Chapter 40: Social Visit

“So, do I just ring the doorbell or…?” Tess asked, glancing at Alice. She was crouching down, messing with some of the greenery on the path a little ways behind them

“Yeah, just use the doorbell.” Alice confirmed. “One of the servants will get it.”

Tess nodded, turning back to the door and ringing the doorbell. There was a long pause, and then the door opened, revealing a sleepy-looking elf in a butler’s outfit who gave Tess a curious look. “How did you get in here? I don’t believe we’re expecting visitors today…”

He trailed off, looking further down the path to where Alice was, then turned back to Tess. “I see. My apologies, Alice was rather fond of those plants when she was younger, so she tends to loiter there for a while when visiting.” He told Tess, then looked back to Alice. “It isn’t proper to make guests get the door for you, Alice.” He called.

Alice turned to him, blinking in surprise. “What guest?” She frowned, looking between Tess and the butler. “Are you talking about Tess? She’s not…” Alice blushed furiously, looking back to the plants. “Ah, right. Sorry, Tess, I wasn’t thinking about that. Take her in, Tamas, I’ll come in in a bit.”

“Wait, what do you mean by that?” Tess asked. “I’m not a guest?”

“Nothing, just a slip of the tongue.” Alice said hurriedly. “Go with Tamas, he’s really nice.”

Tamas, brow raised, ushered Tess into the house. “May I ask what your relationship with Alice is?”

Tess shrugged. “Her party’s tutoring me. She’s been the main one working with me, and we were basically living together for about a month when she took me on this sort of dungeon-clearing road trip.”

Understanding filled Tamas’s face. “I see, you must be the Guildmaster’s granddaughter, then. This way, I’ll take you to the sitting room.” He began to lead Tess down the hall, stopping briefly to tell another servant to “Go fetch the masters.”

Eventually they reached a rather comfortable-looking room which several large couches and plush chairs arranged around a coffee table, as well as a piano sitting in the corner of the room. “Take a seat, we’ll have some refreshments in momentarily, and the masters will be with you in a few minutes.”

He bowed and left the room, leaving Tess to think as she sat down in one of the chairs. It was a bit scary, suddenly finding that she was expected to meet Alice’s parents by herself while Alice…did whatever she was doing with those plants. It seemed…out of character for her to do so, she had gotten pretty aware of how things like this might make Tess feel during their trip together.

Her train of thought was interrupted by another servant bringing over a plate of cookies and some sort of drink pitcher and cups. “I have some apple juice here; would you prefer something else?” The servant asked, placing the plate down on the table.

Tess shook her head. “Uh, no, I like apple juice.”

The servant nodded, pouring the juice into a cup and leaving the pitcher on the table before making a curtsy and retreating.

Tess took the cup and had a sip of the juice. It was…regular apple juice. She wasn’t really sure what she had been expecting, but she was sort of surprised that they even had apples in places other than Mael. She had figured there would be…different fruits they would make juice from.

The cookies were good too. They were chocolate chip, her favorite kind, and tasted like they were fresh out of the oven. Magic had to be involved there, right? They hadn’t known guests were coming and it seemed like a huge coincidence that a fresh batch of cookies had been finished as soon as there were guests, so magic seemed more plausible.

After a couple minutes Tess heard the sound of approaching footsteps, as well as soft conversation. “Are you ready, honey? You’re not going to let your guard down, right?” A man’s voice asked.

“Of course not. I’ve been preparing for this for a while, I’ll restrain myself until I know it’s fine.” A woman replied.

That was…probably Alice’s parents? She wasn’t sure what that talk about restraining was, though. Were they worried Tess might be an assassin or a spy of some sort? That made sense, in a way, she couldn’t exactly expect people in their position to trust someone they were meeting for the first time.

After another minute or so, a pair of people walked into the room. The one she noticed first was a tall human man with black hair dressed in a nice suit. He struck an imposing figure, not at all helped by his rather serious expression.

The other was a humanoid woman with wooden skin and a fancy dress. She was the spitting image of Alice, something that struck Tess as odd, as she had been given to understand that Alice’s mom was a centaur. Was there some sort of transformation in play, or was she just misremembering?

The two people, oblivious to Tess’s musings, sat down on one of the couches across from her. “Forgive our daughter’s rudeness,” The woman said, “we’ll make sure to have a talk with her about this. I’m Avery, and this is my husband, Jared.”

Jared nodded. “Pleasure to meet you. As you know, we’re Alice’s parents and the former heads of the Reshi conglomerate. What can we do for you?”

“Um…” Tess paused, unsure what to say. “I…don’t know? Alice said she wanted to visit you and you wanted to meet me, so…yeah.”

Avery was getting strangely tense, clenching a hand on her couch’s armrest. Jared placed a placating hand on her knee, looking at Tess as he responded. “Ah, just a social visit, then. That’s good to hear, we get precious few of those these days. Could you tell us a little about yourself?”

“Um…well, I’m the Guildmaster’s granddaughter, I guess. That’s apparently a big deal around here? I don’t know much about that; I was raised on Mael and he’s just your average person there so it’s all a little strange to me.”

“I can see how that would be confusing for you.” Avery said weakly. “Please, continue.”

“So, I’m in school, but I’m planning on becoming a freelancer when I get out. Alice has been tutoring me, and she’s been a big help. She’s a little…overbearing at times, but, I dunno…she kinda makes me more comfortable being out and about, like she’s got my back, you know? She was scary at first but after I got to know her more when we were on our trip together, I just realized she was thinking about me in her own way.”

“Alright I can’t take this anymore.” Alice stepped into the room, face red with embarrassment. “Sorry guys, I know you wanted a little more alone time with her, but I can’t listen to this anymore, it’s too embarrassing.”

She pulled one of the chairs over so it was next to Tess’s and took a seat. “Sorry about that. I didn’t want to leave you alone, but they really wanted some alone time with you.”

“We just wanted to see what you were like without Alice around, sorry.” Jared said. “But I think we got what we wanted to from it, wouldn’t you say, dear?”

Avery nodded distantly. “Yeah, we did.”

“Right, so, she already introduced herself, but mom, dad, this is my protégé, Tess. Tess, these are my parents.”

“Nice to meet you. Um…” Tess said, trailing off as she looked at Avery.

Alice followed Tess’s gaze, then seemed to understand what Tess was wondering. “Oh, right, should have told you. Mom has a ring that gives her a human form, and she usually uses that around the house. It’s a lot more convenient than being a centaur indoors.”

Avery idly thumbed a ring on her right hand. “I can you show you if you want.”

“No, that’s fine for now, no need to go out of your way.” Tess said.

There was a pause, and then Avery leaned over to her husband, whispering something she thought Tess couldn’t hear. “I don’t know how much longer I can hold on. She’s too much!”

Jared sighed. “Tess, would you mind indulging my wife for a bit? She’s a bit…touchy at times.”

Tess looked to Alice who gave a sigh not unlike her father’s. “It’ll probably be fine.” She said. “Mom has a hard time containing herself around things she finds cute. It’s probably best to just let her get it out of her system.”

Tess, taken aback, nodded. “Um, I suppose that’s fine, I guess?”

Avery’s demeanor changed instantly. She straightened up and, with sudden speed, was right next to Tess, grabbing her hand excitedly. “You are just the cutest thing! Seriously, how is it even possible to be this cute?! Your ears look so…soft, can I touch them?!”

Tess blinked, slightly overwhelmed. “I don’t mind, just…be gentle.”

Avery nodded eagerly, reaching up and softly rubbing Tess’s wolf ears. “What do you use to wash these? Some product from Mael?”

“Um…I have a Skill that does it for me, actually. I just use whatever’s in the shower, it doesn’t make a difference in the end.”

“Do you even need to shower?” Alice asked curiously. “Most of that is taken care of by Target of Affection, right?”

“Yes and no? I don’t have to do it to take care of my hair or skin, but I still have to wash off if I get dirty. That and it just feels…wrong to not shower, so I do it anyway.”

“Lucky girl.” Avery mumbled. “Still, can’t say the results aren’t nice.” She stopped rubbing Tess’s ears, and stood up straight. “Alright, thanks a bunch, I should be good for the time being. Do you want to take a tour around the place? We can talk while we do.”

Tess looked to Alice again, who just shrugged. “Sure, why not?” Tess replied. “I suppose we might as well.”

Avery smiled. “Excellent. Do you want to start with the inside or the outside? I’ve got something I’m saving for the end that I think you and Alice will like, but other than that we can go wherever you want.”

“Inside, since we’re already here.” Tess replied, standing up.

Alice and Jared stood up as well, and the four began to make their way through the luxurious mansion. There were all sorts of amenities such as a couple of movie theater type rooms, bowling galleries, a sort of concert hall, and more.

She wasn’t given much time to look at any of those, however, as there was apparently enough that if they lingered too long on anything they wouldn’t have time to get to any of the really “cool” stuff.

And during that time, Tess got to learn more about the Reshi family and what Alice’s life had been like when she was young. Apparently, the company had been passed down through her mother’s side of the family, and her dad had been entirely unrelated to it until he was in his thirties.

Well, not entirely unrelated. He had had a couple of part time jobs in one of the stores owned by the Reshi conglomerate, but he definitely wasn’t close to any management or anything. He met Avery by complete accident, she was in the area for business and had gone out to a local band’s show incognito, and the two really hit it off. One thing led to another and the two ended up dating. He hadn’t even known she was head of the company until a few months into their relationship.

Another few years after that they were married and thinking about having a kid, so they began work on the estate, and, once it was finished, started trying for kids. After Alice was born, she ended up going to the same school as her dad, though she also had some private lessons on the side to help teach her what would be required to run the family business.

“We can show you her old room, if you would like.” Avery offered. “We keep it untouched since she comes to visit from time to time.”

“No, absolutely not!” Alice protested, blushing. “That’s way too embarrassing.”

Jared smiled. “I figured as much. Don’t worry about it, we won’t show her if you don’t want her to see. We should probably show Tess her room, though.”

“My room?” Tess asked, taken aback.

“Mom and dad like to have dedicated guest rooms for people close to the family.” Alice said quickly. “Ker and Jin have one too, and Ellie might get one depending on how much we end up working together later on down the line.”

Avery and Jared shared a look that Tess couldn’t quite place but didn’t say anything. The room in question was…nice. It was much the same as the rooms in the dungeon suites that Tess had stayed at, packed with all sorts of amenities and just generally…comfortable looking.

“We’ll key you into the security system later.” Avery said. “But for now, let’s show you around outside, there’s nothing else of interest in here.”

Alice shot her mother a shocked look, but quickly schooled her expression when she saw Tess was looking.

They left the mansion and, once they were outside, Avery twisted her ring and she was suddenly a centaur. Her dress had shifted so that it was covering her horse parts as well, much like a horse blanket. “Tess, would you like to ride me?” She asked. “The grounds are large, and it wouldn’t do to get you all tired out so soon.”

Tess hesitated. She was sure she could handle a little walking, but it would be rude to refuse an offer, right? “Um…yeah, sure, but…I’ve never even ridden anything like a horse before, so I’m not sure I’d be…able to ride you if I tried.”

Avery laughed. “Don’t worry about it. I’m pretty good with newbies. Just hold my waist and you’ll be fine.” She knelt down so that Tess could mount her more easily, and Tess climbed up gingerly, wrapping her arms around Avery’s waist.

“Perfect, just like that.” Avery said, standing up straight again. “We’ll show you around and then we’ll end on our little surprise, alright?”

The ride around the grounds was a little bumpy and slightly uncomfortable, but all in all was much easier than Tess had expected. The grounds themselves had facilities for quite a few different activities. There was the greenhouse she had seen earlier, which contained all sorts of exotic plants, and a large garden complete with hedge maze that contained plants that were suited to grow in the climate.

The stables only held a couple of horses, but they also a very nice grooming area, apparently for when Avery wanted to clean her centaur parts. There was a swimming pool, an area for playing outdoor sports, and a path down the cliff to the beach, where Tess could make out a boathouse and a dock.

And, finally, it was time for the “surprise”. There was a domed building on the grounds that hadn’t been explained during their tour, and Alice didn’t seem to know what it was either, so Tess was burning with curiosity by the time they reached it.

Once they were in front, Avery knelt down and instructed Tess to get off, using her ring to shift back into a humanoid form once Tess had safely dismounted.

“Alright guys, what is this?” Alice asked. “You’ve been hyping it up for a bit now and I need to know.”

Avery grinned, taking a key out from a pocket in her dress and unlocking the door to the building. She opened it and motioned for everyone to step inside.

Tess stepped inside to find herself in a large circular room. There were a few large TVs lining the walls, plush couches on the edges of the room, and a console of sorts near the couches. More interestingly, though, most of the room’s floor was made up of some sort of glass, letting her peer down into a vast empty chamber below them, going down what appeared to be several stories in height.

“So, while you were off training your protégé,” Avery said, “we thought it would be as good a time as any to invest into an Arena. We’re both rather out of practice, so we thought it’d be a good way to get ourselves back into shape as we start thinking about pushing to level one-hundred. Plus, we thought it might be interesting to watch you go through some of the simulations and see how you’re able to handle yourself.”

Alice’s eyes were sparkling. “Really?! I’ve been wanting to try one of these for ages but never had the time! Can we have a go?!”

“Sure thing.” Jared said, smiling. “As long as Tess is OK with it, that is.”

“Um, this…may be a stupid question,” Tess began, “but what’s an Arena?”

“The latest in combat simulation technology!” Alice said excitedly. “It essentially creates virtual opponents for you to spar against, can simulate a ton of different environments, lets you customize your opponent’s abilities, even make it so enemies are stronger for one participant but not for another…they’re awesome!”

Tess nodded. “Sounds cool, um…”

“You OK there?” Avery asked, concerned. “Are you tired? You can sit out if you’d like.”

Tess gave Alice a look that she hoped conveyed the worries she had had. “No, I’m fine. I was just thinking. Yeah, I’m totally down to give it a go. How do we start?”

Alice grinned. “There should be some sort of magic necklace we wear. Mom, where do you keep them?”

Avery opened a small box near the couches, rummaged inside for a moment, then handed a necklace to both Tess and Alice. “Here you go.” She said. “Go use the console and select the type of simulation you want, then hit start and everyone wearing a necklace will be teleported down. The necklace will simulate the damage you take and deal and your resource expenditure, but you won’t actually be hurt by anything or use anything up. You can turn off pain and wound simulation in the options too, if you want, it’s under ‘advanced’. Either way, once your necklace has received enough simulated damage that you would be at zero HP, you’re teleported back up here.”

“And is there a dressing room we can use to change into armor?” Alice asked.

“Just to the left of the main sitting area there’s a door that leads to bathrooms and locker rooms. You can get changed there.” Jared told them.

“Perfect. Come on, Tess, let’s get changed!” Alice said, bounding off towards the door. “I’m kind of excited to see what it’s like to be on relatively even footing with you, so let’s go!”

Tess followed, and soon found herself in what looked an awful lot like the locker rooms she was used to on Mael. Alice ducked into a stall, and Tess heard her begin to put on her armor, so she slipped into a nearby stall and began to prepare herself as well.

Fighterman481

And, frankly, though I liked it in concept, it just didn't work. It felt way too forced, especially when I wanted to pivot to the more friendly relationship they display later in the chapter.

So, I ended up scrapping that entirely and going with what I have now. 

That's really all of import that I can talk about right now, so next chapter we'll get into the Arena and, depending on how long that takes, one or two other things, so look forward to that.

And, as always, thanks for reading!