- Ch. 25 - A Canary's New Outfit (Part 1 of ?)

{Wednesday, 31st of March... 10:21 AM...}

It's been a few days since Dinah's visited the Guild library for some knowledge seeking as well as stopped a mugging. Faith and Panacea were not really surprised that it happened. They were actually surprised that it hasn't happened sooner. Everyone was just happy that she made it out in one piece. In Dinah's mind, she was kind of surprised at first that no one in her Familia batted an eye at her brutal takedown of a few muggers. Nuit; the mysterious Dark Elf of the family, practically complemented her about it in her own subtle way. Dinah was reminded once again that this world wasn't like her old one. She was slowly getting used to thinking of this world as her new norm.

In the past few days, Dinah has gone down to the Dungeon only once. She would've continued her dungeon diving, but after 4 hours she had to stop. It wasn't that she couldn't handle the monsters trying to overwhelm her with their numbers in the 1st and 2nd floors. What made her give up was the fact that the damn Kobolds and Dungeon Lizards kept attacking her clothes. The Goblins were almost always the cannon fodder while the other two types of monsters found ways to target her clothes and destroy them. It was a good thing she brought along 4 changes of clothes... which lasted about an hour each.

When she was down to her last change of clothes, she had to retreat or risk fighting in the buff. Dinah theorized that if the dungeon can't kill her; and since she's only ever stuck to the 1st and 2nd floors, then it decided to chase her away for the time being. Targeting her clothes was it's utterly despicable solution and she was sad to admit that it worked. Fortunately; before she left, she was able to gather a great amount of loot.

Henrietta; her Official Guild Advisor, told her that she's not the only one that has had this problem before. The advice she got was to get armored clothes, armor, or get herself clothes made of stronger materials. Until then, she needs to stay away from the dungeon. Unless she wants to keep spending Valis on buying normal clothes, then it's her choice in which solution she goes for in the end.

When Faith heard what happened, the Half-Elf tried and failed to hide her amusement at Dinah's predicament. The Canary didn't really mind being a source of amusement for her Captain. She was just inwardly thankful that the blond Half-Elf didn't burst out laughing; unlike Panacea who found it too amusing to stop herself when she found out.

After they were able to curb their amusement, Faith informed her that both Iz and Kim are working on something for her specifically. Dinah was told that when the duo were done, then she'd be presented with their final product. When her dungeon diving had to be put on hold, she spent her time trying to decipher more of the Runes from her bottomless satchel of holding; as well as getting to know her Familia more. She was glad for the short break, but Dinah was itching for some action. Thankfully, the day she was waiting for finally came. And that's how Dinah found herself in front of the entrance to Kim's Workshop at this very moment.

'I wonder what they've got for me...', Dinah wondered in excitement as she knocked on the door. 'Lately, Kim and Isabella have been late for their meals and they've been too busy to show up for the daily Familia morning send offs. They must be working non-stop for a reason. Otherwise, Faith wouldn't have tolerated their absence.'

When the door to Kimberly's Workshop opened, the Canary was met with a very peculiar sight. There right in front of her was Isabella 'Iz' Miratio de Textoria, the young teenaged girl that Dinah found to be always wearing decent looking clothes with complementary colors, but at the moment she looked pretty different. And to Dinah, she looked quite the sight.

Isabella wore what looked like a worker's jumpsuit the color of navy blue; worn, tattered, and messy, a black apron over it; made of some material that Dinah can't recall ever seeing before, with what looked like holes made from acid splashes on it, and she had protective goggles on her forehead. She had heavy duty boots on her feet and her leather gloves looked pretty worn. Her shoulder-length and curly electric blue hair was tied in a messy ponytail behind her; tied down with what looked to be a piece of rope... for some odd reason.

"Hey Dinah, I'm glad that you're here.", Iz greeted with a grin that Dinah hasn't ever seen on her before.

'I wonder where her glasses are?', Dinah thought to herself in slight intrigue. Before she let her thoughts wander, she said, "Hey Iz, what's up? Faith told me that both you and Kim have something amazing to show me."

The grin that Iz had brightened significantly; which in turn made Dinah's small greeting smile turn brighter. Dinah's blue eyes wandered across Isabella's messy appearance and she noticed a lot of smudges on her person. The smell of burnt hair and metal clinged to Isabella, and when she looked closer, she noticed a few faint trails of smoke wafting off of the Thread Magic user. 'What the hell were they working on?!'

"I think your gonna love what we've got for you. Come on in! Mind your step though... there's a few puddles, craters, and debris you need to avoid. Just step where I step." And with that said, Iz turned around and lead Dinah through the workshop.

Dinah's been through Kim's laboratory a few times, but there were a couple of new additions to the place. If you count the craters on the different testing areas, the smell of burnt stone, the small pieces of rubble all over, and the tipped over table near a large crater were the additions mentioned.

'What the...?!', thought Dinah aloud as she surveyed the damaged parts of the workshop.

She must've vocalized her thoughts without realizing it, because Iz answered her by saying, "We've been running a few dangerous tests the last few days, so don't mind the mess. It's all worth it though."

After a few seconds, Isabella and Dinah were now in front of a line up of mannequins that were all covered up with tarps. They were joined by Kimberly Mira; the resident potion maker and 15 year old -- 1st Vice-Captain of the Panacea Familia. Dinah hid her surprise well, because she didn't want to be rude. However, she was kind of worried about Kim.

Kim wore a matching worker's jumpsuit to Isabella's, but hers looked even more disheveled and tattered. The black apron she wore over the front of it had even more holes and it had a few burnt and blackened areas. Kim's medium-length black hair; which she kept on a perpetual ponytail, had obvious singed and burnt off edges. Her bangs were lopsided, her face was smudged, the goggles on her forehead had a broken lens, her boots saw better days, and her leather gloves had holes on them. Thankfully, she didn't look injured. But she looked utterly exhausted.

*Yaaawwwnnn* The deep yawn she gave was further indication to her tiredness, but she gave Dinah a bright grin when she saw them. "Welcome. Welcome. I'm glad that you're here. We've got a few things that'll definitely help you out in your adventures. We've heard about your clothes fiasco, so we've been working hard at circumventing that from happening again."

Isabella stood to the side while Kim lead the discussion. With a gesture, Kim had Dinah stand in front of one of the tarp covered mannequins, before she started her lecture. *Ehhh ehmmm* "Now prepare!! To be amazed!", shouted Kim all of a sudden; the suddenness of it almost making Dinah jump into the air.

"In front of you are 10 outfits we've made and have come to call 'The Canary Prototype Outfit Line'. Just as it's name dictates, this line of clothes and gear are prototypes.", after Kim said that, she signaled her blue-haired assistant; whom nodded to her before her violet eyes glowed with power. With a sweeping gesture, all the tarps that covered the mannequins were yanked away by nearly invisible threads of purple Mana that came from the tips of Isabella's fingers.

'That kind of control still baffles me every time I've seen it in action.', thought the blond-haired mother as her eyes tried to follow the lines of Mana that dissipated in the air like dust in the wind. 'Beautiful.'

*Gasp* Dinah gasped in astonishment when her eyes saw the matching outfits that both Kim and Iz worked hard to make just for her. A small tear droplet tried to escape her right eye, but she quickly blinked it away. She was so distracted by the beauty of the outfits that she didn't see Kim and Iz exchange victorious smirks on their faces when they witnessed her reaction.

Kim waited for Dinah to calm down, before she described what was so special about the outfits in front of them.

To her eyes, the outfits looked like her usual Black Canary outfits with some additions. They looked new, improved, and the black leather jackets looked immaculate. However, her instincts told her that there's more to them than met the eye.

"Now... if I can guide your eyes to the seemingly normal looking crop top t-shirts. As you can see, their colors range from your favored yellow, to orange, red, and a few others. We thought you'd like some variety. They may look like your regular t-shirts, but they are anything but." Kim paused and met her eyes, before her deep hazel looked at the yellow crop top and she stepped closer to the mannequin and touched the material. Kim then continued her explanation with an excited tone to her voice. "These crop tops are made from what we've taken to calling Ramie Fabric from Ramie plants; of which grow in different areas in the Western Forests. It naturally exhibits even greater strength when wet. Ramie fiber is known especially for its ability to hold shape, reduce wrinkling, and introduces a silky luster to the fabric's appearance. We chose Ramie Fabric for it's moisture absorption, air permeability, it's ability to not be harmed by mild acids, and it's resistance to alkali. It's great for warm climates and summer weather. That alone makes it a great crop top for your use, but we were able to add a few properties to it that we think you'll like. Thanks to Isabella's amazing Mana control and Thread Magic, we were able to soak each individual fiber into a special liquid substance that when dried gives each fiber the properties of steel. The Ramie fibers maintain it's natural properties and now it's as tough and hard as steel that's normally used to make normal tools."

Dinah's eyes widened at that tidbit of info in amazement.

"It's not the toughest we can do, but like we said... this line of outfits are the Prototypes.", Kim continued as she puffed up proudly. "After the Ramie fibers finished drying up, Isabella weaved them together to make these crop tops. The well-fitted black shorts are made of Wool that were dyed black and they were also soaked in the same substance as the Ramie Fabric. The Wool we used are from the sheep from the Western Plains who have specifically fed on Iron Grass. This makes their Wool as strong as the toughest iron, but once we soaked the Wool into what I've taken to calling 'Liquid Substance Fiber Coat #13.4A', then it's toughness, durability, and overall quality mimics the properties of the 5th strongest type of steel alloy ever created as of now. This type of Wool was slightly expensive to get, but it was all the more worth it. Liquid Substance Fiber Coat #13.4A is an invention of mine. It took a while for me to get it right, but it's proven to be very reliable. Like I mentioned before, it adds unique properties to the fabric that's soaked into it, but it doesn't change the weight of the fabric itself. I can't tell you how long it took me to get the mixture right with this magical liquid substance..."

Kim paused again as she poked the black shorts with a finger after she removed her leather gloves. "Wool Fabric is naturally strong, soft, durable, and it provides warmth and an attractive appearance. This will keep you dry while sweating and cool when it's hot. It naturally wicks away perspiration from the body, and it doesn't wrinkle easily. It is highly resistant to dirt, wear, and tear. And finally, it is lightweight. Thanks to the L.S.F.C. #13.4A, both the crop tops and the shorts are even more durable and all around better than they would be naturally." *Sigh* "If I had the Mixing Development Ability and if Iz had the Tailoring Development Ability, then who knows how strong these two things would've been in the end."

Kim gestured for Isabella to come closer; which she did quickly. Kim then gave a thumbs up, and stepped to the side for her colleague. Iz took the lead and stood where Kim was just a moment ago sans her leather gloves, and she started caressing the black leather jacket with the very tasteful yellow trim, a Canary symbol stitched on both shoulders, and a larger one stitched to the back in all black with a golden-yellow outline.

Isabella smiled slightly at her work before she met Dinah's blue eyes with her slightly glowing violet ones. "The leather jackets, the matching black leather combat boots, and the black fingerless leather gloves took me a couple of sleepless nights to get right. The leather I used to make them are from normal Wolves that lived on the Western Forests. They were nothing special at first, but we soaked them in a different liquid substance coating which Kim named the 'Liquid Substance Leather Coating #3.19G' a.k.a. L.S.L.C. #3.19G. Without having it soaked into another one of Kim's creations, it would've been just like regular Western Forest Wolf leather. In layman's terms, the leather I used are water resistant, has the right amount of softness, it breathes well, and it's natural pattern and color is to your liking. I used just the right amount of thickness for it to be as comfortable as the leather jackets that you usually wear, but this one has iron buttons coated in another liquid coating to make it look and feel like iron. The liquid coating for the buttons were from a normal metal workshop, so it's nothing special. But... the L.S.L.C. #3.19G is a whole other miracle that Kim stumbled upon."

Isabella's violet eyes glowed more intensely while her smile grew slightly wicked. "I don't know how, but our potion making genius made a leather coating that gives the leather that's soaked into it the properties of the weakest types of steel armor. It may be in the lowest end of the spectrum of both toughness, durability, and protection, but this is leather armor we're talking about. These 10 leather jackets all have these properties. It's basically the best type of Western Forest Wolf leather we've ever had the pleasure of using. The same goes for your 10 new pairs of black fingerless leather gloves, and the 10 new pairs of black leather combat boots. These are the toughest that we can currently make without having access to the high-end and rare leathers from both the dungeon and other remote parts of Eden. We don't really mind, because this was really good practice for us both."

She paused for a moment, before she continued talking to Dinah with a tone filled with excitement. "The jackets, boots, and gloves are padded for increased durability and toughness. They have a few modifications to them that we'll discuss with you later. The special coating on the Western Forest Wolf leather makes them more able to resist water, dirt, and blood from the outside while somehow being able to absorb perspiration and wick it away from the inside. You won't have to worry too much about wear and tear unless you come across tougher monsters past the 8th floor. Now keep in mind that this is just an estimate from the tests we performed on the clothes and gear themselves."

With that said, the glow from Isabella's eyes died down. "Now there's a reason that this is called the Canary Outfit Prototype Line. We created 10 sets for your use. After each use, we'd appreciate it if you give us honest feedback, suggestions, comments, and any changes you'd like to them. We can repair any damages, but after you leave here, I'll be joining my bed in sweet sweet bliss..."

*Yaaaaaaaawwwwwnnnnn*

"We'll be doing further tests, experiments, and other such things later on, but we'll be slowing down for a bit. Kim and I need our beauty sleep after all. Any questions?", asked Iz with a tilt of her head and slightly droopy eyes.

Dinah was left speechless for the next few minutes, as she digested everything she was just told while her eyes scanned the meticulous work that both of these two put into her new Canary Outfit. It may not be Kevlar, but any protection is better than none at all. "Wow... I -...thank you girls. For this. This means a lot. I'm sure I'll have more questions in a bit, but what I'm really curious about right now is how you two got my sizes?"

Both Kim and Iz froze at that and they both had sheepish looks appear on their faces at the same time. "Hehehehe... well you see...", Kim began. "Ummm... hehehe..."