The Sixth School Ch. 026

"What's your second requirement?"

Once again, being completely frozen saved Greg from having to reveal what he truly felt at the moment. As soon as the healer had posed the question, Greg felt what could only be described as a flood of lust wash over him. From her sharp intake of breath that the healer took and the way her nipples started to poke through the fabric of her dress, it was clear that she too was feeling the change in the room as keenly as Greg was. It was almost as if Olivia had released a wave of pheromones in the room that turned their arousal all the way up to eleven. The only reason Greg wasn't stiff like the mast on a ship was because his whole body had been frozen by the familiar's spell. If for whatever reason the familiar released the spell she'd put him under at this moment, he'd probably break some world record for the fastest boner ever.

"My second requirement is even simpler than the first," Olivia relayed. "I am a being with particular tastes. I desire certain... pleasures," She said. "Part of my arrangement with the boy requires him to... let's say... indulge in said pleasures," Olivia stated. A guarded look crossed the healer's face when she heard this. Greg himself wasn't sure what to make of what Olivia seemed to be indirectly requesting of the healer. Greg would be lying if he said he didn't desire the healer. He'd been enchanted by the woman from the very moment he saw her. This fact stayed the same even to the present. But to get her by means of a compelled arrangement, Greg wasn't sure if he wanted things to go down this way between the two of them. Luckily for the two of them, the familiar put them both at ease with her next words. "No need to give me that look, I don't really care whether it is with you, or with any other woman in the town or beyond, " she stated. "Besides, you didn't seem so objected to indulging in a little risqué behavior when it was just you and the boy while he was in your care," She added teasingly. Greg watched as a blush brightened the healer's cheeks as she realized that the one before her was aware of what had gone on between her and Roka while he'd still been in the infirmary. "My only requirement is that you do not interfere with this," Olivia finally made her condition known.

If Greg could, he would have sighed as he realized that the familiar wasn't trying to compel the healer to have sex with him. She was just creating a justification for all the lewd behavior that Greg would probably engage in in the future. This way, if the healer picked up on his behavior, she wouldn't gain a bad impression of Greg, she would just think that he was doing so because of his arrangement with the familiar.

Once the misunderstanding was passed, Greg once again realized that Olivia had only told a technical truth and not an actual one. As his familiar, there were no requirements that Greg had to fulfill for her to serve him. If anything she seemed all too eager to serve him in any way he wished to have her. On the other hand, as the creator of the system, for him to gain items from the Eros shop, he would have to earn lust points. This would require him to engage in certain... behaviors, as the healer had implied. So in some technical way, they did have such an arrangement as Olivia had said just not in the direct way that she had led the healer to believe. The more Greg thought over this conversation, the more keenly aware he became of how careful he'd have to be when dealing with the familiar. Unless he was completely certain of what she meant, then he couldn't take anything she said at face value.

"If that's all, then you won't find any objection from me," The healer replied, a clear note of relief in her tone of voice.

"Good, I'm glad we can understand each other," Olivia affirmed.

Greg got the impression that Olivia was about to release the spell that held him in place. Before she could, however, the healer spoke up. "I just have one question," She said. "If you know enough to help me on to the road to transcend the nine tiers, then surely you know enough to guide the boy to begin his journey as a mage. Why involve me at all?" She asked.

Greg couldn't help but panic on Olivia's behalf. This was the biggest hole in the tapestry that Olivia had tried to weave so far. She had made the healer think that she was speaking on behalf of her original. But in reality, this wasn't the case. She was just an avatar left behind to cater to a mundane human and nothing more. She made it seem like if she wanted to, she could easily help the healer transcend the nine tiers. How then was it that she couldn't teach a mundane human how to become a first-tier mage?

However, unlike Greg, who, though immobile, was panicking on the inside, the familiar sounded completely relaxed as she replied. "Much to my shame, the answer to that is simple," She declared. "Ignorance," She stated simply after a short pause. "Unlike you, I have never at any point in my life been a tier one mage," She relayed. "I was born above the tiers and above the tiers I remain to this day. "Mana cores and mana pathways are things I only know of in theory seeing as I've never had one myself," She stated. "I might tell the boy of what I've read and heard but I wouldn't be able to guide him through the process the same way one who has gone through it would. Tell me, healer, if you wanted to go somewhere, who would you rather have guide you? Someone who has heard about how to reach the place you want to go? Or someone who has actually been there before" Olivia posed. The silence that followed this question was an answer in itself. "Look back at the boy, I am about to release him from the spell," The familiar gave a heads up.

The healer quietly nodded as she turned back toward him.

If the familiar hadn't given the warning to the healer, Greg himself would have fumbled when suddenly released from the spell. Now, however, when he was released from the spell, he smoothly continued to speak. "I am not strong enough to face your enemies, teacher," He spoke candidly. And I probably won't be for a very long time," he added. "However, if you teach me, then I promise to do everything in my power to grow as strong as I can be," He declared in a resolute tone that relayed that these weren't just empty words to him. "When I am strong enough, you won't even have to call me to your side to help you fight your enemies. I will be the hammer of justice. I'll be the blade of retribution that makes everyone that had even the smallest of parts to play in the betrayal pay for their sins against you," He stated.

From the look of shock and surprise on the healer's face, it was clear that she hadn't been expecting Greg to go this far. He wasn't just offering to help her in her revenge, he was willing to take it up himself and make it his business to see the people that wronged her were punished. Greg knew that he could potentially be getting himself in a lot of trouble later on. However, unlike the familiar, his promise was straightforward, and most importantly, one that he planned on actually following through on. Just because his familiar had been willing to play word games with the woman, didn't mean that he was as well. Greg knew that chances are that eventually, there'd be a falling out between the healer and Olivia when it became clear that she'd promised more than she could deliver. When that time came, Greg didn't want the healer thinking that he too was on the list of people that had taken advantage of her.

"Master, aren't you promising a bit too much?" Olivia spoke up. Clearly, even she was caught off guard by Greg's promise and felt compelled to speak.

"If she helps me become a mage, she will have given me much," Greg countered in a firm tone.

"What happens if you die before you even gain enough power to be able to contend with them?" The healer posed.

Greg couldn't help but smile as this was a question that he'd asked a deity-level being just the day prior. Greg's response was the same as that of the being. "Then I probably wasn't going to be of any use to you anyway," He resolutely said.

There was a long silence as the healer regarded him. "You do know that you just volunteered to fight eighth and ninth-tier mages, right?" She posed in an amused tone.

Greg was tempted to make a quip about how they'd harmed the most attractive woman he'd ever seen and needed to pay for that. He, however, knew that this was a serious affair and so he just nodded to make it clear that he knew what he was doing. The healer remained silent, but Greg could see that her gaze had become a lot warmer toward him. "You are an ignorant child, Roka," She said, catching Greg off-guard. Greg was ready to say something to show that he was being completely serious. The healer, however, held up her hand and kept him from speaking. "I appreciate your bravery, Greg, but with all due respect, you've never met an eighth or ninth-tier mage. You have no idea just how powerful they can be," She relayed. "But tell you what," She continued. "If you get to the same tier as I am at, and you still want to help me fight, I'll take you up on the offer, okay?" she posed.

Greg couldn't help but think that here was another powerhouse waiting for him to grow powerful enough to be useful to her. Still, he had to show the right amount of surprise and delight at her words. "Does that mean..."

The healer smiled. "You have an event tomorrow to honor your father, don't you?" The healer asked. Greg nodded. "Well starting the day after, we'll start preparing you for the process of making both your core and mana pathways," She informed him...

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