What the fuck. I took a step forward. They looked like chromium.
"And then act like I don't know nobody." I imitated a dude from a video from years ago, and the image was hilarious. Though they were not diamond, it was still funny.
Though I was actively trying not to look, my eyes were next. Though fascinating, they were not something that overly shocked me. If my skin was a glowing gold, my hair a dull gold, my eyes were the color of molten gold. My pupils were strangely crossed horizontally by my iris. It was weird, but didn't impair my vision.
"Quite pretty." I whispered. I took my clothes off and admired my new body, keeping the underwear on.
Contrary to what I thought would happen, my skin was uniform in its golden hue, veins and arteries noticeable here and there along with muscles underneath. The nature of my skin left me guessing at their color, perhaps too thick or the color too rich. I hope I never see my blood.
I made an angry face and I noticed the line in my eyes turning into an X. Weird, but acceptable.
Truth be told, it was mostly the same face I had before with slight adjustments and a higher quality of beauty. Sharper eyes, better skin and finer features.
I turned my head to the side and noticed sharp ears. Though not long as Lapia's, they had a pointy end. My tongue was longer, easily reaching the underside of my chin. It too, was golden. Compared to running water, a mirror showed way more details.
I moved my top aside and saw light golden nipples. Figures. I chuckled.
I held my breasts and pushed them up, not feeling a difference in weight. I supported them with an arm and with the other held my chin, smiling seductively. Pretty effective. Gonna take a while to get used, I might turn into a narcissist.
I took a long look at the reflection. Broad shoulders, strong arms, medium sized breasts, sculpted abs, a tight muscled waist and wide hips with a meaty bottom followed by thick toned thighs. Pretty hot. I agreed with Lapia. I imagined my body would have looked like this if I went to the gym when I was a teenager.
I looked at my hands and examined my digits. My fingernails were a far cry from Elven claws, though looked like they would rend skin and flesh nonetheless. Half the length of Lapia's, they were a silvery color similar to my teeth. I looked closer and noticed my fingerprints were straight, vertical lines.
Then I looked down. The final hurdle. My penis.
I took a deep breath and took my underwear off, returning them to my storage when they came off.
There it hung in its golden glory. I gently grabbed it and raised it, checking underneath. No testicles. I felt myself release a breath of relief I did not register I was holding. There was no pubic hair either. The only noticeable details were the veins under my skin. I could not hold the entire thing with my hand, and my fingers barely closed around it. I felt a shudder run down my spine to the pit of my stomach. I had experienced one of these monsters a few times in the past.
Moving past glorious memories, I began slowly pulling back. The foreskin retreating and the glans coming in contact with the air sent a paralyzing shiver from my tailbone to the top of my head. I powered through. Every freed centimeter sent stronger signals to my brain. I clenched my teeth. The sensation was extremely alien. It reminded me of stimulating the clitoris, but in a much, much larger scale. My butt hole was tightened and my legs tense.
At last, I had finished the process. There, a dull golden glans connected to the end of the member. The urethra was considerably darker in shade. I sighed, the stimulation was too much.
As I finished checking that, I reached down and confirmed my vulva was just behind the penis. I checked and the mythical clitoris was there. It hadn't been replaced. That raised many questions inside my head, but I ignored them. Those were not important, really. I slowly traced a finger across my labia, checking if anything was amiss. Everything was fine under heaven.
However, I felt a pulse coming from my phallus. Slowly but surely, I was having an erection. The entire thing was beating at the rhythm of my heart, bouncing as I let it go. In but a few seconds, there stood what could be called a massive cock. A few memories made my breath quicken, and I tried to quash them.
I took deep breaths, closing my eyes and letting my mind wander into whatever it was it wanted to explore. Two minutes later, my rhythmic breathing and hands on my hips helped return my new partner back to its regular, though still large, shape.
Was that stress or tiredness? I wondered. I wasn't aroused or excited. Maybe the pulling back did that. Or all the above. I was satisfied with that conclusion.
I put the underwear back on and ran a hand through my now shrunk manhood? Pecker? Dick? I found nothing that would indicate I had one in the first place. Truly magical panties.
I turned around and flexed my back muscles.
"Hmmm." I purred at the sight of my own muscles.
I took a last look at my Halve body and summoned a regular black t-shirt, a white hoodie and gray sweatpants. I stopped and returned them. I tried wearing them directly from my storage.
The first time nothing happened. I then visualized them on me and made the mental exercise of pulling them to reality. The shirt was on, but the hoodie was backwards, the pants had only one leg in, falling to the tiled floor. I repeated the action in reverse, and they disappeared into my storage.
Five minutes went by and results were varied. Finally, I imagined myself dressing up and summoned the clothes. This time it was a complete success. Praised be E'er affinity! I raised both arms in a Y shape.
I left the bathroom and saw Lapia sitting on the table, wearing a white dress that covered both front and back. Her long legs were bare along with her arms. The piece of clothing hugging her body.
"That was fast." she said, setting a thin book aside, her eyes going over my body. "What are those?" her eyebrows raised.
"Comfy clothes." I gestured at her choice of garments. "What are those?" I asked back, sitting down at the table.
"Everyday clothes." she said reaching for my hoodie. "May I?"
"Suit yourself." I extended an arm, allowing the Elf to feel the material.
She ran a hand up my arm, grabbing the hood of the item. "Feels nice." she said leaning back looking me in the eyes and smirking.
"Beats wearing leather." I pulled the neckline. "More room to breathe." my face heated up and I looked away for a second.
"You look..." she stared at me for a few seconds. "More relaxed." she smiled.
"I do feel that way." I looked at her. "You too."
"All thanks to you." she supported her chin with a hand, elbow on the table.
We looked each other in the eye for a few minutes. "I don't really know what to say." I giggled, unconsciously pouting.
Lapia smiled. "Me neither." she sighed. "I feel really grateful, and I know that saying 'thank you' all the time is tiring. So I don't." she offered her hand across the table. "Sometimes..." I took it, her warm digits entwining with mine. "Silence and action is the best."
I nodded, relaxing on my seat and caressing her hand with my thumb.
"Is there anything you want to ask?" she said. "In terms of the world, I mean."
"What's up with the numbers I see when I read my information?" I recalled them and though I understood the growth rate, not much else was clear. Reality too different from the game I was accustomed to.
"Those are representations of your might. Strength is self explanatory, constitution shows how tough you are, intelligence is your potency when manipulating E'er, and it has nothing to do with a person's mental capacity when learning things. Wisdom represents how much E'er you have available for manipulation. Dexterity is also self explanatory." she smiled. "Growing up, people absorb E'er from their surroundings and improve their bodies. One can train the body and mind to absorb E'er in different ways. Once enough skills are learned, the 'system' labels them with a globally agreed upon term."
"What are skills, then?" I tilted my head. "Is reading and writing not a skill?"
"Not specific enough to belong to a class. Not anymore." she shook her head. "Accessibility to education increased to the point that everybody would have the same class if it was treated as such." small purple sparks flew from her finger. "I studied E'er, becoming a Wizard. Then I specialized my knowledge in Pyromancy. I first learned to manipulate E'er into thermal energy, then controlling enough of it to produce flames. Fire has many uses, and the system recognizes such skills under that class."
"Would you not be a Pyromancer if the system didn't recognize them?" I asked.
"I'd be a higher level Wizard, though specialized, becoming a High Wizard." she nodded. "Classes are founded that way, a group of people share their knowledge and the system recognizes their skills to be specific and attainable enough to be a class." she smiled. "That is an amazingly good thing. It forces the scholastic elite that prides themselves in being unique to get off their high horses." she chuckled.
"What happens to being a Wizard, is it replaced by the new class?" Reality turned fantasy was astonishing.
"Not entirely. Basic techniques remain, and the rest either transform or change into something else." she raised a finger. "Take a warrior for example." and pointed at me. "Basic training would require you to be aware of your surroundings, to exert yourself and survive combat. Techniques would be learned so that you act accordingly. Then a warrior takes up a spear and trains with it. Previous techniques would still be there, but the most important ones would transform into spear related skills, due to the warrior understanding and linking them to newly acquired knowledge." she tapped her temple. "This rules everything, the 'system' just shows you."
"How do you learn skills, then?" I got a little confused.
"Take your own example, how do you learn to read?" she smiled, then realized something. "Except Halves, you are born knowing."
I nodded. "Repetition, then."
"That's right. When you have mastered knowledge of something, you integrate it into yourself, allowing E'er expenditure, transforming it into a skill."
I thought of something. "How many classes can be obtained?"
"Well, it depends." she gave me a wry smile. "At first, your body can only hold so much E'er, so the number of skills that can be recognized are somewhat limited. At the age of ten, as you reach level ten, also, the E'er within you reacts to your knowledge, some can choose if they know too many skills that can be recognized. Then when one reaches level one hundred, E'er within you has become dense enough to allow further recognition. Then at two hundred and fifty in both classes, then five hundred in three. The rest is up to speculation."
What? Is this a cultivation world?
"What do you mean choose?" I asked, that caught my attention.
"Well, will you follow the path of a warrior, wizard, scout, archer, craftsman?" she looked at me like the answer was obvious. "Who has the time to learn it all? A wizard who exercises regularly won't gain combat classes, their time is mostly occupied with learning the Laws of E'er."
"What if some classes share some general knowledge?" A few classes from the game coming to mind. "If an archer crafts their own bows and arrows, for example." If the classes were similar, that'd be easier for me in the future.
"They'll be a Fletcher." she answered instantly. "A warrior that crafts their own armor and weapons will be a Squire. Though none like the name." she chuckled. "A wizard that does similarly will be an Enchanter." she smiled. "There's enough variety in classes to cover most niche activities, because there was a group of individuals that shared their knowledge and were recognized, receiving a name."
"I see." those classes I remembered. "What if I started studying the laws of E'er, then?" I remembered the formulas from the staff. I grimaced internally.
"You're a Halve, E'er would become second nature faster than any species. But depending on its nature, the new class wouldn't complement previous ones." she thought for a second. "Most people who go out and venture the world group with others that compensate for their weaknesses. Perculis joined with Helena and Rozaria, a healer and a warrior respectively."
"What was he?" I asked, this Perculis fellow was brought up again.
"An Archon." she said as someone knocked on the door. "Our food is here."