"The first thing you need is new clothes," Amanda said as she sauntered along the mall promenade. "I can't believe you only have this set."

"My circumstances are... very peculiar. You know my parents died and the insurance company took everything."

She hummed in agreement. "I didn't have the chance to read your file. And I wouldn't, not without your permission."

Passersby paid close attention to the two of them. They obviously recognized Amanda but what bothered Robert was the curious glances they stole his way. This wasn't a date, just a shopping trip.

"Thanks for the trust, but it's fine. You can read it."

"Or you can tell me."

Robert pretended to find a widget on display interesting.

"Over there! Let's get you at least seven outfits. That shop sells stuff that will be good until you reach three stars."

"I don't think they will last that long," Robert said.

Amanda snickered and grinned at him. All clothes in this shop have a durability, self-clean, self-mending rune combo. No laundry, no loose threads. Just pour some essence on them and you're good to go."

They entered the clothing shop. Everything looked stylish and fancy. Expensive too. Robert noticed none of the items on display had price tags. He pointed that out to Amanda.

"If you need to know the prices, then you shouldn't be shopping here," She replied and chucked. The way she looked at him made Robert think she was daring him to say he shouldn't be shopping there. Even though it was exactly what he was thinking.

A clerk approached them. "Ms. Samson, welcome back."

"Hey, Katrina! We're here today to give Mr. Robert Blaze a complete wardrobe overhaul. Once we are finished, I want the clothes he's wearing now incinerated."

Katrina the clerk studied Robert from head to toe. "Sure thing, Miss. Mr. Blaze, welcome to Samsonight, the best clothing store in the whole arcology."

"Thank you, Ms. Katrina."

"Just Katrina is fine. Let's get started."

The next half hour made Robert understand the deep trauma dress-up dolls suffer from. Katrina and Amanda had him try dozens of outfits, then selected two business suits, one leather jacket, twelve shirts, seven pants, three long shorts, and five pairs of shoes, along with socks, underwear, and ties. No hats for some odd reason.

The last outfit he tried was casual everyday clothes. He couldn't deny it. The feeling of the fabric on his skin was divine. The clothes had a way of adjusting to his body that led him to believe they must also have some refitting runes. Because every piece he tried seemed to be custom-tailored for him.

At some point, his old clothes vanished from the dressing room. Robert could swear he smelled ash in the air but it was probably his imagination. They wouldn't literally burn his old clothes, right?

When he recovered from the ordeal, he was in front of the cashier. "With the discount, it will be three hundred thousand dollars, sir."

Robert clenched his jaw. Was Amanda intending to make him burn his five million as fast as possible? He paid and walked out of the shop with Amanda. He stared at the receipt.

"Why does a pair of socks cost three hundred and fifty dollars?"

"Because it's the pair of socks you will wear for the rest of your life. Seriously, think about that. How long does a normal, cheap pair of socks last? Now, multiply the price of these socks by that length of time, and divide by the price of the cheap socks. That's how long they must last to be economically viable."

Robert paused and stared at Amanda.

"What? I'm not some airhead trust fund baby who knows not the worth of money! Mr. Blaze, I'm offended!" She pouted. "Look, it's proven that high-quality, durable goods save money in the long run."

"But what if I invest the difference? How does it change the math? What if the interest in that period is higher than the cost of cheap socks?"

"And how much extra would you pay for socks that will never smell or give you some foot disease? Or look disgusting when you take your shoes off in front of your girlfriend?"

"I don't have a girlfriend," Robert deadpanned.

Amanda smiled. It seemed she caught exactly what she was fishing for.

"And now I'll focus a hundred percent on my job. No time for romance," Robert added.

She opened her mouth slightly, then clamped her jaws shut. Turning mechanically, she pointed at the next shop. "You should buy a dimensional ring."

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"A what?"

"A ring that has a collapsed space inside of it. You can store things there and nobody will ever know. Unless they steal the ring from you. Which, given your powers..."

"Sorry, I know what they are. But I thought these were super expensive."

"They are. But trust me, once you own one, you'll never want to go without it ever again."

"Do you?"

She poked her tongue at him. "They are so coveted it's better if nobody knows you have one." He nodded, his face apologetic. Amanda showed her hands. "No rings, see? Not that I don't want one."

Robert was so overwhelmed the only innuendo that could get through his skull right now had to be tied to the tip of a ballista bolt.

They entered the jeweler, full of lavish jewelry on display went straight into a set of double doors, which opened to even more lavish jewelry on display. A waiter holding a tray with assorted drinks approached them.

"Something non-alcoholic, good for focus," Amanda told him. The waiter deftly plucked a cocktail and handed it to her. "Same for him."

Robert got a different cocktail. Behind one of the display cases in the center, a woman in uniform stood like a statue. Only her eyes tracked them. Amanda ignored the clerk and went to a display case to the left. Only then did Robert notice that all the display cases had rings and only rings.

"I think you should get one of the one hundred and twenty-five liters. The price range is right around what you can afford now."

Robert looked at the display case. Row upon row of rings in several styles dazzled him. A label on top read, 125l, and another below had the price. It was more than half what he had in the bank.

"Don't worry, with the company discount, they will go for two million flat," She tapped her elbow to his ribs lightly. Robert kept worrying regardless. "Trust me on this. You want one of these rings. All we have to do is pick the style. Gold bands are out of the question. As are those with diamonds on top. We don't want people to get the wrong impression, do we?"

He knew she was playing with him. He would appreciate it if she stopped, but Robert knew it would be nearly impossible. Amanda was so excited about the shopping session that he suspected she would fire him if he broke the spell. Robert decided that enduring some teasing for the sake of the partnership was acceptable. And he was supposed to be his bodyguard. What kind of bodyguard was offended by his charge's eccentricities?

"Absolutely not, Miss," He replied like a British butler. Cold and detached. Perhaps that was how he should behave from now on. Amanda glared her annoyance for a moment and then recomposed herself. "I would take the plain steel band, then."

"That's platinum. But fine, it's a sensible choice," Amanda raised her hand and waved at the clerk. The woman moved with grace and elegance until she stopped on the other side of the case. "Six, twenty-seven."

"For the gentlemen?"

"Yes."

The woman opened the back of the case and took the ring on the sixth row and twenty-seventh column. She then placed it in a ring case and extended it to Robert. "You should put the ring on your finger and insert a small amount of essence into it. That will activate the runes in the interior of the ring. Once you do that, You can command the ring to go invisible. It will take about an hour for the collapsed space to prime. After that, you'll access it in the same way you get to your Ethercosm. Just focus on the ring instead of your soul."

Robert opened the case and placed the ring on his left index. Once he inserted some essence, the ring shrunk a little and fit snugly. He then willed it to vanish. He glanced at Amanda with a raised eyebrow. So she has a ring but it's invisible.

He wheezed as his breath caught. If she had an invisible ring, did the party members who died... Two million dollars a pop and they could even have other, more expensive... all that money... left on the bodies...

"Are you okay, Robert?" Amanda asked and glared at the clerk. "Any problems with the ring?"

"Miss, I can assure you—"

"This ring is fine," Robert said. "The issue was..." He leaned to whisper, "the salvage."

She pressed her lips into a line to suppress the laughter but her eyes were chortling. "Now you know why the families are willing to compensate you for retrieving the bodies so much," She whispered back. "But really, don't worry so much. They would demand the rings back if you took any. You didn't know then, but you did the right thing."

Robert paid the two million dollars for the ring without even thinking about that. One hundred and twenty-five liters was thirty-one gallons and a quart. Quite a lot of room. They left the jeweler.

"Next, we should get you some delving equipment. Camping gear, armor, weapons, and a backpack of holding."

They went down a floor and through some corridors before finding the right shop. Labyrinth Outfitters had rows of mannequins wearing all sorts of armor in the front, racks upon racks of weapons along the walls, and some assorted delving gear in the back.

"Samson will provide you with the standard security forces armor, and a civilian model for when you delve with me," Amanda explained. "But I believe you should buy your own armor."

They walked along the mannequins. The armor ranged from armored robes to boiled leather to chainmail to gothic plate to the ceramic armor the strike team wore.

"What kind of armor do you want?" Amanda asked after going around the armor sets on display.

"Something light, easy to take don and doff. I don't need it to mitigate all the damage, just protect the vitals."

"Gotcha. You can heal most wounds yourself, right?"

"If you don't mind me asking, can't the Nature affinity heal?"

"I have a healing spell but the essence efficiency is bad. And it provides a heal over time, not so useful in combat."

Most battles were decided in less than one minute. Only in rare occasions, both combatants were so invested in defense to turn a fight into a battle of attrition.

"I see."

"It gets better if I can evolve it with the right vestige. But that is still far, far away," She commented wistfully.

"How about this coat?" She pointed at a black overcoat.

"Too brooding."

"A set of armored doublet and pants? This one has thick, hardened ceramic plates over the vitals."

"Looks a little silly," Robert said as he looked at the puffy vest. It looked more like what a minstrel or a jester would wear.

"Black leather jacket and pants? The protection isn't so great but this satisfies your other requirements. We can sew some patches over the leather to give it some character. This set comes in various rune configurations. We can add a protection rune, hardness, repair, cleaning, deflection... and temperature control," Amanda then flagged a saleswoman. After she approached and greeted them, she asked if this set could hold all the runes she wanted.

"Yes, Miss. But we might not have a set with all these runes in his size. If we don't, it will take a week at most with a custom order."

"Make it three days. I don't care if you have to move our order ahead of others," Amanda commanded.

"Yes, Miss Samson. Let me see if we have something in stock. What's the gentleman's size?"

They waited for the clerk to check the stock but she returned with bad news. Not so bad as they could fulfill the order within Amanda's deadline. Robert just went and paid for the armor. He didn't even blink when another million dollars fled from his bank account.