“Do they have Elemental Amulets yet?” The older Witch asked.
“We made them the first week. They turned out very well, so I think they’ll work through the exams.”
“That’s good. But it isn’t what I wanted to talk to you about. How much mana can you channel? I know too much draw can be excruciating for a cursed human, and I don’t want to put your Witches in a bad spot.”
Wolfe thought about that for a moment before answering carefully. “I don’t really know since they never test the limits. What did you have planned?”
“We are doing a moon ceremony. It’s like a big naked drunken party, but with an ongoing spell that increases a Witch’s attunement to their innate powers.
Not the borrowed ability to use Elemental Magic, but nature magic and Charms. They will be pulling mana through their Familiars all night long. The more, the better. But we also need Familiars who can push mana on their own to keep the spell fed.
Normally it is done by and for the Coven leadership tomorrow night during the full moon, but since we are here, we can do it together. The Headmistress knows the components needed for the spell, and she has agreed to set it all up and join us.
She never joins our parties, so I want it to be perfect.”
Wolfe had heard of the event. It was an official holiday in the city, and the upper levels held many women-only parties. But down on his level of the city, it was more of an excuse for everyone to drink and dance.
“Why don’t I show you what I can sustain for the entire evening, and you can decide from there?” Wolfe suggested, holding out his hand.
Just then, Professor Ashcroft passed the alcove where they were talking and stopped with her eyes on Wolfe’s extended hand.
“Propositions to Witches who are not your Mistress are highly improper, Mister Noxus.” She informed them in a very proper voice.
“I just needed to know if he could channel enough for his Witches to safely attend the party, Professor.” The organizer informed her with a nervous look, realizing what a man and woman alone and hiding close together in an alcove of an abandoned hallway must look like to others.
Professor Ashcroft held out her hand to Wolfe. “As I have attended the Coven’s official ceremony many times in the past, I can better judge his suitability as a potential mana conduit. If you please, only as much as you can sustain without depleting your reserve.”
Wolfe sent her everything he could handle as a constant stream without meditation and noticed how the professor stiffened for a second before smiling and how an item in her hand began to glow with magic.
Wolfe was pretty sure she just dumped the energy into a Mana Crystal to fill her quota for the week, a suspicion all but confirmed as she let him continue for nearly fifteen seconds, the amount of time Wolfe estimated it would take him to fill a five hundred unit crystal without using stored energy after his recent improvements.
“That was spectacular. If you can keep that up all night, the gains will be immense. The Full moon closest to the solstice is special to Witches, and the spell will help attune their auras to the world so that they can make better use of their power. The more mana that the spell can provide, the more improvement every Coven member can make, but it only works two nights a year.”
“So the stronger a Coven is, the more they gain? Talk about an unfair advantage, but we have some strong Witches among the students as well. I think the party will be a smashing success.” Wolfe replied with a smile.
“Excellent, get as much sleep as you can tomorrow. You will need to constantly send mana to your Witches and the spell itself all night. That’s why I was looking for you. Only intelligent Familiars can consciously do it, and the Witches will be too wrapped up in the ceremony to draw by themselves.” The organizer informed him with a wink, then scurried away from Professor Ashcroft’s domineering aura.
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“Did you stop to think about what would happen to get if you sent that much mana through her body without warning?” The Professor asked once the two of them were alone.
“I definitely considered it. I mean, I would have held back if it was her. But you knew to burn it off as it came in, so there was no need.”
Professor Ashcroft laughed at his assessment. “Still, mind your power. A school full of horny Witches drooling over a Demon is bad for our reputation.”
With that, she walked away, and Wolfe jogged to the supply room to pick up amulet blanks and some of the good coffee since he expected to have a long evening both tonight and tomorrow.
The Witches were waiting for him when he got back, with a collection of foods and changed into new sets of nightwear that made Wolfe wonder if he would be able to meditate at all tonight.
“After we make the amulets, we all plan to collect as much power as we can tonight. Practical Magic is going to wipe out everything we have, and all that you have stored, so we need to prepare ourselves as much as possible tonight.” Ella told him with a wink.
“I will help you in any way you need.”
The crests on their abdomens filled themselves now that the Pentacle was complete and the Pentacle spell effect had settled over his Focus. That meant he didn’t need to worry about them not having the incoming mana to refine their auras, but mental preparation was just as important.
Today’s amulet was a refreshing charm, one that would cleanse mental fatigue when used. The exhaustion would pile up, but that took days or weeks if the amulet was a good one, so it was perfect for use during exams.
Wolfe placed down a round of amulet blanks, and everyone got started, carving a likeness of themselves on the surface, covering it in a herbal paste, then binding it in an intricate knot of branches, which were then covered in pine tar, before mana was added and the whole mass turned to solid amber with the amulet and branches visible inside.
That was proper Witch Magic, a mental charm, and Wolfe was impressed at the attention to detail that was needed. Even a small mistake would waste everything, and the amount of preparation needed was far more than was used for an Elemental amulet.
This should be considered an easier charm since it only took fifteen minutes to complete, but it was still a lot of work, and the Witches were pale with exertion.
“Everyone should get something to eat, and then we can retire to bed for an evening of meditation,” Wolfe recommended, handing each of them a slice of sandwich from the trays of food that they had prepared in advance.
It looked like a lot of food when it was sitting on the tables and dressers, but as hungry as they were after the exertion of the day’s exam and then creating a mental charm in the evening, the girls made their way through it in no time.
They were tucking themselves into bed even before Wolfe had finished piling up the trays to take back in the morning, so he took his place between Cassie and Ella and began to meditate, giving them as much of an advantage as he could for tomorrow’s Practical Magic testing.