Gritting his teeth, Greg forced himself to ignore the feelings coming from his earth connection. It wasn't by any means easy, but Greg already had almost a full year of training by his familiar to withstand the extremes of any sensation. Except for the days he'd either been trying to assimilate a beast core and the month and a half that he'd been passed out after his ascension to the first tier, every other night had been spent in willpower training. The sensations from his earth connection had ambushed him, catching him unprepared, hence the puking. Clenching his hands into tight fists, however, Greg stood back and forced his expression into a neutral one. "The land under us is corrupted!" He stated by way of explanation. Greg went on to lay out all that he was feeling through his earth connection and his conclusion that they would have to cleanse the whole mountain lest it all become unlivable within a year or two. "Can you manage?" The healer calmly questioned. His teacher's whole

The first thing Olivia had emphasized when it came to combat, was efficiency. Never do in two moves what you could do in one! This had been the expression she'd used to explain this concept, but watching her, the depth of this simple concept of efficiency was put on full display. Olivia didn't make any move she didn't have to. She didn't evade any more than she had to, something that always left anyone observing feel like she was only avoiding disaster by the skin of her teeth. And yet, when one looked at the calm but cold and calculating look in her eyes, they'd immediately recognize that none of what she was doing was a fluke. Her eyes were constantly studying each of the creatures around her, making minute adjustments to her stance that always ensured that with only minimal movements, none of the attacks against her succeeded. In the same vein, Olivia didn't make any attacks that didn't end with a dead monster. Some of the attacks were obvious like a dagger through the eye, one to

Despite the ardor with which they fought, or the focus with which his teacher's clones worked to set up the formation, none of them had actually seen the doorway between the two realms. This is probably how it had remained hidden for so long. There were no phenomenological signs that there was anything different here compared to anywhere else on the mountain, apart from the high concentration of abyssal mana. The way the healer had mapped the exact location of the convergence was simple but effective. Using the spot where they landed as the beginning point, she had walked forward towards where the abyssal mana felt thickest and then past that to the other side. While she was in the zone of the convergence, the compass would point in all directions around her. As soon as she moved past the zone, the compass would point fixedly behind her.The moment this happened, she would stop and mark the point. Returning to the midpoint between where she started and where she stopped, she'd turn an

Greg would have protested that they were wasting precious seconds, but with her speed, he knew that she would set up whatever trap she wished to and be back even before their new flying vessel had fully taken form within his storage ring. Besides, Greg understood all too well the importance of hitting first and making that first hit count. Whatever it was that was coming through the crumbling bridge, Greg didn't want to face it while it was in peak form. If they injured it with this first salvo, even if it was just preventing it from being able to chase after them, then it'd be worth it. He could thus raise no objections to Olivia's plan. Despite being a mana construct, Olivia easily traversed through the formation placing the various bombs and potion vials in such a way that, no matter where their visitor landed, he was sure to get a nasty surprise. The reason Olivia could traverse through the formation was because it was designed to deprive an area of ambient mana. Structured mana

There was no explaining the abomination that was chasing after them. From what little he had seen, there was a mass of tentacles, several clawed hands, and even more terrifying maws, none of which was arranged in a manner that made any anatomical or even morphological sense. Two wings made of flesh, large enough to give shade to a hundred people were what allowed this monstrosity to keep up with them despite their blistering speed. But even more than the morphological paradox that was the creature's physical appearance, it was the mystical aspects of the being that made Greg abandon any desire to get a better look at the being. Foulness! Madness! corruption! contamination! Given how fast he rolled, Greg only got to see the creature for less than a second, and yet, his very sanity had started fraying from just that small glimpse. It was as if the thing behind him was the very embodiment of madness. To merely look upon it would be relinquishing any hold one had on sanity. This wasn't