Chapter 74 The Creating Room

  Lenna made sure to wash her face before they returned to the dressmakers. While the duo made their way back to Extravagance is Priceless, Isaac and Lenna continued talking about the fight: “That didn’t seem as close as I had expected. Good job.” Isaac complimented his wife.

  “If I hadn’t spent as much time training with you, and watching you and Walter train, it would’ve been a bit closer. I still would have won, his primary fighting method is with a solid steel shortspear not his bare hands. He gave me as much trouble as he did with just his strength, speed, and instincts. He has some bareknuckle experience, sure, but it is more of a fallback or a pastime than anything else for him, as it is for me. I just have centuries more experience than he does and I received actual training in the art.” Lenna went on. It was instantly clear to Isaac that she had enjoyed herself greatly. It was rare to see Lenna go on so much after such light prompting.

  “Still, he would’ve ended me in one hit.” Isaac didn’t let her detract from her own victory. “Even while boosted I would have had to pay attention. His flickerjab and near instant elbow strike both caught me by surprise and I wasn’t even in the ring with him.”

  “They were impressive, yes.” Lenna agreed. “Hitting him also felt like punching shields or iron doors. I nearly broke my finger when I broke his rib. My finger was throbbing afterwards. How do you fight like that?”

  “I know when to retract my middle knuckle and just deliver a regular punch.” Isaac half-scolded her. “A rib is too hard of a target to go for unless it is a floating rib, but in that case, you would only be hitting it because you missed the kidney.”

  “What about the sternum?” Lenna wondered.

  “Only if you hit the bottom tip. Hit too high and your finger bones will splinter inside their flesh tube.” Isaac explained.

  “Oh I don’t like that.” Lenna replied with a wrinkled nose.

  “What?” Isaac questioned.

  “Calling your finger a ‘Flesh Tube’.” She said with disgust.

  Isaac laughed. “Anyway, it was a good though risky use of it to start softening up his muscles with repeated middle knuckle strikes to them. That kick was also really something.” He praised her.

  “Thank you.” Lenna took her compliment with grace but no pushback. She knew that she deserved it. “Though I must admit that I had no proper plan for a counter attack if he grabbed my leg afterwards. The best thing that I could think of was to make him think that I did.”

  “Then that was even more brilliant.” Isaac praised her once more. “I would probably have yanked myself towards him if he grabbed my leg in that position. Best case, you kick him in the balls as you fall. Worst case, you are still close enough to hit him with your hands.”

  Lenna nodded along in thought. “I can see that.” She agreed. “I will try to keep that in mind if I am ever in that situation.”

  “I’m sure Walter has a much better idea but that is the best that I thought of in the moment.” Isaac tempered her reply. “Where did you learn that grapple? I am sure that we don’t do that kind of wrestling.” He said the last with a wink.

  Lenna rolled her eyes. “No, we do not.” She confirmed. “I learned how to do that in training. V’Nova’s are taught grappling and ground work but it is more of an afterthought. Something to keep in mind and something that our opponents are more likely to try on us than things that we are supposed to use ourselves.” She explained. “For a V’Nova, rolling around in the dirt with one’s enemies is seen as beneath us. It would be like you being forced to use Truth in a training match because you just wanted to be able to cut your sparring partner’s sword in half.”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “Fair enough.” Isaac replied. “I’m not a fan of rolling around in the sand either.” The two continued on in companionable silence for another half of a block before Isaac decided to praise her even more: “I loved watching you fight.” He told her. “Well, I usually like watching you fight, but I really enjoyed how much fun it looked like you were having.”

  Lenna glanced at him and Isaac could tell that Lenna's stoicism was winning a battle against a blush that was trying to come to her cheeks. “Thanks.” She replied in a bit higher pitch than she usually spoke. “I did have fun.”

  The duo then arrived at the dressmakers and were instantly pulled into the room that her dress was being made in by the gnomish man. The human woman was nowhere to be seen at the moment and they were well past closing time. The man didn’t seem to notice. On and on he moved, measured, cut, sewed, and stitched. The sun had nearly come up by the time the dark skinned woman arrived. It was nearly breakfast by the time the dress was finally done.

  Lenna’s new dress was truly a work of art. The platinum white corset from the Platinum Angel dress and its attached inner skirt, along with the long gloves that ended halfway up her biceps were the main parts of the Platinum Angel to survive. The stockings were replaced with the pants from Lenna’s drider silk underarmor and the top of her underarmor was pulled over the corset to give it more of an armored look. Around her waist the habit from the Platinum Angel was turned into a wide belt that covered the seam where Lenna’s shirt ended and the skirt properly began. The skirt was long but as it was only the innerskirt it was slightly translucent, just barely translucent enough to see that Lenna had legs through it unless a sufficiently bright light shone onto it. In that case, it would be revealed that her legs were silver but the exact material of her leg coverings would be almost impossible to distinguish.

  Instead of boots she wore the sandals, from the Moonsilver Sovereign set, that showed Lenna’s toes and the tops of her feet. Her ankles were adorned with frills that once again hid where her underarmor ended. She also wore just the headband from the Platinum Angel, the one that the habit was originally attached to, in order to help keep her hair out of the way. The female dressmaker also painted Lenna’s nails to be entirely silver so they would match her dress better. All of that was just the base however as there was still more extravagance to be had.

  The dressmakers used a full seventy feet of wire to cause the ribbons from the Moonsilver Sovereign’s main body to hover a hand’s width away from Lenna’s body. They still covered where they were supposed to but at a distance that made her figure feel ethereal. She didn’t actually need the ribbons to cover anything as she was wearing actual clothing but it made her feel and look like she was larger than the space that she occupied, like she was greater than the allotted area for her form to inhabit. The wire was made in such a way, alchemically treated apparently, that as long as it wasn’t actually damaged, it would try to return to its original shape, a shape that the dressmaker’s set with a liberal application of guesswork. It ended up looking perfect to Isaac and Lenna, nearly so to the female, and ‘unfortunately close enough’ by the male dressmaker.

  By the time Lenna had the dress on, it was time for breakfast but Lenna really didn’t want to be seen out in public like that eating at an inn. “There is a noble cafe nearby. They will have breakfast ready for you.” The male dressmaker explained to the duo. “I had already assumed that this would be the case. Now, for the Lord, it is your turn.”

  Isaac put his hands up in surrender. “I need to be ready to go as well but just simple black silk will be enough for me.”

  “Nonsense.” The male dressmaker shut him down. “How much time do we have?”

  “Four hours.” Lenna helpfully informed then.

  “How long did your dress take?” The man then asked Lenna.

  “Fourteen hours.” Lenna replied. “I think you both need a bit longer of a rest.”

  The male dressmaker shook his head. “Nonsense.” He countered but then jolted as his companion accidentally knocked something over.

  “I’m sorry.” She told him before her boss could say anything else.

  “Maybe some rest would be in order.” The male dressmaker conceded. “But you will still need something that matches the Lady.”

  Isaac nodded in agreement. “Do you have anything for me here or is there somewhere else I should go?” He wondered.

  “We do not. Though we do make male attire on special request. There is a competent tailor across the street who should be able to size any of their merchandise to fit you properly as long as you are there as soon as they open.” The gnomish man explained.

  “Do you work with them often?” Isaac wondered.

  “Often enough that they will make sure that you match our lovely Lady.” The dressmaker answered.

  “Then that is good enough for me.” Isaac replied. “Lenna, would you like to come with me or get something to eat?”

  “Both?” Lenna wondered.

  “Not a chance.” The dressmaker expressed. “Eating in the creating room is punishable by death in some places.”

  “Understood.” Lenna replied.

  “And what about your price for this work of art?” Isaac wondered. They had plenty of money but he didn’t like having any outstanding debts.

  “Forty thousand gold for the dresses because we do not have time to enchant them.” The dressmaker informed them. “If we could have the set for another six to ten months, then the price would be somewhere around two million but it would be enchanted with self-repair and cleaning functions. Depending on how the dress looks after you have finished with it today, and you can afford it, then we would be happy to have it enchanted properly.”

  “We’ll keep that in mind.” Isaac assured the dressmaker and then gave them what little information they were lacking in order to make a direct request for funds from Isaac’s bank account. It would take a while for the money to arrive but that was just how using a bank in a different city worked. With that more or less settled, Isaac and Lenna made their way across the street to the tailor’s as the sun finally managed to ascend over the city walls to begin bathing the city itself in yellows and long shadows.