With a smile, Ionis appraised the armlet. It had come out decently enough.

Armlet of Plentiful Aid (Grand)

Charge: 42/254

Impression of Accelerated Care

Impression of the Deep Quenching

Impression of the Feast

Impression of Locating

Impression of Binding

Impression of Thread Connection

Impression of Uncuttable Thread

Impression of the Perfect Fit

Impression of the Grand Reservoir

Had she had access to an assortment of better base materials, an excellent or even masterful rating wouldn’t have been out of the question either, even with the time constrictions she was working under. If she was honest, just the sheer amount of impressions on the armlet should be enough to get a grand rating, so it might have really not been a well-crafted item.

She shrugged. Not like it mattered. If she wanted to, she could make a better version.

I could still buy half a village with this, thinking that she grinned. Being able to make wealth from almost nothing was great.

The armlet would certainly help her apprentice, should she get herself in trouble. Accelerated Care would help and hopefully synergize with the girl's only relevant skill as of yet. She had designed Accelerated Care specifically for that, though there were no guarantees with impressions.

Deep Quenching was still a memory she would rather forget. One of the first rifts she had ever done and made her stop for an entire year. She banished those thoughts from her mind like she had done many times. It was unfortunate that it was the most efficient impression for hydrating someone that she knew of.

The feast was straightforward, saturation to excess, you needed to get used the impression that was for sure.

The next two impressions were mostly for her benefit. So that she could always find her apprentice and that no one else could use the armlet once Liana put it on.

The last three, all came from her class and experience as a tailor. Whatever she made, would be nearly undamageable by everything of her level of strength and below. While nice, sadly didn’t help against a lot of damage types, since most fabrics were bendable - not stopping blunt damage - and burnable. More importantly, it would unite all her impressed clothes into one, making them share a flow potential and some of their more useful properties.

Now she just had to hope that the girl didn’t pass out for too long when putting the armlet on for the first time.

Having gone over every single impression once again, to make sure they were stable she handed the armlet back.

“Put it on, but lay down first.”

The girl followed her instructions without the telltale signs of disobedience or reluctance the girl had shown on occasion. If she wanted her apprentice to end up being useful in addition to interesting Ionis would have to put a lot of work into her.

Might be worth talking to my mother again, about raising children. Or not, that would definitely result in questions I don’t want to answer.

At the thought of talking to her mother her face contorted. What had been subconscious facial movements at an earlier point in life she completely embraced now and was doing intentionally.

It would be someone else should there be a need to resort to external help. Maybe a book, that could work.

The girl didn’t pay her any mind as she slipped on the armlet. Within seconds the various different materials lit up, before going dormant again.

Good thing she hadn’t implemented a leeching impression as well, that would have knocked the girl out for days. As she was now, she would probably be out at least until the next day.

Ionis had noticed the growing strain of being under the effect of the girl's skill, no doubt thanks to her inflated stats. The girl though had shown no reaction, maybe she would now, need to pick up that extra sleep in addition. Curious, indeed. Curious enough to warrant noting down some predictions.

As far as I can tell the refreshing didn’t put a strain on her one bit. Might just be a quirk or a combination of her traits. Or it just works differently on the caster.

Ionis still grinned as they came up at the gate.

The driver handled most of the identification and passage requirements, though just like always she had to undergo a cursory status inspection. The stone lay cold in her hand, slowly extending tendrils of mindbending potential towards Ionis’ hand.

Though they couldn’t quite reach, another barrier of invisible flow, originating from one of the rings made of cloth on her finger. For just a few moments they clashed against each other, then a barely perceptible immaterial twine extended towards the globe of cold metal.

For just a moment they touched. Then Ionis and the guard - who was currently glancing at her wearily - began smelling burned fabric.

“Ah shucks. And here I hoped I finally had it,” the woman grumbled.

Before she could say anything the man had already glanced at his tablet. She knew what was to come to the next instance and she hated it.

“Lady Rashan. It is a pleasure seeing you here. I’m sorry I didn’t notice realize who you were. Please forgive…” the man began.

“Yes, yes. None of that now, just let us pass, would you? My apprentice is very exhausted and I am sure she would enjoy the comfort of a bed, don’t you think?”

“No, of course not. We will make way with haste. I’ll make sure some of the men accompany you, so you can get to your home in haste,”

“Thank you, but that won’t be necessary either,”

This was the very same situation she had been trying to circumvent for the better part of five years. Destroying or just returning an empty value for the Stone of Prudent Sight or the Argent Slab wasn’t an issue, but it would also not let her pass the gate. Quite the opposite indeed. Faking the impression of herself to outside forces continued to be impossible for her.

They traversed the roads of Larkos quickly, most residents going out of their way to stay as far as possible from the guertls. Without certain privileges, she and others of her station had they wouldn’t be allowed to traverse the streets as they were right now. Knowing that level twenty and higher monsters are a danger to the general populace.

Ionis checked on her apprentice, seeing the eyes of the people outside glance across the carriage making her uncomfortable. The girl was doing fine it turned out. While the strain of so many new impressions would no doubt take a toll on the girl she was already adjusting.

That opened another possibility.

Should I try to get a foci for the girl? Thoughts raced through her mind at an accelerated pace, faster than most humans were capable of comprehending.

No, not worth it yet. I won’t even be able to find one with the five attunements. She then chuckled. Not even having heard of all of them before meeting Liana. But that would be of no consequence.

I’ll find out soon enough what “cycle” can do. With two so potent traits, there was no doubt that Liana would gain a few nice freebies with her first class. And until then the girl would help her reach just a bit further. Maybe finally placing a fourth rank class into her grasp.

“My Lady, we have arrived,” Thomas said opening the door. Another recent nuisance. She would have to make sure to dispose of him soon. Bootlickers were not something she could stand nor were they useful. At best a hindrance.

“Leave Liana laying there for a bit, I’ll make sure she is taken care of in a bit,” Ionis responded to his unspoken question.

Ionis sighed then. Seeing a few people approach led by the king of sycophants himself.

“Kaaz, yes hello. I hate seeing you too. I’ll be staying for a week at most. Please prepare a room for my apprentice. You have what I asked you to find the last time we met?” she greeted. The man being a pain at the best of times elicited no desire of putting up a front of politeness. With the girl around he would only become more unbearable. No doubt asking Ionis to take on another apprentice, this time one of his children.

Kaaz Teron Raalis returned her glance with a pained expression. His jaw clenched, mouth flat, and eyes potentially sad. It was all an act.

Today Ionis wouldn’t entertain the man's staggeringly annoying politeness and just get to the point.

“I greet you Lady Ionis. And as I have repeated several times, I do not hate you. In fact quite the opposite.

Someone coughed from her right.

Ah, right Thomas is still here. She turned to the man in question, trying to convey non of her emotions.

“You may leave as soon as Liana has been taken care of, Thomas. It was a pleasure working with you,” she lied. It had been initially. After they had stopped at the inn, the atmosphere had grown noticeably stiffer, something that happened frequently when people found out about her wealth.

Without even sparing another glance at the assembled crowd she left. Triggering the flight impression of her corset. There was one good thing about etiquette. It guaranteed her that Kaaz and his people would be on their best behavior around Liana, not like they had a chance of poaching the girl anyway.

Responsibilities… She almost returned there and then. She should probably leave some information for Liana should she still be gone when the girl gained consciousness.

Her first stop lay within the city, a trade consortium at the harbor. Second, only to its peers in Akmaar, it served the nobility and capitalist class with whatever desired goods within weeks and supposedly high quality.

Sadly dealing with the upper crust of society meant that you were required to act in accordance with their ineffectual and tiring patterns.

Expending more than three times the flow she would need for a speedy and efficient landing she modified the expression on her corset. Instead of mimicking a bird it now imitated the weight of a feather, gently falling from the sky.

Right on the owner's balcony.

Some ruffling later an agitated-looking rounder man opened the door. She had been in contact with Tanous before. As far as traders went he wasn’t half bad and his delivery times were superior to most others in Larkos.

“Greetings Miss. Is there anything I can help you with?” the stressed-looking man said. His hands absentmindedly smoothing his garments. Ionis’ trained eyes analyzed the fabric subconsciously.

In the ballpark of an uncommon rating for most of the stuff. Barely worth the money he paid for it no doubt. Then again, she couldn’t really judge him, since it was rare to find a craftsperson, like herself, able to produce items better than greater.

Industrialization really is the downfall of the human elite.

Remembering that she had never directly interacted with the man before her, she introduced herself after giving the man ample time to steel himself - something that seemingly hadn’t worked.

The man hastened to gather the materials he had imported for her, no doubt he only hustled as much because the money she paid was more than double what it should be.

As the workers brought crate after crate up to his office - Ionis lacked the understanding of why they didn’t just go to the warehouse - she spread her class effects throughout the room. She could feel some decent thread just not the reason why she had come here in the first place.

“I don’t have time for you to parade the sub-par wares in front of my face. We both know why I’m here. Do you have the Vasaneer or not?” she asked.

The man gulped, before straightening himself.

“Yes, we do have them, but it has been quite the effort to find a group that would accept the contract and enter the rift. It took them half a week to just gather as much as they have, and they will not engage the rift ever again. We had to reimburse them handsomely,” Tanous said.

“Didn’t I pay you enough in the first place?” Ionis raised an eyebrow. She knew she had made sure to pay more than three times the predicted value of that service.

“No, your compensation of course has been more than grand…” he paused then, most likely to phrase something overtly political.

“Out with it. I don’t have all day,” she said. A hand idly scratching the back of her neck. She really didn’t know how to get people to be more efficient.

“I was merely wondering if you might be inclined to do more business through our consortium in the future. It would show us how much you valued our service,”

Ah, so that’s it.

“I am sorry, I can’t,” Ionis said. She might have even been able to let a hint of heartfelt emotions shine through, it was always hard to tell how people perceived tones.

The man pulled a chest from a metallic-looking wardrobe and placed it on a table. The moment he opened it her thread awareness was thrown into shambles.

As neat as the trick with which the chest had hidden the thread from her awareness she couldn’t get herself to care about it.

Vasaneer Thread (Rare)

Flow Capacity: High

Tensile Strength: Very High

Malleability: Very High

Density: Spectacular

Ionis smiled. A good product indeed.

There was so much else to do before she was ready to take Liana to the Dawnweavers cave. She would have to make time to create some masterworks in the near future.