The night was filled with rain and the Bastion of Hope awoke to an early morning of flowers covered in dew. The scenery was unique and very hospitable to the souls of all who gazed upon it.

Kinsey had woken up earlier than usual, and decided to wake up Anna. This was Anna's first day as an attendant to Willem and Kinsey thought it best to wake her up early to teach her the things she would need to know.

The night before, a cot had been placed from Willem's spatial spell for Anna. Kinsey and the White Tiger Cub slept in the same bad as Willem.

Kinsey woke up Anna and got her to wash up while picking out some clothes for her.

The clothes were adjusted by Kinsey, and once Anna was done washing up she slowly donned the clothes. Kinsey went through her usual routine of bathing the Tiger Cub and feeding it, preparing breakfast and starting a couple experiments while carefully showing Anna exactly where everything could be found.

Anna watched on, but she had no interest in alchemical concoctions and instead found her eyes wandering to the large collection of books in Willem's study room. One of the books on the shelf gave a peculiar magical shimmer compared to the others in the collection.

Quietly Anna snuck away from Kinsey who had began to melt the base ingredients and slipped into the study room. She took the book from the shelf and began to read from the beginning page. The book itself was a weird texture, it was bound in leather clippings and the papers inside looked singed. The text on the paper was written in some sort of enigmatic language that she was having difficulties decrypting.

Kinsey finished her potion only to turn and see that her new friend had snuck off and went to the study room. Frowning, she walked to Anna's side and looked at the book she was holding.

"Master sometimes looks at that book, he always has a frown on his face. The words and numbers make no sense, even when you pour magic into them." Anna looked at the book and did her best to explain it's origins.

The book itself had been found deep in the Grand Library. Willem had convinced the librarian to allow him to have it, since there was no one would could figure out what it contained. Eventually the book was bought from the Grand Library for thirty silver, which was an exorbitant amount considering it had inaccessible information. Willem still paid for the book and kept it in his collection just in case he found the time to crack the code.

Anna looked at it harder. Letters and numbers swirled around in her mind cryptically, doing their best to match with every known cipher she had ever read about. Based on her knowledge in mind magic, this particular pattern was made by the great Mind Mage Hallard, whom had died not even ten years ago.

The pattern however was infinitely more complex than the usual code that Hallard employed, and Anna was having a hard time figuring out what it all meant. She spent the entirety of the early morning attempting to crack the code to the book, until Willem finally woke up.

When Willem woke up, he was met with slobbery kisses from the White Tiger Cub. Willem tossed it across the bed into a mound of pillows, and the Cub pretended to play dead after being thrown.

Kinsey came to greet her Master when she heard the creeks of the bed, but was too late in stopping the White Tiger Cub. She arrived at the bed just in time to see Willem's disheveled hair covered in slobber.

Willem looked remarkably well, considering the state he was in after the ritual yesterday. However, now that he knew the ritual worked, the information it would reveal is quite large. Now was the time for phase two of his plan.

Willem licked Kinsey's face in revenge when he saw her reaction to his current hairstyle, and went to go take a bath. Kinsey shyly warmed the water and began to wash his naked body while the White Tiger Cub playfully licked Willem's toes. Anna saw what Kinsey was doing, and after a time gathered the courage to go and assist her in cleaning the Master. The cleaning of Master's private area was left to Kinsey, and Anna washed his back thoroughly. Anna traced the lines of Willem's muscles from his magical force, and thought about what had led to this moment.

Anna went inside her mind and focused on the red lines that led to those whom had harmed her. A indescribable fury overcame her and she had to take a moment from washing Willem's back to calm down. Willem watched her but did nothing to quell her anger. When she seemed to calm down, he leaned over to her.

"Soon." This one word from her Master reassured her.

The bathing was finished and Willem donned his normal brown robes before heading to the table. The three of them ate breakfast in silence while the White Tiger Cub played with a ball of string that was conveniently placed nearby.

"It is time." Willem announced.

Kinsey and Anna gathered everything they would need for the day and waited patiently for Willem. Willem donned a black cloak to cover himself, as he was one to do.

Willem took both girls in each hand and teleported to the entrance of the Magic Academy. By this time, a crowd had gathered to see the Grand Mage. The crowd did nothing to hinder his path as he walked Kinsey to the mountainside, nor did it stop him when he went towards the intermediary classes with Anna.

The room Willem and Anna went to was the room she had not gone to since the first time she was raped. For her, it was a place she could no longer return to until things went back to normal.

Willem entered the room and looked for the lecturer. The lecturer for the intermediate class was an Advanced Water Mage, and being a part of the teaching staff knew exactly who Willem was.

"Greetings." Willem bowed slightly while cupping his hands.

"Greetings to the Grand Mage, Grandia." The Advanced Water Mage bowed deeply.

"I have kept a student from your studies for my own selfish gain, for that I apologize. Is teacher still willing to allow her into this class?" Willem's tone held no snark or contempt.

"Of course, Grand Mage. Student, feel free to take your seat. We will be beginning shortly." The Water Mage bowed again before heading to her desk.

Before Willem left, the Water Mage took a long look at Willem's 'assets' before the door closed behind him.

In his mind, he focused on the connection with Anna. "Anna, I give you permission to use fifty percent of our power to enact your revenge. It is sad how many accidents can happen even in this school, is it not."

This was Willem's nonchalant way of saying to make the killings look like an accident to those who would be investigating the deaths.

Anna knew what he had meant and began plotting her revenge while listening to the lecture.

Willem left the room and sent a shadow to his class while he headed for the Army Training Grounds. He slipped into the shadow of a nearby student and traversed through the darkness to the Training Grounds.

Once there, he spoke with the Knight Captain about the payment that the Grand Mage owed to the Knights. The Knight Captain dared not refute, and called for Sir Kris and Sir Rowan.

Once they had arrived, Willem gave them both a greeting. They bowed deeply to the Grand Mage and asked if he required assistance in a subjugation quest. Willem shook his head to indicate he did not, and led them out of the tent. Willem politely asked the two Knights to find their apprentices and went for a walk with the Knight Captain.

Willem did a once over of the facilities and training regiment of the Army Training Ground by the time the Knights had found their apprentices and returned to him. The Knight Captain watched as the Grand Mage pulled pieces of leather armor from his spatial spell.

Each leather piece was unique and had strange etchings marked onto them. For two sets, pieces of rock jutted out like crags against a plain. Once the other two appeared, a strong gust kicked up where they stood. The Knight Captain as well as the other Knights lost their footing against the wind. The apprentices did more than lose their footing, their back sides hit the ground with a rather large thud.

Willem laughed a bit before handing the first earth armor set to Sir Kris and the second earth armor set to Mark. They both stared wide eyed as they began to don the armor. Though it was hard for Mark to move, when both of his feet were on the ground it felt like he was a mountain. Whenever he lifted one of his feet, the effect disappeared. Sir Kris noticed the difference immediately as well, and could not help but compare the new armor he got to the drudge he had been previously wearing.

Sir Rowan and Eli quickly donned the wind armor sets. Sir Rowan stood in place but felt no different. Puzzled, he asked Willem about the wind armor. Before he could finish his sentence, Eli had stepped forward and a strong gust of wind kicked up from his feet. He flew along the path he was facing fifty feet before slowing down and tumbling on the ground.

Everyone besides Willem watched as Eli used his new armor set. Willem nodded to Sir Rowan, and Sir Rowan kicked his feet with purpose. He flew forward a hundred feet before sliding into the ground and kicking his feet again. In a mere few seconds, he had cleared four hundred feet and had gone full circle to return to the group. Eli tried his best to control the burst of speed he obtained from the armor, but he still ended up tumbling into Mark. Mark did not budge even a meter, since both of his feet were planted into the ground. Instead, Eli felt like he had accidentally hit himself upon the side of a small mountain.

"These armors were modeled after the idea of an immovable object and an unstoppable force. Your bodies will break down before they do." Willem nodded to each of them. "Now for your weaponry. I could not use the hell boar bones as it was too difficult so I used other rare materials."

Willem removed five weapons and two shield from his spatial spell. "First, Sir Rowan. These are yours, and as such, you should be the one to name them. To activate their special ability, the words are 'Frenzy' and 'Vigor'." He handed the two magical daggers to Sir Rowan.

Sir Rowan spoke the words and the weapons gave off a red and blue aura. Sir Rowan breathed in and targeted a nearby training dummy. The wind armor combined with the magic of the daggers and Sir Rowan's own prowess with daggers to completely decimate the training dummy. After a single stab, there was nothing left of the dummy. A gale picked up around the dummy, blowing away the scattered remains.

Streaks of red and blue returned back to the group as Sir Rowan sheathed his new weapons. He gave a deep bow to Willem and looked knowingly at the Knight Captain. By this time, those whom had watched the unfolding scene were beginning to gossip.

"Sir Kris, yours is a little different. For the activation of your longsword, you must hold it at the top of the grip, not at the bottom. Your shield activates by saying 'Armor'." Willem passed the items to Sir Kris.

Sir Kris acknowledged what the Grand Mage said, and gripped the longsword at the top of the grip. The longsword glowed white and his mind raced. When he looked at the humans in front of him, he could tell their weak points and how much force was needed to debilitate them. For some reason, however, when he looked at Willem he did not see any kind of weakness. He spoke the activation word and his shield began to be absorbed in smaller ethereal shields.

Willem pulled a non magical short spear from his spatial spell and flung it gently at the shield. The smaller shields converged and dispersed the momentum of the short spear. With Sir Kris' feet planted firmly on the ground, the short spear hit the shield with a small amount of force and fell to the ground with little issue.

"Mark and Eli, these are for you. The battleaxe must always be wielded with two hands for maximum effect. The mace needs to be held at the base, just like how you prefer it. The shield activates with the word 'thorns'. Just like the thorns of the forest." Willem passed out the rest of the weapons.

Eli gripped both his hands on his battleaxe and it gave a black glow. He looked on quizzically as he swung the battleaxe with force. Besides the sound of a heavy weapon swinging, nothing else happened. Mark held the mace at the base and spoke the word of his shield. The mace glowed green and the shield glowed brown. Thorns grew along Eli's body and shield, but they did not hurt or hinder him.

"Eli, your weapon only works against things you know are your enemy. It will burn them and cause them to bleed more than a normal wound should. Mark, if anyone attacks you, the shield will make them take damage, and the mace will heal you after a short time. Even bad wounds will heal as long as you hold the mace."

Willem nodded to everyone in his presence. With his purpose fulfilled, he intended to return to the Magic Academy.

Before leaving, he said these final words. "These weapons and armor are only to be used by you, I have bound them to you by blood. If anyone else tries to wear it, it will just be normal leather armor and weapons. When the time comes, you will be with me on the front lines, you must quickly get used to your new strength." Willem bowed one last time before slipping into the shadows of a training dummy.

The five of them stayed quiet for a while, until the Knight Captain spoke up. "You heard the Grand Mage, start practicing. Sir Kris, you will lead the defensive training of the Knights. Sir Rowan, you will lead the offensive training. If you need more resources, let me know." The Knight Captain swished his cape and stomped off, not receiving anything but a perceived warning.

Willem snickered as he saw everything the Knight Captain had just done. If he wanted to be in the Grand Mages good graces, treating his allies well was not necessarily a bad idea. Willem left one of the higher grade magical wind weapons on the Knight Captain's desk.

Inscribed on the hilt were crude markings of a large wolf eating a small man.