"Can we do this again soon, Master?" Kinsey could feel herself drifting off to sleep.

"Of course..." Willem took one last look at the night sky before teleporting himself and Kinsey back to the Private Sanctum.

When they returned home, what awaited them was a drooling Anna, sleeping sloppily on the bed. Cuddled beside her was Arania, with her long black hair neatly tied on top of her head. Despite the neat appearance of her hair, her body exuded defenselessness as her legs spread openly across the bed. If Willem felt inclined to, he would have already partaken of her body for studying purposes. However the timing was not right, as his first priority was to consolidate his strength.

"Kinsey, wake me ten minutes before sunrise." Willem carried Kinsey into bed with himself.

Anna shifted in her sleep and ended up wrapping her legs around Willem's waist.

"Yes, Master." Kinsey affectionately whispered as she brushed Willem's hair away from his face.

Willem stared at Kinsey before fatigue finally set in and he closed his eyes. Though he did not require sleep, the meditation he normally employed revitalized his mind for the next day and also gave him time to analyze the information he had gathered that day.

Thus 'sleeping' for the night was still required as far as Willem was concerned.

The next morning.

Just as Kinsey was commanded, she woke Willem up ten minutes before sun up. Instead of the normal bath, Willem stood over the wooden tub and casted a whirlpool on himself to vigorously wash away the impurities on his body.

Willem then donned some casual looking earthen clothes and a black robe before slipping into the darkness towards the Magic Academy entrance.

Willem did not arrive at the Magic Academy immediately, instead he spent several minutes clearing a path through the void of some nuisances before going forward.

Just as he had expected, the ten senior inscriptionists were waiting for him at the entrance. Many of them had bags under their eyes, a testament to how excited they were about their new work.

The senior inscriptionists watched as Willem appeared before them from the shadow of a nearby tree. They all kneeled before him, and offered their greetings.

"Good morning to Grand Mage Grandia." They said in unison.

"First of all, congratulations to you ten. You have been chosen because you are the ten best in the senior inscription class. I expect great things from you. For now, grab your rucksacks and join hands with the person beside you." Willem gave a short speech before preparing them for the journey.

The ten inscriptionists grabbed their gear and linked hands just as they were commanded. Willem walked to the middle of the group and offered his hands.

"Close your eyes." Willem said loud enough for the people on the end to hear.

They did as they were told and before they knew it they had arrived at Willem's Private Sanctum foyer.

"This will be your new home until the war against the magical beings is over. While you are here, you will be protected from most anything that attacks. If there is anything missing that you require, my attendants will notify me and I will get it for you." Willem began to walk through the foyer and down a long hallway, with the students following obediently behind.

Ten large wooden doors magically appeared at the snap of Willem's fingers. Though the act of snapping his fingers did nothing, it still felt more dramatic than things just magically appearing for no reason.

Willem gestured for the students to go to the doors and open them. As they opened the doors, they saw beautiful rooms decorated in fine silk tapestries, beds made with the finest of fabrics and desks of solid oak. Stacked neatly on the desks were mounds of scroll paper, horned quills of varying size and many sets of quality inks.

The students gasped as they entered the rooms and set down their rucksacks. Even the nobles of the Bastion of Hope would be hard pressed to find such exquisite items of such high quality. To be able to experience such fine utilities, the students felt quite lucky. It was as if their hard work had finally bore fruit.

Willem snapped his fingers once again and ten small handbells appeared on the bedside tables in the rooms.

"When you have unpacked, feel free to ring the bells and you can join me for breakfast. I will explain further what I intend to have you do once you are settled in." The footsteps of Willem walking away resounded through the long hall.

One after another, the doors to the room slowly closed. After fifteen minutes had passed, all ten students had unpacked and rung their handbell. Willem teleported them to the dining hall and Kinsey presented them with a delicious breakfast.

The breakfast consisted of wyvern eggs, hickory nuts, wolf meat and bacon. There was also a side serving of potatoes and vegetables. Of course this was all garnished with blended spices to bring out the best of the flavor. Fruits and nuts were placed on both ends of the table.

The table in the dining room had twenty chairs, and the ten students decidedly sat at the end of the table as a sign of respect, furthest from Willem. Willem sat at the front of the table and quietly ate his food. After a few minutes, six others joined the group eating breakfast and quietly placed themselves in their seats. Kinsey greeted them and served them breakfast as well.

Willem greeted his six guests and explained the situation to the students.

"These six guests are magical beings who call the Bastion of Hope home. While they remain here, they are under the protection of myself and the One True King." Willem finished talking and took a small mouthful of bacon off his plate to chew quickly.

Though Willem had said it nonchalantly, the ten students still gasped. They had never been so close to magical beings before, especially ones that looked so human-like. To be expected, there was some gossip and slightly excessive staring.

"Now, I will further explain what your job will be while you are here. During the war, my job will be to fight on the front lines with fifty soldiers and fifty mages. Your job will be to create both offensive, defensive, and support spells for the unit to use during the attack. I intend to lead an assault that breaks the will of our enemies, therefore I need your help in doing this." Willem looked down beside his feet and saw the White Tiger Cub begging for scraps.

Willem scratched the head of the White Tiger Cub and gave it a small piece of wolf meat. Triumphant, the White Tiger Cub sat in the corner and chewed on the wolf meat while looking around the room.

"There are some necessary rules I ask you to follow. My private study room is restricted to my access only, as well there is a torture room for enemy spies that you will most likely want to avoid. These places should be considered off limits at all times. Breakfast is always at sunrise, and any subsequent meals can be made yourselves." Willem looked around to gauge the reaction of the students.

Most of the students were nodding along seriously, while the rest stared down at their breakfast and said nothing.

"Each of you will be expected to present ten scrolls every week while the war takes place. Once the war is over, you will be compensated based on your performance. The compensation may also include titles, lands or whatever is deemed worthy of your work. Your downtime may be spent as you wish, and we have many facilities you can use to alleviate any stresses from the work." Willem sipped from a silver chalice, looking much like a young lord.

The students each had a different vision of what relaxation meant to them. To some it was meditation in grassy knolls, for others it was swimming in a small warm sea or painting pictures on a large canvas. Willem snapped his fingers and the visions of relaxation they had were already formed and awaiting their arrival. Sounds of a deep roiling sea could be heard even from the dining room.

"May I ask for something?" The young girl that Anna seemed to be fond of spoke up.

"Speak your desires." Willem nodded.

"May I have a herb garden?" The young girl abashedly asked.

"Of course, what a lovely idea. It is done." Willem snapped his fingers and a new room was created, perfect for tending a garden in.

"Many thanks to you, Grand Mage." The young girl stared down at her half emptied plate in embarrassment.

"Your task officially starts tomorrow. Take your time today and rest, relax and get yourself prepared. Cooperation may be necessary and is definitely encouraged. You will be together for quite a while, so I suggest you get to know each other." Willem stood from his chair and nodded his head to the students.

Awkwardly, the other students stood up and saluted Willem while he disappeared into the shadow of the chair.

"You need not fear showing formality with the Master. Admittedly, it was hard for me to change from talking like a noble to talking like a normal person. However it is what the Master prefers. Please do not hesitate to tell me if there is anything you need, I will notify Master immediately." Kinsey gathered the dishes and began cleaning. Despite this being her job, some of the students joined her in cleaning the dishes. Kinsey did not rebuke them, and instead had a pleasant conversation while they cleaned.

Inside the Royal Palace.

The Queen was in hysterics, throwing vases and cracking tiles in the King's private chambers. Despite the noise, the guards were ordered not to enter no matter what they heard. The One True King had no control over his Queen, and could only watch as she was slowly suffering.

The King could not help but think 'is this the price of wanting my Queen back?'.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the chamber doors.

"I told you I wish to be undisturbed!" The King snorted in anger.

"I have come to see about the Queen's state." The voice from the other side was soft and childish.

Immediately, the King ran to the door and swung it open. On the other side stood Willem, looking coldly at the smashed room and the Queen who was currently attempting to pull out her hair.

"Forgive my impudence, my King. Kinsey alerted me to the direness of the issue that plagues your wife." Willem walked into the room without invitation and opened up his spatial spell.

After a couple seconds, Willem pulled out a small locket with weird symbols drawn all around it. While the Queen was distracted, Willem placed the locket around her neck and opened it. After a moment passed, the Queen stopped moving, as if she was frozen in time.

In truth, her stasis was attributed to a support spell meant to subdue a rampaging opponent. This high level spell 'froze' the opponent but did not stop it from feeling pain. Only an equally powerful 'movement' spell could break the Queen out of this stasis.

Now that Willem did not fear her hurting herself more, he could do what he came for and see what was plaguing the Queen.

Slowly, Willem circulated his magical force and sent it to his thumbs. Once he had mentally prepared himself, he placed his thumbs on both sides of the Queen's head. His thumbs touched the temple on both sides of her head and he slowly placed his forehead against hers.

Though the King had no idea what Willem was doing, he kept a silent watch and for the first time in a long time, prayed to the old Gods.

Willem sent his mind directly into the Queen's body to see what was going on inside. What he saw could only be described as a hellscape. The Queen was a prisoner in her own mind, having been trapped by a murderous wraith and tortured since she first drank from the vitality potion. Only the vitality potion gave her enough strength to resist the wraith while she was conscious.

This was not the intended effect of the potion, and Willem would hate it if anyone would misunderstand his potions as being faulty.

When Willem entered into the Queen's mind, he roused the concern of the murderous wraith.

"Time for you to leave." Willem cracked a wicked smile as his eyes glowed like black lightning.