt so light in my soul and body that words can’t describe it.
Plus, within a couple of months, I could see changes in my figure.
The very reason I started doing yoga was beginning to happen.
It was wonderful.
And the most important benefit was my son.
And there he was.
As always, in complete silence with a serious face, he came into the living room.
Together, we started warming up.
Then we moved on to the yoga itself.
For me, everything came easily, but not for Kael.
At his first attempt to sit in the lotus position, he simply fell over on his side.
It was so funny.
Imagine a small child, over and over again, with a serious face, falling over sideways, onto his back, forward onto his face.
It was an incredible sight.
But as always, Kael didn’t give up.
Time and again, he forced himself into uncomfortable positions.
He even tried to meditate.
Honestly, at first, I didn’t think he’d be able to sit still.
Where have you ever seen a child meditate?
I can’t meditate properly myself.
All I do is go over the past day or make plans for the next.
And even that took me six months to achieve.
But look.
My son did it.
And he wasn’t sleeping.
I checked.
Kael was actually meditating.
Amazing! Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
Well, enough reminiscing.
My son and I have more yoga ahead of us.
*
*
*
*Back to our protagonist.*
Yes, yoga.
It brings back memories.
My first failures, my anger at my uncontrollable body.
But those were just small minuses.
The pluses, though, were two.
But what pluses they were.
First, physical exercise.
Minimal, yes, but so necessary for my body.
Plus, with their help, I was able to learn to control my body.
Second, meditation.
You’ll agree, if you walked into a child’s room and saw a child sitting motionless, not reacting to external stimuli, it would at least alarm you, and at most, you’d immediately take them to the doctor.
I had a legal excuse.
I was doing yoga, meditating, getting to know myself.
Perfect.
And finally, the most important thing I’m leading up to by talking about heredity, predisposition, gifts, and so on.
My gift: Metamorphmagus.
I discovered it during yoga, about a week after stabilization.
I was just sitting in a meditative pose, and my hair started bothering me.
It had grown quite long by that point and kept trying to get into my nose and eyes.
It was very irritating.
Because of that, I simply wished for it to be shorter.
You know, a tiny wish that comes and goes in a couple of seconds.
And it came true.
As soon as I wished it, my body responded.
My hair began to shorten to a manageable length.
The realization of what had happened left me sitting in a daze for a long time.
I’ve often asked myself a question.
Why are Metamorphmagi in the Harry Potter world so pathetic?
I’ve already talked about pink muscles.
Imagine if they replaced all their muscles.
Or take eyes, for example.
In the world, the best eyes, supposedly, belong to squids.
Their organs are so developed that they not only see more colors, but they also don’t have a blind spot.
Yes, humans have a blind spot in their vision, but squids don’t.
And that’s not all.
Their eyes can see in different spectrums.
It’s incredible.
And that’s just the minimum that came to mind.
There’s so much more.
The main thing is to prepare for it, and then act.
I don’t want to turn into some kind of unimaginable horror, do I?