Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation(Vol 5)

Vol 5/Chapter 3: Unexpected Visitor

"Why visit so many shops when this one is fine? Actually I think these clothes are pretty good. They're sturdy!" Cyra said, tugging hard on the clothes she just bought. Seeing they didn't tear, she nodded with satisfaction.

Even though we've become girls now, it doesn't mean Cyra and I enjoy bouncing between different shops comparing things endlessly, wasting time for no reason. She has always cared most about value for money and efficiency, though I'm not sure what she's in such a rush for...

"How does this look?" I held up a dress next to me, tried it on in the mirror, and decided to ask for an opinion.

"It looks great! Actually you look good in anything!" Adrian's eyes lit up and he quickly gave his approval. But I was worried the dress might be a bit short. What if I got into a fight - would it show too much?

Looking at the pants outfit in my other hand... Forget it, only kids make choices. I'll take all of these. It's not like we're short on money!

"What about you?" After paying and leaving the store, we realized Adrian hadn't bought anything! He just waited for us in the shop. Didn't they sell men's clothes too?

"It's okay, why don't we look over there?" He pointed across the street to the bustling Adventurers Guild.

Like other big cities, a prosperous place like Crescent City would definitely have an Adventurers Guild. As soon as we entered the hall, our eyes lit up. It was so luxurious - beautiful decorations, over 10 quest counters side by side! This place alone was several times bigger than the guild in the capital, at least as big as a football field. Standing at the entrance, even angel eyes couldn't make out the writing on the quest board on the opposite wall.

It was impressive, but I was thinking about checking my account status. My account was under investigation in the holy city guild because of Carl the coachman's death, and I needed to complete the Vivianne rescue quest. But Adrian just said hello and walked straight to the guild's own shops across from the counters.

"How's this? I just changed my whole outfit." When he came out again, he was no longer wearing his noble clothes from when he was king. Now he wore the adventurer outfit from when we first met.

Cyra and I have mixed feelings about that adventurer outfit! It's very sturdy and durable. As the guild's signature equipment, the quality is excellent and the price is very reasonable. But it also brings back bad memories from Makalan city, where it gave us so much trouble we were traumatized! So none of us had worn it since then.

"He's about the same height and build as Nicola. Since he likes it so much, maybe we could give him that outfit as hand-me-downs?" Cyra suggested, staring at Adrian. She meant the adventurer outfit Nicola finally took off, which was still in a corner of my storage ring. Since these clothes are designed for practicality, not gender, both men and women can wear them.

"We can't do that!" I didn't agree of course. After all, that outfit got a corner burned when Nicola was fighting the male phoenix. It's damaged now. At most I keep it as a spare, I don't even want to wear it myself usually, let alone give it to someone else.

"Why don't we get some other clothes? It seems cheap to only wear this one type," I suggested, even though Adrian does look very handsome and capable in the adventurer outfit.

"It's fine, I bought several sets like Cyra did. It's enough to wear for a long time!" But he was stubborn about this. After trying to convince him several times with no luck, I had to give up.

Next we continued sightseeing. Unlike other cities, Crescent City's buildings seemed to follow the high tower style completely. Even many residential houses had pointed tower-shaped roofs that tourists might mistake for chimneys.