The Sixth School Ch. 017

In the end, this turned out to be the right thing to do. When the argument had been going on for about ten minutes, his mother went quiet for a while, her gaze dropping to the ground. "I never got to see your father's body," She had said quietly, catching Greg completely off guard. "The snow bear that attacked your hunting party was too ferocious," She explained. "No one had the time or chance to go back for your father's body. They barely even managed to save you," she continued. "The man I loved died, and all I received were just empty words telling me that he was gone forever. I never got to see him one last time or to give him the last respects a wife should," She said, turning back to look up at him. There were no tears in the woman's eyes. The pain he could see in them and the bitterness Greg could hear in her voice stabbed at his heart like a thousand needles. "You can go hunting to honor your father, but I... I have nothing," She had continued. "Please... just allow me to do this little bit... for him," She had pleaded.

Unable to help himself, Greg had pulled the woman into a tight embrace. He did not attempt to verbally comfort her as he knew that no words would be able to even touch the deep pain that his mother felt at the death of his father. In the end, all Greg said was, "Don't hesitate to come to me if you need any help. And not just with the boar, with anything Mother," He had emphasized. "Even if you just want to talk, I'm here for you," He'd added. With a small smile, his mother had nodded against his chest in acknowledgment. That discussion was the reason that Greg no longer raised any objections on the subsequent days when his mother came out to deal with the boars that he'd hunted. The same still held true today. After making sure the animal was properly racked, he walked into the house, leaving his mother to do her thing...

***

Greg stood in the bathroom with his hands held out to his sides even as Olivia's delicate hands roamed over his body. In this world, they didn't have the same kind of soap that Greg knew from Earth. They did, however, have a certain oily mixture that gave off a minty smell that they used in both washing items and bathing. Curiously, when mixed with water, this oily mixture also formed suds, just like the soap back on earth. It was this soapy mixture that the familiar was slowly spreading over his body. Greg could feel Olivia's glorious mounds press into his back even as she reached around and slowly ran his hands up and down his torso. The temptress occasionally brought her hands just an inch shy of his cock which was stiff as a steel bar at the moment. Just as Greg's anticipation starts to build up, however, the tease would pull her hands away. "Why are you so tense," the little minx whispered in his ear.

Greg knew perfectly well that Olivia was teasing him. He, however, chose to voice what had been on his mind. "It's been four days now, and yet other than on the day I left the infirmary, I haven't seen hide nor hair of my uncle," Greg spoke up.

"I'm not surprised, " Olivia answered, continuing her sensual massage of his torso even as she lathered up his back with her boobs. "You've been playing his game, by his rules, on his chosen field of engagement," She answered. "If I was him, I wouldn't attack when you were expecting me either," She declared. "I'd wait until you either develop a false sense of security, or you got too frazzled from anticipating an attack that doesn't seem to be coming," She stated. "Just when you are on that edge, about to snap from the tension, I'd throw everything I have at you making sure you have no room to escape," She declared.

Greg was quiet for a while as he turned the familiar's words over in his head. She was right. It was his uncle that had baited him to go hunting. Meaning that whatever the man had planned, it would probably happen within the forest. He was the one that had chosen the stage, and Greg had even been dumb enough to tell him how long he would be on that stage. He had given his uncle a whole seven days in which he could prepare to attack him. Greg turned around in her embrace to face Olivia. "You had to have known that I was making a mistake at the time that I announced the seven-day period," He stated. "Why didn't you stop me?" He asked.

"One, there was a chance that your uncle would be equally as impetuous and would attack you on the first day," She declared. "Secondly and even more importantly, if I give you all the answers whenever you need them, how will you learn and grow as a person?" The familiar posed with a smile up at him. "A parent can help a child to walk, they can't, however, walk on behalf of the child, lest they rob that child of their ability to walk," She declared. "If you ever find yourself in mortal danger through no fault of your own, I'll do everything within my abilities to save you," She declared. "However, if you make stupid decisions that land you in trouble, you can be certain that I won't save you from their consequences," She informed him.

A brow arched on Greg's face. "Didn't you say that you are mine and would do anything I asked?" He posed.

The smile on Olivia's face widened as she pressed her bountiful chest even more against Greg. "I am yours, and I will do anything you ask me," She agreed. "If you asked me to, I could go kill your uncle right now," She said, the smile still on her lips despite the fact that she was contemplating murder. "All you have to do is say the word," She stated. "However, just because I'd do whatever you ask of me, doesn't mean that I think it's the right thing to do," She went on. "If you depend on me to face this enemy, what's to stop you from depending on me for the next, and the next one after that? Your uncle isn't even a first-tier mage. You have a system that grants you an almost infinite number of ways to deal with this little problem. If you can't even summon the strength and courage to face down this little hurdle in your path, you might as well give up on your desire to rise to the top," She said.

Greg could see where the familiar was coming from. And though it would make his path a lot more thorny, Greg could understand why it was important for him to learn to deal with his issues and learn from the consequences of his own mistakes. I mean, he was the one that had been asking the familiar to help him strengthen his willpower. How could he then turn around and try to take the easy path through life? Besides it wasn't like the familiar was abandoning him altogether. If a second-tier mage were to attack him out of nowhere, the familiar would step in and save Greg. It was only if Greg walked up to a second-tier mage and slap them that the familiar wouldn't intervene. Greg would have to face the consequences of that action on his own. The promise to be saved from disasters that weren't of his own making was already more than most had when they started out as a mage. "Can I at least ask you for advice?" He posed with a small smile.

"Haven't you already been doing that?" Olivia replied with a smile. "I'll always be willing to offer you a word of advice when you need it," She confirmed. "Take the current situation for example," She declared. "You might think that you are the one on the back foot. But, in reality, all the initiative is with you," She informed him. A slight frown creased Greg's brow as he tried to figure out how this was the case. "Think about it master," The familiar continued. "Your uncle came and tried to instigate you to go hunting," She said. "In this town, there is no way one can avoid hunting forever, especially after you'd already made clear that you would be taking care of your mother and sister," She explained. "At some point or the other, you would have gone hunting anyway. So, why go out of his way to get you to go hunting?" She posed.

Greg thought on it for a moment before answering. "Because whatever plans he has, they can't wait long!" He at last answered.

"Exactly," Olivia replied. "When you gave yourself seven days to go hunting, your uncle didn't object, why?" the familiar once again asked.

This time there was no delay in Greg's reply. "Because his plans could accommodate that window of time," He declared.

"Four of those seven days are already wasted, so?" Olivia continued.

"He has only three days within which to act," Greg immediately answered with a smile on his face.

"But there's a big problem here," Olivia spoke up, causing the smile on Greg's face to stiffen a little. "What if the seven days aren't the maximum window his plan allows?" she asked. From the tone of her voice, Greg could see that the familiar wasn't the least bit worried. The problem she was raising wasn't a problem for her, it was just a test for him. "What if your uncle's plan can accommodate an eight, nine, or ten-day window? What if it can accommodate a fortnight of delay before he acts?" she posed.

Greg wasn't caught off guard by the question as Olivia had already given him the answer to it at the start of their conversation. "It doesn't matter how long he can wait because I'll no longer be playing his game," He said, causing the smile on Olivia's face to widen. "I've already hunted enough boar to honor my father and make good on the promise I made to my neighbors," He declared. "And even if it's not enough, I have the system to make up for whatever shortfall there might be," Greg voiced what he was thinking. "I won't go on any more hunts after today. Starting tomorrow, if my uncle wants to find me, he can go to the town infirmary where I'll be learning from the healer!" Greg declared, unable to hide his excitement...

***

Bit of chapter trivia, if you could only get three of the title items, which three would you get?

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