Harmony: Harmony Book 1, page 10
And if her face would make a movie star green with envy, her body would do even worse with a porn star. Having seen her in more revealing clothes before, the pajamas she was wearing at the moment couldn’t stop Nate from imagining the body that was hidden underneath. Since he first met her, she had always been in shape, but she was never really muscular, having a more slender and graceful appearance. With an hourglass figure, she had wide, perky breasts and a tight, perfectly round ass that Nate would do anything for a chance to squeeze and had always been the envy of Gwen.
Not that Nate could really judge the younger fairy, as he also thought genetics had been unfair to her. Having seen Gwen naked countless times, he knew the girl was almost completely flat, with only small bumps on her butt and boobs to indicate they existed. Honestly, Nate always thought the only difference between her and a doll was that she clearly had nipples and a vagina. What she lacked in curves she made up for in cuteness, though, so maybe that was a fair trade.
Nate knew Gwen thought Nate didn’t find her attractive, but that was far from the truth; he just had no means to prove it. It was a pity she was just a bit bigger than his dick, as he could imagine all the fun the two of them could have had over the years.
“Well, this is certainly an interesting side effect,” Nate returned his attention to his surroundings when he heard Jess say this and chuckle. “And as you can clearly see by looking down, something is now bigger than Gwen.”
Not knowing what she meant by that, Nate looked down, and for the first time since he woke up, he realized he was as naked as the day he was born. And, to make matters worse, he wasn’t just naked, but his member was pointing at Jess, fully erect. The first thought that crossed Nate’s mind was to turn around and try to hide his member with his hands. But as soon as he did, he noticed something his subconscious had already realized and was trying to warn him about. Incredulous, Nate spent a few seconds staring at his dick without blinking, wondering what the hell had happened to it.
“I have no idea either,” Jess said, approaching him from behind, shrugging even though Nate couldn’t see her. “If you really want to know, your thing was actually significantly decreasing in size even as your body grew and developed further. The introduction of the Dungeon Core apparently had the opposite effect, causing it to grow to the size you’re seeing. If I had to guess, and considering you seem hornier than usual, I’d say the ritual messed with your reproductive organs and instincts as a way to better propagate your genes. Nothing major, in the grand scheme of things.”
“Fuck,” Nate muttered.
“Literally, in this case,” Jess chuckled.
“Can I have some privacy, please?” Nate grunted, embarrassed.
“Of course,” Jess said good-naturedly as she turned to leave the room. Unable to resist, she stopped in the doorway between the rooms and looked back with one last message before closing the door behind her. “Just don’t forget that I’ll be able to sense anything that happens here! See you soon!”
“Fuck,” Nate muttered once more, then released a defeated sigh. He really didn’t need to be reminded of that. Well, now that he was alone, all he needed to do was wait for the massive morning wood to go away so he could get dressed. With another sigh, Nate sat on the bed to wait.
Chapter 10
“This is so strange,” Nate said as he looked at a man he hardly recognized in the mirror.
Nate could still see his former self in the reflected image, but it was as if someone had used it as a base and built something that still resembled the original work but was better in every way. Which wasn’t much different from what had actually happened, he knew.
The eyes looking back at him were still blue, but their irises now literally shone with an exotic and mysterious light that could be noticed even in broad daylight. And that wasn’t the only change in the young man’s face, as looking at his features, Nate could see how much they had been perfected. He had never been an ugly man, quite the contrary as he believed he was above average, but looking at his new face, he couldn’t help but think about how much he had changed.
He could still recognize himself in his features, but they seemed to have been carved by the hands of a talented artist. The bone structure of his face itself had been altered, giving him a completely symmetrical face, with slightly accentuated cheekbones and a firm, defined chin. As if that wasn’t enough, all the small imperfections his old face had possessed had vanished without a trace.
Looking at the artwork his face had become, Nate couldn’t help but notice a strange contrast. His features, transformed by magic, conveyed an image of both youth and maturity. A contrast he was used to seeing in Jess’s ageless face.
Trying not to dwell too much on it and what it meant for his future, Nate continued to scrutinize his reflection for more changes. The most obvious, and the one he had noticed as soon as he laid eyes on Jess moments before, was that he had grown significantly. He couldn’t be sure without a measuring tool, but he was certain his new body reached 2 meters in height. And that was not to mention all the muscle mass he had gained. He had always been in shape, training in different forms of combat since he was 12 and later complementing that with his regular visits to the gym, but as he admired his muscles, the images that came to his mind were those of statues of ancient demigods.
Shaking his head, Nate finally stopped admiring his reflection and began to dress in some clothes he thankfully had left in that bedroom of the cottage. Thus, after a much longer time than Nate would have liked to have wasted, he walked out the door and came upon Jess sitting in an armchair with a paper bag on her lap and eating a croissant. He was about to ask where she had gotten that when his stomach decided to make itself noticed.
Upon hearing Nate’s stomach growl loudly, Jess chuckled and pointed to a second paper bag that the young man had not yet noticed next to a cup with steaming liquid. With a sheepish smile, Nate walked over to the bag on the wooden table and opened it, finding it full of more croissants.
“Damn, I’m famished,” Nate said after grabbing his breakfast and heading to the couch.
“I figured, so I made a stop in France while you were busy admiring yourself in the mirror,” Jess said as if she were talking about stopping by a bakery on the corner, not on another continent. “Honestly, for a second there, I thought you had fallen in love with yourself. If you decide to choose a new name now that you have a new body, I think Narcissus would be a good choice. Just be careful when you get near rivers and other water bodies.”
“Did you remember to hide your wings this time, at least?” Nate asked, deciding to ignore the woman’s teasing.
“Nope,” Jess shrugged. She didn’t see a real reason to bother, after all. Not only did she not care in the slightest that most humans on the planet had no idea that magic and other sentient races existed, but she also knew that the little humans didn’t believe she was really a fairy, but rather a woman in costume. That would certainly be different if she showed up in public flying, but she also had no interest in intentionally destroying the fragile veil that hid magic on Earth. Not that this veil would continue to exist for much longer.
For his part, Nate also just shrugged. The reason he always asked her to hide her wings when in public with him wasn’t because he wanted to preserve the secret of magic’s existence, but because he didn’t want her to attract too much attention, as someone might end up discovering their connection. After all, nobody cared what the crippled exile from the Magnus family was doing, but that would change if it were discovered that he and Jess not only knew each other but were close enough to be seen together in public, like at a market, a restaurant, or a mall.
“Hey Jess,” Nate said with a sigh as he sat down. “About the ritual...”
“Yes?” Jess asked when Nate didn’t finish his sentence.
“Thank you for knocking me out,” Nate thanked sincerely. “I know our agreement said I had to endure the ritual, but...”
“I lied,” Jess said, shrugging. “I was just testing if you had the conviction and determination necessary. By this point, I expect you’ve realized that I wouldn’t make you suffer like that for no reason.”
“Still, thank you,” Nate thanked again, smiling at her. “But then, what happened while I was unconscious? Did the ritual work as well as we hoped?”
“Better than expected, actually,” Jess said to the man. “I’ll show you.”
Instead of simply using her words to tell Nate the details of what had happened, the fairy decided to use her magic. Thus, the young man’s vision changed between one blink and the next. In one instant, he was looking at Jess sitting comfortably in the armchair, while in the next, he was looking at a man lying on the floor.
Immediately, Nate realized that the fairy was making him watch the events of two nights before through her eyes. She had done this a few times before, and like all those times, he couldn’t help but notice how different her view of the world was from his. He was almost certain she was filtering what he saw, but even if he ignored the fact that he could see the mana of the ritual, there was still a noticeable difference. She simply seemed to see the world in such high definition that his brain even had difficulty comprehending it.
Seeing himself being destroyed and rebuilt over and over again was definitely one of the strangest situations he had been through, but there was something about the situation that made it seem more like a movie he was watching than something that actually happened to him. Thus, the young man was able to keep his nerves while watching something that could have been the worst experience of his life. Seeing that, he had no doubt that Jess was right about how his mind would break if he had experienced it.
“Wait, are those mana veins?” Nate exclaimed incredulously, unable to believe what he was seeing and thinking maybe Jess was pulling a prank on him.
“Yes,” Jess replied. “Just one of the welcome surprises. We’ll talk about it after you finish your breakfast.”
Nate didn’t understand how this could be possible, but he nodded and continued to watch the scenes that appeared in front of him in fast forward. When the ritual finally ended, his vision returned to normal, and he was able to once again observe the area around him.
When his stomach growled once again, Nate set aside his thoughts about the ritual for the moment and reached into the paper bag on his lap, pulling out a croissant. His hunger had only increased since he first saw Jess eating, and at this point, he felt as if there was a black hole in his stomach. Taking a generous bite of his breakfast, the young man closed his eyes and let out a sound of pleasure as he savored the flavor. He didn’t know which bakery in France his friend had bought it from, but that establishment had just become his favorite place! He was so hungry, and the food was so good, that he could barely wait to take a second bite. Something strange happened, however, when that bite found only air.
Opening his eyes, confused, Nate looked at his hand and only then realized it wasn’t holding anything. He looked down for the missing croissant, thinking maybe he had dropped it, but he couldn’t see it anywhere. With a sigh, he began to suspect Jess was playing a prank on him. However, when he looked at his friend, he found her staring at him with an incredulous expression on her face, as if she had seen something she couldn’t believe.
“Eat another one,” Jess suddenly said.
“What?” Nate asked, not understanding why she was reacting like this.
“Eat another croissant,” Jess repeated, this time more like an order than a request.
Shrugging, Nate complied with the order since he planned to do it anyway. And because he wasn’t stupid, he knew this had something to do with why his croissant had disappeared. After grabbing a second croissant from the plate, Nate brought it to his mouth and took a bite, then a second, and a third. He was so hungry that before he knew it, he had finished the food and was about to grab a third croissant.
“Wait,” with a furrowed brow, Jess said as she raised the hand that wasn’t holding her own breakfast. “Eat with your eyes closed.”
Knowing she wasn’t asking for no reason, as he could see how serious she was about it, Nate nodded, closed his eyes, and brought the croissant to his mouth. Not that it was a sacrifice, since he strangely found himself even hungrier than when he had started eating. He was so hungry that all he could think about was consuming those croissants and then going after the canned foods he stored there for emergencies. He wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of canned food, but the way he was, he was sure he would eat even a stone if he could sprinkle some salt on it.
With his mouth watering in anticipation of the next bite, Nate’s teeth unfortunately once again found only air where the delicious croissant should have been. Opening his eyes annoyed, Nate looked at his empty hand before turning his attention back to the older fairy, awaiting a response. A response that took a while to come, as Jess was also just staring at Nate without saying anything.
“So,” Nate began when he lost patience. “Are you going to tell me why my food is disappearing? And I swear if it’s another one of your friends playing a trick on me...”
“Your food isn’t disappearing,” Jess said, shaking her head. “You are, well, eating it. In a way.”
“I clearly am not,” Nate said discontentedly, looking into the paper bag only to find it empty. “If I were, I wouldn’t be so hungry.”
“I think I know what’s going on,” Jess said as she got up from the armchair.
The fairy quickly crossed the space between them and sat down next to Nate on the couch. Before the man could ask her to explain her theories, Jess had conjured a mana core out of nowhere, placing it in his hands shortly after.
“Close your eyes,” Jess said as she stared at the core in her friend’s hand. With a defeated sigh, Nate decided not to go against her request, as he knew his best chance of eating something other than canned food was to do everything she commanded. When he finally did, Jess placed a hand on his shoulder as she continued to speak. “Now I need you to think about how hungry you are. Think about how much you wanted to eat those croissants, and what you would be eating now if you could choose anything in the world. Think about all your favorite foods and,” Jess paused briefly before continuing. “well, this is interesting.”
Nate, who until she made that sudden pause had been following her instructions to the letter, felt extremely surprised when he felt a strange sensation, almost as if something warm had entered through his hand and then traveled all the way to his stomach. Even stranger, Nate felt his hunger decrease almost immediately. He was still hungry, but he no longer felt like there was something digging a hole in his stomach.
“What the hell just happened?” Nate asked as he opened his eyes and found his hand as empty as when he was eating the croissants.
“You know how we thought the ritual would make the dungeon core fragment function as a superior version of a mana core?” Jess asked neutrally.
“Yes?” Nate replied, unsure of where she was going with this. They had theorized that having a mana core created from a dungeon core would not only give Nate access to more mana than usual, but would also make his core have the same ability to filter mana as dungeon cores did. Theoretically, Nate’s core should be able to transform pure mana into any other type of mana, and vice versa, without ever being changed to better reflect that type of mana, although they would certainly do tests to confirm this. The last thing he wanted was to use too much fire mana and end up making it much harder to use any other type.
“Well,” the fairy said, shrugging. “We might be a little off about that. Apparently, your core has inherited some other characteristics from dungeon cores. Like what you just did. You were really hungry, weren’t you?”
“Yes,” Nate nodded his head as his eyes widened in surprise, finally being able to understand where she was going with this explanation.
“As you know, dungeons are able to transform matter into energy, and vice versa,” Jess said. “Most of your hunger probably stemmed from the fact that your core was practically empty of mana, and that was the way your body reacted to it. By focusing on that ‘hunger,’ you instinctively turned the croissants, and the Tier 1 mana core, into mana that you absorbed to fill your own core. I was able to see the process, so I’m certain of it.”
“Do you think that’s the only unexpected ability I’ve gained?” Nate asked, his heart racing and his mind flying between a thousand possibilities.
“Well, there’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?” Jess replied with an excited smile on her face that was surely mirrored by one of Nate’s.
Chapter 11
“Are you sure about this?” Nate asked as he looked at the Tier 1 mana core in his hand. “This kinda feels like a waste of resources.”
“Either way, you need to fill your core with mana before we continue,” Jess said, letting herself fall onto the grass in front of him. Nate tried not to notice how her breasts bounced with the sudden movement, but he completely failed not to stare. Fortunately, although Jess had certainly noticed where his attention was focused, she decided not to comment on it. “This way, we won’t spend the whole day sitting here on the ground while I teach you to consciously absorb mana from the environment.”
“Wait a moment,” the man said, raising the hand that wasn’t holding the mana core. “Why was my core empty when I woke up? Shouldn’t my new body be automatically absorbing mana?”
“And it is,” Jess affirmed with a nod, leaving Nate even more confused. Thankfully, she continued with the explanation before he could ask for it. “What you must understand is that your new body is much more magical than we expected. And I’m not just talking about you having a high affinity for mana, as it was expected, but rather that you’ve ceased to be a mortal and become a true magical being. For all intents and purposes, there’s not much difference between you and a Tier 1 Fae.”
