Aeric walked back into the workshop, moving through the door and being greeted by a smugly smiling Treeka. “Had fun?”

Aeric grinned, “I sure did, that friend of yours has some interesting techniques.”

She did that chirping laugh of hers, “Yes she does, she wanted to teach me. But nope, not possible with my biology. A shame, I could do some fun things with it I’m sure.”

“I’ve no doubt, I’m heading to the back. Anything interesting come my way?”

Treeka shrugged, “Not that I’m aware of. You’ll just have to work on some normal clothing for now. Ali did ask for you to make some more of those suits of yours that she could showcase. She’s pretty confident that they’ll sell well.”

“That’s fine with me. They’re supposed to be relatively expensive compared to the normal stuff we sell though.”

“That’s fine, in fact that’ll probably make her even happier.”

Aeric snorted and nodded, gave her a little wave goodbye as he stepped into the workshop area. The girls looked up and he noticed the slight blush on Yisillia’s skin. The others just nodded hello, with the exception of Xii. She grinned at him from ear to ear, “You look a lot more relaxed now than you did yesterday, got rid of some of that tension.”

Aeric grinned back at her, “I sure did, also heard some interesting rumors about sex skills. They sound interesting.”

Yisillia turned a darker shade of red, both of them pretended they didn’t see anything. “Well your next planned trip with me is the redlight district. We can scour some of the more experienced people present and ask them about their skills and the fun things they can do.”

“I’ll admit that I’m more interested than I would have been yesterday. I expect some really weird things to become possible.”

“Also some kinky things for sure.”

“Fascinating.”

“OKAY! That’s enough!” Yisillia yelled as she stood up and glared at the pair of them with a reddened face.

They chuckled, but they did stop mentioning the arts of seduction. “So Treeka told me Aliami wanted a few suits to showcase in the store. Want me to teach you guys how to make one?”

Xii cocked her head in thought before shaking it, Lshrkr and Yisillia likewise didn’t seem interested. Hurma however nodded, “The work seems more involved and something that higher levels would be more suited for. I wouldn’t advise the work to anyone below level twenty.”

Aeric blinked, “It’s completely possible without any skills or levels at all.”

Hurma nodded, “Sure, with years of experience and practice at making them perhaps. I doubt the hobbyists will pick it up easily. I saw how you worked, the complicated level of patterns and sewing are more than we are used to. Personally I thought it was fascinating and would gladly learn more. Wouldn’t be worth the time investment for the people who only work here a couple of months in the year.”

Xii pointed a thumb at Hurma, “What she said.”

Aeric shrugged, “Well let’s get to work then, ironing is a big part of making the suit. Getting rid of the wrinkles and having everything as smooth as possible is one of the hallmarks of a good suit. It’s best to have them fitted per customer, a suit that sits and fits well looks gorgeous. An ill fitting suit can still look pretty good, but if we want to keep it and showcase it as classy clothing then tailor-fit would be best.”

“Are all suits like that back where you come from?”

“Unfortunately not, they became a lot more commonplace over the years. About half a century ago suits were made with a lot more care, then they evolved to become standard business wear and a lot less time went into making them. They became mass-produced and, in my opinion, lost the majority of their charm. So if I can keep them from becoming like that, well… I’d prefer that.”

Hurma smiled at him and patted his shoulder, “Well, they won’t be mass-produced anywhere in the foreseeable future. For now only you know how to make them, and we can licence it as a shop specialty. Keeping it from spreading too far.”

Aeric blinked and looked up at her, “Licensing is a thing, you have intellectual property here?”

“Yup, system reïnforced and everything. To further encourage people to try new things. Although plenty of people will try making things that are so close to the main product that it might as well be the same thing. As long as the system judges it different enough it’s allowed.”

“Well, I’m just glad all my ideas won’t be taken that easily. Suits might actually be enough for me to set up a fashion line or a fashion event. I could make some suits suited for women as well.”

Xii’s head jerked up, “There’s suits for women?”

Aeric grinned, “Yup, I could totally make you one with a pencil skirt. I’m pretty sure you could rock the business look. If I do that though I might go a little creative on it, add some skulls and red flowers or something for taste.”

Xii smiled and walked over to Aeric, “You totally got to make me one, I’m curious what you’d make for me.”

Aeric saluted. “Give me a couple days to come up with some sketches and I’ll have something fun for you to wear by the time we head to the district.”

“I’ll hold you to that!”

“Hold him to what?” They turned as the familiar growling voice of Aliami called to them from the door connecting the workshop to the storefront.

Xii grinned and pointed at Aeric, “Our boy here says there’s suits that’re for women as well. He promised to try and make me one before the weekend hits.”

Aliami turned to Aeric, amber eyes honing in on emerald ones. “That sounds like something I could market.”

Aeric nodded, “It is, they were vastly popular in the business world back home. I’d prefer if you kept these to select clientele though. I preferred the time where the suit was the mark of a gentleman. Suits for the finer gender never really carried that hallmark, though.” He paused for a moment and tapped his chin in thought. “I could make a more classy line of clothes if that’s what you’re interested in.”

A rumble answered his sentence, “Well, while I already have my claws deep into the clothing market for the less wealthy, I’d like to get a claw into the higher class stuff. It’d expand my clothing options. I was thinking of bringing your line of clothing out to other countries. These suits would do well in a variety of places. I’ve been looking for a reason to take my tailoring business international anyway.”

“I… hadn’t thought about international stuff. If you think you can sell it then be my guest, I just wanna make stuff.”

Aliami grinned and put a hand on his shoulder, “I know you do, that’s why I just let you do whatever. Your idea’s alone more than make up for any costs. I do want to let you know of such things before I do them, however. It’s only right.”

Aeric grinned back at her, “Well you hereby have my permission to take my ideas and sell things like them wherever you want. Except for the custom pieces, I’d like for those to remain special.”

She chuckled and shook her head, “I won’t be distributing the custom designs, the connections those will net me in the long run are worth much more than the coin they could make. It won’t be long before people will come travelling from distant countries to have a custom piece made by you. Those very people are bound to be influential, I could do so much with the connections that makes me!” She rubbed her hands together as her eyes took on a slightly manic gleam.

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Xii bumped Aeric with his elbow, “She’s gonna spread her reach and her grubby little money claws all over the world now. It’s all your fault you know.”

“We could do a lot worse than have Aliami be the one with her claws in a lot of jars.”

Aliami shook herself and looked at them, “Well those are plans for the future. I heard you had a date last night. Are you in a relationship?”

“Nope, we’re more of a casual tussle in the sheets thing at the moment. It’ll probably remain that way honestly, I'm pretty sure it will be a decade at least before Celina will start looking to settle down.”

“Well it’s not like people are in a rush, I’m eighty years old and haven’t had a steady relationship myself yet.”

Aeric tilted his head, “How old do you get?”

She hummed, “We have a bit of divine blood in our lineage, so I’ll live to be a good five centuries probably, normally beastmen go for around two to three centuries however.”

“I wonder if I’ll actually live a normal lifespan here, it might be hard to find a partner if I live as long as I expect to.”

The girls turned to him, confusion apparent on their faces. Aeric turned to Hurma, who shrugged. “I didn’t tell them, it’s not my place.”

Aeric scratched the back of his neck, “Back home I’d have been considered lucky if I reached eighty years of age. Humans don’t live very long, in comparison to what’s the norm here at least.”

Silence spread throughout the workshop, “That’s… That's so young!” Yisillia mumbled with wide eyes and tears gathering in her eyes.

Aeric shrugged, “Doesn’t feel short to me, it’s what was normal. If I age twice as fast as my partner though? That would suck.”

Aliami grunted, “Eh, you’ll probably be fine. You’ll reach a high level for sure and there’s bound to be a skill or two that will slow down your ageing. Not something to be worried about, if I earn as much money through you as I expect I could extend your life to two centuries without much issue. So don’t worry about it.” She slapped him on the back.

“Well it should be fine then I guess.” He smiled at the others, waving away their worry. “There’s plenty of time to see where we go from here. Now shoo, no pitying gazes and the like. I have to teach Hurma how to make suits.”

Hurma chuckled the low sound filling the room, relieving tension. “And so the student becomes the master. Only took him two months, scary stuff.”

The others chuckled a bit awkwardly but they resumed work - talk about death and its consequences was always a downer on the mood. But they had work to get to. Before he focused back on showing Hurma the ropes, Xii spoke up. “Which reminds me, the next expedition is in a week or two. Me, Yi and Lshrkr will be gone for the duration. Aliami is likely to hire some stand-ins to take up the slack. Probably people from the expedition that’s currently out.”

Aeric looked up at her, “The expeditions alternate?”

“Yup, there’s always at least one expedition out in the wilds checking the area. We’ve only got a single sister in the current one that’s away however. She’ll probably be one of the fill-ins if nothing changes. She’ll probably bring a party member or two, last time she mentioned she was convincing one of her teammates to help her out at the shop in between outings.”

“So how are the chores split?”

“Treeka cooks.” Hurma said, “You and I will probably split cleaning, while the rest split whatever is left.”

Aeric turned and looked at Xii, “I'll miss you guys when you're gone. No more flirty stuff for months? My poor addiction!”

Xii snorted and shook her head. “I’m sure you’ll find someone else to play with while I’m gone.”

“But you’re the special limited edition Xii toy! None can play as fine as you.”

“I’ll stab you.”

“That’s my line.”

“Is that the kind of line that got Celina into your bed?”

“Nope actually she was the one that used the stabbing line.”

Xii Hummed, “Well she must be a fan of the classics then.”

“Her moves were anything but classic though, she’s kind of wild. We actually used a stamina potion just to reset.”

Xii chuckled, “That’s how you know you found a compatible partner. Make sure to enjoy the nights you spend together.”

Aeric smiled and bumped her with his shoulder, “I don’t think I could do anything other than enjoy myself. Unless she’s like that every night, in which case I’d collapse from exhaustion.”

The pair glanced at Yi, who had gone surprisingly long without interrupting them. The elf looked up and shot them a shit-eating grin, she pointed at her ears and they saw them stuffed with cloth.

Aeric snorted and Xii stared at her with wide eyes, before they started laughing. Their bodies rattled with it until they had trouble breathing. They grinned at her and gave her an approving thumbs-up. She stuck her tongue out at them and continued working.

“Well, it seems she’s finally thought up a countermeasure,” Xii murmured with a smile.

“Kinda takes a good chunk of the fun out of it.”

“Owh right.” Hurma stood up interrupting their reminiscence, “You asked me to help you remember to actually use your magical mannequin skill. You keep forgetting.”

Aeric blinked with realisation, “True! Whenever my tinker-state hits I forget to use it. It’s not ingrained yet, maybe?”

“What by the gods is a tinker state?”

“It’s that thing I do when I’m crafting and totally lose myself in my work. But it’s testing time!” He looked to his left where there was an empty spot and extended his hand. “Magical Mannequin!”

He waited and stood there with his arm stretched out, he turned to the girls who were looking at him with both expectation and amusement. “Uuuuh, nothing happened? What do I do now, how do I actually use this skill?”

Lshrkr tapped her mandible in thought, “Perhaps you need to mention whose proportions the mannequin is supposed to mimic?”

“That’d make sense. Soooo… Magical Mannequin Aeric Redwool!” He folded his arms as again nothing happened.

Hurma tilted her head, “Perhaps you need the sheet of measurements on hand.” A few hums answered her statement.

Aeric looked over his workbench and shuffled through the files before picking out his own, he held it in his hand and focused on the numbers. “Magical Mannequin!” He jumped back in surprise as a figure appeared before him.

The others jerked, Xii’s hand dropping to her hip where she kept her blade out of reflex, Yisillia’s hands glowing green. Lshrkr merely lowered her stance and Hurma had her hand on the table like she planned to throw it. The flurry of movement lasted for a short moment before everyone relaxed. “Guess I was right about the sheet.” Hurma muttered as she stepped closer to the mannequin.

Aeric tapped it, it was solid, felt like a wood of sorts. It had the exact same body build as he did, down to the muscle lines. Its face was featureless, just a blank wooden head. “Well that’s useful, I could definitely have made use of that before.”

“Just to make sure you’re not missing anything else, can you list your skills?” Yisillia asked.

Xii twisted her head towards her in surprise. The elf shrugged, “What? It’s not like Aeric has any problem sharing it. As if any of us would abuse the knowledge.”

Xii rolled her shoulders in discomfort but nodded her agreement. “Yeah, we’ll help you out, so give us the deets.”

Aeric tapped his chin, “Well I have Studious Apprentice, Dextrous Hands, Stronger Thread, Meticulous Stitching, and my personal favourite Just a Bit Better.”

Hurma grunted, “That’s such a cheat skill.” The others nodded to which Aeric only smirked in response.

“Then I gained Double Thread Count and the Magical Mannequin one from the Moonlit Moth dress. Last one I got was the Minor Self Repairing Clothing.”

Xii tapped her chin, “The number of skills is actually kind of low for your level. The quality is high though. All of them work passively. Stronger Thread, Double Thread Count, Just a Bit Better and Minor Self Repairing Clothing work on anything you make. Making the clothing softer, sturdier, of better quality, and self-repairing. Which is honestly just really good. The rest just makes making the clothing easier.”

Aeric nodded, “They make for a pretty great combination. You said that level thirty will probably have an interesting capstone skill for me?”

She nodded, “Your amount of skills have been low but the quality has been high. I expect the trend to continue and thirty will probably be something that either raises your work a level. Or does something to the people you work with or for.”

Aeric grinned, “I can’t wait. I really want something fun, or properly magical. The only thing that feels truly magical is the mannequin. I really want something… flashy?”

Yisillia smiled, “Well here’s to hoping.”

Aeric turned to Hurma, “Can I ask what your thirty capstone skill was?”

Hurma shrugged, her dreadlocks rolling over her shoulders with the movement. “Mine is called Enhanced Production. It lets me turn it on for about an hour a day and I’ll work with the speed of several tailors. I get an entire day's work done in that hour.”

Aeric tilted his head, “I haven’t ever seen you use that skill.”

“There’s been no need. I’ve gotten the work that’s needed done. The time between expeditions when everyone is together like this we get more done than usual. We even build up reserves. Once they’re gone, we’ll need to step things up. At that time you’ll see me use it regularly. I prefer going without, the skill makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.”

The rest of the day passed without any note after they went back to work. Aeric taught Hurma some of the details and tricks to making a suit, they ate a delicious dinner, and headed to their rooms.