Wolfe woke up the next morning with a Witch under each arm and a small, furry body on his chest. It was an excellent way to start a day, but more importantly, he could feel that his mana density and focus formation had both drastically increased after last night’s mediation.
Adding a third Witch to the process had noticeably increased the rate at which he was gaining power during his evening mediation, and the constant flow of mana from him had made an impressive change in all three of their auras in a single night.
The largest change was Stephanie, who had only just awakened her powers. She was far from the standard that Cassie and Ella were at, but she now had a distinct aura of power, and the gains that she had made over the course of the evening were many times greater than either of the other two. It seemed that, as it did with Cassie and Ella, the process was trying to balance her energy level with the other Familiars.
Wolfe stopped meditating and began working on clearing the blockages which were limiting Stephanie’s potential. With her new feline body, the task was more delicate, with every pathway closer together, but the principle was the same, and he made some progress before letting her rest and beginning to work on compressing the mana he had stored into his Focus.
One or two more weeks like this, and he would be able to complete the first of seven orbs, and Wolfe had the feeling that something significant would happen when he did finally reach that milestone.
It was almost time for the alarm to go off, so Wolfe moved his hands to the marks on the Witches’ stomachs and gently filled them with mana. It would be absorbed in an hour or so, but he could top them off after breakfast, and they wouldn’t lose too much time while they were in Alchemy class.
“As good as that feels, it’s missing something. The transferred energy doesn’t feel as dense as the energy that you have stored. I wonder if this isn’t the proper use of the mark. Like maybe we are missing a step.” Ella sighed as the influx of mana woke her.
“You might be right. I’m pretty sure that actual intimacy is the key to maximum gains since this spell was designed for use by an Incubus, but we can test that theory after class.
There’s no manual with the Demonization curse, and I ad-libbed the spell from a drawing that Mary brought us based on a rumour, so I’m just guessing at what it can really do, but it seems to be working decently enough. Your aura is so thick now that it wouldn’t lose to most of the seniors.” Wolfe replied with a smile that made Ella snuggle in against his side until Stephanie’s paw batting at her nose chased her away a few centimetres.
Wolfe switched his targets, and Cassie moaned softly at the sensation of mana flowing into her crest, then rolled over to give Wolfe a kiss.
“All we really need now is practice with actual Witch Magic. Using the circles and Inscriptions is a great cheat to wield Elemental Magic, but that’s borrowed power. Learning hexes, Enchantments, and Nature Spells would be a much better use of all this aura.” She mumbled against his lips.
That was all taught in the second year, as the first-year classes focused on making Witches who could defend themselves in the wild and perform basic but essential tasks inside the city.
“Why don’t we ask for self-study permission from Professor Miranda? Then you can work ahead as soon as you prove that you can use the basic spells from all five of the elements that are on the exams.
Combat magic is easy with me here, and neither of you is going to be stuck as a Commoner Witch doing city security or maintenance work. Just as Professor Ashcroft said, you should be able to skip ahead.” Wolfe suggested.
That’s a great idea, but do you think they will approve of it before the exams?” Cassie asked.
“Probably not until after midterms, but the training rooms are open, and an hour or two every day should be enough to get the Elemental Skills finished to a level that nobody would question is passable.
If I read the Adventurers Handbook correctly, it seems that most hexes need a wand or item of some sort. All of the seniors have chains of them mixed with their enhancement amulets. We will have to work on that before you can do any complex Witch Magic.”
Ella joined the conversation, but at a low whisper. “I’ve been wondering this since we first got our class schedule, but does anyone else get the feeling that the academy is deliberately hiding the useful spells from the Commoner Witches so that they have no choice but to serve the Coven?
For one, how many of them join the defence forces? It can’t be everyone, but they spend a whole year teaching mostly combat magic and utility potions.
If all they know is combat magic and Elemental Circles, which have both been adapted for our use, the true power of their innate magic won’t ever be revealed because they don’t know how.”
Wolfe thought the same thing. The Coven definitely had a hand in the curriculum.
“I think it’s better if we don’t go too far into that logic. We all know a lot is hidden from the Commoners in the city, but I will get you another spell book today. One that has some witch magic in it.
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There are supposed to be training field trips in the second semester, after all.”
They had delayed too long already, so they all got dressed and headed for the cafeteria to meet Mary and Reiko. The witches had just enough time to grab a pair of breakfast sandwiches and rush to class while Wolfe and Stephanie relaxed in their seats, free until after lunch.
A lot of the other young men who had arrived to accompany the Witches were in the same position since Professor Ashcroft didn’t like them getting in the way, so the room was far from empty, but they were all clearly avoiding Wolfe. He had become the topic of a lot of gossip, and most of it was not good for his reputation, at least not among the men.
He waited until the link with his Witches told him that they were safely in class, then tucked Stephanie into his inner coat pocket and headed for the library to see if he could snag a book on advanced witch magic. The assistant today wasn’t one that he had met before, but she seemed happy to see him.
“Mister Wolfe, welcome. What can I find for you today?” She greeted him.
“I need a primer on introductory hexes, charms and illusions.” He requested.
“You’ve got the studious Witches, do you? They’re not approved for the second-year textbook, but I can get you some reference materials with lots of useful spells that don’t need fancy ingredients.”
Wolfe’s smile made her blush bright red, and he thought she might actually pass out when he placed his hand on hers and gave her a small jolt of mana.
“Thank you, that’s exactly what we need. The more practice they can get with their innate magic, the better.”
The flustered Librarian understood exactly what he needed and had no more objections while she led Wolfe to three different books.
“This is an introduction to Nature Magic. You can’t do much inside the Academy’s walls, but it doesn’t need anything fancy to learn the basics.
Then we have basic charms. Most of those can be done with just a wand to focus their power. When the witches are more experienced, they won’t even need that. These are the sort of charms and minor hexes that all Noble witches use regularly, but they’re not the more powerful ones.
Then over here, we have basic curses. That enters the curriculum in the third year since they can be pretty nasty, and they need all sorts of things to work properly. Curses are a perversion of Witch Magic, which innately wants to heal and mend nature, so don’t take them lightly.
A miscast Curse can backfire and kill the caster. I don’t think you should bring that one to your witches, and certainly not so early in their training.”