"Wake up, sleepy head, you promised me your clothes."
I groaned as I sat up and looked at Jack.
"Jack, if this all turns out to be a complete joke, I'm coming for you."
"Well, get up off the ground. Also, the guard told me what happened, how did you do it."
"Jack, I would love to tell you all about it, but I don't fully understand it, I thought y'all would have someone protecting the Outpost."
"We do have guards, but none of them are able to make Dranin fly away like that, and there are the Dragon Guild Alliance, but they are probably off slaying some monster."
"Oh Jack, I believe his attack was what made him go so far, and if the Dragon Guild Alliance doesn't have only 1 member, then they are pretty weak, and so Jack about those clothes."
"Oh yes, but shouldn't you lay down for a bit? You did hit your head pretty hard."
I whisper to myself, "Hey T.I.P. is there a way to check my health and status."
*Yes, there is. -HEALTH(95/100) -STATUS(light headache and minor bruising) should return to normal after some time. Do you wish to know more information?
"Nope, that's all."
"Um, Jason, are you fine? You're mumbling to yourself?"
"I'm fine, nothing that a good meal and a little time can't fix."
"If you say so, now I have requested a carriage to take us to my shop since I have already delivered my cargo and those horses need some rest. The carriage should arrive shortly."
"Ok, and may I ask a slight favor of you."
"Anything for you as long as it's within my abilities."
"Could you keep what happened here to yourself. I don't want anyone to notice me yet."
"That is a peculiar request. I haven't met someone you don't want to be popular."
"Well, I have my reasons."
A carriage stops at the southern entrance, and the driver yells at the 2 men to get in. Then Jack and Jason walk to the carriage, hoisting themselves onto it. Then, the carriage lurches forward as the 2 horses start walking.
The carriage went by dozens of shops and homes before passing through an invisible wall into what seems like a rich man's place of business.
"Home or your shop Master Jack?" the carriage driver asked.
"Shop, please, and thank you."
"Why does he talk like you own him?" I asked Jack.
"Well, Jason, in a way, I do, but if he wanted to, he could go work for someone else. But he insisted that he work for me. He was a close friend of my dad's, and he hired him to look after me if something were to happen, which it did, and the fire claimed both the lives of my mother and father."
"Talk about a deep backstory."
"I'm afraid I do not understand your term of speech."
"It's understandable. I've only heard people where I'm from use it. It means that your life before we met was sad and deeply filled with dark events."
"I think I understand your statement."
"Sir, we are here."
"We are where?"
"Sorry Master Jack, we are at your shop."
"That's alright, Jefflin, so Jason, let's head inside and find you a change of clothes."
The 2 of us stepped off the carriage and started walking to the wooden door of Jack's shop. There was a sign above the door that said 'The World of Clothes' on it. Jack reached the door first and turned the handle to open the door and walked inside then Jason started to follow him inside.
*Heyo buddy, since you seem to never notice shit I'll tell you I can sense some unknown power nearby within 1,000 feet.
"Rude, much and tell me if this power changes at all."
*I wouldn't be so rude if you would ever learn to do things on your own.
"Damn, women can be harsh sometimes."
*Technically I am not a woman but an artificial intelligence designed to help the player understand the game and to make sure the player does not die the female voice I have is meant to be soothing so that the players transition is smoother, additionally if your heartbeat ever exceeded a certain point or your thoughts ever stopped becoming clear I am designed to bring heart beat to normal and clear up your thoughts. Those are my basic functions. Do you understand it all?
"I believe so. I'm guessing you're a glorified game assistant who can keep me calm in all situations."
*Basically, yeah.
"Then what about the age of your voice?"
*The young girl sound makes me more trustworthy, and it makes me sound cuter.
"Hey Jason, you've been standing there for the past 5 mintles mumbling to yourself."
"Sorry Jack, I just had a thought."
"Well, get inside, we got to find some good clothes for you."
-----
Jason followed Jack inside the store , and the interior walls were lined with all kinds of clothing. Displays of dresses and formal suits were in the center of the room. In the back of the store there was a hallway with 2 fitting/dressing rooms then at the end was a door to a large store room filled with all kinds of clothing that would fill the main room soon enough.
"So Jason, I need some information before I can get you the perfect outfit."
"Ok, as long as it doesn't get too personal, I will be fine."
"Great, so first favorite color?"
"Black."
"Second?"
"Dark purple."
"Sexual preference?"
"Does that really matter?"
"Yes."
"Women, of course."
"Nice or messy lifestyle?"
"I'm kinda both but more messy than nice."
"Last question tall girls big boobs and thick ass or small girls with small boobs with average ass?"
"That question can not help you find me an outfit."
"True, but I like to know things about my clients, and I guess you're into number 1."
"Jack, you are 1 perverted man, and you're wrong. 2. Now my clothes."
"I have to get your measurements, and some alterations have to be made before it'll be perfect for you, and I think you have the perfect outfit that suits you."
"Well, it may take around 2 to 3 hirons."
"Then what am I gonna do while I wait? I don't think Dranin would come back so soon, especially after how far he went."
"Well, Jason, let me get some measurements, and we can go get something to eat."
Jack walked to a cabinet and pulled out a thin rope marked with lines, probably a measuring tape.
"So Jack, what is that thing called?"
Jack walked over to Jason and started measuring.
"I call it my measure rope. I made it so I could make clothes that fit perfectly."
"Neat creation."
"Yeah. Would you lift your arms out? "
"Ok. So, I have made anything else."
"Not really. I'm working on something, and I have ideas, but this is the only practical thing. I'm done, now I'll give the numbers to my assistant and we can eat."
Jack went into 1 of the fitting rooms and handed a piece of parchment to a woman.
"So Jason, what would you like to eat?"
"A pizza would be nice right about now."
"A what."
"It's a really good food. I'll tell you about it sometime. So what kind of food do you have around here."
"Stuffed chicken balls."
"Tell me more about these chicken balls."
"It's this chicken filled with different kinds of vegetables and sauces, and the chicken is covered with bread crumbs. Then they put it in really hot oils."
"I want that. It sounds amazing."
The 2 of us walked out of the store and climbed onto the carriage, waiting for them.
"Well, Jefflin, take us to that stuffed chicken place."
"Sir, you do know it's on the other side of the town it is going to take some time."
"It's alright. we need to spend some time waiting in order to get finished."
The carriage pulled forward, moving on the side of the road. Jefflin, the driver of the carriage, directed the horses towards the center of the city, which was a large building about 6 floors high and seemed to have thousands of people entering and exiting throughout the day. Once the road towards the building ended, Jetflin steered the carriage to the right to go around. On the other side of the building appeared quite a lot of shops and every once in a while you could see an inn.
Further along the road of shops there was this small shop that had a handmade sign that said 'Stuffed Chicken' with a skinny man who looked in his 50s.
"Jefflin, I see you don't forget a thing."
"Sir, that is probably because I've been doing this job for a long time."
"That is true, now Jason, it may not look like much, but his food is amazing."
"I'll just have to see myself."
The 2 of us climbed out of the carriage, leaving Jefflin, and they walked up to the mans food stand.
-----
The stand is a small one, only wide enough to seat 6 people. The seats are just stools. A cloth sign that said 'Stuffed Chicken'.
The sign large enough and hung low enough that any paytrons would have to part it.
Though, the low hanging sign did allow for small things to not get blown into the food.
The skinny man behind the counter was cutting some vegetables, and then Jason and Jack sat down.
-----
"Howdy Davey Boy, how's it going? I would like 3 regular stuffed chickens, please."
"Order noted, any my name is Davinstien."
"That's too hard to say."
As soon as Davinstien took the order, he started making the food, but it didn't look like he was making food but doing a dance of quality cuisine, making each stuffed chicken unique but also perfect.
"Hey boy, why are you staring so hard?"
"I'm just fascinated by what you're doing, Davinstien."
"Oh, this is nothing much. You should see it when I make the triple stuffed. You need 3 people to eat it all."
"I may order it some day."
"Jason, terrible idea we don't have 3 people to eat it, and yeah, Jefflin is here, but he doesn't eat all that much."
"But why."
"Well, Jefflin, here is a Darnish.
If you didn't know, the Darnish are pretty much humans, except their metabolism is quite a lot slower than normal people, which means they don't eat as much. Though their lifespan is only half that of the average person.
"That makes sense." Jason replied.
-----
Davinstien placed 2 plates of food in front of the men.
On one plate, there were 2 good-sized balls of bread that were still steaming. On the other plate, there was 1 ball.
As soon as Davinstien's hands let go of the plate, Jack's hands shot forth with a knife in one hand and a fork in the other.
Cutting, slicing, stabbing the food, and devouring it all quickly.
"Yknow eating it while it's hot is the best." Jack said with a mouthful of food.
After pausing for a moment, I reached my hands out, grabbing the food in front of me.
Instantly, the heat burned my hands, and I dropped the ball back down.
*You have to be careful, Jason. You lost 1 HP. Though you have unlocked Heat Resistance(LV 1)
"Nice warning T.I.P."
*I don't want attitude from you, mister. You are the one who doesn't notice steam.
Davinstien places a knife and fork at the top of the plate.
"Careful son, it's pretty hot till ya crack it open."
I grabbed the knife with my left hand and grabbed the fork with my right. With 1 smooth motion, I sliced the ball in half.
The contents spilled out onto the plate. Brown gravy pooling outwards. Small cuts of carrots, potatoes, green beans, and a variety of other vegetables spilled out across the plate. Throughout all of the contents evenly cut pieces of meat, chicken, I assume, lay there cooked to perfection.
I took my fork and scooped a few vegetables and a piece of chicken together, and picked it up with the fork.
As soon as the food touched my tongue, I was surprised that it wasn't that hot. But the flavor was amazing. I could eat it forever.
*Since you consumed some good food, your HP has returned to max, and all status effects are cleared.
I just ignored T.I.P. and continued eating.
-----
I didn't stop until I ate every last bit. I didn't realize that I was that hungry.
After I put the last bit of food in my mouth, I sat the knife and fork down. And just as quickly as he placed everything there, Davinstien cleared the counter of the dishes.
Jack looked at me and asked.
"Jason, it has been bugging me since earlier. How do you know Citrus repels those from the darkened land? and how did you stop Dranin?"
*Since you don't have any common sense, if you tell him certain things, you might be branded as crazy so be careful with your words.
"I know." I mumbled.
"What now?"
"Nothing, so about the citrus, I read lots of books, and I learned about it when I was younger. Now for defeating Dranin, that's harder for me to explain. But in short, I was gifted an ability that allowed me to do it."
"You still confound me. Now, let's get back. I believe your new outfit is ready.
We stand up and head back to the carriage.
*Jason, keep an eye out, that energy from earlier is back and it's moving towards you.
"What!" I yell.