When Archus arrived, the tome he had given to the King was thrown in his face aggressively.

"I read about the experiments you did to this subject. What did you think these tests would gain? You have risked the safety of the Bastion of Hope. Hopefully you came to your senses and killed the monster... " The King had his hands out as if pleading for the Grand Mage to offer him solace.

The Grand Mage did not speak, but rather placed the tome back on The King's desk and opened the page to the next section after the experimentation.

The next section of the book detailed the progress of the subject in regards to magic. Thanks to the Kelpie Fur, Red Bellied Wyvern flesh, dirt of the earth golem, and the drop of griffin blood, it gave the subject increased control over the four elements. The training in these four elements did not last long before mastery.

Fire magic was the quickest to learn. Minor spells like firebolt, fireblast, wall of flames, flame sphere as well as spell fusions with earth, like magma whirlpool and eruption were learned within five days. The next to learn was earth magic. Minor spells were mudball, wave of earth, pit trap, and earth shield as well as the aforementioned fusion spells.

The King's brows furrowed. Not only was the subject a magical being that could absorb the abilities of rare monsters, it also had the ability of a dual caster... He continued to read, and his gaze soon could not even leave the page to look at Archus.

Week three was water magic. Healing, wave of water, whirlpool, waterbolt and globe as well as fused magic with wind to create rainfield and mist. Week four was wind magic. Windbolt, wind wall, windspear and tornado. Within a month, subject had mastery over the four basic elements with insights into the nature of all four elements.

The way the writing was done made the King see the subject not as someone who was tortured, but as someone who was like a family member. Archus whom had been his loyal subject for quite some time, would never go against his wishes in raising a monster to send against the Bastion of Hope.

Once the King had finally understood who the subject was, he gave a wry smile and put his head down in shame.

Archus spoke gently. "I did say I was giving you the information about Willem."

"I did not put two and two together. I even went so far as to surmise you had raised a monster against me. You have my apology, Archus." The contents of the experiments were so horrific, the King dared not think that Archus had the ability to torture his own apprentice this way.

"Do not think bad of me, my King. This torture was self induced, Willem did it all himself. I merely recorded the information based on what he told me about how he felt. When he found out he could absorb the abilities of monsters, even he was surprised. I had never heard anything like it in my life." Archus looked both pragmatic and sorrowful. "That boy is a gift from the gods sent to the Bastion of Hope, and all we have given him is regrets. This is the one thing I wish I could change in my lifetime."

The King patiently listened as Archus explained what Willem had gone through. From his Father and Mother's death, to his apprenticeship in the army and the breaking of his arms. His release from the army and attack and kidnapping of his friends, to the rescue of his friend and the destruction of the Golden Dragon Family. Lastly he spoke about the missing locket given to him by his Father, where he explained that any attempts to see where the locket had been taken was obstructed even when using the scrying orb.

The King leaned back in his chair, thinking about everything he had just heard. If he was in the shoes of the boy, he might have left the Bastion of Hope to its fate and gone into isolated training. He thumbed through the tome into the next section. This was when the cipher kicked in and the words slowly unlocked.

Darkness Magic:

String of Fate - Anything the darkness magic invades, it can control. Considered mind magic and control magic. Subject can attack the mind and body through any wound, where they can take control of the defender and do what they want. The stronger the entity, the longer the control magic will take to fully assimilate. Once control is established, user can do whatever they want with the body and mind, including manipulate memories and move according to the users thoughts.

Darkspear - Spears come from any source of darkness, and can pierce through incredibly tough armor. Tested and confirmed to pierce through level eight magical beast hide (Khepri). Spears do not have a minimum or maximum amount of summons.

Command over undead - Not only can the subject control the living, they can also raise corpses from the grave and control the recently deceased. Can give partial sentience to the undead though they are not actually living (primary use is to take orders).

Plague Field - Fifty feet in all directions from subject. Field is created that combines darkness with multiple deadly poisons, rotting the ground and enhancing the abilities of the undead. Field can be placed wherever subject wishes, at a moments notice.

Black tendrils - Tendrils are formed from black magic, that wrap around as per the subject's wish. Primarily control type, can also be summoned from any form of shadows. Presumably unlimited use.

Slipstream - Instant teleportation through anything that casts a shadow, into anything (ignores most barriers) and has a seemingly unlimited range. According to subject, they have been as far as the scar of the world by the fallen gods.

Enshroud - Manipulates darkness to hide form. Subject becomes completely invisible, except their footsteps can still be seen pressing into the ground. Sounds and smells disappear without a trace.

Umbral blade - Darkness magic can be directly manipulated and used as a weapon, primarily in the form of a dagger extending from the sleeve of the subject.

Dark Cloud - Ability to manipulate darkness magic to create a sphere of darkness that is roughly five hundred feet wide. Thick enough to block out the sun's light.

Meteor of the Beast - Summoning Magic capable of calling forth a hell hound from the demonic realm. Subject expends most magic not during the incantation but attempting to maintain the presence of the hell hound.

True Death - Tear apart the limbs, eviscerate the body, destroy the veins and the mind. As long as the soul remains intact, everything can be regenerated or regrown.

Aura of Darkness - Subject steals from nearby shadows and wraps them around himself. Those within its area of effect become lethargic and are subject to attacks of the mind. Subjects darkness magic becomes stronger.

Darkness Healing - Heal most types of injuries, but utilizes alot less magic than true death.

The One True King had a cold sweat running down his back. If what this journal is saying could be taken as fact, even he might not be a match for the young boy at this point. He personally has witnessed Meteor of the Beast and True Death, so the others would most likely be true. He sighed heavily and approved the request for Grandia to go visit the ruins. At this point in time, Grandia was no longer a Grand Mage... He had the same standing as the King himself.

The King gave the missive to Archus and sent him on his way. When Archus left he began to re-read the tome from the start.

Inside the Grand Library.

Willem had patiently waited for Archus while reading over the books in the restricted section. Most of the books had to do with summoning while using human sacrifices. Some had to do with lost magic capable of destroying large cities the size of the Bastion of Hope. He read through whatever peaked his interest, and when he got bored he would leave the restricted section and just sit in the Grand Library, watching the other students.

He often saw a girl reading here, and from what he could surmise she was also around eighteen. She had brown hair but a face full of freckles, and she was incredibly clumsy. Whenever she got up to leave, she would often trip over herself, causing a spectacle. Today she was nowhere to be found, and he was quite curious where she was. He began to meditate, and sent a shadow to go search for her. Following the magical sense he felt from her, he saw that she was in an intermediate study room, surrounded by other students. The students seem to be attacking her by pulling at her hair and throwing her around the room. The majority of the students doing the bullying are girls, but the males in the back looked like hungry wolves eyeing their prey.

Her face had been struck multiple times by the girls and welts were beginning to form on her face. She was softly whimpering while crying but did not dare to look her attacker in the eyes. She kept her head down as they began to kick her and spit on her. Once the girls were done, the boys moved in and lifted her body off the ground. With their hands around her throat, they tossed her across the room onto the teacher's desk, where they began to rip her clothes. She put up a resistance and did her best to fight back against the men, to which one punched her in the stomach to stop her from struggling against them.

She could no longer summon the strength to struggle as tears rolled down her face. They tore off her robes, revealing soft supple skin beneath and began to remove their robes as well.

From the corner of her eye, she saw a shadow watching over her in the corner of the room. It looked like a phantasm, with piercing white eyes as if it understood the truth of the world from watching what was happening to the girl. She was the only one to notice the phantasm, and she mouthed a simple sentence before passing out.

"I offer my soul, please save me."