"Blood City!" The elder nearly fainted at the mere utterance of the words.

Common knowledge among nobles was that since Blood City was the closest in territory to the Bastion of Hope, many skirmishes would take place against the enemy to the west.

However, in the many years that these two had been fighting against one another, the Bastion of Hope had never once come out on top. In many cases, the Blood City military would ravage their crops, destroy their homes and run away before a proper defense could be rallied. These sabotage and destroy missions weighed heavily on the minds of the citizens of the Bastion of Hope.

Not much is known about the Blood City from the perspective of the Bastion of Hope, save for a few core facts.

Blood City has a population of roughly thirty thousand citizens, five thousand of which belonged to the military. Five hundred of that military were a part of a special Corps called the Red Assassins.

The Red Assassins were elites among the magical beings whom were capable of kidnapping, killing and escaping without leaving any traces.

Most importantly, Blood City was not a stationary target, as it was a community created inside a great Magical Beast called the Stinging Blood Tortoise.

This Stinging Blood Tortoise had lived during the epoch of the Fallen Gods, millions of years before the first humans even existed. The great shell of the Stinging Blood Tortoise was completely impregnable against the weapons of the Bastion of Hope.

With this knowledge, anyone who heard those two words spoken together would often recoil in pure fear.

"Is such an attack wise, after successfully mounting a defense against the Magical Beings?" The leader of the Lovejoys spoke to Willem.

"I believe it is, as it is most likely that information has already spread about the Red Dragon being defeated by our hands. They most likely see us licking our wounds for a few months, where they can continue to march on us and we can only defend." Willem explained thoughtfully.

"Is that not what we are going to do?" An elder spoke out.

"No, we will immediately be going on the offensive, especially while they do not expect it." Willem stated.

The elders nodded hesitantly, with more than a few of them giving quizzical looks at their family head.

"If you intend to march on them, you must have some sort of plan, considering how little information we have about them." The leader spoke out in response to the looks of the elders.

"Of course, going in blind would be foolish. No one can get inside the Stinging Blood Tortoise without permission from it." Willem nodded his head.

"Is there something you need from us, to reveal this information?" The leader seemed to comprehend something before asking.

Willem grinned widely as he took a sip from the warm tea.

"As a matter of fact, there is something only you can do. One of your elders, who is not present, is on the war council for the Army. I ask you to convince him to endorse this attack." Willem explained.

"This can be accomplished, as a thanks for your protection." The leader smirked as she took a puff from her pipe.

"Then I will no longer take up your time. Speak with the Smith family, I will go clear out the mines and get everything setup for you. All the metals you mine can be made into varying weapons and armors by the Smith family, and I will imbue them myself." Willem finished speaking and stood up to walk out of the room.

"You will imbue them yourself... By your will, Grand Mage." The leader stood up and bowed to Willem as he left.

As the door slowly closed, the elders sitting around the table began to talk among themselves and the family head.

Everything was well within Willem's expectations, right down to the conversation that he just held with the Lovejoy family. They would not dare disobey a request from him, especially if they wished to keep their position in his Private Sanctum. Posing it as a question made it appear as if they had equal standing, despite Willem being in complete control.

All the pieces were falling in place and the bigger picture was beginning to reveal itself.

Since the Lovejoys would speak with the Smiths, Willem decided he did not need to speak with them directly. Instead, he went to the other minor families to talk with them, and they would often praise him excessively until he could no longer stand it and left quietly.

With the families desires sated, Willem left the Private Sanctum and headed for the Magic Academy.

Instead of greeting Kinsey, Willem headed directly to the Grand Library's restricted section with the intention of looking for any information on the Great Wyrm.

After several hours and several dozens of books, Willem finally found a small tidbit of information about the Great Wyrm in the form of an old poem written by a scholar thousands of years ago.

"And of that dream I dream,

A great beast swirls and coils.

Wrapping me in rough grey skin,

A deep gaze that melds the mind.

The Great Wyrm of Calcaros,

Whom feeds on the life of damned.

Lost in the deep void of my soul,

I wander for eternity unworthy."

The scribbling of the poem indicated that the scholar was clearly on the edge of madness, but there was no doubt that the Great Wyrm of Calcaros and Jörmungandr at least had some connection.

Several hours passed, but there was no more information on the Great Wyrm of Calcaros or Jörmungandr. With a heavy mind, Willem left the restricted section of the Grand Library and headed over to the Army Training Grounds to meet Sir Gehrig.

Upon arriving at the Army Training Grounds, Willem accidentally interrupted a lively celebration among the fifty soldiers and their friends. His personal Squad had returned after the fight against the magical beings, and since no one needed immediate medical attention they all went straight to a victory party. The party had been going for two days and two nights straight, and still seemed to have no end in sight.

Willem did not interrupt the celebrations, nor did he participate. Instead, he quietly headed to Sir Gehrig's Private Quarters.

"Sir Gehrig?" Willem called out.

A military attendant opened the door to the Private Quarters and bowed before allowing Willem entry.

"Allow me to announce the presence of Dragonslayer Grandia, first of his name." The attendant announced to Sir Gehrig before leaving to make tea.

"Grand Mage, Sir, thank you for your service." Sir Gehrig bowed before offering a seat to Willem.

"I will not be here long. I have decided the next course of action for the Army. We will be attacking the Blood City, and I will once again be leading. You will take care of the defense of the Bastion of Hope while I am gone." Willem stated without hesitation.

"Sir, only the King is allowed to make such a decision without the agreeance of the council." Sir Gehrig seemed flustered at Willem's declaration.

Willem quickly drafted a letter and sealed it with his own stamp.

"Have this sent to the Royal Palace, and you must deliver it to the King yourself. We move in a weeks' time, so have five thousand soldiers gathered in four days for distribution of weapons and armor."

"By your command, sir." Sir Gehrig looked thoughtfully at the letter before stuffing it gently into his pocket and saluting Willem.

"Then, I will now take my leave." Willem bid Sir Gehrig farewell before leaving the tent and slipping into the void.

While shifting through the void, Willem avoided the giant grotesque monsters that seemed to be hunting for prey. Upon arriving at his destination, Willem moved from the void back into the physical world.

Willem adjusted his gentle flowing robes and knocked on the small wooden door of the small house.

"Just a minute!" A clearly distinguished female voice called out.

"Hello- Ohhhh hello sir!" Anna's mother, Meriam, answered the door.

"Good evening, hopefully I am not interrupting anything?" Willem responded with a gentle smile.

"Of course not, I was just going through the documents for the farms. Most of my work is now sitting behind a desk instead of pulling a shovel around, not that I mind at all. I was actually waiting for you to show up again so I could thank you for everything you have done for me and my family. That reminds me, I made some strawberry and green groal pie as a present-" Meriam fired words out like they burned her mouth as Willem continued to smile at her.

"Meriam, I came with a proposition." Willem cut off her speech and handed her a letter.

"The seal of the King? Is this for my husband?" Meriam accepted the letter and hesitated to open it.

"Open it if you wish, it involves your entire family. Discuss it with your husband and decide what you wish to do. I will return tomorrow and hopefully you will have an answer for me." Willem spoke slowly as Meriam appeared slightly delirious.

"Seal of the king..." Meriam kept repeating the same words until she finally snapped out of her daydream. "I will talk with my husband."

"Then I will bid you a good night." Willem bowed gently before turning to leave.

"Oh, you cannot stay for tea? Oh wait, the pie!" Meriam ran from the front door to the kitchen as quick as she could before grabbing the pie and running back to the front door. "Here you go!"

"Her favorite?" Willem asked.

"That is right, please tell her to visit soon." Meriam waved Willem goodbye as he put the pie in his spatial spell and walked away.

The sun was just beginning to set, and Willem was now heading to Clive's shop. Upon arrival, Willem saw two bulky warriors defending the front entrance of the blacksmith shop and felt the presence of another warrior at the back entrance.

"What business do you have here." One of the warriors spoke out as Willem approached.

"I am the benefactor of this blacksmith business. I have come to confirm my products have been created." Willem stated as he continued to approach the door.

The two warriors felt a drop of cold sweat run down their back as Willem spoke. Every cell in their body screamed at them to run in the opposite direction of the person in front of them.

"O-of course. Please allow me." The warrior stuttered before opening the door to the shop.

"S-sir, you have a g-guest." The warrior bowed while announcing Willem to Clive.

Clive was finishing up one of the prototype designs Willem had given him when the warrior called out to him.

"Ah, young master! How good to see you again, and you certainly have an eye for talent, the three apprentices you sent are truly miracle workers." Clive cupped his hands in greeting.

"How have you been faring in the designs? Specifically, I wish to see the organic orb." Willem nodded at Clive before asking about the progress.

"Yes, this design was the easiest to make, and Clay is incredible at sensing the perfect timing to work the material." Clive brought out the prototype while Clay rubbed his nose shyly.

The orb was only the size of Willem's palm, but it had four individual compartments. A latch on the top of each compartment allowed for some liquid or gas to be placed inside.

"It is made of completely organic material?" Willem asked Clay.

"Yes sir, just as the design specified. The only difference is that the latch had to be fitted with a spring in order to keep it from falling inside, as opposed to the original locking design. Master Clive has the paperwork I wrote up explaining the difference." Clay explained before going back to work.

Willem nodded his head in approval at the young man's work.

"How many are made?" Willem asked Clive.

"Fifty have been made so far, but we had to halt production of them because we hit a snag on the design of the Katar. The latch to reveal the hidden blades requires pulling from the opposite hand." Clive explained his conundrum before showing the semi-finished product.

"Then it shall be so, just document it. I will take the fifty orbs now." Willem removed from his spatial spell twenty gold pieces and handed it to Clive.

"Of course, thank you young master!" Clive was elated as he accepted the gold pieces.

"Clive, the paperwork..." Willem pointed at the parchment detailing the changed made to the orb.

"Oh right, of course, one moment please. No... No... Ah ha!" Clive sifted through several sheets of paper before finding the correct one and handing it to Willem.

"Then, I shall take my leave." Willem nodded to Clive, then to Clay and the twin sisters before leaving the shop.

"Now, to clear out the mine..." Willem whispered to himself as he shifted from the physical world into the void.

After almost a month of hard work, I have finally finished revising my first chapters and adjusting until I am happy with my work.

To all those reading these chapters and saying "Hey, I already read this!", please start from the beginning of the story as that is where all my efforts have gone.

There will be a new chapter soon I promise.

All chapters now have roughly 1800 - 2000 Words with a revision on the story and the timeline to help better understand the progress.