The entrance to the cave was littered with deceased magical beasts, with nothing left of them but the bones.

The five man squad quietly walked past the bones, making sure not to step on them so there was no excess noise. This effort was made tremendously easier thanks to the magical elixir the Grand Mage provided.

Sir Kris took the lead, magical longsword and iron buckler in hand. Sir Rowan was behind him, and he was holding two identical magical daggers. The two apprentices pulled out their weapons, Eli with a battleaxe and Mark with a mace and shield.

As they descended further into the cave, the magical ability of one of the elixirs kicked in, allowing them to see in the darkness without need of torchlight. This made it much easier to sneak in as they did not have to worry about being noticed quickly. One hundred feet below the cave entrance through a winding path, they eventually entered the home of the White Tiger's.

Six white tiger cubs lazily slept around an altar in the middle of the room, while two older white tigers circled around the level ensuring the protection of the cubs. The owner of the loud roar that sounded out earlier was nowhere to be seen. The Knights knew white tigers preferred to hunt by ambush, so they looked along the top of the cave entrance for a perch with which a tiger could pounce from.

They found a White Tiger Matriarch imposingly looking over her cubs from a perch in the cave. Her horn was approximately eighteen inches long, and was capable of impaling anything under a level four magical beast with ease. Though the Matriarch herself was only considered a level four, she was not far off from the top of the food chart for other level four magical beasts. The only magical beasts above her was the Multi-Colored Wyvern and the Red Oak Ent.

Her sense of smell was the most fearsome thing about her, in the few moments that humans had entered her cave, she climbed up to her perch and waited for them to show themselves. She knew they were somewhere in the cave but did not know exactly where.

This was due largely in part to one of the three elixirs that the fighters were given, as it had the effect of confusing the senses of the White Tigers. In fact it could confuse the senses of all magical beasts, but had no effect on mages or humans.

Willem tapped Sir Kris and Sir Rowan on the shoulder and told them to go lure down the White Tiger Matriarch. He motioned to Eli and Mark and told them that there mission was to hold back the other White Tigers for as long as they could.

Once the signal had been given from the Grand Mage, the Knights immediately went into action and showed their presence. They clanged their weapons together, making as much noise as possible to lure the Matriarch down. From the perspective of the Matriarch, fifteen humans had entered her cave when she previously only smelled five. Many made the same movements at the same time, but the Matriarch was not a creature of critical thinking and instead jumped down to fight the intruders.

The brothers threw themselves forward to fight the white tigers who were heading toward the Knights. The cubs awoke from the noise but did not show any notion of joining the battle. They mewled out for the Matriarch as soon as the noises of battle could be heard.

Once the Matriarch realized the humans did not intend to go for the cubs, she fought more ferociously. Such was the inherent danger of fighting a Mother. She would die to protect her young, but if she knew her babies were not in danger she could move around freely attacking anyone who threatened them.

She first went toward the humans with the two daggers, as previous experience told her that the magical glow from the two weapons could pierce her hide. Instead she was blocked by Sir Kris, who taunted the magical beast and bashed the face of the White Tiger with the iron buckler. The Matriarch did her best to impale the Knight but he deftly moved around her as if she was moving in slow motion. The reason she looked as if she was in slow motion was precisely because of the potions they had been given. When the potion messed with the Matriarch's senses, she saw double of the original humans and could not accurately distinguish between them. When she struck out, it was often toward the illusory images and not the real Knights.

To normal humans and fighters such speed as they were showing would be impossible, however the last potion that was given to them to enhance their physical capabilities was not a regular elixir. It was an elixir infused with Willem's own magic, and the potency of the spell was equal to a level five elixir. Not just the potency, the duration was much longer as well. A normal level one or two potion would last at most a few minutes, whereas a level five potion lasted for as long as an hour or two.

The Knights did not know the duration, and fought as if it had the length of a level two potion. Sir Rowan flanked with Sir Kris and they began slicing through the Matriarch's legs with deadly precision. The apprentices used their abilities to fight back the two white tigers that were attempting to aid their Matriarch.

Willem watched on as the battle continued fiercely, and at some point the Knights noticed that the Grand Mage was not taking action but did not say anything about it as they were fighting for their life. Just as the fight seemed as if it was going to end in the favor of the humans, the Matriarch let out a fierce howl that made the white tigers go into a frenzy. Even the mewl of the cubs stopped as their eyes covered in a red haze.

The two white tigers began to attack the apprentices with renewed vigor and an almost obsessed need to protect their Matriarch. Their attack became more ferocious and the apprentices could no longer hold them back. At this time, Willem stepped out to ensure their safety. Tendrils of black dug from the earth of the cave and completely wrapped the two white tigers from head to toe in darkness.

The two boys wiped their brow of sweat and watched the fight between the Matriarch and their Masters. ingraining in their minds the movements and formation their Masters employed. Though the Matriarch was putting up a tough fight, the magical potions and the formation the knights used made them untouchable against their opponent. Finally feeling that it was time, Sir Rowan jumped toward the neck of the Matriarch and delivered the killing blow, severing her head from body.

Sir Kris jumped after the head to make sure the horn of the Matriarch did not break, and then looked around satisfied. He understood that this whole excursion was just a chance for the Grand Mage to test his elixirs and give the apprentices first hand experiences in fighting magical beasts. To have such a benefactor was no bad thing, and he humbly presented the head of the Matriarch to the Grand Mage.

Willem looked at the mewling cubs, then at the head of the Matriarch. He dug the horn out of her head, and wrapped magical energy around the magical core in her body. With little effort, he fished out the core and put it away into his spatial spell.

He then wrapped magical energy around one of the cubs who looked underfed compared to the others, and carried it in his arms as he climbed outside the cave. The Knights and apprentices were left to carry the immensely heavy body and head outside. Just like before, Willem drew a honing array similar to his previous one and everyone stepped into the array while calmly focusing on not dropping the body or head.

Willem activated the array and they all teleported to the previously set array ten minutes outside the hunting ground entrance. The effects of the magical potion still did not wear off, luckily for the Knights and apprentices. If it had, they would not be able to carry back their spoils of war. With cub in arm, Willem headed back to the training grounds and everyone followed behind.

After fifteen minutes, they had reached the entrance and were immediately noticed by everyone who was currently training. Sir Gehrig came forward from the guard's office, greeting the Grand Mage and marveling at the Matriarch they had hunted. Before he could ask about the events that transpired, the Grand Mage advised him that the squad would be going to subjugate a level five hellboar and to have the reward for the Matriarch ready for the two Knights upon their return.

Sir Gehrig nodded and commanded a platoon of thirty apprentices to carry the Matriarch body away from the entrance. The thirty apprentices lifted the body, but could only take five steps before their strength gave out and the body again fell to the ground. Sir Rowan and Sir Kris looked at each other, and then hoisted the body of the Matriarch to their shoulders before carrying it to the trading post. The head was taken by twenty apprentices while the other ten who had been called could only stand and gawk at the two Knights doing what thirty apprentices could not.

Of course they had no idea that the Knights had been strengthened by potions, but no one was going to tell them that. Once the Knights returned to the entrance, they bade farewell to the Knight Captain and again headed out into the forest. When they heard they would be hunting a level five hellboar, they were naturally very curious. Hellboars were nomadic by nature, and never stayed in one place for too long. This cause a problem for those who wished to hunt them, as they were incredibly hard to track. Even if the pelts and tusks sold for alot of gold.

If there truly was a hellboar in the hunting grounds, it would be in a pack of five or six, and that alone would take all the knights to subjugate one. Never in the Knights history did they dare attack a group of hellboars.

Soft mewling could be heard from the White Tiger Cub as he was being held like a satchel by Willem. Due to the confusion of the White Tiger Matriarch, he had completely forgotten about the little creature tucked in his arm. He told the group to hold on for five minutes as he teleported back to his Private Sanctum.

When he returned to his Sanctum, he came upon a peculiar sight. Kinsey had apparently used the hearth stone early, as she was currently stark naked in his bed drinking a glass of red wine. When she saw him enter the room she spat out the red wine in embarrassment but could find no clothes to cover herself up with. Before she had time to spit out an excuse about fatigue or finding a good wine Willem gently tossed the mewling Tiger Cub onto the bed beside her. The ball of fluff bounced on the bed a couple times before landing right by her left thigh, and gave out a little disgruntled cry.

"I found you a pet. Do take care of it well. They can get rather aggressive if not fed often." Willem smirked and then placed a small jug of milk on the bedside table from his spatial spell.

Before Kinsey had the time to process what had happened, Willem had disappeared in the darkness of the bed frame and had already gone completely.

Kinsey pouted and looked at the White Tiger Cub, seeing it scared she began to pet it gently. "At least someone will appreciate my cooking..."

Willem reappeared near where the Knights had decided to take a little break. His quiet teleportation allowed him to sneak up on Mark and grab him from behind without anyone noticing.

Mark jumped and swiped behind him with the full force of his mace before confirming whether it was friend or foe. he was still excited from the events of the White Tiger subjugation and could not help but react before thinking.

The mace smashed into Willem's face and caved his skull in thanks to the strength of the magic potion they had drunk earlier. Like a heavy boulder, Willem's head and body fell to the ground with a thud.