Once the boys were dead, the red strings in Anna's mind snapped as if under an amazing amount of stress. The red strings disappeared in smoke and the magic power returned to the orb.

Sveld held the body of the boy in his hands, and looked around at the crowd. When the chaos had begun, Anna did not feel the need to watch the scene play out and quickly left as soon as she was sure she had cleaned up after herself.

Try as he might, Sveld could not find any reason for the distress. According to the nearby students, the boy had flipped out and started killing those around him. Sveld was left with no other option than to assume the boy went insane due to a sudden influx of magic. Sadly this was not uncommon with Advanced Mages trying to make that large step into being a Grand Mage.

As such, the case was deemed a terrible accident and the corridor where it took place was sealed off. Anna went to her second class as if nothing ever happened, but soon enough she began hearing the rumors of an Advanced Mage going insane. She pretended to care about the news, asking probing questions as if she did not already know the answer. Once enough people brushed her off, second class had begun and the teacher had begun their lesson.

In another part of the Magic Academy.

Willem had made his way to the magical training grounds. The training ground was a peculiar place, it was a large extra dimensional space that took the form of a massive lush jungle filled with tall trees and its own sun. The difference of this world was that it had three moons, and the days were much shorter compared to the nights. As such, nocturnal creatures were the primary hunters in the ecosystem.

As a training ground, the areas were split up into four sections. The first zone held level one magical beasts, second was level two, third was level three and finally fourth was level four. This was to ensure the safety of the students who were practicing new spells or testing new potions.

Willem sent out his magical sense to ensure there were no others nearby in the zone before removing his robe. Once he removed his robe, the jet black armor could be seen in all its glory with the white backdrop of the gossamer. Willem looked for a nearby enemy to test out his new armor on. Before long, he spotted a Grey Cougar viciously tearing apart a small rabbit. The Cougar stretched roughly eight feet long and was reveling in a successful hunt when Willem first came upon it. Instead of immediately eating the rabbit, it prolonged the suffering of the creature, batting it around and tearing at the rabbit's hind legs.

Willem stepped forward, making plenty of noise to notify the Cougar that he was here. The Cougar eyed the new threat warily, and made no attempts to strike first. Often, Cougars preferred to ambush their prey and would not deal a killing blow if the hunted creature sees them in time. Willem jumped toward the Grey Cougar with the intent to kill. He focused his magical force into his arm braces and whispered the word "petrification". The Cougar lunged toward Willem, it's claws catching his arm braces while it's teeth attempted to latch onto his throat. Before the Cougar could react, it's front legs had turned to stone and half of it's body was now completely unable to move.

Like an infection, the petrification spread through the Grey Cougar's body quickly, turning all it's organs to stone. The blood stopped pumping and hardened while the pelt turned a darker grey color. The last thing the Grey Cougar saw was the cold gaze of Willem before it's eyes glazed over. The disemboweled Horned Rabbit tried to crawl away from the scene but found itself unable to move very far. As a courtesy to the Suffering Rabbit, Willem placed it against his chest piece and whispered two words. "White Death." The body of the Horned Rabbit began to disintegrate into a white ash as it twitched for the last time.

The tests were definitely successful, as the rate of infection for petrification was much faster than anticipated.

The real trophy was the White Death potion. The ingredients for the White Death potion were not just rare, but also guarded by strong magical beasts. As such, every ingredient came with a high casualty count. Pure white in color, it could be considered a force of nature to the right user. Considered a class five poison, it had the capacity to kill up to a level eight magical beast after enough exposure. Due to Willem's unique use of the potion, though it is of less quality, he can now use it over and over.

Whether it will be useful on magical beings was yet to be tested, but right now he still had two other armor pieces to test before he would worry about that. His leg guards and leather shoes had their own high level potions to try out now.

He again sent out his magical sense and found an Orchid Mantis in the second zone. The Orchid Mantis stood knee high with an incredibly strong bite and beautiful vibrant colors all over it's body. The colors served as camouflage against the large orchid flower it hid itself within, waiting for unsuspecting prey to come. Unfortunately natural camouflage did not mean much in front of magical sense.

According to Willem's research, the Orchid Mantis was a rare species of Mantis, and as such he was reluctant to kill it. Instead, he took from his spatial spell a small level two potion and waived it around the area. The potion was more gas than liquid, and began to permeate the area around Willem. After a moment, the Orchid Mantis removed itself from the Orchid flower and headed toward Willem as if in a daze.

The potion Willem used was one of the first level two potions he made, called the "friendly beast" potion. It was extremely useful for travelers, as any magical or non magical beast was susceptible to the effects. All it did was trick the beast into thinking anything alive near it was a creature of the same species. Though simple in nature, it required a decent amount of medium level ingredients and was therefore not preferred over offensive or defensive potions.

Once he was sure the Orchid Mantis was enraptured, Willem headed for the third zone.

In the new zone, he found a young Red Iris Aardwolf eating termites off a tree. The Red Iris Aardwolf was the lowest of the third zone inhabitants, but was cunning and deceptive. From the way the Aardwolf acted, it could be assumed it is a solitary hunter. However, that is not the case, as the Aardwolf often hunt in pairs. Willem sent his magical sense out and confirmed that another Red Iris Aardwolf laid in wait nearby to ambush. This became Willem's perfect opportunity to test the rest of his armor.

Willem headed toward the Aardwolf and began to call to it. The Aardwolf let out a few grunts to attempt to scare off the intruder of it's territory. When the intruder did not immediately leave, the Aardwolf perked up it's mane and attempted to appear more threatening.

Willem lunged forward and kicked the Aardwolf square in the face. As the bottom of the boot connected to the Aardwolf's face, Willem spoke the activation word.

"Touch of Midas."

The Aardwolf howled in fear as it's face began to take on a golden color. The body of the Aardwolf convulsed as it's pelt turned into gold. The insides twisted and churned as everything inside it turned absolutely golden in color. When everything was said and done, the Aardwolf had become a gold statue.

Willem looked over his new gold statue and placed it inside his spatial spell. Perhaps a wealthy noble would want it, but it was a bit drab for his taste.

The other Aardwolf released a black ink from it's anal gland in an attempt to mark it's territory before running off. Willem rushed to the Aardwolf and purposely kicked it with his shin in order to activate his leg guards.

"Enervation."

As soon as the Aardwolf connected with the leg guard, it began to age as if it's life force was being drained away. The Aardwolf's lifespan flowed through Willem and was slowly absorbed into his body. After a moment, a husk of bone and the smell of death was all that was left of the Red Iris Aardwolf.

Willem took a mental note of what had just happened. According to his last attack, if the enemy is particularly weak, the enervation potion will drain away it's life quicker. Against a strong opponent it would act more like a poison slowing draining away their life force unless dispelled.

Now that his business was concluded, Willem donned his homely robes once more and returned through the portal and back to the Magic Academy.

Meanwhile at the mountain side.

Kinsey had only done a preliminary count of the herbs found in the beginning area. Recently there was a high influx of students entering the mountains and plucking the herbs without care for the balance of nature. As such, Kinsey took it upon herself to police those she saw harming the environment and teaching them the proper way to handle the herbs with care. Her efforts were paying off, as the fields were beginning to return to their former glory.

While the balance of the mountain herbs was being fixed, Kinsey took the time to write down all the different breeds of herbs and the locations they could be found in. She intended to share this information with the beginner herbalists, along with an accurate diagram of how to remove the herbs without ruining the plants. This way those who had intentions could do it without hurting the environment.

Once her initial count was done, she returned to the Magic Academy entrance and took the teleportation array into the Bastion of Hope. With Willem's permission, she was now going to get work out to the outer walls for Anna's family.

For starters, she called for the carriage and her five attendants to go with her to the Guild office. Once they concluded their business at the Guild offices, they would go to the Warrior enclave to find suitable guards.

The driver drove to the Guild offices and Kinsey removed herself from the carriage in a beautiful green and blue dress. Many citizens turned their heads to see which noble had decided to come to the guild hall this day. They did not recognize the noblewoman, but that did not deter them from offering her flowers in hopes of garnering favor.

Kinsey's attendants accepted the flowers on her behalf, but did not stop moving as all six headed toward the Guild office. The attendants opened the door for Kinsey as she made her way inside the hall. Inside, everyone held their breaths while they looked at the beautiful young woman.

Kinsey headed toward an elderly woman sitting behind the counter and offered her greetings.

"Hello young one..." The old lady shook Kinsey's hand before sitting back down on her chair. "What are you after today I wonder?"

"My Master wishes to employ some smiths and guards for work in the outer area. I would like your suggestion." Kinsey wrote down on papyrus the price she was willing to pay for their services.

"For this price, you wish to hire them for a year?" The old lady misunderstood Kinsey's intentions.

"No ma'am, two weeks. I need your best." Kinsey corrected.

"Two weeks?" The old woman's eyes glittered. Even if it was a year, the amount of money offered was still considered good. Whomever her Master was had to be a very important figure. "Let me see what I can find. Ah, I have just the people you are looking for. Deposit is ten percent of earnable wages."

After a few minutes of shuffling through paperwork, the old woman dug from the bottom a list of six candidates for the smith position. The candidates were between the ages of sixteen and twenty, with varied specialties.

Kinsey looked over the papers and placed three of the six in a different pile. She told the old woman to get a messenger to call them. She dropped several gold coins on the counter and asked the old woman to have them gathered quickly.

The old woman gathered the gold coins and called for a messenger to deliver the message of employment to the three smiths posthaste.

Kinsey sat on a nearby bench with her attendants and drank some tea while she waited. She told one of the attendants to tell the driver to move the carriage somewhere nearby in wait.