William had succeeded into three steps, one he wasn't expecting to list. He gained a foothold in this world's politics, gained a secondary military force and successfully bribed a monster into ignoring his movements. For the first, he planned to increase his influence all over the continent and ultimately "rule" over it. He didn't plan to personally watch over each of the kingdoms himself as that would be impossible with his abilities but instead on selecting others to rule in his stead and follow his command, for Heaven's Gaze it was Arryn who ruled the kingdom for him, even though she was the crowned one it served as deterrent for unwanted questions by the populace, he wasn't High Elf after all. For the second, the military force of Heaven's Gaze numbered around 12,000. His mercenary group only numbering around 7,000, which in total he had a bit under 20,000 under his command. This pleased him of course but not so for others, the kingdoms of WillowHeart, Remora and Destora, moved to have diplomatic meetings with the new shift in military power. Even the kingdoms from other continents shifted in unease at this quick change, nobody expected for a single being to shift so much power in his direction so fast. Many questioned the sanity of the High Elf Queen Arryn but where quickly silenced by others insulted at the speeches of interracial ruling. The Magi Alliance was in turmoil chasing down Birse BlackHand and his colleagues for the many years of black market and banditry they had done, unfortunately for them neither were on the continent anymore. Their allies from the Monstra Alliance and TACA returned to their home lands after it was ruled that their assistance was no longer required. Birse on the other hand simply swore and retreated his assets, keeping only the most hidden roots in place.

Now was time for the next step, William decided his current power wasn't enough. After the tiring fight to take over the EA mercs, he retired himself to training for several days. Erza kept watch over the entrance to the arena, so that nobody disturbed him. Loke had left the fort and headed back to Rosevalt to arrange some diplomatic issues, basically calming the Magi Alliance representatives and telling them William wished not for war but neutrality. Even though they had been completely used and tricked by the human they had no choice but to sit and watch, due to Loke's persistence and Arryn's speeches at meetings. Kurt and his lieutenants were tasked with keeping the mercenaries trained and out on jobs by the guild. The guild was a global group that passed information, bounties and quests for mercenary groups and other smaller adventurer parties.

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William:"I need to get stronger...I need to surpass myself...No more suppressing it..." He was standing in the middle of the arena for the 4th day in a row, trying to improve his new found powers. William's magic was the very basic of all magic, mana bending. Every mage knew how to do it, but William was special, he could bend it in large quantities, sense it around him and bend that as well. The very first step in learning magic was understanding, feeling and using mana, he had accomplished that and had since used those basics to bend raw mana as kinetic energy or enhancing his own body. Some times he even gave it form such as a blade or barrier but that was too problematic as it used up his mana fast and without his own mana supply bending the mana of his surroundings was too much of a toll on his body. So he decided to advance, the next step was to reform his mana, giving it shape was the simplest of this but he wanted to go further. The next choice was giving the mana an attribute, an element. Every single race had specific elemental attributes, forcing them to utilise that element for highest efficiency. But William was neither of these races and didn't know which element he had an attribute to, so he did the sanest thing and tried to learn them all. No, he did not succeed. He was able to learn Wind,Water,Earth and Fire and was locked to the very most basic of spells but with his insane control and mana capacity these basic spells turned into castings of mass destruction.

William clenched his fists, raising them to align with his shoulders in front of him:"Here we go." He takes a deep breath, after a series of dramatic and dance like movements, mana surged around him, first forming a storm of wind then a whirlwind of water which suddenly crashed into the sand turning into shifting earth that burst into a hurricane of fire. He releases his fists and breaths out."Good, I have the basics down correctly.." He ponders on something for a bit. "Let's try something different.." He closes his eyes to focus. "Each element has a weakness and if I do not think of defensive spells I'll leave myself open... Loke said defensive spells are stronger if they have a medium to act from as they are faster to cast without needing incantation or cast time, like an amulet or a chest plate." He smiles "Got it, I have to look intimidating somehow anyway." He kneels and focuses his mana into the ground. "Let's see, hopefully.. somewhere...Aha, gotcha." He sends fort massive heat into the ground for a couple minutes, turning the sand into glass. "Now to get it out." This time using earth magic he bends the ground around his target, encasing it and forcing it upward. A large steaming boulder comes out from beneath the sand, he starts to shape it, giving it human like features and then focuses his magic on the inside of it. "Hmm...cooling at this rate will take too long...Forcing it will damage it though...Oh right I'll just do this." He forces some of the earth off the shell, making it thinner, then uses water magic to engulf it in water and keeps it moving around the statue constantly, the water bubbled and evaporated fast so he had to supply it with constant mana. He stood there for hours, waiting. Once he was done, Erza could hear him laughing like a maniac from the entrance. She got worried and decided to go check if her master had finally gone insane.

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Author: Kekekekekeke...SURPRISE MUSIC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tChbvW-l5Ao

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She carefully stepped into the arena entrance and walked down the long corridor, as she reached the gate she felt it. Multiple mana signatures engulfing her master, what could possibly it be for her to sense it so distinctively? She sensed four elements in total, so condensed she couldn't make out what was in the middle. She stepped out into the arena to get a good view, she saw only a single figure in the very middle as it should have been...but...

Erza:"What has...How did..." she opened her eyes wide as an explosion of mana happened right in front of her.

William:"I might have...over done it a bit..." He was surrounded by four unnatural disasters, one corner was ablaze, one was completely frozen, one was in a frenzy of typhoons and the last was engulfed in rocky spikes. The outcome of his creation was completely unexpected. He used ores he sensed under ground to form into armour, then forged his own mana into the armour using rune inscriptions. The outcome was truly amazing, the armour set held within it eight spells, two per element. He had to supply it with mana to activate the spell but it was far stronger than the rings he was given by Loke. The armour was of a delicate dark design, similar to Kurt's it had multiple protrusions on the shoulders,gauntlets and legs along with being plated on the chest and legs. Each piece was full of runic inscriptions glowing purple, along with the dark grey colour of the armour it looked quite intimidating.

William turned to face Erza:"What do you think?"

Erza:"Flashy, if you wanted all daggers and arrows aimed at your back consider it accomplished. Then again with that werewolf's rash personality he'll have all eyes on his hammer before that. How'd he even get to lead this many warriors?..."

William:"He's stronger than he makes us think, I can tell. He went easy on me during our fight."

Erza sighs:"What was the point of the trial then?"

William:"I think it was less a test of strength and more a test of wits and willpower."

Erza:"When men talk with their fists I guess...."

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Estria, from afar this dwarven marvel looks like a huge machine of rotating mechanisms and complicated rune inscriptions along with power crystals. Steam flows out of the city left and right giving it an eerie feel. Deep underground, the darkness was having a meeting with the shadows.

Voice:"Seems like your exploits in the north have not gone unnoticed Birse..."

Birse snorts:"You think? Won't stop me though, I've got more time to live than that runt."

Voice 2:"What even did make you retreat though? I'm very curious to know."

Birse glares at the speaker:"Information you do not require to know."

Voice 3:"Indeed, if the member does not wish to share they have every right not to. This group was founded on secrecy, it is our primary principle after all."

Voice:"Well let us get started, since our occupation of the north will take longer than expected we should prepare. There must be no more complications, once we unite all the continents our plan will finally take fruition." In front of them a sphere like crystal shows images of machinery being built, mages and alchemists at work and as well as soldiers lining up.

Birse:"We're so close, nothing can stop us now."

The tension in the room grows as the lights go off.

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Author: Another short chapter xP sorry. I promise next one will be longer :D