Willem could not help but feel bad for the teenager, clearly he was a simpleton. If he had wanted to take advantage of the initiates, he should have done so in a private place with fewer people around. Gathering a crowd this size was just asking for trouble, especially if there was someone stronger than the bully there. As it just so happens, there was; Willem stepped closer to the inner ring in order to see how things would turn out.

The initiates looked around at the students who showed both awe and fear at the older teenager. From that, they inferred that what he was saying was the truth. Even they had heard rumors about a Grand Mage that was roughly the same age as them. Seeing this for themselves, and knowing that if the students surrounding them would not help, they reluctantly took out their coin purses filled with ten level one demonic cores and were about to hand them over to the teenager and his girlfriend. A fierce magical glow clouded their eyes as they carved this injustice into their hearts.

For a moment, Willem contemplated whether to step in or not. Seeing the fierce look in their eyes, he knew that this group would be great candidates for the Magic Academy. After suffering through this, they would focus solely on getting stronger, and in time would eventually surpass the teenager who had stolen from them. Though the thought crossed his mind, it was quickly abandoned. Those who would attempt to extort while using his name and slandering the title of a Grand Mage needed to be punished.

Before the initiates had passed over their coin purses, a lone mage stepped out from the inner circle of students surrounding them. His face was covered and the robe was a heavy black color, making him appear rather sinister. This of course, was Willem whom had decided to step in.

The teenager glanced in his direction and scoffed before sending out his magical sense. What he came back with was nothing, it was as if the mage had no magical power. From the teenagers studies, he knew that if a mage wanted to, he could hide his powers from weaker opponents. This alone was a testament to how strong the mage standing before him was.

The female to his side did the exact same thing, but did not know about mages being able to hide their magical power. Though she did think it odd that she could not sense his magical power, she did not fear anything since she had a Grand Mage by her side. She scoffed at the black-robed figure until she realized that the teenager beside her did not take action against him.

It almost appeared to her as if he was in a state of shock. The teenager remained absolutely still, thinking about the position he was in. For the last two days, since he heard about the rumors of a young Grand Mage, he has been pretending to be the Grand Mage in order to get everything he now has. He has conned many out of magical cores, inscriptions, and magical weapons as they all wanted to carry favor with him. This little fact bolstered the idea in his head that the actual Grand Mage did not care about him pretending to be someone he was not. Since it has come to this, he intended to fight the black-robed figure, collect his tax and then withdraw to seclusion with everything he has won, including the woman by his side.

The teenager stepped forward, hands raised in a fighting pose. "Do you really wish to fight against a Grand Mage, boy?" From the stature of his opponent he could surmise that it was a boy of equal age. He himself had just turned eighteen, which was at the peak of a growth period in his magical ability.

"Let us exchange some pointers." The voice sounded raspy, as if it came from the earth itself. This was Willem's way of attempting to hide his voice, and he used chantless earth magic to change his vocal pattern. Willem's magic power burst forth from his body, encompassing both the teenagers, the initiates, and the inner as well as the outer crowd. Everyone felt a chill of killing intent coming from the black-robed figure and could barely continue to stand.

Coming this far, it was too late for the teenager to stop now. He circulated his magical force through his body, willing it to move against this daunting foe. The chilling killing intent lingered in the back of his mind as he chanted a fire magic incantation. A whirlpool of magma appeared at the feet of the black-robed mage, looking as if it was going to swallow him whole. This was a high level fire magic spell, and had incredible destructive abilities. Willem used wind magic to lift himself up away from the whirlpool to the surprise of the onlookers. Now the onlookers understand what kind of duel this was going to be, a Fire Grand Mage versus an unknown wind mage. They watched intently as it was very rare to see Grand Mages fight, and treated it as a lesson.

The fire mage sent a swirling vortex of fire from the magma whirlpool to engulf the robed mage. All of a sudden, the rocks from the magma flew from the spell and became a shield for the wind mage. That was when the onlookers realized he was a dual caster. Dual casters were rare in that they possessed the magical ability to harness two magical elements while the primary mages could only handle one. Though collectively weaker, as they cannot specialize in one element, they had a lot more diversity in their tactics.

The fire mage looked on hesitantly, and attempted to bombard the earth shield with the leftover fire from the vortex. The rocks took the brunt of three hits before it collapsed. The fire mage gave a sigh of relief and was about to send the final strike to his opponent when he realized that the mage was no longer within his earth shield. During the exchange, Willem took a moment to cast a water image spell, reflecting a mirror image of him within the earth shield. He simultaneously casted the darkness spell camouflage he had previously used in the Astral Spider fight. While the fire mage fought with his mirror image, he quietly snuck behind his opponent and chantlessly casted a fire magic spell.

By the time the mirror image had disappeared, it was already too late for the fire mage. Sensing some killing intent behind him, the fire mage spun around with force as a billow of flame came from his cape. The fire lashed out from his magical cape in an attempt to consume the black-robed mage. Instead, when the black-robed man raised his hand, the flame stopped its charge toward him and fell to the ground in obedience. The fire mage looked on incredulously, and heaved a sigh of defeat. Seeing his opponent was a multi caster, he knew he was doomed to fail since the start. Multi casters had the innate ability to control three or four elements, and one of the most famous multi casters was the One True King. In the history of humans casting magic, there has only been an instance of ten multi casters. This was even less than the number of Grand Mages in the Magic Academy. They were an incredibly rare and mysterious existence, which explained why he had no idea there was one here.

"I have been defeated. You hold the power to defeat a Grand Mage, so you should not hide your face. Show us who you are." The fire mage still maintained his lie even though he was beaten. If the students came to know he had lied to them he would be better off dead.

"I am the Grand Mage of Darkness, Grandia."

Willem did not use his earth magic enhanced voice. He spoke with his normal unexpressive tone. The voice he let out burned through the hearts of the onlookers as if their veins had been set on fire.

The rumors that had been flying about the recently anointed Grand Mage came from the apprentices of Grand Mages themselves. The rumor doubled as a warning to those who crossed his path to not anger him in any way. Now it had been confirmed by the Grand Mage himself.

The power that came from his voice was infinitely more oppressive than the fire mages. Before the teenager had time to react, Willem burst forth and struck out for his opponents vitals. The fire mage was stirred into action and sent out his magical force as a defense to stop the attack. Just as he erected the barrier, he felt his magical power forcefully taken from him. His mind reeled as the entirety of his magical power was sucked from his body as if entering a void. To the crowd it looked as if the fire mage did not get his barrier up in time, but in truth he had no magical power left to even circulate. His spatial spell poured out all sorts of good materials and he fell unconscious. His last memories before he was knocked out was that of gleaming green eyes with a hint of cold blue light.

Willem collected the spoils of his victory before looking around at the crowd. The initiates clasped their hands and bowed in fear of the god that stood before them. The woman who had stood by the fire mages side had attempted to flee but was caged in like a desperate animal by the students in the crowd.

Willed coughed lightly and everyone became completely quiet. No one dared to talk or even breath after his gaze fell on the crowd. He looked at the initiates, then at the girl and lastly the crowd before finally speaking.

"This boy before you is no Grand Mage. If you doubt my words, then I will show you otherwise." He took from his spatial spell the seal of the Grand Mage. While he did that, he lowered the hood of his robes to show himself. Though his face was still young and slightly childish, he emanated an aura of unbreakable willpower.

The crowd of onlookers gasped in excitement, for most of them it was the first time they had seen the seal. For most of the students, it was the Grand Mages that they looked up to in veneration. The Grand Mages were an existence that were deserving of praise and admiration, and no one dared to go against their will. If you had qualms with a Grand Mage, you had qualms with all of them. This reason alone was enough for no one to ever dare willingly insult a Grand Mage.

"Now that you understand, heed my words. Initiates, you must realize that this was caused by your lack of strength. Engulf yourself in studies, and you will never suffer this humiliation again." Willem looked at the initiates with both a compassionate look and an oppressive glare.

"To those whom have gathered, bare witness to his crimes of attempting to pass himself off as a Grand Mage." Willem circulated his darkness magic into a black tendril and hung the fire mage up by his feet. He used some gossamer from the Astral Spider to tie the boy upside down above the Magic Academy entrance. He then took some ink and wrote in large letters above the hanging boy, "I am not a Grand Mage."

Willem's gaze finally rested on the young woman who had joined the fire mage in extorting the initiates.

"I can see that you like to be subservient, girl, so this is will be your punishment. You will escort the initiates, and anything they ask of you, you will do. If I hear anything about you not obeying this order, I will personally visit you. Relay this order to anyone who questions you."

Willem waited for her to nod in acknowledgement, and once he received it, he left.

To Willem, this whole event was a waste of good study time. His punishment on the fire mage may have seemed light, but in the coming days he will be a lot worse off than he was today. Not only did he steal from other students, but he also now could not return what he had stolen from them.

For the fire mage, this was a fate worse than death.