“Taylor and I met last time I was here which was about five years ago now I think about it.” Panda explained whilst we chatted.
I was stood on a small platform as Taylor diligently took my measurements. I felt incredibly awkward as the cat lady measured my inner thighs. I was pretty sure people usually wore underwear for this sort of thing.
“I thought you said you’d been waiting for thousands of years to be summoned?” I asked incredulously, shooting him a questioning stare.
“I have been in the waiting room for thousands of years, just not… concurrently.” He answered, trying his best to look away from me. “I’m a very old sage. That’s what makes me so wise you see, my wealth of experience. But you’re not the first person to summon me. I’ve had lots of summoners over the years, the most recent one visited Havar with me about five years ago.”
“What happened to your last summoner.” I asked.
“Can you unfold your arms please Kaleb, I’m trying to measure your shoulders!” Taylor snapped at me.
“Sorry.” I muttered, allowing her to position my arms as she pleased. I still glared at Panda as he squirmed.
“Honestly I’d rather not go into detail, but she died.” He said, staring at the floor and fiddling with his bamboo pipe. “I need a smoke; I’ll be back in a minute.”
He left before I had time to ask anything else.
“Don’t push him. He was close with his master and he probably expected to have more grieving time before he was summoned again.” Taylor whispered softly as she continued tying me up with measuring tape.
I stood silently for a few more minutes whilst she finished up. She passed me my stained robe as she disappeared into the back of the store.
Maybe I was a bit too hard on Panda, but I didn’t like things being kept from me. It was difficult enough waking up in a new world where I had to fight for survival and try not to get skinned.
Not to mention that I didn’t know where my wife was or if she was safe, and she was pregnant. Not to mention my friends and family who may or may not be stuck somewhere in this hell hole too.
It was all a little overwhelming and I think it was perfectly reasonable of me to be a bit more demanding of those close to me than I’d normally be. For example, not lying, manipulating, or misleading me.
I took a breath.
I’d definitely overreacted. Panda had a right to keep his past and personal life, well… personal. I decided I wouldn’t bring it up again unless he did. He hadn’t steered me wrong so far, even if he was arrogant about it.
“What colours do you want?” Taylor shouted from the back.
“Black please.” I replied, raising my own voice to make sure she heard me.
“Black isn’t a colour, it’s a shade, but alright.”
I chuckled at her pedanticism; it reminded me of my wife. She was the kind of woman who would give you the time down to exact minute if you asked her what time it was. I on the other had would round it to the closest quarter of an hour.
The little bell above the door rang as Panda re-entered, trailing a thin gale of twirling smoke behind him.
“I see she’s finished then?” He asked, acting as if nothing had happened.
I was happy to play along, ignoring difficult conversations was kind of my thing.
“Yeah. Why are we at a tailor? Wouldn’t an armour shop make more sense?”
“It would, but you want armour that compliments your class – which you haven’t chosen yet. Also armour is expensive whereas street clothing isn’t.”
“We’re in a tailor shop, I figured we were getting me a suit for my job interview at Adventure Society.”
Panda burst out laughing and slapped his leg as he looked up at me.
“You don’t interview for Adventure Society. You sign a contract, they test your stats, you choose a class and then you get a temporary membership.
“You’ll have to complete three quests to qualify to take the permanent adventurer exam and then you’re in.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
That sounded needlessly complicated but if it was going to make me stronger and help me survive in this world then I guessed it was worth it.
Taylor returned from the back a few minutes later brandishing some clothes.
“These have the self-repair function and are black. Try them on and let me know what you think.” Taylor said brightly, handing me a pile of clothes.
“How did you make these so quick?” I asked, taking the clothing from her.
“It’s part of my class skills and I’m pretty good you know.” She said winking at me playfully.
From her reply I assumed the short answer was magic and my jealousy reared its ugly head. I wanted to cast spells and shit!
I held out the clothes in front of me and saw she’d given me a pair of black suit trousers with a white belt, a black suit shirt and shoes. She’d even replaced my old grey socks with fresh black ones. The underwear, however, left much to be desired.
It was a pair of white boxer shorts with the motif of a grey sock over the crotch.
Very funny you damned cat. I thought bitterly as a notification popped up.
You have received a set item:
Taylor’s Tailor Custom Smart Casual Wear
Wearing this will make you look like an office worker who never quite got over his My Chemical Romance phase. A white belt? How emo.
All you’re missing is a dyed fringe and eyeliner.
This item has a self-repair function.
I chuckled to myself as I read it. I actually did have a bit of an emo phase in high school. Though I’d never dyed my hair, I was fortunate that it was already black and you can’t get more emo than that.
Wandering behind the curtained area in the shop I got changed into my new clothes, leaving my cloak and cock sock in my inventory. Good riddance I thought as I finally got to slip on some real underwear.
It felt heavenly, like it was made of silk or something. Having a self-repair function would be useful too, though I still wanted some armour if I was going to be fighting more.
When I walked back into the main part of the shop Taylor practically squealed and told me I looked great. I think she was mostly just admiring her own handywork though.
“So, how much does all this cost?” I asked sheepishly, I still didn’t know how much gold was worth in items.
“20 gold, it would have been 5 but I added the self-repair for you. From what Panda told me I figured you’d need something that could last out in the wild.” She smiled and I happily gave her the money.
I still had 990 gold left because of the 1000 gold hidden reward I’d gotten from the escape quest and the 10 gold I’d looted from the cultist. It felt like a bargain! I thanked her and Panda and I left the store.
“You know she gave you a pretty huge discount right?” He said as we walked through the crowd of busy people. “You can thank me later. Come on, the Adventure Society building is right there.”
He pointed towards the largest building in the vicinity. It was a huge skyscraper that seemed to be made mostly of glass. It had to be one of the biggest buildings in the city.
Glowing neon letters lit up the side of the building vertically in the local language. After a moment’s concentration the letters turned into English and I could see it said Adventure Society on the side.
“Cool right?” Panda asked, seeing my gawking face as I craned my neck to try and see to the top. “There’s an Adventure Society in every major city in the world and lots of smaller branches dotted around too. This one is the HQ for the archipelago we’re in at the moment. Havar is the capital of this group of islands, not that it’s an overly big claim.
“The director of this branch is only a jade soul, though he’s a gold rank adventurer in his own right which is pretty impressive.”
“What are the ranks and what’s a jade soul?” I asked distractedly as I continued to take in the magnitude of the place I was about to join.
“A jade soul is what you’ll be once you max out your level, though round these parts most people don’t ever come close to reaching it. As for the ranks, they’ll explain them to you in due time.
“Now, before we enter, this is really important.” He began, taking on a serious tone and dragging me down to his level so he could whisper. “When you fill out the forms tell them you’re human. People around here have only heard of outworlders in legends. The Celestial Map is a fairy tale, but a well-known one. You don’t want to attract undue attention. Your life might well depend on staying under the radar, got it?”
I nodded solemnly. I hadn’t really thought about the need to hide my race, I hadn’t really thought about my race at all actually. I knew it said outworlder on my stat sheet but in my mind I was a human.
I’d always been a human so I would probably have written that on the forms anyway. Panda’s warning worried me though, if the Celestial Map was well known as a kid’s tale then did that mean I’d be safe as long as I hid my tattoo?
It could mean the opposite. He didn’t say that people didn’t believe the story. I needed to know more but I didn’t feel comfortable discussing it with all these people around.
I decided I’d sort out my class and then we could find an inn for the night and I could gather more information from Panda in private.
With that decided, I steeled myself and walked through the huge, sliding doors. They opened automatically as I entered. I couldn’t decide if that was more magic or if there was a level of technological advancement here that was similar to back home.
The foyer was clean and clinical looking; a far cry from the tavern and billboard setting I had expected. There was a customer service desk at the side and a long line of notice boards on the other wall.
Groups of people were casually milling around the noticeboards, reading whatever was posted. I assumed they were quests.
It didn’t matter for me at the moment so I made a beeline for the reception desk. As I began walking towards it a tall man stepped in front of me. He was wearing a suit, it looked similar to a modern suit you’d find back home except it came with a green cape and embroidery. Definitely a modern wizard suit if ever I saw one.
I looked up at his chiselled and bearded face. He had bright eyes and swept back, brown hair.
“I’ve been waiting for you, outworlder,” he said.