Greg knew that being more earth-aligned would make being a healer harder, but it was just a downside he'd have to accept and make peace with. All the while, he would be training his soul's resilience. If he could tackle a tier-three beast core while being barely a first-tier mage, Greg was confident he could do the same with a tier-five core while in the third tier as a mage. Once he was both earth and life aligned, all he'd have to do was struggle to make it to the fifth tier, at which point, the fragment of divinity given to him by the deity-level being would come into play. The whole plan's success hinged on whether he could increase his affinity post-awakening or not. If he could, then Greg didn't see any other fatal flaws in his thinking. If he couldn't however, then he'd have to figure out some other way of dealing with his reduction in affinity as a result of learning and using healing magic. One thing, however, was for certain, he had no plans of abandoning his teacher to her

It was all made up, of course. Greg didn't have a sister inside the dungeon. He, however, had thought long and hard about how he'd go about this. For all their dysfunction, the two before him seemed to, in their own convoluted way, love each other. If he just killed the man, with no reason or justification, it was almost certain to turn the wife against him. At best, she would just refuse to cooperate with him, at worst, she would try to sabotage his plans if not outright kill him. No, if he was going to take out the husband, he'd have to give a justification that not even she could argue against. Luckily for Greg, the two had already given him the bits and pieces he'd need to put his plan together. From her, Greg had gotten the confession that she knew that her husband was more than a mere merchant. During his very first dungeon run, after he'd had his first run-in with Sir Joram, he'd gone to find the man's wife in the garden of this mansion. That's where she'd admitted that she kn

A mocking smile crossed Greg's lips even as he moved across the room to stand before the grimacing merchant. He was careful not to come within arm's reach of either the man or his wife. If any of them thought to try anything, he'd have at least a second to react. With his draw speed, he was certain he could let loose an arrow in that window. While the merchant was gritting his teeth because of the pain and directing a baleful glare at him, his wife stood frozen. It had taken a second, but Greg could see that it was finally sinking in what her husband had just done. That she was only alive, not because the man she loved had protected her, but because their foe had seen through him. Her gaze slowly turned in the merchant's direction and Greg could see the betrayal she felt. His smile only widened as he drove the dagger deeper."I can understand why a soulless worm like you wouldn't care anything about my sister, Sir Joram. But your own wife?" He posed, leaving the implication unspoken.

Greg could tell that Sir Joram was trying to figure out a way to get free of them. Pulling them back out was a no-go as the arrowheads would just do more damage if they once again reentered his body. The only safe way to go about it would be to snap off the shafts of the arrows where they entered his body, grit his teeth, and push off from the wall. The pain would be excruciating, but in the rage that he was in, Greg doubted that the man wouldn't be able to grit his teeth and bear it. The only reason the man didn't, Greg suspected, is because of the cold looks Greg kept sending his way every three to five seconds. No threats were spoken, but the look in Greg's eyes left very little doubt that Greg would pin him to the wall with even more arrows if he tried to break free of the two. This time the man had been lucky not to bleed out from an arrow nicking the wrong blood vessel. He, however, was acutely aware that he might not be so lucky next time. The man didn't harbor any illusions

Greg walked through Sir Joram's mansion. On his way, he came across a number of servants, but in all cases, they only sent a fearful glance his way before resuming their work with extra fervor. Given this, Greg knew that there was no way they didn't know what it was that had happened to their boss by his hand. They most certainly did. The reason Greg remained calm despite this, was because the merchant himself had ensured their silence. Part of the contract that these servants had signed was that if they saw anything that they thought should be reported to the authorities, they would first have to pass it by the head of the house. He would then either agree and give the go-ahead or disagree and the matter would end there. To report something that you had been told not to or without first seeking permission was a breach of contract and would lead to severe consequences.Sir Joram had probably done this to protect himself just in case one of the servants caught wind of his more illegal