A few days had passed with Gene and Kira doing basically nothing. The monk had wandered around town observing its transformation from depressing and oppressed to a more casual tone. Erend was quite boring in comparison to Velo where Gene had spent most of his life. No crazy parties or places to gamble away his earnings, although he heard there was going to be a big game in the Leaky Tap, the inn across from the Erend Hunt. A few of the huntsmen were planning to play a game of Goblin's Gambit for a big pot.

Gene was fond of Goblin's Gambit and the game was easy enough. Each deck contained a set of cards from one to six. There were 20 cards in a set, making the deck 120 cards. The goal of the game was to have as many of one kind of card as you could. So the best hand in the game was having five sixes, and having five ones was better than four sixes.

Gene reviewed the rules in mind, there were three rounds of betting. In the first round after you draw your hand from the center deck, then you can throw away the cards you don't like and pick up new ones so that hand has five cards. Next is the second round of betting. It is important to note that it is usually during this round people are most likely to cheat and cheating was allowed as long as you weren't caught. The game was invented by goblins after all and they were known for being thieves and cheater, hence why they were banished to Wildhorn, a continent far away, where savages and beast never named lived. No one had gone there since the Great War of the Gods, or the Calamity as others called it.

His mind got sidetracked but he brought it back to the rules. Before the final round of betting there was one more discard phase to try and better your hand. Finally, there was the reveal and the winner took the pot. You were welcome to quit the game whenever you wanted but if you left during a hand your money stayed.

It was early in the day, and he assumed Kira wasn't doing anything special. "Hey, you interested in joining me tonight for some gambling?"

Kira was folding her laundry from the night before and hanging up some of Aliya's clothes she washed that morning. "I guess so, though I don't gamble myself. I could use a drink," she smiled.

"Excellent," grinned Gene. "I saw a rental shop for fine clothes not far from the noble district of this city. Let's use this as an excuse to dress up." The monk didn't want to dress up himself but he knew that Kira wanted to feel more feminine. The cute halfling had been a bit jealous of the looks Ciylia and Meowlynn got when they walked by. Gene was sure with a little make-up he could make her shine as well.

The monk had learned how to work with make-up from a combination of his mother, the other ladies who worked at the brothel with his mom, and Salthos. Salthos was a curse-blooded man who worked in one of the circus acts in Velo. He was one of his mom's top five clients. As a gift for his mother, the midnight black-skinned man would teach Gene how to survive in the underbelly of the city. The things Salthos taught Gene involved creating fake identities, gambling, and forging documents.

Though Gene excelled at these things, the young man never used them unless he had to. Still, the monk committed the teachings to memory and practiced when he could so he didn't get rusty. The only thing he did enjoy was gambling and helping others put on make-up. The former brought him joy and the latter made others smile. He remembered how he would help his mother and the other women at the brothel.

Gene was going to do his best to make Kira feel beautiful and sexy so that her confidence would grow. He knew the best kinds of people be it warriors, actors, or researchers were ones that had a lot of confidence in themselves.

The duo went past the town square and closer to the castle to the area where the nobles lived. Out the edge of the area was a clothing store named Noble's Needle. Upon entering the building, Kira and Gene were greeted by a slender elderly man. "Hello, sir and madam. How can I be of assistance today?"

"We are looking to rent some of these fine clothes for an event for this evening," explained Gene.

"Very good, sir," the man paused after he examined the duo. "I do have to warn you that the clothes are quite expensive and there is a deposit you need to pay that will cover the cost of the clothes if they are lost, stolen, or damaged." The man took a breath, "The deposit will be returned to you upon the return of the clothes after an examination of them."

Kira swayed shyly, "Perhaps we better leave."

"Not a chance," laughed Gene. "Don't worry, I have enough money to cover the costs." The monk gestured with his hand towards the dresses, "Please show us what you have."

"Well," the man sighed slightly. "Over here is our selection for shorter people."

"What the fuck did you just say?!" The shyness left the halfling in a split second. Controlled fury fumed from her body. Everything from her posture to her clenched fist and jaw screamed that she was about to attack the man.

"My apologies madam," terror flashed in the man's eyes as his voice quivered. "You can, of course, pick any gown you like and we can have it altered to fit your lovely frame." Sweat formed on his brow. That man probably didn't think his careless words would have any consequences.

"That's better!" Kira's face began to relax. "I would like to look at the dresses over there." As she spoke, Gene noticed how her word went from firey venom to sweet as sugar. That kind of transition sent a shiver of fear down his spine. He made a mental note to never piss off Kira.

After helping Kira look through many dresses, they both decided on the same one. It was a navy blue dress with a wide and deep V-cut that was meant to expose a woman's breast. When Kira placed it on, instead of hanging loosely over the breast the fabric stretch tight across them. Gene had no idea that Kira bandaged her huge chest down so tightly. To avoid them hitting her bowstring and messing with her shot was her reasoning.

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The dress then continued down into an hourglass figure around the hip and tapered down the middle leaving both of her legs exposed. "I love how sexy I look," squealed Kira in delight. "And it allows for mobility as well, how practical!"

"Well, I still need to make one modification to the gown madam," the salesman tapping his hand on his chin. "Would you like me to add more fabric around the chest? I fear it exposes too much of your upper breasts and gives a clear view of the inner sides."

"I quite like it," blushed Kira. "I'm not usually so bold or sexy, it's a bit embarrassing. But, I do need to show that I am hot as well!" Kira clenched her fist again slightly. "I'll show Ciylia and Meowlynn I am beautiful too!"

"No one is doubting you," smiled Gene. "You are as every bit sexy as you are deadly."

Kira blushed again. The tailor left for a moment and then returned with some lace that was the same shade of blue as the dress. It was made into T-shapes with the middle section far longer than the top part. He went over to Kira and turned the lace upside down. He held the long section at the point where the dress split not far from her hip and placed a needle in and the dress but was extra careful to not prick Kira. Then he ran the fabric down her leg a little bit and the top of the T, which was now the bottom, fanned out across her leg to connect with the dress.

"This will make sure that the front and back of the dress don't fly around at a party or because of the wind," stated the older man. "While still giving you freedom of movement and the ability to show off your legs. I will need to cut and sew this on and then the dress will be perfect."

Kira looked ravishing in her outfit but Gene noticed it was missing somethings, an elegant belt, and high-heeled shoes. "Don't worry," said Gene looking at the man's tired face. "I'll buy this dress, but do you have a belt that could go with it?"

"Yes, sir, in the accessories section over there." The tailor pointed at a corner that held belts, bows, hair clips, shoes, and many other things.

Gene walked over to it and examined some of the belts before finding the one thought was perfect. The belt was white with a small icy blue stone in the center of it. With Kira's permission, he wrapped it around her waist. She looked dazzling and a big grin went across her face.

In honesty, the only reason that Gene was drawn to the belt at all was the little gem it had. It reminded him of the sky blue rhombuses that Salthos had on his skin. The cursed-blooded circus performer hated them and would ask Gene to cover them with black make-up and sometimes he would add bright red lines to accent his skin.

Gazing over the shelf that held the shoes, Gene found some lovely black heeled shoes in Kira's size. When she put them on, her legs became very pleasing for any man to look at. The monk felt his years of helping at the brothel were really paying off.

With Kira's problems solved it was time for the monk himself. He went over to the rack and picked out a simple white undershirt that had a collar and a red vest to go over it. The vest had golden embroidery on it that started from the bottom and tapered up to show the image of a flame. Next, he grabbed smokey grey pants that were well pressed and paired them with some black boots that went up to the mid of his calf. Finally, he rolled the white sleeves up to his elbows and combed his hair to the left side.

The monk chuckled to himself as he purposely dressed similarly to his deceased tutor. He would play the part of Salthos today and win some money that the party could use to better equip themselves. The look was a part of his plan to snag himself a fat golden dragon, a rich person who thought they were untouchable. Gene's mother swore he was born under a lucky star because the man never lost at cards unless he wanted to. Luck always seemed to find its way to Gene.

After paying for everything, the duo went back to the hunt to prepare for the night. For "The Golden Egg" to work, Gene needed to make sure Kira caught everyone's eye. This was because the person who has the fattest gold pouch will use her beauty to cheat while others are looking at Kira. Gene's goal was to find that person, lose a big pot to him, and then make a very risky and desperate bet. It seemed like a foolish plan but with luck like Gene's, it worked like a charm most of the time. Plus, Kira will help Gene by keeping an eye on the cheat in that big hand so he couldn't cheat.

"Kira, I need you to change into your outfit now," said Gene. "Just put on the clothes and I'll handle the rest."

"Okay," she replied slightly blushing.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything inappropriate but I will have to touch your body in areas you aren't comfortable with so I can accent them."

"I don't mind," whimpered Kira. "I trust you won't do anything weird. Besides, if you did, I could just yell and Mistress Astrin would be in here to knock some sense into you and maybe cut off your hand if it was being lecherous."

The two of them burst into laughter, it was nice to have such amazing and trusting teammates. Gene left the room so Kira could change. While he waited, the soon-to-be cosmetologist prepared his make-up kit, a brush, and a hairband. Once Kira, said she was ready, the monk walked in ready to work his magic.

Kira was as gorgeous as she was in the shop and the dress really made her sexy and accented her body in all right ways. But Gene saw her as clay waiting to be molded into a wonderful sculpture. Gene decided he would start from her hair and work his way down.

The first thing he did was undo her signature long braid. He tied most of her hair into a high ponytail and because her hair was braided most of the time, it gave her ponytail lovely large curls. With her bangs, Gene combed and soaked them until they were wet and then elegantly brushed them to the sides of her face.

Gene then thinned her eyebrows a bit and used a special paint to make them very crisp and defined. Using a fuzzy brush and some semi-liquid powder he curled her top eyelashes up to make her blue eyes shimmer. Finally, he used some darker-toned make-up under her eyes to make them look sharp and alluring.

He then applied a few layers of a special kind of ink meant for the skin and rubbed it into her skin, accenting her lovely cheekbones. Finally, he put a lovely pink rose colour on her lips.

"What do you think?" Gene asked as he lifted up a mirror for her to see. Her look of amazement made him smile as she gawked at herself.

"Are you done?"

"Not yet," he replied. "I still need to add some details to your more curvy features."

The halfling ranger's face went flush only adding to her current attractiveness. "Please continue."

Gene grabbed his special ink meant to help define features of the body and a soft-tipped quill. He dipped the quill generously into the ink. "It's going to be a bit cold and will tickle," he warned.

Kira nodded and braced herself. Once Kira's eyes were closed and Gene could tell she was ready, he applied the ink to the top of her breasts and used the feather on the quill to help spread and smooth out the make-up. The halfling did some weird sounds between a moan and a chuckle as the feather ran across her skin. After a few layers, her chest was well defined and unmissable.

Finally went to her legs and applied some of the same ink there as well. He made sure that a man looking at her would trail his eyes up towards her thighs. He didn't need to do much work on the legs as the heels did most of the heavy lifting. With his masterpiece complete he stood up and wiped away some sweat that was growing on his brow.

"You are more radiant than either Ciylia or Meowlynn," smiled the monk confidently.

Kira stood up and looked into a full-body mirror. "I don't even recognize myself. Was I always this taagec?"

"Taagec," asked Gene while butchering the pronunciation. "What is that?"

"It's goblin for sexy," laughed Kira.