337 337 Can't Forget the Staff
The students all looked a bit shocked at the news that one of them had actually willingly entered into a Servant Contract with a Demon, and from the sounds of it, she might have initiated it herself.
They hadn’t seen the mark on her when she was in line, so it must have happened afterward, and they had been watching Wolfe the whole time.
“Does she really have a Servant Bond? I mean, who would do that to themselves?” One of the staff members who was still in the auditorium waiting for the students to finish so they could have their turn asked.
“Not all agreements are the same, but a lot of the Witches that I rescued from the Mundane Army this winter agreed to one. There are some benefits, like mana feeding. If you don’t have a Familiar, or your Familiar is far away, the Demon can still feed you Mana, which can be used to build your aura.
In her case, that might be one of the larger considerations. Plus, it helps build community in the village. Everyone with a link can sense each other when they are close, and it urges them to want to get along. So Witches who share a Servant Bond will naturally become good friends.” Wolfe explained.
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“It can be if they draw more than what you can provide. But for Witches, that is less of an issue. They can channel mana, so it’s not like every time the bond is used is a one-way punishment.
I also leave a portion of my mana flow open for everyone to use if they need it. If they’re building something big or doing a large enchantment, they will draw a bit from me as well as through their Familiars if they still have them.
That lets them use larger-scale Magic alone, and with them all sharing a bond, it makes it easier to do Grand Magic as well. With preparation, they can link dozens or hundreds of people for a massive spell.”
“Is that how you made the Forest?” Peach asked as Wolfe finished the last of the students’ cleansing.
“Yes, We put the Faerie in charge of the vision for the spell’s shaping while the Rank Two Witches cast the actual spells, and everyone else in the area donated mana. Without that, we couldn’t have made such a huge forest in one go. We would have to do it in pieces.”
Peach nodded in understanding, but everyone else was a bit lost. They didn’t know about the Fae Forest, but the mention of it caught the Nymph’s attention.
The Familiar turned to glare at the Headmistress. “We still need to have a long talk about that, young lady. You went off to a huge Fae Forest, likely the only one on this continent, and not only did you not bring me with you, you brought back another Familiar.”
To everyone watching, the Nymph looked quite a bit like a child chastising their parent due to their relative sizes. But the Fae was a powerful magical creature, and most students had already experienced it when the Academy was attacked during the winter.
“I have apologized multiple times for that. I didn’t know it was a Fae Forest until we were already on the way, and we didn’t have time to return to the Academy and get you.” Peach reminded her Familiar.
“Plus, you actually like me, so you’re not actually mad about her bringing back another Familiar, are you?” The werewolf teased, making the Nymph laugh.
“Fine, the Werewolf has a good sense of humour. But still, how could you summon another Familiar without even talking it over first? Even Mary discussed it with her Familiar, and Pup can’t talk.”
The staff laughed at the banter as they got in line to take their shot at becoming proper Witches. Other than the Professors and assistants, none of them could use more than a trickle of mana.
The general staff was mostly Witches who had flunked out without ever summoning a Familiar. But going by what they had seen before, it was no longer just a dream, and it would soon be a reality for them.
They wouldn’t be able to ask for a Noble Title or likely even be recognized inside the city as a full-fledged commoner Witch, but still, if they could start to use Magic and maybe get a Familiar of their own, they would be forever grateful.
“Alright, let’s see what we can do for the staff. I have a good feeling about this.” Wolfe told the first woman in line with a wink.
It was one of the cleaners who had been at breakfast this morning and who had come to see what was happening when the shouting started.
Wolfe cleansed the blockages from her system, but she was already into her later twenties, and her mana veins had nearly atrophied from never being used. He got a trickle flowing through, but that was about it, and even that much was causing discomfort for her at first before the flow stabilized.
“That’s as good as we’re going to get today. The older you are, the harder it is to repair the damage that the Bloodline Curse has done to your body, but for most of you, I should be able to get you at least something, or if you can already use a little, I can likely do nearly as much as the Students gained.” Wolfe explained.
The next in line had just a hint of aura and was one of the new staff, only a year out of the Academy, so her aura spiked right away when Wolfe cleaned the blockages and started adding mana.
Realistically, she was only a year behind. She could likely rejoin the regular class next semester and would fit in with the other late bloomers in the class.
That was a problem for Headmistress Peach to figure out, though. If she lost too many staff to the classes, it would be a huge pain for the Academy, but not allowing them to study would be grossly unfair to the newly awakened Witches.
Wolfe suspected that she would do something like they did at the Den and have them study after their work shift was done. That way, they could learn new magic and still earn their wages. For many of them, who were from the lower levels, that money was very important to their families.