Reiko looked around to make sure nobody outside their trusted group was nearby, then spoke quietly. “There has to be something. But the chances are that the “Something” we need is actually contained in a book of forbidden magic from the great war, and just finding it, much less using it, would be as good as declaring ourselves exiles.
The sort of Spell that would let a military unit share the power of a Magi or Demon would have been destroyed right down to everyone who knew of its existence after the war when they burned all remnants of the Magi Clans.
If the Familiar Summoning hadn’t begun summoning back the ones they had cursed and killed, the entire species likely would have been taboo to mention and long forgotten.”
Wolfe wondered if the Inheritance would suggest anything if he tried on his own but thought better of it. They were right. Not only the Covens but the other units that were here on the line assisting them would frown upon that.
But what could he do without a link to them? Standing this close, he could directly transfer mana to the officers, but the sensation would make them incapable of fighting, so that was pointless.
He didn’t know how to do it without the side effects, and he wasn’t sure it was even possible.
“We can’t spend half their spare time going through everyone every day. That’s just not practical. But if we made them some Talismans or something, they could get better. Elemental Affinity would be good, even if we don’t have resources for every element.” Cassie suggested.
“Earth is everywhere, and it will help them form their own Arrows instead of relying on us or the supply runs. It’s not like we can recover any after the battle when they’re all being set on fire.” Priya reminded them.
“Then Earth Element Affinity it is. Since they’re new, it’s best to keep them focused on one area, and Arrows need to be made every day.” Ilyas agreed, then sighed at the thought of actually making that many amulets.
“If it’s just one element, it’s easy enough. We make a stamp, use dirt as the medium for Earth and just activate them one after another. Twenty-five each shouldn’t be too horrible, and Wolfe can stamp them for us.” Ella suggested.
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“In that case, you make the stamp, and I’ll prepare the blanks. I have an easy way to do this.” Wolfe suggested.
Ilyas brought out a bag full of coins and helped Wolfe place them all blank-side up on the table. With the first eighty laid out, they got to work stamping the circles on them while the others double-checked to make sure the stamps didn’t miss any spots.
Wolfe sprinkled dirt from outside all over the table and then channelled as much mana as he could to his Witches.
“Focus on them all at the same time. With the five of you, this should be easy.” He instructed.
The tokens glowed briefly as the spell activated, and then Wolfe swept the whole table full of coins into a pillowcase he grabbed from the shelf behind him.
“That’s a third of them done. Let’s set up the next ones.”
While they set them out, Stephanie came to sit on Wolfe’s shoulder, her customary perch to observe group gatherings, and began to purr as he petted her head.
“Am I the only one that keeps forgetting that a Familiar Cat counts as a Witch? Like, she’s always there with us, but since she doesn’t speak, my mind just glosses over her.” Amanda commented.
“How can you forget she can use magic? She spends half her day with Jane learning spells.” Ilyas asked.
“But Jane never speaks either, and Nikki is always with her troops or teaching melee combat skills. You’re like the stealth members of the party.” Amanda complained.
“So, if they don’t make noise, you forget they exist? That actually explains a lot about your personality.” Priya chuckled.
“I’m not that loud I’m just an outgoing sort of person. You’re all just so serious all the time that you’ve forgotten how to have fun.”
“Less talk, more work. Grab a stamp and get those coins ready so we can start handing them out.” Priya instructed the talkative young Witch.
With Wolfe providing the mana to do the coins in batches, it only took ten minutes to complete the amulets for the whole unit. They were only good for the Earth and Unholy elements, with the Unholy Reagent being provided by Wolfe’s mana, but it was enough to at least improve the unit’s basic attack skills.
They would also let everyone make Arrows more easily using the magical items that all units carried, while the Unholy Affinity would be basically useless to them, as Witches on their own couldn’t use many spells that were intended for Demons.
The officers split off to distribute the coins, with Jane borrowing Stephanie, so she could show her something about how the unit functioned.
“You know, at this rate, you’re going to end up with more Familiars than you know what to do with.” Cassie sighed, watching the silver-haired Witch happily holding a mostly one-sided conversation with the Familiar Cat.
“She’s a good girl and just wants affection. It’s hard to say no to that.” Wolfe replied with a smile toward the duo.
“If only we were still at the academy, we could look through the library for a spell that would let you link with a larger group to bring everyone benefits.
I’ve already searched the military manual, and there’s nothing, plus the officers didn’t know a way, so they don’t teach it in school, but we all know the stories from history class of how the Witches formed powerful arrays to take down enemies who could crush entire cities with their magic.” Cassie said with a look of deep thought on her face.
“Maybe we’re thinking about this the wrong way. I know the stories you mean, and it sounded like they were doing things like our barrier here. Maybe we just need a bunch of Array tablets for large-scale attack spells to let the unit do incredible things. The problem is, we don’t know any, and we don’t know how to improvise them.” Reiko suggested.
“In that case, we just need to find someone with more knowledge. Priya might know another array or have an emergency backup array tablet, but she should also know who would have access to better combat magic. I’ve been able to improvise a change to the Elements, but I don’t have the knowledge to create a whole new Array yet.” Wolfe agreed.