Ink began to flow heavily as the class collectively began to scribe their strongest spells onto scrolls. Many chose their highest level spells, while few chose to do intermediate and even fewer chose elementary spells. Anna watched over them closely to see their progression, activating the collective knowledge of Willem and the spider demoness, in accordance with what Willem allowed her to know.

Half of an hour passed and many of the students began finishing their scrolls. Over the course of the next fifteen minutes, the slow writers properly finished as well. When the last of the quills dried, Anna spoke once more.

"Very well done, all of you. As expected of the senior inscriptionists of the Magic Academy. Please, let us go to the training grounds so that you may show off the true power of your spells." Anna motioned for the class to head towards the training grounds.

Signing on behalf of the Grand Mage of Darkness and confirmed with the teacher of the class, Anna led the class into the grounds in order to begin the competition.

"Line up, and begin when you have mentally prepared yourself." Anna spoke loudly.

The class lined up as commanded and the first to step forth was a young girl of fourteen. After a quick prayer to the god of magic, she circulated her magical power within her body, channeling it through the scroll and unleashing the power of her earthen magic scroll.

Impressed, Anna made a mental note of the girl's power and continued through the line. After one hundred and eleven more students, she chose her ten senior inscriptionist apprentices.

Of the ten, three wind mages, three earth mages, two water and two fire mage were chosen. Among the earth mages was the same fourteen year old girl who started first in the competition.

Slightly bitter, the other hundred and two students left the training grounds and were escorted back to the class with the teacher. The ten students remained behind, talking giddily while awaiting orders from Anna.

"My Master will be personally receiving you and telling you about your new assignments tomorrow morning, you are to meet him at the gates of the Magic Academy entrance with the rise of the sun. Until then, pack your things in your dormitory as you will be given new lodgings during your time with us." Anna gave them a nod and left the training grounds.

The students began to chat among themselves in elation while Anna headed for the inner city. After confirming her next command with Willem, she arrived at the inner city via teleportation and donned a black mask with hooded mantle.

Anna, as commanded, entered the home of a lower noble, knocking out her sentry and kidnapping the woman without hesitation. For confirmation, she took out a dagger and left a small incision on the woman's wrist after knocking her out cold. Green blood pooled from the wound and healed exponentially more quickly than a typical human wound would have.

Anna teleported back to the Private Sanctum with the lower noble and handed her over to the spider demoness. When she was done tying up the new prisoner, she teleported once more to the inner city looking for the next magical being according to Willem's information.

All in all, in the course of two hours, forty magical beings were captured and imprisoned at Willem's Private Sanctum.

Due to the amount of magical beings gathered, Willem had to warp the torture chamber by increasing the size to fit his new guests.

Willem gave Kinsey a letter to give to the King and sent her through the teleportation array. Once she was safely on the other side, he allowed Anna to return to the Magic Academy to study the Mind Mage's tome.

Finally, with a moment to himself, he gathered some cooked seasoned wolf meat and teleported to the Army Training Grounds.

Inside the Army Training Ground.

During the time since Willem left the magical armors and weapons in the Knight's possession, they had trained day and night with their apprentices to hone their abilities. When they were not training the defense and offense division of the army, Sir Rowan and Sir Kris were often found sparring together or sparring with their apprentices.

Though the power they received thanks to the equipment was immense, the tempering of their ability was the most important part for them to properly wield their new strength. Even the Knight Captain was often found training with his new wind two-handed sword, which he named 'Storm'.

When Willem arrived at the Training Grounds, the magical weapons began vibrating as if they had a will of their own. Sir Gehrig, Sir Kris, Sir Rowan as well as Eli and Mark all headed in the direction of Willem, as if they were compelled. They all converged on his location at roughly the same time, and placed their weapons in the hilts before greeting the Grand Mage.

"We humbly receive the Grand Mage." Sir Gehrig was the first to speak, and presented Willem with a slight bow to show his position. Sir Kris and Sir Rowan gave a kneeling bow with Eli and Mark in unison with Sir Gehrig's.

"I have come to share some stories, if you all are willing to listen." Willem quietly spoke.

They all nodded their heads in unison and Sir Gehrig motioned for them all to enter his private quarters.

With the door closed, Willem told them all about what he had been doing since they last met. He spoke of the capture of a magical being, the movements and plan of the enemy and his part to play in the war. He also explained that fifty soldiers from the army and fifty mages from the Magic Academy would be under his direct control. The Knight Captain nodded his head in agreement while Willem talked, not daring to interrupt him.

"Sir Gehrig, the weapon I have gifted you is one of a kind, comparable only to the weapons I have given to you four. You must know by now that even though it is of impeccable quality, it does not have any trigger to activate its ability. There is no command word, or particular way of holding it. That is because it was designed with your particular position in mind." Willem spoke a lot on the subject, but did not offer any insight. "You will know how to use it when the time comes."

The Knight Captain had unknowingly been holding his breath and finally let it out. To know that it was custom-made for him made him that much more grateful of his 'gift'.

"The King has given me free reign to choose my fifty soldiers, and I have always intended to bring you four with me when we begin the assault. What I wish for you to do is choose the other forty-six comrades to join you. Unfortunately, Sir Gehrig, if you were not the Knight Captain I would have chosen you too. Your position is much too important, however, to abandon to anyone of a lesser quality." Willem was not used to such exaggerated speaking but felt practice was necessary.

Sir Gehrig nodded at the sentiment. However he was not a man to dwell on the past, nor his mistakes, but instead seek to rectify them in the future.

Willem continued to speak about the plan to make the outer ring the main source of food for when the forests eventually became under siege by enemies, and how important it was that the area be protected when the time comes. He also explained that there were already many spies for magical beings within the Bastion of Hope, and that he had captured them in haste with the permission of the King.

The five soldiers were completely shocked when they found out that magical beings had not just snuck in, but had apparently been there for many years. Sir Gehrig asked if there was anything they needed to do about the situation.

"No, but I can assure you that this will cause an uproar and will spawn alot of missing person posters. You will most likely be summoned to a meeting with the other Generals and Captains, and you must make sure not to get the Army involved. Do not make it unnatural, but the King will agree with you when that time comes." Willem further explained the position he wished Sir Gehrig to take.

"I will do as you command." Sir Gehrig nodded his head in agreement.

Willem used his spatial spell, and began to take out many different types of magical weapons and armors. The five soldiers watched as Willem continued to place full sets of magical armor on the tables around the Knight Captain's private quarters.

"These magical armors and weapons are much weaker in comparison to your own, but they are much stronger than the ones you have been receiving from the Magic Academy. To the forty-six of your chosen allies, they will be given these magical arms to protect their home. They must train as hard as you have to master them before the fight begins." Willem watched to ensure Sir Gehrig and the other Knights understood the responsibility he was entrusting to them.

Willem also produced from his spatial spell the seasoned and cooked wolf meat that Kinsey had prepared for the day, and everyone ate it with zest. Far from the usual slop of Army meals, the sumptuous taste of the wolf meat made it quick to disappear. Willem sat and listened to Sir Gehrig give a report about the readiness of the Army for the war. Sir Rowan and Sir Kris spoke of their individual divisions and of their own spars. Eli and Mark also chimed in when Willem asked them what they had been doing to prepare themselves.

Finally, before preparing to leave, Willem once again opened his spatial spell and withdrew a special set of full plate. The armor was blue in color, with lines of silver and gold in special patterns all around the pieces. Though similar looking to the sets of armor of the other Knights, this full plate gave off an intimidating aura.

Eli and Mark shirked backwards, unable to look at it for too long.

"This was especially crafted for you, Sir Gehrig. The leader of the Army should not be without protection." Willem passed the pieces of the armor toward Sir Gehrig. "As with the others, this is bound to you by blood and cannot be wielded by others with full effect. Save for your next generation if the time comes." Willem laughed like an old man at his own joke while Sir Gehrig stared into the reflection of himself on the visor of the helmet.

"May I ask why I feel so intimidated just by a piece of armor?" Sir Gehrig suppressed the lump slowly growing in his throat and asked the question that was on everyone else's mind.

"Your armor was not made with wind or earth magic, like the others. It was crafted and infused with mind magic for one sole purpose. Anyone too weak to resist must bend to your will and obey your command. If you find your men in disarray in a losing battle, the armor will call them to arms forcefully. They will do exactly as you tell them to the best of their ability, even if it is to retreat. When you go up against an opponent too strong to be affected, it will still intimidate them enough that they cannot use their full potential. Of course I do not need to tell you what would happen if you misused this power I have given you." Willem watched Sir Gehrig's reaction.

Noticing Willem's stare, Sir Gehrig nodded in agreement before donning the helmet. The helmet fit perfectly to his head, as if it was the most natural and fitting armor he had ever worn. Even with the visor of the helmet down, he could see his comrades in front of him as if he was not wearing the helmet at all. When he took the helmet off, everything was exactly as he had seen it.

Willem nodded his head but did not speak a word about it.

"I must be off, I will return soon to speak to the soldiers you have chosen. Good luck and may the gods watch over you." Willem said his farewells and disappeared into the darkness of the table.

Sir Gehrig stood from his seat, looked at Sir Rowan and Sir Kris, and spoke. "Let us find you some companions for the coming war."

Sir Gehrig donned his full plate armor and as they turned to leave, he heard a voice in his head.

"Storm is a very apt name for your weapon, Sir Gehrig." The voice could only be owned by one person, but what it implied made Sir Gehrig break into a cold sweat.

He had never announced the name of his weapon out loud.