DTK 31.1

AN: Just some line edits at the very bottom about available skills

We ate breakfast in the morning without mom. I didn’t find her in her room either.

Mari and Terry gossiped about the news in the town, about who knew Sandy was clearing the dungeon and who they thought didn’t. They had restrained themselves before.

I found mom in the workshop after.

“Gwen!” She said, excited, turning to face me.

Behind her, one of the wooden mannequins was covered in a half finished suit of armor made from the leather of the copper mole. I bit my lip. She had used the material in it. But she could probably make better use of it than I could. She looked happy; proud, even, putting her hands on her hips and standing beside it. Mom also looked very tired.

“How long have you been out here?”

“Since a while before sunrise!” She said, turning to face the set. “I’d be finished already, but I figured I’d wait for you so you can get contribution to it.”

It was less dress or outfit and closer stylistically to actual plated armor, sections of the leather embossed with symbols of lightning. It was also separated into more than five pieces; it was one of the largest sets I had ever seen, something that would befit a knight.

The arms and gloves hung in midair; presumably from one of mom’s skills. Tiny metal plates covered leather gloves for each finger, while metal gauntlets covered the forearms and reached back to actual pauldrons. The armor stretched from the chest to the feet, covering almost every inch of whoever would wear it.

“This looks like something a blacksmith would make.” I said, walking up and sliding my fingers down the side of it. It was cold to the touch. Still, despite the amount of material that had been used to create it, there should have been more left over. “Where’s the rest of it?”

“The line between blacksmith and tailor isn’t so wide. You need both for somethings.” Mom shrugged. “The half finished helmet is over there.” She gestured to a work station to the side that had lamellar plates of the copper-like leather stacked on it.

“No, I mean the rest of the monster. There should be some left over, no?” I asked. The wagon that had carried it over was completely empty of the leather goods that Sandy had brought. Instead, there was a mining outfit there under a few pieces of paper and leather.

“Oh.” Mom said, thumbing her chin. “Some patterns call for… more resources than are visible. This is a… much higher level design than you’ve seen. Something I hadn’t made in a long… long time.”

“Something you used to make in the Capital?”

Mom smiled and nodded.

I ran my hands along the inside, trying to study the design of the pattern. I could see seams in the leather mom had cut through, threads that pierced into the armor and held it together, and I followed them with my fingers to where they just… disappeared. Not like they ended; like they were still taught and stabbed into something invisible, but my fingers didn’t find any more armor there. It was like the material stretched into a direction I couldn’t interact with. Tracing the patterns was giving me a headache; I let my hand fall away with a frown.

“I don’t have to do that for the helmet?” I asked, turning the little plates over.

“That part is already done!” She said. “I’ll guide you through the rest.”

I picked up one of the tiny plates. It was heavier than it should have been. The same erratic designs were embossed on its side.

“Is this Embellishment?” I asked.

“Yes!” Mom said. “After ten levels, you can use the Embellishments to influence the pattern skills. I tried to redirect its electrical skill to a defensive skill. We wont know how it works until you finish it, though.” Mom smiled.

“Where do I start?” I asked, pulling out a sewing needle from the desk.

“Start with putting that away.” She said, folding her hands for a second before reaching into the unfolding box that carried her own supplies. Even into adulthood, she never let me touch her sewing supplies.

Now she was going to loan me one. My eyes widened a bit at the sight. Even the single potion the house kept was less guarded than this; though that made me belatedly wonder if she had let me take it on purpose.

Mom pulled out a tiny, pocket sized sewing kit engraved with nearly invisible, glowing patterns in the metal. They were a shining silver. My eyes grew wider, mentally tallying the cost of a single piece of enchanted metal as gold, and the entire kit as probably more than our entire city made in a year.

“Enchanted?” It was the only thing that came to mind, escaping my mouth before anything else.

“And yours now.” Mom smiled proudly.

“How can we afford this?” I asked.

“Oh, we can’t. I stole a few before I left.”

“You stole them? Don’t they know? Hasn’t anyone…” I trailed off seeing my moms wry smile.

“They’re valuable here, but for the workshop I worked at? Not by much.”

I inspected the pattern we were working on again. When I was younger, I hadn’t put together the pieces to appreciate the full scope of what my mom worked on. Valjean, a minor noble, could tear down a forest with a single swing. What could the highest level Nobles at the center of the continent do?

What could I do if I reached that level?

“Aren’t you going to ask what they do?” Mom asked. “No, you’re probably too excited to get started! They’re enchanted with Edge of course, for sharpness… and Safety, to prevent them from harming their user. Especially since that needle will cut almost anything. Don’t drop it.”

Her face became serious at that last part.

“Have you dropped these before?”

She nodded grimly.

“Straight through a floor.”

“They’re enchanted not to harm people, though?” I asked, appraising them again. They were in a tiny, leather case. Now that I looked at it, it was enchanted too.

“They’re enchanted not the harm their user.” She said.

I grimaced.

“No one was hurt or anything.” Mom said, then stepped over next to me on the workstation. “Now…” She leaned in, and I saw her [Pattern Projection] skill activate, highlighting and animating exactly what I had to sew. That must have been a higher level version of the skill as well.

I stabbed the needle in, feeling it part the metal-like material as if it were made of butter, then I stopped.

“Is there anyway to see how a skill will change at level ten?” I asked.

Mom shook her head.

“The variations and evolutions of every skill at a higher level are only really fully known by the craft guilds. And the guilds can only exist in the Capitals. Out here… there isn’t enough material to reach high level. Also, you poked a hole in the table.”

Oops.

Mom walked me through the rest of it, slowly bringing the helmet all the way together. It was made of layers of plates with gaps for the eyes, hanging down loosely from where the top of the helmet covered the head, dipping low enough to cover the neck. There was an exact and perfect number of pieces.

A couple times, I stretched the hole too wide, but mom was able to repair the leather without reducing the quality.

I lifted the helmet up, the loose pieces jangling. This was going to mess Sandy’s hair up so bad.

“Should I put the sewing kit back?” I asked, looking over.

“No.” Mom shook her head. “You keep hold of it. But if you get any more exciting materials, you better show me first.” Her eyes were nearly manic now, lit up as she lifted the helmet and added it to the armor.

[+10 XP] [Level up!]

[Storm Curtain Helmet(Rare, Lightning) completed!]

[Quality Assessment: (Good)]

“Perfect.” Mom said behind me, absolutely beaming at the set of armor she had created.

“What skill did it get?” I asked, squinting at it. It wasn’t my outfit; I didn’t get an interface for it.

“A noble skill.” Mom said. “Parry. Help me throw it in the cart.”

We pulled off the pieces and threw them into the cart before covering it with a layer of cloth. I looked over to the cart. I had to take it to Sandy’s and then head into the Wild. But first, I had to pick a new skill.

►Thread Reinforcement I

[Common] Grants user the ability to reinforce common threads with mana.

►Mending I

[COMMON] Allows user to repair clothing from patterns they are unfamiliar with. Additional levels increase quality of final product.

►Always Prepared I

[Epic] Seamstress Inventory Skill. Grants users access to a small, extra-dimensional tool chest. Additional levels allow additional storage.