Chapter 44: Dungeon prep…

The address that Melody sent, where we had to pick up some items, looked like a random average house in a suburb about twenty-five minutes away. Not sure what we’re picking up… but regardless, I drove out of campus and began heading there. “What are we picking up?”

“Some dungeon-rated clothes that don’t look like dungeon-rated clothes,” Melody replied. “For everyone.”

For everyone? “How do you know everyone’s sizes?”

“Borrowed them from the school,” Melody stated as if borrowing private information from the academy was a normal thing. It’s not. I think. How does the academy even know our sizes? They sure as hell never measured me.

I kept driving and eventually we arrived at the small two-story house. Not small, just not Melody-sized. I pulled up along the curve right beside the house and parked, then Melody and I walked out and headed onto the driveway.

The neighborhood was a normal-looking established neighborhood, there were plenty of tall trees, the houses had nice varied styles, and it wasn’t one of the boring cookie-cutter districts. It had personality.

As we reached the top of the driveway, which went up a slight hill, we turned right onto the small sidewalk leading toward the front door and away from the garage door. Once we were at the wooden door Melody rang the doorbell, which had a camera, and started typing in a code into the house's number lock. Not sure why she rang the doorbell if she’s just going to barge in…

Once Melody finished, something buzzed and the door was unlocked, which Melody opened, entering into the structure. Right as we entered, someone called out from the top of the staircase to the left, and waved. “Hey, Mel. The clothes are in the kitchen, you can grab them. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Thanks Fiona,” Melody replied, then began walking away as Fiona returned to wherever she came from. My look was only brief, but Fiona had fairly long red hair and was wearing some pretty intricate white-ish green and gray clothes with complex lace patterns. Her feet were also bare, which took most of my attention. They looked lovely. Her toenails were painted black and had some design on them, but I couldn’t see it at all. Her second toe was longer than her big toe, unlike Melody’s, and her entire foot was a little larger I think. Not quite Melody quality, but certainly up there.

Getting my head out of the gutter, I followed Melody to the kitchen where six vacuum-sealed bags sat, each labeled with a different name, the names of our team. How did Melody get these created so quickly?

“Open yours,” Melody said, grabbing my bag and sliding it across the light-colored wooden dining table.

I took the bag, and fiddled with the plastic until I managed to stretch it and make a hole at the top, pulling out the set of mostly black clothes. There were three items in the bag, a skirt, a long-sleeved shirt, and lace tights that also had some see-through material in the gaps, meaning it didn’t expose any skin.

I laid out the items on the table as Melody spoke, “Now take off all your clothes and put these on.”

“All of them?” I questioned. Does that include undergarments? I feel like it makes sense to wear those…

“All of them,” Melody repeated. Okay I guess. A little weird to do in some random person’s house, though. Even if they’re upstairs…

Despite my slight worries, I began stripping down, starting with my sweater, then my shirt, followed by my skirt, and finally, my socks. After that, I took off my bra and panties… and then I was naked in front of Melody, who was looking up and down my body, and I got really cold all of a sudden.

I picked the tights off the table, and slipped my feet into them, then slid them all the way up. They hugged me a little… uh… tight, as tights do. But it was definitely a different feeling without wearing panties.

Next up, I grabbed the shirt and pulled it over my head and pushed my arms into the sleeves. The shirt was a little tight, probably intentional, and it was made of something that felt like fabric, but also a little plasticky. The sleeves went right down to my wrists and the top of the shirt went right up to the collar I was still wearing… “Can I take off the collar?”

“Yeah,” Melody nodded, walking behind me. “I was wondering when you’d ask about it.”

Melody unstrapped it and peeled the collar off my neck, and it definitely felt weird this time. My collar was on for… what… like a day and a half? Although Melody must have loosened it at some point because it did not feel as tight as when I was being rewarded and overstimulated… or maybe it was never that tight in the first place? Some sort of mental thing?

“A little red,” Melody said, placing her hand against my neck, and slipping it right under the top of the tight shirt, which stretched the front and tugged it against my neck, feeling way more intimate than it should’ve. “Did I tighten it too much?”

“No…” I don’t think so. “It felt fine.”

Melody made some thinking sounds, then replied with, “If you’re sure…”

“It’s fine.” I repeated. Some minor red marks that will fade in a day are nice… makes it feel like the collar is still there. Kinda. And I could heal it with my ability, I think.

I continued dressing and picked up the skirt, sliding it up my legs, then just over the bottom of the shirt and zipped it in place. Fully dressed, I turned to face Melody, who was still looking at my neck from behind me. It’s really not a big deal… relax Melody… “Umm… are there gloves or shoes?”

Kicked out of her mind, Melody glanced upward, away from my neck, and replied, pointing under the table, “Yeah, right there.”

There was a row of six black shoes with a sticky note with our names on each and a stack of six gloves beside them. Not sure why the gloves were on the floor, but I grabbed my pair of shoes and a pair of gloves.

The shoes were some sort of hybrid between tennis shoes and boots, the back thingy went a decent bit past the ankle but the shoes weren’t super thick, they looked more like tennis shoes. I slipped my feet into the all-black shoes, hiking shoes maybe, and tied up the laces. Then I slipped on the gloves, which were also black and were very thin. They had that same plasticky feeling but they were also pretty warm, not a feeling I expected given the texture.

Satisfied that I’d completed my outfit, I turned to Melody. “So…”

Melody smiled. “My turn.”

She slid her sweater over her head, then her black shirt, and dropped her skirt to the floor. After that, she sat down on a chair to remove her thigh-highs and shoes, stretching her sweaty toes a little, before setting them down on the floor and spinning around to open her bag.

Melody took out her tights first, and spun back around to pull them up, until they rested against her panties… hey… that’s mean… “Why did I need to strip?”

Melody smirked and looked up at me. “Because I wanted to see you naked.”

“That’s not a reason…” We’re preparing for a dungeon raid; I should be dressed properly. There is absolutely no reason for me to have no panties on.

“My wants don’t matter?” Melody chuckled.

“No, no! They do…” That was not the argument I meant. Ugh. Of course your wants matter! “I… could’ve redressed.”

“That would take too long,” Melody stated, returning to the table and grabbing the shirt. Really? Take too long? “Go move the rest of these into the car.”

Sighing, I collected the four bags in my arms and took them over to the car. Melody, Melody, Melody… why are you so… Melody. Also these clothes are kinda hot, both types of hot.

After I deposited the four bags, I returned and Melody was fully dressed, looking just like me from the outside. We both took two pairs of shoes and gloves to the car then one final trip for our own clothes.

Now settled back in the car, Melody sent me another text with the dungeon we’d be visiting, and I opened it up, but it was a little odd. “It says the place is closed on weekends?”

After I began pulling out of the driveway, Melody answered. “Closed for walk-ins, you can reserve time slots at any time any day.”

Of course, I should’ve known Melody would book a dungeon at peak raid times. Well, maybe a little later than peak. I don’t think we’re entering until this afternoon. Still, booking is expensive. “How much was it?”

“Two-fifty per hour, so seven-fifty,” Melody replied casually. Casually.

“What the fuck? Did you reserve the entire dungeon?” There is no way it’s that expensive. Most teams wouldn’t be making a profit at that price, and this isn’t one of the especially dangerous or especially valuable dungeons, it’s just a normal one. It’s like twenty credits an hour for a team of ten or something, I think.

“Yes, actually,” Melody answered. “Just our team of six and a couple S tiers from my family's guild.”

“You’re crazy.” We did not need to rent the entire dungeon. I don’t know much about dungeons, but even though they have some sort of balancing based on the skill levels of everyone inside, there is no way we are strong enough to need to worry about that yet. Unless Melody is?

Whatever. I’ll ask more once we actually meet with the rest of our team since I have no doubt they will be just as confused as me. Next question I suppose. “What’s the point of these clothes? They aren’t artifacts are they?”

“Nope. Just more resistant to magic attacks and slightly stronger than normal clothes,” Melody replied.

I guess that’s enough of a reason. Just slightly better than normal clothes. And it makes our normal clothes not get dirty. Skirt is a little… questionable for combat, but I guess it’s cute? I won’t be running around anyway. I’m a little surprised they aren’t some fancy artifact armor, that seems way more in line for Melody than just some enhanced clothes. Although most people would never buy clothes that are slightly better than normal, so maybe this is a rich person thing.

We were nearing the dungeon complex when Melody pointed to the side and told me to pull into a restaurant parking lot. “This is the address I sent everyone else, let’s grab a snack and look over your stats.”

I nodded. Dungeon time is approaching very quickly…