Moderation? What's that?

Sadie was trying to be annoyed as they approached the final temple of Cassandra she would need to do. Trying, but failing. Between simply having random happy thoughts about Mary, sexy thoughts involving Mary or Laura, and Laura actively rubbing her back, it was quite difficult to remain annoyed.

Sadie, Laura, and Talia dismounted Bertha in front of the temple. Sadie then put Bertha in her traveling cage. Laura commented, “I just realized you’re effectively a Pokémon trainer.”

“A what?” Sadie asked, then narrowed her eyes. “That’s some nerd thing, right?”

Laura scowled in disbelief at Sadie. “Don’t tell me you don’t know what Pokémon is. Even if you never played it, you must have heard of it.”

Sadie shrugged. “I mean, heard of it, sure. But I don’t really know anything about it, besides that there’s some electric rodent involved as the mascot.”

Laura shook her head. “Unbelievable.”

Laura began explaining Pokémon to Sadie as they walked into the temple towards the trial entrance. By the time they were at the entrance, Sadie was already bored with the topic, saying, “I don’t really care, Laura. Why would I ever need this info? It’s useless trivia about a stupid kids' game.”

Talia examined the entrance to see if there were any clues to what they might face, while she absentmindedly answered Sadie’s question. “Maybe because Mary is a massive nerd and it might be wise to understand some of her interests? It might also be wise not to insult them either.”

Sadie frowned. “She’s really into some dumb kids thing like that?”

Talia rolled her eyes. “You even called it a nerd thing. Mary is a massive nerd. I’ve never played it in either of my lives, and I still know enough about it not to be completely lost and to know it is most certainly not just for little kids.”

Laura nodded. “Yeah, I mean a lot of the lore for various Pokémon is really messed up too and definitely not for little kids. Take nearly any ghost Pokémon, and its lore is likely disturbing.”

Sadie gave Laura a curious stare. “Why do you know so much about Pokémon?”

Laura rolled her eyes. “Wow, it’s almost like I don’t just care about screwing or something. Plus, I don’t think you realize just how badly nerds will try to overcompensate in bed if you show interest in their hobbies, especially if you know more than them.” Laura got a wistful expression. “Honestly, some of my best experiences before the show were with dorks a lot like Mark. Some of the worst too, but them’s the breaks.”

Talia teased, “Oh… so you have a type. No wonder you worked out with Mark in those other timelines.”

Laura crossed her arms in annoyance and folded her wings to match, emphasizing her point. “I’ll have you know that isn’t the case at all.”

Talia raised an eyebrow and playfully replied, “Do I need to get the detectors out? If I recall…”

Laura blushed slightly. “I thought you promised not to abuse those.”

Talia muttered under her breath. “Dorkloversayswhat?”

Laura frowned, being able to hear Talia perfectly. Sadie, on the other hand, said, “What did you say, Talia?”

Talia snickered. Laura replied, “That’s rather immature, Talia.”

Talia had the grace to look slightly embarrassed. “Sorry, sometimes I feel like I’m just eighteen. Think about how mature you were when you were that young.”

Sadie repeated herself, “What did you say?”

“Nothing of importance. We should move on.” Laura replied.

Sadie grumbled to herself. Then Sadie asked, “Are you two really cool with Mary not helping today, just because she’s tired? We’re all dealing with stuff, and none of the rest of us can just take time out of the challenge to rest.”

Laura gave Sadie a sympathetic look. “I get you’re upset, but I’m really not bothered by Mary doing that. Also, our Mary has definitely been more helpful than the other team’s. Theirs can’t just go around taking care of things solo. Whereas ours is a dragon and a healer.”

“So?” Sadie countered. “That doesn’t change the fact we’re losing a big advantage with her on the sidelines.”

Talia said, “I doubt that Mary is just tired. Brooke is pretty smart and aware of things. Not to mention her transformation regarding relationships gives her insight into maintaining them.”

Sadie frowned. “Then what’s actually wrong with her?”

Talia looked deep in thought and even extended her perception of time to consider the question. “I have a few hypotheses. None I care to actually share. Regardless, if Mary needs time to recover, we should encourage her to take it.” Talia turned towards Sadie. “Or would you prefer that a tired, cranky, and possibly mentally unstable Mary respond to events?”

Sadie frowned, “Okay… I suppose you have a good point there.”

Talia pushed the doors to the trial open, having grown bored with the conversation and wanting to get things going. On the other side of the doors was a long, unlit hallway.

Seeing Talia open the doors, Sadie and Laura both refocused on why they were actually here. Sadie put a hand on Talia’s shoulder. “Wait a second. Let me send Cheddar’s crew to scout ahead.” Sadie lowered the extra-dimensional cage and let a small part of her swarm of mice go down the hall. It took a couple of minutes for the mice to reach something relevant. The mice entered a large room. Sadie was looking through their eyes and noticed there was some sort of sign at the entrance to the room. Not that she could read it with how fast the mice got distracted. She saw cheese everywhere. Piles and piles of cheese. The mice were convinced they had died and gone to heaven. The mice dove into these piles with abandon. Sadie lost contact with her mice the following second.

Sadie said, “Okay… that’s weird. The next room seems to be filled with cheese. I just lost a bunch of my mice.”

Talia replied, “The cheese is a lie.”

Cheddar was currently on Sadie’s shoulder and let out a gasp at Talia’s pronouncement and gripped her chest with a tiny paw. Sadie pulled out a large block of Gouda for Cheddar to munch on.

Talia continued, “The mice want cheese badly, and so something showed them that. That’s the only reasonable explanation. Temperance is about self-restraint. Often viewed as the opposite of gluttony. So just remember that things aren’t real in the next room.”

Laura and Sadie both nodded, and then the trio started towards the next room. Talia caused the tip of her staff to glow, and Laura followed suit as they walked down the hall. When they reached the room, they read the sign Sadie had seen through the mice. ‘Can you resist temptation? What you see can be yours, if you can handle the cost.’

The three looked at each other curiously. Laura asked, “What do you think it means by cost?”

Talia frowned. “I don’t know; maybe we’ll just have to find out.” Talia looked into what appeared to her to be an empty room. “What do you two see?”

“An empty room.” Laura and Sadie replied in unison.

Talia nodded and took a single step into the room, and things immediately changed. Immediately on her right was a group of Amazons inviting her to join them. Talia saw one of them pick up a watermelon and crush it between her thighs. On her left was the BP store, with several signs: ‘FREE SAMPLES all day, try everything’, ‘BOGO SALE!’ ‘Raffle for a random prize!’

Talia nearly took a step towards the Amazons but paused and looked behind her and saw no one else. Talia took a deep breath. Then she pulled out the fetish detectors and looked towards the Amazons. Then she turned towards the BP store and looked at Slevia behind the counter. Then she put the sunglasses away. “Laura, give me strength. Can you hear me, Laura?”

“I can, but why are you contacting me like this? I’m right behind you.” Laura frowned and crossed her arms in annoyance.

“I believe you, but I can’t see you.” Talia replied, “Can you pull me back? Whatever you do, don’t actually step into the room.”

Laura reached forward and pulled Talia back forcefully. Talia shook her head as the room emptied again. Talia was breathing heavily from arousal. Laura asked, “What happened to you?”

Talia panted, “I… saw things… things… I really wanted. The BP store… offering free stuff, and… I don’t want to talk about it.”

Laura replied, “But you know it isn’t real; why would you even consider it?”

Talia pulled out a canteen of cold water and poured it over her head, causing her to shiver. “I’m not sure you’re right about that. Behind the counter of the BP store was Slevia, and it felt like her, and the fetish detectors worked on her. Plus, read the sign.” Talia pointed to the sign marking the boundary of the effect. “What we see can be ours. It says so right there. We haven’t really been lied to about what we need to do in any of the other temples.”

Laura put her hands on her hips. “Even if that’s true, and I’m not saying that it is. At what cost?”

Talia shook her head. “I don’t know, but I wouldn’t simply write off everything as fake.”

Laura frowned uncomfortably and put a hand on Talia’s shoulder. “Talia… I’m forbidding you from trying to take anything from this room.” Laura squirmed, really uncomfortable with what she was saying. “Consider this a test from… from your Goddess.”

Talia nodded. “I understand.” Talia put a reassuring hand on Laura’s arm. Talia was about to step back into the room to cross it when Sadie grabbed her. “Sadie? What gives?”

Sadie frowned in contemplation. “Based upon your state when Laura pulled you out, I’m guessing it showed you something to arouse you greatly, right?”

Talia nodded. “Yes, why?”

“I was just thinking about how I’m going to get through this, and I keep coming back to the fact that I’ll fail. So instead, I was thinking about how to get through this without dealing with the temptations.”

Laura asked, “Did you figure out something?”

Sadie said, “Maybe, but I’m not sure. Considering we didn’t see any of the stuff Talia did, I’m guessing that if we all stepped in together, we would see different things. We might not even be able to see one another anymore. Instead, I was thinking, what if we just didn’t have to worry about the temptations?”

Talia asked, “I mean, sure, that would be great, but as soon as I crossed that line, moving forward felt nearly impossible, but side to side would have been easy.”

Sadie nodded. “Okay, hear me out.” Sadie then rummaged through her rucksack and pulled out a large length of rope. “We tie this around my waist, just in case things go sideways here.” Sadie turned to Laura. “Then you toss me as hard as you can. There’s an open hallway on the other side of the room.” Sadie took a stone from her rucksack and chucked it towards the opposite side of the room, and watched as it flew easily across the room. “Just like that. If you toss me fast enough, then it doesn’t matter if I’m tempted; I’ll just be across the room before it’s an issue.”

Talia nodded. “Not a bad plan. Except…” Sadie and Laura looked at her expectantly. “What happens when you hit an invisible wall at that speed? What if there is effectively a wall based on how tempted you are? You’ll wind up going splat. Not to mention you can fly, so you could easily stop yourself halfway across the room, because you get tempted by something.”

Sadie nodded. “I doubt that the wall is real, and there’s a simple solution to figure that out. Cheddar, are you cool being our tester?” Cheddar squeaked a few things into Sadie’s ear from her shoulder. Sadie nodded. “Okay, sure. A whole cheese wheel just for you later.” Sadie handed Cheddar over to Laura. “She’s cool with you throwing her like a baseball across the room.”

Laura took the small mouse and felt really uncomfortable about tossing such a little animal, afraid she’d hurt it. Sighing, she positioned herself and tossed Cheddar across the room. She did not do it like a baseball; rather, she tossed her like a beanbag in cornhole, hoping it wouldn’t be nearly as hard a landing. Cheddar soared across the room and landed in the hallway on the other side, skidding fifteen feet down the hall.

Sadie had been looking through Cheddar’s eyes, and Talia was right; each side of the room filled with more and more extravagant cheeses as Cheddar flew across the room. Sadie said, “Okay, looks like I’ll experience the various temptations even if you toss me. And you’re not wrong, Talia. I could stop midair with my flying. That’s what the rope is for. If for any reason I don’t make it to the other side, pull me back.” Sadie looped the rope around her waist and passed the other end to Laura. “So toss me.”

Laura said, “Sadie… I don’t think this is going to work like you think it is. Yes, I’m strong, but tossing more than a hundred pounds isn’t trivial, and this room is something like twenty feet across.”

Talia tilted her head to the side. “I’m confused… why won’t it?”

Laura said, “Because of physics?”

Sadie extended both arms out, gesturing towards Talia. “Right, because physics works properly around her.”

Laura just sighed, “Fine, I’ll try it, but don’t blame me if this fails.”

Sadie floated over to Laura and landed on Laura’s hand, squatting down as much as she could so the toss would be easier. Due to Sadie’s size, Laura decided to toss her like you would a shot put and turned around and then chucked her across the room as hard as she could. Sadie was halfway across the room before she suddenly halted midair. As per her instructions, Laura reeled Sadie in immediately.

As soon as Laura got Sadie back over the border of the room, Sadie fell to her knees, panting heavily. Talia knelt next to her and asked, “Why did you stop?”

Sadie shook her head. “I’m… I’m not sure. I just felt like I needed to look at the things going by.”

Laura asked, “Why did you even have your eyes open?”

“I didn’t. I shut them tight. I could still see the temptations, though.”

Talia nodded. “That makes sense. It isn’t like we see the other person’s temptations, so it must all be in your head.” Talia stood and nodded, “Okay, I’m going to cross. Wish me luck.” Laura gave Talia a swift hug and kissed the top of her midnight blue hair.

Talia stepped back into the room, seeing the same sights as before. She nearly started to walk towards the BP store before she remembered. Laura said this would be a test. I mustn’t fail. Talia took a step forward and felt her eyes drawn towards the BP store again. No, I won’t give in. Talia took another step, and the temptations changed. Replacing the Amazons was an Animal-girl petting zoo. The BP store didn’t disappear; instead, the bargains became better. Talia stopped moving.

Laura tried contacting the motionless Talia, but it felt like she was at a great distance and couldn’t be understood. Talia turned to the side and entered the BP store. Behind the counter, Slevia immediately said, “Welcome. We have sale today. Also, Free Samples.” Slevia immediately handed two potions to Talia. Talia took them wordlessly as arousal was overtaking her.

Once the potions were stored away in her bag, Talia asked, “Is this real?”

“If not, how would I know? It is real, though. Deal is real. Buy one, get two free. One for another, two for you.”

Talia was sorely tempted to take that offer. Instead, she asked, “Any other deals?”

“What are you looking for?” Slevia asked curiously.

“Can I fix Mary’s glitches?” Talia asked.

Slevia shook her head. “No. Not with your BP.”

Talia nodded. “Okay. Thank you for the offer, and I know it might be a little awkward, but I just came here for the free samples.” Talia turned to leave but found her feet incredibly heavy.

Slevia shook her head. “Can’t lie to magic. You want this.”

Talia closed her eyes, annoyed, and nodded. “Of course I do. I won’t be spending my BP, though. So how do I leave?”

“Simple. Find moderation.”

Talia frowned. “Didn’t I already do that? I just took the free samples and didn’t go overboard. Do I need to give them back?”

Slevia tilted her head to one side. “Maybe. Maybe not. Are they an overindulgence? Are they enough?”

Talia scowled. “They… they aren’t. I’m not spending my BP here, though.”

Slevia shrugged, “You should be able to leave then.”

Talia tried putting the samples back and walking away, but still couldn’t. So she took the samples and returned them to her bag. Damnit, damnit, damnit, damnit. Talia stomped her foot just once. Talia then decided that if she couldn’t pick up her feet to leave, the solution was simple. She fell towards the door, using her breasts to soften her landing. As she hit the ground, an audible ‘boing’ could be heard. Then, using her staff, she stood. She was a bit closer to the exit. She repeated this another three times, and she had exited the BP store. Talia tried to proceed back to where she thought was the center path between the room’s exits. This time, she managed to actually lift her feet slightly to continue, the pressure having lessened from inside the store.

She took several more steps, then suddenly felt a pulling sensation around her waist in the direction she wanted to go. A sensation that quickly resulted in her falling forward as she was dragged across the room. Talia blinked as she crossed the exit to the room, and it emptied of temptations. Talia looked around and saw Laura holding onto a rope that she had used like a lasso to pull Talia across the room. Talia then saw a panting Sadie leaning up against a wall. Talia asked Laura, “How did you two get across before me?”

Laura shrugged, “I walked. It was super easy.”

Talia asked, “You weren’t tempted? By anything it showed you?”

Laura shrugged, “Not really. There wasn’t anything particularly enticing in my opinion. Sure, there were various sexual fantasies tossed in front of me, but so what? I don’t think this place could offer anything truly enticing to me.” Laura jerked her head towards the sitting Sadie. “I just pulled her across the room easily. Then I lassoed you.” Laura offered Talia a hand up.

Talia took the hand, saying, “Thanks. I was having trouble getting across.”

Laura nodded. “Yeah, I figured, considering how little distance you had covered.” Laura looked at Talia expectantly.

Talia avoided eye contact and said, “So, Sadie, how long will you need to recover?”

“A few minutes…” Sadie said while panting. “My TFs are still triggering occasionally.”

Laura coughed and said, “Talia… anything you’d like to tell me?”

Talia froze up. Then her shoulders sagged. She took out the two free samples and handed them to Laura. Talia said, “I’m sorry. They were free… I didn’t think they would be harmful.”

Laura took the samples and put them away. “At least you didn’t lie about having them.”

“I’m really sorry… I tried. I really did. I just couldn’t move forward. I thought I needed to go there.”

Laura stared at Talia skeptically. “You expect me to believe that?”

Talia frowned. “Unless you tell me that your abilities as a Goddess are telling you otherwise, then yes, I do.”

Laura sighed and pulled Talia into a hug. “Thank you, I know that this was hard.” Talia squirmed in pleasure, squished between Laura’s arms and up against her breasts.

Sadie stood. “If you two lovebirds are done, shall we get moving?”

Laura released Talia and said, “Sure, though don’t act like you were waiting on us, as you needed to recover as well.”

Talia gave a stern nod at Laura’s words. “Also, Sadie, what were you tempted with?”

Sadie went scarlet and immediately imagined Talia fingering her to a mind-blowing orgasm. After calming herself, Sadie replied, “I don’t think that is really any of your business.”

Talia opened her mouth to retort, but glanced at Laura and stopped herself. I’m supposed to tone down the worship talk.

Sadie said, “What? Cat got your tongue? In what world is that any of your business?”

Talia wrinkled her nose in annoyance. “Sadie… besides the fact that your temptations might still be relevant for the rest of this temple, knowing what people desire is literally part of my job now, but let’s just go.” Talia began walking, not wanting to linger on the topic for too long.

Laura quickly followed Talia and, walking to the next room, quietly asked, “Are you okay? You seemed rather testy back there.”

Talia nodded. “Yes, it’s just difficult restraining myself regarding things as your high priestess.”

Laura asked, “Is it really your job now to know those things about Sadie?”

Talia wobbled her hand. “More like my job is to help her accept and fulfill her desires. Knowing what they are makes that a lot easier. I guess technically knowing isn’t required, but it’s hard to do anything without that knowledge.”

“Even if those desires involve you or me?”

Talia nodded. “Yes, up to a limit, of course.”

“You’re pimping out your goddess?”

Talia couldn’t help but burst out laughing, causing the group to stop momentarily. Talia shook her head. “Not at all. Besides, the pool of people you can sleep with is rather narrow. Also, I feel like I should mention I can tell the difference when you say, goddess and Goddess.”

Laura and Sadie both looked at Talia, confused. Sadie, having only heard the last line, asked, “What are you talking about?”

“Big G versus little g goddess. I don’t know why I can tell, but I can.” Talia turned towards Laura. “And while you might be a little g goddess to others, you’ll always be my big G, Goddess.” Talia stared at Laura’s breasts in thought. “Hmm… after your breasts return to normal size, maybe we can get them permanently upgraded to G-Cups.”

Laura groaned, “So they’d be Goddess-Cups?”

Talia nodded enthusiastically. “Exactly.”

Laura put a hand on Talia's shoulder. “I might remind you that for most of my life, I was essentially flat-chested. If I hadn’t grown so tall, I think these might feel overwhelming.” Laura hefted her breasts in both hands. “I’m cool with my regular size and don’t go giving Mary ideas. Besides, shouldn’t you want to be fulfilling Mary’s desires too? She’s made it clear that she’s into watching them expand. For that matter, I know you are too.”

Talia nodded. “True. But you’re forgetting: both of us also really like the idea of permanent transformations. Bust increases are on the tame end of that. Besides, I’m not sure I could even buy that for you. At least not without your consent.”

Sadie replied, “No. You could. I checked the BP store, and you most certainly can buy stuff for others without their consent.”

Talia shook her head. “Let me rephrase. I couldn’t buy that for Laura without her consent. I would be hard-pressed to buy anything for the rest of you without your consent, but you are correct; I could do so in limited circumstances.”

Sadie looked at Talia skeptically. “You really mean to tell us that you wouldn’t indulge your own desires and transform the rest of us?”

Talia nodded. “Why would I, when I’m capable of indulging by buying things for myself instead? Speaking of that… Laura, any chance I can get those free samples back from you after this?”

Laura pursed her lips. “If you can restrain yourself for the rest of the temple, I’ll consider it, depending on what they are.”

Talia smiled like a cat that had just gotten its hands on catnip.

Sadie sighed, “If you two could stop flirting, I would appreciate it.”

Talia shot back, “Wish we were flirting with you instead?”

Sadie flushed and had an image in her mind of Talia doing just that.

Talia smirked, “I’ll take that as a yes.” Talia booped Sadie on the nose as she started down the hall. “Sorry, dear, but I’m focusing on my relationship with Laura at the moment. Maybe later.”

Laura put a hand on Sadie’s shoulder as they watched Talia stride away. “You doing okay?”

Sadie nodded. “The upgrade that Talia recommended to Mary is just… a lot.”

“You know she honestly wants to help, right?”

Sadie nodded. “Yeah, and believe me, it’s helped. The lust was crazy before. Any time I got turned on, I was tempted to tackle Mark and screw him. Honestly, I’m really grateful to Hilde.”

Laura cocked her head to the side as the two started to follow after Talia. “What do you mean?”

“Pretty sure I told you that she used her boon on me before the challenge started to decrease the intensity of my lust. When I was a prisoner, she did that again. It’s why I was able to function so well this round. Then again, Hilde was apparently also on board with turning me into a sleeper agent against the team.”

Laura nodded. “Yeah, Ellen told me about that, and that Mary stopped that shit.”

Sadie replied, “She did.”

“You don’t seem overly bothered by that.”

Sadie sighed, “I’m annoyed, sure, but their goal is to beat us, and they didn’t put anything in my head not related to the challenge.” Sadie froze for a second, causing Laura to stop as well. “Shit… we could have a problem.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Sam… she could be compromised.”

“You can’t be serious,” Laura said.

Sadie nodded. “Yes, I am. Think about it. Sam fought the other team and took two of them out, but was incapacitated. Now she’s free. Sure, she was infected, but if they put her in a trance before she got infected, they could have done to her what they did to me.”

Laura put a hand on Sadie’s shoulder. “Don’t go jumping at shadows that aren’t there, Sadie. Besides, she’s incapacitated right now. She literally can’t affect the challenge at the moment. So we can check when we get back.”

Sadie relaxed slightly. “Okay… fine.” The two of them hurried after Talia and found her leaning against the hallway wall at the entrance to the next room.

Talia said, “About time you two caught up.” Talia gestured to the next room. “This is going to be easy.”

Laura and Sadie examined the room and saw there were three basins of water on the near side of the room with a glass near each one. Then, narrow walkways about a foot wide crossed the room. On the far side were three basins at the base of statues resembling the three of them. Finally, behind the statues was the exit door, with a timer showing 01:00:00 on it.

Sadie said, “Okay, how is this going to be easy? I mean, I guess it’s pretty obvious each of us is supposed to take water and pour it in the basin on the other side, but those are pretty large, and with the long, narrow walkway between the two points... Not to mention, we don’t know how much water we can actually afford to spill. So an hour might seem like a long time, but it very well might not be.”

Talia asked, “Why do you think we would only have an hour? I did a thing yesterday with Allie and Isa, where there was a timer, and I just made it so we had a bunch more time.”

“You can do that?” Sadie asked, “I mean, I know you’ve affected areas before like that, but this is a rather large space.”

Talia nodded. “Yes, and it isn’t as large as you might think. I can shape the areas pretty much however I want, so I’ll just not include a bunch of the space between the walkways. Also, Sadie, this should be super easy for you. Your flight is perfectly smooth. So you don’t have to worry about the water sloshing around as you take steps.”

“Huh…” Sadie seemed oddly surprised. “That… that should make this easier.”

Talia nodded. “Still, be careful, as we actually can’t lose that much water per basin. The ones on this side are around 10% bigger.”

Laura asked a question she felt was much more relevant. “I don’t really see a bottom below those narrow walkways. What happens if you fall, Talia?”

Talia shrugged. “No clue, but I wouldn’t worry. First, no way it causes permanent harm. Second, I’m pretty sure that…” Talia paused for a moment, clearly rethinking her words. “That I could count on one of you catching me.” Talia gestured into the room. “So, are we good to go, or do either of you need a few minutes to prepare?”

Laura and Sadie gave their approval, and the three started going to the basins across from their own statues. The timer started ticking down, and Talia put up an area of warped time, causing the clock to only tick down once every ten seconds they were experiencing. The three started to slowly move the water from one basin to the other. Talia hadn’t considered that even if they had more time, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t get tired walking back and forth repeatedly.

Laura was doing fine physically, but was getting mentally tired. Eventually, Laura stopped and decided she was going to make this a lot simpler for her. “Hey, Talia, come over here for a second.”

Talia had just reached the other side of the room and emptied her glass into the basin. “Give me a minute. I’ll be right there.”

She took her time to get back across the gap, not wanting to chance falling. When she got next to Laura, she asked, “What’s up?”

“I’ve got an idea, but I’m a little worried it could backfire. I was wondering if you might have something we can put over the top of the basin?”

Talia tilted her head to the side in curiosity. “Why?”

“I plan on just carrying the whole thing to the other side. I’m worried about spillage, not during transit, but when I break the pedestal the basin is attached to.”

“Oh, in that case, you actually have something that should work.” Laura seemed confused, so Talia elaborated. “We were all given stuff to be able to sleep outside. Just take the blanket and pull it tight over the top. I also have duct tape.”

Laura pulled out the blanket Talia was talking about, and they went about taping it over the top of the basin. Laura grabbed the basin with both arms and then smashed the base with a swift kick. It broke with a loud crack that reverberated throughout the room. A bit of the water did splash up and hit the blanket, but nothing actually spilled. Laura carried it over to the other side and poured it into her basin.

Laura then asked, “Is there anything preventing me from helping you two with your share?”

Talia said, “I don’t think so.”

So the two did the same with Talia’s, then Sadie’s basin. In all, they were done before the timer had dropped even four minutes.

Laura smirked, “Ha, we finished before the timer would have run out anyway. Take that, moderation!” Laura punched the air in triumph. The door slowly slid open, and they proceeded towards the next room.

---

Cassandra turned towards Smug while glaring as they watched the feed from the temple of temperance. “You’re seriously telling me that you didn’t have a hand in this?”

Smug seemed offended. “We’ve already been over this. If Laura and Talia had been at the other temple instead, then it would have been difficult. You’re the one who hasn’t nerfed Talia or Laura more.”

Cassandra replied, “You darn well know why I haven’t. Besides, don’t tell me you couldn’t come up with countermeasures. You did in the other dungeon. This is you playing favorites to mess with me.”

Smug huffed, “Prove it. I’ve done no such thing and designed these as requested.”

Cassandra growled in frustration as they resumed watching the group plow through the trial easily.

---

The trio came to the next room, and it was, as expected, another statue room. Laura looked into the room and saw all the statues were currently inactive on either side of the room. “Huh, I guess this is like yesterday, and we overshot the goal.”

Talia was reading a sign on the wall near the entrance to the room. “No, I don’t think so. According to this, we have to fight all the statues, but we get to choose the combinations in which we fight them. It’s also listed that there is some sort of penalty for every group we fight past the second.”

Sadie replied, “Seriously? We’re expected to fight a group of seven and a group of eight if we don’t want a penalty?”

Talia nodded. “Yes.”

“Wasn’t this temple rated for four people? Even if we are at three instead of four, I don’t see how we were expected to do this at four.”

Talia looked at Sadie, confused. “I mean… Laura and I can probably do this in two groups without you, Sadie… No offence.” Sadie just stared back in bewilderment, so Talia explained. “Look, not to toot my own horn, but honestly there are only two real threats in that room. One is me, and the other is Ellen, and that assumes Ellen is going to transform into me.”

Sadie frowned and replied, “You can’t be that arrogant to think you are the most powerful contestant in this challenge, can you?”

“Oh, I’m not, but I am the biggest threat with any damage dealers around.” Talia pulled out her wand of magic missiles. “Heck, I don’t think I can lose a pure 1v1 anymore unless they get the drop on me. So here are my suggested groups. We put the Mark, Chloe, Ellen, Sadie, and Talia statues in one group and then everyone else in the other.”

Laura asked, “Are you sure we can take on the other ten at once?”

Talia nodded, “Yes, easily. Honestly, I considered having it just be mine and Ellen’s statues in one group, but keeping thirteen opponents in bubbles might be a bit too much for me.”

Sadie shook her head while thinking; this challenge isn’t remotely fair. Sadie asked, “So the plan is to just time bubble everyone and have Laura blast them?”

Talia nodded. “Yep, and if you could bring out Bertha and have her act as a shield for you and me, that would be great.”

Sadie shook her head and sighed while bringing out Bertha into the narrow hall. Talia queued up the first five statues and wasn’t surprised when she saw Ellen’s statue morph into Laura. Talia just nodded. “Okay, so this is going to be a question of who’s faster on the draw, as the statues are planning the same thing as us.”

Sadie did not look pleased about that. “But there are more of them.”

Laura looked at Talia. “Are you sure about this?”

“Laura, you remember how you got that new powerful spell when you hit level seventeen? I’m guessing that everyone will get a really strong ability when they hit that level. I know I did.” Talia ended with a smirk.

Sadie asked, “What did you get?”

Talia beamed, “Time stop. Not a dilation, genuine time stop. When I cast it, time stops for everyone but me. I get thirty seconds of it each day. Unfortunately, I can’t further extend those thirty seconds, not even my perception of them with my boon, but it won’t matter.”

Sadie frowned, learning Talia had gotten an even more overpowered ability, and then asked, “What if your statue can do that too?”

“Doesn’t matter; the cast time isn’t instantaneous, so I just cast the spell in the hallway before entering the room. We’ve been able to cast buff spells like that, and then I bubble the Talia statue, and Laura blasts it before it could time stop back.”

Laura nodded. “Okay, let's do this then.”

The fight went exactly like Talia had said, and the statues didn’t even get to move more than a few inches before they became rubble. Talia simply stopped time, walked into the room, and put a shaped bubble around every statue at once, which forcefully ended her time stop for using an offensive ability. It didn’t matter, however, since she dropped a massively dilated time bubble on the enemy. Laura made quick work of the statues thanks to the stacking enchantments of her staff.

The second round went even easier as Talia didn’t even need to use her time stop spell. She explained that she could technically use it more than once per day, but the thirty seconds was the maximum in a twenty-four-hour period. Talia did become worried for the other group when both the Mary and Sam statues were in their dragon forms and were clearly pulling back their heads to launch their breath weapons at the group. Not that either managed to get off their attack, but the other group could be in real trouble if they had to contend with this.

Talia smugly turned around after all the statues were rubble. “What did I tell you? Easy. Now let’s go fill that mana orb.”

The reminder of the boring task ahead of them caused Laura to groan in frustration.

---

Cassandra was glaring at Smug.

Smug huffed, “This is your fault. Talia’s time magic is overpowered. Yes, I know her class is balanced around not having any offensive magic and being super squishy, which is why she got one-shot in Harper’s Haven, but it isn’t possible to balance around something like this.”

Cassandra continued to glare at Smug.

“If literally anyone else was at this temple, it would have been hard. Including if the entire team except Talia was here, it would have been a challenge. I’ve already told you, you need to nerf her. Freya, Slevia, and Maja have said the same thing. I don’t know why you haven’t.”

“You know exactly why I haven’t. Yes, her class is powerful; the audience voted for that for her. Yes, having her banked time as extra mana for the class is also powerful, but she’s also expended almost all of it at this point. The majority of the contestants have similarly broken abilities; the difference is that Talia is just able to utilize hers far more effectively thanks to her intellect. You know full well that Mark’s change to make her the smartest woman made her a min-maxing genius. I can’t nerf her intellect.” Cassandra paused for a moment. “Okay, I mean, sure, I could, but then I would also need to nerf things like Laura’s and Sam’s strength, and a dozen other things caused by the TFs, which runs counter to the point of the TFs.”

“And Laura’s infinite mana?” Smug asked questioningly.

“It’s not infinite. Laura just happens to have a convenient little sex gremlin to recharge her batteries daily. Plus, she invested her BP wisely. If anyone else had bought an outfit from Maja, they would likely be at a significant advantage.” Cassandra said, dismissing Smug’s points. “Besides, I thought you were rooting for Laura and Talia? Why do you want me to nerf them?”

“I am rooting for them, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be objective in the game design issues. Honestly, I’m quite pleased with most of the placements currently. Those little thieves could be placed lower, but whatever.” Smug paused. “Oh… the cameras caught on us again. Why does this keep happening?” Smug eyed Cassandra suspiciously. “You aren’t planning on adding me in the near future, are you?”

Cassandra scoffed, “You know full well that anyone on Mark’s staff is only getting added to the harem one way. Well, I guess two ways really, but mostly one way.”

“Fine…” Smug said, still slightly suspicious. “Let me fix the camera’s focus, as this is getting ridiculous.”