Down with the Thickness
Io had always struggled with her plump body, ever since she was a little girl. This world was similar to my old one during the middle ages when it came to food. A significant difference was that this world was not suffering from as much of a lack of food. This difference was thanks to magical abilities covering for the lack of fertilizer.
The similarity between old-timey Earth and this world lay in the little to no knowledge of nutritional science. Due to this lack of knowledge, the populace did not know to compensate for the lack of diet variety and seek balanced nutrition. This lack of proper nutritional health naturally led to most people being shorter than they had the genetic potential to be. It was also partly responsible for the thinness of most commoners. The other contributing factor was that the average person here lived a pretty physical life due to the lack of modern automation. Sure they were better off than the middle-ages of Earth thanks to magic. However, magical apparatuses were on the expensive side, and commoners typically had to pick and choose which conveniences they would spend their hard-earned money on.
This typical body shape was apparent all around the human-majority areas. Some non-human races, such as dwarves, were known for their stout height and thicker statures. Their density was thanks to their naturally muscled bodies, forged from millennia of digging and smithing and their higher body fat content, adapted for the cold mountain peaks and deep underground cities they inhabited. This fact was very relevant to Io, as she had stood at 145cm (4'10") roughly 5-10cm (2-4") taller than the average dwarf woman. Her diminutive height and full figure had led to a few times when dwarf men had approached her before realizing she was a human and backing off due to not wanting to incur the wrath of any of the human supremacists that were common to the Empire these days.
This romantic interest had never before extended to any human males, as most of the human populace of this world were commoners, and while food was not scarce, it was also not abundant. Because of the food situation for the average commoner, most saw anyone who was able to have any excess body fat as eating like a noble. The people were unaware of contributing factors, outside of the amount of food eaten, to a person's weight, such as genetics and diet composition.
After listening to Io explain the struggles she had faced throughout her life, she ended the story positively. She went over how the Guildmaster had interviewed and hired her on the spot. Rather than brush Io off during the interview and treat her as lazy due to her plump figure, the Guildmaster had asked Io a couple of skill-testing questions and told her to report for work the next day. I smiled as I check Io's stats.
Name: Io
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Age: 20
Class: Administrator
Level: 2
Stats
HP: 30/30
MP: 10/10
Strength: 8
Agility: 6
Stamina: 6
Intelligence: 16
Wisdom: 14
Charisma: 8
Skills
Administration (Level 3)
Education (Level 2)
Arithmetic (Level 3)
Commerce (Level 2)
Baking (Level 4)
Housekeeping (Level 3)
Yup, with those skills, I would also make sure to snap her up if I need someone to be a paper-pusher for me. This girl has a ton of future potential as a merchant (if she improves her Charisma) or a high-level bureaucrat, especially as she levels up those skills.
"I know the pain. I had a similar experience growing up." I empathized with the young girl in front of me. Feeling Io's doubting eyes run up and down my now statuesque body, I felt a need to explain. I explained that when I was young, I had struggled with how efficient my body was at utilizing the nutrients it consumed and resultantly, I had spent my youth struggling with weight issues.
I was referencing back to my life before, of course, since I now had a divine, maintenance-free masterwork of a body. I broke down how I had to spend a few hours a day on exercise and delicate food prep to turn what I initially thought was a curse to my benefit. I watched as Io's eyes lit up as I detailed my body's transformation in my past life. I told her that we would likely be in the city for a few weeks and that during her time off, I would assist her in making a plan to refine her body into what she desired. Shaking hands to seal the deal, Io suddenly looked down and saw I was holding a letter with the guild seal wax stamped on it.
"Oh, my apologies, we got so off track. Is that letter why you needed to speak to the Guildmaster. Give me a moment to see if she is available." With that, Io climbed down from the raised platform she had at her station and headed up the stairs. As she climbed the stairs, her alluring hips swung back and forward as her voluminous rear quarters made a mesmerizing ascent. "I want to touch it," Luna whispered to me as she stood just ahead of me, watching the short woman make her way to the second floor. I gave Luna's shapely booty a little smack, "maybe if we have some time, we can see if she wants to join us some evening?" At my suggestion, Luna spun around and, standing on her tippy toes, wrapped her arms around the back of my neck and pulled me in for a kiss.
"We have to be careful, though. If she gets a taste of you, she may just end up coming with us. In more ways than one, I mean," Luna whispered seductively into my ear before giving my earlobe a little nip.
Hearing footfalls near the top of the stairs, she whipped back around. Io appeared at the top of the stairs, a smile on her face. "The Guildmaster says she can take you now."
We ascended the stairs, where Io guided us to a door at the end of the hallway. She knocked twice, then departed for the first floor. "Enter," a female voice resounded from the other side of the door. I opened the door, finding myself in a small but well-furnished office. There was a couch with a small table in front of it facing a desk. Behind the desk, seated in a splendid quality leather desk chair, sat a woman. I immediately inspected her with my System's HUD.
Name: Olivia Njortsen
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Age: 52
Class: Highland Barbarian
Level: 23
Stats
HP: 1020/1020
MP: 20/20
Strength: 30
Agility: 18
Stamina: 36
Intelligence: 18
Wisdom: 18
Charisma: 20
Skills
Zweihander Mastery (Level 5)
Javelin Mastery (Level 5)
Improvised Fighting (Level 4)
Bloodrage (Level 5)
Warrior's Heart (Level 5)
Commanding Shout (Level 5)
Commanding Presence (Level 5)
Intimidate (Level 5)
Taunt (Level 5)
Oration (Level 4)
Education (Level 4)
Inspect (Level 3)
Knitting (Level 4)
Seduction (Level 4)
Animal Husbandry (Level 3)
Seeing these stats, which far outweighed any I had seen to this point, I gulped. My eyes met the Guildmaster's silver-coloured eyes as we sized each other up. I saw a smile cross her face as if she just found an exceptionally well-trained hunting dog. I felt a sense that this woman was going to use me to her benefit. She extended her hand to take the letter I held. She cracked the seal while Luna and I stood and waited as she read through the letter's contents.