407 407 Sharing Mood
“Mister Snow, Mister Snow, it’s so good to see you again. Did you come back just to visit us, or are you going to do something nice for the people here? They have been very good to us, and they even found us proper places to live, even though we showed up without warning.” One of the pregnant young witches asked.
“Of course, I’m going to do something nice for them. They did take you all in, and they’ve agreed to a deal where they won’t attack my home village, so I’m going to make a barrier and some better bows for them, and Ella, the little witch with the powder blue hair is going to make them a garden charm to cover the village.”
The witch looked a bit confused until someone whispered in her ear.
“Really? A Rank Two Witch is right here in the village? No wonder you’re not afraid of anything with her backing you up.” The young witch laughed.
Grok fell to his knees, holding his stomach as he rolled with laughter, while both Christa and Justine had tears running down their faces while they hid their amusement behind their hands.
“What’s so funny?” The witch asked.
“Out of the two of them, Wolfe is by far the more powerful. It’s not even a contest. Even being jumped by a Rank Three Dire Wolf isn’t enough to injure him. It only managed to annoy him. We’re not following Ella. Ella and the three of us are following Wolfe.” Christa explained.
“A Rank Three Beast? Where did you see that?” One of the locals asked.
“Between here and the Academy, where we dropped off the rest of the busload. Wolfe kept a barrier up around us while his team fought the Dire Wolf pack and then again at the checkpoint to the Morgana Academy territory.
The second time, the group had more help from the patrol team, and they actually managed to take out nearly the whole pack.” Justine explained.
There was no reason for the others to doubt her, as they had all left on the same bus, and they recognized her face from the Auction House.
Wolfe started back on the task of enchanting the bows, but in small batches since the area he had to work with was quite small today, and precision was required.
Ten at a time would mean twenty batches, but each inscription attempt only took him a few seconds. If he kept up this pace, he could have them all done within five minutes, likely before Ella had even picked a good spot for the barrier array and the Garden Charm.
The spectacle of him creating layered arrays stopped the regularly scheduled activities of all the witches in the vicinity and brought them into a circle around him to watch more closely.
“Down in front. Sit down in the front row and crouch behind them so we can all see.” Someone was complaining as Wolfe finished the first batch.
Wolfe waited while the Witches rearranged themselves, leaving the Colonel unceremoniously dragged down into the dirt as he was standing in the front row.
“This particular arrangement won’t work for a Witch if you try to create it yourself. It’s rather specific to me. But if you watch closely, you will find that the individual spells are all ones that you can use. Pay close attention to how I’ve modified them, as it will be important if you want to improvise your own version of the Array later.” Wolfe lectured.
Over and over, he repeated the process until many of the Witches were sure that they could replicate at least one of the two spells on their own, possibly not to the same power level that Wolfe had managed to imbue, but certainly better than the spells that were engraved on the basic equipment that the scouts used.
Spreading a bit of knowledge was a good thing, and it would help slow the descent of the Witches into uselessness. They were nominally allies now, and Wolfe didn’t need them just becoming utility tools for the humans.
“That is simply amazing. Do you know defensive magic as well? I heard you say that you were going to make a barrier for the village.” Someone asked as Wolfe finished the last of the bows.
“That’s already done. Ella went to place it and find a good spot to put a Garden Charm on the whole village. The leaders wanted to put those hydroponic towers everywhere, so the best idea was just to have it blanket affect everything.” Wolfe explained.
“What about the armour spell you used to let you fight against a Rank Three beast? Can you teach us that?” The same Witch asked hopefully.
“Probably not. It’s not a version that Witches can use either since it involves Unholy Magic. But I can make you a special personal version on one condition.” He replied with a wink.
“Don’t do it. It’s a trap.” Justine muttered, looking at the dress she was wearing before realizing that half the village was wearing nearly the same thing under their cloaks.
“What’s the condition?” The Witch asked suspiciously.
“I get to pick what the outfit looks like,” Wolfe smirked.
The Witch considered that for a while. She was on the wilderness patrol, so the extra armour would be a valuable piece of equipment for her. She could put up with looking a bit ridiculous if that was what it took to get him to make her armour better than she would ever be able to make on her own.
“Alright, agreed. I will take and wear the armour amulet in exchange for allowing you to pick how it looks.” She agreed.
Wolfe smiled and waved at her outfit. “Go somewhere nearby and private to change out of your clothes. A loose towel to protect your modesty is fine, but I can’t properly create an outfit while you’re wearing another.”
ραndαsΝοvεl ƈοm The Witch happily skipped into the currently unoccupied shop next to them, then called back to Wolfe.
“Hey, if I’m in here, how are you going to create the Armour for me?”
“Don’t worry about that. I can still target you. Now, get out of your uniform so I can get this spell going.”