Wearing my new favorite shirt I was ready to continue my training. Even after a few washing both in cold and hot water it was still smooth and held nicely. I even tried to rip a corner to compare durability against other linen fabric and it held up while the others would tear. It even got a slight elastic property that normal linen didn’t have, it wasn’t anything major but you could stretch it minutely.

I was planning to visit the clinic to ask about Claras experiment, it would be nice to have better clothes if it was viable.

Starting with light exercise before I would do my daily meditation and technique practice I saw that Nira was visiting the orphanage again. Cutting my training short I wanted to ask her about fabrics, since she was a seamstress.

“Hello, Mrs. Nira I presume.”

She was heading for the classroom, I assumed some of the kids were gathered there. Probably some of the older ones who were preparing to leave and start their own lives.

“Why hello young man. How can I help you? And you don’t have to be so polite with little old me.”

Smiling an amused smile towards me she looked curiously at me.

“Sorry for bothering you, my name is Alex and I was wondering about clothes and fabrics so I wanted to ask you a few questions if that’s okay?”

“Hmm, I was going to help some of the girls how to get work right now. But I guess we could talk after that, how about in the afternoon when I’m done.”

“Yes that works fine for me, thank you.”

Making my appointment with Nira I left her for her business.

Well since I could find out more about fabrics later I should ask Clara how much it costs to make the substance itself. It was best to get this out of the way right now, I wouldn’t gain anything from waiting around anyway.

Heading for the clinic I knocked on the door before entering.

“Hey”

Lisandra looked at me from the note she was reading at the desk.

“Hey Alex, what brings you here?”

“I wanted to ask Clara about the substance she made, this shirt is really nice and I was wondering how much it costs to make her experiment.”

“I doubt it would be worth it, as the material for the healing salve is magical in nature. So they cost a lot more than regular clothes.”

“What? Aww… Well now I feel bad about making her lose all of it like that. You didn’t even ask for payment when you gave me the salve either.”

“Don’t worry about it, the experiment was a failure anyway. And the salve is one of the products Clara makes for the local shops. Alchemy is a really lucrative profession so giving you a little dash of salve won't hurt us.”

“Okay, that’s good to hear. Is Clara in the workshop?”

“Yeah, I can call her for you. No matter how funny I find it when you surprise her it’s better if she actually manages to talk.”

Shaking her head Lisandra stood up and knocked on the workshop door.

“Hey Clara. Alex wanted to ask you something.”

I could hear a yelp and a crash from the other room.

“Hahaha, what am I going to do with you if you collapse just from hearing his name.”

Lisandra was laughing while waving me towards her.

I could see Clara was smoothing her robe and looking flustered while walking towards us.

“H-e-e-l-ll-oo A-a-le-x.”

She swallowed hard after greeting me with visible sweat forming on her forehead and a slight red ting building upon her face. She was really unaccustomed and uncomfortable around men, especially me after the show I gave her.

“Hey Clara. You don’t have to be so nervous, I don’t bite.”

Smiling at her it didn’t seem like I was able to break the ice and relax her.

“I was wondering about the experiment you did, the shirt that I’m wearing now became really high quality compared to how it was before. And even after washing and scrubbing it didn’t come off. It seemed that the material completely absorbed the substance. What I’m curious about is how much it cost, and if it was possible to make a less concentrated batch and maybe other configurations that added a color pigment to the mix?”

She visibly relaxed while I was talking before at the end she had a pondering look on her face and she muttered to herself.

After a few moments Lisandra shook her head before turning towards me.

“She gets like that sometimes, you probably gave her new ideas and showed her an angle that she didn’t see before. She will come back to us in a moment, hopefully.”

Lisandra turned towards Clara again while calling out to her.

“Clara how much did the experiment cost, and was anything that he asked viable?”

She was still lost in her own world when Lisandra called her, yet she still started talking. This time it was completely fluent like she forgot I was even there. It was more like she was monologuing for herself.

“I was working on a cheaper version, so it only cost two gold in ingredients. But maybe I could dilute the batch to make more and see if I added some croat roots for color and replace the valum bloom with its stalks instead...”

She continued to mumble about changes and other ingredients, temperature and what not that mostly went over my head.

“I was thinking about this wrong, how can it have such an effect on linen? What other materials would get a change? Potions can be used on other things than people...”

Lisandra shook her head while sighing.

“We lost her, I would recommend you come back tomorrow after she gets this out of her system.”

Looking towards Lisandra I helplessly shrugged.

“Well since I was the one who was interested and got this whole thing started, I got a few gold coins that I can donate to the cause.”

Shaking her head towards me.

“No need.”

“No I insist, besides if it works I can claim some of the experiments as more clothes maybe.”

Smiling towards Lisandra I handed her four gold coins while heading out.

I had barely spent any money this whole time, so I hoped it would be okay using some of the gold I got.

If everything panned out it would be a worthwhile investment that paid for itself.

I wasn’t able to properly concentrate on my training while I waited for Nyra, and after what felt like several hours she walked out towards me. We had agreed that I would wait for her on the bench in the compound.

“You wanted to ask me a couple of questions young man?”

“Yeah. Clara made an experimental substance that changed my shirt, If you'd like to touch.”

Presenting her my sleeve she stretched her hand out and felt the clothes.

“Hmm, interesting. This got a very nice feel to it. But I don’t really understand why you would ask me. I don’t know anything about this material, it's completely new to me.”

“Well I have only had linen shirts, and was wondering about other materials and how much they cost.”

Looking amused at me she gently answered my question.

“I mostly work with linen and wool, most people don’t use wool unless it's cold. Cotton and silk are used by the more affluent citizen. For cost linen cloths go-between copper and silver depending on the quality and size of the wear, wool goes for the same but slightly more expensive. Cotton is rare around these parts and goes for up to a gold coin, so it's rare to see people wear it. Silk is something I never came in contact with as only nobles and wealthy merchants dabble in it.”

She shook her head sadly at the end part.

“Thank you, I also wondering if you could maybe sew something for me. It's a new kind of clothes, I saw that the chest wrapping my family is using is kinda tedious to put on and take off. So I thought about making a new kind of support for the chest.”

Showing her the sports bra drawing that I did in my notebook.

“Hmm, I’m unsure since linen or wool seems unsuitable for this. How would they put it on if its to tight? And if it isn’t tight enough it wouldn’t really work and have enough support.”

True they didn’t really have proper elastic materials.

Drawing a slit at the bottom of the bra in the front I added four holes on the sides and added a thread.

“Would this work? They can tighten by pulling the string and tying a knot after putting it on, and I planned to treat them in the same solution as my shirt. So the quality should be the same as my shirt.”

She looked thoughtfully at the picture, nodding slowly after a moment she looked at me.

“Well it's interesting, I haven’t done anything like this before. But I’m curious, I saw you here last time I visited. And I was wondering why a guy like you would be here, and even know who I am?”

Scratching my head I guess I got overexcited and didn’t properly introduce myself and just jumped right into it.

“I’m with Lyria, she and the rest of the girls went on a mission. I’m staying here so I didn’t sit alone at home.”

“Oh my, Little Lyri has grown up.”

She had her hand in front of her mouth while a smile lit up her face.

“How is she doing? I haven’t been able to spend any time with her lately.”

“Lyria is doing great, she is a sweet girl and lately her confidence has gone up a lot. Actually the first time I interacted with her she was really shy and fidgety, but when she saw that I was hurt she instantly became serious and healed me on the spot. It was really funny seeing her attitude switch so fast.”

“Yeah she was like that when she entered my shop as well…”

We both sat there smiling and sharing our stories about Lyria.

***

Cassandra was getting her dinner from the logistic personnel, she was brooding while completely ignoring everything around her.

The job was over now, but it grated on her that they couldn't finish it. They had discovered basilisks in the lower levels, and they weren't equipped or strong enough to take on that foe. A class four threat was beyond them and the forewoman didn't even cut the bonus that she promised them after they found out that the initial assessment was off.

They had cleared up the uppersides and secured a couple of veins that the crew could work on. Fixing an alarm system towards the lower reaches was also easy work with the equipment that the expedition brought with them.

Sighing to herself it really grated on her when she left something undone.

They were going to head back for the city tomorrow with some of the people here that were done with their work or was going to get replaced. The forewomen would send people back with samples and a report about the whole expedition, they would be the escort back with one other team that was responsible for clearing the immediate area.

Walking towards their campsite she heard Hera and her crew boisterous laughter.

"It will be so good to come back to civilization. I can't wait to hit the brothels."

Hera was her usual loudmouth self.

"You girls still haven't gotten yourself a proper man yet?"

Inara who was walking past stopped and tsked at them.

Sneering Hera yelled back.

"Shut up you ugly virgin, you couldn't even get a whore to lick your clit if you showered him with gold."

Getting her usual grin on her face Inara puffed out her chest while looking down on them.

"I already have a hunk that is waiting for me. I'm not some lonely old bag that has to pay for some skin."

Why does Inara always have to make trouble wherever she goes? Sighing to herself Cassandra just shakes her head while positioning herself so she can help her friend if it gets rowdy.

Hera spits on the ground while humphing.

"Yeah right, if anything you got a blind mundane guy that's only there for the money. I didn't know you went so low that you got yourself a regular. I guess it makes sense as you never had any hope of anything better."

"Hahaha, you wish. Not only is he awakened, but he also can't wait for me to come back. The nights we spend together is something else. You can only dream about what I have."

"Do you honestly think I will belive your bullshit?"

"Do you want to bet on it? How about five mana shards?"

Sucking in a deep breath Cassandra could see that Heras party also recoiled from the bet she set.

"Sure I'll take it."

One of Heras's companions grabbed her shoulder.

"Hera are you sure? She seems awfully confident."

Hera just leered at Inara while increasing her volume.

"You said that he can't wait for you to get back, so you claim you're some kinda playgirl in bed. Well I bet five shards that you don't have a hunk of an awakened guy pinning for your touch back at home."

"Hahaha I always knew you were a moron, easy money for me."

"Don't laugh so fast, since we are playing with so much money when we get back to the city we are going together directly to your so-called man. Anyone could get a guy to pretend to be their man for that sum. So when we get back I want to make sure that not only is he a hunk as you said, but that he agrees that you're also a goddess in bed."

Cassandra got a slight smile on her face, they actually had the most shameless guy at home so it should be fine. When she turned towards Inara she actually didn't look that confident after the last requirement with some sweat building on her forehead.

Hera laughed her grating obnoxious laugh.

"I'm gonna hold you to it girly."