Willem walked into the Grand Library unabashed, ignoring the snickers and jeers of his peers.

The inside of the Grand Library was filled with rows upon rows of bookcases for as far as the eye could see. Study tables were situated in each section for use by the students and a few old women stood at the front of the Grand Library, taking payments and distributing material.

Curiously to Willem, the old lady was not dealing in coppers or silvers or even gold coins, but instead using an item called the 'burnt wood tile'. Just as the name suggested, it was a small piece roughly three by two inches made of a glowing burnt wood.

Before he was caught lingering, Willem moved on from the front entrance and headed to the restricted section of Grand Library, as was detailed by the Grand Mage of Earth.

Upon arrival, the guard that protected the restricted section stopped Willem and asked to see some identification. Willem, having no such identification yet, was at a loss as to what to do.

A gentle knock resounded from the opposite side of the closed door to the restricted room, and the guard tensed up before allowing Willem to pass. Kinsey stayed behind Willem as closely as possible.

"Greetings to my Master." Willem bowed as he entered the restricted section of the Grand Library with Kinsey and saw the old man once again.

"Now that your business with the normal folk is over, I can now properly teach you about Magic." The Grand Mage nodded his head approvingly before handing Willem a large tome.

The large leather bound tome was heavy, even while Willem was circulating his magical power. It was the first time since he became a Mage that he had ever struggled to carry or move something.

"You can put it over there." The old Mage pointed at a nearby table and Willem did as he was told.

"Why did you ask me to come here? Orientation begins tomorrow morning and it is already dusk." Despite Willem's questioning, he did not stop his duties of carrying the old Mage's books to the table.

"Orientation? Is that what the carriage driver said? I have half a mind to find him and put him six feet under." The old man grumbled as he swiftly opened and closed various books looking for very specific information.

"So he was lying?" Willem was a bit confused.

"No, but you are special, orientation is basically a way for the strong to oppress the weak who just enter the school." The old Mage finally found the book he was looking for and tossed it to Willem.

Willem caught the book and brought it to the desk while mulling over what the Grand Mage said.

At this point, Kinsey had sat down at the table and placed down the box that Willem gave to her, while she gently touched the books that the Grand Mage was gathering together. Her curiosity had finally gotten the better of her, since she was experiencing so many new things all at once.

"Mister, Grand Mage, Sir... What are all these books for?" Kinsey asked gently.

"They are the history of Magic as we humans know it. This is the first thing you will learn, Willem." The old man flipped through a few more books before tossing Willem another one to add to the pile.

When Willem placed the book on the table and turned around, all five of his senses screamed at him that something dangerous was about to happen.

Willem reacted by springing backward with all the magical force he could circulate into his legs, narrowly avoiding a spike of earth that came from the floor.

"What!" Willem could not help but let out a question at the sudden attack as he saw the Grand Mage with a placid look on his face.

"You do not know, so I will teach you this once. Unless you on equal standing with the Mage you are talking to, your attendant may not speak in his presence. Failure to do so is a great offense to the Mage." The Grand Mage seemed to calm down after explaining the offense he had taken.

"I meant no offense Grand Mage." Willem bowed as he cupped his hands in front of his body. "I truly did not know."

"Now you do, be sure to keep your attendant in line until you at least grow a little stronger." The old man went back to sifting through the books.

Willem looked at Kinsey but she could not match his gaze. To have offended a Grand Mage and not lost a limb is already considered a miracle. Kinsey remembered back to when her Mother would tell her stories of Grand Mages. They had a fierce temperament that equaled their abilities to use Magic. An enraged Grand Mage was like a natural disaster that could not be easily controlled.

"I will engrave these words in my heart." Willem placated the old man by offering a few appeasing words.

The Grand Mage seemed to happily accept the words as his demeanor changed and his footsteps became a little lighter.

When the Grand Mage was done sorting, there was a total of thirty books sitting on top of the table. The Grand Mage organized them in a certain order so that Willem would have an easier time grasping exactly what the concept of Magic was.

"You will have all these read by tomorrow morning. You no longer need to pretend that you need sleep, now that you are here." The Grand Mage chuckled and handed Willem his first book.

Willem sighed and took the first book to begin reading, but as soon as he opened it a strong magical force attempted to attack him.

The magical force directed itself toward Willem's eyes as it poured from the very book itself. Willem circulated his magical power to his hands and arms and crudely pushed the opposing magical force back into the book before closing it.

"What was that..." Willem looked at the Grand Mage questioningly.

"Of course, that is the will of the book itself. A normal human would die if they had been attacked by that level of power. To anyone who is not worthy to read the book, they cannot view the content. You, Willem, are clearly worthy. Suppress the power it possesses and read about the past of our people." The Grand Mage nodded again in approval and began to cast a spell.

When the spell was completed, the Grand Mage's body began to twist and distort like he was being absorbed by an unknown force. Willem understood since he had heard it once before, the Grand Mage was casting his teleportation spell.

Warily, Willem picked up the first book once more and began reading out loud to Kinsey while forcefully suppressing the magical power of the book.

After an hour had passed, Willem finally ran out of magical power and could no longer suppress the book's strength. With the last of his magical power he forced the book closed and bound it with the magical iron lock that it came with.

Breathing heavily, Willem smiled at Kinsey who was still unable to look him in the eyes.

"Kinsey." Willem whispered as he inched closer to the beautiful young woman.

"Yes, Master?" Kinsey stared at her shoes as she whispered back.

Willem straightened his fingers and delivered a gentle chop to Kinsey's forehead.

"You need to stop worrying and just embrace this new world. If I am going to survive then I need your help." Willem spoke what he was feeling in his heart.

Kinsey held her forehead where she had been gently hit and tears rolled down her face, not from pain but from pleasure. This was the first time she had ever been told that she was needed by someone.

"I will do my best." Kinsey affirmed to herself and to Willem.

Kinsey and Willem slowly inched closer to each other, and were just about to confirm their feelings, when the space around a nearby bookshelf began to twist and distort.

In mere moments, the Grand Mage appeared in front of Willem and Kinsey once again.

"I see you exhausted your magical power. Now the real learning can begin." The Grand Mage had a mischievous look on his face as he offered his hand to Willem.

Willem joined hands with Kinsey as the Grand Mage gathered all the books on the table together and casted a spell.

The spell the Grand Mage casted created a vacuum that sucked the books into his body.

"This is a spacial spell that you would normally learn in the third year of your studies." The Grand Mage laughed as he grabbed Willem's hand.

As he locked hands with Willem, the space again began to distort and before he knew it, Willem and Kinsey were overcome with temporary blindness and deafness.

"Master! Master!" Kinsey cried out loud as she held tightly onto Willem's body.

She still felt the subtle callouses from his hands when Willem ploughed the fields his family owned, as well as the gentle strength his arms possessed and the warmth of his body.

After a few minutes, the blindness and deafness faded away for Willem. For Kinsey, it took several more minutes to come back to her senses.

"We have the recovery from our magical power, normal humans have no such fortune." The Grand Mage explained as Willem looked after Kinsey, waiting for her to return to her senses.

"Is there a way to impart some of my power to her? So that she will not have to suffer every time?" Willem held Kinsey who was crying softly from the shock to her body.

"Of course, you will learn this method in time. It also happens to be an excellent way to keep an attendant in line." The Grand Mage snapped his fingers, and rows of attendants began to enter the room that the three were in.

"Are we back in your Private Sanctum?" Willem recognized the orb on the pedestal as well as the decor of the room from the last time he was here.

"We are, for a time this shall be your home until you can make your own Private Sanctum." The Grand Mage snapped his fingers again and a small female attendant brought two cups of tea for the Grand Mage and Willem to take.

"You will study with me at night and assist in my experiments, and go to school during the day. Your attendant will remain here with me, and will learn from my attendants what she should and should not do." The old man finished speaking and sipped at his tea.

The soothing tea leaves drifted around the rim of the golden cup as Willem and the Grand Mage drank from it.

Willem looked apprehensively at Kinsey who was still suffering a bit from the Teleportation Magic.

Understanding that Willem had slight affections for the young woman who was just a few years older than him, the Grand Mage made a decree for his attendants.

"On my name as The Grand Mage of Earth, Archus. I hereby proclaim that no harm shall come to this young girl as she is now under our protection."

The attendants prostrated themselves before the Grand Mage as his words carried throughout the entire Private Sanctum.

"Thank you, Master." Willem nodded his head in acceptance at the terms the Grand Mage set just as Kinsey's senses returned to her fully.

"Kinsey, you will learn from the attendants here while I go to school. We will be together when school is done okay?" Willem placed both his hands on the side of Kinsey's face and looked into her eyes as they sat side by side.

"I understand." Kinsey said wholeheartedly as she began to blush. No man had ever been so close to her or so nice to her since she was born.

Despite being of marrying age, she had always been used as a pawn in her Father's schemes and therefore had to remain pure until she could be used. The only practice she got speaking with men was when she attended the meetings of her Father, where she would learn how to talk passively or aggressively depending on what the mood allowed.

"Willem, come with me." The Grand Mage stood up after finishing his tea and began walking toward the door.

"Yes, Master." Willem stood up and let go of Kinsey's face before following closely behind the Grand Mage.