Nati

I looked at my reflection in the water.

"I think it's not that big now," I mumbled, pulling up the tunic worn on my morning run to see my belly better. It still felt like doing something nasty, and I wondered if this would ever change.

I arrived here a month ago, which was hard to believe. On the one hand, it felt like nothing happened ever since, but the village I called home completely changed, and now it wore my name too.

Nateaser. Who would have thought? A month ago I was excited to start university and learn programming, a useful skill always sought after, and I planned to work from home with it, a quiet and peaceful life, where I wouldn't have been bothered by anyone. I could have rented a nice little house, and done whatever I wanted at home. Sure, making a few friends would have been nice too, but I felt too timid to make the first steps.

"Don't lie, I'm still way too shy," I told my reflection before continuing towards the gate. The weather was nice, albeit a little cold this morning. The work on the rice puddy was yet to start. It grew way faster than I expected, it must have been because of Lambert's magic. I had to talk to him because of the planned healing potion manufacturing, but I still wasn't a fan. In a sense, he reminded me of my roommate though. No, not Charlotte, the one from my world.

When my classmate from high school asked me to rent a room with him, I had mixed feelings. That meant we'd get closer to being friends, but I had to live with someone who wasn't family. I had to adapt to his behavior and also hide my worst side from him. I wondered how he did now.

"Leonard, huh?" I still remembered his name, even though I forgot my own. But the Goddess reminded me. Everything else of being Nathan was hazy though.

In just a month, I completely transformed into Nati. I felt comfortable in this body, got used to its features, and liked them all, probably more than I should have.

"Maybe I could try using makeup?" I pondered, not like this face needed it. It was the body of the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.

How did my life turned out, if I never spotted her? If I didn't try to answer my sister's messages, which also made me think of her. What would she think of me now? She always wanted me to play with her girly toys and spend time together when we were little. She would probably love this change, for sure. But the last thing I heard of her, was my old roommate consoling her after I died in my world.

I didn't like that. They had four years between them, that's a huge age gap. I was worried for my sister, but there wasn't anything I could do for her now. At least nothing I knew of at the moment. And while I thought about age, I couldn't believe this body was over a hundred years old. And Fenna's over sixty. This world was completely bonkers.

"Good morning, Nati." She greeted me, as I entered the village. "You done with your run already? How far did you go this time?"

"Oh, just to the imperial road and back. Good morning to you too." I answered, admiring her intricate kimono as usual. It was immaculate, which had me suspect something. "Did you try out my laundry at last?"

"I needed to make sure." The fox girl answered bashfully. I got her at last. She was so against the idea, but I finally won her over. Her big clothing sale wasn't a complete loss either. She did have to lower her prices a bit, but we had plenty of guests amazed by her craftsmanship as much as I was. "And I might have underestimated your newest invention, I apologize for that, and I'd like to compensate you."

She bowed her head, but I had to protest.

"Oh, come on, Fenna. I'm just trying to make life easier for everyone in the tribe. Besides, the laundry isn't free, I'm sure you already paid the price when you used it." I tried to refuse, whatever she was trying to come up with. She still stared at the ground though, her fluffy orange tail swinging widely, betraying her mood.

"But I planned to profit on your loss, and you still helped me to sell my wares regardless." She claimed, reaching out her hands towards me. She opened her palms to reveal a gemstone in it. "At the very least, I should give something back to you since we are friends."

"W-we are? Of course, we are." I couldn't suppress my smile. Not to mention, my black tail lived a life of its own too. Hearing her call me a friend felt like I was in heaven, and she wasn't even the only one. In a month here I made more friends than in my old life.

"Th-this is a... A memory crystal that I got from my mother." The fox girl explained, holding up the blue gem. It had a mysterious cyan glow around it. I never heard her mention her mother before, but I was lucky to meet her father, the wolfman who brought the Princess to our village. I could tell, her gift was expensive, even without it belonging to her family. "It has some lectures recorded on it from the old Magic Academy, but the truth is, I never had the affinity to use it."

"Oh, is it all right if I accept it?" I asked reluctantly. It was magic. It was about magic, and she knew all too well how much I was hellbent on learning more about it. She was a friend for sure.

"Of course, Nati." She smiled to encourage me. "You need to touch it to your forehead, and it will start talking to you if you have the affinity."

"I-I do. I even used magic thanks to Omerta and the Goddess. But isn't this like extremely expensive?" I reached out to take it. It was warm to the touch, unlike what I expected from the color. But I was unsure if it was because of the magical properties since Fenna probably held it in her hand before giving it to me.

"It is." She dropped the bomb so casually but also added. "This is why it shouldn't be wasted on me. You have an affinity for magic, and I heard how badly you wanted to learn about it, so now you can."

"I don't know how I could repay you though." I shook my head, still a bit shocked. I did get some income from my inventions in theory, but since the village didn't use money, it never really materialized in my hands. It was either some food or just Charlotte's word for it.

"You can pay me back by putting it to good use." The fox girl offered, walking me towards the bathhouse. "My mother was still a slave when she was the same age as me, but in a hundred years, she bought her freedom and was among the first free beastfolk who enrolled into the Magic Academy, thanks to Alexandra's fame."

"Wasn't she a tailor though?" I asked confused, while inspecting the glowing gem. "How was she able to afford all this?"

"Well, what do you think?" Fenna asked, giggling while holding her arms to the side and turning around. "Her clothes were the highest quality and a pricey commodity in the old capital. She had her shop at that point. This crystal was brought by my father as a gift, straight from a dungeon, and she used it to record her study progress."

"Oh right, Fang. He can use the spirit's powers right?" I remembered the grey-haired wolfman. "So why is it not with him then?"

"My father is a very stubborn man." She shrugged, lowering her arms. We arrived at the bathhouse, talking in front of the private entrance. "He was bought out by my mother and claimed he would pay back every copper. So he didn't have time to learn magic for a decade, and it was passed down to me. But I couldn't even make it talk."

"A decade, huh." It always ruined my mood when someone mentioned how long it took to learn to use magic. "Well, I appreciate it and will put it to good use. I can't wait to try it out. Omerta and Alex are so busy these days anyway, I never got to start."

"By all means. You could even start in the bath. I'll leave you to it and hope it will be useful." Fenna bowed again, then ran off before I could thank her properly. I took her advice though and brought the magical crystal in with me. After my morning run, I expected the water to reinvigorate me, but I felt excited before setting foot in the heated pool. I quickly showered and submerged into the water, wasting no time to press the stone against my forehead.

According to the fox girl, that was all I needed to do, and indeed, the crystal immediately started talking to me. Not loudly, per se. Similarly, when Omerta used telepathy to help me cast magic, I saw images and heard thoughts deep inside my head. I could barely make any sense of them, even from the start. I had to concentrate on every brain cell until I finally understood the words and pictures. They appeared quickly in my head and tired me lots more than the running earlier.

"Oh crap, this will be tougher than I thought," I mumbled, out of breath, simply from concentrating. "But it most certainly works."

The first sentence I understood was talking about meditation itself.

"Close your eyes, and bring your attention to your breathing. It must be slow, deep, and calm." I heard a woman's thoughts. That was probably Fenna's mother, but she never told me her name. Yet I felt so familiar with her already. "Slow, deep breath in, hold it for a few seconds then breathe out for just as long. Pause for a moment before you take another breath. Imagine, how the air enters your nostrils and fills your lungs as a white, luminous medium. It attracts every bad in your body."

This was the most standard relaxation technique if I ever heard one, but I tried my best to remain focused. I did try it once in my previous life, but I got too bored too fast. Little did I know that it would lead to me unlocking my magic potential. But I had to concentrate.

"As the fatigue, sickness, and negative thoughts all get attracted to this luminous medium that is the air, it will lose its light and clearness, and when you exhale, it will be all dark and corrupted." The voice explained and even planted the image into my head. "But now that it's gone, it left your body with all those bad things. You are healthier now, your shell is lighter, and you should feel relaxed."

I was, to some degree, but also tired from all the concentration.

"Now open your soul's eye, and let the magicules around you penetrate it the same way." The next step demanded, and the image was clear as day. "Let the mana fill your astral body, and start your journey."