“Ughh,” James awoke with a groan, the silk sheets of his bed beckoning him back to dreamland with every second. Lazily, he pulled them back over himself and covered his eyes, unwilling to leave their warm embrace. 

“..!”

That was until the physical sensations jolted him awake and he tossed the sheets off with exuberant glee. 

“Hah! Hahahaha! It worked, it really worked! I can feel again!” the man cried out as he rolled his naked body over the silk bedsheets. He vigorously rubbed his arms and legs as if creating snow-angels, either unaware or uncaring that a certain AI was still quietly documenting all this for later. 

Cheerful tears came to the corners of his eyes and he didn’t bother wiping them away as he just laid there and began flexing his fingers and toes with a childish smile across his face. It had been so long since he’d been able to move his arms or legs, that he’d almost forgotten what it had felt like to grasp something with your own hands. 

Even in his soul form he hadn’t been able to pick up or hold things very well and so at this moment, it brought him immense satisfaction. No longer would he fear the feelings of uselessness, never again would he feel trapped. Even as the rush of euphoric chemicals almost overwhelmed his new brain, James didn’t fight them at all and allowed the tears to flow freely. 

*Cough.*

His head snapped to the VR pod sitting beside his bed where a holographic image of his trusty AI companion stood and stared at him. Maybe in some other circumstance he would’ve been ashamed of his present nudity and moved to cover himself, but now? He couldn’t be bothered to care. 

He stared right back at the woman and didn’t blink. James was on cloud nine right now and nothing was going to ruin his day. 

“I apologize for interrupting sir,” Queen spoke, breaching the stalemate, somewhat disappointed in her creator’s lack of reaction. All those anime’s he’d watched had built up quite the expectations for situations like these yet she was saddened by how reality had played out. “I recorded the events that took place during the last three hours you were unconscious, but didn’t find anything of true value. Maybe if you had begun your integration in the VR pod like I’d asked, we could have gotten more data on the experience, but I guess we’ll never know.”

James briefly recalled a discussion like that occurring while they were debating over which powers he’d be purchasing. Sadly, he’d gotten too engrossed in actually buying them to remember when the time came, which led to his sorry sprint back to bed during the countdown timer. 

Seeing his friend glaring at him now, he kind of felt bad for letting her down and lowered his head in apology, “Sorry about that one, Queen, I got too caught up to remember but I’ll be sure to do so next time. It may not be as good as examining the creation of a whole new body, but new powers should still be useful for something, right?”

Queen looked at her creator and saw the sincerity in his eyes, so she just sighed and shook her head in acceptance, “Very well, sir. If you would like to view the data or the recording, I’ve made a separate file which you can look up once you reenter the VR.”

“Thanks, Queen,” James grinned as he got out of bed. “You’re the best.”

The AI mumbled something under her breath, but he didn’t pay much attention to it as he was too busy looking his new body up and down. 

It was good, almost too good in fact. Muscles that he would’ve had to spend years working towards and skin that seemed healthier then he could ever remember it being. 

He took a deep breath and he could almost feel it as the oxygen entered through his lungs and merged with the bloodstream. It was almost euphoric, simply breathing. 

“Is this just what all Ancestors were like, or is it the Elder Blood part of me? Is magic so wonderous that it elevates my body simply by residing within it?” he absentmindedly muttered in awe. “I need to get a better look…”

James rushed to the walk-in closet located behind his bedroom and inspected himself in the full-length mirror. 

His body looked near enough to what he’d remembered before the accident… if not more perfect? It was a small difference, but his physique and facial features had definitely changed slightly with the integrations. Not just counting the leaner muscles, but his jawline was also nowhere near this sharp before. 

He ran a hand across it, feeling the early signs of some stubble coming in and grinned. He was perfectly fine with these changes. After all, who would say no to becoming more handsome?

Over the next ten minutes, he got more accustomed to his new body. Stretching, push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, squats, he tested just about everything he could think of and was more than satisfied with the results. 

Finally, he pulled up the [Item] store and purchased a new wardrobe from the Earth portion of the [Shop]. Thankfully, the actual ‘price’ of objects had nothing on the FP cost and so he was able to fill his closet with the finest clothes for next to nothing. Suits, jeans, sportswear, shoes, he bought multiple outfits for every occasion and didn’t even need more than 2% of his FP for it all. 

Throwing on some casual grey shorts and a white shirt to wear around the house, James made his way downstairs to do what he’d been anticipating for months now, eat. 

In fact, he was so eager that he didn’t even notice how fast he was moving, nor the fact that teal streaks of light would sporadically light up around him when he stepped or that his eyes would glow with a matching hue when they did so. 

Queen did notice, but kept that fact to herself for now as she allowed her master to enjoy his true second life. She would no doubt bring it up later, but for now he deserved some time to embrace the little things she knew he so desperately craved.