Harmony: Harmony Book 1, page 11
Nate received this news with wide eyes, incredulous. Of all the possible outcomes they had theorized, not even the best of them had Nate becoming a magical being. The ritual had been designed to simulate an evolution, after all, and no matter how many mutations the human body underwent, it would still be mortal. They simply hadn’t thought that the introduction of the dungeon core into the process would change that fact, as there were variations of humans on other planets with cores in their anatomy, and they were still mortal. Well, at least until they reached Tier 5, but that was another story.
“That wasn’t how I planned to tell you this, but you’re no longer human,” Jess said gently. “The ritual turned you into a new race of magical beings. Nothing really unusual in the grand scheme of things, but certainly not something I thought would happen to you.”
“Wait, if my passive mana regeneration is enough just to keep my body functioning at Tier 1, does that mean when I ascend to Tier 2, I’ll be unable to live on Earth?” Nate asked, a pang of worry in his heart. In all the plans he had made over the years, he had never really considered the possibility that he would be forced to leave the planet permanently before reaching Tier 5, since the maximum the planet seemed capable of supporting was Tier 4.
“Yes and no,” Jess replied. “While that would be true if you were relying solely on your passive mana regeneration, you can simply actively work to absorb mana from the environment. Plus, there are thousands of other ways to solve this problem, even if the Earthlings in their ignorance don’t know them. I’m here, and I’m Tier 6, did you forget?”
Nate sighed upon hearing these words, feeling a bit foolish for getting so worked up about it. And worst of all, he knew how Jess managed to spend long periods of time on Earth.
He knew that governments and supernatural factions thought she immediately left the planet after each meeting, as the ambient mana density was not enough to even supply what she spent just to live, but it wasn't the truth. What these governments and factions didn’t know, was that the Fae Emissary was able to turn solar energy into mana. The young man wondered what their reaction would be if they ever found out the truth about that.
“Stop stalling and just absorb that mana core already,” Jess said, rolling her eyes, having read Nate’s mind and knowing what he was thinking. However, she was glad he seemed to be taking the news well that he had ceased to be human. Of course, this could be because he hadn’t had time yet to truly comprehend what that meant, but she was starting to think that the man simply didn’t care if he was human or not. When Nate closed his eyes to try to absorb the mana core, Jess further stopped him from doing so, speaking again. “Do it with your eyes open, Nate.”
“I don’t know if I can,” Nate said as he stared at the core in his hands. Furrowing his brow, he tried to focus on the object in his hands. He tried everything to consume the item as he had done before, from trying to squeeze the core in his hand to filling his mind with images of the core turning to dust, but nothing he tried resulted in the desired outcome. “Do you have any ideas? I have no idea what I’m really doing.”
“You’re overthinking it,” Jess said. “You know that basic dungeon abilities are instinctive. They have to be, since dungeons only gain sentience at Tier 3. You proved it yourself when you consumed those croissants and that core while you were hungry. Don’t think, just do it.”
Nate rolled his eyes at hearing that her best advice was ‘just do it’, but he didn’t really have any better ideas. So, Nate cleared his mind of all unwanted thoughts and simply stared at the mana core. He knew he had consumed one before, so there was no reason for it to be so difficult now. With a sigh, Nate simply focused on still feeling a little hungry and tried to remember the feeling of satisfaction he had felt after consuming the other mana core. To his surprise, as soon as that feeling came to his mind, the core in his hand began to disintegrate and be absorbed by his palm.
This was the first time Nate had felt something actually happening, so he focused on understanding the quick and almost unnoticeable sensation of consuming the core, believing that this would be the key for him to do it more easily in the future. The whole process didn’t take more than a few seconds, which he thought had been longer than when he had done it before, but he couldn’t be sure of that.
“That was certainly a bit longer,” Jess commented, having read his mind. “But that can be easily explained when we consider that you were really hungry and acting completely on impulses and instincts, whereas here and now you are actively working on it. I believe this is nothing that practice and experience won’t solve.”
And Jess really made him practice, making him consume two more cores before she was satisfied. Normally Nate wouldn’t care about this, but they were using the mana cores he and Gwen had collected, and he had plans for them. Well, they had a larger stock than they would need, so Nate was trying not to get too down about it. At least the older woman had informed him that his core was finally full of mana, which brought a smile to his face. He still couldn’t feel his own core, let alone manipulate that mana that existed there, but he knew it was just a matter of time.
To Nate’s surprise, the tests on his ability to consume things like a dungeon didn’t stop there. Next, instead of giving him another mana core, she handed him a small stone she picked up from the ground. He looked at it with a raised eyebrow and a clear question in his eyes, but the fairy simply gestured for him to continue with the tests. Shrugging, Nate turned his attention to the stone and focused on remembering the sensation of consuming something that was becoming increasingly familiar.
In front of their eyes, the stone began to disintegrate and be absorbed by Nate’s palm, suffering the same fate as the mana cores. This wasn’t exactly a surprise, as he had already done the same with two croissants, but still, this was an important step. After that, Jess began handing him various objects, from grass and twigs to utensils and other small items that she seemed to pull out of nowhere, even though Nate knew she had more than one storage item that made use of spatial magic.
They discovered many important things while conducting the tests, such as the fact that the size and material of an item seemed to have a direct effect on how long Nate took to consume it. What surprised them both greatly, however, was the discovery that Nate wasn’t spending an ounce of mana when consuming these items. Or, if he was, that expenditure was compensated by the mana he was gaining from all the items he consumed, even though the mana he seemed to gain was almost insignificant even to him.
“Are you sure that was necessary?” Nate said, tears almost welling up in his eyes as he remembered the diamonds he had just been forced to consume. “Do you have any idea how much money we could have made selling those diamonds?”
“No,” Jess shrugged, causing her breasts to move in a way that immediately caught Nate’s eyes and conjured certain images in his mind. “Because I have no interest in the currencies of your little planet. And if I’m right, and I always am, you won’t have an interest in them either in a few moments.”
“What?” Nate asked confusedly.
“This might have slipped your mind because you’ve only visited Tier 1 dungeons,” Jess began. “But what’s the reason adventurers love exploring dungeons?”
“Treasure!” Nate exclaimed, his eyes widening with disbelief after a few seconds of pondering what she meant.
Jess was completely right about that. Though he hadn’t found any treasure other than mana cores in the dungeons he explored during the past week in the world of Harmony, that was indeed the big draw of dungeons for the vast majority of people. So Nate knew that dungeons weren’t just capable of creating all sorts of items they used as incentives to lure adventurers inside. Those kinds of treasures only became common from Tier 3 onward, when dungeons became smart enough to really use tactics like these. Until then, except for a few exceptions where dungeons instinctively created random items, most of the treasures found in Tier 1 and 2 dungeons were mana cores and mana crystals. Besides the dungeon core itself and anything that could be plundered from monster bodies, of course.
“Do you think I have the ability to use my mana to create items?” Nate asked, his heart racing. The ability to generate mana through consuming objects would be extremely useful, he knew, but if Jess was really right, this would be a game-changer.
“I’m sure of it after analyzing what you’re doing when you consume these items,” Jess said, staring at him seriously with her beautiful green eyes. “Even Tier 1 dungeons are capable of doing this. It’s how they create the monsters that defend them, in the end.”
Nate hadn’t actually thought about this other aspect. If he really were able to turn mana into matter, what would stop him from creating monsters in the same way a dungeon did? Nate almost got lost in thinking about the possibilities that were opening up for him, a cough from Jess made him snap back to the present.
“Before you imagine yourself as the greatest summoner that ever existed, why don’t we find out if that’s really possible?” Jess asked with a mischievous smile on her face, making Nate blush a bit as he realized the woman had seen all his fantasies. “And I don’t think I need to comment on how unethical it would be to create a perfect girlfriend. Besides, just like the creatures created by the dungeon, I doubt yours would have a soul or even sentience until you were much more powerful. By then you’d just be creating a strange sex toy,” she paused as an unusual thought popped into Nate’s mind. Jess then frowned as if annoyed and continued speaking. “And if you create a copy of me, if that’s even possible, I’ll kick your butt so hard you’ll be lucky if you land on the moon. Now, why don’t you try summoning some of the things you consumed? Remember, this should be instinctual for you, so just follow your impulses.”
Nate grunted and looked away, but he did as she requested even though he was extremely embarrassed. Jess felt a little bad seeing how genuinely remorseful the man was, but she really didn’t like that that had been his first idea when she heard her talk about ‘strange sex toys’. She knew he was a young man full of hormones, and that was before gaining a new body that apparently had taken all those hormone levels and elevated them to 100, but that didn’t mean she had to let it slide. Even with the age and power difference between them, she really liked him as one of her dearest friends, but she would draw the line at having a clone of herself being used as a sex toy. With a sigh, Jess decided to push that out of her mind and just later reiterate to her friend how important it was for him to learn to deal with the new impulses and desires before he did something he’d regret. Or worse, something he wouldn’t have the chance to regret. Any other Tier 6 would have erased him from existence for such disrespect, after all.
Nate, on the other hand, had closed his eyes to better concentrate. And to not look at Jess and find out what expression she had on her face, if he were being honest about it. He had spent some time brooding over why the hell he had even considered doing something like that, but he eventually had to expel all those thoughts and regrets from his mind and focus on the situation at hand. So, the young man decided to recreate one of the diamonds he had consumed.
He didn’t exactly know what he was doing, but something deep in his mind seemed to be catching his attention. With no other ideas, he surrendered to the strange sensation while holding the image of the diamond in his mind. Unexpectedly, the image in his mind of the diamond underwent such a natural alteration that Nate barely noticed it had happened. Instinctively, he realized that he was remembering one of the diamonds exactly as it was, with all its correct dimensions.
Nate’s mind was then flooded with knowledge and information that he could barely interpret, like its molecular structure. Although his mind wasn’t able to consciously comprehend most of this information, Nate’s instincts seemed to know what to do. And he was more than happy to let them take control.
With her sharp and attentive eyes, Jess watched as a diamond formed in Nate’s palm over a few seconds. This hadn’t been exactly a fast process, considering the size of the object, but she could see that this diamond was a perfect copy of one she had given him. Another thing she noticed, however, was that unfortunately, the amount of mana he had used to create this diamond had been significantly higher than what he had gained by consuming the original. She had hoped that the amount of mana required to create it would be exactly the same as what was gained by consuming it, but apparently, that was dreaming too big. Maybe that would change when he ascended through the Tiers, but for now, that was the reality he had to face.
“This changes things,” Nate said quietly, staring at the diamond he was holding with his fingers.
“Indeed,” Jess nodded. “All your plans need to be rethought to encompass your new abilities.”
Nate just nodded his head, lost in thought. Suddenly, in less than a day, most of his plans he had worked on for years had become obsolete. Some, like those that would be put into practice soon, could still be put into practice. Others, however, would have to be partially or completely changed to consider the extreme advantage Nate had just discovered he possessed. The biggest obstacle to these plans had been, after all, the resources that would be needed for them to be put into practice. Resources that had now become much more accessible.
“You’ll probably need to consume something in order to recreate it, if I’m right about what I saw in your mind while you created the diamond,” Jess interrupted his thoughts. “And you spent a significant amount of mana creating it, but still, you could fill the cottage with diamonds and all you would need is time.”
“Time that I have,” Nate said, still staring at the diamond without really being able to believe that he had created it. Part of him thought that Jess would start laughing at any moment and say that it had all been a prank, but he knew she wouldn’t be so cruel.
Shaking his head, Nate placed the diamond on the ground and then focused on creating another one, this time with his eyes open to observe the process. He had a bit more difficulty than the first time, but he managed to focus on the sensation of creating something from just mana, which greatly helped him to create the third diamond. And then the fourth, and the fifth.
Chapter 12
‘Did I ever tell you how much I hate meditation?’ Nate thought, knowing Jess would hear his mental voice.
‘Just about every time you’ve had to do it,’ Jess responded in his mind, even making a point to simulate a scoff.
The reason they were having a telepathic conversation wasn’t just because Nate was meditating, but because Jess had taken control of his body while teaching him to actively absorb mana around him, which he found incredibly boring. Fortunately, something that would normally take months to learn was only taking a few hours since they were shamelessly cheating.
With the Tier 6 fairy not only using his body to demonstrate an efficient method of mana absorption but also using her magic to imprint the sensations in his mind, Nate learned this technique in what should have been a record time. Jess knew she was being a bit contradictory by using this method to teach him mana absorption when she had insisted that he and Gwen should have explored dungeons with only the most basic of equipment she could provide. However, she simply didn’t have the time to teach him in the longer, traditional way, and the only other people who could teach him, his parents, used a technique that wasn’t really compatible with the new Nate. He wasn’t the same kind of mage as them, after all.
Of course, Gwen could theoretically teach him the way she did it, but as much as Jess loved her sister, she knew that her sister had certain difficulties in maintaining her concentration and focus for more than a few minutes at a time. She was sure that if Gwen took on this teaching, what should have been months of practice would turn into years. Well, maybe she was exaggerating, but she didn’t want to risk it.
So, under Jess’s guidance, Nate continued to deplete and replenish mana in his core, performing more and more tests. In the end, he discovered that he couldn’t create monsters to fight his battles. Not because it was impossible, but simply because he didn’t have enough mana in his core to create even a single Tier 1 mana core, let alone the body that should go around it. However, this was a relatively easy problem to solve. He just needed to get stronger.
“As you learned in your studies, there are countless power progression systems,” Jess explained after Nate replenished his mana on his own. He still needed a little more practice, but he was at least able to do it without her direct help. “And while at first glance they may all seem quite different from each other, you can see a shared foundation if you know where to look.”
“Yes,” Nate nodded. “That was in the study material you provided me.”
“Exactly,” Jess agreed. “So, you know that what sets a Tier 0 apart from a Tier 1 is the presence of mana. An ant with a drop of mana is a Tier 1 being, while an elephant without mana is a Tier 0 being. You may hear about other forms of energy, like essence or aether, but believe me when I tell you that’s just mana by another name. At most, it’s some specific variation resulting from the interaction between mana and the environment or the being. However, just because a world has characteristics that make only fire mana exist doesn’t mean it ceases to be mana.”
Nate nodded as he received this information, actually not knowing that. He had read some mentions of other forms of energy in his studies, so he knew they were out there, but he believed the words of the older fairy since she had no reason to lie about it. It actually made a lot of sense to him, as he knew that some supernaturals on Earth also liked to refer to mana by other names, even though that had been the official term for over a millennium.
