Think Fast!
- Dodge to the Left - 3
- Dodge to the Right - 1
- Dodge backwards - 2
- Dodge by jumping - 0
- Dodge by crouching - 0
- Stand still like an idiot - 4
- Use a skill - 7
- Catch whatever's coming - 17
Chapter 24: Tailoring
As if overcome by a strange force, Lucas didn't dodge but caught the incoming object instead.
Except, it wasn't an object, but a person.
Moreover...
"Uwa!?"
Not expecting the size and weight of the person, Lucas and that person stumbled on the ground, their faces nearly touching.
Everyone on the street saw them and couldn't help but think of inappropriate things in their minds.
Seeing that person's face up close, Lucas blushed...not!
"Fuck! It's you again!? Get off!"
"Geh-!?"
The person who had been thrown onto him was none other than...Kirito!
Seeing the guy blushing while the two of them were on the ground, Lucas felt shivers down his spine and immediately kicked him away.
"Jay!"
Seeing Kirito...or rather, Jay get kicked away, the girls following him immediately ran to his side to help him.
The Thief girl Dia, now advanced to Assassin, suddenly charged at Lucas like an angry cat. Well, she is a catwoman werebeast after all.
Lucas frowned and used his new skill Holy Cross to immobilize her.
Not expecting Lucas to have such a skill, Dia was caught in the cross and was paralyzed for 2 seconds.
"Stop it, I just kicked him off. No need to be so overly dramatic about it."
"Grr!"
"D-Dia! I'm fine."
Jay coughed a bit but he soon stood up to calm down Dia.
"...Fine."
Lucas rolled his eyes.
"Jay is it? Why the hell do you keep popping up? Are you stalking me!?"
"I'm Kirito."
"I'm not calling you that."
"..."
Before he could say anything back, an alluring voice sounded from inside the shop.
"You're here. What are you standing outside for? Come in."
"Ah, yes."
Lucas looked at Jay again for a while before heading inside.
Inside, he saw the familiar orange-haired fox lady with two tails behind her, smoking on her pipe while smiling.
"Did you know those people earlier?"
"Not really, I just saw them a few times. Did you throw them out or something?"
The fox lady smiled coquetishly.
"It's nothing. Just a bit of fun."
"Fun?"
"He inhaled the smoke from my pipe and tried to assult me so I slapped him awake."
"..."
Hearing what she said, Lucas sweated.
He looked at the smoke from the pipe and took a step back while holding his breath.
Damn! Is that smoke some kind of drug or something? Wait, didn't I smoke on it yesterday?
Seeing his reaction, the fox lady giggled.
"Haha, it's fine. For some reason, your body is immune to it. You inhaled a lot of it yesterday right?"
"I did...wait, why am I immune to it? Rather, why are you smoking something like that so openly!?"
Is this girl crazy?
The fox lady smiled slyly.
"Any man who can't even resist my smoke is just not worthy of me."
"Haah..."
Lucas was speechless.
People in another world...are really a bunch of eccentric people!
After puffing another smoke at him as if to prove a point, the fox lady giggled and stood up.
"Follow me."
"..."
Lucas hesitated for a moment.
This woman...isn't going to 'eat' him, right?
Well, that won't be too bad actually...wait no, that's not the point!
Lucas shook his head and followed her.
"Hm?"
It was then that he noticed the tails behind her weren't just two, but nine!
"You...you're a nine-tailed fox!?"
"Hm? Oh, that's right. I haven't introduced myself yet have I? I am the owner of this place. Sakuna, at your service."
Lucas was surprised for a moment but answered back.
"I'm Lucas."
"Just Lucas?"
"Just Lucas."
Lucas shrugged.
He didn't know whether he should disclose the fact that he's Lieran's Apostle or not so he didn't say anything more than needed.
"Fufu, if you say so."
Sakuna just giggled and no longer pressed on the matter.
They soon arrived at a very traditional room that looked similar to Japanese traditional rooms. There were tatamis, bamboo plants, the scent of fragrant tea in the air...it was a very relaxing atmosphere to be in.
There was a rather broad table in the middle of the room. Sakuna sat beside it and Lucas sat crosslegged on the opposite side of the table.
"Don't sit there, sit beside me."
"Eh? Uhh...alright..."
Lucas was confused but since he doesn't know the customs here or the procedures, he just followed what she said and sat beside her.
Sitting beside her, he could smell her sweet scent mixed along with the smoke she puffed.
Her fluffy tails also spread on her back, reaching out to him as it coiled around his back for him to lean on. It felt very...fluffy!
For a moment, Lucas had the urge to touch it and just get lost in mofu mofu!
"Alright, stop staring at my tails. Let's start."
Lucas chuckled embarrassingly after getting caught staring too much.
Sakuna waved her hand and a piece of monster leather appeared on the table.
"Hm? This is Lizardian leather right? Is this the one I sold at that time?"
"That's right. I thought we'd start on something you're familiar with. Now, pay close attention as I turn this leather into cloth."
Lucas nodded and did his best to ignore the mofu mofu behind him as he paid attention to the leather on the table.
Sakuna smiled and touched the leather gently.
With a wave of her hand, a knife appeared and cut parts of the leather.
With another wave of her hand, she removed all the skin attached to it and cleaned it thoroughly, turning it into a cloth that one can use to make clothes.
There was a kind of elegance with the way she moved her hands. Lucas could also feel a faint sensation enveloping her hand but he couldn't quite figure it out.
Well, it could be just an illusion. After all, Sakuna looked as if she's weaving heaven and earth...that kind of feeling. But after all, she's only cutting and sewing Lizardian leather. Lucas shrugged.
In a few minutes, she managed to create a shirt using Lizardian leather!
Lucas looked at the description.
[Elegant Lizardian Shirt (R+)]
[Fire Resistance +20% | Crit Rate +15% | DEF + 300]
"...Amazing."
Just a casual tailoring by her and it is already rare equipment! What's more, the stats are so good!
Also, what's with that plus? Was there something like that?
Hagoro smiled sweetly as she heard his compliment.
"Well? Did you understand it?"
"I'm not confident I can do it as good as you...but I want to try!"
"Fufu, go ahead then."
Sakuna giggled and handled him a piece of Lizardian leather to try.
10 minutes later...
[Trash Lizardian Shirt (C)]
[DEF + 10]
"...."
"Hahahahahaha!"
"Don't laugh! This is my first time!"
Sakuna smiled teasingly as she asked.
"Are you the type who does a poor job in his first time?"
"This and that are two different things!"
"Oh? I was talking about tailoring, what were you thinking?"
"..."
T-this damn fox!
Lucas could only sigh as Sakuna kept teasing him.
Actually, Lucas didn't mind this kind of playful teasing. He did it with a Goddess earlier so it may just be karma on his part.
"Alright. Again."
Sakuna brought out another leather for him to practice. This time, she also guided him on which parts to cut and to look out for.
Time passed, Lucas continued to practice tailoring to match the shirt that Sakuna made.
Recall! That feeling that Sakuna gave when she sewed that shirt...
Without noticing it, Lucas had concentrated so much that he had even forgotten the mofu mofu behind him!
Finally...
[Elegant Lizardian Shirt (R+)]
[Magic Resistance +15% | STR +250 | DEF + 350]
"I did it!"
[You have gained subclass of Spirit Tailor.]
[Skill: Spirit Tailoring gained.]
[Skill: Spirit Sense gained.]
"...Huh?"
Spirit Tailor???
Confused, Lucas turned to look at Sakuna who simply smiled at him.
"Congratulations on becoming a Spirit Tailor, Lucas."
"Spirit...huh?"
Sakuna smiled.
"My way of tailoring isn't your average way of simply cutting and sewing clothes. I am a Spirit Tailor. One who weaves life into one's clothes."
As she spoke, she waved her sleeves and her kimono glowed slightly.
Then, a small pixie appeared on her shoulders, wearing the same kimono she wore.
The pixie flew around her and took a look at Lucas curiously.
"This..."
"This is the spirit of my kimono."
"S-spirit? Of...your kimono!?"
Lucas was speechless.
He has heard of players gaining ego swords but...ego clothes!?
This...
Lucas took a look at the shirt he made.
Sakuna laughed.
"Haha, don't worry. That shirt doesn't have a living spirit like my kimono."
"What do you mean?"
"Living spirits will only be created once you've managed to sew Legendary rank equipment. Ranks below Legendary are simply incapable of housing a living spirit."
"I-I see..."
Lucas sighed.
Just how long will it take for him to be able to create Legendary equipment?
"Then...what's the difference between this and a normal rare rank shirt?"
"Although it doesn't have a living spirit, it is still imbued with spirit. It is capable of self-repair to some extent and has greater durability than normal equipment of the same rank."
So that's what the plus is for?
Did the game system not know how to evaluate spirit equipment? Which was why it could only put a plus on the rank?
Lucas speculated that may be the case. After all, the system itself is manmade and not absolute. It's normal for it to not know everything.
Even some areas of his status were just [????].
"Umm, but how did I even do it? I don't recall doing anything special..."
"Hmmm, basically, it is because of your affinity with spirits."
"Affinity?"
"Yes. Actually, I was only planning to teach you the normal way of Tailoring before since you were a bit interesting, but after seeing you earlier, I changed my mind."
"Huh? Why is that?"
Lucas was confused. How come a lot of things seemed to be happening to him like this?
"I can't really explain it... it's just that when I saw you earlier, you have a unique aura about you...as if you are some kind of heavenly being."
"...."
Is it because of his new class? Or maybe because he's now an Apostle?
Lucas sighed and shook his head.
It seems there is still some kind of effect that other people can notice...how troublesome...
It was fine if it was just Sakuna who noticed it, but if others noticed it and those people didn't have any kind intentions...Lucas can already see that his future will be filled with a lot of troubles.
"It was good timing really. I was looking for a disciple to pass on my knowledge. Those other old fools have great disciples, only I didn't have one..."
"..."
"A-ahem. Anyway, how is it? My Spirit Tailoring is powerful right!?"
Lucas couldn't refute that so he nodded.
"It is indeed amazing...are there more uses to this skill?"
"Fufu, there are still more applications of this skill, but I won't tell it to you yet. For now, practice hard! I want you to create a piece of Special Rare rank equipment by the end of the month!"
DAMMIT FAKIRITO!!!
