“There? The red and orange, let’s go!” Colette said as she grabbed Lloyd’s wrist and pulled him along.

The two swiftly made it to the stall, and Lloyd could see why he had initially passed by this one. The only things that he could see within the shop were sheets of different-colored threads on wooden hangers. He initially thought that they just sold carpets or something, but now he realized that those must be threading that goes into making clothes.

“Welcome to Sacred Silks. How can I serve you today?” The man behind the counter asked.

“I was looking to purchase a set of robes today,” Lloyd said.

The man stood maybe five and a half feet tall. Although he wore his hood up, his face was still mostly visible. Short shabby brown hair was tucked away behind his ears, and he wore a well-groomed, thick, dark brown beard that drooped down half a foot from his face. His expression was plain as he observed Lloyd. After taking a moment to observe what the man was wearing, Lloyd began to question his resolve to buy one of them.

“Wait, am I buying a dress?” Lloyd turned and quietly asked Colette.

“No, silly, it’s a robe,” Colette said.

“Well, the robe looks a lot like a dress, doesn’t it?”

“Sure, but they’re totally different.”

“If you say so.”

“Ah hem,” said the man behind the stall as he cleared his throat. “We don’t have many robes in stock today. As you can see, I have threads of varying colors and properties. What is your power?”

“Telekinesis,” Lloyd answered.

“Oh, good, good. You are fortunate indeed. That is a reasonably common ability. May I ask, you seem to be about the right age. Do you happen to be an Omega?” the merchant asked.

Lloyd’s cheeks began to flush a light pink. He didn’t know why he was embarrassed about having to answer the question. Many people, heck, most people with powers weren’t Omegas. He quickly and briefly looked back at Colette and Regal and realized why he blushed. Lloyd was playing catch-up. He only recently received his powers, and he couldn’t have possibly hoped to match the potential of his Omega friends.

“Unfortunately, I am not.”

“No worries. I only ask because we are finding that the materials need to be sturdier with Omegas. If you want to come on the other side of the stall, I can get you sized up.”

Lloyd walked around to the other side of the merchant’s table. Before Lloyd even realized it, he reached out to the silks on his left and right. His left hand found a bright blue tapestry. The material was silky smooth, the faint glimmer of power dripped off the fabric. As he released his left hand, his right found a dull yellow one. Unlike it’s silky sibling to the left, this one felt a bit coarser and a heck of a lot more powerful. A smile spread on his face as he realized that this could be an excellent first step in bridging the power gap between him and the rest of his party.

Lloyd stood still as the merchant took out a measuring tape. He signaled to Lloyd to reach his arms out into a t pose, and the man began to measure all the various inseams and distances that he needed. The measuring took a few minutes. Looking down Lloyd could see various numbers scratched on a pad that the man held as he rolled up his tape and set them down on the table inside.

“That should do for the measurements, and I have everything here. Would you prefer the red silk here or the green one in the back?” the man asked as he pointed to the two available threads.

The red one that was near the merchant was a dark cherry red. Lloyd did enjoy that color, and he thought that it would go well with the flames on Milla’s back. Not wanting to choose the first option he saw; he looked at the back of the shop toward the green silks. The forest green silk seemed appealing as well, and in fact, he thought it might do better in the wilderness. The red might stick out a little bit too much, whereas the green would blend in well. A smile crossed his face as he imagined an entire scene of him sneaking through a forest, invisible to his enemies. He saw himself picking up monstrous animals and skewering them with his telekinetic magic. His daydream faded quickly as he saw a hand wave in front of his face.

“Still with us?” the shopkeeper asked.

“Yes, sorry. I think I’ll go with the green,” Lloyd responded.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Of course, not a problem. That will be 1,800 coin. It will be ready in about a week.”

“A week? 1,800?” Lloyd sputtered the words as he spoke.

That would mean that he would have to spend almost all of the coin that he got from selling his father’s creations. He knew that was the whole point in selling them, but he had hoped there would be more coin left over after purchasing some armor. Plus, taking a week to craft was an absolute non-starter.

“We should be leaving either tomorrow or the day after, I won’t be able to wait a week.”

“Well...” the man said as he began to scratch at his chin. “With a bit more coin, I could push your order to the front of the line. I could have it done tomorrow. That, of course, would require a lot of work and a late night for me,” said the merchant as his eyes wandered to the floor. His head was tilted down, and his hood covered most of his face, but Lloyd could see the scraps of a smile spread on his face briefly before it disappeared. Is he trying to cheat me too?

“How much?” Lloyd asked.

“For a rush order? An even 2,500 should be about right.”

“No way! That's way too much,”

“If that price doesn’t work for you, I understand. Not everyone can afford the fine works here from Sacred Silks.”

“Hey man, we can dump you some money. We made a decent amount from selling those herbs. It was about a thousand per person,” Regal said.

Lloyd wanted to have more money for other cities they would come across and, of course, for The Citadel. If things were this expensive here, he couldn’t imagine how pricey they would be in The Citadel. The quality would also be much, much higher.

Lloyd then began to think about the previous battles. He wondered if he had been a little bit weaker if they would have gone way worse. What if he had been a bit stronger in those fights? Would they have suffered fewer injuries? Would Cassius still be alive if Lloyd had been able to kill that bandit leader sooner?

The loss in coin would hurt, but he was certain that he would regret not making the purchase and being too weak to defend himself or his friends, old and new.

“2,100, and you have a deal,” Lloyd said as he walked back to Regal to acquire the thousand coin from the herb sale. Colette gave him a smile and a double thumbs up.

“How about this? Let’s keep the 2500, but I will throw some of this yellow thread in,” said the man as he walked toward the section containing yellow threads. “These will enhance the durability of the robes, allowing them to withstand more slashes, scratches, and scorches,” the man said with confidence. He clearly had used that line before.

Lloyd could feel the anger rise again. This time, much more slowly. Did that mean that the merchant meant to sell him some shabby robes? Would the first flicker of fire send his robes into ashes? He realized that he was incredibly out of his depths here, so he turned to Colette.

“What do you think? I know nothing of this,” Lloyd asked Colette.

“The prices seem okay. Maybe a tad steep, but the materials seem to be quality. Is that robe of your own making, sir?” She asked the merchant.

Lloyd took a moment to fully take in the set of robes that he was wearing. There was a dark black trim that outlined the top of his hood that traced down his neckline and went down each of his sleeves. The rest of his shoulders and hood were a dark crimson red. The robes transitioned lighter and lighter as they got closer to the bottom, eventually turning more orange. The black thread wove along his chest, and he saw as the man turned in a slow circle that the black thread curved along his back and created the form of a sitting Raven. It, indeed, was a stunning robe/dress thing.

“Why yes, my dear. Now, of course, I spared no expense in the creation of my own attire. Yours, good sir, of course, won’t be up to the quality level of these. The yellow thread will be used on the seams and around the front of the hood. The other designs and the raven that you see on mine are part of a very delicate process. The symbols and designs you see on the rest of my robes act as runes and power enhancers. I do not have the ability myself to enhance the runes. It is the work of one of my friends. Her services are quite expensive. I hope that answers your questions,” the merchant said.

Lloyd looked back at Colette, who gave him a steady nod. “Yeah, if you have the funds, I would say this is worth purchasing. I think it will enhance your abilities quite a bit,” she said.

“You have a deal,” Lloyd said as he extended his hand, which the shopkeeper quickly shook.

“With your payment, I can close up shop and begin working on your robes immediately. I can also deliver them to wherever you are staying.”

“Yeah, that would be great. I’m in room 24 at the Stony Spire," Lloyd said as he counted out the coin and dropped it on the table in front of the merchant.

2,500 coin gone, just like that. Yes, technically, Lloyd was up 500 coin for the day, but it still felt like a loss. He tried to keep positive thoughts and how much the robe would change and enhance his abilities.

“Thank you very much, and if any of your friends require my services, please send them my way.”

Lloyd left the stall and returned to his friends.

“This is exciting. Trust me, you will feel like a whole different man with those. You did very well there. See, just stay stern and confident when negotiating. Never be afraid to walk away. They can sense it.” Colette said.

“Thank you for all your help back there. Both with the coin from the sale of the herbs and for your knowledge. I really couldn’t tell if I was being ripped off or if what he was saying was accurate,” Lloyd said.

“Of course. The coin was yours anyway, and the stronger one of us is, the stronger all of us are. Likely means I’ll have to patch you up less, which is always good.”

Before Lloyd could respond, he felt something nuzzle into his left hand and immediately knew it must have been Milla. Her obsidian fur slowly swept across her body—it was like watching a dark wave in slow motion. Milla playfully thrust her head into Lloyd’s hand before disengaging and walking to the front of the group. Lloyd saw the fox was constantly scanning the crowd. She seemed on edge and ready to run at any moment.

“Mind if we get out of here? This is not really the type of place either Milla or I really want to be,” Sheena asked, but it felt more like a statement.

“Yeah, there’s more of the city to explore!” Lloyd said with an excited smile.