Coming of Age

Seven in the morning.

The sun was a lazy thing this season, and so winter's darkness still lingered high above, dawdling in the sky long past its welcome. The mountains, though, were brighter than one might have expected. Snow that had settled quietly in the pre-dawn hours was hard at work ferrying every spark of sunlight down to the forest floor.

"Huff! Huff!"

Jun tore along the mountain path, blasting hot breath into the cold. Midwinter or not, his whole body was drenched in sweet sweat. Mountain beasts that had never bothered with hibernation circled him as he ran. Yesterday's Jun might have stopped a moment to fuss over them — but today he left them to the jealous little angel who had woken sometime in the night, and threw himself wholly into conditioning.

Thud! Thud!

Every footfall sent a light tremor through the earth, snow or no snow. The weight-increasing magic tools cinched around his waist — weight pouches, as they were commonly called — had roughly doubled his mass. He was carrying something like three hundred kilograms. The average boy his age weighed fifty-six; he was nearly five times that. And with that load he had been running the rugged mountain trails for almost a full hour without a single rest, borrowing none of his super-abilities, relying on pure flesh and bone alone.

An ordinary human body could never have managed it. Body modification and the growth wrought by elixirs made it possible. That did not mean he had any margin left. It had been manageable at first, but around the one-hour mark his legs began to shake with every step, and his heart felt ready to burst on the spot.

"Alright — last five minutes. Strategic sprint!"

"Uwaaah!"

At Fortuna's signal, Jun drove his body past its limits with every last scrap of strength he had left. The will was magnificent. The flesh, however, started ignoring that will before three minutes were up.

Move. You can still do this.

The self-rebuke rose in the same instant as an image unfurling inside his mind.

Feet that had been flailing weakly through empty air slammed hard into the earth. Imagination became reality.

Three minutes later, Jun finally reached the training ground behind the cabin without having stopped even once.

"Haa… haa…"

He collapsed onto the bench beside the yard and dragged air into his lungs. Fortuna wasted no time casting a purification spell over him; the sweat streaming down his body vanished in an instant.

"Jun, do you really have to push yourself this hard? Watching you suffer is hard on me."

"Haha. Just bear with me a little, Por. This is how I grow faster."

Whether it was simply the human tendency to grow through hardship or something more, pushing a body past its limits and then modifying it and feeding it elixirs produced far better results than ordinary training ever could. He was sorry it pained her — but he could not abandon that advantage for her sake. The body was the skeleton that held up every super-ability and every thought. There was no such thing as training it too much.

"Mm… Sorry, Jun. I was being selfish."

Fortuna knew all of that. She knew exactly why he drove himself this way. She had only spoken because the sight of him struggling hurt. Looking back on it now, she already regretted the words.

My husband is working himself raw for our future, and instead of helping I throw a tantrum. What kind of wife am I?

The thought circled and circled. Moisture gathered at the corners of her eyes; her fairy wings sagged.

Stop. Thinking like this only makes things harder for him.

For Jun's sake, Fortuna forced the gloom aside. Sitting still and being sad would help no one. She moved to be useful instead.

"Jun, tired? Lie down here."

She shifted into human form, sat on the bench, and patted her knees — rest your head right here. She would have loved to cast a healing spell over the fine tremors still running through his body, but that would have wasted every bit of the ordeal he had just put himself through.

"Don't mind if I do."

He brightened at once and settled his head in her lap. The reaction filled her with such honest pride that the smile she wore was no longer forced at all.

"Hmm~ hm-hmm-hmm~"

Humming under her breath, she stroked his hair. In that moment she was almost unbearably happy. There was only one small regret: she could not see his face. Her breasts were simply too large for that. As a kind of consolation prize, she leaned her upper body forward a little. Against the undersides of her breasts she could feel the shape of his face and the heat of his breath. Fortuna smiled, thoroughly satisfied, and asked:

"How's the Fortuna Special Breast Face-Cover? Feel good?"

"Best thing in the world."

Savoring the hot, soft pressure across his entire face, Jun stuck up a thumb. He was not joking. It really did feel wonderful — the milky scent sinking deep into his nose, the warmth of her body thawing a face chilled by the winter wind, a coziness that made him want to act spoiled. It was so good he could have drifted off then and there. Training still waited, though, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so he held the drowsiness down and focused.

The body model that now rose the moment he called for it. Listening to Fortuna's counsel, he refined it further — raising strength, stamina, and durability; fortifying his virility for the day he might take concubines; improving his cells' electrical resistance so he could discharge more power.

The moment the model was finished, Realize triggered on its own.

Ziiing~ ziiing~ ziiing~

The triple cores running at ordinary output spiked to their absolute limit in a heartbeat. They plunged into overheat almost at once — and Jun did not dial them back. He pushed them higher still. At the same time he drew a portion of the aura flowing through his circuits, the aura that had been assisting his psychic miracles, and wrapped it around the cores. Then he spun that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠aura in the same direction the cores themselves were spinning — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠exactly as he had when forging a pseudo-core. The twin vortexes of core and aura locked together. The output that had gone unstable from being forced past its ceiling steadied. The overheated cores cooled.

It was difficult enough that even Jun had needed time to master it. About three hours? When he had pulled it off in three hours and casually remarked, "This one's a bit tricky," the look on Robin's face had been unforgettable.

"Por."

"Here."

He gave a crooked smile, opened his subspace, and called for her. Fortuna took the water bottle that emerged as if it were the most natural thing in the world and set it to his lips. The liquid that entered his mouth through the spout nearly flipped him over and made him vomit on the spot. If he had not already locked both hands onto the bench, he might well have done exactly that.

Even after more than a decade of drinking it, the Potion of Growth never failed to feel brand-new and thrilling. He truly, deeply did not want to drink it. But the results afterward made the ordeal worth enduring every single time.

The moment the elixir hit his stomach it transformed into pure energy and flooded his body, concentrating on cells torn and worn by overwork and modification. Shortly after, new flesh a full step more advanced than before began to grow.

Ah. That coolness…

The throbbing throughout his body faded, replaced by a clean, menthol-sharp relief, as if someone had plastered a cooling patch over every inch of him. That sensation alone made it impossible to quit the potion. Especially lately. It had never been this refreshing before; once he entered his growth period, the coolness had become almost habit-forming. The natural surge of a body in its growth years, stacked on top of the increased modification power from stronger cores, had sent everything racing ahead — and left that much more damage to cover. That, he suspected, was why.

"Por."

"Getting up already?"

"Yeah."

Fortuna lifted the upper body she had been leaning over him. The milky scent, the warmth, the soft give of her flesh all receded at once. Jun stared at the undersides of her breasts with eyes full of pure, shameless regret.

"Hehe. Our little Juni, not getting up? Stay down and I'll kiss you."

"Really?"

"Um… sorry. My boobs are too big — that won't work. Get up, though, and I'll kiss you for real."

Jun sat up so fast the bench creaked. Then he offered his lips with the unmistakable air of a boy collecting on a promise.

"Euuu! Our Juni is so~ so so so so~ so so so cute. Smack! Smack! Smack!"

The kiss barrage went on for a long time. By the end of it, Jun's motivation gauge was topped off and overflowing.

"Alright — time to work on martial arts… wait. Before that. Por, look at this."

"Hm? Look at what?"

She had collapsed into sleep after their coupling the night before and woken only during his training run; she had no idea that Sprout had already become a sapling. He reached into the subspace to show her—

"When I woke up this morning, well, Sprout was— huh?"

Something felt wrong. He frowned down at what had appeared in his hand. A pot. Completely, immaculately empty.

"…Wh-where did the kid go?"

Had it run away? Unable to bear the humiliation any longer, had it finally bolted?

"Jun, calm down. What happened to Sprout?"

"When I woke up this morning it had grown into a sapling. I was going to show you, but you were sleeping so hard I just put it in the subspace, and then…"

He trailed off and absently shook the hollow pot. No matter ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠how hard he shook it, not so much as a speck of dust came out.

"It became a sapling? Jun! Open the subspace right now! Hurry!"

"Huh? Uh — okay."

Still half-dazed, Jun opened the subspace as ordered. The instant a black sphere like a miniature black hole bloomed in the air, Fortuna shoved her face straight into it. He followed her lead — and saw it.

In a void where every color had drained away to nothing, a patch of faintly glowing soil swayed gently, and atop it a single sapling danced as if it had never been happier in its life.