Though he had gloves on, Wolfe double-checked that he didn’t have any mana stored in his body, just in case his ability to mask his powers wasn’t as good as he thought, and reached out to shake Ella’s hand.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Ella Mariel. Murk speaks very highly of you.”
“I have heard good things about you as well, Wolfe Noxus. I hear your handwriting is impeccable, and your stomach is strong enough to carve an entire aura wand.” She said with a smile, taking his gloved hand in both of hers.
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“So it’s not just me that feels an aversion to those runes? But I appreciate the compliment on the handwriting. Bike couriers need to be able to write well to address parcels.” Wolfe replied.
As they were talking, more of the senior students began to file in, every one of them in a bad mood about the prohibition on personal effects and servants occurring at the same time.
“Well, I need to go. The boss hates waiting. I suggest you all head back to your rooms fairly soon. The seniors are not happy about the new rules, and they’re likely going to take it out on anyone they can. Cassie looks a bit shy, and that makes her an easy target, even with Wolfe here, unless he’s going to write incident reports all night.” Murk told them, getting up to join the Student Council President in calming down the seniors.
“Why don’t I walk you home, Ladies? It would be a shame if anything happened to you.” Wolfe suggested.
“Such a gentleman. Maybe we won’t have to swallow our disgust to work with the teachers’ assistants this year. I heard many horror stories from the customers at my dad’s shop who had attended the Academy in the past.” Ella smirked, leading Wolfe and Cassie out before anyone could notice that they were leaving in a group.
Wolfe and Cassie talked about Elder Maria and how Cassie was going to crush the entrance exams with her new wand while they walked.
“You’re an odd one, Wolfe Noxus. The staff that are sent from the Noble houses usually only talk about duty and honour and the privilege to serve the Witches.” Ella told him very seriously.
“Is that what they are selling these days? I’m all about education. So, how about I walk you home from class today and tomorrow, I can help you both with your homework. As I’ve said before, my handwriting is very good.” Wolfe suggested.
“We will see, big boy. After the entrance exams tomorrow, there will be a bit of time to spare before the Familiar Summoning. Who knows, we might not be a good match.” Ella replied with a smirk while Cassie gave her a look that said she was not pleased with her roommate’s flirting.
“Any friend of Cassie’s must be a good person, so I am sure we will be an excellent match. But this should be your room.” Wolfe told her with his best gentlemanly bow.
He would have to work on that if he wanted to impress the Witches and make his life easier.
The dorm rooms all had biometric locks. Only residents and teachers could open the door, so Wolfe stepped back, letting Ella open up, and took Cassie’s hand.
“If you need anything at all, just ask me, even if it is just homework. I’m glad you found a good friend. I will see you tomorrow at the entrance exam.” Wolfe told her.
“I have a plan. I think I will do better than average.” Cassie answered, then ran inside the room, closing the door behind her.
“Making an early move, are you Rookie? Good luck with that. Those two have some potential to them, and the Witches of Class A would rather wait for the right noble son than take just anyone.” A passing janitor joked.
“You never know if you never try.” Wolfe shrugged, and the janitor waved goodbye as she entered a dorm a few doors down, tools in hand.
Wolfe didn’t see many people as he headed back to his room since most of them were at the cafeteria, letting the Student Council know every detail of their feelings about the no personal effects and no servants rules.
Wolfe hadn’t considered it before since he didn’t need much, but with only the contents of his pockets, he was left with only a lighter, a small brush, a pocket knife, a pen and a cash card with very little in it. His bags and bike were taken to storage by the second combat Instructor, the same as everyone else’s. The supplies left in the room amounted to basic toiletries and two uniforms.
That had to be utter torture for the Noble Witches, whose clothes didn’t even have pockets. Hopefully, they were at least allowed a purse when they arrived, but Wolfe hadn’t seen any on the ones who had been standing by the gates.
After the day he had, Wolfe decided to just settle in to meditate. He needed to work on his mana while he could since he had to keep it empty when it was likely he would be touched. He could successfully mask his power now, but he didn’t know or trust the extent of that ability.
Perhaps he could test it later, maybe during the Witches classes, when he was on other duties, and nobody was around. The academy was sure to have surveillance, though, so he would have to find a good spot and a trustworthy partner before he did anything.
Stretching his mana pouch took longer every time he attempted it, and now he could only complete four cycles per night. But it was still making good progress.
Wolfe took it as a good sign. He already knew he could activate spell circles when it was a fifth of its current capacity, so surely he would have enough capacity now to do much more impressive magic? If only he had more knowledge about other Magic users to compare himself to.
When the schedule notification in his room went off just after dawn, informing him that he had no duties for the morning and no formal classes to assist in the afternoon, Wolfe showered and then headed for Cassie’s room to escort her to the auditorium for today’s entrance and sorting exams.
He could already hear the frantic voices inside the various rooms as he passed by, struggling to get ready without any of their own personal supplies. Wolfe wasn’t sure if this was cruel and unusual punishment for the nobles or if it was actually a test of resourcefulness and skill.
If you knew the trick, you could style hair into something respectable with just about any brush, but that wasn’t the usual fashion of the wealthier Witches. You could also make a smoky eyeliner from burnt candle wicks, and he had found candles in his room, so the Witches should have them as well, but he doubted anyone had thought of that while they were raging about not having any makeup.
Of course, Wolfe didn’t realize that the candles he found were actually wax sticks for sealing letters, a practice that gave way to text messages hundreds of years ago inside the cities.
Wolfe made his way to the supply room on the main floor and picked up a few essential items, hair products and shaving supplies, since the kit provided by the Academy hadn’t included any, then made his way to the student dorms and knocked a sharp staccato at Cassie’s door, which opened almost instantly to show him a dishevelled and panicked-looking Ella.
“Oh, it’s you. I had hoped it was a teacher to help. What do you want?” The fuzzy blue hair made her look like a mad scientist, so Wolfe brought out the ultimate peace offering. Hair pomade.
“You are a miracle worker. Come in before anyone sees.” Ella cheered, pulling him through the doorway.
Both of the Witches were dressed and ready, with Cassie sitting on one of the beds in the palatial room, her wavy brown hair expanding to a ball of fluff and violet eyes shining brightly in joy.
Wolfe recalled them glowing before, but they used to be much darker. He was certain of it.
Cassie noticed his staring right away. “I normally wear coloured contacts. But after yesterday, my eyesight improved, and I don’t need them anymore.”
Violet eyes were normal here, as well as emerald green, bright blue and shining gold, so she would fit right in with her classmates, but it was a big change to her appearance. The violet eyes made her look perpetually happy.
“Mind if I braid your hair? My mother taught me when I was little after she broke her hand at work and couldn’t do it herself.” Wolfe asked.
“Please do.” Cassie cheered, happy not to have to rely on Ella from the very first day and having already failed her initial attempt to make a braid stay without a hair tie.
At home, she had always worn her hair loose, hiding her face, but at the Academy, she wanted to make a good first impression. Grandma Maria had told her that it was essential to making friends here since she didn’t have a Noble family name to earn respect.
Wolfe didn’t know a lot about braiding hair, but he knew if he started at the front, he could braid it down either side, the way his mom preferred, and then bring them into one braid at the back. Once he finished, he realized that he didn’t have any sort of hair tie for the bottom.
“Do you have string? A scrap of cloth or something?” He asked hopefully.
“We have ribbons in our school supplies. Will that do?” Ella told him, returning the pomade with a reluctant look.
“Ribbon is perfect. If they don’t give you your allowance to buy essentials today, I will keep bringing supplies to you in the morning.”
Wolfe’s offer made the normally confident Ella hesitate a little, and that reminded Wolfe of the candle trick the girls of the lower floors did when they couldn’t afford makeup.
Once Cassie’s hair was tied with a violet ribbon to match her eyes, Wolfe lit one of the wax candles, then snuffed it out with his fingers and carefully gave Cassie eyeliner as she reflexively closed her eyes to avoid being poked in them.
“What do you think? It washes right off if you don’t like it.” Wolfe asked.
“I think you need a lot more practice, but not bad.” Ella laughed, taking the lighter from his hand to repeat the process and fix his work.
“You really came prepared. Did you know the Headmistress wasn’t going to let us bring anything?” Ella asked after admiring her handiwork for a moment.
“No, guys’ clothes have actual useful pockets. Since he’s a courier, he must have had the lighter for customers who smoke, and the rest is all stuff every guy should carry.” Cassie explained to her rather confused roommate.
“No wonder Witches keep men around,” Ella exclaimed, finally seeing the usefulness of a male human, much to Wolfe’s dismay.
“Are you ready for the test? I can feel that you were working on your aura last night.”
Cassie nodded and gave Wolfe a grim look. “It is actually way harder than it seems. On the way here, it happened so naturally, but all last night I struggled to make any progress at all.”
Ella shook her head at the complaint. “That’s just how it is. If you could build aura that fast, who would stay here for four years? Most of our class won’t even stabilize theirs until it is almost time for the first midterm exams, and some of the candidates in the lower classes never manage it at all.”
That gave Wolfe an excellent idea. “Would you like to try to recreate the trip and see if it helps? Maybe the problem is your focus.” He suggested.
Ella looked at him suspiciously, then sat him down on one of the beds. “My Cassie is a pure and innocent soul. If you want to show her things between boys and girls, you clear them with me first.”
Wolfe smirked at her protective nature. “Fine, both of you sit down here next to me. That’s how we were when she stabilized her aura. Now I take my glove off, and we link fingers just like this. Now Cassie, what did you do next?”
“Um, focus on pulling mana into my aura and fixing it there. That’s what Grandma told me to do.”
Ella looked surprised at the contact of Wolfe’s skin on hers but quickly hid it. What she couldn’t hide was the slight moan as she pulled mana through Wolfe. It reminded him that he was an idiot and that he had been wearing gloves and avoiding contact for a very good reason, but in retrospect, some things were worth the risk.
Ella was able to pull mana through him every bit as smoothly as Cassie was, building and stabilizing her aura by a tiny but noticeable amount in the few minutes that they had while biting her lip and giving Wolfe intrigued looks when she thought he wasn’t watching.
Just as he suspected, they were going to be very well-matched.