Trials of Humility

Mark turned to Laura as they were walking up the steps to the temple. “Have you been able to understand what Bertha has been saying this whole time?”

“Yeah, she really seems not to like you, but hasn’t really given a reason why. Why do you ask?”

“Because I just understood her.”

“Huh, maybe being a god comes with a translation ability of some kind? I mean, that would make sense after all, if Talia starts recruiting worshipers that don’t speak English, I wouldn’t understand their prayers without something like that.

Talia walked next to both of them. “You are partially correct. My understanding is that you don’t have a universal translator; rather, any language your followers understand, you will.

“But I don’t have any followers,” Mark said. “Copying Laura’s TF shouldn’t affect you.”

“Again, you are correct, Mark. I don’t worship you. That doesn’t mean you don’t have worshipers. Think about them and I’m sure you will find you have at least one.”

Mark looked up and to the left and right as if searching for something. Eventually, he did find a few connections he could examine. He was surprised when he found one of them leading to Laura. Another led to Lucia. The final connection led to a lot of different places, but all converged. When reaching the destination, he felt Astrid. Okay, Astrid, I guess it makes sense. She’s probably programmed to view me as the highest authority except for the explicit rules. Lucia, I sort of get too with how submissive she is. Laura, though… “You’re right, Talia. I have a question, Laura, why do I have a connection to you?” Talia burst out laughing.

“Mark, it’s possible it isn’t that My Goddess worships you, but rather it is a connection to a fellow god or goddess of the same pantheon, so to speak. I bet Laura has a similar connection to you.”

Laura thought about it, and indeed it was there, right next to the connection to her only current worshipper. At least she had thought Talia was her only worshiper, but was surprised that there was another connection. “Huh, interesting… I wonder if it will remain when you are no longer divine.”

Mark shrugged as Talia said, “That connection likely provides you with an understanding of the languages the other speaks. It might also be why you haven’t noticed that I’ve not been speaking English this whole time, too.”

Laura and Mark were taken aback by that. Though when they really focused on her words, they could hear her speaking fluent German. She switched to English a moment later. “I just wanted to test it. Rather fascinating that you didn’t even notice when I swapped.”

Mark said. “That still doesn’t explain why I could understand Bertha.”

“Why not? I understand Bertha, so Laura understands her, so you understand her.”

“You understand, Bertha? She’s a moose, you speak moose?”

“She’s speaking… wait… Ah, right, animals speaking English isn’t normal.” Talia shrugged, “Chalk it up to Anime Physics.”

The group finished walking down a large hallway and entered a large room with a vaulted ceiling. Sadie turned to them, “Would you three mind focusing on the task at hand?”

Talia held up both hands to placate Sadie. “Okay, how are we supposed to realign the temple with Cassandra’s new divinity anyway? I can sort of tell how to align this place with Laura’s divine signature, but not Cassandra’s. Probably because she isn’t actually a goddess, just pretending to be one.”

Sadie pulled out the task sheet. “Oh, good, it’s been updated.”

Task: Realign an ancient temple of Cassandra with the current ley lines

• Risk: Very High
• Reward: 3500 XP, 35 CP, Cassandra’s ability to detect the forces of Smug will improve, narrowing your search area for their secret lair.
• Cassandra changed her divine aspect when she brought peace to this world through the implementation of HP and incapacitation. This caused her old temples to no longer be viable, and new ones were established. Reclaiming some of this lost power will allow Cassandra to more easily detect those who oppose her.
• Update: You have located the Temple of Humility. One or more of you must proceed through the Initiate Trials, of which the entrance is located behind the main hall. At the conclusion of the trials, there is an orb; fill it with mana from your class, and it will align the orb with Cassandra. Be warned, the Trials can only be undergone once per day, no matter the number of applicants.

Laura said, “So we just do this trial and fill up the orb, no problem. That shouldn’t take long as long as the trial doesn’t take forever. Talia and I have lots of mana.”

Talia shook her head. “No, we don’t, at least I don’t. It says mana from your class. My massive store of mana is because Cassandra is apparently treating my stored-up time from my boon as time mana. It can’t even be used to cast all my spells, most of them, yes, but not all.”

The six of them crossed the great hall and exited the opposite side behind the altar. They found a large stone staircase heading deep underground. After a few minutes of walking down stairs, they reached a massive set of double doors. Upon each door was a plaque. Together they read. ‘Trial of Humility: Through these doors lie one of the seven Trials of Cassandra. Remember to be humble and know your place. Submit to your betters and care for those beneath you. True humility is not being meek but knowing your true place.’

Isabella rolled her eyes, reading this. “One guess who is going to be at the top of our group.”

“You’re probably right, Isa, my pet.”

Allie whirled on Mark and shouted. “MARK! YOU KNOW SHE DOESN’T LIKE BEING CALLED THAT! ALSO SHE IS NOT YOUR PET!”

Isabella put one hand on Allie’s shoulder. “Allie dear, it isn’t his fault. It’s a side effect of these tags.” Isabella tilted her head and held up the tags so Allie could read them better.

“I… I see. I’m sorry, love, for shouting at you. But why can I call you Isa… Isa… Isa-bella… What the hell?”

“Yeah, I know. Master isn’t even able to call me by my name if he wanted to. Master has to call me Isa, or princess, or something else like that. ”

“Master?” Allie asked, flabbergasted. “Isa-bella, did you put those tags on willingly, or did Mark or Sadie coerce you?”

“I put them on willingly, if begrudgingly. Now we should get going.”

Isabella pushed the door open and walked through, not wanting to let this drag on. Everyone followed in after her.

The room contained thirteen daises of various heights, going from lowest to tallest, that were arranged in a circle. Along with a set of thirteen statues of various harem members, with Mark and Mary being part of one statue. In the center of the circle was an obelisk that read, ‘You are all part of a group, but do you know your place within the group? Place the statues on the daises to proceed.’

Allie looked at each statue and the fact that they were wearing their LARP gear. “Okay, so these are definitely going to come alive and attack us if we screw this up. Personally, I see two options to solve this puzzle. First, it is as simple as putting us in order of VP totals with Mark and Mary on the top pedestal. The second is more complicated, where we try to position ourselves based upon where we feel like we are in the harem hierarchy.”

Mark pulled out his phone. “I’m guessing it is the first one since I’m being blocked from checking your VP totals.”

Allie looked at her phone. “Wait a second, Mark, I don’t know if that’s the case. I can’t check my BP total right now either. I know it was in the low one-thousands, but I can’t actually get the number. Besides, there is another problem with that idea. Each dais can only hold one statue, and Isa… and I have separate statues. Not to mention, I’m pretty sure that there were other ties for VP. But not one of the daises is the same height. So if it was VP or BP, how would you rank Isa… ISABELLA and myself?”

Laura asked, “Then what do you think it is?”

Talia said, “I would guess our relative influence within the harem as a whole. Mark is again obviously at the top. Let's just get that out of the way and put the statue in the tallest spot. Laura, if you would be a dear.” Laura went and grabbed the Mark and Mary statue and placed it on the top dais. “I’m not sure the exact order, but I would guess Ellen and I are below at least Laura, Isa is below Allie, Flora is below Merida, and Aubrey is below Chloe. Hilde, I honestly don’t know, same with Sadie. Though I would personally say that both of them would be below Laura, Allie, Sam, Merida, and Chloe at a minimum.”

Allie considered that for a moment. “Hmm… that does make a level of sense. So what would you say is your best guess, Talia?”

Talia thought for a moment, “Mark, Laura, Sam, you, Merida, Flora, Chloe, Sadie, me, Hilde, Aubrey, Isa, Ellen.”

Allie frowned, “You really think I’m third, despite being Mark’s wife?”

“You might be above Sam, but I don’t think you are above Laura. That isn’t because she is my goddess either.” Laura seemed curious as to the reasoning for her ranking. “It’s because when it comes to people relying on her or following her advice, she’s at the top. She has the most influence on the Harem as a whole after Mark. I would say that is why Sam is number two, and you are number three. Isa, I’m sorry, but I don’t feel like you hold almost any sway in the harem, as you are somewhat seen as just an addendum to Allie, but I still placed you higher than Ellen because of how submissive she and Lucia are. Aubrey lost a lot of respect with her Milked Dumbs plan, and she tends to defer to Chloe and Mark, especially if she is full of milk. Honestly, the biggest wildcards to me are Hilde and Sadie.”

Allie looked to Mark, “What do you think?”

“Well, it would depend on whether it is influence that’s the criterion, and not my affection for you.”

Talia shook her head, rejecting that idea. “Then why are you a statue? Your place in the harem is at the very top. I might be wrong, and it isn’t influence, but it is about the harem hierarchy as a whole. It’s also why I ranked everyone like I did. Like if something happened and Mark had to pick half of us to save from elimination, and the other half would get eliminated, I’m pretty sure that those in the top half of my rankings would be saved, and those in the bottom half wouldn’t be.”

Everyone but Laura turned to glance at Mark to study his reaction to that statement, but Laura unleashed her aura to quell that notion. Laura said with threat in her voice, “No one should even think about asking Mark that question. It is completely inappropriate to have even brought it up.”

“Sorry, you’re right.” Talia looked embarrassed.

Mark considered Talia’s words, “If you really think it’s about influence, then I would say it should be Myself, Sam, Laura, Allie, Merida, Isa, Flora, Hilde, Chloe, Sadie, Talia, Aubrey, Ellen. Actually, swap Flora and Hilde.”

Laura looked at Mark, “Really? Sorry Isa-bella, but I kind of think Talia is right, you don’t hold that much sway.”

Sadie spoke up a little bitterly. “I wouldn’t say that. Not after what happened outside.” Everyone turned to Sadie except for Isabella and Mark, who looked embarrassed and ashamed, respectively. “I’m actually surprised I rank as high as I do on Mark’s list, but if we are talking about hierarchy, then you have to consider not just their ability to directly influence everyone else but also indirectly influence things. In which case, I mostly agree with Mark’s assessment from my time here. I would go, “Mark, Laura, Sam, Allie, Merida, Hilde, Isa, Flora, Chloe, Talia, me, Aubrey, Ellen. Think of it like this, Isa, wants to get something to happen. She goes to Allie, who goes to Sam, and then the three of them go to Mark. Maybe Sam even asks Laura for backup. Not that I believe Isa couldn’t just go to Mark and ask. Because that is what really matters here, the ability to influence Mark. Does anyone disagree about Aubrey and Ellen being the last two? Talia, do you still disagree?”

“I can see the argument why Isabella should be higher in the rankings, plus it seems like you have some specific information that Mark is more protective of Isabella than I first believed. Laura, would you please put the Allie and Merida statues in the fourth and fifth spots since it doesn't seem like anyone disagrees there.”

Allie asked, “Mark, am I really below Sam and Laura to you?”

“Allie, I love you. I trust you, but if we are talking about influence within the harem, then yes. I think you have a bigger impact on the harem dynamics simply by being part of it than either of them, but I don’t think you have the same ability to influence the harem as them. That’s actually why Hilde is so high in my rankings, and I assume it’s the same for Sadie’s. It’s because she knows a lot more about the show than anyone else in the harem, plus she can likely get her sisters to help persuade people, too. Sadie, I gave you my opinion, but where we put the rest is up to you.”

“Laura, could you go with my order, except put Sam in front of your statue?”

Laura nodded and placed all but Ellen’s statue in position. “Okay, since we think something will happen when I place Ellen on the dais, everyone get ready.” Bertha stood between the statues and Mark, Sadie, and Talia. Allie stood in the center of the circle, her fur already slightly bristling at coming in behind Laura and Sam, even if she couldn’t disagree with the assessment. Isabella stood off in a corner, while Laura picked up the last statue and put it on the pedestal as she quickly stepped back. The pedestals started to light up one by one, starting with Mark and Mary, green, green, green, green, red, red, red, red, red, red, red, green, green. The Merida, Hilde, Isabella, Flora, Chloe, Talia, and Sadie statues all animated at once.

The next moment was a hectic mess. Each Talia created a time bubble around the other. Though the statue also caught Mark and Sadie in her bubble, since they were grouped too closely. The Merida statue cast a spell, and suddenly, there appeared to be five Isabella statues. Hilde’s statue immediately attacked Allie, but Allie was able to land a counterattack thanks to the spectral claws that formed around her hands, making her attacks cover a larger area, and the Hilde statue just couldn’t avoid them completely. The Chloe and Flora statues started to retreat to the far side of the room while attempting to coat the time bubble that their Talia had made with projectiles that would land the moment the bubble popped, but Bertha deflected all of Chloe’s attacks and all but one arrow from Flora. Chloe’s ‘flasks’ exploded into stone shrapnel, but thanks to the way Bertha knocked them out of the air with her antlers, the shrapnel flew towards the stone Isabellas, destroying three mirror images. The stone Isabella had been going for Laura, but the real Isabella intercepted her, so Laura could continue to pelt the opposing Talia with lust bolts, though thanks to the enchantment to target more than one enemy at a time with each casting, she would aid whoever needed it the most.

Allie managed to grab Hilde with her spectral claws and threw the small statue at Flora and Chloe, lunging after her makeshift projectile. Mark, Sadie, and Talia came out of the time bubble before the stone Talia, since the bubble encapsulated all three of them instead of just one person. That was when the fight ended, as Mark slapped Talia’s ass, saying, “Get to it, DOUBLE TIME!” Talia cast a series of quick empowered time bubbles and found that her spells were being duplicated on a second enemy, causing there to be four time bubbles as the one on the stone Talia elapsed at the same time, and the statue dropped lifelessly to the floor. The enemy, Isabella, was in a bubble by herself, as was Merida. Chloe and Flora were in a bubble together, and Talia unfortunately had to include Allie in the bubble with Hilde. That just left the opposing Sadie, who was no threat on her own. Bertha quickly trampled the mockery of her bonded companion, while Laura was lacing the time bubbles with lust bolts. By the time the bubbles popped, there were enough lust bolts to take out all the opponents but the opposing Hilde. Though she was dispatched quickly as Isabella moved to flank her and separate her from Allie the moment the bubble popped, and Talia just produced another bubble around her after that.

Everyone looked around, breathing heavily from the adrenaline in their bodies. After a moment, Talia said, “Well, that could have gone poorly. Thanks, Bertha, for protecting us.” Talia rubbed her shoulder from the arrow that had hit her there. “Also, I think we are going to have to do that again. The doors aren’t open.”

Laura went to check the doors to the next room. “Yep, still locked. Guess we have to put them on again until we get them all right.”

Allie said, “Let's put the remaining seven in this order: Isabella, Merida, Hilde, Chloe, Flora, Sadie, Talia.” Not seeing a better solution, they decided to just brute **** the issue.

This time, instead of having Laura put on the last statue, Allie did. Though before the statue was placed, Talia created a time bubble in the center of the circle with Laura inside, prepping Lust bolts. Allie placed the last statue on. This time, they all turned red again, but with the opposing Talia Hilde and Flora eliminated within a second from the lust barrage Laura unleashed, it ended swiftly.

Talia was trying to puzzle this out. “Okay, let’s try rotating Hilde, Isabella, and Merida again, as I think they should all be in the top half of the remaining solution. But since Sadie and I aren’t the last two, that must mean Flora and Chloe are, unless Isabella is actually supposed to be at the bottom.” They did the same thing this time, to prepare, and with the order being Hilde, Isabella, Merida, Talia, Sadie, Flora, Chloe, for the remaining statues. All of them except for Talia and Sadie turned green. The Talia and Sadie statues didn’t even have a chance, having essentially no offensive capabilities by themselves. They swapped the last two statues and watched the lights turn green. The door swung open, but everyone took a moment to examine the final solution of: Mark, Sam, Laura, Allie, Hilde, Isabella, Merida, Sadie, Talia, Flora, Chloe, Aubrey, and Ellen.

Sadie, in particular, looked confused. “Why am I so high? I don’t get it.”

Laura put a hand on Sadie’s shoulder, “I think I do. Sadie, you’ve shown a surprising willingness to try and bring consensus while also not being a doormat. Looking at the positions of everyone, the only one that feels completely off to me is Flora being so low. Personally, I think Sam and I are rather close, but if someone was like ‘yeah, she has more influence than you,’ I could see their logic.”

Isabella nodded. “Sadie, I know I snapped at you yesterday when we were dealing with the slimes, but you weren’t wrong. I might be mistaken, but outside of Mark, and maybe not even him, no one is particularly interested in replacing you as group leader. Not because we don’t want to take the risk, but because we actually think you are doing a decent job.”

Sadie blushed slightly at the praise. “Thanks… We should get moving, though, unless someone needs healing.” Everyone shook their heads.

The group walked through the doors and down the hall. They came to a room with another obelisk in the center. It read, ‘You have all learned your place, but are you willing to accept it? Three collars, three leashes, all must be worn and held. Will you submit with humility or fight for your place? Consider carefully if you are willing to give those above you power over you.’

Isabella sighed and just picked up a collar and handed Mark the attached leash, as she put on the collar. (I’m already wearing tags that say Master owns me, is it really that much worse to wear a leash too?) To her surprise, it fused with her current collar. Just great. Hopefully, the fusion isn’t permanent.

Talia did the same thing, handing the leash to Laura. The collar magically adjusted in size as Talia put it on, while Allie grabbed the last collar and leash. Sadie said, “OH, hell no! Allie, I’m not wearing that collar. Bertha, if she tries to come near me with that, stop her.” Bertha moved to protect Sadie.

“Sadie, I wasn't going to **** this on you.” Even as she took a step towards Sadie, Bertha blocked Allie’s path, shoving her face into Allie’s. Allie extended her hands and snapped the collar around Bertha’s neck, and tossed the leash to Sadie. “There, problem solved. Also, Sadie, if you don’t get Bertha to stop insulting Mark, I’ll be taking that leash from you and forcing her to behave.”

Sadie blinked at the leash in her hand and the collar on Bertha’s neck. Bertha turned around, “Get this humiliating thing off my neck this instant!”

“Bertha, sit!” Sadie exclaimed. Bertha’s ass touched the floor practically instantly.

“Sadie!”

“Bertha, there are going to be some changes now. I told you to stop being rude and to be more cooperative. You pretty much decided you were going to be my companion whether I liked it or not. Well, you will deal with this. So quit your grumbling.” Bertha’s guttural sounds stopped. The door is open, let's go.”

“One second,” Mark said. Mark cast Identify on the leash and collar. “Okay, so that’s worrisome. Allie, I think you should take this leash.

Isabella cocked her head to the side and let out a low whine. (Master doesn’t want to take Isa on walkies?) She looked at Mark with puppy dog eyes. (Please, Master!)

Mark sighed, “Never mind, Allie, I guess Isa really wants me to take her on a walk.”

Isabella’s tail wagged excitedly. (OH YES! MASTER TAKING ISA ON WALKIES!)

The group walked through the next door, but as Allie tried to walk through it, she found an invisible barrier stopping her. “What the heck?”

Bertha snickered at Allie. “Serves you right bitch.”

“Bertha, shut up,” Sadie replied. “It looks like you have to have a collar on or be holding a leash to continue.”

Sadie was on the other side of the invisible barrier. “Allie, I want to make this abundantly clear: I’m not wearing that collar.”

“I’m not giving you control over me either,” Allie said, crossing her arms in defiance.

“That’s fine.” Sadie crossed the invisible barrier again. “Here, take the leash. I'll just wait out here. You missed out on all the XP this morning. We need you to catch up. Take Bertha. Laura, I'm putting you in charge of the task from here on out. Bertha, if I find out you misbehaved, there will be consequences.”

Allie held the leash in her hands. “Really? Even though it disadvantages you?”

“Being the leader means sometimes putting the good of the team before yourself. Bertha is still my companion, so I should get some XP even if it is reduced. Plus, while my passive auras are helpful, they aren’t as important as having a tank.”

While **** to leave Sadie behind, the group pressed forward. Allie climbed into Bertha’s saddle and rode at the front of the group. They quickly came to a large open room that appeared to have obstacles placed around it, with each having a number. The doors slammed closed behind them. Isabella groaned. “Seriously, how is this supposed to be a trial about humility? This is about humiliation.”

Bertha was already making a noise that almost sounded like chuckling. Allie glared down at Bertha and asked, “What’s funny?” Bertha nodded her head towards two tube-like things lying on the floor. Then she rotated her head side to side to emphasize her antlers. “Oh… shit.”

Talia read aloud the plaque at the beginning of the course. “Unleash your pets and lead them through the course. Take too long or if your pets make mistakes, you will be penalized, such is the burden of those in power.” There was a set of paw mittens and knee pads. With a sign reading ‘pets don’t walk on two legs’.

“Oh, I’m fucked aren’t I?” Allie said. “Bertha will never fit through those tubes.”

Laura looked at her sympathetically. “Sorry, Allie. It does look like this was intended for humans acting as dogs, not for… well, a moose. You might just have to take the penalty.”

“Fuck!” Allie exclaimed as she dismounted Bertha. “Might as well get this over with. The rest of you can learn from mine and Bertha’s mistakes. Might as well make one person the one with the problems.” Allie took Bertha to the starting line. Allie looked at Bertha, “Are you going to intentionally screw me over? Sadie said she would punish you if you misbehaved.”

Bertha rolled her eyes. Allie figured she wasn’t going to get anything better than that. She unleashed Bertha and started running the course with Bertha. Bertha easily cleared the initial two poles to jump over, but Allie just had Bertha skip the tube since she wouldn’t fit, leading her to the next pole to jump over. A buzzer sounded for the mistake. ~BZZT~. Allie directed Bertha to go up and across a thin walkway, which Bertha managed to do, but she had to do it slowly. The next two poles were simple enough for Bertha, but then there was the set of vertical poles Bertha was intended to weave between. Bertha’s antlers caught on the poles as a buzzer kept ringing out. ~BZZT~ ~BZZT~ ~BZZT~ ~BZZT~ ~BZZT~. Allie led Bertha over another set of poles. But she once again had to skip another tube and ring she was supposed to go through. ~BZZT~ ~BZZT~. Bertha almost stumbled crossing the seesaw, but had no difficulty with the climbing wall or the last few hurdles to jump over. When Allie was done, a score of forty-five seconds with a total of twenty-four faults was displayed, for a final score of one hundred sixty-five seconds. Next to the score was a notice. ‘Penalties will be applied after other participants finish the course.’

Isabella was getting excited and embarrassed at what she was about to do, as she put on little paw mittens and knee pads. Why the fuck am I getting so excited? Is this really what gets me going? Her tail and hips were betraying her to Mark. (Isa, is the best. Isa is a good girl.) As soon as Mark took Isabella to the starting line. She instantly dropped to her hands and knees, finding that she physically couldn’t try to stand on two legs. She did find that she didn’t have to actually stay on her knees, though. She could use her feet as well as long as her hands were being used like feet too. Isabella looked up at Mark, “ARF ARF!?” Isabella realized she probably couldn’t talk right now and took a position to start running on her hands and feet. Her butt stuck high in the air and her tail wagging furiously. Mark looked at it as he knelt to unleash Isabella. (OH YES, ISA IS THE FASTEST AND BESTEST GIRL! I LOVE MASTER LOOKING AT MY BUTT WIGGLE YES I DO!). Mark chuckled and gave her butt a rub before unleashing her. Before Mark was even able to stand, Isabella took off. She had a little difficulty with the first pole, figuring out how to move like this, but didn’t knock it off, but the second pole was much easier; she moved through the tube extremely fast and practically sprinted up the walkway that Mark pointed to and down the other side. Over two more poles, and Isabella had no issues weaving through vertical poles; it was like she practically glided through them. Over the next poles, dashing through the tube and flying through the ring with ease. Isabella almost flew off the end of the seesaw. She went so fast across it, but Mark was at the other side and snapped his fingers, saying, “ISA WAIT!” The moment the seesaw touched the ground, Mark snapped again, and she sprinted up the climbing wall and then over the last few hurdles. Isabella felt her heart pounding with excitement and arousal as she tackled Mark. “ARF!” Isabella licked the tip of Mark’s nose and then kissed him fiercely while grinding her crotch against his growing erection. (THAT WAS THE BEST! LORD AM I AROUSED RIGHT NOW)

“Isa! Off!” Isa complied, and as Mark stood, she moved through his legs with excitement. Mark looked at their score. It read ‘forty seconds, zero faults. Who’s a good girl, reward earned.’

Allie just stared at Mark and Isabella, blinking in utter astonishment. Allie offered Isabella a hand to help her stand. Isabella put a paw mitten-covered hand in Allie’s hand and realized it was like asking a dog to shake. She grew incredibly embarrassed and stood, not meeting Allie’s gaze. Allie asked, “Isa, Isa, please look at me.” Isabella looked at her long-time best friend. “What… What is going on? Is this something that the show has **** on you, or just something you are discovering?”

“I… I don’t think the show is forcing anything on me, well… I mean, besides the obvious.” Isabella leaned in, wrapped Allie in a hug, and whispered, “Allie, I know that you are supposed to have Master alone tomorrow, but… if I’m a good girl, could I join you?… I’d like to… You know… I promise that I won’t ask to join your night with Mary, and you can come on my night with Mark, even on my night with Mary. I… I’m just so turned on right now.” (I really, really want to have Master fuck me doggystyle.)

“I’ll… I’ll think about it. ”

The group turned to watch Talia attempt the course. Talia did not have Isabella’s grace going through the course; she took the first pole to hop over carefully and the second slightly faster. The tube went fine, if much slower than Isabella. The walkway was the first issue. She went up it fine and went across without issue, if slowly. But coming down, she slid down the walkway and faceplanted into the floor. ~BZZT~. Little birdies circled her head as it was visibly spinning. The next two poles she jumped over, but each time, despite Mark's certainty that she would clear them, it was like gravity suddenly increased, causing her to accelerate down and knock the pole off, causing the buzzer to go off. ~BZZT~, ~BZZT~. Talia crawled through the vertical poles rather quickly. The next two poles caused Talia to once again fall victim to gravity. ~BZZT~ ~BZZT~. She went through the tube and built up a bit of speed to jump through the ring suspended in mid-air. Which is where she got stuck. Her massive rack got stuck in the ring. ~BZZT~, ~BZZT~, ~BZZT~. It took her a few seconds, but she was eventually able to free herself with Laura yanking her through, but the buzzer sounded when Laura touched her. ~BZZT~. Talia went over the seesaw easily and had a little difficulty with the climbing wall, but managed. The last set of hurdles was not plagued by gravity messing with her, much to her relief. As soon as she finished the course, she stood and ripped the mittens off her. “Stupid Anime Physics! Laura, I hope you know you are paying me back for this later.”

Laura walked over to Talia and kissed the top of her forehead. “Sure, dear.” They looked at their score: fifty-seven seconds, seventeen faults. Final score: one hundred eight seconds. Penalty will be applied after completion of the course. “Well, at least we did better than Allie.” Allie glared at Laura.

A voice that was most definitely an ASTRID gleefully sound through the room. “The first contestant’s pet exceeded the acceptable score of eighty seconds. She has been found unfit for her position as a trainer.” The collar around Bertha’s neck disappeared and appeared around Allie’s neck. “Error: An Animal can not be the owner of another animal, reassigning owner.” Mark was holding the leash connected to his wife’s collar. “Obedience collar shall be unremovable for eighty-five hours, leash is not required, for owner’s control to be effective, but produces a greater compliance. The second contestant’s pet,” Isabella felt her crotch get wetter hearing that, “came in forty seconds under the acceptable score. She shall receive a blessing for every ten seconds under the time required. Her owner shall likewise receive a blessing for every ten seconds below the acceptable time. The third contestant’s pet exceeded the acceptable score. She has been found unfit for her position as a trainer.” The collar disappeared around Talia’s neck and appeared around Laura’s, with the leash appearing in Talia’s hand. “Obedience collar shall be unremovable for twenty-eight hours.”

Talia grinned as she lightly tugged on Laura’s leash, “Oh… I wonder what I can get up to with this…”

Laura leaned over, smiled, and with a purr in her voice said, “I promised to pay you back after all.”

Allie tugged gently at the collar but found it really was unremovable. Great, so three and a half days with this collar for bringing Bertha… Allie looked at the moose, who seemed gleeful at Allie’s situation. “Let’s go. Mark, Isabella, did you at least get anything good?”

Isabella was evasive, but even Allie could tell by the way her tail was wagging that she had gotten something she liked very much. Mark said, “Yeah, I did. My hat now gives me two new abilities for giving commands, which act as buffs. Also, two others that I would rather not explain right now. For Isa’s sake.” Isabella did not answer Allie, but Allie noticed that the leash was back on Isabella’s collar.

Talia unclipped the leash from Laura. “Mark, you should undo Allie’s and Isa’s leashes in case we get into a fight. Save it for the bedroom.”

Mark nodded and unclipped both leashes and saw Isabella’s ears droop a little. (Aw… no more walkies.)

The group went through the now-open doors. They entered the final room of the trial, and all it contained was a mirror. Laura walked up to inspect it. Inside the mirror, she saw herself, but also not herself. Her muscles were slightly leaner and her hair was a bit longer, but the most noticeable feature was that Laura thought her reflection was utterly gorgeous. She had messed around with Lucia, who was her identical twin, but the woman looking back at her was on another level. “There are no instructions. I wonder what we are supposed to do with the mirror.”

Laura’s reflection said, “Oh, you have to fight me. Rather, each of you has to fight a reflection of yourselves.”

“Look, I know I’m super hot, but how are you a reflection of me? Even if you are supposed to be like my subconscious reflection or something, I might be a horny fucking bitch, but I’m not that vain.”

“Who said I reflect what you think of yourself?” Mirror Laura said. “The rules are simple: stand before the mirror and decide to challenge me. After that, I’ll appear outside the mirror, and you will then be allowed to bring as many helpers as you want. Be warned, your rewards will wane if you bring more than you need. Of course, you can forfeit if you think you can’t handle the challenge even as a group.”

Mark walked next to Laura and asked. “What do you reflect?”

“I reflect what you think of them.”

“And if I stood in front of the mirror, would you reflect what I think of myself?”

“Not telling.” Mirror Laura said with a smirk.

Mark and Laura stepped away from the mirror and back to the group. “Okay, so what’s everyone thinking here?”

Allie said, “I think we have Bertha go first.”

Mirror Laura shouted, “Don’t bother with the moose.”

“Darn, I was really hoping to get some catharsis.”

Bertha snorted in annoyance.

Talia said, “Mark, I think you should go first. I mean, it shouldn’t be overly relevant who goes first outside of someone getting overconfident.”

Mark nodded and walked up to the mirror, deciding he wanted to challenge the mirror. The others watched as a copy of Mark stepped out of the mirror. Rather, it was a copy of Mark from the beginning of the show, though wearing similar gear to what Mark was currently wearing.

Mirror Mark looked back in the mirror and checked his appearance, and complained. “Really, have a low opinion of yourself, don’t you? I don’t get your muscles, your fitness, your newfound youth. I don’t even get the correction to my face, seriously?”

“No, I don’t. Which makes me think you aren’t what I view myself as, or you are deliberately tricking me with your appearance.” Mark looked at his reflection. “You aren’t tricking me, are you?”

“Nope.”

“Care to tell me whose view of me you are reflecting?”

“Your Mother!” Mirror Mark quipped.

“I’ll fight you alone then.” Mark closed the distance and immediately punched his reflection in the face. His reflection immediately exploded into mist as it was destroyed. “That was easier than I expected. Then again, my mother has always focused on assessing things the way they really are. She might love me, but she knows what I am capable of. Or was capable of.” Mark then did a slight slow clap. “Cassandra, I must commend you on the, your mom, joke, expertly played.”

Mark noticed his reflection do a flourish and bowed.

Allie rushed forward and stood in front of the mirror. Her reflection stepped out. She was pleased; she thought physically her reflection looked the same as her, but had a fierce beauty that simply radiated from her. Mark would have a pretty good understanding of me. I’m glad that she feels like she has a particularly striking appearance.

The Mirror Allie’s tail hair stood on end. She cracked her knuckles saying, “So, are we going to do this or what? I’m going to grind you into dust.”

Allie turned to Mark, “Seriously?”

Talia chuckled. “Weren’t you saying this morning that if I was only figuring out now that you could be scary, I wasn’t paying close enough attention. Maybe Mark is paying closer attention than you thought.”

Mirror Allie stepped up to Allie and got in her face. “That’s right, I’m going to crush you into pulp and take Mark for my own. Now are you going to be a little bitch and ask for help, or will you fight me yourself?”

Mark said, “Allie, don’t let your reflection goad you. I think you’ll lose without help.”

“OH? Is the little bitch going to let her owner tell her what to do?”

Allie looked at her reflection. She noticed that her reflection was actually leaning over slightly to look her in the eye. She’s taller than me, I think her boobs are smaller too… OH, I see. I bet Mark altered my form without telling me. We’ll be talking about that later. Who to bring… Allie looked at the others. Bringing Laura plus Talia would be overkill. “I choose to bring Isabella and Bertha.”

“Very well.” Bertha and Isabella stepped forward, and a barrier formed to prevent anyone from interfering. “Let’s begin.” Mirror Allie entered a rage at the same time as Allie. Mirror Allie ignored Allie, though, and went straight for Bertha, leaping above the moose and raking her claws on Bertha’s back. When she landed on Bertha's side, she shoulder checked the moose into Allie and Isabella, catching them both by surprise. Bertha was on top of them and disoriented. Allie had to practically throw Bertha off of them, which she narrowly did in time to prevent Mirror Allie from striking Isabella in the face. Mirror Allie kept going after Isabella, continuing to ignore Allie herself. Allie charged her reflection, pissed that she was being ignored by her reflection. Which was when Mirror Allie about-faced, landing a claw thrust to Allie’s groin, and she followed up with an uppercut to the chin. Allie collapsed **** from the consecutive blows. Mirror Allie then turned to Isabella and just waited for her to make the next move.

Isabella said, “What are you just going to stand there?”

Mirror Allie said, “I’m not the one on a timer right now.”

Isabella looked confused, but she saw Mark pound the barrier. She couldn’t hear him, but when he was pointing to himself, then to Allie, then held up five fingers, finishing with an upward motion of his hands. Oh fuck, me. Right, Master can get Allie back from being incapacitated, but he has to do it shortly after. OH, this is just like Allie. She would drag out any advantage, no matter how ‘cheap’ it is. Bertha is down too. Just great. Well, glad I got those upgrades in the last room. Shame about the side effects. Isabella was grinning and especially happy that Allie wasn’t conscious to see what she was about to do. (OH boy, I get to show off for my Master.) Isabella activated two of the upgrades she had gotten. The first created four shadow duplicates of herself, and the second created four shadow wolves. The shadows spread out around Mirror Allie, but she made sure not to put them close to where Mark was. Finally, she crouched down and let out a howl that was echoed by her shadows and wolves. All nine of them charged Mirror Allie. Mirror Allie focused on the shadow clones, believing them to be the biggest threat, mostly thanks to Isabella’s collar. Mirror Allie could not be more wrong, though. They were all a threat. Mirror Allie took attack after attack as she struck back. She quickly realized that while they all dealt damage, the real Isabella dealt the most, but she kept shifting out of sight, slipping between the shadows. The first time Mirror Allie thought she would land a blow on Isabella, Isabella vanished with a popping sound and reappeared near the barrier right where Mark was. It wasn’t long before Mirror Allie was defeated and the barrier lowered.

Mark sprinted over and held Allie in his arms and said, “LIVE DAMN YOU LIVE! WE FINALLY HAD OUR CHANCE AT HAPPINESS! DON’T YOU DIE ON ME NOW! YOU HEAR!?” Allie blinked her eyes open as she felt her face pressed into Mark’s chest. Allie pushed Mark away from her. “YOU’RE ALIVE!” Mark kissed her.

“Mark, what the heck? Not that I mind the kisses or you holding me. Why are you yelling like that?”

“Sorry, that's part of the ability. Even the reaction after you open your eyes is what determines how much you’re healed.”

Mark looked towards Isabella, who was squatting next to Allie. The shadow clones had disappeared. Isabella was panting like a dog, and her tail was thumping the ground. She was leaning forward slightly. (Isa was a good girl! Good Girls get ear scritches!) Mark chuckled and reached out a hand to scritch her ears. Isa let out a, “ARWOOOO!”

Allie blinked again, “Isa, you seem to be embracing this rather quickly.”

“Arwoo?” Isabella tilted her head to the side. (Isa not understand. Isa good girl.)

“Umm… Isa, can you speak?” Mark asked.

“ARF!” (Yes! See, I'm a good girl. Can I have a treat now?) Mark saw Isabella staring at his crotch.

Mark helped Allie to her feet and then picked her up in his arms, carrying her to the side, “My princess, fear not; no harm shall come to you while you are in my arms.” Mark brought her into a passionate kiss. Allie felt the healing effect wash over her.

Mark felt something pawing at his pants leg, and when he looked down, he found Isabella there staring up at him with a pleading expression. “Arwooooo?! Arf Arf.” Mark saw Isabella’s lower lip trembling. (Isa was a good girl, right? Can Isa have a treat master?) Mark put Allie down and extended his arms to both sides. Isabella jumped up and embraced Mark, kissing him deeply. When they broke apart, Isabella sat down on her hands and knees.

Laura and Talia joined them after dragging Bertha to the side of the room. Laura said, “Okay, what the fuck is up with Isabella? Mark, explain?”

“Well, I mentioned that I didn’t want to explain two of my rewards… let's just say they have side effects that, if she got something similar, she is probably experiencing now. She would have known the effects, too, so she chose this. If her side effects last as long as mine do, one is for fifteen minutes, the other is for four hours. They are rather powerful abilities, mind you, but the side effects can completely put you out of the fight when the ability expires.”

“I guess I should go then,” Talia said. She walked up, and out stepped a more mature version of herself. It was like she was looking at herself from before Mark reversed her age, but she had also fully embraced the goth look.

Mirror Talia looked down on her and said, “Hmm…”

“I think we both know how this is going to end.”

Mirror Talia nodded. “Well, you are somewhat crafted by Mark, so his view of you matches you mostly. I guess he still sees you as older than your body. I assume you are picking Mark or Allie?”

“It doesn’t really matter, does it?”

“Not really.” Mirror Talia said, “But I’m not allowed to forfeit.”

“I pick, Mark,” Talia said.

Mark said, “Umm… Talia, are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Mark, you made me the smartest woman in our world. Here’s the thing: how that manifested in me is based upon what you intended. Meaning she is going to be the same. You will be more than enough, but this might take a while.”

Mark sighed and stepped forward, and found Isabella following him. “No, Isa! Stay!” Isabella whimpered but sat next to Allie, who was very concerned and a little disturbed by how Isabella was acting.

The barrier went up. Each Talia extended their staff. Mark ran over to the Mirror Talia, confused. Mark tried to punch her, but found her dodging, but not as effectively as in the labyrinth. He caught her and slammed the Mirror Talia into the ground. “Please don’t make me just wail on you. It would make me feel bad.” The mirror, Talia vanished.

Laura and Allie watched the battle unfold, Mark slowly creeping towards Talia. While both Talia’s practically remained motionless, with Mirror Talia only eventually moving after a solid thirty minutes of watching. Isabella had laid her head in Allie’s lap to receive pets. It was just before the thirty-minute mark that she bolted upright. “Oh, thank goodness that side effect ended. Wait, didn’t Talia and Master start their fight shortly after yours, Allie?”

“Yeah, they did.”

“But I’m confused, why is it still going on? My side effects last thirty minutes.”

Laura chimed in. “Each Talia is creating time bubbles, so this fight is taking forever. Both Talias seem to know that if they try casting anything else, they will lose this fight. Mirror Talia will lose anyway, but she’s draining Talia's reserves of time mana. Now tell us about these side effects, Isabella.”

“So, the shadow clones were from leveling up. The shadow wolves were an additional ability I got from the last room, as was the howl effect. The shadow wolves cost mana and can only be used with my shadow clones. The real benefit is that with the howl, each one actually has my consciousness in it instead of just an instinct. Without the howl, those clones and wolves won’t be as effective. The thing is, three minutes after I howl, I effectively become a puppy pining for her owner, for thirty minutes.”

Allie said, “Isabella… I’m worried about you.” Isabella looked at Allie, confused. “Why are you suddenly acting like this? This isn’t you.”

“Allie… I gave Master a blowjob earlier today.”

“Really? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“Because I knew you would want me to tell you all the details. I wasn’t sure how I felt about some of what happened. It was kind of embarrassing, but also… it was also sort of arousing.”

Allie could tell from Isabella’s body language that she was hiding something. “What else? I can tell there is something else.”

“That’s another reason I didn’t want to talk about it. I figured I couldn’t hide it from you.” Isabella sighed, “I also didn’t want to have to explain that I was supremely disappointed that Master and I didn’t have sex.”

Laura had to but in on hearing that. “Wait a fucking second. You wanted to have sex with Mark earlier today, and he turned you down?” Isabella nodded. Laura glared at Mark.

Isabella asked, “Why is that important?”

“Isabella, you would have a better idea than I. Think about it, Mark was able to restrain himself from having sex with you, but think about what he did to Sadie.”

“OH. I mean, he did say he had made a promise to Allie, so maybe he was able to restrain himself because of that?”

“Maybe… I’ll talk to him later.” The three of them looked over as Mark was slowly slamming Mirror Talia into the ground. Then she vanished, as did the barrier. Laura jumped up, “Fucking finally! MY TURN.” Laura moved over to the mirror and saw herself step out. Laura could feel the divine aura radiating off her reflection and had to use her own aura to protect herself, as did Mark. Talia, Allie, and Isabella all passed out.

Mirror Laura, seeing the look of concern on Mark’s face, said, “Don’t worry, they will be fine. They aren’t incapacitated. Just **** from having three divinities blasting their auras at them.”

Mark said, “Laura, please forfeit.”

“What?! Her aura isn’t that much stronger than mine!”

“Laura, you’re forgetting something. She's pushing both of our aura’s back by her mere presence. Aren’t you actively pushing back on her aura?”

“Oh… fuck. Do you really see me like this?”

“What part of ‘Oh my goddess, don’t you get when I look at you?’ I don’t even know how to properly gauge your strength, having only been a god for a short time. To me, your aura is crazy powerful. I probably don’t have an accurate assessment of just how amazing you are. I am probably overshooting the margin by a lot. Please forfeit.”

“But then I won’t be able to continue. We could fail the quest.”

“Laura, this is a trial of humility. Humility means knowing your limits. Forfeiting is the correct answer to pass this trial. She even told us that we could forfeit if we thought that all of us couldn’t handle her together. She also said the rewards wane if we bring more people than we needed. Talia recognized that. It was why she picked me for the fight. She only got the extra help she needed, not more than that.”

Laura frowned. I don’t like this. Giving up to win feels wrong. This feels wrong. Plus, I want to show Mark that I live up to his image of me and surpass it. Laura shut her eyes to think. I know those brownies are affecting me. I should trust my lover… my boyfriend, while I’m like this. He trusted me to help keep him in check… he let me do that. I can reciprocate. “Mark? You sure?”

“Yes.”

Laura looked at her reflection. “We can’t win. I forfeit.”

Mirror Laura nodded, “Good call. Mark was right. Let me demonstrate.” Laura felt her reflection push down on her with her aura, and Laura was **** to her knees. Mirror Laura tilted Laura’s chin up. “It’s a shame I can’t stick around. I'd love to have a taste of you.” Then Mirror Laura vanished.

Laura panted as she leaned back and splayed out on the ground. Mark lay next to her. Laura was like, “Mark… FUCK! Seriously? That was insane.”

Mark and Laura retracted their own auras and just lay there for a while waiting for the others to recover. When the others regained consciousness, and after everyone was confirmed to be okay, Isabella went before the mirror. Out came an Isabella squatting down on all fours. Isabella growled, “Master… You'd better have a good explanation.” (I might like being your pet, but I’m more than a bitch in heat.)

“Yeah, I do. You try to solo her, and you will lose.”

Mirror Isabella responded, “ARF!”

“Explain.”

“Isa… princess… You are like the white rabbit from Monty Python. Cute, adorable, fluffy, and utterly vicious and deadly when provoked. I’m almost tempted to tell you to forfeit, but unlike with Laura’s reflection, I think Laura plus Talia can beat it. That might actually be overkill, but honestly, I would rather you use overkill than get incapacitated.”

Laura said, “Isa, I’m ordering you to include Talia and me. Sadie said I was in charge. Mark is right and is the one with the best insight into what you are facing.”

Isabella sighed. “Fine, if that’s what Master wants.” (At least he thinks I’m fierce, that's something.)

Talia and Laura both stepped forward, and the customary barrier rose. The next second, Isabella saw two scimitars less than two inches away from her face. Her reflection was fast, but suspended in mid-air in a time bubble, Laura was already coating the bubble with lust bolts. “Thanks, Talia.”

“No problem. You’re lucky. I almost missed her.”

Laura circled around, leaving no place to go. The mirror Isabella vanished a moment after the time bubble popped. With that, the mirror condensed in on itself, becoming a floating orb. Laura tried infusing her class mana into the orb and found it flowed easily. She also found that putting in all of her class mana didn’t fill it up all the way. Great, more waiting… “Okay, everyone, come dump your class mana inside. We might be here a while.”