The gathering looked on in astonishment and even the King was taken aback. It was one thing to manipulate Magic while it was still attached to you, but these Grand Mages were carefully watching the entire event. They could easily tell that the Magic between the 'hate spike' and Willem had been severed. There was no connection, visible or invisible that they could see. Yet clearly there was, because they had just witnessed him manipulate it to cut through the table.

"Splendid, truly splendid. With this much potential we should have a fighting chance against the coming Magical Beings. Pray tell, is there anything you need to further your studies?" The King showed no face and excitedly praised the young man. Even the Grand Mages acknowledged that he was one of them, and they finally understood why he did not fight their apprentices. He was simply too monstrous to bother with them.

"My Master and I have set a list, which can also be found among the papyrus on the table. It details everything I require. What is not included that I wish to put there is that if a scout that is a Magical Being is found, I wish to have him for studying purposes. Of course I will keep him alive and also provide any information he willingly or unwillingly gives."

Sveld was the closest to the papyrus and took the liberty of reading it out. "Official Seal of the Grand Mage. Full access to the Grand Library including the Grand Mage Sanctum. Unrestricted access to the Herbal Composition Room and Advanced Alchemy laboratory. Access to the Senior Inscription Base and ten senior inscriptionists. Three Fire, three Water, two Wind and two Earth. A seal from the King giving unrestricted access to the Army's hunting and training ground to obtain Magic cores. The last one is that when the fight begins, command of a squadron of fifty Mages and fifty fighters on the front lines, hand picked."

The official seal of the Grand Mage meant he would now be considered the first Grand Mage of Darkness and could now participate in war meetings, as well his opinion would carry far more weight.

Full access to the Grand Library and Sanctum meant he no longer had to go through Archus to get a certain piece of obscure knowledge to further his study.

Access to the herbal composition room and advanced alchemy lab meant no more signing up and waiting for ingredients, he would now have first pick and full access. Even senior Mages had to respect if a Grand Mage wanted to use a lab, even if they did not sign up for it.

The senior inscriptions base was located in a small bunker underneath the Magic Academy. Access was given only when one was deemed a Master calligrapher. Without at least this, imbuing an inscription and failing meant losing an arm. Furthermore, with ten senior inscriptionists, he can maximize the efficiency of his spell imbuement.

Magic cores were provided by the army to supplement all forms of Magic within the academy. The army sold Magic cores to the Magic Academy and bought Magic weapons or armor with the credit. Magic weapons and armors were the life blood of the Army, because with them it became possible for a normal fighter to deal damage and take down a Magical Beast. Each rank of Magical Beast required a certain amount of fighters for subjugation and reaped more benefits.

Magic cores made up the majority of ingredients, they could be smelted and put into the handle of a weapon for a specified attribute like flames or water balls. They could be consumed by Mages for a temporary increase in strength, or crushed and turned into a fine powder to be mixed into various concoctions. Even Willem's potions have at least twelve different Magic cores inside them mixed with hundreds of herbs of various strength and quality.

Except for the last request, none of the Grand Mages thought this list to be excessive in any way. However, for the last one, to willingly put such a prodigy on the front lines would be like condemning him to death. They all attributed this to his young fervor, until Archus spoke up.

"I can see the look of despondency on your faces. You should know that it was both Willem and I that decided on the last request after brainstorming together for hours. If you can find it in yourself to trust in our judgement, we believe we can minimize the amount of deaths during this war. I will be right beside him leading the offensive when the time comes."

Though what he spoke could only be considered a reassurance, Archus eyes showed no hints of wavering. This solidified his point that if the request was accepted, they truly could minimize the deaths of the human side. If this was true, there should be no reason to deny the request.

The King got up from his chair, took the papyrus and looked it over once more. With a moment of thought, he reaffirmed in his mind and nodded to Willem and Archus. "All those pertinent have been notified. Our wills be unified, we welcome the Grand Mage of Darkness. Willem Saye, henceforth your magical name shall be... Grandia. You are the first of your generation to succeed in becoming a Grand Mage, and everyone will look to you for guidance. Grand Mages, greet your Brother In Arms."

The Grand Mages stood up from their chairs, clasped their hands and bowed deeply to the young man. He reciprocated and clasped his hands, bowing deeply to each and every one of them. From this point on, he was a Grand Mage of the King's Army, and though his path was paved with thorns, it is his path to tread. Until the day comes that he finds the pendant of his Father, he will not falter and he will not fall to his enemies no matter how numerous.

"A grand banquet will be set for the welcoming of our latest Grand Mage, Grandia, tonight at sundown. Bring your best attire, and prepare your best Magic as we will show the people of The Bastion of Hope that there is truly nothing we fear." The King bowed slightly and teleported away leaving a scattering wind as he left.

The Grand Mages crowded around Willem, chatting excitedly until after a while he politely excused himself to get ready for the banquet. Truthfully, Willem hated this kind of attention. Of course he knew people would talk, and they would do everything they can to carry favor with him to ensure themselves a powerful ally in case something happened.

Willem cared not for such trivial social interactions, which is why he preferred the company of Archus. Archus' temperament was a perfect match for Willem. They both enjoyed each others company but did not require it, which allowed for enjoyable conversations and enjoyable isolation.

Willem manipulated his Darkness Magic, enveloping himself within it and sliding into the shadow of the hanging light from the council room. The Grand Mages looked on in envy, including Archus. When they teleported, there would always be some kind of spatial guidance interference, as they were bending time and space to change from one place to another. Willem's Darkness Magic did no such thing, it was smooth and quiet like the flow of water. From the shadow he reappeared within his own Private Sanctum, where Kinsey was busy burning a flask of blue liquid. Upon returning, Kinsey siphoned the fire from the burner and manipulated it into her hand long enough for her to bow to Willem and offer her greetings before going back to burning the flask.

Once Kinsey was done, she set the flask among the others on the side table and walked over to Willem's side. She looked rather anxious compared to usual, as she knew he had been at the Grand Mages council and had a different expression compared to when he left.

In the four years they had been together, she could never tell what he was thinking. When she failed, he did not strike her as her Father would. When she performed her duties successfully, she would be praised and rewarded. On cold nights, he would allow her to accompany him to bed but did not make her attend to his needs. At first she was offended as he seemed uninterested in her body, but he quickly told her that was not the truth. He knew her body was without equal, flawless skin and an hourglass figure that had been tempered with time. Compared to the females they had originally traveled with in the caravan, Kinsey was on a different level.

However he bluntly told her that he did not have time to entertain such ideas, not until he was strong enough to find the bastard that stole his pendant. Therefore he set for himself a self-imposed celibacy until he at least achieved the level of Grand Mage. She understood that power meant everything to Willem once he explained the events leading up to their meeting. Though her heart still palpitated furiously when she shared the same bed with her Master, she still felt safe. On particularly cold nights, he would wrap his arms around her as she cuddled into him for warmth.

Thinking back on his promise to her, Kinsey's face quickly turned red in embarrassment. She looked down at the floor and dared not look Willem in the eyes in case he saw her flushed look. Kinsey did not know how strong Willem had become, nor did she care. After all this time, in her heart she knew that if Willem asked to embrace her she would not deny him. Willem placed himself in his chair and pulled some pieces of papyrus out from his desk. After ten seconds had passed, she had calmed herself back down and casually asked "how did the meeting go, Master?"

Willem grinned mischievously. "Everything went as planned, and I have achieved everything I had hoped to get from the meeting. Though there was some unexpected interference, in the end it did not matter too much."

The interference Willem spoke of was of course the One True King. In none of Willem's predictions of the event would he ever assume the King would personally show himself.

"You are now standing before the Grand Mage of Darkness, Grandia." Willem placed the golden talisman with his name and position inscribed upon it face up on the desk in front of Kinsey knowing full well what her reaction would be.

"This is what Master was after?" Kinsey's face turned bright red again and her heart beat fiercely. "If this is what he wanted to get, then that means..." She thought to herself. Thinking more and more on the subject, she became a crumpled mess of emotions, even though she steeled herself years ago to give everything to her new benevolent Master. However when it came down to the actual act itself, she had no knowledge of bedroom matters.

Willem noticed the fluctuations of Kinsey's emotions in her heart and he could not help but tease her more. "Of course it is, with the talisman of a Grand Mage I now have unrestricted access to all the resources in the Magic Academy." He tried hard not to grin too much, and changed to a small smile instead to feign ignorance.

"Before I forget, Kinsey, there will be a banquet held at the King's Royal castle in my honor and I need to look my best. Please go to town and get everything one would need to attend such an event. You will of course be the one escorting me, so do pick yourself up some gaudy jewelry or something."

Kinsey pouted, but dared not say anything. Just being with Willem was a blessing she dared not ever ask for in her previous life, how could she say anything on the matter. Secretly she had wish he would not have forgotten the promise, but it appeared as though he had.

She took the money that he had previously prepared for her expenditures and began to walk towards the teleportation array on the floor. Before she activated the array, she took one last glance at her Master.

"Before you go, again something slipped my mind that I had meant to tell you. Tonight we will be performing a new experiment that we have never done before of which you are paramount in obtaining positive results. I will require you to join me in my bed tonight at midnight, so do please prepare whatever you need for a successful experiment."

Kinsey's mind blanked. Clearly he meant for her to prepare herself to attend to him. Before Kinsey could say anything, Willem activated the teleportation array and sent her into town. She arrived at the other end of the teleportation array and quickly went into the market, face flushed red.