"Get out here and join the team for the beach, or I'm coming in to get you." Sect Master Mooney yelled down to them.
"But Sect Master, we can't remove this curse, and the room isn't drying our robes." The Disciple complained.
"Just change and get out here, or should I send Divine Elder Mariel in with a change of outfits?" Sect Master Mooney called.
"Divine Elder Mariel, could you help us out?" A timid voice answered while Cain and Mooney hid their laughter.
Other than the Sect Master and one other Divine Elder, the others couldn't see inside. The Disciples' spare robes were cut for muscular young men to show off their physique. With a more curvaceous figure, they didn't cover any of the essential upper parts that a uniform should cover, and the pants wouldn't make it over their hips.
Mariel flew into the Recovery room and came out a few minutes later with four red-faced young women in Seaside Sect dresses.
"How long does that potion last?" One of the Disciples asked Solara as they passed, following the Divine Elder.
"Not more than two days. It's a Mythic Rank potion, but it was diluted through the water, so it might wear off tonight."
The Disciples looked relieved and began to turn toward the shore and their dorms.
"Where do you think you're going? We are all going swimming, as a Sect. Why did you think I gave you a swimsuit to wear under the uniform? Now everyone, follow me, and we will go see how Miss Luna is doing with her swimming lessons and prepare for an evening beachfront feast."
"Are we being punished?" One of the Disciples who lost the match asked.
"For thinking that you could soak the Forbidden Treasures Sect uniforms and sneak a peek? Of course not. But you know the rules. If you're not injured or on a mission, you participate in Sect events. The other Elders are currently gathering those who snuck out early from today's matches so that they are all at the beach." Mariel replied.
The Disciples looked defeated, so she must not be lying, but they didn't look too enthusiastic about going swimming.
"Just think, you still get the view you wanted, but from your own close friends. How much better is that than having to sneak a peek from strangers?" Cain asked them.
"It's not the same, not the same at all. No matter how fantastic they are, I really don't want to see Dave's tits." One of the Disciples whined while the Elders burst into laughter.
"Then be glad that the Alchemist was merciful. Ingested directly, that potion lasts for years, and it is nearly impossible to dispel without high-ranking cleansing potions." Sect Master Mooney told them.
Sabbat pinched Solara, who pointed at Cain as if to say her grievance was misguided.
The real reason that Solara hadn't made the potion for her before now was actually due to pure pettiness. Cain had put Solara in a child's body, and Sabbat was the tiebreaker between childish and flat-chested figures and curvy women. If Solara changed her, it would the three to three, and there would be one more to be envious of while she waited for her body to grow up.
Once they started walking, the female Disciples of the Seaside Sect moved to guard their temporary sisters against harassment. Well, harassment from Disciples who weren't them. There were a lot of "Unintentional" Brushes and nudges that kept the four self-conscious all the way to the water, where the girls turned expectantly to wait for them to strip out of their robes and show off the swimsuits that Elder Mariel had picked.
"Fine, we will go first." One of the girls laughed, shrugging out of her robes to show off her bikini, followed by the others.
Cain's Disciples changed into swimsuits in an instant, simply by equipping them instead of their uniforms. They had picked a number of them out while they were shopping in the city, and they were sure they had the very best options available.
Most of the Seaside Sect wore trunks in the same blue as their robes and ran out into the water to stretch their muscles in preparation for an afternoon full of games.
Divine Elder Mariel had been kind to the pranked Disciples and had selected Sect color one-piece suits, the same as most of the girls were wearing.
"Why didn't the gender-bending potion change the girls to boys?" One of the disciples whispered to Cain when he noticed that they were nearly alone now that everyone was running for the water.
"It's not a gender change potion. It's a disguise potion that changes face and body shape. They're not real girls. They're traps. It loses effectiveness quickly if diluted, and the girls were too far away for it to make them match their opponents." Cain explained.
If anything, the Disciple's eyes got even bigger at that news, and he only gave Cain a quick bow before running to find Solara. He had better be able to fight as well as he brewed potions, or he might not survive playing that prank now that the Sect had seen it before.
The Elders were setting up a number of volleyball nets along the beach, and there was an existing swimming course marked out in the water with buoys and ropes. Those seemed to be the favorite pastimes of the Sect, and as soon as the nets were up, the volleyball came out of storage rings, and the disciples started picking teams.
Even Luna, who had convinced her tutor to let her take a break from learning to swim, was quickly snapped up for the games, and everyone but the targets forgot all about the previous prank the girls had played.
"It looks like they're getting along well." Cain smiled, watching the volleyball games go from a casual event into an intense competition as elemental skills were introduced into the battles.
"The balls are warded against damage. You can attack them, and it will just bounce them in the desired direction." Divine Elder Mariel shouted out so that all of the Forbidden Treasures Sect Disciples could hear.
That was a relief. They had been afraid to use skills in return since they didn't know the trick to move the ball without damaging it.
Luna, in traditional Luna fashion, was going all out, using the Water Elemental's skills to keep up in a match with the Inner Sect Disciples. You weren't allowed to attack the other team or across the net, but blocking the activation of their skills was fair game, and the Water Elementals were very good at dominating water control.
Her trick was making it hard for the Disciples to successfully get skills off, while Luna was happily using water blasts and pillars to let her team dominate the match.
"Ha, I knew the little one was the right choice. She's a summoner, and her Water Elemental alone is wrecking you." One of her teammates laughed.
"That's got to be a foul. Too many players on the field. Outside interference." The losing team's leader complained.
"All you need to do is find it and prove we cheated." Luna's team leader gloated while he used an air skill to spike the setup that Luna had placed for him.
The matches went to twenty points, then they switched opponents, playing until they were all exhausted and dinner was ready.
While practicing water movement to play the game, since most of the games were in deep water due to space limitations along the shore, Luna finally mastered the coordination to swim a little on her own and didn't have to use the Water Elemental at all to get back to shore.
It was a big accomplishment for her, and all her friends, plus most of the Seaside Disciples, were there to cheer on her struggle while she slowly made her way back after she released the Water Elemental from [Merger] to give her advice.
"You're right. She is a quick learner. I bet tomorrow she will be among the many competent swimmers here in the Sect." The Elder who had been teaching her told Cain, who was watching her progress with great pride.
"She must get it from her mother. She is exceptionally good at adapting to new situations." Cain replied.
Like the Shadowed Blade, the Seaside Sect was proficient with Mystic Cooking and had created a seafood feast for everyone to enjoy when they got back to shore.
Luna raced up to the cook with a smile, then began to frown as she poked him.
"What is it little one?" The Divine Elder asked.
"I was trying to record your cooking skill with one of my memory skills, but it won't let me," Luna explained simply, making the Demigod laugh.
"I'm far too powerful for you to be stealing my skills as your own, Miss Luna. Why not try one of my students?" He suggested.
"Well, I suppose, but they're not as good as you are."
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