"The obsidian earthmover poses two main threats to you. The first, as it's already demonstrated, is its ability to use the earth below your feet as a weapon. To counter that, we'll be using the Earth-lock formation," She explained as she pulled out a final plate from the storage ring. Unlike the others, the clone that took this plate placed it above the surface right at the center of the clearing, next to where they stood. "As soon as I supply mana to the control plate," She said, placing a foot on this last plate. "Then even a fourth-tier earth mage will have a hard time controlling the earth within the boundaries of the formation. Mages in the third tier and below won't be able to so much as move a mote of dust within the formation boundaries with their magic," She explained. Olivia didn't pause in her motions even as she continued to lay out her plan. While she spoke, she had produced another five discs, only these seemed to be different from the first ones. Like the first set, th

It... it felt unsatisfactory! It was winding back to throw the perfect punch at one's opponent only to get your feet tangled and end up punching air. Greg grit his teeth in frustration, fighting the urge to lash out, to find someone to blame for this outcome. Whether it be himself for not following through on his part of the plan, or the healer giving him a defective token, Greg wanted to vent his displeasure on someone. The only reason he managed to keep control of himself was how pointless it would be. Like the tantrums of a child after they had failed to get their way. Not only would it show immaturity on his part, but worse yet, it wouldn't undo what had already happened. He had fucked up, and that was that! 'Y... you need to run, master!" Greg's self-loathing went up several notches when he heard just how weak even her mental voice was. Still, he couldn't argue with Olivia's recommendation. With the obfuscation amulet, the obsidian earthmover wouldn't be able to detect him ev

Not that it mattered.There was no doubt in Greg that the beast's fate had been sealed the moment the healer walked into the clearing. He didn't have to wait long for his words to be proven true. Years as a creature that few others were willing to challenge had left the obsidian earthmover too bold for its own good. In the end, it chose to challenge the healer. The last mistake it would ever make in this life. With a deep bellow, the beast aimed its long obsidian horn at the healer and began to charge at her. Greg turned to look at his teacher, curious to see what she would do in response. With her hands behind her back, however, the healer just calmly watched it approach.Owing to its massive size, the beast only needed to take ten steps to cross the distance between them from the other side of the clearing. This short distance, however, might as well have been an impassable chasm for the beast. For reasons that Greg couldn't decipher, it only managed to accelerate in the first four

Roka... Roka..." A smile crossed Greg's face as his mother's voice roused him from sleep. Given the schedule he maintained since coming to this world, Greg was already an early riser. Ever since the day he gave his mother her first, massage, however, she would come into his room just a minute or two before he usually woke up and pretend to wake him up. Greg knew it was a pretense not because of anything about her behavior but because of the DISCERNING ring. Ever since they had crossed that line into the taboo, rather than try to pull back and go back to the way things were before, his mother had leaned into it fully. She played the role of the innocent mother while Greg was the lecherous son taking advantage of her. Greg didn't know why the fantasy of having her son take advantage of her turned his mother on so much. But so long as they were both happy, he didn't care either way. Opening his eyes to find her seated at the edge of his bed, Greg smiled even as he reached up from under

Greg looked between the three cores for a while. He didn't have to think long. The very fact that he even had to think at all was an answer in itself. As soon as he caught sight of the core from the obsidian earthmover, his body's reaction was immediate and didn't require any conscious thought on his part. With these three cores, while they were each beautiful and mysterious in their own ways, Greg didn't feel himself being drawn to any of them the same way he had been with the earth element core. Shaking his head, Greg replied. "No, nothing," He stated. "So, not only is your attraction specific to the earth element, it's not affected by the tier of the core or rarity of the beast-core if it's not from an earth element beast," She assessed. The researcher in the healer shined through from the simple assessment. Olivia had only suggested testing for different elements and from that simple suggestion, she had thought of other aspects to check for that neither he nor his familiar had e