Chapter 485 - Confronting the Tailor (Patreon)

Izzy is nearly twelve now, and every day she resembles her older sister more, though I can still see that ten-year-old girl in her.

She’s locked away on the top floor of the tower, like a princess trapped by her evil mother or captured by a dragon, surrounded by layers of defenses.

A huge smile spreads across her face as we enter, and she rushes over, hugging everyone with all the strength she can muster. The inseparable Noodle is coiled around her left arm, his emerald green eyes level with Izzy's. The sneaky snake even pretends to "kiss" or lick the members of Group 4, though I notice him subtly siphoning some mana as he does.

When it’s my turn, Izzy calls, "Dumbthaniel," and throws her arms around me. Her body is surprisingly warm—not from illness or anything like that; it seems to be related to her skill, a passive or a trait.

"It’d be nice if you stopped calling me that," I reply, returning the hug.

Noodle doesn’t try to "kiss" me like he did the others, but when he looks at me questioningly and I nod slightly, he takes the mana I allow him. His eyes half-close as if savoring something delicious, his expression oddly human.

"I don’t think you've earned that right yet," she retorts, eyes flicking toward Biscuit. "I’ll tell you Sophie’s deepest secrets if you let me hold him for a minute."

"Izzy?!" the outraged voice sounds from somewhere in the room.

"Sorry, Soph, one day you’ll understand." Izzy flashes a teasing smile at her sister before turning to me and whispering, "I’ll even add Noodle to the deal."

The white snake shakes his head in disbelief, glancing at Izzy, who pretends not to see.

"Not enough," I answer, feeling the weight of Biscuit´s small body in my arms.

Izzy seems a bit more mature now; she doesn’t protest or threaten me with childish antics. Instead, she just nods and smiles, a mischievous glint in her eyes that momentarily mirrors the snake’s. I half expect her to flick her tongue.

Six months—it’s been that long, and I’m already curious what new tricks everyone has picked up, and how many I can borrow for myself to improve my own skills.

Izzy shares some feelings with me, doing so very covertly, ensuring Sophie doesn’t sense it. The feelings vanish as quickly as they came, but the message is delivered.

When she looks at me, a question in her eyes, I confirm with a nod and receive another hug—this one tighter and filled with gratitude.

***

I wake up early in the morning and the first thing I do is check on Biscuit, still fast asleep, nestled in a luxurious armchair under a pile of cozy blankets.

Creating a line to him, I teleport there, grab him, and teleport back into bed, coiling under blankets with the corgi puppy in my arms.

Finally, a yawn escapes my mouth, and in daylight, I examine my room.

The entire side is made of glass, through which metal wire runs, forming defensive inscriptions that make the glass more durable than some walls. The design is also somewhat nice. There is a lot of light, revealing my bed, thick carpets, multiple armchairs, the door to the massive balcony. There are another door to the dressing room and another to the bathroom.

All over the room, there are already multiple things, most of the items from backpacks I, the twins, and Lily carried—my experimentations and materials to be used for experimenting or crafting. There are also a few golden chains from my lab I teleported here, taking up big parts of the room.

I prefer this much more over the nearly clinical cleanliness from before.

Turning my eyes back to Biscuit, I reach out and boop his nose. As before, he doesn’t react, so I testingly brush against his whiskers with the same lack of reaction.

Braver now and hoping the future overlord won’t remember, I carefully open his mouth, grab, and pull gently on his small pink tongue. When I let go, his mouth closes, the tongue still partially sticking out.

“How did you do that, you silly creature? Is your primordial energy so strong? Are you the chosen one? Main character? Regressor or reincarnator?” After each question, I boop his tiny nose.

There is no answer.

“I know I helped you; I know the beast was still chained, I know it wasn’t sane, it was wounded and terribly weakened. Still, isn’t that too much for you to devour it so seemingly easily?”

Still no answer, so I move and grab his tiny paw and touch the soft pink beans at the bottom.

“You ate it entirely, not even a single bone or drop of blood remaining. I wanted to experiment with them a bit, you know. Would be nice to get a piece of that extremely durable bone, part of an antler, or some flesh to check that regeneration.”

As before, the corgi decides to sleep and keep his secrets, so I reach and touch the soft fur on his neck, right under the chin, and caress it with a single finger.

“The cave is gone too, and with it, things I wanted to loot. I still plan to return there a bit later and check the acid; my anchor I left should last for a few weeks, so there is at least that.”

I finally let go and lay on my back, the sunlight gradually creeping across my bed. I close my eyes, listening only to the gentle breathing of the small creature beside me.

“You are forgiven because you are cute,” I declare in the end, to the continued ignorance of the dangerous creature an arm’s reach away, “But next time, at least leave me a piece of bone.”

Only after I say it out loud do I realize the absurdity of it all, and still amused, I jump out of bed to throw some clothes on before heading to meet the tailor.

***

After trying on the 5th set of clothes, I feel like I’m getting close to snapping. A few members of Group 4 slacking around in the room don’t help.

“Lady Sophie, your bodyguard has a nice body and face too, but his taste in clothes is… unconventional.”

“Some said he likes to dress like a homeless man,” Sophie says with a nod, somehow happy.

“I wouldn’t go that far, Lady Sophie, your bodyguard just seems to prefer a more casual style.”

“If you know, then why do you keep pushing clothes like these onto me?” I lift a white shirt with a high collar and tons of buttons that serve no purpose. Even the cut is too wide, and moving my arms in it is a pain.

The middle-aged man, dressed in more decorated clothes than anything I’ve seen until now, looks at me like I’m a child. “Lady Sophie holds a high position within the city. You escorting her as a bodyguard reflects on her. You are a weapon she wields at her will, so it’s obvious that the weapon must be an extension of herself.”

I glance at Fracture nearby and then back at the man.

“Sounds like bullshit. The only important thing is power. If I’m powerful enough and walk in there in underwear, they will still bow and kiss my feet if I tell them to. If I’m weak, not even the best clothes in the world will help me.”

The man looks like someone drank a protein shake, closed it with leftovers, let it ferment for a few days, and opened it up in front of his nose.

It’s a nice look.

Even this time, Sophie doesn’t join in and seems to enjoy the situation, sitting on the sofa with Lily and Izzy, with Noodle slithering around. Lily seems to be the most excited, looking through a catalogue of dresses she asked from the man, once in a while showing some to Sophie.

“Mister,” the way the tailor says this word makes me wonder why no one has thrown him out of the balcony of the highest tower yet, “You may rely on your strength, but elegance and propriety are as much a part of wielding influence as any skill. Even the finest sword deserves a polished sheath.”

Once again, I glance at Fracture and its sheath that I made and then somewhat tied that level 350 manta ray skin around. The result is… not polished.

“Hard disagree. Give me some simple clothes. Something comfortable and easy to move in; if it’s like that and not overly decorated, I won’t care.”

"I see, sir. Perhaps a minimalist approach would suit you—a fitted attire with clean lines made to highlight your nice figure, with refined stitching and subtle detailing, but still appropriate for one in Lady Sophie’s service. I hope that will satisfy your… tastes.”

“Sure. If it’s comfy, you can make multiple sets of the same clothes.”

Once again, I get the same smell-forgotten-protein-shake look and a giggle from Sophie.

“Do you have his measurements?” she asks the tailor.

"Indeed, Lady Sophie. By tomorrow, I shall have the attire prepared: a sleek, streamlined design in black and gray, with discreet detailing and a touch of pale blue stitching—for an air of understated refinement, should it meet your approval."

“Thank you, you can go. When you return tomorrow, I would like to ask you to take measurements for one more who will also serve as my bodyguard and also for this young lady ,” she gestures at Lily, who seems very excited.

“That should be very possible,” he nods towards them, gives me one last look, and then, with a few more bows, he leaves.

When the doors are closed, Sophie explains, as if she knows what was going through my mind, “He is one of the Archon’s favorites; that’s why he is still alive.”

“I can imagine someone pushing him off the balcony.”

“I heard someone tried that once and got pushed off instead, even being level 200. He somehow died, all the bones in his body broken. I would like to laugh at you a bit more, but you are mostly right; if you are powerful enough, you don’t have to care about things like protocol, so you should be fine.”

“It’s always like that.” I take a few quick steps and pick up Biscuit from the armchair before Izzy can steal him from me as she’s pretending to pass by.

Acting as if nothing happened, she makes a lap around the armchair and moves to sit back next to Sophie. Only then does she give me that scary look, as threatening as an angry kitten.

“What should I expect at that dinner?” I ask.

“Likely plenty of people checking you out and maybe two or three bodyguards testing you. I will take care of the mind manipulators, but the bodyguards are up to you. If anyone tries something too much, don’t be too shy about it and be very direct; that’s how I’ve acted up until now, and you should as well. Don’t hesitate to show strength.”

“I quite like that.”

“I knew you would,” Sophie says. “I think you should also keep your crown. You will see a few people with rings and one or two with mantles.”

At that, my interest piques, “Anything you learned about these kinds of skills?”

“Not much, to be honest. Don’t quote me on this, but it should be mainly like this: Crown stores, ring refines and channels, mantle resists. I read it in one of the books I got so I don´t know how reliable that information is.”

“That’s very little. Lily, what about your mantle?”

She perks up and stops petting Noodle, who slithers back around Izzy. Noodle seems even smaller than before, barely as thick as two of my fingers combined, but I’m sure the little animal is hiding something.

“My mantle is very, very mana efficient, so I can keep it up for a really long time. It uses more mana when it attacks or gets hit, but it’s still much less than if I used the skill instead of the mantle. It’s still very low level, so I will let you know as I use it more.”

Pulling Noodle’s tail, Sophie thinks, “Didn’t those two thylarin brothers say something like [Mana Mantle] can be used for abilities based on mana and not allow control over the user’s mana? Wouldn’t that mean Lily’s [Disintegration Mantle] is nearly useless, as I don’t think Lily will meet that many people with [Disintegration]?”

To that, I disagree, “If the mantle can resist [Disintegration], wouldn’t it be super easy to resist weaker stuff like simple mana attacks, some stones, water, fire, and more?”

“Likely, yes, but efficiency could end up being terrible if the mantle is used against a different element than its own?”

“Wouldn’t that make simple mantles like [Mana Mantle] the most powerful, and the ones from super rare skills like [Disintegration] would end up being weak?”

I can’t help but agree a bit, “Yes, it’s quite an asshole’s way to go about it, so it fits the system, and I bet it’s not that simple. But there’s probably something else to it; otherwise, the mantle and the ring would both end up weak in comparison to the crown. They need to do something extra in comparison to just using your skill.”

“Your crown can store mana without you having to focus to upkeep it, right?”

As we exchange these messages, Lily’s eyes jump quickly between me and Sophie. Noodle notices and, for a while, watches Lily doing so before copying her and doing the same.

Then, for some reason, and with a smile, Izzy starts doing it as well.

“Yes, the requirement on me is minuscule. If [Mana Ring] is for control, it probably adds something else to it so it’s not a simple [Mana Manipulation]. Maybe it allows to easily do things like compression? Channeling of mana taken care of by the system partially?” I ask.

“That could slow your growth or allow you to let the ring handle that kind of mana use and focus on a different discipline… By the way, those annoying lines you made, what are they?”

Finally, she asks about my [Ley Lines]; I saw her trying to resist since we came, and as someone who likes to use and deploy mana structures like her web, it’s no surprise to me. The feeling I get is akin to victory, as I didn’t ask her about the things she made, and she must know it.

“I will tell you everything you want, in exchange, you will help me with this cute thing,” I gesture at Fracture resting against the wall nearby.

Unlike Lily’s eyes, Sophie’s show a deep interest and that slightly crazed shine I often see in the mirror.

***

Next Chapter