Chapter Forty-Two - Workaholism

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It only took a few seconds after she made her choice for the complaining to begin.

“You are evil!” Cricket said

Rosario stared at her. “What else do you expect us to do?” she asked. They had settled the matter of the wanted poster by choosing not to talk about it. If she was lucky, then the posters were still being distributed, and hadn’t reached the next city over yet. A messenger with a fast steed or a flying mount could have brought copies this far without too much hassle. Maybe that was as far as it would go?

In any case, she wanted to get a move on, and they had all they needed from the city.

“Expect? I expect us to sit around, rest, relax, perhaps visit a show, or a tavern, or spend several hours walking romantically through the markets, not more marching down a road!” Cricket said.

“I don’t mind,” Lucky replied.

“See, Lucky doesn’t mind,” Rosario said.

Cricket sniffed. “Lucky is a young whippersnapper whose whippers haven’t been snappered yet! I’m an old bug, my knees can’t handle too much of this.”

Rosario would have ignored her but they had recently discussed her age and she suspected that Cricket was closer to middle-aged than was obvious from her appearance. “Are you okay?” Rosario asked. “If you actually need the time, we can take it. And... as loathed as I am to offer it, we could carry you? Perhaps rent a carriage?”

Cricket pouted and crossed her arms. “No,” she said.

“No?”

“No, I don’t need it. But once we make it to the final city, I expect a full... no, two full days of Cricket time.”

“What’s Cricket time?” Lucky asked.

“Cover your ears and I shall explain,” Cricket said.

Rosario lifted a hand. “Okay. Let me explain, then. I... loath sitting around and not doing things. We happen to have finished all that we needed to and there is still plenty of sun left to the day. We could, as you suggest, sit around and do nothing. It might even be good to rest some more. I imagine your muscles are still sore?”

Both women nodded. 

“Then that could be a good reason to wait. I did plan on making you both new clothes.” 

“You did?” Lucky asked. “Ah, Master Thorn, that isn’t necessary.”

“I know,” Rosario said. “But I want to level both my [Seamstress] and [Apprentice Enchanter] jobs, and this would allow me to work a little on both, so the evening wouldn’t be wasted. I planned on doing it while walking.”

“You can sew while walking?” Cricket asked. “No... I suppose thou could. That would be somewhat impressive.”

“Why thank you,” Rosario said. 

“I... would like to see the city, a little,” Lucky admitted. “The last city we were in was my first, and we were out of there rather quickly. Though I’m reluctant to wander about on my own. I’m not so strong--yet--that I can defend myself if trouble arises.”

“Aha! Then allow me, the great and magnificent Cricket, to escort thee and show you the wonders of the world!” Cricket said.

Rosario sighed. “Fine. One evening off. But we are leaving in the morning. Now, fortunately, the road from here to the next city is also notably safe, and rather short. We’ll find some exercises to do on the road over. You’re close to gaining your first skills, we don’t want to slow down your progress now.”

“Yes, Master Thorn,” Lucky said.

“And... please just call me Rosario, or Swordmaster Thorn. Just ‘master’ like that is awkward,” Rosario said.

Cricket grinned, then shifted into a very coy, shy pose. “Thou don’t wish me to call you... master?” she asked.

Rosario fished out a silver crow and flicked it. The coin smacked Cricket on the forehead and she went down with a squawk. She took out three more and gently gave them to Lucky. “Here. Some spending money. You need boots. Don’t spend it on clothes otherwise, of course, but don’t waste it either. Oh, and this...” She took out a few more coins, mostly bronze bits. “Is your even share of the adventurer work we did? Cricket tried to keep it, because she’s a little thief, but this is one third of what we earned.”

“Thank you!” Lucky said.

“You earned it. That money you may spend as you wish. Ah, and before you go... I need both of you to be measured.”

“I will undress immediately!” Cricket said as she bounced up to her feet.

“No,” Rosario said. She wiggled a length of quilter tape. “I can adjust. Your clothes hardly make a difference.” 

She took their measure. She was quite certain that she could guess at it, but it was better to be certain. Measure twice and cut once, and so on.

Then she shooed the two out of the inn and hoped that they wouldn’t cause too much trouble before she got to work.

First, Lucky’s outfit. It was liable to change sooner and was simpler to make than Cricket’s outfit with all of its many complex cuts and interwoven patterns. 

She laid out the cloth she had purchased on a bed, then more on the small table that the room had. It was a nice, tough material, and she could improve it later with an enchantment, though probably no more than one. 

She decided to start with the pants. Those were simple enough, though she chose to add patches sewn within to reinforce the knees... then some clever folds and slits along the side, which would let the fabric bend a little better, and of course, a second layer along the inner thighs where they might rub, and pockets, and gussets, and a hole for Lucky’s horse tail, with a neatly pressed flap, and... she stopped before things grew any more complex.

[Perfect Pattern] allowed her to cut out shapes from the cloth without an actual pattern, and [Cut]... cut. She was dangerously precise with her scissors.

For the top, she went with a milkmaid’s bodice. It was what Lucky wore, and it seemed like it was common enough fashion for young women in Lithos. She made sure to reinforce it as well, though it would only help the clothing resist wear. There was only so much she could do for bust support. Fortunately, there wasn’t much to support, Lucky being rather... compact.

She then created a button-up shirt with some clever folds in the seams to allow for a full range of motion to be worn under the bodice piece. 

She made some gloves. Which was, of course, complicated and finicky, and yet surprisingly fun. She wasn’t sure how long they’d last under constant use, but that was fine. She did use up a few of her buckles, but... there were other haberdasheries out there, right?

Next came the enchanting, and for that she switched jobs. 

Current Job: [Apprentice Enchanter]

Job Evolutions Available:

[Armour Enchanter]

[Bellcrafter]

[Binder]

[Combat Enchanter]

[Curse Crafter]

[Fire Binder]

[Frostwright]

[Generalist Enchanter]

[Mirrorwright]

[Runecrafter]

[Spirit Speaker]

[Summoner]

[Temporary Enchanter]

[Weapon Enchanter]

Rosario chewed her lower lip. It was just a second tier job. For the most part, this job would, at its max level, give her ten new skills, including a level 50 capstone, and about 100 stat points. 

There were a couple of new options here, notably [Bellcrafter] and [Spirit Speaker], but she wasn’t drawn to either, mostly because she didn’t know what they did.

It was nice to see [Combat Enchanter] on the list.

Her original plan had been to get Armour or Weapon Enchanting, then top it off with [Master Enchanter] as the crafting third-tier. There was no need to get a combat job and push this into a fourth tier. That would, on the whole, lose her a lot of crafting utility. 

If she took a hybrid job, one that had both combat and crafting, then half of the skills she gained would be combat-based, and the other half crafting. That was, in many cases, worse than focusing on one or the other. 

She hummed. There were decent options on that list, but in the end, this wasn’t ever going to be her main job. This was meant to be a supplemental thing, a little side-project.

Mostly, it was a job she picked up because her inventory was filling with junk items that could be used for enchanting, and it was a job that could be grinded while travelling. It had taken her maybe a month of real-time to get to level 25, and that was while working on other, far more advanced jobs. 

Rosario sighed, then made the safe choice.

New Job Added: [Generalist Enchanter]

[Generalist Enchanter] - Level 0.

That job was now at level 0, so no bonuses or new skills or anything, but that was fine, it was a new avenue of progression.

She immediately set to work, enchanting the outfit she had crafted. That meant sewing some faintly magical thread into it in the right forms for the enchantment to flow, then working some powdered materials into the cloth with some specialized spellwork.

The end result was the same enchantment over several items.

[Reinforced Rider Pants]

Enchanted Pants - First Tier

Enchantments: Tough, Clean

The enchantment merely made the material a little harder. It would maybe stop Lucky from getting cut once or twice, and hopefully it would help her clothes hold together through a few fights. 

Clean was a minor enchantment that would keep mud, blood, and gore from staining her clothes. Nice and simple. She wanted to see if it would help in the long term.

Now... Cricket’s stuff. She sighed. Making some of that was going to be tricky, but at least she’d finally get Cricket into a poofy skirt. 

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