The Sixth School

Author's note.

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All Characters in the story are 18 years of age and above...

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Chapter Twenty Nine: Under The Table...

There was a bit of a scramble to get a room ready for the unexpected number of guests that had shown up. Greg had already given instructions to have a room ready for some special guests earlier that day. And to her credit, his sister, Tayani, had prepared a room. It, however, had only been set up for eight people. And yet, there were now ten people in total, three from the Town-head's household, including the Town-head himself. Three from the Ember household, two from the Valla household, and Bran from the Aria household and Greg himself. He, however, didn't fault his sister for this unforeseen issue. Had someone asked him that morning how many special guests he was expecting, he would have said four. The heads of each of the three families along with the Town-head. Looking back at it now, Greg realized that he should probably have seen this coming. The truth, however, was that Greg hadn't even remembered that these scions of the three major families existed right up until he saw them.

Greg couldn't help but turn and glance at the Town-head who was calmly watching the rearrangement of the dining room area with an air of calm detachment. Among all his special guests, he was the only one that had made the expected personal appearance. He might have come with his family, which Greg didn't expect, but still, he was here. Greg couldn't help but wonder if in trying to send someone Greg could relate to, the other three families hadn't shot themselves in the foot. The event might have been a send-off party. Greg, however, wasn't even for a second deceived about the nature of what was going on here. Negotiations were about to begin here. Each of the four sides at the table would want him on their side. It would be covered in flowery language and empty platitudes. Greg, however, knew that there was a very real chance that he might sit down with four neutral parties and later stand up with one ally and three enemies. Which one of the four would be his friend and which three his enemy, remained to be seen.

By personally showing up instead of just sending his kid, the Town-head had gained a big advantage. Not only did he hold much greater authority than the kids from the three families, but he probably also had several years more of negotiation experience. He would probably run circles around the younger kids in the negotiations to come.

Greg could almost see the logic behind the attendance choice of the three families as opposed to the Town-head. The three families probably thought of themselves as strong and capable regardless of whether Greg joined them or not. To them, sending their kids was more an attempt of keeping Greg from joining their enemies as opposed to getting him to join them. With the Town-head, however, it was much more important for his family's future that they gain him as an ally. As such, he hadn't been willing to just leave it to his kid to deal with this crucial negotiation. Not to mention, the haughty Shalia didn't strike Greg as the most convincing of negotiators.

Greg smiled at his mother and sister and the three other women that had come to rearrange the dining room so it could accommodate fourteen people as opposed to the eight that it initially could. He knew that the extra seats at the table were just in case more unexpected guests came to the event. Greg himself couldn't say for sure that they wouldn't be needed, as such he didn't object to them setting things up like this. Looking at them, Greg could tell that his mother and sister were just as tense as the rest of his guests. Not even they knew what such VIPs were doing at their house. Ignoring his guests, Greg walked forward to his mother. Greg's first instinct was to place his hands on her shoulders in a placating gesture and to let her know that everything was going to be okay. It's only at the very last second that Greg remembered that he still had the SENSUAL TOUCH bangle on. His hands which had been about to rise, remained at his side even as he smiled at his mother. "Thank you, Mother," he said warmly. "Everything will be okay," He said in a reassuring tone.

His mother, who'd been looking at him with slight worry in her eyes, couldn't help but cast a nervous glance at the guests when he said this. Her gaze quickly turned back to him and much to Greg's surprise, hardened. "If you need me, I'm always here for you," She said in a voice that, while neutral, hid a resolve of steel. Greg understood what she meant and couldn't help the warmth that filled him. While at the back of his mind, Greg had always known that this woman was Roka's mother and not his, she had never felt more like a mother to him than in this moment. She didn't know what was going on, but in a few words, she had just told him that she would come to his aid no matter who she had to stand against. Greg didn't doubt that even if it meant standing against all the guests in the room, this woman would still stand on his side without a moment of hesitation.

"I know, Mother," He said smiling.

His mother regarded him for a while before she turned to the Town-head. Offering him a slight bow, she excused herself and started walking out of the room. His sister and the other women did the same before following her. Greg smiled and thanked them as they left before turning and welcoming his guests to take a seat. The Town-head took the head seat at the table. This wasn't a power move targeted at Greg. This was simply how it was in this town. No matter who he visited in the town, the one occupying the position of Town-head would always occupy the head seat at the table. It was the respect given to his position of Town-head as opposed to the particular individual in the position.

In their own house, his wife would have taken the seat closest to him on the right as the next highest-ranking person in their household. In someone else's house, however, the head of that household would take that position. As such, Greg was seated in the seat closest to the Town-head on the right. The Town-head's wife sat opposite him to the left of the Town-head. In the seat next to Greg was Bran. Greg had noticed Niya angle for this chair. The taciturn athlete, however, had moved just a second faster and without a word, settled down on it. The scion of the Valla household resentfully looked at Bran when he did this. Greg could understand why he did so. In this world, how close one was to the head of the table represented their seniority, with the right side of the table being considered superior to the left. Why that was, Greg couldn't even begin to puzzle out. By taking the seat closer to the head of the table, Bran was wordlessly placing himself in a position of superiority compared to Niya.

Still, despite the awkward moment, Niya was cultured enough to not argue with Bran for the seat. Instead, he took the seat beside Bran further down the right side of the table. Without planning for it to be so, the table ended up divided by gender. Shalia sat next to her mother and much to her delight, opposite Bran. Naiya sat next to her on the left side of the table. Much like his brother who resented Bran for taking the 'higher' seat, the girl seemed to resent Shalia. Though, by the repeated glances she kept throwing at Bran, Greg suspected that the resentment had nothing to do with the fact that Shalia had taken the superior seat. Instead, it was because she was seated opposite the guy Maya seemed smitten with. The triplets from the Ember household had all chosen to seat themselves on one side of the table even though there was an available seat closer to the head of the table next to Niya. Greg suspected that this had nothing to do with Niya or gender divisions. Instead, the triplets simply seemed to act in perfect synchronicity.

Greg wasn't sure what to make of them. Whatever one did, the others mirrored perfectly. And as if to up the ante, there wasn't even the slightest delay in their actions. As such, there was no way to say that one was in the lead and the others were following their example. Pulling their seat, stepping to the side, sitting down, brushing back a stray lock of hair, and turning to smile in his direction. It was all done with such fluid grace that they each seemed to have genuinely intended to do those things individually. The fact that the other two did the same thing that they did, didn't even seem to occur to any of the sisters. What was even more odd as far as Greg was concerned was how nonchalant everyone else at the table was being about this. It was almost as if they were all used to this bizarre behavior from the triplets and thought nothing of it. It's only when this strange trio spoke that one would be broken out of the illusion that they were all copies of one another. They each seemed capable of independent thought from what Greg could tell, so how it is they could perfectly mirror each other was a mystery that Greg would have to solve on another day.

With all the women on the opposite side of the table, Greg could easily gauge their reactions to the title items that he had on. So far, apart from the Town-head's wife, none of those present had shown any reaction to the title items. This, however, didn't worry Greg at all. He knew perfectly well that the title items didn't have a fixed timeframe within which they were expected to work. Instead, it was more a function of willpower. Years of being the Town-head's wife had probably corroded all of her willpower as all her needs were probably taken care of without her having to exert herself too much. This was probably why she was the first to succumb to the effect of the title items.

With her daughter, Naiya, and the triplets from the Ember family, it was probably more a function of pride as opposed to strong willpower. In her discussions with Olivia, Greg had long since learned that there are elements in a person that can either raise or lower their resistance and willpower. His mother, for example, would be much harder to affect, not because she had particularly high willpower but because such a relationship with him was probably taboo in her mind. While the innate AROUSING title that he had would eventually grind away at that barrier till it was no more, it still remained as an impediment at present. With the girls here at the table, it was probably more out of pride than thinking it taboo. They saw themselves as the equivalent of the children of nobles in this town. To them, Greg probably didn't measure up to the lofty view that they had of themselves and so they would never deign to even look his way

Greg had to fight off a maniacal smile as he turned away from them. Eventually even that resistance would be worn down. Spoiled brats were known for being stubborn, but once one cut through that, there usually wasn't much more to them. Greg's eyes turned to gaze into those of the Town-head's wife. Whenever Greg had succeeded in turning on a woman, he had only stayed for a minute or so around them before moving on. He, however, hadn't been able to pull away from these particular guests. As such, His titles had probably been fanning the flames of the woman's lust. Greg had to give it to her, she was a master at wearing a poker face. If Greg didn't have the system, he too would never have known that she had been ensnared by his charm. Other than a soft smile, she offered no indication that anything was off with her. Greg preferred it that way. Looking at the giant of a man that was the Town-head, he didn't fancy having to fight a furious or jealous version of him.

"Roka," The Town-head was the first to speak once they were all settled. "My daughter has told me so much about you," He said.

Greg didn't miss the slight wrinkle that marred the bridge of Shalia's nose. It was almost as if just being associated with him annoyed her to no end. "All good things I hope," He replied with a genial smile pretending that he hadn't seen Shalia's reaction.

"She tells me that you've become the healer's student," The Town-head continued. Greg didn't miss how the Town-head sidestepped his question. From the look on Shalia's face, it was clear that she hadn't at all been kind when speaking of him. The others at the table turned in his direction with interest when the Town-head asked about this. Their inexperience in negotiations showed in this moment as they all made it all too clear that this was what they were really interested in.

"I am," Greg answered briefly, offering no more information than strictly what was asked. He wasn't going to make this easy for any of them. To the very last one, they had all come here with the desire to make use of him. Even though they were the ones that had come to him, they all thought of him as being beneath them. Even the Town-head, for all his desperation, probably expected him to be grateful that he was thinking of using him in his fight against the three families. The harsh truth was that Greg was weak at present. His family was also vulnerable. As such, he couldn't afford to have any of the three families, or the Town-head as an enemy. This was the only reason he was entertaining them and hadn't kicked them all out. But while he suffered their presence, he wasn't going to also give himself up to them on a platter.

There was a bit of an awkward silence after Greg's answer. They'd probably thought that Greg would launch into a tirade about how this came to be, or why he deserved to have the healer as his teacher. He, however, didn't feel the need to explain himself to any of them.

"Splendid! Splendid," The Town-head was forced to keep the ball rolling as he spoke to cover the silence. "It's the town's good fortune to have a talent such as yourself," He went on, taking a different tack.

Greg's smile widened seeing clearly that the man had decided to take the flattery approach. "You are too kind," He replied to the Town-head, then took on a somber tone. "I only wish that my father had been here to see it," he said. "If. uhh, if he was... I'm... I'm sure he would be proud!" He said forcing himself to keep a somber expression as his gaze turned to the table before him. The reason Greg had stumbled all over his words wasn't for lack of something to say or being overcome with emotion. Instead, it was the soft foot that was currently creeping up his calf moving towards his inner thigh.

When arranging the table, there was usually a small distance between the head seat and the first two seats on either side of the table. This was done to avoid the ones seated there having to knock their knees under the table while they sat. But while the seating arrangement succeeded at doing this, it also gave the Town-head's wife a straight shot at his crotch which her foot was slowly but resolutely creeping towards.

"Indeed he would," the Town-head wasn't dismayed by Greg not playing into his hands. Instead, he launched into a small philosophical monologue on the finitude of life.

Meanwhile, Greg barely heard a word of what he said as his wife's foot finally began to gently press on the bulbous head of his rapidly hardening cock. Looking at her, the woman was gently smiling as she pretended to listen to her husband. Had someone taken a picture of her at this moment and shown it to a thousand people, not one would be able to imagine that the angelic beauty was currently giving Greg a footjob right in front of her husband. It took all of Greg's control to keep from gasping when the woman's delicate toes started to massage his cock as she ran her foot down the length of his rod. With the woman looking at her husband, the others at the table couldn't see much of her face as it was obscured by her long flowing locks of auburn hair. Only the Town-head and Greg who was seated opposite her could see her expression. With the Town-head lost in his diatribe about life and how fleeting it was, Greg was the only one that caught the way the Town-head's wife's eyes slightly widened as her foot tracing its way down the length of his cock painted a picture of the monster that Greg kept hidden in his pants. By the time she got to the base of his cock the woman couldn't help but turn a disbelieving gaze in Greg's direction. A subtle but cocky smile was playing on Greg's lips as he returned the woman's gaze.

The Town-head's wife unconsciously bit on her lower lip as she began to massage the length of his hardened member under the table with her foot. It was a good thing that Greg had already been leaning forward as this kept Bran, who was seated beside him, from seeing anything that he shouldn't. The corner of the table already prevented the Town-head from seeing what his precious wife was doing, so it was the hand on this side that Greg cleverly brought under the table. By this point, Greg was only offering monosyllabic responses to the Town-head even as he took hold of his wife's foot and pressed it harder against his cock.

The Town-head cast a glance at his wife when she let out a sudden gasp. A smile crossed his face as he continued to speak. "Yes, shocking as it is, this is the truth..."

Greg could only thank all his lucky stars that the woman's gasp had perfectly coincided with what the Town-head was saying. Pressing the woman's foot against his cock wasn't just for his pleasure. Greg still had the SENSUAL TOUCH bangle on. His taking hold of her foot had probably elicited both arousal and pleasure that the Town-head's wife hadn't been expecting, hence the gasp. Greg could feel the foot slightly tremble in his hands as he began to quietly massage it in as subtle a manner as he could. At the start, the Town-head's wife still tried to massage his cock in tandem with Greg's ministrations. Eventually, however, she seemed to lose herself to the strange pleasure that this simple foot massage was eliciting in her. Part of Greg was disappointed that she didn't continue with the footjob. A part of him was even tempted to let go of her foot so she could continue. Another more sober part of him, however, understood that this was for the best. It would be a rather awkward scene if at the end of this talk, Greg stood up and there was a large wet spot on the inner thigh of his pants.

But while he didn't get the chance to enjoy the pleasure the woman's foot could offer, the woman herself was doing her best not to let show the strange pleasure she was getting from that very same foot. From her ankle all the way up the toes, Greg turned the woman's foot into one large erogenous zone. And from the half-lidded stare with which she was looking at her husband, she clearly was losing the fight with herself to keep what was going on under the table from showing on her face. Luckily for the two of them, her husband was more focused on Greg than he was on her. Greg himself was careful to maintain a thoughtful look on his face even as he slowly pulled his shoe off and brought his foot to the knee of the Town-head's wife's other leg.

Greg felt her leg shake slightly when his foot came in contact with her knee under the table. In any other situation, it would have been a small and insignificant detail. But in this situation where Greg was using the SENSUAL TOUCH bangle as his primary means of attack, it caused something to click in his mind. Greg had been limited in his thinking. With the SENSUAL TOUCH title, he had only been thinking about his hands. Now that he reviewed it again, however, there was nothing in the description of this title by the system that limited its effect to any particular part of the body. In other words, so long as Greg consciously touched a woman, regardless of the part he used in doing so, the effect would still hold. This realization opened up a whole vista of possibilities to him. Enough so that Greg had to fight off the urge to smile like some stereotypical cartoon villain.