Chapter 39 - The Union

After stretching, running, and the general ecstatic feeling wore off of getting my body back, I was finally able to calm down.

Yet, one question permeated my mind.

"Teresa, how long does Alter Ego last?" I say, looking down at her excitedly.

"Well, usually the spell lasts eight hours, but you can just recast it to keep it going. I've once stayed in this form for a week making deals with a particularly religious human settlement." Teresa said, pausing before continuing. "Usually it wouldn't be a problem, but can you act at one hundred percent proficiency in that form? It's much larger than your other body, not to mention it has a different weight distribution, longer limbs, and a whole host of differences."

"Teresa, I literally could not stress this enough, but I am probably more proficient in moving in this body," I say, my tone dead serious. "I think I'll probably register as an adventurer in this form even."

I mean, why wouldn't I? If I register in my other body then they might not take me seriously since that's the body of a kid, and I can just re-register once the Antonio form reaches adulthood.

Besides, I'd like to say with confidence that in this world, I pass as quite good looking. I'm of average build in my world, but here, the people are shorter and much more exposed to the elements on a day-to-day basis.

The above-average height of my old world makes me basically a goliath in this one, being I've yet to see a person aside from Gust taller than around five feet eight inches.

Also, although my build is average in this world and the last, I can tell whatever growth I've had in my other body has transferred into this one. Working out and getting stronger as Antonio directly translates to greater muscle mass in this form, giving me a nice set of abs I never had before.

I wonder how exactly that works?

God damn it, I'm silently thinking to myself again and Teresa is just staring at me.

"Why would you register in that form?" She asks, looking me up and down.

"Well, people would most likely look down on my original body of a child, so if this magic gives me an adult form, why not take advantage of it?" I ask as a looking of understanding comes over Teresa's face.

"That's a good point, and talking with this form seems more natural as opposed to your true one. No offense, but speaking formally with a child, and seeing a child cast magic as you do, is a bit unnerving." Teresa says, shaking her head and looking up at me.

"None taken, so let's head to the Union yeah?" I say, stretching and realizing one issue with this form. Aside from my hunter's armor, which Blaze enchanted so that it would grow along with me, none of my other belongings fit.

Even the large staff that I was used to is now more of a walking stick, coming up to only about my shoulders.

Noticing my conundrum, Teresa offers to buy me a new set or two of clothes, since having her bodyguard wearing worn armor everywhere would not do wonders for her reputation.

Heading to the nearest tailor, The Weaving House, we step inside and I nearly cast an Eisdamon on instinct.

Standing bending the counter, is a demi-human. Her upper torso is purple, with four arms coming out of her simple shirt. From her smiling mouth comes curved fangs, and there is an extra row of eyes both above and below her normal set.

Yep, a spider person.

"Welcome to the Weaving House! After some new wears?" She says in a normal enough tone. God, this is some uncanny valley type shit. I've seen other demi-humans, but I guess spiders were just out of my expectation.

"Y-yeah I'm looking for a new robe and maybe a new set of nice clothes." I manager to stutter out, still a little stunned.

"Our human styles are towards the lefthand side, whilst demi-human are to the right. The back of the store has out child and specialty wear." The spider lady said, never breaking eye contact with her middle eye row.

Quickly averting my eyes, I head over to the human section and immediately land my eyes on a huge selection of clothes.

Ignoring most of it, I head over to the robes section. I knew they'd have a few, every caster type I've ever seen has worn a mage robe. Even the city lord.

That being said, there are two problems Teresa and I ran into.

Firstly, the robes are all well, smaller than I need.

Second, and almost more importantly, they're all incredibly gaudy. A mix of greens and blues and golds are the stable colors, with some browns and reds thrown in there.

Walking back up to the spider lady, I bring up these issues.

"You are quite a large one aren't you. You sure you don't have any demonoid blood in you? Goliath clan maybe?" She asks, taking measurements with one set of arms and writing something down with the other.

"Not to my knowledge, but the size isn't the real kicker in this situation. I can't have my b- partner sticking out like a sore thumb on the road. We need adventures robes, not academics." Teresa steps in before I'm able to think of anything. Nice save Teresa.

"Well, check in the demi-human section, specifically the robes for larger demonoids. They'll be on the second floor and are probably more his size and style." The spider woman says after taking her notes and stepping back. "If there's nothing to suit your fancy, then I'll happily make a custom order."

Walking up the stairs and following her directions, it takes me a mere moment to spot what I need.

A robe, slightly salmon in color, with grey detailing and accents. It looks as if one of the gaudier robes was soaked in grey dye for a while.

"This is the one," I say, putting it on as it fits basically perfectly. Sure, it's a size SG, but since I don't know what that means, it can't hurt me.

Taking it down to the woman, Teresa pays the one hundred and twenty 'Soldi' and we make our way out of the store, towards the Union office.

Soldi is the currency of the magic kingdom, which solidifies the vast distance from my original home in this world.

After a few minutes of walking, we arrive at the impressive stone building, smack dab in the middle of the guild district.. The Continental Adventurers Union.