Wolfe was so lost in the new information that he didn’t even notice the helper leave to get tea, or Ella wandering the room, or even when the radio crackled to life as a supply convoy found the remains of the airstrip.
“Wolfe, wake up. There are more army units at the airstrip site.” Ella demanded, shaking his shoulder to pull him from his stupor.
That got his attention, but he was almost finished learning the complex activation inscription for the combined basic physical enhancement enchantments. So he held out a few more seconds until she planted a kiss on his lips and pulled him from his focused state.
“New rule. No more alarm clocks. I want to wake up that way every day.” He teased as he pulled Ella close. The distraction gave him enough time to activate the spell and a tingling feeling spread through his body.
The exact effects weren’t listed, presumably because it was such common knowledge that even young Magi just coming into their powers would have been quite familiar with what the spell did, even if they couldn’t cast it yet.
He would find out soon enough, but at the moment, there were much more pressing matters to attend to.
“Are they leaving now that they have seen the ruins of the previous unit, or are they setting up again?” He asked.
“They have orders to build a fortified position this time. It sounds like they’re planning to be here for the duration of the war against the Covens.”
The helper looked confused, so Wolfe explained. “The witches and humans split their territory, and the humans are turning weapons from the Great War against the witches now that they’ve forgotten the horrors that were inflicted on the world last time.
Or, perhaps they just got desperate enough that they stopped caring about the consequences. You can never really know when politicians are involved.
They have set up an airstrip just outside your gates to attack the Sylvan Forest. We wiped out the last group that was there, and we were waiting here for the monsters to finish cleaning up the mess that we left, but it seems that the mundane army didn’t learn anything.”
The helper was deep in thought for a moment as he took in the information. Then his eyes brightened in joy.
“I have a non-violent solution. Can you use time magic?”
Wolfe shook his head.
“Space manipulation?”
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“You can at least use gravity, right? Everybody in a Noble Family should be born with at least one advanced elemental affinity.”
“Yes, I can use gravity with a medium affinity. Plus, Lightning, Fire and Unholy.”
“Unholy? Oh yes, you are a Noxus. In that case, please look up the spell known as [Necrosis]. If you use the spell on their water supply, they will turn into undead and guard the area for you, then you can have a High Priestess from the witch Covens revive them after the battle, and nobody needs to die for good.”
What this spell considered nonviolent action was questionable, but it assumed that you could just revive the undead, so from that point of view, it wasn’t wrong.
“Why not just cast it as an array over the area?” Ella suggested.
“Do you want zombie bears? Because that’s how you get zombie bears. Trust me; they’re mean. Don’t do that.”
The idea was brilliant, though. He could enchant that onto a bullet for remote application and have it end in a few minutes before animals arrived. It would turn patrols into undead creatures that would threaten the next patrol.
“Why does [Necrosis] create undead instead of killing the target?” Wolfe asked.
“The excess mana in their body lingers. Necrosis was invented as a torture technique by the Noxus Clan, and it was never intended to be used to death. I’m told it has a one hundred percent effectiveness rate in identifying those supporting criminals.”
Ella looked horrified at that news, but Wolfe was intrigued. Once he found it in his inheritance spell’s now functional spell book, he realized it was the same effect that was created by the Noxus family crest. He already knew how to cast it and had done it successfully on Cassie’s storage amulet.
“We can see the camp from the entrance to the hallway. I will cast an array from there and be right back.” Wolfe offered.
Ella gave him a stiff nod, and he jogged out to the edge of the rock face, followed by the helper.
“It looks like the woodland creatures are hungry.” The magical helper said, gesturing to where monsters were gathering in the woods.
“They won’t eat undead. What else can we do?” Wolfe asked.
“I suggest a gravity array. Ten times gravity that specifically targets humans should keep them pinned to the ground, and you can leave it active.”
“Brilliant. I wish I could spend more time with you. I know so little about the proper use of magic.” Wolfe sighed as he prepared to arrange the spell inscriptions into an array.
“Feel free to return. I would love to meet your other consort as well, and It’s not like I have other things to do. The house won’t let anyone in without a Magi of at least the second rank accompanying them.”
From what Wolfe had learned, each rank represented one mana focus. He was working on his third, so he was at rank three.
More information about that had flashed through his mind when he activated the Heritage Stone earlier but now wasn’t the time for a history lesson.
When the monsters made it to the tree line and the new group of soldiers was prepared to attack, Wolfe activated the [Gravity Array] and pinned them all to the ground.
The monsters hesitated at first, not wanting to be caught in whatever spell that was, but after a few seconds, a very hungry mountain lion made its move and realized that the spell only affected humans.
From that point on, the monsters didn’t hold back.
“Let’s go back inside and see how that tea held up in storage. I don’t think we need to watch this part.” Wolfe suggested.
“Excellent idea Master Noxus. I will prepare a fresh pot.”
The moment they were through the barrier over the hallway, the sounds of growling and fighting for food were cut off, and they returned to the silence of the empty house, which Wolfe suspected actually occupied most of the mountain.
His curiosity got the better of him almost instantly, and he turned to their host for answers.
“How much of the Lumix Family home is still intact? I assume that temple out front was once the main entrance.” He asked, gesturing to the spot where the army had built their camp.
“That was the public entrance; you are correct. From what I can tell, all sixty wings of the home are still active, but many of the spells are damaged. My authority is limited to my wing, comprising these thirty rooms and the public areas where the storage is. During my trip down for tea, the cleaning spells were activated, so some staff has returned.”
Now that was an answer even more interesting than just the size of the house.