It certainly felt like a short drive. A mixture of sex, cuddling, movie watching and showering made the time fly by. John spent the ride all over the bus. Early on, he was confined to the table as they ate their lunch. Afterwards, he just went wherever he wanted, pleasing the girls, talking to the driving maids, all such things. Eventually, after about two hours of driving, they arrived.

“I don’t wanna go out,” Rave complained, burying her face in the neck of her coat. It was a long, baby blue article of clothing that simultaneously managed to hide most of her curves from view and sit just tight enough to leave no doubt about her athletic shape. The fur around her neck was a mix of light brown and white. Her bright pink hair layered on top of it to create an outline of multi-coloured fuzz around the visible upper half of her face. “It’s cold.”

She looked at her boyfriend with big eyes, as if begging him to just change the season. As adorable as she was at that moment, he might just have done so if he could. He did the third best thing after it and having Salamander heat their entire surroundings up by putting an arm around her. “It’s just a few metres,” he told her.

Thanks to the Mobile Barrier, they had been able to make their way into the Protected Space that held the meeting place without having to leave the bus. Driving into the building wasn’t a possibility, however. The width of a street, a sidewalk and the length of a short walkway separated the backdoor of the heated, movable home from the, presumably, heated building.

“It’s the frigid plain of death is what it is,” she grumbled back and snuggled up against him while they crossed the street. The elemental girls followed immaterially, except for Siena who just went invisible. “I should have gotten my winter jacket.”

“You mean the thing that makes you look like a giant puffball?” John wanted to know.

“Ye,” she said in a rebellious tone.

“But I like you in a coat,” John complained. “You look goofy in that thing.”

“Tough luck, I ain’t freezing, not even for you,” she responded.

“I could just get you a coat that’s magically heated,” he suggested. “I’m sure there are enchantments for that. I mean, my suit has some.” He pulled on the collar of his black shirt to underline the statement. “Or maybe we just put some Infernium into inside pockets.”

“I don’t care how ya do it, just tell me why I don’t have that already?!” she wanted to know, her teeth clacking. John wondered how she was that cold; they were still above freezing by quite a margin.

“Because it didn’t come up over the summer and we weren’t rich enough to just get something like that last year?” John suggested. “Honestly, I would have thought Regan would have bought you something like that.”

“Maybe Daddy doesn’t love me,” she whined, as the ground under their feet changed from street asphalt to the stone pavement of the sidewalk.

“Well, I do, so you’re getting what you need,” John promised and kissed her on the cheek. He looked over his shoulder. “You two are doing fine, I would guess?”

“Affirmative,” Aclysia confirmed, with Beatrice supporting the statement with a simple nod. Both of them were in their regular maid uniforms. Their collarbones and shoulders were completely revealed, a black cord that wrapped around the back of their necks being an almost ignorable exception. A white, frill-rimmed chest piece covered their breasts. It continued down to their midriffs, but was wrapped under a black corset there and only visible at the front, where the cords ran criss-cross to ensure the uniform sat tight and showed off the seductive curves of their waists. From the shoulder downwards, they wore black gloves that had the simplified symbol of Fusion imprinted on white hexagons that extended from the outwards pointing rim.

The only white thing about their legs was the display of pale, delicious thighs that became visible whenever they took a step. Each time, the long legs cut through the slits that separated the strand at the front from the rest of their long skirts. Garter belt and stockings made everything from a thigh squish downwards a black-tinted flow. Elegant, black shoes finished the display and little winding, white lines decorated the rim of each segment.

John would never get tired of looking at these maid uniforms. He had designed them well and the appearances he had chosen for the beauties wearing them were just as perfect. Albeit, he couldn’t claim complete credit for that one, given that Aclysia and Beatrice had modified a few parts of their own appearances over time.

A fourth woman suddenly pressed against his open left side and John instinctively embraced Nia as well. The teleporting pariah’s colourless dress was easily described. It was elegant in every non-existent fibre, the skirt separated by mere millimetres from the ground and somehow never touching it or Nia’s feet. It only fluttered along with every step, covered her hips, stomach and moderate breasts, while leaving her back, upper chest, shoulders and arms open. Thin-silver white lines, barely visible to regular eyes, spread over her back, shoulders and neck like a lightning strike mirrored at her spine. In the past, they had been static. Ever since she had returned to John, they expanded and retracted with the exertion of her unnatural powers. They retracted back down her shoulders, towards her spine, as she settled from the aftermath of her teleportation.

John couldn’t help himself and grabbed the butts of both girls. For once, he liked what he grabbed in Nia more. The thick coat diminished the juiciness of Rave’s ass quite a bit, while Nia’s dress technically wasn’t even there. That wouldn’t have mattered before her workout, but now it was just fantastic.

They were now on the walkway in front of the building. It was something between a manor and a fortress. The tall walls were segmented into several terraces that could be used as defensive positions. At the same time, the windows and doors were of a luxurious design. The gold and copper on the frames had seen better days, but weren’t at a state yet that John would have called decrepit. The manor was in a state of decay, but not ruin.

They approached two guards leaning against the walls by the doors. Wearing completely mismatched and casual outfits, they looked at John like the intruder he technically was. He responded to their narrowed eyes with a warm smile as he stopped between them. “Could either one of you gentlemen open the door for me? My hands are preoccupied at the moment.”

“Sounds like your problem,” one of them responded.

“I suppose so,” John sighed, now knowing what kind of attitude he was going to face in this meeting. “Alright then, Aclysia, would you be so kind?”

“Of course, Master.” The weaponized maid walked around him to open the door. John continued to watch the guards. They stayed still while Aclysia pushed down the handle. This told him that they were either respecting enough to not interfere or smart enough to not risk getting their skulls caved in. They went inside and the guards followed them.

The room they were now in was a sizable foyer. The white walls had a yellow tint to them and everything smelled of nicotine. A large number of additional people, still without any common thread between them, sat smoking scattered about on chairs and couches. There was tension in the room between the several dozen factions that were gathered there, clumped into cliques of two to ten people. Most of it was directed towards John once he was inside.

The door was closed and Rave breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank Gaia, warmth,” she said and unbuttoned her coat. She slid out of it as quickly as possible, not minding the hostile gazes at all. Underneath the thick, cold weather wear she wore an outfit of the exact opposite style. A sport top that wrapped tightly around her chest left the entirety of her midriff visible. The fading tan of her smooth skin curved down to tightly sitting yoga pants. The back of the spandex dug into her butt enough to show the perfection of it, but not enough to be uncomfortable. Rolling her naked shoulders and neck, Rave looked around the room.

Hostility remained and lecherous desire was added to the mix. “You fine waiting here?” John asked.

“Why wouldn’t I be, tiger,” Rave answered with a confident smile. “Ya afraid one of these guys might NTR you?”

“We do not speak of the forbidden genre,” John said and looked around. “Although a few of these would classify for the other awful tag that usually goes along with it. Granted, I don’t know if they were born out of wedlock, so I can only make certain statements about the physical appearances.”

“That’s not a nice thing to say,” his girlfriend giggled while handing him her coat. He opened his inventory and put it away.

“Anyway, I was asking because of the smoke,” John told her. “It’s going to get stuck in your hair.”

“We’ll have two hours to shower it out on the way back, no problem.” Rave grinned and pulled at her already slutty choice of clothing. The fabric stretched, showing some of the underside of her left boob. “Not like imma keep these on anyway.” She let go and pulled her top back into the proper place.

“True that,” John gave her a quick kiss.

In the meantime, Aclysia glared daggers at the entire room. “Greeting Master and Jane with a room that stinks like this one warrants execution,” she hissed.

“Statement,” Beatrice joined the older maid in threatening everyone with their presence, “yes.”

“Don’t kill them if they get bothersome,” John told them. If he had been greeted by the guards in a more friendly fashion, he would have told them to cease the hostilities in their entirety. As it was, they deserved a warning. John let go of Nia and Rave. “I’ll be back as quick as I can.”

“Alrighty,” Rave nodded and separated with a wink, “I’ll do the Jane thing and socialize a bit.” Turning towards a random clump of people, she raised her voice, “Any of ya have any games to play?” She was met with confused silence. “No? ‘Clysia, ya got cards?”

“I do, but I’m uncertain I want to expose them to the stench.” The weaponized maid’s tone was friendly, since she was addressing her mistress.

“It’ll be fine,” Rave asserted and put herself between two guys twice as broad as she was. She could have broken both of their spines at the same time. Clapping her hands, she asked, “Alright, which one of ya big boys knows Texas-style poker? Nia, do you?”

“Yes.” The pariah’s answer caused half of the room to suddenly jump. Unnoticed by everyone who didn’t know her, she had moved towards the opposite side of the table Rave was sitting at. Nia was happy to just plant her butt on the wooden floorboards.

“Superb. Beatrice, you’re gonna deal.”

John grinned, watching his girlfriend take control of the entire room with her charm. That she was backed up by two hostile maids and an enigmatic pariah gave her words more authority than the casual tone usually would have carried. They had a hostile disposition towards him and, by extension, her. Rave’s way with people, particularly the less strict kind, and sexy, good looks took care of that second-hand aggression.

“Do show me where I need to go,” John told one of the guards still nearby.

“Uhm, this way.” He pointed him towards a large door on the left side of the room.

The Gamer nodded, “Thank you,” and walked towards there. Accompanied by a cloud of cigarette smoke, John entered the neighbouring room. He closed the door as quickly as possible, enjoying the fresh air. The hall he was now inside of was dominated by a long banquette table that he expected to see in a movie about the nobility of the late enlightenment era. It even had the three-armed candleholders, currently empty and the metal tarnished.

Around the table, on wooden chairs of questionable comfort, sat about twenty people. They were each between level 40 and 70, nothing threatening. Standing against the wood-covered walls or sitting on the stained red carpet were around thirty additional people in the level range of 20 to 40. John threw Observes as quickly as his eyes could move to validate all of that. He dismissed every window that had opened with a single wave of his hand. It must have looked odd to the gathered guild masters, but he didn’t really care.

‘Explore the rest of the building,’ John told Siena. The moonshade elemental was still following him, her invisible form only visible to him. None of the people around would have been able to keep their gazes from wandering in the direction of the practically naked woman. All that covered Siena’s hourglass body was a latex-like layer of purple energy. John couldn’t keep his eyes to himself either. Luckily, he could adjust the direction he was looking without actually moving his eyeballs.

‘I don’t think I will,’ the shadow spirit responded with a gleeful giggle. She walked around unaware people, men and women, and gently curved her crystal claws next to their faces. ‘Whatever will happen here will be all the more exciting, I feel.’

John let her have her way. He was supposed to be the only one of his faction in the room. There was absolutely no way he would have actually agreed to that, not on enemy territory. All of the elementals were on standby. Anything that remotely looked like a trap, he had prepared for as best he could without being overt.

All he faced at the moment, however, was a hostile room and disrespect. “Finally, you’re here,” the man on the far-off end of the rectangular table said. Apparently, he was the most important of the people around. He wasn’t the strongest by level, from what John saw he was third in that category. Level and factual power didn’t necessarily coincide and it could have been that he had the largest organization. “Sit down.”

John looked towards the sole empty chair by the table. It was a couple of seats down on the side by the windows. A random chair, with absolutely no significance to its position. Instead of walking towards it, the Gamer approached the sole person at the nearby end of the table. “Would you be so kind as to let me sit here?” he asked.

“There’s an empty seat, Gamer,” the person answered and gave John a challenging glare. When they wanted to move their head back and signal the end of the conversation, they found that they couldn’t. John had toggled on the Hypnotic Gaze of the Vision of Calamity.

“Move to the empty seat,” John commanded, and with robotic motions, the guild master stood up. The people in the room watched with mild confusion as one of their supposed equals marched over to the seat and left the Gamer to sit down on the more imposing position. Only once his command had been fulfilled, did the person snap out of it and looked around with a confounded expression. John put the elbows on the thin armrests, folded his hands in front of his stomach and said, “Let’s begin.”