Aeric walked downstairs and rolled his shoulders, he’d had a few more ideas he wanted to incorporate into the dress that he had thought up over the night. So far he hadn’t really thought of attempting things that were blatantly magical but he’d decided to try something that would have been utterly impossible back home. What if he could use the wispy cloth and fuse it with the wearer's hair after a certain length. Make the hair float behind her like it was insubstantial, lengthening it and having it meld with the cloth and the dress, and make the dress light enough in places to float some, too?
Why aim for having her look like a princess if he could have her look like the deity of the mist. Maybe that was shooting too high but you never know, shoot for the stars and land on the moon, or whatever that expression was. He had his plans, and now was the time to carry them out. There were things that needed to be done, and the preparations and experiments he needed to carry out on the material to get the effect he wanted would take a while. But he was really excited to get to work on the dress and he really wanted to wow the theatre people. Not to mention anything he made for them would be really good for exposure, the clothing they wore were showpieces after all. Not necessarily practical or for everyday wear, although he would make sure they’d be comfortable to wear at the least.
The task of the day would be experiments, then once he knew what material was used for what it would be time to cut the patterns. While the cuts themselves weren’t that complicated or nearly as involved as the moonlit moth dress, the way the material interacted with the air or a breeze would be everything for this piece. He needed certain parts to actually be lighter than air - he might need to ask a mage if it was possible to add some invisible runes or something to some parts to lighten them. Or to make them float outright. He hadn’t thought much about such a partnership before and he had no idea where he would find the kind of mage he would need.
He looked up and glanced at Yisirillia, “Yi, could you magic certain pieces of fabric to be lighter? Permanently?”
The elf looked up and her forest green eyes locked onto his, she glanced at his fabric and tapped a delicate finger onto the wood of her table, “That depends on how light you need it to be, how light it already is and how much volume needs to be enchanted.”
“Well, I need enough fabric to form a long scarf or something like various strands of cloak? The fabric itself is already really lightweight, so I don’t know if that will make things easier or harder.”
“Easier, then. In the case of the lightweight spell the magic ‘carries’ the weight of the fabric, so if the fabric is already light I don’t need to use much magic. Can I have some small parts to try some spells on? I’ll let you know how well it works and how much I can do when I’m done. It'll probably take about an hour or so.”
Aeric smiled at her, “Thanks.”
He turned back to his sketches, with that sorted he could get started on the main body of the dress, the scarf or shawl or whatever it was going to be could wait till the end. It would also be the larger part of where his shenanigans took place. He started cutting the patterns and hummed to himself as he worked. The dress itself wasn’t that complicated to make but he would need several layers. Where the moonlit moth dress had been a work that centered around the effect of light and shadow, this dress would focus around the concept of weight, heavy and light. How various pieces of the dress would interact. He thought that with a bit of creativity he could get the dress to move the way he wanted by increasing the weight of certain parts and lightening others.
He grinned, that was something he could work with. The dress itself would be a mixture of white and grey - he had wanted pure white at the start but he wanted some grey accents. Mist wasn’t a pure white after all, or was it? He shrugged, the main dress would be white and the raiment could be a very light grey. Grey melded well with the faded blue that the princess’s hair would be. He tapped a finger to his lip as he looked at the finished pattern, with the translucence he wanted in certain pieces of the dress he would need to figure out a way to keep the stitches invisible to the eye. He wanted the dress to seem like a single piece of cloth that was brought into being. No seams, no stitches, no embroidery. Just a wispy fabric.
Yi gestured him closer and showed him the cloth she’d worked on, she lifted her hands up and showed him how the lightest she’d been able to manage actually caused the cloth to rise from the bottom, it was lighter than air and actually floated. He thanked her for the effort and showed her which pieces he wanted to be of similar weight. He grinned to himself as he felt the various pieces fit together and become a complete picture. He sat down and got to work, asking Hurma to fuse the cut-out pieces together to avoid the stitching. It was the first time he’d used others to aid him in his own project but this dress was worth it.
He worked fervently throughout the day and he saw the piece come together at the end of it, a day of thinking and a day of hard work and the dress was done. Now he just needed someone to wear it but he had to say ahead of time, it was the best piece he had ever made. It was gorgeous.
He stood before it as the dress sat on the mannequin. Xii stepped up next to him and stared at the dress. “That is one beautiful piece of work.”
Aeric smiled and grabbed her hand, “It’s my best piece yet. Can someone get Reina? I want to see it worn and I don’t wanna inspect it till-”
“Till the one it is meant for has seen it, we know.” Hurma interrupted with a shake of her head. “Treeka already went off to get her as soon as the dress was finished. The shop is officially closed anyway, we worked a bit longer today since you were so close to finishing.”
Aeric turned and blinked at the ogre, then smiled. “Thanks for waiting, I probably wouldn’t have been happy being dragged away when I was so close to being finished.”
Xii chuckled, “Yea I figured, so… When is my super magical dress coming?”
Aeric turned to her and cocked his head, “Do you actually want a dress? I had other clothes in mind that’d fit you better to be honest, though I can do a dress as well.”
“I’ll take both.”
He chuckled at her response and pulled her a little closer before they grabbed a couple of chairs and placed them before the dress to admire the finished piece while being in comfortable cuddling distance of each other. Treeka came back in with Reina who stopped when she walked through the door and stared at the mannequin. Her eyes widened and her lips parted slightly as she stared at the piece. Aeric smiled and turned his gaze back on the dress, the main piece was a single piece of cloth. He had chosen for an off-the-shoulder neckline and from there it sat tightly just below the breasts and up to the navel and then it spread, a billowing of cloth that spread mostly behind the dress, the hem floating just slightly above the ground. Fluttering with the slightest disturbance in the air.
“Aeric...” Reina groaned as she stared at the dress, “There is no way that dress is within our budget.”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
He laughed and motioned to it. “The materials used and time spent on it were within the constraints of what you paid. The other clothes included, we still make a decent profit from this. Though it’ll become increasingly more unlikely that Aliami will let me accept work within this price range. But I’m pretty sure I’ll level tonight so don’t worry, it was more than worth it for me.”
She stared at him before turning to the dress, “Can I put it on?”
Aeric nodded, “Can you get in character first? You did tell us that you had a skill that could alter your appearance to the character’s, right? It would also do your hair? There’s a bit of a gimmick to the dress so your hair will need to be a bit longer.”
She blinked at him and raised an eyebrow but nodded, with a shake of her shoulders her face started changing. Her bone structure sharpened and became a little more prominent, her hair lightened and lengthened. It braided itself and fell down to the small of her back, her hair loose but for the sides and her bangs which were pulled back and braided before coming together in a long braid at the back of her head. She smiled at him and did a little twist, “What do you think?”
“I think that skills and magic are super cool and very unfair. Not gonna lie, that was pretty awesome.”
Xii nodded and studied the girl, “That looks like a pretty high-level skill, capstone thirty?”
Reina nodded, “Yeah, I’ve been in theatre for years now and I finally reached level thirty last year. The skill I got is called [Crafted In Her Image], which lets me take on the looks and habits of the character I’m focused on.”
Treeka tapped her talon on the floor, “Well, enough yappin around, try on the dress! I want to inspect it and see it in action!”
Reina turned and focused on the dress, rolled her shoulders, and stepped forward. She took her clothes off and went to put on the dress. Aeric coughed and turned around before opening his mouth. “Uh just so you know, it’d be better if you took off your underwear. It’ll mess with the dress. Having the straps of your bra peek out kind of ruins the bare shoulders, plus your underwear is a bit too dark and would probably be visible under the dress…”
Reina snorted and rolled her eyes, “I don’t really care if you see me naked Aeric, but yea I’ll take 'em off.” He heard the sound of pieces of clothing hitting the floor but didn’t turn around, he heard the rustle and the whisper of cloth and then heard the small signs of amazement and awe from the girls who were watching.
“Oh wow…” He heard Yisirillia whisper as she stared wide-eyed. Aeric turned around and looked, the corners of his mouth rose as he smiled in pride. Damn, that was one good-looking dress.
Reina stood before them, hands folded in front of her, bare shoulders visible under the workshop lights, the slight swelling that told of her bosom was visible before it disappeared beneath the pale white cloth. It sat tightly, just enough to show curves without showing the skin, it slimmed down a bit towards the waist before then swelling at the hips and falling to the ground in various folds and layers, all of it floating slightly off the ground. He nodded to himself. She looked radiant.
“Last but not least I have this shawl that’s something of a special addition. You wear it behind your neck and over the shoulders and then let it trail back beneath your armpits.” Aeric stepped forward with the light grey shawl and handed it to her. It was made of the softest and most translucent materials he had and it was possibly the most ethereal part of the dress despite the slightly darker colour.
She did as he said and put on the raiment, running a hand over it almost reverently.
“And now for the true test. Walk towards us, then turn and walk back. Don’t turn in place, you'll have to walk in a bit of an arc to avoid getting the train tangled.”
She nodded and walked forward, the cloth floating behind her. The raiment around her neck floated over her shoulders and down the front and then beneath her armpits before trailing behind her. She walked and the cloth lengthened, looking like she’d just walked out of the mist and had it cling to her skin to become fabric. He grinned and then she walked towards them and turned. Another round of gasps as they saw her hair, halfway down her neck the light blue hair and braids slowly faded into wisps of mist that melded with the shawl and the cloth of the dress. She turned and the ensemble of cloth followed her, like clouds floating weightlessly on the breeze.
“How did you manage that…” Hurma whispered as she stared at Reina’s hair.
“Magic and intent. Your skill helped.”
“So now it’s time to inspect the dress right?” Xii muttered as she turned to Aeric, he nodded and focused his gaze on the dress.
[Wedding Dress of The Princess of the Mist]
[Masterpiece Quality]
[A true masterpiece created by a young tailor unbound by conceptions of what is possible and what is not. Centered around the concept of weight, the dress is capable of floating in the air due to an enchanted lack of weight. The hair of the wearer will fuse with the dress if it’s beyond shoulder length.]
[Lightness enchantment, Elegance aura, Minor mist control, Minor Regality, Minor Self Repair]
“Aeric!” Xii hissed, “It’s a fucking Masterpiece! Do you know how much that’s worth?!”
Aeric chuckled and rolled his shoulders, “I did it again huh, Aliami is so gonna murder me.”
“Please tell me you didn’t give away that dress to a friend for free.” A voice sounded out behind him.
Aeric stiffened. “I didn’t, it was a commission for fifteen gold. I only used magic materials and one small roll of rare materials. They are worth like four gold? I didn’t expect to reach Masterpiece quality with it…”
Aliami ran a hand down her face and sighed, “I really need to make a rule that says you’re not allowed to let people pay upfront. Just in case you make something worth significantly more than what was ordered.”
Reina coughed and stiffened as the rest of the group looked at her. “We’ll buy the dress for fifteen gold and then buy the rest for another five gold. That should be around what the rest is worth right? I’d feel really guilty if I bought the whole bunch for fifteen gold. Even if you would technically still make a profit.”
Aliami sighed, “That’s fair enough. I want one more thing though. I want free tickets for all of us for the first play you use that dress in. I wanna make sure you and your troupe do it justice.”
The Leonids' eyes narrowed as she stared at Reina who gulped but quickly nodded, “Not a problem! I’ll let the boss know!”
“I swear.” Aliami muttered, “Can’t leave you alone for a day or two without you doing something I wasn’t prepared for. Masterpiece already?! You’re not even level thirty yet, although you’re likely to reach that level when you sleep tonight.”
“Probably, I can kinda feel it coming already. I wonder what my new capstone skill is.”
“Something for us to find out tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow also happens to be the next time we do the misty princess play. So uh, you guys can visit tomorrow? I’ll make sure you guys have seats, VIP seats!”
Treeka nodded and stuck out her claw, grasping Reina’s hand. “It’s a deal, eight seats for us for the theatre tomorrow! I’m sure you’re excited to show the dress and the rest of the clothes to your colleagues so why don’t you rush off home so you don’t have to see Aliami murder Aeric.”
Reina flicked her eyes to Aeric who responded, “She’s not gonna murder me, she’s just gonna give me a tired and exasperated stare and then sigh, disapproving and depressed, at me for the rest of the night.”
The other girls chuckled and Aliami furrowed her brow, “I might poke you a few times with my claws, hard, just because you said that.”
The group laughed and as the day drew to a close, Aeric crawled into his bed with excitement, wondering what kind of new skill he would wake up to tomorrow.