- To the King,

Congratulations, the time for you to prove your usefulness has arrived already.

I had originally intended to kill you quietly, but having you around might yet prove useful.

I am going to take Blood City, and you are going to use your power to endorse the attack.

Call a summons of the war council where you will hand over command of five thousand soldiers and however many Mages I require.

Failure to perform this simple task and I cannot guarantee the life of your Queen or children.

The General from the Lovejoy family will endorse this decision, do not make me come to you personally.

Grand Mage of Darkness,

Grandia. -

Inwardly, The One True King was furious as he came to the understanding that Willem had successfully usurped the throne and controlled the fate of the Bastion of Hope that he had built from scratch so long ago.

Outwardly, however, he had to maintain a face of indifference and nobility. The more he thought about what Grandia asked of him, the better he thought his own appearance would become from his involvement.

If he was to campaign for the assault on Blood City and it went well, would the dissenters not lose their position against him? Even more so, he may regain the heart of his poorer citizens by providing them comfort from the Blood City soldiers and their guerrilla tactics.

The Queen looked at the letter contemptuously but eventually decided to nod her head in approval.

The King nodded back and motioned for Sir Gehrig to come closer to the throne.

"My King." Sir Gehrig stepped forward until he was six feet from the King before bending the knee once more.

"What is your relationship with the Grand Mage." The King looked over the generally unremarkable soldier.

"Compared to your greatness, I am but a humble servant of your will. I am the Knight Captain of the Army and am in command of the defensive movements for the Bastion of Hope." Sir Gehrig responded accordingly.

"Yes, I have seen you before, you sit on the war council. Come with me to my private chamber, I will give you a letter to hand to the Grand Mage." The King beckoned for Sir Gehrig to follow him as he stood from the throne.

Sir Gehrig stood up from his kneeling position and followed the King's coattails closely.

Upon arriving at the King's private chamber, Sir Gehrig waited at the door while the King hastily wrote a missive to be given to Willem. When the letter was finished, it was handed to Sir Gehrig and he was quickly on his way back to the Army Training Grounds.

When The One True King confirmed that Sir Gehrig had left, he commanded his guards to seek out the Grand Mage Archus.

The eight guards saluted and left quickly to fulfill the new mission they had been given.

At the mines outside the Bastion of Hope.

The mining of the ores beneath the Mountains was now in full swing, with the self contained teleportation array making it incredibly easy to transport full carts of unprocessed material to be refined by the Master Smiths.

The leader of the Lovejoy family now had her hands full leading the mining operation when she had an unexpected visit from a sudden guest.

"Arissa Lovejoy, what have I told you about that smoking that damned pipe all day." An old, gruff voiced called out from the other side of the room that the Lovejoy family head was in.

Slightly surprised, the Lovejoy family head bit her lip as the pipe dropped into her lap.

"Ack!" She quickly smothered the ashes that had stained her clothes. "Hello, Grand Elder."

The Grand Elder of the Lovejoy family was an old man with many deep wrinkles, but maintained a muscular and well defined figure despite his age. Even an inexperienced novice could tell that the old man held many secrets in his mind and body. His grey eyes shifted from one side of the room to the other before finally locking onto his Daughter.

"Ooooh, my little baby!" The Grand Elder ran like a spry child and lifted the Lovejoy family head into his arms. "Why is it that when you call upon me it is always business!"

Unfortunately for the Lovejoy family head, she was used to such actions now. With minimal effort, she slipped through his grasp and distanced herself a few feet away.

The Grand Elder began to pout.

"Always so foolish, why do you think I never call on you!" The Lovejoy family head pouted a bit, but inside she was secretly happy to see her Father again after so long. With the current state of the Bastion of Hope, and his position on the war council, the Grand Elder was incredibly busy with reports and scouting and could not be more than a figure in name in his own Daughter's life.

This pained him deeply, especially when his Wife passed and his duties pulled him further and further away from his Daughter.

"So this is another call to use your Father's position is it?" The Grand Elder playfully spoke as he inched closer to his Daughter.

"I am afraid so, our family's benefactor needs your assistance." The mood suddenly dulled and the Lovejoy family head's expression changed.

"Okay, tell me what is going on." The Grand Elder nodded before taking a seat beside his Daughter.

"I will explain as best as I can."

The Lovejoy family head explained everything that Willem had done for their family, and all the other families within his Private Sanctum. She explained about the comprehensive array that had been placed within the mines and how the materials were going to Willem in order for him to craft better gear for the upcoming war.

The Grand Elder rubbed his beard as he listened to everything the family head had to say, sometimes getting distracted with a sudden influx of emotions.

"What is your honest impression of him, Arissa?" The Grand Elder was suddenly very stern, which caught the family head off guard.

"Hmph... He is strong. I have no idea why he is going so far for certain families and not others. I also have no idea what his intentions are and that concerns me." Arissa was completely blunt with her Father, as if their ranks had suddenly disappeared.

"Then, what is the best course of action for our family?" The Grand Elder nodded to her summary of Willem.

"We either prosper at the hands of the Grand Mage, or we face extinction from an idle King who does not leave his palace." The family head spoke some words that were borderline treasonous.

"Our family is not as long lived as others, we started from the bottom of the Bastion of Hope. You are the leader and have the final say in affairs of our family." The Grand Elder looked proudly at his stalwart Daughter.

"If the Grand Mage says to jump, we jump. If he says to dig, we dig. The Grand Mage wants to assault the Blood City, and he needs you to go to the war council and agree to this decision." Arissa stared into the eyes of her Father with determination.

"Very well, I concede. Looks like my Daughter has finally met her match and may yet bear some children. Hahahaha!" A boisterous laugh came from the Grand Elder, before he was promptly kicked out of the room by his Daughter.

The Lovejoy family head tapped on her pipe, her face a little red from the previous remarks.

Far beyond the reach of the Bastion of Hope.

The King of the Magical Beings had just received word of the failure of the scouting party in capturing the human scourge in the Mountains Against the Sea.

Overcome with emotion, he brutally beat his handmaiden while the other servants were forced to watch. Only after the handmaiden collapsed from the severe thrashing did Räel relent and wipe his hands of her blood. Her body was quietly dragged away to the healing clinic in the Royal Palace.

"Does anyone else have bad news for me." Räel wiped his face of sweat and looked at his guards and servants. Not a single person in the room could bring themselves forward to speak.

"Now, now. My King is a merciful King." The wraith inhabiting Rin's body appeared seemingly from out of nowhere and whispered into the King's ear.

"Ah, my love. Who else could bring me such joy in this world?" The King's temperament turned around completely, as if he had never received any bad news in the first place.

"I heard the news, the time for scouting has ended, it is time for our true Army to march. We must join with the Dragon Clan to ensure victory." The wraith hung off the King like a cloak as she weaved mind magic into her speech.

"Yes, I would have words with the Nine Kings. If they agree to join forces, only then will we have absolute victory." The King seemed to mindlessly speak as he looked over the glass panels of his throne room below to the commoners in his city.

While the King was speaking with Sir Gehrig.

Willem had quietly begun preparing the tools he needed for magical weapon and armor creation. Just to make a weapon magical, it required the fresh blood of a magical beast. The longer the blood remained unused, the more stagnant the magical energy became until there was nothing left to use.

While hunting for magical beasts in the woods and making offerings in exchange for their lives, Willem found a set of peculiar but somehow familiar tracks. Following the tracks using his augmented vision, he began to walk deeper and deeper into the woods, until he reached the area designated for beasts as strong as level eight.

In a small burrow under a thistle tree laid two small chimpanzees, barely breathing and severely malnourished. The location they rested in was hastily made and did not protect them from the elements of nature in any way.

As Willem approached, the older chimpanzee awoke and attempted to defend itself and it's kin by holding up a thick stick the size of it's arm. Willem swatted the stick away gently and casted a elementary water spell to give the chimpanzee something to drink.

A small globe of water floated in Willem's hand, continually flowing as if it was dancing. The chimpanzee was enraptured as it placed a finger into the water globe. To it's surprise, the globe twisted around his little fingers, giving off a cool and gentle sensation that the young chimpanzee had never felt before.

The water surrounded the young chimpanzees arm, revitalizing it like a cool breeze. When the chimpanzee understood that Willem was not here to harm them, he pointed at his little sister and begged for help.

Jumping up and down while holding Willem's sleeve, the young chimpanzee pointed at the water globe and then to his sister.

Willem pushed the water globe gently from his hand onto the malnourished chimpanzee as it washed over her small body, reinvigorating her. The sudden splash of water woke the young chimpanzee up as she saw her older brother standing over her while holding onto a human.

Unsure of what to do, the young chimpanzee began screeching until her brother held her in his arms.

Willem patiently sat on the ground until the younger sister calmed down.

When the sister finally calmed down, the curious chimpanzees approached Willem and began to rifle through his clothes. Willem became extremely amused as the chimpanzees found nothing to steal from his clothing.

[This must have been how they survived, stealing from the farmers at the edge of the forest.] Willem surmised as he began to cast his spatial spell.

The chimpanzees became excited as they saw his right hand disappear seemingly out of nowhere, and suddenly reappear with fresh fruits and nuts.

Willem only pulled out a minimal amount of food, so that the chimpanzees would not get sick from overeating. Willem understood better than anyone what it means to go from eating very little to eating alot during his time in the apprenticeship, the discomfort and pain alone was enough to make sure he never forgot.

As compensation for the lack of food, Willem provided an abundance of water to nurture the recovery of the small chimpanzees.

When he believed they were properly fed, he motioned for them to hold his hands.

Hesitantly, the chimpanzees held hands with each other, and with Willem, as he teleported them to the Army Training Grounds.