I joked, but no one laughed
“We’re here.”
Lance spoke before anyone answered. It was a building with a full-body black outfit on display in a window, it was that familiar mix of stone and wood all other buildings had but this one had a sign hanging above the door reading ‘sub-armor’. I had no clue what it meant as we entered the shop with the chime of a bell. As we walked into the shop there were several of the same black outfits nailed to boards in certain sections of the room. As I looked around the older man in the back chuckled
“You three made a friend? Never thought I would see the day.”
The man smirked as I looked at him
“Kidnapping and blackmail is one helluva way to start a relationship.”
They blinked a few times before laughing
“You four fit together quite well, so you guess each-“
“Sorry Mr.Burns, but just Mark needs his subar today.”
The brown-haired man with a bushy mustache nodded his head
“What size are you kid?”
I blinked sever times as Rose sighed
“Mr. Burns, keep it a secret but… he's a summoned. We came here because we know that you can size him and get him more oriented for shopping than us SITs.”
I watched the old man’s face form many different emotions before he asked
“So the war is getting that bad, huh?”
“Not really.”
Lance replied
“The queen just wanted to buy some time, we got some if we can keep this asshole from doing anything stupid.”
I laughed at Lance’s words as the old man looked me up and down
“Fine, I’ll size you then get you your subar and such.”
I looked around before asking
“Okay, so… we all know I don’t know half of what you just said, but what is subar or sub armor or whatever.”
The old man looked at me quizzically when Tetra spoke
“Using Aura or mana you can increase the clothes production on you. So even a mage or weapon augmenter can take a hit or two.”
I nodded my head as the older man took out several circular bands, they looked like handcuffs without the chains. I looked between them and the old man, I cracked a smirk as I joked
“At least take me out to dinner before you handcuff me.”
I heard Lance let out a laugh before he tried to hold it in as the old man stared at me blankly and shook his head
“No way, I’m out of your league. Put these on kiddo.”
I laughed at his jab as I took the bands from him. They were black thick circles with latches on them as a cyan-blue light hummed in the center of them. As I put them on the man spoke
“They will send a thin amount of mana to each other without touching you, it gives a perfect size for you and thus I can get to work on the armor.”
I nodded my head as I realized it was similar to full-body scans of my world. At I put the last cuff on me I felt them warm up a bit as the inlet man leaned against the counter. He kept his eye on me with a quizzical expression as he spoke
“Walk around a bit so it can calibrate to your movement.”
I nodded. I walked around the store as I looked at the black tracksuit-looking things with that familiar blue cyan line on certain parts. It looked electric or futuristic but at the same time modern and old. I continued to look at each of the designs and styles of the suits, some with colored necks, others that looked to be skin tight. I figured that there was likely the equivalent of underwear in this world but at the same time, was unwilling to ask such a question. I tracked the blue lines with my eyes as they appeared random, varying in size and location yet all linking together. Eventually, it clicked, and the blue lines traced where muscles should be, there were similar to exo suits from video games. At this realization, I looked even closer at it when I heard Rose speak
“If you stare even harder you’ll burn a hole through it, if you have a question-“
“I have many questions, but I think I figured out how this works. It pumps extra mana or Aura into the muscles it traces, allowing for an increase in speed, agility, and durability. The blue lines are all connected so you can quickly bolster a certain area by moving excess energy to the areas it needs it.”
The three of my companions looked at me with a mix of surprise and confusion as the older man looked at me with a glint of curiosity and amusement
“Smart kid.”
He spoke to Rose who shook her head
“I wish we knew half of it.”
“No can do.”
I spoke as she shook her head
“So how did you figure out how it worked to a certain extent?”
The old man looked at me with a quizzical expression and I shrugged
“I took a few years of biology, took me a second to remember the muscular structure, but add that with the fact Terra explained what it does and I think I got it right.”
The man laughed as he shook his head
“Where you some artificer where you came from oh mighty summoned?”
He spoke with a hint of sarcasm and I replied in kind
“Sure was, but only in video games, magic, and shit didn’t exist where I came from.”
“Now you're just pulling my chain. It takes years to fine-tune and figure out the mana circuits-“
“Have you ever skinned a human?”
I asked
“In my world, we have. Then, we decided that the kids must know what we learned. Due to this, I know our muscles are. Plus, we had a similar concept of pumping electricity into certain muscles to cause them to flex. So… yeah… I didn’t have magic or aura, but also came from a world lacking morals.”
The old man stared at me blankly as did the other three, eventually, I broke the silence by asking
“Are these things done?”
“Yeah, they finished a while ago, your just an interesting fellow.”
The man spoke
“Well thank you, Mr. Burns.”
I spoke as I unlatched the metal shackles
“You're welcome…”
“Mark.”
“Your welcome Mark. I’ll get these all set up by tonight, you're also a size 46.”
I nodded as I looked at the others who were a bit confused
“Isn’t be a bit big for a 46?”
They asked
“Yep, but trust me, lean this kiddo out and he’ll be a 46.”
“Why are there so many comments about my size, I’m only a bit husky…. Compared to the normal of my world… where laziness was- you know what. Nevermind. Different world, different cultures.”
I rambled on before just stopping all my thoughts before I derailed the entire day.
“Well, Mark. Seems like you're going to be cutting down your waistline ASAP.”
I laughed
“Starving and exercising? Or cutting off my arm?”
I joked when Rose spoke
“Either work, but we are just going to work you tirelessly, heal you, then repeat. This will probably take a week.”
I nodded.
“Sounds like torture. Only the queen can use a whip though.”
I saw Lance and Tetra holding in their laughs as Rose spoke
“You are weird.”
I laughed at her disappointment as I spoke
“Well, if I was serious all the time, shit wouldn’t be fun! Let’s go! Thanks again, Mr. Burns!”
I poke before shouting my thanks once more and left the shop, soon the other three followed me with confused expectations
“Your too joyful.”
Lance spoke with a concerned expression as I softened my excited face
“Artificing is a thing? Along with alchemy!? I know how I can use my brain to help you guys now.”
I spoke with a pep in my voice before solemnly saying
“Plus… if I trick myself into thinking the next week's torture is gonna be a blast. Maybe it will hurt less…”
I could swear I heard the three of them freeze for a moment before Rose spoke
“We can dial it back-“
“Or do it in three days.”
I cut her off
“Pain isn’t nothing new. It’s something I will need to get used to. 2 on one sparing sounds like the best way to break me asap.”
The three were silent once more as I looked behind myself and smiled
“I have no clue where we’re going from here, so less you wanna walk in a straight line for a few hours-“
Before I could even speak, Tetra went in front of me, with Lance and Rose behind me as she spoke
“I know the best clothing stores!”
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