“Second on the agenda is the reward provided by the crown for your help with the situation.” Captain Dio reached into her desk and pulled out a very heavy bag filled nearly to the brim with coins. Looking inside the bag Arthur saw that all those coins were gold. His eyes widened and he looked up to the captain for an explanation.

“That right there is 100 gold coins for your help in defeating the vampire threat within the city. The crown knows that you are a part of the mages guild and are very interested in alchemy and enchanting, this is their way of supporting you for a job well done.” Captain Dio leaned back in her chair as Arthur looked through the bag half wondering it was only the top portion of the bag that was filled with gold. But as he looked he saw it was entirely gold coins.

“There are two other important things to take care of before you leave, first is this letter from the crown itself.” The captain handed Arthur a letter with an important red seal keeping it shut. Opening the letter Arthur found it was an invitation to a party of sorts hosted by the crown itself, the party was being hosted for a few reasons but his achievements were one of the more important ones that were listed.

“Wow, an invitation from the crown itself. Not quite what I was expecting after killing some vampires even if they were hiding in the city. Looks like the event is in a month.”

“Not just some vampires Arthur, you defeated an independent vampire that could have fought against a paladin with the end result being a toss up. In all actuality you should have been killed in a one on one fight, thankfully he wasn’t taking the fight as seriously as he could have, which gave you an opportunity to restrain him and then kill him.” Captain Dio was clearly happy with the situation, somehow Arthur’s actions had to be a good thing for her department of the city guard for such a reaction.

“One last thing, this is actually a gift from me rather than the crown.” Captain Dio reach below her desk and brought out a sword just like the one she was carrying on her hip. “This here is a steel rapier, the very same type of sword I use. I noticed that you use a longsword as your melee weapon of choice which is a good weapon but I don’t think it is the best one for you. You are a mage at heart and something that relies upon dexterity rather than physical strength would likely be better suited for you.”

The captain handed Arthur the rapier who took the sword by the one handed grip. Standing up he gave a few slow and light swings in open space to get a feel for the weapon. “This is a unique weapon, but why is the blade so thin? I don’t really see how someone would be able to slash with a weapon like this very effectively.”

“That is because a rapier is a thrusted weapon designed for stabbing your opponents rather than slashing. Strength is of course good for piercing power, but dexterity is what allows this weapon to function at its best by finding small gaps within armor. The sword is typically used by higher class people rather than common folk, but that doesn’t make the weapon any less effective in the hands of someone who is skilled.”

Arthur looked at the weapon in his hands with a different view after hearing the captain’s explanation. The tip of the blade was rather thin and looked like it could slip right in between the little links of chainmail armor with enough precision. In the end Arthur placed his own longsword within his dimensional bag and attached his new rapier to his hip.

“One last thing before you leave, if you are willing to learn more about the rapier you can get some lessons from an old friend of mine in the mercenaries guild here in the city.” Captain Dio said, stopping Arthur as he was about to leave. “His name is Hostus Scaevola, he works as a trainer full time for quite some time now. He used to teach me back when I was a young woman.”

Arthur nodded and committed the name to memory before leaving the office with his armed escort in tow. Without much wait Arthur left for the mages guild with the intent of learning something more of restoration magic now that he didn’t need to worry all that much about a vampire crawling through his window to kill him.

*******

A week passed as Arthur spent his time learning restoration magic proper and continuing to improve his healing potions as a result. He had managed to remove all of the noticeable damage that his arms suffered from his fight with Darius as the pain was nothing but a memory at this point. In the meantime his armed escort was removed as there was no longer any reason for Arthur to require protection.

/- - - - - -\

+ Restoration Level 3

\- - - - - -/

In his living quarters in the late morning Arthur was seated at his table working with his alchemy equipment brewing his healing potions, with his improved skill in restoration magic he was able to focus more healing magic within the potion itself and create a healing potion that was at least twenty percent stronger than what he could create before. The value of such a potion was also worth quite a bit more, now Arthur was able to sell each of his potions to the guild for five copper pieces each.

When he was finished with the potions for the day Arthur placed the bottles he hadn't used yet back into his bag before bringing back out a piece of cloth. Using that piece of cloth Arthur wiped down his equipment and then used hydromancy to clean the inside of any apparatus that had a part that contained liquids. When he was done he poured the conjured water outside his window out onto the streets where it would likely be eaten by whatever animals that wandered the streets at night.

With the reward of one hundred gold coins Arthur had bought himself a new alchemy set that was worth five gold coins in total. The set allowed Arthur to produce many more potions in a faster period of time than he could before allowing him more time to spend learning other things such as restoration magic.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Picking up the invitation off on the side of the table Arthur looked at the writing within. He already knew everything it said, but it helped to reorient him and solidify his goals when he did so. ‘I will need to buy a new outfit for this party sometime soon. I have no doubts that the crown and all of their loyal subjects will be expecting me to be there for my slaying of the vampires, I suppose I will need to look around the northern district for a high quality tailor for something that is appropriate to a party hosted by the crown.’

Arthur sighed as he thought about the cost such an outfit would cost him, the only upside he could see was that he might be able to get something that was both expensive and usable outside of a party setting.

********

When noon rolled around Arthur was done with his alchemy and knew he should put off finding something for the party any longer, so he stood up and cleaned himself up before heading out into the street for the northern distinct and whatever the best tailor was.

Reaching the gate there were a handful of guards standing around with their eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary, they gave Arthur no trouble though they did watch him with some suspicion in their eyes as he passed.

Once inside he noticed that several of the rich folks walking through the street actively avoided him like he was sick, the only people who didn’t act in such a way were the guards patrolling the streets and the workers who were cleaning and doing other menial tasks. Arthur walked up to the nearest one and asked his questions. “Excuse me, do you know where I can find a tailor in this district?”

The worker was a thin high elf man that looked old and tired despite the fact that elves are immortal beings. The elf looked up to Arthur with a mixture of surprise and worry in his eyes. “Um… I’m sorry. What was it you said?” Arthur could see in his eyes that the elf was worried about something, worried about what he would do. This confused Arthur but he brought his mind and thoughts back towards the topic at hand.

“I am looking for a tailor in the distinct, do you happen to know of one?” The elf looked at Arthur and then his clothes for only a second before replying.

“I know of a place towards the middle of the district. They sell real expensive clothes there, most of what they sell is sold by gold coins rather than silver.”

Arthur with the information in hand nodded and handed a silver coin to the elf as he left to the elf before he left. The elf looked like he needed the money more than anything given his rough complexion.

‘The city might not be such a great place for elves after all. Must be a rich person thing.’

*********

Eventually after walking through the streets of the district for several minutes Arthur found the tailor that the elf was speaking of. It was located right about in the exact middle of the district alongside several other high value stores and shops that sold a wide assortment of things from jewellery to even an enchanter in the corner.

Stepping inside the tailor Arthur saw only one other person inside waiting for the tailor, a middle aged human man dressed like some sort of nobility. He appeared to be waiting for someone as he was constantly checking his watch. When Arthur took a seat on the other side of the room he looked over with a touch of disgust in his eyes but said nothing. Shortly after another man, this one being only around twenty years old, exited from the next room with an outfit not unlike the man waiting for him.

“It's about time. What took you so long?” The middle aged man asked in an almost accusatory tone to both the tailor and the young man.

“There was no problem sir, I just needed to look around the storage room for the proper color. After that it was smooth sailing. Would you like me to send you the bill?” The tailor as it turned out was a young human woman that stood almost as tall as the young man next to her. Her hair was blond and her accent very noticeable indicating she wasn’t a local.

“Yes, do that. The bank will settle the matter.” The man said, waving the worry of money away. “Come now son, we have important business to deal with.”

The man dragged his son out of the store leaving just Arthur and the young tailor alone. She sighed and leaned against the wall for a moment before she noticed Arthur and her demeanour changed. “Ah, a customer. I didn’t see you there. What might you be looking for today?”

Arthur was slightly taken aback by the sudden mood change the tailor displayed but pushed it to the back of his mind for the moment. “I am looking for something to wear while attending a party the crown is holding in three weeks time. I was hoping that you would be able to help me with that.”

“Of course I can help with that, I am the best tailor in the city after all.” The tailor brought Arthur to a room behind the waiting area and the front counter where there was a wide assortment of fabrics and clothes on shelves lining the walls. He was brought to a small area with a table and several mirrors where Arthur had to take off his overcoat so the tailor could begin taking his measurements.

“So what type of outfit were you thinking about? I can of course give you something generic, but I find my clients are happier when they leave with something more unique than just typical clothes.” The tailor asked as she wrote down Arthur’s measurements.

“Well I was hoping for something that I could also wear outside of a party setting while doing my job.”

“Ok, what exactly do you do for a living then if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I am a mage, I mostly sell potions to the guild to earn my money. Though recently I was rewarded for killing those vampires that were hiding in the city.” Arthur answered in a fairly casual manner. The tailor was about to just smile and agree when she stopped and thought about what her client just said.

She was leaning over the table when it finally hit her. “Wait, you were the one to kill those horrible vampires?” The tailor’s eyes were wide open as she looked at Arthur in this new light. “I have an idea for an outfit!” She excitedly shouted as she rushed into another room off to the side. Arthur just stood there for a moment unsure of what to do, when she returned she was holding a book with a picture on the cover.

“This book here is about a vampire hunter in the old Runead kingdom. The Runead kingdom was an old king that was situated mostly to the north of us right now, but more importantly the clothing shown in the book is all based on what was worn in that very kingdom.” The tailor flipped open to a page with an ink drawing of a man that Arthur assumed to be the main character. He was a middle aged human man with a dark brown leather vest and a leather overcoat along with an interesting hat unlike anything he had seen.

“This here is Dan Helsang, he is the main character and he kills all sorts of vampires through his journey. I was thinking we could do something like this with a few minor adjustments to suit you as you are a mage while Dan is a vampire hunter.”