Suit

The next few days flew by without action. Riley spent the remainder of his weekend with his mom, accompanying her for various chores and grocery shopping. Although it was summer break, Riley wanted to spend more time with his mom, who rarely had a day off.

Riley knew that his mom had it hard. She had lost the love of her life early on, and subsequently had to carry the mantle of single mother. It was tough, raising Riley on her own while earning enough money for both of them to survive. Although their family did receive money from government pensions and insurance payouts, the amount was nowhere near enough for the both of them to live comfortably.

Riley knew his mom hadn't had the chance to live much of a life after his father died, and had decided that spending more time with her was the least he could do to show his appreciation for her sacrifices. Furthermore, it appeared that he would be receiving a stipend from Alex. Riley hoped it would be enough to reduce the burden on his mom and maybe even pay for a family vacation.

Soon, the weekend of shopping, cooking, and bonding came to an end. Riley woke up from his sleep fresh on Monday noon, the official start of his summer break.

'Ah, nothing like waking up naturally without an alarm.'

After stretching his arms, Riley reached across his bed for both his phones. Checking the burner, Riley saw a text from an unknown number.

"Hello, Mr. Petesgeralt. Would you be available today at half past 3 in the afternoon for your final adjustments? Do let me know at your earliest convenience, and I would be happy to make my time available for you. Thank you, Alfred."

'Oh wow. It's only been three days and the suit's already done?'

Clicking on the reply button, Riley confirmed his availability.

"Wow, that was fast. Yup, c u at 3.30."

After replying, Riley spent some time browsing through social media on his actual phone before rolling off his bed and heading to his desk.

���I guess I can log on to World of Legends for a while. I probably got kicked from my guild for being inactive for the last two weeks.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley arrived at Alfred's shop at 3:25 P.M. Riley had gamed for an hour, before showering and wolfing down some leftovers from the previous night.

Riley walked up the stairs leading to the entrance and gave it a knock. Immediately, the door swung open.

"Hello there, Mr. Petesgeralt. Please, come in."

"Hey there Alfred."

Walking into the store, Riley followed Alfred to the chairs. Already on the table were some biscuits and a glass of steamy, brown liquid.

"Please, help yourself to some snacks and hot chocolate while I get your suit ready."

"Alright, thanks!"

Riley took a biscuit, scooped up some of the whipped cream that was on the hot chocolate, and gave it a bite.

"Wow, Alfred! This tastes amazing! Where'd you get this from?"

While waiting for a response, Riley gave the hot chocolate a sip.

Alfred returned pushing a cart. Although it was veiled, there was very obviously a mannequin placed on top of the cart.

"Exquisite taste as always, Mr. Petesgeralt. The biscuits are butter leaves cookies from Bahlsen. I got them for a bargain — only five dollars apiece! And the hot chocolate is my specialty. It's made from Chuao cocoa beans and melted Amedei Porcelana chocolate combined with a blend of Tahitian and Madagascar vanilla. On top of that, the whipped cream is a secret recipe.

Riley opened his eyes wide and nodded.

"Wow, that sounds amazing."

'I have no idea what he just said.'

Alfred took a bow.

"I thank you for your praise, Mr. Petesgeralt. Now, we may begin suit-fitting at any time."

"Sure, I'm excited!"

Hearing Riley's affirmative response, Alfred pulled away the veil from the cart, revealing a mannequin wearing a suit, along with several accessories and other clothes folded and arranged in glass boxes.

"Here, let's give it a try. Pick any of these dress shirts to try on. They're all exactly the same, just a different color, and tailor-fitted just for your body. And of course, based on Alex's specifications, they're all French cuffs — you may select a cufflink of your choice. I've also prepared some ties, belts, handkerchiefs, and dress shoes for your perusal. Shall we begin, sir?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This was his first time trying clothes in a professional tailor shop, and half of the things that he was trying were brand new to him. As he finished tightening his tie, he said, "I think I'm done."

Riley walked out of the changing room in a three-piece suit. To go with the grey vest and black pinstripe suit jacket, he had picked a white dress shirt. Following Alfred's suggestion, he had chosen a silver cufflink with matching belt and oxford shoes.

"So, how do I look?"

"Simply marvelous, Mr. Petesgeralt. I don't think any adjustments are required. What do you think? Is there any spot that makes you feel uncomfortable?

"It feels amazing! The entire outfit fits even better than a glove, and I don't think I've ever looked this good!"

Alfred took a bow.

"Wonderful! Are you ready to give the suit a test drive?"

"What?"

"Follow me."

Walking to the bookcase at the end of the store, Alfred pushed in a book. After a few seconds, the bookcase slid to the side. Gesturing Riley to follow, Alfred led the way down a set of stairs.

After reaching the bottom Alfred spoke, saying, "Alexa, lights on."

The light revealed a spacious, soundproofed room.

"So, are you ready to test the suit?"

"What do you mean?"

"You'll be fighting in this suit, right? What's the point of the suit if it gets in the way of your job?"

"So, what, you want me to fight you?"

"Gladly."

Riley chuckled and folded his arms.

"No offense, Alfred, but I'm pretty stro-"

*Bang*

Riley stopped talking when he saw Alfred pull out a gun and fire it at him. He felt a sudden, brutal pain in his chest, and he doubled over in pain.

*clink*

Looking at the source of the sound, Riley saw the bullet, now squished, at his feet. He clutched the wounded area, before realizing that he couldn't feel any blood. Looking down, he realized that the bullet didn't even penetrate the jacket, although it was slightly torn.

"Don't worry about that. I offer my clients lifetime warranties for any minor damage. Plus, Alex instructed me to make you two sets."

"Woah woah woah, what just happened? You just shot me!"

"Well, of course. My family is heavily involved in the research of advanced materials. Your suit is lined with several proprietary materials, an example being aerogels, that can withstand high heat."

Looking at Riley, Alfred raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"So, are we going to stand around all day, or are we going to fight? Oh, of course! How could I forget? You're Alex's protégé! Alexa, play Alex's playlist."

The quiet environment was replaced by an old song that Riley had never heard of. However, he found that he quite liked it, and was soon bopping to it's beat. Holding his hand out, he materialized his bat from his Inventory.

"Let's go, Alfred."

"<Virtuoso>"

Riley charged towards Alfred, who had replaced the gun with a metal staff. As Riley closed in on Alfred, he swung his bat at him, who deftly stepped back. After narrowly dodging Riley's attack, Alfred returned in kind, hitting him on the side with his staff.

"The suit is also lined with material that dampens any physical attacks that happen to hit their mark.

Alfred was right. With the speed at which the rod was swinging, Riley doubted that Alfred was holding back his strength. Yet, he had barely felt any pain from the impact.

"Wow, that's pretty…"

Before finishing his sentence, Riley swung his bat again.

"...cool!"

This time, Alfred caught the bat with one hand.

"My gloves are lined with the same material as well. Quite handy in a CQC situation."

Gripping the bat tightly with both hands, Alfred threw a kick at Riley, which Riley dodged with ease using [Dodge Step].

"One more thing. The suit's outer layer is lined with some materials that are near-frictionless. That means that your body experiences less air resistance, resulting in an increase in speed."

At this point, Riley's burner phone started ringing.

"Oh sorry, I need to take this. It's from Alex."

Alfred nodded and put away the staff.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Riley. I need your help for one last mission. Don't worry, it's a simple one. There's a big deal going down soon and I'd like you to be there with me. There shouldn't be any risk. If we pull this off, I can finally start reforming the People's Brotherhood. You in?"

"Of course I'm in. By the way, thanks for the suit. I'm at Alfred's right now, doing the final fitting."

Alex chuckled.

"Suit fitting eh? Did the old man take you for a spin?"

Riley laughed.

"He sure did. Good at tailoring and fighting? He's one talented man."

"That's Alfred, just a bundle of talent. Alright, I'll send you the details in a bit. Ciao!"

"See ya!"

Riley put the phone away and looked at Alfred.

"By the way, how much do one set of these suits cost?"

"Yours? The three-piece plus cufflinks, tie, handkerchief, belt, and shoes, the total adds up to about 20,000 dollars."

"Holy shit."

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Patch 36.0

- Regular biweekly update

Name: Riley Petesgeralt

Age: 16

Job: The Roleplayer

Class: Vigilante

Level: 19

HP: 250

MP: 220

EXP: 535/538

Strength: 43

Dexterity: 46

Vitality: 25

Intelligence: 32

Wisdom: 22

Charisma: 26

Luck: 31

Skills:

Roleplayer's Mind

Virtual Body

Analyze (Level 5)

Blunt Weapon Proficiency (Level 4)

Physical Endurance (Level 3)

The Cinderella Effect (Level 1)

Dodge Step (Level 2)

Counter Flip (Level 1)

Leg Sweep (Level 2)

Power Punch (Level 2)

Extreme Agility (Level 2)

Sense Danger (Level 2)

Trash Talk (Level 1)

Power Swing (Level 4)

Quick Draw (Level 1)

Minimap (Level 2)

Incognito (Level 4)

Bullet Party (Level 1)

Bullet Time (Level 1)

Bind (Level 1)

Virtuoso (Level 1)

Equipment:

Vigilante's Mask (Level 3/5)

Vigilante's Cloak (Level 1/5)

Vigilante's Pants (Level 2/5)

Vigilante's Gloves (Level 1/5)

Vigilante's Shoes (Level 1/5)

Vigilante's Gun (Level 3/5)

Full set bonus unlocked: Shadow World

Consiegliere's Suit