Gear up!

You wait a time. They insist. It seems that whatever is about to happen, whoever is behind it all wishes for just a little more time, and you're the target of the reveal. Thankfully it isn't that long. You're sitting back on a log near some training dummies when a voice rings from nearby.

"I've come to retrieve you, Master," says Yin with a curtsy.

You stand. "Ah! Thanks so much, Yin. Good girl. Lead the way and I'll follow."

Her bright red skin blushes dark across her face. With an excited smile, she claps her hands together and nods. "Right away, Master! Come now. The others are so happy. Hopefully you'll be as well."

After a short walk to the castle, you spot a crowd gathering by the entrance. Most people are keeping their distance, though the rest are the focus of their attention. Yin leads you through the small audience, and towards the others. She then takes her leave--not away completely, but enough to depart from the spotlight. You now stand once again as the center of everything, though beyond you are a few of the girls awaiting your arrival.

The first is Laira. Next to her is Luna.

"Hey. What's going on, and also how's Xiaoqing? Happy I'm sure, in an outfit made by you, Luna."

The moth smiles with light colour in her cheeks. "Sweet as always, Kyle, and yes she is. You'll see her soon. But for now, stand and wait."

Laira opens her eyes wide. She's wearing her usual overalls with no top beneath them, so it's quite a bold move, though they remain behind denim curtains. Speaking of which, they look brand new. The material looks far more similar to what you're accustomed to seeing on Earth. "Because even though this was a gift for them, it's for you too, since they're in your party. And I'm sure you don't mind looking at cute girls in cute outfits, right?"

"Just like your new one?" you ask.

She pulls her arms right back in and blushes. "You noticed. But I barely changed a thing."

"Can't fix perfection."

"All right, lover-boy," Luna says with a chuckle. "Before you make the poor girl faint, let's reveal what we've been working on. Laira told me the party for your next journey out, so let's focus on that. How about it?"

Laira nods. "One at a time, right? Okay. Come on, Eva Beela!"

"A fashion show, hmm?" you ask.

"Sure, but style built for kicking monster ass."

As announced, Eva is the first to step forth. She exits the castle and comes fully into view. With so many watchful eyes, of course she's pink with embarrassment, though her own excitement supersedes those feelings. She knows she looks good, and in more ways than sexy. The outfit she wears is, by her own opinion, the fanciest thing she's ever worn, at least in regards to feeling like a real sorceress queen. It's the same general colour scheme as her last, though it fits as one item--a blue short dress, though completely opened down the middle, except for a single star-shaped silver button clipped together in the middle--the only thing keeping heaven from spilling out for all to see. Stretched over either breast is the image of a glistening silver diamond, which perfectly matches the aforementioned binding in the middle, as well as a star-shaped clip in her hair, and the clap holding her brand new cape together around her neck--a brilliant, deep blue garment which flares into spiked edges around where her tail protrudes through a hole.

Her sleeves are flared as well, and trimmed with silver and purple. The same goes for the edges of her dress' short skirt. Beneath that, she wears blue and lavender thigh-highs, while around her feet she wears dark, pale purple shoes bedazzled with tiny white dots like a night sky of stars. A purple fluff ball adorns the end of each shoe, as well as on each heel.

A leather belt hangs lopsided from her waist, which holds a satchel, as well as a holder for her brand new wand. There's also a silver ring through her right ear.

You turn to see Fang sitting on a chair nearby. She has a small table set up, covered in paper, pens, various instruments for colouring, and more. She's already been hard at work from what you can see, but she's now adding some finishing touches upon seeing Eva's attire, apparently not for the first time. She is having some trouble focusing, but her passion for the arts is fuelled by her own horniness.

"How does that top part even stay buttoned," she mutters to herself. "If that thing popped off, it'd take out someone's eye."

Eva gives a playful spin, and the gathered crowd applauds.

"That's Eva, for ya!" Laira shouts to those watching. "A truly gorgeous, adorable, powerful mage. Look at how far you've come!"

"I know, right?" Eva tugs on the top. "It fits me perfectly, and it's so soft on my skin. Ooh, Kyle. Just you wait until you see the others. They're so stoked."

"Next, let's do... Amara! Oops. Should I be saying her first name? Does that make us married or something?"

"I think it's fine. She told me she feels close enough to everybody here pretty much to expect her first name above anything else. I think in a close group of friends, that's normal for elves anyway. It's when you say it in public in front of strangers that it gets more intimate. Something like that."

"You're so smart."

"Aww, c'mon now~!"

Suddenly, Fang is beside you. She holds up a paper showing a drawing of Eva, and some notes she's taken.

[Link to image]

"You're getting better," you say. "Bravo, Fang."

"The girls here inspire me," the catfolk replies.

Laira raises a hand towards the opened castle doors and shouts, "Come on out, Amara Tedrilui!"

Emerging through the doorway is, at first, what you nearly mistake for an angel. She truly appears divine, with long, golden locks of hair, garbed in white. The first thing you notice is that her hat is the same--one a nurse would wear, though instead of a cross in the front, there's a pale blue heart. She of course wears her choker like usual, but below that is something entirely new. The robe, more like a dress, is stunningly gorgeous. It starts pure white as did her previous, though it flares out at the bottom into the most intricate handiwork you've ever seen on clothing--a garden of flowers, fading gradually into blue, as if her dress it adorned by a beautiful field leading to a rose of fabric. The same goes for a pair of gloves, each covering her hand up just past her elbows, though very visibly to contrast, the golden ring you gave her still adorns her finger, just on the outside so all can see.

The dress itself, however, is a little less modest than she's normally worn. On the right side, around her midsection, it's all exposed to the air, showing her belly button and bare side just above her hip. Then on the left, the bottom of the dress is cut up to her thigh, showing a generous amount of her slender elven leg. She also wears three frilly pink garters--one around her upper left arm, one around her right, and then one more above her knee on the left side where her leg is exposed. One of the garters on her arm, and the one that adorns her leg, both hold a potion vial just in case the need arises. It's quite the method of storage.

Finally, she wears golden sandals that wrap around her feet and her ankles. A silver metal heart sits atop the largest band, trailing a chain down along her foot on either side, between her big toe and the one beside it. She stands proud with her silver staff in her hand. Truly, you can see a heavenly glow radiate from behind her. She looks even more divine than her own mother.

The audience applauds for her as well.

Fang holds a paper up for you to see.

[Link to image]

"Who needs a YiivCam when we have you, Fang?"

"Ooh. I heard about that. Don't distract me more right now. The thought of a device like that--"

"I think we need to make sure it doesn't get into your hands."

"That's for the best." She bows her head, surrendering to the truth.

Laira points her thumb at her chest. "The next one had a lot of my work, as you could imagine."

"Your skill with metal is exceptional," Luna says. "You weave it like silk, and I don't know how you do it."

She chuckles bashfully. "A lot of hard work and sweat, I guess. Come on out, Niki of clan Vakila!"

A roar of hands greets Niki as she steps onto the metaphorical stage. While not a fancy silken dress, your resident warrior still shines bright--perhaps even more literally than the others. Every piece of metal that covers her body is polished nearly to the reflection of a mirror.

Laira plants her hands on her hips and grins confidently. "That isn't just steel. Oh, no no. That's Ciochan-steel. It's an alloy of iron, carbon, and a special metal called titral. I won't bore you with a whole history lesson, but it makes for not only a stronger metal, but lighter as well, if you can believe it. Finally I was able to source some! It's notoriously tricky to work with, but I've always wanted to make a suit of armour with it. And luckily for me, Niki doesn't wear a whole lot anyway, so I didn't need that much!"

Not only does each plate of Ciochan-steel shine vibrantly beneath the sun peaking through clouds above, but each is further adorned, both for comfort and for style, with lush, soft, pale brown furs.

"All the hides, furs, etcetera, are from two different creatures," Laira continues. "An owlbear which had to be slain unfortunately, as it had been cursed by dark magic to run amok, and a forest drake, which isn't all that much like a dragon besides in appearance. It doesn't have scales, but its leather is hardy despite being surprisingly malleable."

Niki wears a plate of Ciochan-steel on either shoulder, bound by leather straps leading down to a breastplate, just as she had before, though this one, along with the rest of her armour, appears masterfully crafted even to those without an eye for armoursmithing. And as said, the entire border is covered in furs. This breastplate, however, shows off noticeably more cleavage than usual. It doesn't reveal her Rite of the Sun markings however, so that must be why she doesn't care. But by how it looks, she must not be wearing her usual fabric strap around her chest. The inside of the armour itself must be more than soft enough for her.

She wears two metal bracers. Each one is decorated by the drawing of a red sun. It matches the symbol on the center of her magic shield, which of course she had made by Dulhin Smithing Co. along with her mace upon winning the Golden Sword tournament. They haven't been remade, but they have been touched up and polished all the same.

She also wears plates of armour down from her hips to defend her outer thighs, as well as around her knees.

As for leather, she wears not one belt, but two. The first actually keeps up her shorts, though it's not really needed given how tight they are against her body. It doesn't really look like she's wearing leather either. You aren't sure if this is what comes from a forest drake, or if it's just normal fabric, but her booty shorts look better than ever, trimmed with furs just as the rest seems to be. The second belt just hangs from her side in almost the exact same manner as Eva's. Perhaps she thought it looked cool and wanted it for herself. Both of her boots are leather as well, and by how especially fluffy the furs seem around the top, they must be very comfy inside.

[Link to image]

"Everyone is geared to kick some serious ass. I love it," you say.

"You're damned right!" Niki raises her mace up into the air, grasping her shield in her other hand. "I feel better than ever. I didn't even know armour could be this... soft. I mean, not that I'm getting weak or anything. Not only is it comfortable, but I feel so much lighter. Just point me at danger, boss."

"So who else is coming with you?" Fang asks. "I've actually just been drawing everyone. It isn't just the people coming with you that got new gear."

"These three so far of course," you answer. "Xiaoqing too. Lastly, Snow. Our trusty rogue and master of the bow. Seems like a perfect party to me."

Luna beckons her hand towards the castle next. "Then perhaps we should call out our final adventurers. Why don't we start with you, Snow? Come now. I know you prefer the shadows, but we can't wait to see you."

They really love their theatrics, don't they?