DTK 31.2

Thread reinforcement would allow me to create stronger threads from what I had availability… which was currently super reinforced monster web thread. I mentally filed it away though, betting that evolving it to level X would give at least a point of Thread Mastery.

Mending would let me repair patterns other people made. But now that my mom was in on the game — or at least part of it — she could repair her own outfits. She would probably love to do so, judging by her enthusiasm for making an actual, terrifying murder-dress for Sandy.

And [Always Prepared] was epic rarity.

I grabbed the skill, then looked around my skill sheet to figure out what to assign the last skill point to. I needed to test [Always Prepared] first. What would upgrading the skill do, exactly? It mentioned creating a tool chest. With a simple mental command, I reached out to it.

A finely lacquered chest of dark wood popped into existance an inch above the table before clattering down into it. It looked… almost exactly like moms folding accordion chest.

It was probably only a little more than a foot across, and I quickly pulled it open.

“What is that?” Mom asked, shock evident in her voice. She turned from the cart and quickly stepped up to me.

The box folded open into dozens of smaller compartments fit for tools to punch leather or spots to place reels of thread. There were also two much longer compartments that stretched from one side to the other, almost fit for two giant sewing needles, and a bottom, open compartment. Like it was sizing them just for what I needed. If I leveled the skill more, I’d probably be able to fit them.

“[Always Prepared.]” I replied. “A new inventory skill?”

“You got a — a new inventory skill? You already have Warddrobe?”

“Yeah.” I said, staring down at the box. “I’ve made a few outfits for the dungeon clearing.”

Mom nodded politely, as if what I said made sense. She also stared intently into it.

“What can you store in it?” She asked.

“It says tools, but…” it was big enough to fit more than that.

Mom threw me a spool of thread without comment.

I set it inside and dismissed the storage. The wooden chest disappeared. I half expected the spool of thread to fall through where the chest was and clatter against the table, but it disappeared as well.

I looked up at mom, who nodded, then I brought the chest back. The thread was still sitting inside.

“So it can fit more than tools.” She said, then reached back to her table, where she had a cup of mostly empty tea. She raised an eyebrow.

“There’s no way it just stores anything.” I said, grabbing the cup and carefully lowering it into the box before dismissing and recalling it. Again, I expected the liquid to just freely splash out, if not the object. To my surprise, the tea was stored and recalled perfectly.

“Guess you got a really expensive lunchbox.” Mom replied.

I laughed. It was a really expensive lunch box; if only my mom knew how much work it really took to get this skill.

“I wonder how far I can recall it from.”

“It would be a good thing to find out.” Mom shrugged. “Maybe you can store it in the cold until you need it.”

 We said our goodbyes as she headed upstairs and I headed out to Sandy’s, pushing the cart with the outfits on the bottom. I left the box behind on the table.

I spent the second skill point upgrading my other inventory skill, [Warddrobe.] Every day, more and more people became involved. Which meant more to hide. Mostly in the form of clothes.

Like this cart, for instance. Some people nodded and waved as I walked down the street. I gladly returned the smiles and nods, wondering what they thought about what I was up to. Their eyes lingered on it. I wondered if they thought it was full of monster corpses.

It was an easy thing to imagine with a butcher clearing the dungeon and working with a chunk of the towns most prolific crafters.

Also, it technically was a wagon full of dead monsters. They were just already processed.

Gerald was already waiting for me at Sandy’s workshop. I was surprised to see she hadn’t made him wait outside. She was still ignoring him and reading inside, but it was a massive improvement. She dog-eared the page of the book she was on and threw it on her makeshift nightstand before throwing her legs off the bed and standing up.

“So?” Sandy asked.

“Mom went crazy making this.” I said, pulling off the makeshift tarp atop the wagon and revealing the outfits and leftover material underneath. There was nothing left of the copper mole; there was plenty other leather left, though.

Sandy whistled as she lifted up the Storm Curtain helmet.

“It’s heavy.” She said.

“Got the mining outfit too.” I turned to Gerald, who was looking dejected in the corner.

He sighed and pushed himself to his feet, leaning over the wagon to look down at the mining outfit before blinking tiredness out of his eyes.

“You okay?” I asked.

“He’s been sulking all day.” Sandy replied.

“Just tired.” He said. Gerald rubbed at his eyes, pushing his bowl-cut of long hair out of his face, before reaching down and grabbing a piece of the hunting outfit. Then he stopped and looked around.

“You can change in there.” Sandy pointed through the barricaded door that led to Henri’s side of the house.

Gerald side, gathered the outfit, and stepped through. That involved pushing the stack of furniture to the side where it clattered to the floor.

“Is he doing okay?” I asked Sandy almost conspiratorially.

“He went home to his parents last night, remember? Probably fought. Or maybe he slept out on the street.” Sandy replied, looking thoughtfully at the door before turning back to me.

I bit my lip and nodded. There wasn’t anything I could really do for Gerald. Letting him sleep in our work room wasn’t a long term solution, and I couldn’t resolve his family trauma for him.

“Should I change too?” Sandy asked, holding up the storm curtain helmet between us. She was already wearing the stealth hunting outfit.

“On the one hand… the whole town knows.” I said. “On the other…”

“It’s a secret everyone else is pretending to keep.” Sandy said. “I normally play along with those.” She threw the helmet back onto the cart and pulled the cloth over it.

“I’m leveling warddrobe to be able to carry the outfit for you. We need it to kill the boss, not to go mining.” I said, and she nodded, looking contemplatively at the armor.

“I wonder what it does.” She said.

Gerald stepped back through after only a short bit of time. It looked like a normal mining outfit except that the coveralls were made of thick, black wolf fur. Almost every part of it was, save the layers underneath. Even the boiled leather helmet was covered in fur.

Sandy laughed.

“What skills does it have?” I asked. Gerald frowned as he opened his system, his eyes tracing back and forth to read something I couldn’t see.

“Shadow Cloak.” He replied.

“Then… we’re good to go?” I asked.

Gerald nodded, then turned invisible. Sandy followed, disappearing.

“Guys, if we’re all invisible, how are we going to know if we’re together?” I groaned.

“We could make bird noises at each other.” Sandy said, her voice coming from the direction of the door as it swung open.

“I’ll just… stay visible.” I said, walking out the door.

It shut behind me.