Seronia says "Alright, calm down, Ash. We are just teasing you! You know, it's your own fault for being so much fun to tease!"

Krenocia says "Okay, we will be serious. Spoilsport!"

Core says "I'm sorry, this is all new to me. I just went along with it."

"It's okay, Core."

Seronia says "Oh, so the cute girl gets a pass and we get yelled at?"

"I didn't yell at you and you are just as cute."

Krenocia says "What about me?"

"Yes, Krenocia, you are cute too."

Seronia says "So which of us is cuter?"

"Oh, no! I won't fall for that trap!"

Both goddesses have a good laugh at that and when they notice Core isn't laughing they stop to explain it to her. While they do that I create some comfortable seats for us and a table with tea and snacks. This isn't going to be as short of a conversation as I expected, apparently.

When the goddesses realize just how little Core knows about social interactions they start educating her. There is a lot of whispering and giggling going on, and it is making me nervous. Not that there is anything I can do to stop it, but I am starting to regret introducing them.

Seronia says "Okay, now we can talk about the temples."

Krenocia says "If we skip destroying the temples that will reduce our power. Meaning we won't be able to help as much in the war. Ash, you will have to pick up the slack if we go this route."

"I don't mind that. Now that I can gain levels I will be strong enough, hopefully."

Core says "Do the two of you know why the temples are affecting you?"

Seronia says "Along with elemental power, the temples also absorb divine power. They are constantly draining us of our power. Ash, you should be aware of this too, if you get close to a temple it will drain you as well."

"That's good to know."

Core says "Curious. From what I know of the temples they shouldn't have anything to do with divine power. Then again our race didn't use divine power so we wouldn't have noticed."

"When I absorbed the orb from the temple of wind I didn't yet have divine power. Shouldn't it have done something to me when I absorbed it?"

Krenocia says "When you destroyed the temple it released a large amount of divine power. My sister and I absorbed it or it would have done something to you."

"Oh, thank you! The last thing I want is to suddenly become a divine being."

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Seronia says "Are you sure? If you became a god we would be your wives!"

"What?! Oh, haha! I thought we were done with the teasing?"

Seronia says "No teasing, I'm serious. If you become a god we will be your wives."

Krenocia says "She is telling you the truth."

Core says "Why is he twitching like that?"

Seronia says "Well, we may have broken him."

Krenocia says "Yes, give him a few minutes to overcome the shock."

The three of them go back to chatting, leaving me to sit there with my mind completely blank. It is as if my brain is a computer that just received too much information and crashed. I am aware of my surroundings and of time ticking by but I cannot form a single thought.

When my brain finally reboots and I try to think about what just happened it crashes again. The idea of having the two goddesses as my wives is simply too much for my brain to handle. In the end I have to ignore it and pretend I never heard it so that I can get back to something like normal.

"Um, when I destroyed the temple and you were absorbing the divine energy did either of you sense anything?"

Seronia says "Like what?"

"I don't know, like an ancient power awakening or something like that?"

Krenocia says "No, if we had we would have mentioned it."

Seronia says "Why? What are you thinking?"

"Well, having know way of knowing what was locked up, how can we even be sure it is still alive?"

Core says "The only way to know would be to break the other locks and see what happens."

"That kind of thing is what normally gets me in trouble."

Seronia says "I don't think it would be wise to destroy another temple without knowing more."

Krenocia says "I agree. Ash, unless you can find out more by searching ruins or something, I think we should hold off on the temples."

"I agree. Although, finding information on ten thousand year old temples won't be easy."

Core says "True. To find the right information you would need to find ruins of the first ones."

"Do your legends say what happened to the first ones after they made you?"

Core says "Only that they left this world in our care."

"Meaning they left this world for some reason. Yui told me there are ruins on the mainland that tell of an ancient civilization that used magic to visit other worlds. Are you two familiar with that?"

Seronia says "It sounds like I should know it, but no."

Krenocia says "I don't know either. Maybe you should ask Yui for more details. If it is knowledge lost to our followers we cannot help you."

"Alright. I will forget about the temples for now and I will work on gathering information."

Core says "So, what are you planning to do next?"

"I will stick to my original plan of returning to Illium. Once the portals are up and I take care of things there I will return to the tower. After that I will decide my next step."

Seronia says "Oh, good! I was worried you were going to try and free Core and Kechara."

"As much as I would like to, I am well aware I am not strong enough currently. That is also going on the list as something I need to take care of later."

Krenocia says "I am sorry that things seem to just keep getting more and more complicated."

"It isn't your fault. You were acting on the information you had available to you. Although, I will say that your knowledge being limited by your followers is really annoying!"

Seronia says "Tell us about it!"

"Well, maybe once your churches are back on track you can mandate them to collect and preserve knowledge?"

Krenocia says "That is a good idea!"

Core says "Since I won't really have anything to do, I can work on putting our race's knowledge into books in your language."

Seronia says "Thank you, Core. That would be a big help!"

Krenocia says "We will need a safe place to store this knowledge so it doesn't just end up lost again."

"How about the tower? I am fairly sure Yui would allow us to add things to the library. Then we just need to convince her to allow the church access."

Seronia says "We? That is going to be all you."

"What? You can see the tower can't you? Doesn't that mean you should be able to manifest there?"

Krenocia says "We can see it, but it is outside our influence. If we had followers inside the tower then maybe we could."

"Can you not create an avatar or something?"

Seronia says "No, we are not yet strong enough."