Chapter 11 The Lesson

Meira soon returned, carrying a plate with a half-dozen sandwiches stacked in one hand and a salad bowl in the other. She set both down on the coffee table, then beckoned her kitten to sit in front of the plate stacked with sandwiches.

“If you eat these sandwiches, I will teach you the magic technique,” enticed Meira.

Evernya’s hand paused over the sandwiches as she turned to Meira with a questioning look. “Won’t I pass out if I eat these?”

“I hope not. The reason I made so many for you is I used low mana ingredients.” Meira replied, materializing a jug of MEL, placing it next to the plate.

Unable to resist any longer, Evernya grabbed the first sandwich. Her cheeks bulged as she took as big of bites as she could, gobbling it down in less than a minute. The next sandwich shared its brethren’s fate, disappearing down the starving catgirl’s throat.

Meira watched with amusement as the hungry girl inhaled her sandwiches, somehow without choking. “You are going to have to learn to control yourself in public. I don’t think many restaurants will like it if you scare their other customers away,” warned Meira with fake seriousness.

All she received was an ‘are you dumb look’ before the girl continued to eat. The reaction earned a chuckle from Meira, which Evernya promptly ignored. Within five minutes, Evernya’s plate was spotless. She focused her attention on the jug of MEL while Meira materialized several items on the coffee table.

Meira waited until her kitten finished drinking before starting her lecture. “The technique I’m going to teach you is mana sense. As I mentioned before, most people can sense the approximate mana grade of items and people. Mana sensing is the technique that makes sensing the strength of one’s mana possible.”

“Do you feel the mana radiating off these items?” Meira inquired, gesturing to the steel long sword, diamond-gold ring, red flower, and smooth palm-sized gray stone laid out on the coffee table.

Evernya shook her head to clear her drowsiness, fortunately succeeding before she replied. “Is that what that is? To me, it is a delicious scent.”

Meira smiled, nodding in confirmation as she continued, “Good, you can already sense mana, though unusually. Most have trouble detecting the mana at first, but I suppose it makes sense for it to come naturally to you. Now please order them from weakest to strongest without absorbing mana.”

Evernya right away set the sword and ring to the far left, showing they were the weakest before moving on to the last two items. At first, she chose the gray stone to go next but abruptly changed her mind, choosing the red flower as the second-highest instead, leaving the gray stone as the highest. With a trembling hand, she moved the gray stone into position on the far right while trying her best to resist sucking the delicious stone dry. After completing her task, she glanced back at the smiling elf, hoping she got it right.

Practically vibrating with excitement and pride, Meira gushed, “Marvelous! The mana stone nearly threw you off, but you arranged it correctly. I enchanted the stone myself to feel like a simple gray stone when, in reality, it is anything but. Few people your age would feel any mana radiating off the stone. The sword is a plain unenchanted steel sword, and the ring has a weak enchantment on it, giving it approximately a mana grade of awakened stage 3. The fire flake is a powerful fire attuned flower of roughly awakened stage 8, almost 9. Now the mana stone is around Arisen stage 6, which is significantly more potent than all the other items combined.” Meira praised, prompting her kitten to puff her chest and stick her tail straight up.

A few seconds later the ever-curious kitten inquired, “What are these stages? Are they mana grades?”

This question prompted a long lecture from the resident elf trying to atone for her mistake by going overboard on explanations. “Mana grades come in two steps, the smaller increment grades, and larger increment stages. Every nine mana grades there is a significant jump in potency called a stage. The first stage, called awakened stage, starts at grade one, which is the lowest mana grade someone who has awakened their magic class can possess. A vast majority of magical’s possess mana grades within this stage, including you, though I’m not sure what grade you are precisely. Everyone has a natural max mana grade where their mana grade refuses to rise any further without supplements. An average human usually max around awakened six to nine. With an average shifter maxing around this point as well, even alphas.”

Meira paused for a moment to allow her intensively listening kitten time to digest before continuing. “Now, we call the next stage, Arisen. For the average human, this stage is only obtainable through expensive materials too costly for a city-dwelling human to afford in large enough quantities. More magical races like elves, for example, can reach arisen stage over time without absorbing materials to boost their natural max mana grade. My current mana grade is around Arisen six, which is why the mana stone has a similar mana grade, since it is my mana inside the stone. If a shorter-lived race such as a human achieves the arisen stage, their lifespan skyrockets from eighty to one fifty at the awakened stage up to around five hundred years. The lifespan increase happens because as your mana grade rises, so does the mana absorbed into your body, significantly improving it in every way.”

Evernya nodded along, absorbing the knowledge like a sponge. “The Ascended stage is the highest currently known mana stage, where only the most gifted and oldest reside. Very few of any race achieve this stage, even with unlimited resources at their disposal. One of the major limiting factors in achieving this stage is the fact that one needs a bloodline which alone would grant high status. The requirement of a bloodline keeps the old families in power. Every old family, which are nobles, has a bloodline giving them advantages even if they can’t achieve the Ascended stage. Even the most powerful families only have a handful of ascended beings within their ranks. Luckily, most at this stage are wandering around in the wilds or living in major cities, refusing to be amongst those who they consider peasants. At this stage, your body is so infused with mana that you could barely qualify as mortal anymore with reported lifespans of well over one thousand years.”

Sounds like a basic cultivation setup with the required highborn keeping everyone below them. As long as I don’t have to deal with slapping young masters, I don’t really care who rules. I just hope they leave me alone so I can live my life in peace. If not, hopefully I can gain enough strength to defend myself.

After finishing her lecture, Meira materialized nine identical melon-sized black spheres in the air in front of them, floating them with her air magic. “Let’s move on to the next part of the lesson. You can ask more questions later. Now I want you to identify approximately what each item's mana grade is. From left to right, each ball increases by one mana grade in the awakened stage, starting at grade one. Try to memorize the feeling each grade gives you.” Instructed Meira.

Evernya focused on each sphere, trying to ingrain their level of deliciousness into her mind, causing her mouth to water.

Five minutes later, the spheres vanished. “Now, I want you to tell me what each sphere’s approximate mana grade is as I show them.” Instructed Meira before materializing the first sphere.

“Three?” Evernya answered with an uncertain expression while playing with her tail.

“Close grade 4, this is grade 3.” Meira corrected, materializing a second similar feeling sphere before dematerializing both.

Over the next five minutes, Evernya scored 8 out of 10 right. Meira then threw curveballs with spheres halfway between two mana grades, causing Evernya to score 7 out of 10 the next round. The lesson continued for an hour with Evernya steadily improving, now scoring 9 out of 10 or perfect scores regularly. By the hour mark, she was accurate enough that she could gauge the sphere’s mana grade down to the nearest quarter.

After dematerializing a sphere rated at awakened stage 3.25, Meira announced, “Excellent. We will stop here for now. You have a solid enough grasp to gauge most of the federation’s sentient population. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t continually improve your accuracy by sensing things you come across.”

Meira ran her eyes over Evernya’s body, seemingly in thought for a few seconds. “I think it would be best to get you dressed in something other than pajamas. Soon we will go out shopping for your own clothes, but for now, we will have to settle for a resizing enchantment for my clothes. What would you like to wear?”

“Do you have some jeans and a t-shirt?” Evernya requested.

“I do. What about underwear preferences?” Meira inquired.

“I don’t really care. Regular panties would be okay. I don’t think I want to deal with a bra my breasts aren’t big, so I can probably go without one. Originally I woke up in a sports bra that fit nearly perfectly. I wonder where that went. Was that enchanted to fit me? I didn’t even feel it on unless I paid attention to it.” Evernya replied.

Evernya’s unbothered reaction to a normally embarrassing subject triggered a much more passionate gushing from Meira as an enchantress herself. “Well, bras have enchantments a bit different from other clothes. They conform perfectly to breasts, keeping them supported without putting pressure anywhere. The enchantment not only supports but positions one’s breasts where they want them, depending on the setting. The woman who invented the enchantment around twenty years ago became rich overnight. It’s like having the freedom of going braless with all the benefits of wearing a bra. It doesn’t matter what type of bra you even use, As long as it covers your breasts to shape them. To be honest, I don’t know how someone didn’t invent it sooner. Before the invention of a specialized bra enchantment, bras had the same enchantment as other clothes resizing to your body, causing some uncomfortable squishing and uneven support.”

Evernya glanced down at her modest mounds peeking out from the loose-fitting pajamas. Of course, magic would solve one of the biggest annoyances of owning big lumps of fat on our chests. Still, I’m glad my new body didn’t sprout a large cup size for convenience’s sake. I guess I’ll give a magical bra a chance. Worst case, I’ll just discard it.

“I think I’ll go with the sports bra style for now.” Evernya requested.

“Color preferences?” Meira inquired.

After a moment of thought, Evernya replied, “I prefer dark or neutral colors, no bright colors.”

Meira left to go clothes hunting. While she waited, Evernya laid back on the sofa, deep in thought. From what I determine from my isolated experience of this world is magic basically runs the world, or at least where I am currently. Just one bra enchantment probably changed the lives of countless women, and that is only one instance I am sure there is more. It seems like technology exists in this world, but they base it on magic or overshadowed by magic. I guess I won’t be using my previous IT experience in this world much. Good thing I have magic now, though I have no idea how to control it.

I’m not sure about this testing thing. Is it supposed to measure my magic? I will have to ask Meira later. I am basically using her as an internet search engine. Wait, is there internet in this world? What else is different here? Will I ever run out of questions? Well, from what Meira, I could live for a long time as long as someone doesn’t kill me first, so I have plenty of time to figure this place out, at least I hope. Thought Evernya while lazily playing with her tail.

About fifteen minutes later, Meira returned with a stack of clothes. Meira fidgeted with nerves as she explained, “I wasn’t sure about what colors would work, so I got you black everything I hope that’s fine.”

“That works. I’m not into fashion anyway. So how do the enchantments work?” Evernya inquired.

Meira sighed in relief as she instructed, “For regular clothes, insert mana into it, and then put it on. Once worn, the clothes use a body size scan spell encoded into the enchantment, resizing itself to your body depending on if it’s a loose-fitting or form-fitting enchantment. I prefer form-fitting clothing to keep the clothes out of the way during physical activity, so all my clothes are formfitting besides my pajamas since I prefer those loose. The bra enchantment works similarly, but before putting it on, insert mana and picture the type of support effect you want.”

Evernya eyed the stack of clothes with interest, inquiring, “That’s so handy. Do clothes even come in different sizes?”

Meira winced before explaining, “Well, resizing clothing is expensive, but I’m an enchanter, so why not make all my clothes resize. Most stores have many designs, colors, and sizes you have to pay extra for a resize enchant. For you we will have to buy clothes designed for people with tails, then I will enchant them. Shifter clothing stores don’t have resize enchantment options because most of the time, enchanters refuse to work for shifter-owned stores. Luckily, it only involves pants, underwear, and hats everything else we can get at human stores.”

Before Evernya could ask another question, Meira shoved a stack of clothes into her kitten’s hands before shooing her toward the bathroom. “Change. If you need help, yell. There is a bathroom first door on the left down the hall behind us.”

Evernya trotted to the bathroom. Once inside, she hesitated for a minute before finally stripping naked in front of the mirror.

Evernya closed her eyes as she turned to the mirror. She hesitated for almost a minute before finally opening her eyes, taking in her naked body. Contrary to her expectations, she stared at her body without a hint of embarrassment, as if she had seen her body a thousand times.

I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve seen my body naked while at least two others have already have, not including whoever made this body. I suppose I would describe my body as a petite, athletic type. My hips and shoulders aren’t overly broad, but they are about equal in width, accented with a narrow waist. My breasts are perky and symmetrically round. Evernya palmed her left breast out of curiosity. They seem perfectly sized for my small hands, which means they aren’t too big. I hated my big breasts as a human. I think they are B cup, but I’m not entirely sure. It appears I don’t have to shave either. The only hair I have is on my head and tail. Can my new body become any easier to maintain? I seem to have gotten a bit more toned since the lab as well. Maybe because my diet is healthier, or because the bands don’t limit my mana anymore.

I’m not sure when it happened, but my new body feels natural now. My soul, or whatever transferred into this body must have completed its process of making this body my own.

Evernya first slipped on the panties but forgot to insert mana, so they fell down her legs. She tried again this time, inserting mana before pulling them up, feeding her tail through the hole in the back. As soon as they were in place, she felt a tingling sensation, like she did when Meira scanned her before the panties shrunk and fit snugly on her hips.

Wow, that’s really cool. They feel perfectly sized for me! I don’t think I could get this good of fit if I bought a pair in my size.

She picked up the sports bra. It had a similar design to the one she wore in the lab, but the material was of lower quality. It was a plain black sports bra with X-shaped straps crisscrossing on the back.

I really should find out what happened to my lab outfit. This bra feels rough and cheap compared to the silky smooth material of my lab outfit. Maybe it got damaged when I escaped, but somehow I doubt that. I kind of wish I grabbed a few backup pairs, but there is no way I could have known I would escape before returning to the hospital room.

She inserted her mana into the sports bra and pictured a typical support type of most bras. She pulled it on over her breasts. A second later, she felt the familiar scan. Immediately after the scan, the sports bra shrunk to fit snugly around her chest while simultaneously lifting her breasts to provide optimal support without pressure anywhere.

It’s almost like it’s not even supporting anything. So much better than the constricting over-the-shoulder boulder holders from earth! I didn’t notice the slight weight of my breasts until I put this on. Now they feel weightless, unlike my damn melons from my old body.

Evernya hopped and stretched a little, testing the fit. She found her underwear fit perfectly to her body, with no discomfort or limits in range of motion.

She slipped on the black t-shirt, then pulled up the faded black jeans again, threading her tail through the hole in the back before tightening the belt. After a scan, both resized to fit her. She then rotated in place, admiring her new outfit in the mirror.

These fit nicely, but I don’t think I will want to do much exercise in the jeans. Sure, they don’t seem to affect my range of motion much, but they won’t be comfortable if I run. I should have asked for shorts instead. To be honest, it isn’t cold outside, it’s probably late spring-early summer right now if seasons are the same here. Why is exercise the first thing that comes to mind? Maybe it’s a shifter thing, wanting to be ready to move at a moment’s notice. Still, despite the impracticability of jeans, I look pretty hot in such a simple outfit. With the magical resizing, the outfit fitted snugly on my body, showing off my assets nicely.

Evernya glanced down at her bare feet. I forgot to ask for shoes and socks I’ve been barefoot this whole time! Why didn’t I notice that until now? Is it natural for shifters to walk around barefoot? At least I am dressed now, an improvement over the tree-printed pajamas.

After spending a few minutes admiring herself, she exited the bathroom, returning to the living room.