The young boy who spilled the tea over Willem begged for his life with incredible fervor. Even more so then any other person whom had incurred Willem's wrath. He dropped to his knees and slammed his head into the ground with enough force to break skin. Watching a small line of blood pool into the dent, Willem looked on complacently.

Seeing this scene, all the other students aside from the upperclassman got on their knees and their heads hit the floor with force. The violent thuds reverberated to the outside of the classroom, and as passerby's peered in, they came across a peculiar view. Four young girls had visibly pissed themselves, one was passed out on the floor, and the other two were on their knees sobbing uncontrollably.

The boys were in no better shape, all but one were on their knees begging for their lives, and the one eldest looking boy had his hand encased in tree bark and dirt with a look of sheer panic. The most peculiar, however, was Willem. He quietly sat with an empty teacup in his hand, looking as if he had pissed himself as well.

To those in the room who had understood how the course of events occurred, they were terrified beyond reason. To those who looked on, they could not make heads or tails of what was happening. It was as if the students were worshiping a god whom had pissed himself.

Willem used darkness magic to close the doors from prying eyes, and used magic to force the stains of tea out of his robes. Though the smell lingered, it was definitely an improvement to what the other students had seen.

"This act, though I know it to be an accident, cannot go unpunished." He looked at the boys who had their heads against the ground and frowned deeply. Slowly Willem released the cast of bark and dirt, and the upperclassman dropped to his knees in thankfulness. "The boys will strip themselves down to their underwear, and go to the guards office turning themselves in for bullying. In the future, do not make me regret being lenient."

The boys listened intently, and when they heard what the punishment was they could not help but feel wronged. However none of the boys dared to say anything for fear of a more severe punishment. They began to strip down to their under cloth, and the door slammed open as they ran as fast as they could to the guard's room. From outside could be heard a storm of laughter from the students who saw a bunch of boys running down the hall almost nude.

The girls looked on horrified, unsure of what Willem would deem their punishment to be.

"Wake up your friend. Listen to every word I say. If you continue to live as sheep, hiding behind other because it's easy, do not expect to make it far. Your punishment is two hundred herbs, taken from the mountains around the magic academy. You have until the start of next week to get it done. If I find out anyone has used other resources besides their bare hands, it will be four hundred." Willem looked around and the girls nodded fervently, the young girl who passed out from shock finally came to and was explained what was required of them.

"You all may now leave." Willem waited patiently as they scurried out the door. He poured himself some tea and waited for a couple of minutes until rumbling sounds could be heard coming to the door.

The door slammed open and four guards burst into the room, hands at their hilts. They eyed the boy who was sitting at his desk drinking tea nonchalantly, then became wide eyed when they saw who it was. The boys who previously had received their punishment rushed into the room fully clothed and with a sneer on their faces. Now that they had the guards on their side it was time for this nobody to get his punishment.

"Guards, that is the person who did it! He bullied us and made us strip off our clothes! He even threatened some of the girls in the class!" The eldest boy spoke out against Willem with half truths.

Willem stood up and eyed the guards warily as he placed the cup beside him onto the desk. He stepped forward, a few feet away from them.

The guards cupped their hands in salute. "Our sincere greetings to Grandia, Grand Mage of Darkness."

Willem bowed slightly to acknowledge their salute, then glanced over at the boys whom had returned. Only four of the seven came back with guards, the others scuttled off once they received their punishment. The faces of the boys turned extremely repugnant and their hearts trembled. Not only did they choose to bully a Grand Mage, but he also let them off leniently and they sought to retaliate. They looked at each other and attempted to run away as fast as possible.

Seeing the course of events, the guards realized who was truly at fault. Once the boys tried to run, each of the guards were able to successfully capture them and return them to the room. The guards asked what the Grand Mage wanted to do with them.

"Ten lashes, foxfire whip. No more and no less, in the magic academy entrance tomorrow morning. Explain before and after what they had done. Then we will consider this indiscretion paid in full." Willem imparted his memories of the event into the guard's heads, folded his arms into his robe and left in the darkness.

Willem quietly appeared before Kinsey who had been picking herbs in the mountain. Kinsey had just stood up from collecting elf root when she saw Willem holding his hands out as if for an embrace. She fell into his arms waiting to be teleported away, but the teleport never came.

A few seconds pass and Willem released Kinsey from the hug. He then slipped back into the Darkness and reformed in his next class.

The entire event left Kinsey thoroughly confused, and a little warm blooded than usual on that humid morning. She continued collecting herbs, but her mind seemed to be wandering all over the place.

Willem arrived at his second class, advanced herbology study, and looked around the class. He still had a few minutes before anyone would arrive, so he took this time to again pour himself some tea and drink it while thinking about the content of the previous class.

The class began and ended quietly, the only difference was the treatment of the teacher toward Willem. Again whenever Willem asked a question, the teacher would bow before answering. This came as a heavy shock to the class, as the herbology teacher was known for being strict and rude to those he considered not worthy to speak to him.

The other two classes of 'the study of ancient runes' and 'advanced water theorems' came and passed without issue compared to the first class, other than the sidelong glances from the other students toward the newly respected Willem.

Though he knew that it would be like this for the next week or so, it was still tough to get through the classes without issue. Every time he opened his mouth, the class held their breath. When he stood up, even the teacher stood up and bowed slightly.

Now that classes were over, Willem intended to find Archus and spend his time studying without worrying about being bothered too much. He teleported to Archus' Private Sanctum, but it was deathly quiet. Willem looked around but could not find Archus anywhere within the Sanctum. Willem connected a thin magic thread to the orb besides Archus' desk and found him outside the Bastion of Hope, in the ruins of a small town ravaged by magical beasts.

Though he could visibly see Archus' he could not teleport directly to him. There was a magical barrier around the Bastion of Hope that could still hold him in for now. In order to leave the Bastion of Hope, one had to physically go past the barrier. Logically this meant Archus was on a mission and would return soon. This happened quite often before, and Willem had gotten quite used to it.

Willem returned to his Private Sanctum and continued his studies. In the night, Kinsey would attend to him and he would reciprocate. This caused Willem to have much more data on the subject and he was able to make her climax three times that night. She diligently went down on him, and this time did not accidentally bite him. To both of them, this was phenomenal progress compared to their awkward first night. Willem and Kinsey stayed connected for almost the entire night until they both collapsed in bed from exhaustion.

The next morning Willem and Kinsey arrived at the magic academy entrance to see four boys tied up at a square pillory. Their hands and legs were tied, forcing them to stand and showing fully exposed backs. A guard began to speak loudly to the group that had formed.

"These four boys, for the insolence of bullying and attempting to misuse the guards of the magic academy, shall be forced to withstand ten whips from the foxfire whip."

The foxfire whip twisted and flexed with incredible durability, and as the guard practiced his whip formation, the end of the whip quickly ignited with a pale blue flame before subsiding a moment later. The boys heard the sounds of whipping and cried out indignantly. They begged and pleaded, claiming great injustice had been imposed on them by their oppressors. Once the whip cracked out again, the voices quiet down to a dull cry. Kinsey held onto Willem, wanting to leave, but Willem would not budge. Even more surprising, he stared fixated at the boys in the square pillory.

The four guards from the day before took their position behind the boys roughly ten feet away. They unfurled the whips and steadied their hands. They had all previously seen Willem in the crowd, and were focused on making sure there was no mistake in the process. A guard stood on the post and counted down from five.

Five, four, three, two, one...

The whips all hurried forth as if with a mind of their own, aiming for the backs of the boys. The first whip struck, and the boys cried out in pain. At the moment of impact, the foxfire ends burst aflame for a moment and seared the flesh of the whip cut, closing it shut due to the heat.

Five, four, three, two, one...

The second whip sound came, and the boys cried had turned to wails of pain. The students looked on both in fear and with a curious expression. What could have been done to possibly deserve this punishment? What they did not know is the foxfire whip is actually one of the least damaging whips. It seared the flesh before any infection could spread, and the pain subsided as long as ice or water was placed on it for half a day. This was much less of a punishment compared to a normal whip.

The third whip, then fourth and fifth quickly occurred. They were given a brief reprieve of thirty seconds to focus on the insolence they displayed, and then the last five whips came in succession.

In the end, the wails of torture had changed to sobs of compliance. The boys were taken from the pillory, and given cold ice to place upon their backs. The ice first burned, but then the pain turned into a dull pleasure that wrapped around their back.

The guard at the podium again spoke. "The insolence of bullying and attempting to use the guards has been punished. Let this serve as a warning to you all."

The guards turned to a certain person in the crowd and bowed slightly before dismantling the pillory. The students who had gathered in the entrance looked around to figure out who the guards bowed to, but no one stood out.

Willem and Kinsey left quietly after the event occurred, Willem going to classes and Kinsey again traveled to the mountains in search of various herbs.