Cast Out (Book 1 Done; Book 2 In-Progress)

Chapter 4: Part 3.3

The air brushed against my naked arms as I ran. While the robe I was wearing didn't fit me perfectly (since it was originally Zhang's), it also wasn't too loose either. It looked like something you'd see an ancient Chinese person wear, a long robe with huge sleeves that kept flapping as I ran. It was something you would definitely have seen someone wearing in an ancient Chinese city, but it definitely wasn't cut out for battle. Considering the fact that it was designed for the Chinese of somewhat high status, it made sense that they didn't think of how it would function in a fight. Those guys generally stayed in the city, and were probably well-known scholars or businessmen. So I'd modified it a bit. Either way, it was definitely better than what my old clothes did for me (which was practically nothing but hide my skin).

The robe technically counted as light armor, so it had some benefits as well. This is what it would've given me before I'd modified it.

UNKNOWN SCHOLAR'S ROBE

[NO LEVEL REQUIREMENT]

A ROBE THAT GIVES OFF THE NOBLE AIR OF A SCHOLAR. IT'S STYLE AND DESIGN ARE OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN, AS WAS THE SCHOLAR IT ONCE BELONGED TO.

DEXTERITY -10, INTELLIGENCE +5, WILLPOWER +5, DEFENSE +1

He probably had armor or something else that would have given me better protection, but judging from the fact that this robe specifically said that it had "no level requirement", I knew that most armor probably would have one. Considering the fact that he was probably pretty high-leveled, most likely he didn't have anything else that he could give me, since I was level 1. Thinking about it, it was probably logical that once people got to a certain level, they didn't carry around things that were far too weak and useless for them. It probably took up too much space in their [inventory].

This did confirm something for me though. Zhang had something, some kind of ability or skill that let him see how strong people, and maybe monsters, were. I wasn't sure before this, but now I was. Thinking about what kind of person he was, I knew that if he didn't know how strong I was, he probably would've offered me a variety of equipment that had varying level requirements, just to see how strong I was. He didn't do anything like that, ergo, he already knew what level I was.

It was good for me. The more he underestimated me, the better the chances I had if it ever came down to a fight.

Regardless though, I'm guessing that it was a great piece of light armor for beginners. It buffed 3 stats after all, which made it incredibly useful for anyone that was low-leveled enough to need it (even if it did lower dexterity).

It had originally gone down almost to my ankles. As soon as Zhang had pulled it out and gave it to me to replace my medieval peasant garb that had been practically destroyed earlier, I knew that I wouldn't be able to run in it. It was a huge robe that went down to my ankles after all! So I'd changed it a little. With my knife I'd cut part of the bottom off, so that it ended up only halfway down my shin. It wasn't that much of a difference in design, but just cutting off that part of the robe had made it so that it wouldn't trip me up if I run. I also made sure to cut slits on the four sides of the robe (front, back, left and right sides) where it now ended. Now my legs wouldn't be confined, which made it easier to do certain moves in, especially any evasive moves I might've had to do. Afterwards though, the properties of the robe had changed.

This is what the modified robe now gave me.

UNKNOWN SCHOLAR'S ROBE (MODIFIED)

[NO LEVEL REQUIREMENT]

A ROBE OF UNKNOWN STYLE AND DESIGN. ONCE, IT GAVE OFF AN AIR OF SCHOLARLY NOBILITY. CHANGED TO MAKE IT BETTER FOR BATTLE, IT IS NOW PROOF THAT EVEN THE LOFTIEST OF SCHOLARS WILL FIGHT IF NEED BE.