"Well, I don't want a cape or a robe. I think a cloak sounds nice, but those are a bit too flowy still. Something well fitting." I say, hoping that makes any sort of sense.
"That narrows it down well. Let's take a look." Jake says, and leads me to a back wall.
"After cancelling out robes, full cloaks and capes, this is what we have left." he says, motioning with his hand for me to look.
"Those are some bright colors." I say, pointing to some hot pinks, yellows and oranges. Not that I have anything against any color in specific, but maybe not for armor? But who am I to say. I am very new to this world and I would like to keep an open mind.
"Anything catching your eye?" Jake asks.
"Yes, but not in the way I am wanting it to." I admit, making Rona laugh.
I look over them when my eye catches one in the corner. I pull it out and hold it up. It is a deep black with hints of purple in it with silver buckles. I slide it on and it feels as though it molds to my body. Well, maybe it actually does. The breast section is tight and held with deep black button. The buckles are closer to the side and waist. I do up the buckles and cinch it tight. The sleeves are long and fit gently over my skin. Not too loose, and not too tight. The rest of the coat flows loose and open down to the middle of my calves. I take a few steps to see if it tangles around my legs at all. To my complete pleasure, it doesn't.
I walk, bend over, do a back hand spring, and nothing tangles. The coat seems to move with my body. "I love it." I whisper.
"What was that?" Rona asks, smiling.
"I don't need to try on any other Over Armor, this is exactly what I want."
"Well that part was easy." Jake says, giving a large grin.
"Haha I know. Sorry, I feel like I have been rather troublesome." I say.
"Psh, not even." Jake says.
"Okay, you said you wanted a circlet? Are you sure you don't want the traditional feathered cap?" Rona asks, seeming a bit disappointed that I don't want a feathered cat.
"Naw, there is already a hood on my Outter Armor." I say. "Also, a feathered cap with these ears?" I ask, lifting an eyebrow.
"Okay, you make a good point."
"Now then. To Headgear."
I once again allow myself to be dragged along until we get to the correct section. I glance around at it. Nothing with horns, nothing spiky, just something simple and elegant. I see one that is simple with the design of snowflowers on the back. I grab it and plop it on. It fits perfectly.
"I think that this is everything that I need. I hope I have enough to afford it all." I say, feeling nervous.
"Well, you did get some good quality items. And possibly of a higher quality than your weapons, although I'm uncertain. I would say between 40 and 70 gold coins."
"That is quite the the range." I say, lifting an eyebrow in confusion.
"I am not sure about the quality of all of them, or what the special stats are. Sometimes when they are checking out the Armor, there are mages working that just add bonus stats."
"That is pretty random and odd." I say.
"It is. I don't know why they do it. But you showed a lot of skin multiple times so..." Jake says, letting his voice trail off.
"Is that part of the reason that you had me doing that?" I ask, completely flabergasted.
"I did tell you that people tend to give you a discount if you show a little skin. And you showed more than a little." Rona says, placing a hand on my back in a consoling manner.
I follow Jake and Rona up to the check-out counter and put all of the Armor down. There is a lizard demi-human behind the counter. He blinks slowly a few times then smiles.
"I take it that you found everything okay?" he asks, looking my body over. I feel violated but I also recognize that this is a feeling that I need to get used to. I am a female Adventurer after all. One that used to be Nobility and has kept my body in shape.
The lizard demi-human goes through my items one by one, folding what he can and putting them into a neat pile.
"This should be 75 gold but since you modeled our clothing and got people purchasing more." he says, waving his hand to other sections of the store that appear busy, "I will be giving you a discount." It seems that Commoners do seek a good discount. I should learn the appropriate way to go about getting them.
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"I will sell it all to you for 40 gold coins." I see a glint in his eye and someone seems to step out of the shadows. "This is Gregory, he would be more than happy to use his spell random enchantments on this pile for an extra 10 gold, if you are willing to part with it."
"Do the random enchantments ever decrease stats?" I inquire.
"No. Never. He has increased his level enough that such a thing no longer happen."
I look at Gregory and he nods his head very slightly.
"That will be fine then."
'How much gold does that leave me, System?' I ask.
<124 gold. You spent a lot. Maybe don't do that. You do need to find a way to keep yourself alive you know. I hear humans have to do that whole eating thing.>
'I do know that you are right, but all of these things were needed. It isn't like I went on a fully for fun shopping spree.' I tell him.
I hear Gregory muttering some words in what sounds to be and ancient language and then see my pile of Armor flash. The different items appear to turn different colors. White, pink and a blue. I don't know what any of that means, but it sure is pretty to look at.
"Oh! It seems that you found a very good item for enchantments." the lizard demi-human says, lifting up the Outer Armor coat.
"That's... Good?" I say, completely uncertain of what I am supposed to say.
"I am glad that you think so. Will that be all for you?"
"Yes, thank you." I say. "Did either of you need anything?" I ask Jake and Rona.
"Nope, not today. However, now that you are outfitted I thought that tomorrow we can grab a monster slaying quest at the guild hall tomorrow. Oh wait, have you registered at the guild hall yet?" Jake asks me.
"Is that something everyone has to do?" I inquire in return.
"It is if you would like to actually go on quests, receive rewards and so on and so forth. There are different guilds. You are allowed to register with as many fit your Class and skills as you want to. I would say that you should register with the Adventurer's guild. There is no test for the bottom rank. If you want to raise your rank then we just have to go through quests. Is tomorrow too soon?"
"You just threw a lot of information at her all at once. Okay sweety, let's put everything into your spatial bag and head over to the Adventurer's guild. We can have you register with the musicians guild when you raise your skills a bit." Rona says kindly. At least she is honest with me.
"Thanks for being honest. I do need to raise my skills." I say.
"That wasn't me trying to be rude." Rona says. "It is just that you have to audition to be part of their guild. And they can be a bit... Particular."
"I see." I say, leaving it at that. I don't know what she means by particular, and I feel that I don't need to know. I suppose that I may find out in time."
After we finish putting everything into my spacial bag we take off down a few streets. Unlike the shopping center, it appears that the guilds are on a different road. I see many guilds. Crafters, Smithing, Potions, Charms, Music and then the Adventurer's guild. The sign above the door has a shield in the back and a sword and staff crossing over front of it. It makes it feel welcoming in a way. It seems like they are trying to include everyone, but couldn't fit all fighting styles on there, obviously. I suppose there are guilds that cater to specific Classes? Possibly? Something to look into when I am a higher level and more prepared.
"Alright, here we are! The Adventurer's Guild!" Jake says, a big smile on his face, moving his weight from foot to foot. I find a lot of joy in watching people being happy and excited. I feel a little bit of anticipation watching him.
We enter into a brightly lit room with different rooms, stations, and people milling about. I am walked up to a large desk with two women behind it. One looks like an elf with long bright red hair. The second has mermaid features with long green and blue hair. They are both dessed in black pants, a white shirt and a black vest. They look very poised and put together.
"Hi Rona! Hi Jake!" says the Mermaid. I see a name tag pinned to her chest saying Aquaria. "Are you here to pick up or turn in a quest?"
"Look, they have another person that we have not seen before with them. I can only assume that they are coming to get this new person registered." says the red haired elf calmly. I look at her name tag and it says Faellis.
"That's right! We got ourselves a newby that we would like to offer up to you." Jake says, giving my back a little push to move me forward.
"Umm, hello." I say and give a small wave.
"Oh, she is a cute one isn't she? Isn't she Faellis?" Aquaria asks excitedly.
"I suppose so." Faellis says. She appears to be restrained and in control. She may have been doing this longer than her counter-part so she is better able to stay focused.
"Alright, what is your name?" Faellis asks me.
"My name is Lyra. No family name." I say to them. I get a shrug of my shoulders.
"Alright then Lyra, go ahead and put your hand on the orb for me. It will give us a reading so that we can have a good understanding of your skill level. We have to be able to assign people to quests that should be manageable for them after all."
I nod my head and step forward. The orb is a green color that looks to have smoke within it. It appears to be attached to the System. I guess that it gives a reading like the one that told me my Class. Maybe it looks similar to my status screen?
I touch my hand to the orb and hope that things go better for me this time, rather than how they turned out when I got my Class. What is the worst that can happen though?
Name: Lyra
Age: 18
Race: Arctic Fox and Ermine Demi-Human
Class: Bard
Class Advancement Potential: ???
Cunning: 16
Wisdom: 9
Dexterity: 15
Charisma: 17
Health:100/100
Mana: 40/40
Constitution: Healthy
Level: 1
Exp: 20/100
Growth Potential: Access Denied
I stand there as we look at the Display Window. I am not sure how many people can see it. It seems to not matter though, as it is drawing no one's attention.
I look it over and see somethings that make my brain confused.
'Hey System, why is my Class Advancement Potention a question, and why is my Growth Potential saying access denied?'
'You don't already know everything?' I ask, clearly surprised.
"That is odd. Why aren't we getting a clear reading?" Aquaria asks Faellis.
"I am not sure. Perhaps there is a glitch that we have never seen before, that only recently came into being? But I have never seen a glitch in the System before." Faellis responds, a hint of confusion and nervousness in her voice. "Please try once more."
I walk over and place my hand back onto the orb. I watch to see if there is any change in what is displayed. Nothing has changed. It is the same display as before.
'That might be helpful. But do you think that this is going to happen again?' I ask, feeling confused.
'How should we find more information for the ??? and the access denied.'
'Is that a question or what I am actually supposed to do.'
'Stop asking me questions. I am not all knowing'.
"As we are unable to access your growth potential, but are able to see your beginning stats, we will start you out Beginner status."
"Okay, thank you." I say. Apparently it is clear that I do not know what the different levels mean.
"It goes Beginner –> Rookie –> Novice –> Intermediate –> Advanced –> Expert –> Legendary."
"Is that how it is for every guild?" I ask.
"Yes. We like to keep things standardized to make it more simple for everyone."
"Have you heard how Classes work? It's called a Class Advancement, and you have to do a special quest to able to manage it."
"Oh. I see. That sounds useful. Are the Class Advancement quests hard?" I ask.
"That depends on what advancement you are able to get. There is Advanced, Expert, Specialized, Legend and then Mythic. That is the order of rarity. Although Mythic is a myth, obviously." Jake says.
"I see. Thanks for letting me know all of that. That isn't something that I had really heard about."
"You must not have gotten very good Adventurer training." Jake says.
"Yeah, girls got a very different training. It was mostly about keeping our bodies healthy. Which, is probably something that they would have made us do anyway." I tell him. I do feel as though I could have used a lot more training, especially on knowledge that is supposed to be so basic.
"Don't worry." Rona says, throwing an arm around my shoulder.
"We will teach you all you need to know." Jake says with a large grin.