Chapter 24: Gloomy Pants (Patreon)

I followed Andreas into the back of his shop that turned out to be half storage area and half workshop with several unfinished pieces of clothing lay on tables. One of them even had a sowing machine that looked fairly new. Then I noticed the shelves. Stacked with jars that were filled with different liquids, powders, and objects that together fulfilled every grade of color. Some were dull while others shimmered and they had esoteric labels on them like Chroma dust, which meant nothing to me.

“So do you actually make this stuff yourself, or do you just ask the System to teleport it here?” I asked.

It was a little blunt of me, but he wasn’t offended in the least by the question. In fact, he was happy to talk about his work.

“Yes, everything you’ve seen in here are things that I’ve made. The System doesn’t just let anyone come down here and call themselves a merchant. But alas, as to your earlier query, I am not a blacksmith or armorer, so the cloth-based options I can show you are limited when it comes to defense. However, I do have something that might be of use. You say your clothing keeps getting torn up?”

I nodded. “Mostly from claws and blades, although there was that crossbow bolt I took in the shoulder that one time.”

“Sounds like you had an eventful first day. You must have a very high constitution.”

I grimaced, thinking back to those injuries. “Not so much that, as the fact that I heal quickly. It’s related to my class,” I replied, trying to stay vague. Andreas seemed like a nice guy for an alien, but he worked for the System, so it was hard to tell how much to trust him. But then again, the System was the one that gave me this class to begin with. I wonder why the System would hide that information from their own Merchants?

I caught Andreas staring at me intently. I almost said something until I realized that he was looking not at me but at the cloak that I was wearing.

“I can’t believe I didn’t truly see it before,” he said, stepping closer.

“Yeah, it likes to avoid being noticed, which is good for stealth.”

He reached out and then stopped himself. “May I examine it?”

I said yes, and he lifted up a part of the cloak and looked at under a magnifying glass. A minute passed in silence like that, and then another before I coughed. Andreas reluctantly let go of the material.

“Sorry,” he said. “I got a bit lost there for a second. It is some of the finest work that I’ve seen. The Shadow Weavers know what they’re doing. I can’t hope to match it, but I do have something that might complement it.”

He reached into a drawer and handed me a pair of dark pants and a tunic.

*Item Identified* [Gloom Fall pants (uncommon)] – Woven with threads of spider silk from a Nyx to help obscure perception. Perfect for those who do not wish to be seen. (Condition: Perfect)

*Item Identified* [Gloom Fall tunic (uncommon)] - Woven with threads of spider silk from a Nyx to help obscure perception. Perfect for those who do not wish to be seen. (Condition: Perfect)

These were a massive step up from what I was wearing. I took off my cloak and lifted up my t-shirt when Andreas suddenly covered his eyes.

“Ahh! What are you doing?” he asked.

I frowned. “Trying them on?”

He let out an exasperated sigh. “You don’t have to manually put them on. Just add them to your inventory and then select equip. It will then automatically switch the clothes for you.”

Oh. Should I have known that already? Maybe it was a part of the orientation I’d skipped.

I put the new clothes into my inventory and hovered over their pictures. The equip prompt appeared and I selected yes. In an instant, my t-shirt and jeans disappeared and were replaced by the Gloom Fall clothing. My old clothes had been instantly placed into my inventory, which was useful.

I tested out my new clothes by walking around in them. The material felt light and unobtrusive. Putting the cloak back on made all three pieces optically meld together and made my body a little harder to define. There were a few dark corners in the back storage area of Andreas’s shop, where I just melted into the shadows with ease.

This would definitely take my stealth to the next level, but I worried about how my new clothes would hold up in a fight. I asked Andreas about it.

“They can take more punishment than what you were wearing before, but obviously metal and plate armor or armor with higher defensive enchantments would be better. But those come with downsides like heavier weight and less flexibility. Plus, the magic ones can drain you of energy fast if you don’t have a high intelligence stat. If you want to prioritize speed and stealth, stick with what you’re wearing.”

They felt perfect. “I’ll take them. How much?”

He rubbed his beard and thought for a second. “I’ll give you a deal. Let’s say three hundred coins for both since I’m feeling generous.”

My eyes widened. Not only would that clean me out, but I would still be eighty-four coins short.

I went into party chat to ask for some financial aid.

[Lucas: Hey Hugo, could you spot me a few coins?]

Silence.

[Lucas Hudson: Come on, I promise I’ll make it up to you.]

Still nothing.

[Lucas Hudson: I can make you pizza.]

Make was overselling it, as I had a couple of frozen pizzas in my apartment freezer, but I doubted that Hugo would know the difference.

[Hugo: What kind?]

[Lucas Hudson: Pepperoni. I just need eighty-four coins.]

[Hugo: Done.]

[Hugo has transferred 84 coins to Lucas Hudson]

I saw the balance change in my inventory to three hundred coins.

[Hugo: You should know that I charge interest on my loans. 100% to be exact. I expect… two pizza slices!]

[Lucas Hudson: Done.]

He drove a hard bargain, but I think I can afford it.

“Alright, I have the money,” I said. “How do we do this?”

“As a merchant, I can just initiate it as a prompt.”

[Purchase Gloom Fall tunic and pants from Merchant Andreas for 300 coins? Y/N]

I agreed to the purchase and watched my balance go down to zero. It was a little disheartening, but my weapons were solid for my level and since I was a cardholder, I didn’t need to worry about paying rent in order to stay in town. Food wouldn’t be an issue for at least a few weeks either, since I’d pilfered everything from the neighbor’s kitchens.

I thanked Andreas and went to leave when I stopped. There was a question that had been bugging me for a while. I was going to wait to use the payphone and talk to the Officiator about it, but who knows how long it would take to acquire a payphone coin? As an alien, he might be able to tell me the answer right now.

“Do you know why the System did this to us?” I asked.

Andreas looked apologetic as he shrugged again. “The theories vary, but there’s never been a concrete reason given. Some think it’s about recruitment while others believe that the System integrations are just entertainment for higher beings like the gods. All I can say is that I think your planet got lucky, at least in the sense that it happened so fast. My own planet took decades to integrate and a lot more people suffered because of it.”

Logically, he was right, but the answer was of little comfort. I thanked him and left his shop to go explore more of the town.