Though everyone heading to the dining hall was in rough shape, the new notice on the bulletin board still caught the attention of everyone who walked by. Every First Year student who had passed the exams could now volunteer for resource-gathering missions.
They were extra credit assignments in the wilderness, with some restrictions on the compositions of the teams so that they didn’t go out without at least one competent Witch, and each mission lasted for a maximum of one week.
You needed to bring back the assigned resource, but you were also free to gather what you needed for your own amulets and potions.
On one hand, it was dangerous. But on the other, it was free resources. Many students who felt they were behind would volunteer in hopes of finding a rare resource to either exchange for credits or use in an amulet, wand or talisman.
Of course, they had to have competently proven that they could use magical armour and two attack spells of the same element to pass the first midterm, so most of the first-year main class wasn’t going to be eligible yet, or possibly ever.
That limited the number of witches who would be heading out, but for Wolfe’s group, the announcement gave them great hope. Even if the Academy didn’t move them into the second year, they could keep pushing ahead of their peers.
With full stomachs came the return of the energy they had been missing and a dampening of the hangovers from the ritual spiked punch. The dining room slowly became more lively as they woke up, with every Witch excited about not only getting through the exams but also their recent improvement and what it meant for their futures.
There hadn’t been any announcement about a change in the future exam standards, but all of the students were much stronger than they had been a day ago. Even many of the First Year Witches who had given up hope on activating their aura could now use some basic magic.
The dramatic nature of the improvements made Wolfe wonder if there was something more to the ritual than just timing. Even though the ceremony was expensive, why didn’t they do it at least once every year? The Coven clearly needed talented Witches, and if what the imp was saying about the situation outside the City walls was true, they needed less talented ones who could defend themselves just as much as they needed successors for the Nobles.
Perhaps the Coven had restricted access to either the knowledge or the materials in the past to keep their small group of Nobility on top, but that seemed incredibly shortsighted to Wolfe.
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They already controlled the money supply and nearly everything else in the city. Stronger Commoners shouldn’t be a real threat to their prestige when they were the ones who had assigned all of the nobles their titles.
Putting aside the questions he didn’t have answers to, Wolfe finished his dinner and went to ask about the details of the resource-gathering trips while the Witches chatted with their classmates about spells they wanted to learn and resources they wanted to get.
He didn’t have to go far. The staff lounge had a stack of papers with detailed requirements. Each group needed a minimum of five members, one of which had to be from the second or third year. They would be given a map of the general area around their assigned resource, and completion credit would only be given if it was returned to the academy in usable condition.
All groups were to be back within a week, and they would be tracked with a spell the entire time. The tracking spell could also be used as an emergency beacon, summoning teachers and security forces to their location, but given the nature of the wilderness, Wolfe assumed that was likely to be for corpse retrieval if you were too far from the Academy’s walls for a swift response.
Armed with this new knowledge and a few copies of the information to hand to the other First Years, Wolfe returned to the cafeteria.
“I’ve got the info. We just need a second or third year to lead the group, and we can go to a professor for assignments.” Wolfe told them with a smile.
“Why don’t you come with me then? I need some rare flowers for the warding spell that I’m working on.” Kara, the ginger-haired student Council President offered.
She was in her third year and at the top of her class, plus she had a bodyguard named Murk, who Wolfe knew was quite competent. It was a good choice.
“President, you promised that we could go with you since the Revenant Blood Grass grows in the same area.” One of the other tables of third years complained.
“It’s a minimum of five, not a maximum. I’m sure it will be fine by the professors.” Kara replied.
“Why don’t they go with us instead? We’re looking for the heart of a zombie to complete a healing wand. They can go with you on a less dangerous trip later.” a dark-skinned Witch that Wolfe recalled from the training halls suggested.
Noor, that was her name, and her companion was Parker, the mistress of the Imp Wolfe had been hanging out with during the ceremony.
“Well, a few zombies should be easy to find. Sorry ladies, I promise I will invite you again later.” Kara agreed.
“Thank you for the offer, Council President. Ingredients for a healing wand actually sound really good to us as well. We would be honoured to go with you both.” Reiko replied politely on behalf of the group while Flame unbuttoned her blouse one more notch so that he could see out from his position in her cleavage without having to lift his head.
“That’s settled then. We can leave tomorrow after we get an assignment since the next week is just a review of what was on the exam anyhow.” Noor suggested.
Wolfe nodded at her and took out a notepad from his pocket. “I will gather the travel supplies. Is there anything particular I should be aware of?”
“If they’ve got boys from the city with them, bring lots of extra underwear. The boy toys tend to panic the first time they see monsters and the undead.” Parker’s Imp laughed.
“You’re not worried about Wolfe? He’s a boy from the city too.” Parker reminded her Familiar.
“He’s one of us now. Demons are made of sterner stuff than the average wimp, plus he can use magic. Why would he be afraid of a few zombies?” The Imp laughed.
The men in the room bristled at that insinuation, but the imp had a point. They would be out front with a sword and a few defensive spells bestowed upon them by their rookie Witches, while Wolfe could literally call hellfire on the zombies. In their eyes, the situation was utterly unfair, even before considering that Wolfe had nearly half of the Class A students with him.
“You know what that means, right? I need a new hat and a matching outfit. You did pick up enough amulet blanks last time, right?” Mary asked Wolfe with a huge smile on her face.
“Am I your personal fashion designer now? But yes, I have a few dozen more.” He assured the little Witch.
“What does she mean?” Noor asked, not following the conversation.
“They all custom-designed armour spells to be their dresses last night and set them into amulets so they can create them exactly the same again in an instant. Mary wants a custom travelling outfit made. With a hat.” Wolfe explained.
“Oh, that’s a great idea. But where did you get all the reagents? That quality of Elemental reagents isn’t sold in the store unless another student gathered them or they’re for an assignment.” Noor asked.
“Wolfe cheated. The Demons and Fae can create the amulet without reagents.” Parker reminded her friend. Then her helpful smile turned to a frown, and she looked over at her Familiar.
“And why didn’t you remind me last night? I could have looked fantastic instead of going in my uniform.”
“Don’t blame me. I’ve never designed an outfit in my life. I don’t even condense my own armour. I just use a mist.” The Imp complained, feeling wronged by his mistress.
“Wolfe, my old friend.” Parker began.
“Talk to the girls about when is the best time to come over. I’ll make travel outfits for everyone.” Wolfe sighed with what he hoped was an expression of suffering.
Not that he actually objected to the situation. Dressing up the witches was actually rather fun, and it was an excellent way to improve his control over mana flow and the modifications of Spell Inscriptions since he had to visualize them in order to reshape the outfit in the ways that they desired.
That was one of the few functions that actually worked in his Inheritance, other than letting him read the Magical Runes. Once he had the basic spell active, it would show him the runes needed to make his desired modifications without needing to memorize or practice them.
“See Gentlemen. That’s why you’re having such a hard time. Guys like him have set the bar too high. But I’m in for a travel armour amulet.” Noor added with a giggle that earned Wolfe a lot of angry looks from the men in the room.
There really was no way to make everyone happy. The more the witches liked him, the more the other men hated him. If they weren’t afraid that he would burn them to ash, Wolfe would have already had many more issues with them.
Wolfe was quite certain that only the fact that they didn’t think they could win the fight was keeping him from suffering the envy of every single man in the Academy.