chapter 36.2

[Warddrobe is level X]

[X] Seamstress Inventory Skill. Grants users access to a multiple outfit storage inventory. One set per level. Users gain 10% of stats from all stored sets and any active skills.

“What?” I asked aloud.

“Hm?” Sandy asked, turning over her shoulder.

But I was too busy to reply. My heart was racing with excitement as I pulled open my System, mentally pulling at my [Warddrobe] skill.

The upgraded version showed that all of my stored clothes had been shoved away into a single slot. I had spent two points to upgrade the skill to level ten, hoping to store at least the two additional pieces of gear needed to fit Sandy’s Stormcaller outfit.

Instead, I could store everything we had made.

“Gwen?” Sandy asked again.

I had ignored her, racing through my menus to look at my stats. Then I pulled open my interface. I was in my mundane clothes currently, but I was inheriting ten percent of the stats from my stored hunter outfit, as well as its skills. Not only that, but I was boosting those inherited stats by thirty-eight percent at level fourteen.

[Gwendolyn Tailor][Human, Lv14][Seamstress]

[Health: 52/10][Mana: 8/10][XP: 0/10]

[ATTRIBUTES]

►SPD: 10 ►WIL: 5

►STR: 5 ►DEX: 11

►CON: 5 ►PER: 6

[SKILLS]

►Crafting I ►Running Stitch I

►Hand Spinning I ►Thread Mastery IV

►Wardrobe X ►Quick Change I

►Embellishment III ►Pattern Mirroring I

►Always Prepared I

[PATTERNS]

►[Hunter Pattern] ►[Shell Dress Pattern]

[TEMPORARY SKILLS]

►[Bow Mastery I] ►[Shadow Cloak I]

“I upgraded one of my skills to ten!” I said, rocking forward. This meant I could enhance my baseline — I could craft faster and better if I crafted more Dexterity outfits, or stack different skills. I wondered if [Shadow Cloak] would reach tier two if I stacked it? Of course it would. It had to.

“Nice. What did you get?” Sandy turned around now, paying slightly closer attention and looking away from the bleeding corpse of a lizard.

Instead of answering, I pulled on the [Shadow Cloak] skill, eager to test my ability to turn invisible on a whim, and I felt the darkness around me answer.

“The hell?” Sandy said. She blinked at where I was then over to the spider-scale dress hanging on the broken mannequin. “Instant outfit ch

ange…?” She guessed.

“Nope.” I said, returning to visibility.

“Hmmm.” She said, putting the knife in her hand down at her table and crossing her arms before guessing again. “Permanent skills of anything you craft.”

“God. That would be sick.” I replied, frowning. Of course Sandy would guess something even better than what I had. “No. I can use all the skills from outfits I have stored!” I replied.

“Damn. That is nice. Two outfits worth of skills?”

“Ten outfits worth of skills, and ten percent of the attribute points on them.”

“Damn.”  Sandy said. “I need to get a skill like that.”

She continued cutting apart the lizard. I frowned. If I could grow this fast, once I had ten outfits, it would be practically impossible to keep up. But our classes didn’t gain attributes from leveling.

“I’ll have to give the best outfits to you so you can keep up.” I said.

Sandy scoffed.

“I’ll need a set of Gerald’s armor if you keep that up.”

“Damn. I need… to craft more sets.” I briefly regretted not spending more points on different patterns. I could probably acquire a wide range of skills with different sets. Then again, if I had spent my points any other way, I wouldn’t have the ability to use them.

“The bear leather is still in the stacks. Got more than we can use at this point.” Sandy said.

I looked over. There were piles of monster leather at the edge of her bed, just piled on the ground. But it wasn’t everything we had collected; more if it was outside in the shed, including the stranger bits and the remnants of the boss monster. I rose to my feet and grabbed a lamp before stepping outside, heading to one of the dilapidated sheds by Sandy’s house.

The roof was in better condition than the rest of the shed, slouching boards leaving gaps where rain could slip in, but nothing was stored here for terribly long anyway. The remnants of the bear boss were on the top.

What kind of skill would it gave if I crafted a hunter set out of it? Would the stats be higher with my raised embellishment sets? More invisibility? Or maybe I would be able to project copies of myself like the bear had.

Many of the sets had given me abilities the monsters had themselves.

They were strange squares of tanned leather with the fur still on them. Some sections had the mottled camouflage that matched the bottom of a leaf covered forest floor, while others were just a lavender purple fur.

I brought a whole armful back inside, setting them down before clapping my hands.

“Alright. Just need the thread, the mannequin…” I walked over and stored the spider-scale dress in my new, expanded inventory. Then I stored the storm-caller outfit too. I had a noble skill under my menu now. I smiled stupidly at that. It felt like a dream half fulfilled. Or maybe more than fulfilled. I could keep my mothers legacy and gain the power to protect it, too.

“Isn’t all your stuff at your mom’s workshop?” Sandy asked. She looked like she was done with the lizard.

“What?” I asked. “Oh. Yeah. We moved everything over, didn’t we?”

“Probably a better work area anyway.”

I looked around Sandy’s room. There were giant dead lizards hanging from the ceiling.

“I guess we can use my mom’s workshop.”

We found the workshop’s lamps on and the workshop itself empty. I piled up the materials on the table, pulling free my tools to start cutting the pattern, then stopped.

I had mana left over after clearing two dungeons. I even had more soup. Sure, cold soup, but it was cold soup that could replenish my mana. And my scissors were enchanted.

I activated [Pattern Mirroring,] consuming one of my remaining points of mana. I still had six! I cut through the leather easily, a perfectly cut copy popping out of the leather on the other side of me. Then I continued working. It cut the time necessary to prepare the pieces of leather for the patterns in half. No pun intended.

Humming to myself, I tore apart and rearranged the outfit, using my mana liberally and forcing myself to drink cold soup. [Embellishment] pulled at me and activated as I cut apart the leather to create camouflage from the mottled pattern for the cloak and front sections of the clothes.

This outfit would be so warm for the ice dungeon.

Without the need to cancel [Running Stitch] the magic made me practically a sewing machine, especially with my practice crafting this outfit. My fourth Hunter set was almost complete in a single night.

Sandy yawned on the other side of the room.

“Think I’m going to turn in for the night. See you tomorrow.” Sandy said with a stretch. She paused half way to the door. “Oh, do you wanna harass Gerald with me tomorrow?”

“Sure thing.” I replied. I had returned to stitching almost unconsciously, excited to fill each of the slots in my stats. I shoved away the three pieces of the set that were already finished. “Maybe he’ll have your weapon ready for you? He hasn’t asked us to go mining again yet.”

“I’m not counting on it.” Sandy replied, swinging the door open. “Goodnight, Gwen.”