(This is not going to end well.) Willem thought to himself as Arania left the room, buckling at the knees.

Willem had intended to stay behind and get some work done, but no matter how much he tried to concentrate, his mind would constantly wander.

At first he thought nothing of what had happened, but upon closer inspection he realized that almost every female associated with him requested intimacy at one time or another.

Some were more forthcoming than others.

Willem understood the biological imperative to procreate and pass his genetic line on, and it was not like he was restricted from any other emotion besides anger so to some degree he did understand the desire to have children... But he also understood that it was much harder for female humans to get pregnant with non-human babies. The studies and subsequent data was well documented in the library records, as long as one was able to decipher the code it was written in.

Kinsey was the first person Willem had been candid with about his biology, including showing her the letter written by his Mother. She had remain unfazed, which left Willem in a confused state that time as well. Her pregnancy was unexpected, but not completely unforeseen. Considering how often they had sexual intercourse, her becoming pregnant was only a matter of time. Despite the low rate of conception for their coupling, Willem found himself feeling truly fortunate to receive an heir so quickly.

Despite not wanting to waste time, it was well into the night when Willem finished his new spell-work.

He had found a way to combine the rune words Entropy and Cyclone, creating Devour.

Devour as a spell unleashed a massive wave of wind that destroyed most objects it could reach. The finer point of the spell was that whatever was destroyed got absorbed, giving more energy to a secondary wave. The strength of the second wave was proportionate to what was destroyed the first time. This continued until there was nothing left to destroy.

Though Willem had been working on a purely destructive spell instead of his typical utility spell, it's destructive power easily engulfed anything Willem could initially picture. Willem put the spell structure and creation method into two separate books with separate ciphers, hoping that if anyone besides him came across it, they would be intelligent enough not to use is wantonly.

Closing his eyes and breathing out heavily, Willem stood from his work desk and opened the door to the Private Sanctum, heading to the teleportation array. After saying hello to the Matron and her aides, Willem teleported to the mining area.

Without him noticing, night had gone and the sun had already begun to arise over the hills in the distance.

Near the dining area in the Private Sanctum.

"Lia, breakfast is ready! We have your favorite bacon and eggs!" A call came out from the old man in the dining hall in charge of cooking the food.

Small feet scampered along the cold stone ground as a little girl ran from the other room into the dining hall, her hair a mess and a large toothy grin on her face. Her dress was by no means tattered, but they looked a few sizes too big to fit her small body.

"Where's your attendant?" The old man served up a large plate to the girl, placing the eating utensils at the side of the plate.

"She wasn't quick enough, I got away!" Lia licked her lips as she used just her fork to grab at the bacon, chomping delightedly while kicking her feet back and forth.

"Well, don't cause too much trouble." The old cook placed a hand gently on his back as he slowly walked away, his feet barely lifting off the ground.

Even in the Private Sanctum, with it's many boons, the old man knew his time was coming soon. To have lived to his age could be considered a miracle in itself. When he first came to the Private Sanctum, his grand-daughter had to carry him in her arms. Now she was a Captain of a special stealth squad in the Grand Mage's army, and he couldn't be prouder. Instead of leaning on her position, he chose to continue working to support his worth in the Sanctum.

After a few minutes, an attendant finally burst into the room with a look of panic across her face. Seeing Lia sitting at the table eating happily, a wry smile took over.

"Lia..." She whispered as she slowly approached the little girl.

Lia had a wide smile as she ate another piece of bacon, her feet still furiously kicking.

"What will the Grand Mage think if you don't behave." The attendant put both her hands on the table as she exasperatingly sat down.

"Daddy loves me, I can do what I want." Lia puffed out her cheeks as her face gradually turned a deep red. She folded her arms across each other while still holding the fork, stopping dangerously close to stabbing herself in the ribs.

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"I'm sorry, i'm sorry." The attendant panicked and quickly apologized, waving her hands to show she had given up.

"What are we doing today?" Lia accepted the apology and continued eating her breakfast.

"Madam Vallen is going to teach you shapes and animals, and also letters and numbers. Once it reaches noon you can play with the others kids." The attendant pulled out a scroll with writing in black ink.

"I don't want to play with the other kids, they don't like me. I want to see Daddy." Lia began picking at her food while thinking about the last time she got to be beside Willem.

"The Grand Mage is busy protecting us from the evil monsters and bad guys." The attendant looked quite somber as she touched Lia's shoulder gently. "When he is not so busy, he'll come play."

"Promise?" Lia looked up at the attendant with eyes welled up in tears.

"I promise." The attendant looked away and made a false promise she could not keep.

The little girl might only be six years old, but she was by no means an idiot. She knew the attendant was lying, which is partially why she was acting out in the first place.

In Paradiso Rosso's palace.

Willem overheard the conversation in the dining hall as it was taking place. He wanted to see Lia and explain to her the reason why he could not always be with her, but there was simply not enough time.

Paradiso Rosso was still at a crucial point in it's development, stabilizing the economy and securing the military power needed to protect the people.

Despite not wanting to focus on it, Willem could not help but see his own reflection as a lost child in Lia. Having lost her Father, and her Mother still not coming forward, Willem had to assume the worst of the situation.

Unsure of how to proceed, Willem brought up his predicament to the Stinging Blood Tortoise while they were quietly eating breakfast.

"Ashkatar, I have something I want to run by you..." Willem waited until Ashkatar had finished eating the handful of blueberries he had picked up from the table.

"With such a serious expression, do tell." Ashkatar grinned impishly as he tapped his finger on the table.

"I am unsure how to proceed, in regards to a small child I had saved earlier." Willem was not entirely sure how to explain the situation.

Starting from the beginning, Willem told Ashkatar everything that had happened with Lia, including the conversation he overheard this morning.

"I guess it was too much to ask for a leader who is omnipotent. Haha..." Ashkatar laughed a little while chewing on a peach in his hand.

"What would you suggest I do?" Willem figured there would be no harm in asking.

"I guess, there are three solutions that come to mind. First and foremost, you can do as I did, and create a homunculus to impart your mind into. I still think and react with my original body, but the homunculus only has magic power I have imparted into it. If it exceeds that magic capacity, it ceases to exist."

If Willem chose that route, he would indeed be able to interact with Lia more often, but if the homunculus uses too much magic and dies, Lia's mind might snap after witnessing his 'death'. Willem thought for a moment but chose not to interrupt the flow of the conversation.

"Secondly, you can make a phantasm that has no physical body, which makes magical power allocation alot easier. The phantasm has no physical body but is similar to the homunculus in almost every other way."

Between the first and second option, the second was the better of the two, allowing Willem to not be concerned of exhausting the physical body and causing Lia to have a mental break. However having to explain the phantasm to Lia would definitely not be easy.

"And the third option?" Willem waited patiently, weighing each option carefully.

"Earnestly commit to being her Father, and command the Army from your Private Sanctum." The light in Ashkatar's eyes dimmed as his head stared down at his feet.

"Are you thinking about your children?" Willem couldn't help but ask.

"Even after all this time... You may think of me as a fool, but it still hurts, even to this day. Having lived as long as I, all you really have left is your memories. If I had not gone into seclusion, my love and my children may yet have roamed this world. I cherish every memory I have with them, and I think you would do the same." Ashkatar looked Willem in the eyes, meaning every word he had said.

"I trust you, whom has lived a life longer than almost anyone in this world. Your knowledge is incomparable. Perhaps you are right, however... My work is not done. I am carving a world in which that girl can see and be who she wants to be. Along with all the other people under my banner." Willem clenched his fist, thinking of the magical beings whom had used the humans as slaves before killing them.

"Does this future you foresee include sacrificing the happiness of one little girl?" Ashkatar knew Willem had already decided, and was just playing coy.

How could the happiness of a little girl compare to the future of an entire species.

Yet Willem took every word spoken seriously.

Ashkatar half-smiled, but it was as if he had already foresaw the answer Willem was going to give.

"In time, truth will reveal itself before you. Whether you made the right or wrong choice, it is still your choice to make." Ashkatar waved his hand noncommittally and grabbed another handful of blueberries, popping one after another into his mouth.

His words held weight upon Willem's mind, but Willem knew that what he said to Ashkatar was what he meant.

"How does one make a phantasm?" Willem looked at the sage-looking old man throwing blueberries into his open mouth.

"Simple enough... A phantasm is an imagined form, reinforced by the magical power rotating within the confines of it's taken shape. If you need a reference, you often see them floating around inside Jörmungandr. Magical power formed without a consciousness, remnants of previous strong existences since this world's creation." Ashkatar had his eyes closed, as he began to recite from memory how he came to learn about phantasms.

"So those are phantasms..." Willem understood immediately as he had come and gone through the Void so often.

"To make it into a tangible creation, you need to imprint your own mind inside the phantasm as it is created. If you happen to fail on the first try, there is no harm done, the phantasm will disappear and you will have to rest a week to recover. If you succeed, your mind will automatically be linked to the phantasm. It will feel as if you are two distinct people, yet are of one mind. I have yet to find proper words to convey how it truly feels." Ashkatar took out a runic symbol written on an old parchment. "The rune word."

(Astral body creation.) Willem read the three combined runes.

"Okay, what do i need to do?" Willem nodded his head in affirmation.