Wolfe walked back to the Class A lab once everyone had tried to complete their potion, only to be met with a round of giggles and blushing faces.
“Goddess, please don’t stop.” Someone mimicked a high falsetto, making the class burst into laughter until Professor Ashcroft silenced them with a gesture.
“Now, girls, don’t tease the other class. Unlike you all, they don’t have the capacity to handle mana easily, but they’re doing their best.” The Professor informed them in a prim and proper voice.
The Professor’s chastisement sent the Witches went back to their work, but Wolfe still saw many envious looks being cast toward Ella and Cassie.
“You remembered our orders, right?” Cassie asked with a hint of jealousy in her voice.
“One finger gently placed on the back of their neck to transfer mana. No more, no less.” Wolfe smiled back and rubbed her thigh, transferring her a bit of mana.
Cassie huffed and went back to her herbology theory work, so Wolfe took out his book and opened it to the first spell.
[Spark] Creates a small flame. Useful for lighting campfires, lanterns and cigarettes. Not hot enough to replace a gas torch.
That looked very useful, so Wolfe mentally traced it over and over in his mind until he was sure he had it right, and nothing felt out of place.
[Spell Learned] Spark
The runic writing of the Inheritance happily informed him when he had it perfect, and Wolfe silently thanked it for its assistance.
He was going to move straight on to the next spell inscription, but the adventures in the book were extremely well written, and instead, he got caught up reading through them all the way to the next spell.
[Create Water] Creates a steady stream of drinkable water.
No matter how hard Wolfe tried, despite knowing he had the spell correct, it just didn’t feel right and wouldn’t activate.
Water wasn’t one of the elements he could use at the moment, and it seemed that the Inheritance wasn’t going to budge on that point.
The next story led to a gravity-type spell called [Gentle Steps]. It allowed the user to step on snow or mud without sinking, a form of ground-level levitation that partially offset the user’s weight but wouldn’t actually hold them up in the air against gravity.
That would be very useful outside, as the book suggested, to avoid the noise of ruffled leaves and broken branches, as well as traversing difficult terrain, but it would be much more fun here in the Academy for sneaking up on people. Without the sound of footsteps, Wolfe was certain he could move through most of the school after lights out without being noticed.
It was a good thing that potions theory didn’t require much if any, input from Wolfe. [Gentle Steps] was harder to master than [Spark] was. The circle itself was simple, but like [Flame Armor], there was a level of nuance to its actual casting. Unlike [Flame Armor], it would only activate in one very specific way. Getting it right ended up taking Wolfe the rest of the morning and most of his lunch break.
He should have a better affinity for Unholy Magic than he did for gravity, but Wolfe suspected that asking the Librarian for books of Demon Magic wouldn’t bring him as positive of a response as looking for the Adventurer’s Handbook or as much help. He would have to be a bit more subtle to obtain that knowledge.
After lunch, the Witches of Class A returned to their grass-floored lab upstairs and prepared to pick their preferred seat inside their protective circles. It wasn’t easy to get inside today, though, as quite a few extra bodies were crowding the hallways.
There was a large group of older Witches waiting outside as they arrived, whispering and talking amongst their group. Wolfe didn’t recognize them from the cafeteria at lunch, so they must not be from Class A and should have potions class now.
“Professor, we heard the rumours. Is it true? Did those two lucky First Years actually Summon an incubus?” One of the gathered upperclassmen asked as the teacher approached the crowd.
“You can’t have our Familiar,” Ella called back at them, making the students laugh.
“There is no proof that he is a Demon of any sort. Sorry ladies, the betting pool is still open.” The Professor told them with a smirk.
“Fine, we will find the answer soon enough. Tell us if you decide to share, Ella. The First Year girls swear he can awaken a Witch with a single finger.” The Student called back in a suggestive tone before the teacher chased them away.
There was an ancient superstition that a Witch wouldn’t completely awaken her powers until she was a full-fledged woman and no longer a maiden, but as far as Wolfe knew, that couldn’t be true.
Cassie had only talked about bullies, not any romantic partners in her early life, plus she was somewhat androphobic when he first met her. If anyone knew the truth about the superstition, it would be the Professor, but it also wasn’t the sort of thing he could just ask about.
While he was considering the superstition, Cassie was considering the rumour about Wolfe’s species. The Coven Investigator had said that Wolfe would become a Demon that matched his power level and personality. So, since he didn’t change appearance at all, could he really be an Incubus now? Nobody she had talked to really knew what an Incubus should look like, only that they were supposed to be attractive to nearly every Witch in order to lure in their targets.
“Alright, Witches. You should have been practicing with your study groups. Let’s see who has begun to understand Flame Armor.” The Professor announced, pulling Cassie from her reverie and catching Wolfe’s attention for the first time today.
The teacher looked very different today, still the same Witch if you were judging strictly by facial features, but significantly younger looking, with deep blue hair and golden eyes. It had to be the result of a potion, but the change was incredible, knocking decades off her apparent age.
Nobody else was reacting to it, though, so Wolfe wondered if it was normal for Witches to get a glow-up on this level.
“Do you have a question, Mister Familiar?” She asked as she approached the circles where Cassie and Ella were showing their classmates how to change the appearance of the armour.
ƥαṇdαηθνε|
“Enough. In the future, if you should happen to see through a glamour spell, please keep your findings to yourself. No Witch likes to have their true appearance spoken of in public.” She informed him in a haughty tone.
How was he supposed to know, though? It wasn’t like he could tell when he saw through a glamour. He thought she used a potion.
“What was dark blue?” Reiko asked but was glared down by the Professor.
Wolfe made a locked motion over his lips, but the damage was done. Now everyone was wondering if the teacher was secretly wearing makeup or a sexy outfit and just hiding it under an illusion spell to seem more professional.