All or Nothing

Chapter 57

Morning came at the Blood Denior residence, and Tess and Regis were walking out towards the residence training area in the basement. Normally the exterior training grounds would be used, but with the presence of the Dicathen team needing to be kept secret, it was decided to train inside to avoid the prying eyes of anyone possibly looking for them.

Tess entered the room wearing her training attire, which consisted of black boots with silver detailing near the top, black skin tight leggings with a matching skin tight top that changed to white at her chest with significantly looser sleeves and green around the collar. Not only was this outfit comfortable, but it also hugged her body perfectly and showed off her womanly figure. Caera might have an amazing body, but Tess was going to show she wasn't the only one.

As she entered she was instantly reminded of the training area in the floating castle, without the Tobis lining the walls. Inside she saw Arthur sitting in a corner meditating, no doubt working on trying to advance his god runes further. He left earlier to check the area and get a lay of the property in case they were attacked. He looked for easy points of entry, points of escape, and the best locations to defend from if Agrona sent any of his forces.

Along one of the walls, a very bulky man was sitting on a bench holding a block of ice against his head. And lastly was Caera wielding a long blood red sword against another man in a duel. Tess quickly remembered the two men from Regis' memories, they were Caera's body guards. She was wearing an all black outfit that looked like it clung to her body like a second skin, while completely showing her midriff.

"Looks like Caera's a little rough with her guards," Tess thought to herself.

"Good lord! Is she gravity mage or something?" Regis thought out loud.

"Excuse me?" Tess replied as she looked down to Regis with a confused expression.

"Her chest! Look at it! The way she's moving those things should be bouncing all over the place, but just look at them, they're just jiggling in place. What I wouldn't give to examine those things and figure out why."

"You really are disgusting," Tess replied and looked away.

"Well I would comment about you, but your plaything has a tendency to hurt me when I do."

Tess just ignored him as she scanned the room, and noticed someone was missing.

"Arthur said Elijah is still sleeping," Regis said as if reading her mind.

"Good morning Tessia," Caera greeted as she walked over, and her guard joined the other on the bench. "I trust you slept well?"

"Eventually. I helped Arthur burn off some more energy before we eventually fell asleep," she said with a smile.

"I see," Caera replied awkwardly, not sure why Tess was giving that kind of information.

In fact Tess had essentially shamelessly advertised her and Arthur's relationship, either with words, or in the marks left on his neck, since last night.

"Anyway," Caera said, trying to change the subject. "Are you up for a sparring match? I've heard you're one of Dicathen's strongest and I'd love the chance to see how I match up. The only one I ever get to go up against is Master Seris, so a chance to go up against someone else at such a high level would be a welcome change of pace."

"Sure why not," Tess replied with a fake smile. "Perfect chance to see just how strong you are."

Yesterday after their bath together Arthur explained everything Seris told him, as well as her attempt to convince him to kill Tess if it became clear they couldn't defeat Agrona. Tess took the warning to heart and agreed to keep her guard up. He also warned her about Caera. She might not have been strong enough to handle Tess at her peak, but if she were to get comfortable around her it would be easy for Caera to stab her in the back if Seris gave her the order. Although Arthur doubted she would use Caera like that, he also never expected his old headmaster to essentially give him an assassination order.