Upon entering the tailor’s shop Dix was quickly introduced to Eleanora Marsh. Originally she appeared to be a kindly looking, older woman of Elven descent. The fact that he could tell she was older was quite the accomplishment with her bloodline, meaning she wasn’t just older, she was positively ancient. Although by human standards she only looked to be in her late thirties. Dix originally thought that her scanning him by eye was related to her profession, but he was quickly proven wrong when she stroked his arm with a sensual purr. She wasn’t just a tailor, she was the oldest cougar Dix had ever met. Suddenly this supposedly peaceful trip to get some clothes repaired was feeling fraught with a different kind of danger.

Thunk, used to the mercurial emotional changes of the overtly friendly seamstress, simply laughed at Dix being caught in her web. On the inside he was cheering. The more she approved of the work and the subject, the better discount she would give. Considering her staring at the Folk like a dwarf would an untapped keg of firewater, he was convinced he’d be getting the best prices yet.

Elenora was almost drooling as she stalked around Dix, sizing up everything about him. He’d been hunted by cougars before, but this was a little different. For one, he hadn’t been expecting it. Two, despite most likely being a production based class she was still leagues beyond him in power. And three, he was beginning to suspect that Thunk had brought him here specifically for the purpose of feeding him to this hungry cougar in search of a discount on the work he wanted done. It was a rather more uncomfortable feeling than he was used to.

While Dix was contemplating the role reversal that he had suddenly been thrust into through a drastic change in power dynamics, Elenora guided him back to a bench near the curtained off changing rooms in the back. Dix had been too distracted by the beautiful proprietor to notice his surroundings, but a quick glance confirmed that he was in a shop that looked to be a Victorian boutique. The only differences were the extensive work area taking up the back corner with extended storage into the backroom, and the lack of a cash register. While he was distracted, Elenora started untying his boots. He only came back to himself when he heard her start questioning Thunk.

“So, you finally found a transfer that still had their original clothes by the time they got here. I assume you want me to start with the stockings? Socks, I think you call them?”

“Oh, and the underwear too, although I’m sure you’ll get him out of those fairly quick. Anything else you like the look of as well, if you can reproduce them.” The sinister smile on the priest’s face was the same as he had worn when informing Dix of his suddenly incurred debt. It seemed that Thunk had been less than forthcoming about his desires for socks and underwear. He’d have to be very careful with anything that could possibly be related to money around the dwarf in the future. He made a note to ask Error if all dwarves were as greedy as Thunk as soon as he had a chance. The thought that the dwarf might be beholden to the wrong goddess skittered across his mind, before he squashed it. He refused to get involved in someone else's religion. It never ended well.

As Thunk strolled out of the door, Dix focused back onto the elf who was now stripping off his socks. He wasn’t too worried about anything if that was all she was after, but he knew she’d be coming for everything else soon. Under normal circumstances he wouldn’t object to a romp with the sultry elf, but even his impressive libido needed more time to recover after getting tangled up with the literal Goddess of Lust for who knows how long.

Seeing the slightly worried expression on his face, Elenora gave him a predatory smile, before relaxing it into one that was more friendly and professional. Patting him on the thigh, she said, “Don’t worry, I have no intention of gobbling you up. For the time being at least. If you are as new of a transfer as I suspect, I’m fairly certain you wouldn’t survive.” A finger suddenly flashed up to bop his nose, and she winked at him as she said, “That’s not to say that I don’t want you to come back after you get your class.” With another pat on the thigh, she rose to her feet with a grace that made ballet dancers look awkward.

Watching her walk away, Dix realized a few things. Elves weren’t nearly as thin as the things he had read and watched had made them out to be. Elenora definitely had a small waist, but swelled out quite well both above and below that point, giving her that classical hourglass shape. She had the beautiful face and slim waist of a model, but the chest and ass of a latina pop star. It gave her an exaggeratory sexiness that was hypnotic in effect. His realization also brought the fact that he would have to level up quite quickly indeed if he was going to survive the number of women who had shown interest so far. Most hadn’t been quite as blatant as Elenora, but they still stared. Finally, he was waking up to the idea that the women of Mantra hunted men as much, or more than men did women on Earth. It was an interesting change of viewpoint for him, but he was looking forward to the challenges it might present.

Seeing the seamstress was almost to her workbench, Dix hopped up to follow her. He might not have much skill with a needle himself, but watching a master at work was always impressive. Add in the magic he suspected made up a good portion of her work and he was quite excited to see her skills. He wasn’t disappointed.

The first thing she did was clean and repair his socks. It was a new experience to see them float a couple centimeters above the surface of the bench as the sweat and dirt evaporated off of them, before they suddenly became almost fluffy. However she had done it, the socks were back to their original condition. He had never been big on fancy socks, as he typically wore boots of one kind or another no matter what he was up to. As such, the pair that Elenora was currently working on were a gray, crew style sock made with wicking materials. He’d always liked them, as they were comfortable, kept his feet cool in summer and warm in winter, and kept him from stinking up his boots with sweat. Like most other things he wore, they were eminently practical for the purpose.

He listened in as Elenora mumbled to herself as she studied his socks like an alien artifact of almost completely unfamiliar design. After a moment he remembered that that was exactly what they were to her.

“Hmm, stitching to help with the curve of the foot between the ankle and the heel, but only on the sides. Stitching across the top of the toes… why not at the ends? And this stretchiness, how do they do that?” She mumbled a few more words before she trailed off into silence still staring in wonder. After a while she turned to Dix with an answer. “I have no idea how they make these things. I can handle the stitching, and even the tiny loops along the inside of the bottom portion fine. It’s the strange material that makes it stretch and whatever else it does. We don’t have anything like that, that I am aware of.” She looked disgruntled, putting Dix in the conflict of wanting to console her while still being a little nervous to be that close to her. Ignoring that for the moment, he thought over her predicament.

Nothing came to mind immediately that could help, but he figured he could wander around the store looking for inspiration while she finished the basic work on his socks. He would like another pair to switch into, but if she couldn’t make them he’d have to make do. Figuring that he may as well let her look over everything else while he was wandering around the store thinking, he grabbed a robe off a hook near the changing rooms, then went in and changed. He slung his collection of belts and bandoliers on his shoulder after putting on the robe. There was no expectation of combat, but he simply preferred to keep his weapons close at all times when in unfamiliar territory. That currently included the entire planet he was on, so he figured he better get used to having them around all the time.

Elenora studied each article of clothing he handed her. She found a few things she thought would be improvements to her craft that she could use, but for the most part the clothes were actually inferior to what she could make. The materials were often different, and frequently things she either already had similar materials of better quality from her suppliers, or they were simply unheard of on Mantra. This wasn’t the first time she had studied the clothing of a transfer, but by the time they traditionally made it to Pursue it was mostly just rags. Even with magic only so much damage could be restored.

Having met a number of transfers over the years, Elenora knew that they were always interested in the next part, particularly the newest ones. Calling out to Dix, she waited for him to get closer before she started enchanting the clothing. Seeing the awe on his face made her go over what her agreement with Thunk would provide for, but she figured she could spare a little extra mana and materials if it kept the delicious Folk coming back in the future. For Dix it was an eye opening experience. Unlike watching Chance throw magic over his head, this time he had some understanding of what was going on. More importantly, he had a way to sense the runes she was using, instead of just seeing the byproduct of flashing lights, sparks, and sounds.

When she was done, he just dropped the robe and started dressing. He had never been very modest, but having his mind occupied made him even less so. He was still pondering the problem of how to make something elastic when there was no rubber, or at least not that he was aware of. Her recent display gave him the basics of an idea, but he had no idea if there was any way to actually do what he was considering. Maybe some actual research would need to be performed first, or creative questioning of a mage.

Having set the robe on the workbench, he ignored her watching him dress to nod at the robe and ask, “Can you make clothes larger or smaller to fit different people?”

Still watching him, she absently replied, “Of course. That’s one of the first skills any craftsman learns. It doesn’t matter if you’re a tailor, blacksmith, leatherworker, or any other craftsman, you need to know how to use Resize.”

A faint smile appeared on his face, as his eyes lit up. “How precise is it? What I mean is, does it do the entire item, or can you raise the hem or expand the waist without changing other aspects at all?”

Knowing transfers, this would just be the start of a conversation she had had many times before, but she always enjoyed shocking them with what could be done with magic, so she replied, “I can modify almost anything with the skills I have. Resize only does the overall size of an item, but Modify lets you change each little thing about it. It won’t let you add or subtract stitches, but you can make adjustments to the shape, length, width, and other options. There are limitations, but as long as you make the item with those in mind you can get around them all.”

Warming up to the subject, she tugged the robe into the central section of her workbench and activated the enchantments that levitated it to make it easier to work with. Standing it upright, she added a measuring tape to the side so he could easily see the changes as she worked. First she used Resize, reducing the size of the robe from Folk sized, to that of a gnome child, just under a foot in height. Next, she reversed the process until the robe could fit a half giant, about fourteen feet. Pausing her demonstration, she explained, “You are limited to a factor of five. I can make an item five times smaller or larger before the skill starts fighting back. That means that most of the clothing I make is originally sized for someone smaller than you, perhaps a teenager? It saves on fabric costs as well. As for Modify, well, watch.”

So saying, she went back to the robe. First she brought it back to the size it had been when Dix was wearing it. Then she started changing it. The sleeves shortened to short sleeves, and then lengthened to something ridiculous. The belt did the same, and then the rest of it started morphing in other places. The front parts of the flaps grew outward in the belly region, making the robe look pregnant. The sides pulled up and down to show a lot more leg on one side, while completely hiding the other. It was fascinating to watch, and along with the demonstration for Resize gave Dix exactly what he needed to know.

As the end of her demonstration drew near, he asked, “Can you manipulate the material of everything you’ve made this way?” Elenora nodded with a smile. “Can you enchant an item with the ability to Resize and Modify to fit different people automatically without any input from you?” She nodded again, still smiling. “Can you use that same enchantment to determine exactly how it will fit on someone? For instance, loose in some places while remaining tight in others?”

Once more she started nodding, before she froze as her jaw dropped. Her eyes glazed over as her mind raced through the logical conclusions that Dix had led her to. He guessed it would probably take a while before she came fully back to reality.

While she was busy figuring it out, Dix simply chuckled and started buckling on all his ironmongery. He smiled as he remembered the surprise on the faces of Thunk and Error when he insisted he would train in full fighting gear. He rightly pointed out that there was no point learning to run through the gauntlet without all of his gear on, as he would definitely be wearing it in a real world situation. It made perfect sense to him, but was just another example of things not being optimal on Mantra. He was beginning to think there were more problems with how they did things than anyone could guess at. Dix resolved to second guess absolutely everything people told him. Just because it was the way they had been doing it for centuries, didn’t mean it was right, efficient, or as effective as it could be. He wasn’t looking to start a revolution, but he had no intention of holding back.

When he was finished gearing back up, Elenora was still staring off into space. Brushing a hand along her side, he wrapped her up into a one armed hug, using the other to keep the pointy bits away from her, as he gently kissed her cheek. She jumped slightly, and he pulled back a touch to whisper in her ear, “After you get the socks made, try making me up a pair of underwear in something silky. You can bring them by afterwards so we can see how they feel together.” He hadn’t been sure she would even hear him, but the moan and shiver that went through her body let him know that she had heard him on some level. As he turned to walk away he let his hand caress her backside briefly, confirming his suspicions. It was somehow both plump and firm beyond his wildest expectations.

Walking out with a devilish grin on his face, he sent a prayer off to the Gods he had met, thanking them for bringing him to this new world full of danger, excitement, exploration, and beautiful, sexy women that somehow offered all those things. As far as Dix was concerned, this was Heaven.