Chapter 263

The First Tailor

“You sure there is nothing weird about this?” I ask, looking at my new enhanced doctoral uniform that shows that I am a Doctor not just for the Midnight Hunters, but for the resurrected, or maybe just resurrecting, Deolarian Empire.

“No, it looks great, almost the same exact way your previous doctoral uniform looked.” Gwen, my daughter, replied.

The sad part is she is correct.

To me, well both of us, I can’t see a difference in the coloring or magical schemas used by the amazing Tailor.

Her work for Zero was great, though oddly enough Zero just got the new uniform, thanked Penelope with a gentle kiss, then quickly went back to my arm to rest. I can’t help but notice that he has changed slightly since I entered the void realm. Not only was his sleeping not enough for me, but since then, getting him out to spend time with me has been tough. He did help with the birthing of books earlier, but then snuck into my arm on the way back here.

Only once Penelope called him out directly, and I tickled him to consciousness did he stir from his slumber. Then like an exhausted child who stayed up way too late on Christmas eve, to then wake up first thing on Christmas day, he went back to sleep and hasn’t come back.

That was disconcerting enough, which might be why I suddenly think that things aren’t as they appear to be right now.

But I can’t help but feel that something is amiss, particularly with the way both Mallory and Penelope are doing that weird dance that grandmothers would do when seeing their granddaughter all dressed up as a ring bearer for a wedding.

While I am not a ring bearer, I can’t help but draw these comparisons. Particularly as this will be my official uniform under the joined Deolarian Empire’s colors.

Compared to my previous uniform, this new one is leagues above it in terms of any measurable attribute.

My previous uniform.

Soul Bound Item: Midnight Hunter’s Doctorial Uniform: Official uniform worn by those noted as Doctors within the Midnight Hunter’s Guild. As long as the owner remains within the Midnight Hunters guild they can wear and use this item. Binds upon equip. Slots Required: Feet, Legs, Knees, Chest, Shoulders, Arms. Stats: +10% Mana Capacity, +15% Movement Speed, +15% Silent Movement, +8% Energy Hiding, +2% Energy Efficiency.

Compared to my newest uniform.

Soul Bind Item: Deolarian Court Magician Doctor Uniform (X 5): Official uniform worn by the official court Doctor of the Deolar Empire. As long as the owner remains loyal to the unified Deolarian Empire they can wear and use this item. Binds upon equip. Slots Required: Feet, Legs, Knees, Chest, Shoulders, Arms. Stats: +15% Mana Capacity, +15% Qi Capacity, +20% Movement Speed, +20% Silent Movement, +15% Energy Hiding, +10% Energy Efficiency.

Of note is that there are now five of them.

“Why five?” I asked.

“This way your Simulacrums can also receive the same bonus. Also, this should help cut down on the way some people are able to differentiate you from your Simulacrums.” Penelope stated.

Hearing that, I pause and turn to Mallory, who by her actions, that is poignantly looking away from me, seems to concur that this is in fact the case.

“But how, they are the same?” I asked.

“Not quite, you always got the shading off on the colors.” Penelope stated, “it was hard to tell, but I noticed it right away. And I’m pretty sure others began picking up on the discrepancy. Not wanting to tarnish my good name being associated with the cheap knock-offs, I decided to make one for you and all your Simulacrum. Five was enough, right?” Penelope asked.

Hearing that, I could almost feel that this was a challenge, but then not seeing a way most didn’t already know about all of my Simulacrum, I decided to nod in agreement.

“That is correct,” I reply.

“Well good, now your Simulacrums will also be as protected as the real you is.” Penelope stated.

Hearing her explanation, I couldn’t help but feel that this was a set up. As there was just too much nervous tension in the air between Mallory and Penelope.

Though looking back on it, I could almost understand Penelope’s excitement as she was clearly bedraggled and seemingly running on fumes of inspiration.

Seeing her like this, I once again gave her another golden and silver Qi infusion of energy to help relax her muscles and refill her energy.

“Oh, that is still the most amazing thing since coffee.” Penelope said, her voice filled with sounds of relief.

“Thank you for the uniforms I say, your skills have improved greatly.” I state, holding up the new uniform before putting it on, and feeling the magic of binding energy take effect, where the fibers of the fabric stretch and pull out as needed to fit me perfectly.

“AWW!” Mallory exclaims upon seeing me in my new Deolarian Court Magician Doctor Uniform.

Again, it is clearly something about the outfit. It is a bit puffier than I would normally wear, but I do like the fact that it is sinched to the arms and legs, letting me have a better range of movement, and I instantly feel the difference in power.

“Do I look funny?”

“Funny, no, you look gorgeous.” Mallory states.

“So this is not me wearing some funny clown costume of colors?” I ask, again looking at the cloth, trying to see if I can notice a break in fabric types or shades. Unfortunately, Penelope either did a great job of learning how to blend energy infused threads together seamlessly, or “I’m not wearing puke green, or pumpkin oranges?” I ask.

“What? No, of course not. We would never let someone disgrace you so. Though, now that you mention it, I think you could pull off a pumpkin orange with the right black accents.” Penelope states, putting her hand over her mouth in her clearly contemplating way.

“Stop that,” I state.

“Now go on, share those with your Simulacrum so they too are protected by the bonuses.” Mallory states, I’m about to do just that, when I realize she really wants to change the subject.

“One second, this is not puke green or any other clown colors?” I ask.

“No, those are definitely not clown colors, and especially not puke green.” Mallory confirmed, a little too enthusiastically.

Given the increases, I was almost tempted to take the uniform as is, as I clearly wouldn’t have to look at the colors. Knowing that this was supposed to be the royal regalia of the revitalized Deolarian Empire, I couldn’t help but think my precautions were a bit premature, especially as I doubt Mallory would want to ruin her new position as Queen Matriarch by pulling a joke on me.

That said, not puke green, not a clown polka dot display and I was good.

“Okay,” I state and like that I open up four successive Positional Teleportation gates, where I share my extra Deolarian Court Magician Doctor Uniforms with my Simulacrums.

Immediately the four other Simulacrum put on their own uniforms and I again witness no changes within my Simulacrum.

Well other than the fact that each one proceeds to pop through the gate real quick, dart forward, give Penelope a thank you kiss on the cheek, before darting back through the portal. Where they wave goodbye and then end the spell on their end.

Okay, apparently my Simulacrums might have been jealous of my elite gear, good to know, I think to myself.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

By the fourth kiss, Penelope was clearly flustered with all the attention. I could also see that the Simulacrums left a bit of an ephemeral energy lip imprint on her cheeks, likely heightening her emotional state.

Seeing the kiss marks, I wonder about creating my own line of ephemerally enhanced lipstick, but am quickly pulled from that line of thinking by Penelope.

“All right, well if you liked those, then you should be more than happy with these.” Penelope states as she hands me two more uniforms.

Soul Bind Item: Deolar King’s Regalia: Official uniform worn by the Deolar King of the Deolar Empire. As long as the Deolar Empire remains, this item will remain wearable. Binds upon equip. Slots Required: Feet, Legs, Knees, Chest, Shoulders, Arms. Stats: +10% Social Attributes, +10% Social Skills, +25% Damage Return, one-time full damage return to sender charges remaining (1 / 1).

Soul Bind Item: Deolar Princess’s Regalia: Official uniform worn by the Deolar Princess of the Deolar Empire. As long as the Deolar Empire remains, this item will remain wearable. Binds on Equip. Slots Required: Feet, Legs, Knees, Chest, Shoulders, Arms. Stats: +10% Social Attributes, +10% Social Skills, +35% Damage Return.

“Again, these are phenomenal. Damage return? And the ability to…” I begin, but am quickly cut off by Mallory’s loud cough.

COUGH!

“Oh, excuse me there, but yes, we don’t know who could be listening in right now.”

Hearing her concern, I pause then ask, “what you think I didn’t have Confidentiality engaged since I got here?”

“No, it’s just that, we thought you had already used it?” Mallory said, her voice a bit confused.

“When?” I ask.

“You know, when you left and then might or might not have reappeared at Timult?” Mallory asked.

“What? I didn’t use Confidentiality then.” I responded, though I am curious about that. “Wait, does that mean you don’t know what I did at the void realm?” I ask, my mind running wild with possibilities of having even more time to myself where I could work on things without people constantly watching my every movement.

“Void Realm?” Mallory asks.

“Yeah, that’s kind of what I call it, though I don’t know. I think I need to grow a tree there, or maybe bring a tree to grow?” I think to myself.

Then making a mental note, I wonder what type of tree I should try to grow on the barren lands. Then I realized I have possibly the perfect tree to attempt to grow, a Yggdraspirit tree seed.

Hidden Quest Identified: Seeding the Past: You have found a barren land and wish to fill it with life. Gather a seed from the great spirit tree Yggdraspirit and plant it in the newly discovered lands. Rewards: variable.

Note: Bonus rewards possible for not telling others about this quest.

There was something odd about that quest. As I had never seen a quest, outside of one from the Thieves Guild that gave additional rewards for not telling others about the quest.

“Wait, what did you just do?” Mallory asked me, her eyes glazed over as she was clearly staring at her guild interface and looking for something.

“Me, nothing. I’ve been right here this entire time.” I respond, holding my hands up in a clear sign of innocence.

“I could have sworn I just saw you get something.” Mallory stated.

“I did, I got notifications that Penelope had met all of her requirements and more for the quest I assigned her. Great job Penelope,” I state, clearly shifting the current focus of this line of questioning away from me and back towards the reason why we are here, getting a fitting before I have to deliver not one but two more exams.

New Quest Completed: Official Royal Deolarian Tailor (Ongoing): You have been identified as the top candidate to be the official Royal Tailor for the Ancient Deolar Empire. To prove your worth, you have been given a task worthy of an Official Royal Tailor, to provide enough uniforms for everyone in the wedding party. Requirements, cannot share the technical details of this quest outside of the following three individuals (Dr. Cassiopeia Spiritlight, Mallory Valhalla, Gwendolyn Spiritlight), should you talk to anyone outside of this trusted core of people about this, all rewards for this questline and future considerations for the role of Official Royal Tailor for the Deolarian Empire. Requirements: Create the following items: King’s Regalia to Gwendolyn Spiritlight, and one other (2 / 1), Queen’s Regalia to Mallory Valhalla (1 / 1), Princess’ Regalia to Dr. Cassiopeia Spiritlight and Jhonny (2 / 2), Magistrate’s Regalia to the officiator of the wedding (1 / 1), Royal Witnesses Regalia To people to be named later (15 / 10). Bonus Regalia for official Court Magical Doctor delivered to Dr. Spiritlight (5 / 3).

Rewards: Experience, Skills, Titles, Badges.

Experience Gained:

1,750,000

New Skill Gained: Qi Enchantments has reached level 42!

Qi Enchantments is a Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Perception, Intelligence, and Willpower X2 based skill.

New Skill Gained: Seamless Magical Weaving has reached level 72!

Seamless Magical Weaving is a Dexterity, Endurance, Personality, Sociability, Attractiveness, Perception, Intelligence, and Willpower based skill.

Title Gained: First Royal Deolarian Tailor Title: First Royal Deolarian Tailor: The title given to the first dedicated Royal Deolarian Tailor. Effect: +15% Tailoring Based Skills, +15% Enchanting Based Skills. Can infuse both mana and Qi related enchantments on items.

New Feat Recorded: First Royal Deolarian Tailor (2,500): You have been recognized as the First Royal Deolarian Tailor of the Deolarian Empire. New Feat Recorded: First Qi Enchantment Tailor (5,000): You have been recognized as the first enchanter to infuse Qi related enchantments onto items.

Bloodline Evolution Perk: Magical Tailor: You have tailoring and enchanting within your blood. Anything you touch, or bleed upon can be made into an enhanced best version of itself. Effect: +1 tier rating to all goods and products used for crafting or enchanting.

Seeing the quest completion notification, I was surprised to see that I could in fact give up to a fifty percent bonus based on how happy I was with everything. That was why the title gave 15% bonuses versus the 10% it was originally going to post. Then there was the bonus to experience gained, which I split, along with the unique Badge bonus to give an incredible Bloodline Evolution Perk, all but forcing Penelope to go down the path of becoming a Legendary Tailor.

Seeing her hard work come into full effect, I was both proud of Penelope, and glad to see that her work paid off.

“Good job!” I state, excitedly praising Penelope.

Then just as I say that, I feel a brief moment of pause, as I can almost feel the outer workings of the world slow down, as they realize what just happened.

For a second, I can almost feel the fact that Mallory is going to once again get high blood pressure about something that just happened. As there is clearly going to be a system message here shortly about something, but for the life of me, I don’t know what?

Is it because I gave a quest? No, that can’t be, I’ve been giving quests for days now. Heck, Mallory gives out quests as the Guild Master often and there are no issues with that.

Then I feel the moment the world seems to come to its conclusion that whatever caused it to pause is worthy of a world first notification.

World First Notification: Rejoice, Penelope Tailor has found a way to infuse items with permanent Qi Enchantments. Now this new feature is available to the world.

Seeing the message I pause, feeling almost guilty that I did something that would get me yelled at by Mallory. Only to then let out a long sigh of relief.

Phew, so glad that was not me, this time, I think to myself.

“What did you do!” Mallory shouts, and for once I am glad it is not directed at me.

At least, such a remark shouldn’t be directed at me, but one quick glance of the area around me shows that Mallory is now right there, right next to me.

“What? What do you mean? That was clearly Penelope, it had her name and everything on the announcement.” I stammer out, before giving a “good job again, by the way.”

Penelope for her part, just backs away a step as she lets Mallory get right next to me.

I honestly don’t blame her, as I was clearly trying to throw the girl under the bus to avoid Mallory’s ire.

“No, it was clearly after you signed off on her quest, meaning that you did something to get this response.” Mallory sated, clearly flustered.

“Girl, you need to breathe here.” I state, reaching out to touch Mallory and apply a bit of calming Qi energy into her body, but she bucks me off like a wild bull.

“Don’t you understand,” Mallory states, “now Penelope will also be a target during the wedding.”

Hearing that, I could understand the issue, as it means that in addition to everything else Penelope will need to be watched over.

“Ah, I see.” I state, understanding where this newfound frustration is coming from. Here we are flaunting our wealth right before the most important day of the year for our Guild, the day we could become an empire. And at the same time our Tailor just made waves for doing something wholly unique.

Mallory looks like she is about to lose it, but then seemingly comes up with a plan on the spot.

“Okay, tomorrow, well for the next few hours, you are on Penelope’s guard duty. That means you go anywhere, or do anything, you do it with Penelope, got it?” Mallory demands.

At that comment, I get a guild quest.

Midnight Hunter’s Guild Quest Assigned: Proved 48 Hour Protection To The First Royal Deolarian Tailor: You have been assigned as the primary support staff to protect the First Royal Deolarian Tailor, Penelope Tailor, throughout the rest of today, and through the royal Deolarian wedding (tomorrow). Goal: Protect Penelope Tailor from being abducted or from incurring serious bodily harm for the next 47 Hours, 59 Minutes 58 Seconds… Rewards: You don’t lose your position in the guild, variable.

Seeing the reward, I protest slightly. “That’s kind of harsh,” I state.

“Well, don’t lose our Tailor.” Mallory states, a bit more tension in her voice than needed.

“Look, I need to go,” Mallory said, clearly realizing that she went too far, but unable to change her quest rewards.

Mallory is so furious that she just leaves everyone, including Gwen who just happens to be sitting in the giant throne, something that I am certain will cause issues if anyone sees her like this.

Realizing the potential faux paus of having my daughter found on the throne, I am about to change her into the form of the King, when she asks to move.

“Can you teleport me to the office, I need to talk to her.” Gwen asked.

“Yeah,” I state then as I am casting the spell I state. “Remind her that she is lucky I didn’t assign her the quest to have her get that stick removed from her…”

New Quest Being Created: Personal Corrective Cosmetic Surgery: Would you like assign the quest to have Mallory Valhalla receive corrective surgery to remove an unidentified foreign object from her…

“No,” I state emphatically, realizing that this would be throwing oil on the fire.

Quest Creation Dismissed.

“What?” Gwen asked, but she was already through the one-way Teleport to Mallory’s office.

Seeing as I just dodged a bullet.

With that it is just Penelope and me in this changing room.

There is an awkward pause as we both try to understand what just happened. How did I get yelled at for Penelope’s World First notification?

I mean, I guess I see it, as I clearly created the quest that caused Penelope to break through her own personal limitations, but isn’t that good?

Then before I can get too lost in my own thoughts, Penelope hits me with the ultimate question to derail my thoughts.

“Aren’t you supposed to be teaching a mid-term exam here soon?” Penelope asks.

Sigh.

I am about to leave, when I realize I need to take Penelope with me. At least through tomorrow.

Realizing this, I inwardly sigh as it means I can’t go to the Void Realm again, at least not until Sunday. As I don’t want to risk taking Penelope there, at least not until I make sure things are a bit more stable there.

Sigh.

“Everything okay?” Penelope asks.

“Yeah,” I respond somewhat automatically, even though I know most of the fun things are being taken away from me right now, all but forcing me to focus on this wedding.

No more fusing skill books until Sunday, no more going to the Void Realm until Sunday. Almost like all the fun things are on hold until Sunday. Still, it could b worse, as I could be stuck with someone other than Penelope.

Taking a calming breath, I exhaled and then held out my hand to Penelope.

“Care to join me in providing measurable objective tests to students trying to learn about Magical Resonance?” I state in a faux courtly grace.

“Why, I would be delighted.” Penelope said, in her own faux grace, bowing slightly as she took my outstretched floating hand.

With her hand in mine, I Teleported the two of us to my classroom, where quite a few nervous students were already watching and waiting.

Just arriving, I could feel the nervous tension clouding the area.

“Wow, almost like you all are expecting the worst.” I state, realizing that word of my previous mid-terms might have reached these students.

Silence.

Yep, going to be one of those type of test days.