With help from the Grand Mage, Willem had officially established his connection to his magical power and could finally utilize a portion of it. Now it was time to test his new powers on the bastards that dared kidnap his friends and also whoever stole his most precious keepsake.

The Grand Mage shook his head quietly thinking about how such a talented young boy only had revenge in his heart. More so he felt bad for the fools of this "Golden Dragon" family for incurring the wrath of a Mage.

"Now then, I shall teleport you to a nearby alley close to this Golden Dragon Inn. The rest will be up to you."

As he began to chant, he clasped Willem's right shoulder with his hand. The space again distorted around them and a few seconds later they were in a small alleyway and the Dragon Family Inn was only fifteen feet away.

After recovering from the distortion sickness and temporary blindness and deafness, Willem focused his senses and nodded his head to the Earth Mage.

"Normally, we do not interfere with the regular humans and their affairs, as was decreed by the One True King. However, there is no such rule for someone who has yet to swear an oath in front of the council." The old Mage rubbed his nose.

"Of course, you need not worry about me turning my back on you, especially for everything you have done." Willem bowed to the Grand Mage.

"Once you are done with your extermination of these rodents, come to the Magic Academy. I will arrange everything for you personally. Don't forget this favor you owe me!" The Grand Mage nodded approvingly and teleported away.

Willem turned to face the Golden Dragon Inn; feeling the string attached to his friends, a black flame danced around his iris.

Faced with his first true life or death situation, Willem hesitated to step forward for just a moment. If that had happened on the battlefield, the slight hesitation would have been the death of him.

He knew he was the only one who could help his friends, and when he was a mere human the Golden Dragon family was untouchable. However even they knew they were nothing compared to the might of even a single Elementary level Mage.

Thanks to the decree of the One True King, Mages who joined the Magic Academy could not leave of their own volition unless under certain circumstances such as graduating or becoming a Grand Mage. This supported the nobles of the Bastion of Hope who could run rampant and do as they please without concern of retaliation.

For the most part, individual noble families would not even interfere with each other for fear of future repercussions. Even if one generation had no one capable in magic, that was not to say their third or fourth generation would not. Whenever disputes broke out among the lower classes it would always be a full clan dispute that would end the lineage of the other, for fear of a strong Mage being born and taking revenge.

Furthermore once one became an Elementary Mage, they had to renounce their birth name and be given a new one more befitting their elemental alignment. Though it was only in name, this change represented that they were giving up their previous life in pursuit of the truth of Magic. The only exception to the rule was if one was directly taken in by someone with the rank of a senior Mage or higher. In that regards, one would be able to learn from their master while still retaining their previous life. Such occurrences were an exception to the rule of course. The Water Mage girl of the Lions Family was one such existence.

As Willem looked around, he found a clothing store selling a large black robe. He quickly called an attendant over and purchased the robe with pocket change that the Grand Mage had given him, donning it and wrapping it tightly around himself. He lifted the hood to cover his face so that he could not easily be seen, and headed toward the Inn entrance. The signboard above the door depicted a golden dragon crushing a jewel beneath its feet.

Willem pushed open the doors and the stench of open liquor hit his sensitive nose quite fiercely. As he looked around the room for a place to sit, everyone stared at him. Some scoffed and others went back to drinking their liquor, as if they were afraid someone would come and steal it from them.

Two burly men stood at the entrance to the Inn in order to keep the riffraff out. Before they got a chance to mock the boy whom had just entered, he had already deftly maneuvered around them and took a seat at the bar. A young mistress came across the bar swiftly for fear of offending the mysterious boy and introduced herself.

"Hello esteemed young master, I will be your attendant today. M-My name is Kinsey Dragon and I am the Daughter of the o-owner of this establishment. May I please know the name and f-family of this esteemed guest to which I have the pleasure to s-serve?" Cold sweat was visibly dripping down her face as she barely managed to sputter out the three sentences. To anyone around them, she only seemed to be flustered. However to her, just matching eye contact with the youth felt like a mountain had suddenly settled onto her back, making it hard for her to even move.

"I have come to collect a debt that the Golden Dragon family owes me." From within the hood of his black robe, a deep grin full of malice could be seen. The atmosphere turned sinister and the young mistress took two steps back.

Even though the voice sounded like a child of only twelve or thirteen, it had the oppressive air of an elder of her family. Unsure of what to do next, she motioned for the two guards at the door to come speak with him while she went to go fetch her Father.

The atmosphere around the bar got unbelievably tense as the two guards sat on the stool to the left and the right of the boy. Once they had sat down, it was as if there was no more strength in their legs. Even their gaze stayed trained on the ground, fearing to look at the black-robed youth.

Willem rhythmically tapped on the bar stand with his index finger, and the scalps of the nearby patrons went numb with fear. Once the tapping stopped, not a single person dared to make a sound for fear of offending the young master who had barged in callously.

Willem focused on the magical ability he had recently been gifted and sent a small, thin wave of magical force throughout the entire building. This wave gave him a type of sixth sense as whatever the magic hit resounded back in his mind, painting a black and white picture of the surroundings. Once his magical sense had reached the cellar, he could plainly see eight children locked up in a circle. He also felt that the owner and his daughter were coming from the second floor, with roughly thirty guards in tow.

More than just their presence, he could also sense the fear and anxiety around him. Each person had a different color that indicated what they were feeling. A deep yellow aura could be felt among the patrons, as they were the closest to Willem and understood they could be killed at any moment. The children within the cellar had a slightly tinged yellow, produced because they knew that at any moment that could be tortured or sold as slaves.

Willem suddenly and quickly stood from his stool, causing the two guards beside him to get up and fumble a few steps backwards with their hands on their hilt. Willem slowly turned around and clasped his hands toward the second floor balcony as the owner appeared.

The owner of the Golden Dragon family was no fool, he kept a very strict ledger and knew of all the dealings his family had, whether legally or illegally. From this he knew that he had no debts with a child of thirteen, nor would those he owe send a thirteen year old to collect the debt.

"Who are you to walk around my establishment so mightily? In fact, I do not know why my daughter has even brought you to my attention. Apparently she needs her eyes checked, she feared you were someone of importance. Begone from my sight quickly and I will take no action against whatever family you belon-."

Willem unclasped his hands and spoke softly, but his voice resounded within the Inn so that every person could plainly hear it. "Any person not of the Golden Dragon family, take your leave now. Or else your life is forfeit. This debt that the Golden Dragon family owes, can only be paid in blood."

As he finished speaking, he stretched his hand towards one of the guards. A wisp of magical energy leapt from Willem's fingertip and struck forward at the guard he pointed at. Suddenly a black spear protruded from within his robe and struck through the guards armor, piercing his chest.

Though the guard had his hand on his hilt he could not move at all, as if an invisible force had complete control of his body. Suddenly the black spear broke off from the black-robed Mage and fully entered the guards wound like a parasite infecting a host.

The guards eyes immediately went white as he retched in horror.

After twisting and turning for a few seconds, he stopped and stood up suddenly, as if nothing was wrong. Taking out his sword from the sheath, the infected guard charged toward the other guard. As he lifted his head, everyone could clearly see that his eyes were completely white and he was crying blood. The sword quickly slashed the throat of the other guard who was completely aghast, frozen in fear.

The entire process only took five or six seconds to unfold, but caused a deep terror inside everyone that bore witness to the events. They all understood that the Golden Dragon family was dead as of this moment.

Willem again slowly spoke. "This is your last chance, anyone not to do with the Golden Dragon family will leave now or their lives are forfeit."

Willem well and truly did not know what he was capable of until he attacked the guard. When the black spear had pierced the guards armor and drew blood, it permeated through the guards body at a moments thought from Willem. Willem could feel the magic flowing and constricting the guards body, despite the connection being severed.

Naturally Willem was curious as to what he could and could not do. He wrapped the magic around the guards spine to stop him from moving, then broke off the spell to see if he could still control the magic even though it was no longer a part of him. Fascinatingly, he still maintained absolute control of the black magic, and he quickly forced the magic into the brain of the guard.

Though he still maintained consciousness, Willem could tell that the guard was suffering quite a lot. From the whites of his eyes poured blood as he twisted and turned doing his best to fight the darkness invading him. After a few seconds of struggling, it appeared as though the black magic had won out.

Willem now controlled the body as if he was a puppeteer pulling the string of a marionette. He made the guard draw his sword and approach the other uncontrolled guard. In order to ensure complete control of the situation, he forced the darkness magic inside him through his feet and had it crawl into the shadow of the uncontrolled guard.

From there, his shadow merged with the guard and he made his magic crawl along the guard's body, stopping him from moving even a muscle. As the puppet guard approached, the eyes of the now frozen guard grew wide in panic. A quick slash was all it took for blood to begin gushing from the frozen guard's throat.