Now that Willem had his list of families, he traveled back to the inner city of the Bastion of Hope to relocate them using the teleportation array setup in his old homestead. His first visit was to the Smith family home who's children were the fifth and sixth position in the top ten ranked Mages within the Magic Academy that decided to join Willem.

At first, the Smith family was skeptical of Willem's identity, until he removed from his spatial spell the Seal of the King. Just being able to produce a spatial spell was proof of his identity as a member of the Magic Academy, and the Seal was icing on top of the cake. After being invited in for tea, Willem explained the situation and successfully convinced the family of one hundred, including maids and other servants, to relocate to his Private Sanctum.

When he was done with the Smiths, he went to the other forty four homes and explained the situation to them as well. The Lovejoys, the Wardens, the Wights, all families understood quickly that this would guarantee their safety more so than just remaining in the Bastion of Hope. With Willem's insistence, the families stores of provisions were brought with them. Willem was much more assured as the quantity of their food stocks far exceeded his own.

Whether they were the higher ups or lower nobles within the Bastion of Hope, all the families were equal in the Private Sanctum of Willem. They were all told of their children's potential fates, and that their children had already decided to do their duties.

As the families joined, the Private Sanctum was expanded to multiple tiers, with an expansive staircase leading up and down to other levels. The bottom level was where the torture chamber, horticulture room, small forest for the Caribou and food storage was.

The middle level was for the various families, guests and their recreational facilities while remaining in the Private Sanctum. Lastly was the top level, which was the original Private Sanctum before the expansion. The kitchen, study room and bedroom of Willem was here. The kitchen was expanded vastly in order to facilitate the thousands of new guests.

Even the higher up nobles remarked at the quality of the Private Sanctum. Not only was it filled with amazing tapestries, artworks and rare materials, but no matter where you roamed you would always be energized. This was because Willem's magical power flowed through the Private Sanctum much more densely than before thanks to the expansion. Those who could channel magical energy found that their meditation was much more successful, and those that had no control of such energies still felt relaxed and bolstered.

When Willem was done with transporting all the people associated with his fifty magical soldiers, he held a grand audience within his kitchen while food was served. The room had exuberant conversations between different houses, curious about the events leading up to this move. While some of the higher nobles snubbed the lesser nobles in the beginning, eventually they too got involved with the conversation to sate their curiosity.

Willem sat at the head of the middle table, with the family heads around him. The layout allowed for Willem to look over the various families with nothing obstructing his view. When he was ready to speak, the room quieted quickly.

"Hello and thank you to all the guests who have chosen to join me in my Private Sanctum. I am Willem Reinhardt, formerly Willem Saye. I am sure at some point the Saye family name had meant something to some of you, but that can be discussed at a later time. First, a toast, and after that we can speak at length about what will happen in the future."

Willem used his magical energy to separate the high quality wine from its jugs and into the glasses in front of his guests. Those too young to drink wine were given freshly squeezed orange juice or milk. The guests clapped quickly before raising their glasses with Willem.

"To the future of the Bastion of Hope." Willem drank from the beautiful jewel encrusted goblet and sat back down on his seat at the head of the table. The other families all drank in unison with Willem and took their seats. Willem circulated his magical power and teleported the prepared plates of food in front of everyone sitting at the table, himself included. The meal consisted of tender boar meat, grilled fish, and buttered potatoes with peas and carrots on the side.

As the meal began, the heads of the various families began to converse with Willem, asking about how their children were doing and the state of the upcoming war. When Willem began to speak again, the happy sounds of munching and slurping quieted.

"We have just received information recently about how the magical beings are already at our doorstep. My Squad will be the first to exchange blows with the enemy, and from that we will know the nature of this war. Each of your children are among the strongest fifty students in the Magic Academy, which is why they were chosen for this mission." Willem let out a rather long winded speech before continuing to eat.

The family heads pondered for a moment, elated hearing about their children but also worried, and continued to eat. Even though they had always considered themselves well informed, they certainly had no idea that the enemy was so close already. 

As they ate, tears slipped from their faces due to the quality of the food. The spices used had blended incredibly well with the different flavors and textures of food, creating a strong balance of tastes. So much so that they could not help but cry from the amazing taste. Kinsey stood beside Willem, watching approvingly as the family heads ate like gluttons.

"How long do you think we will be at war?" The family head of the Wardens spoke up as he wiped the small tears from his face with the sleeve of his robe.

"I wish I could give you a time frame, but honestly it depends on the enemy. If this was the only force they send, it could be done in a single day. More likely though, is that this war may continue for a few years with small skirmishes determining who will win." Willem said matter-of-factly.

The Warden family head nodded satisfactorily and continued to eat.

"Do we know how many forces they have?" The family head of the Wights was next to speak.

"We do not know how many forces they have, but they are least strong enough to force a level nine beast from it's home." Willem responded.

A hushed silence fell over the families as they heard that. Many of the families understood the balance of power within the forest close to the Bastion of Hope. A level ten beast was the old classification for lesser Dragons whom could wipe out towns with a single cone of blazing fire.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

"With that kind of power do we have any chance of beating them?" The Lovejoy family head cried out in frustration.

"I will be dealing with the strongest among the enemies, your children will be repelling the main forces to ensure they do not march on the Bastion of Hope." Willem explained.

The Lovejoy family head looked down in embarrassment, but Willem paid no mind to it. How could he judge a person that fears for their children.

"Does the One True King know about all this? Why has he not acted?" The family head of the Smiths spoke.

"The Queen has recently endured a traumatic event, and the King is taking care of her as only he can. I have taken control of the Army to train and ready themselves for the war ahead." Willem responded.

The gathered families silently stared at Willem as he answered the question. He openly admitted that it was he himself that controlled the Army and would be leading the attack against the magical beings. Would that not mean he had usurped the King's command of the Army for himself? No one dared speak out against him though, for fear of punishment from their kin. If they got removed from the safety of a Private Sanctum because one person could not keep their mouth shut, it might mean the end of that family.

When the families had finished eating their food, all but the heads of the families excused themselves and returned to their respective rooms in the Private Sanctum.

"It would appear as though we all owe you a great debt, Willem Reinhardt."

"Of that, everyone is in agreeance. My boy was always wasting his talents, and now he is a part of something greater than himself."

"When I sent my daughter off to the Magic Academy, I assumed I would never hear from her again. Knowing she is protecting the Bastion of Hope gives me great pride."

"I worried about sending off my only heir, but now that I know he is doing well, I do not regret my decision."

"My son always had his nose in a book, but I guess he had enough talent to succeed. It's been about six years since I saw him."

"Will we ever get to see our children again? Maybe when the war is over?"

The head of the families could not help but hold their heads high as they spoke about their children. Willem recognized some of them merely by the contours of their face. It was clear some of the children looked incredibly similar to their fathers or mothers.

"When the war is over, I will discuss with the King about the method the Magic Academy uses to isolate children from their homes. Perhaps returning for one month every year or two would be sufficient." Willem stated as he watched the smiles of the family heads grow wide. 

"Now, there is something important that you must tell your families. The upper level is only for the kitchen, as my study room and bedroom are off limits for the protection of you all. I have setup defensive spells in order to ensure the experiments I have inside will not escape and cause unnecessary death."

It was a bold and outright lie, but the family heads nodded with stern expressions and a serious demeanor. This made Willem feel at ease about his possessions not being tampered with.

"On the bottom level there is a door marked with a red circle, this indicates that it is the torture room. We are currently torturing magical beings that have been spying on us for a while. Please do your best to not enter that room." Willem continued to speak. "Finally if there is anything you need, including instruments for leisurely activities or a larger bath, whatever it is just speak with one of my attendants and either they or I will get it for you." Willem finished speaking.

Willem found that recently he was capable of long winded speeches without faltering compared to his usual awkward silence. Kinsey had taught him the merit of such activities, and now his efforts bore fruit.

"Of course, we will engrave these words into our families and they will understand the importance of such things." The general consensus of the families was this statement.

Willem gave them permission to leave and when the last family leader left the kitchen, he briskly walked down the stairs to the bottom level and into the room where the small forest had been made.

Inside the small man made forest, the young silver back Caribou had plenty to eat and drink, but there was also strange noises that forced it to roam around. Willem had set up a magical device that emitted an audio signature which would trigger the Caribou's magical perception, forcing it to roam somewhere else. This kept it lean and in shape despite all the food surrounding it.

Willem walked through the forest, reshaping it based on the thoughts in his mind. As the room warped and the terrain changed, Willem prepared himself for his next meeting with the Caribou. Willem created a hollow beneath a large rock formation, and made it the only domain large enough to hide in to escape natural weather.

When everything was ready, Willem began chanting a water spell to create rain. As the winds whipped and the leaves of the tree danced, the sky turned grey and rain began to gently fall. Quickly seeking shelter from the rain, the Caribou ran to the enclave Willem was in.

Willem masked his scent and disappeared from even the Caribou's magical perception. He only left a faint trace of himself for the Caribou to get accustomed to be near. Since the forest was filled with dense magical energy from himself, he did not need to fear the Caribou attempting to harm him again.

As the time passed, Willem slowly eased out of his magical darkness when he noticed that the Caribou had already fallen asleep. Watching the Caribou resting peacefully gave Willem some peace of mind.

Willem meditated inside himself, swimming in a lake of darkness. The sands of the beach within his mind were gone, as was the tomb that housed the demoness for a time. The ferryman was no where to be found. His soul that had previously been cracked by the presence of the demoness had finally healed, and Willem had finally returned to his strengthened state.

When his meditation finished, the Caribou was already gone and the rain spell had ended.

Willem stood up and left the room before teleporting to the Army Training Grounds. It was already dawn, and the Squad of one hundred soldiers were dressed and ready for the surprise attack. Sir Kris and Sir Rowan were at the front of their respective groups, speaking commands when Willem arrived.

"Grand Mage Willem, your Squad is ready to go Sir!" The Knights shouted in unison.

"Very well, let us begin." Willem answered.