Since Willem required more beast parts to make weapons and armor, clearing out the mines served multiple purposes. Depending on the quality of the hunt, good weapons could be made from the fangs of wild Magical Beasts or leather armor could be made from the hide.

Most rumors about the mine stated that there were hobgoblins and spirit wolves ransacking and eating any humans who wandered in that direction.

Despite being classified as Magical Beings, Hobgoblins were nasty, manipulative half beasts with green skin and large tusks that jutted from their elongated jaw. Their defining features were proliferation and a penchant for settings things on fire.

Willem slipped through a pack of hobgoblins using Scent Suppression Magic after switching back to the material world from the void. The smell of burnt flesh and snapping jaws allowed Willem to understand why normal humans would fear these unique creatures.

A small female child was caged in the middle of the hobgoblin camp, forced to watch her Father be eaten after having been murdered in front of her.

"Uwuu..." The small child tried to hold back her tears to not give the hobgoblins a reason to take notice of her.

"Gabu. Gleck." The leader of the hobgoblins pointed at a patch of dirt, which happened to be where Willem was standing moments before.

This was a peculiar circumstance for Willem, since he very rarely got noticed while using Darkness Magic to hide himself.

Based on the available information from the Grand Library on hobgoblins, the origin of their species was that a group of humans drank demon blood and devolved into their current form.

This would explain why hobgoblins could procreate with human females and also why they could sense the use of Darkness Magic. Demons were monsters born from Darkness and brimstone, and hobgoblins now possessed that power.

The other hobgoblins besides the leader all walked to the patch of dirt and began smacking at it, as they had been ordered to do. After a few seconds, the hobgoblins returned to the campfire and to eating the cooked flesh of the man they had killed.

Willem heard the soft whimpering of the girl in the cage. Since he had time to spare, he restrained the hobgoblins with Nature Magic by kindly asking the trees to lend their roots, binding the feet of the hobgoblins to the ground.

With the hobgoblins bound, Willem had time to break the cage open by melting the lock with high temperature Fire Magic.

"GABU! GABU! BLACO!" The leader screamed as it tried to resist the restraints that bound it to the ground.

"Little one, do you want to come with me?" Willem had a charming smile on his face that calmed the little girl down considerably.

"You are not a bad man? Papa said... Papa said..." The child, though calmed by Willem's gentle face, could not find the strength to lift herself up after thinking about what happened to her Father.

"Papa told me to come get you and bring you to safety." Willem held out his hands as a gesture for the little girl to join him.

"Okay." Just like that, the little girl was assured that her new friend would not harm her and got up from the dirt floor of the cage.

Willem took the little girl in his arms and carried her like a Princess away from the hobgoblin camp. Perhaps from the duress of seeing her Father eaten, or from the constant threat of death, when the little girl knew she was safe she quietly passed out from enduring for so long.

"Rest well, little one." Willem said as he began to chant a spell.

The spell finished casting and a large earthen golem appeared in front of the hobgoblin camp, awaiting orders from it's Master.

"Crush the hobgoblins, then you may return to the earth." Willem commanded as he continued to walk away toward the mine entrance.

The earth golem recognized that it's Master had given an order and walked over to the camp. In the distance, several large thumps could be heard as the earthen golem created a club made of solid rock and smashed the hobgoblins into the ground like a nail through wood.

When the order had been completed, the earth spirit returned to the trees and the earthen golem melted into the ground as if it had never even been there.

Willem finally reached the entrance to the mine, and noticed that the closer he got, the less hobgoblins there would be. Of course every hobgoblin he came across was killed unceremoniously, since they were fused with demon blood.

Peering into the darkness of the cave, a small grin appeared on Willem's face.

"Just my luck." Willem whispered as he walked into the complete dark.

Though he could not see anything, just closing his eyes allowed him to perceive his surroundings more than vision ever could. This was the very same maneuver he had learned when he first had Spatial Distortion sickness with the Grand Mage Archus' Teleportation Spell.

Much like the echolocation Willem had read about while studying the carolis blood-bat, he could see all the structures in the mine. The stalagmites and stalactites appeared to him as if he had complete vision of them, and further into the mine a pack of spirit wolves who claimed this mine as their own could sense someone had entered their territory.

An alpha female spirit wolf was the first to go in search of the invader, with the male staying behind to protect the litter. This was directly opposite of the behavior of the White Tiger Matriarch, which protected her babies while forcing her mates to scout.

As the spirit wolf approached Willem's position, it howled back to the males to signal that an intruder had entered. Willem did not know how the spirit wolf knew, and decided to study it a bit more instead of outright killing it.

Not wanting to damage the specimen, Willem created a cage made of earth and wrapped it around the spirit wolf before it could fight back. The spirit wolf gnawed at the earthen bars holding it against it's will but could not do anything to even remotely damage the cage. Instead of fighting against it, the spirit wolf howled for the others of it's pack to be wary of traps.

The spirit wolf was an intelligent beast that had evolved from the original wolves of the Northern Continent, whom had been domesticated into pets thousands of years ago by Magical Beings. As a Magical Beast, spirit wolves had an uncanny connection to Wing Magic, allowing their tracks to be hidden and their scent to be masked. This made spirit wolves undisputed apex predators within the area of level three Magical Beasts.

The most dangerous thing about spirit wolves was that they always traveled in packs. A lone wolf was only very rarely seen if it was an alpha female that lost a challenge from another younger female.

As Willem continued traveling deeper into the mine, through the natural twists and turns of the structure, he continued to cage any spirit wolves he came across.

When all the adult spirit wolves had been captured, Willem approached the litter of spirit wolf pups and picked up the runt of the litter by the scruff of it's neck.

"Yap!" The spirit wolf yelped as it attempted to wriggle out of being carried.

Since it was still a newborn pup, it's eyes had yet to open and therefore it did not know what was going on. Willem gently gathered the litter of spirit wolves into a linen bag and teleported his new prizes to his Private Sanctum.

Since he could not put the apex predator spirit wolves in the same enclosure as the silver back Caribou, Willem created a new room identical to the mine that he had just been in. He released the spirit wolves from their cages, but did not return the litter to the den. Instead, he took the spirit wolf pups and delivered them to the four major families that resided in his Private Sanctum.

All the leaders were apprehensive about accepting such an amazing gift, but Willem insisted as a gesture of good will.

The final pup from the litter was left for the little girl whom was now under Willem's protection.

"Kinsey." Willem snapped his fingers while in his study room and Kinsey immediately returned to attend to her Master's needs.

"What can I do Master-" Kinsey was frozen in shock as she saw a small sleeping child in Willem's arms.

"Kinsey, she has lost her parents, I will need you and Anna to take care of her and show her how to be an attendant. I am leaving this spirit wolf for her to train as well, so you will instruct her and guide her." Willem handed over the small child and the spirit wolf pup to Kinsey.

"To be honest, Master, while it is commendable to help those less fortunate, if you save all the orphans and weak and poor, they will just depend on you instead of learning to depend on themselves." Kinsey used a small amount of magical power to create a soft bed for the girl and pup to lie on.

"Perhaps you are right, but this is not the time to speak of it. There are many things that must be done. I will show you some affection soon, I promise." Willem gave Kinsey a peck on the cheek before shifting back through the void to the mine once more.

"A man always keeps his promises." Kinsey said as Willem departed, now unsure of what to do with herself.

When Willem arrived once again at the mine, he took the time to lay down an elaborate and self sustaining runic teleportation circle. When it was completed, he shifted back to the Private Sanctum and made the exact copy of the runic circle in the center of the middle level where all the families were located.

"Family heads, your presence is requested at the center of the second level." Willem spoke as his voice traveled through the Private Sanctum.

Forty four family heads quickly gathered at the center where Willem had been standing patiently, with the four main families in the front.

As they appeared one by one, they gasped at the marvelous runic binding that Willem had created. The runic circle was easily seven or eight times larger than any array they had ever seen before.

"Greetings to the Grand Mage." All the family heads spoke in unison, as if they had prepared for it beforehand.

"Greetings, I have spoken extensively with the Lovejoy family about the state of their mines. They have agreed to allow us mining rights, so I have setup a teleportation circle that does not require magic on behalf of the user. At any time, you may come and go to the mines as you see fit. I invited the family head of the Lovejoys and Smiths to explain further." Willem stood among his people and explained the situation of the glowing runes beneath his feet.

"As the Grand Mage says, the King had closed our mines but they are now open once more. All materials will be going to the Grand Mage, but he has already graciously paid us all in advance in terms of weapons, armor, food, and safety. All families are welcome to use the mine, as long as they are willing to listen to my family in terms of where and how much to mine so that it does not collapse." The big breasted family head of the Lovejoys seemed to have caught the attention of most of the male family heads.

The leader of the Smiths stepped forward.

"Though we are but humble smiths, we take pride in our work and the work of those under our care. Anyone who wishes to apprentice and learn the way of the forge is welcome to, as the Grand Mage has graciously crafted for us master tier smithing tools and forges." When he was done speaking, the family head returned to his original position.

"The Warden family has always had a strong military presence, and we will be defending the mines against Magical Beast and Magical Being attacks. Any among the families who wishes to learn the martial way are welcome to join us." The Warden family head stepped forward, delivered his lines and stepped back as if an automated doll with a prepared speech.

"As the head of the Wight family, I would be remiss if I did not offer my knowledge to you all. Anyone who wishes to pursue higher learning, from calligraphy to arithmetic, may join my class and learn what I have to teach." The Wight family head bowed to the family heads present.

Finally, one last representative stepped forward.

"I am the family head of the Curo family. We have always been the personal bank of the crown, for as long as we have lived. Seeing how the crown has treated us compared to how generous the Grand Mage is has forced us to question who is really in charge. This may be treasonous, but if the Grand Mage ever laid claim to the city, he would have our full support." The female family head stopped speaking and returned to mingle among the other heads.

Many whispers passed from the lips of the family heads, but the consensus seemed to be in favor of the Grand Mage taking the crown.

Willem remained as tranquil and serene as he was before.