The next week nearly flew by as Wolfe worked with the Noxus Elders to get them up to something resembling a reasonable standard and teach them what he viewed as the basics of the basics.
It was a shame that it was so difficult to get to the Lumix Family's Inheritance Stone, as none of them had gotten the Inheritance spell, and Wolfe didn't know how to transfer it to others in his family.
He had tried searching through the Inheritance Spell itself, but all he could find was that it should have been automatically activated when they first gained their Mana Focus. But since they hadn't, he really didn't know what to do about it. The best that he could hope for would be to either bring them all to the Lumix house and try to get their Inheritance activated there or find another Inheritance Stone somewhere.
At least he managed to teach them the basics of clearing out the damage from the Nerve Gas and helping cleanse the curse from Witches. They also did very well at learning the basics of defensive magic and bullet enchantments.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe Inheritance wasn't there to help them know when they had it right or keep it in their memory, but they could reliably inscribe both bullets and weapons now, although it was only with basic spells. [Firebolt], [Water Blast] and most annoyingly to Wolfe, [Stone Bullet] all came naturally to them.
None of them could use Gravity or Unholy magic at all, but the fact that they could use Earth Magic would make things easier on them when they got back to the city.
But seeing that they were so good with Water and Earth Magic, which Wolfe couldn't use, made him think that perhaps they didn't get the Noxus Inheritance because they weren't close enough to the Noxus bloodline.
Not all of the Noxus Elders were born in the family. If they were skilled, they would be adopted and gain ranks with their accomplishments. So, as time went on, there were entire branches of the Family which had never actually contained any Noxus bloodline at all.
As far as the Family was concerned, they were Noxus Elders, but since the Inheritance Spell was based on your lineage, not your name or accomplishments, it did make some sense that many of the Family members would never stand a chance to get it, even if they could use mana and were Noxus Elders.
The witches from the guard detail had been more than willing volunteers for the practice, and though Wolfe had cleansed the curse from them, they were prime candidates for Mana Vein manipulation.
That process also showed Wolfe that the degree of sensation depended almost entirely on the Magi working with them. When the Elders did it, the sensation was little more than a vague tingle, and in one case, everyone he worked with turned numb. But when Wolfe did it, the pleasurable sensation was quite intense.
That seemed a bit odd to Wolfe, but there wasn't really a good explanation for it, so they just kept up the practice until he was sure that everyone could take care of the young Witch Candidates in Morgana Fortress City.
They would start with the ones who were of age so that they didn't alarm anyone, but Headmistress Peach knew exactly what they were capable of, so that might not last long before she started to demand that they work with the younger ones to get more capable young witches to build the next generation.
That would be a huge mess with city politics, and Wolfe was happy to leave it between them.
The Elders had suggested sending the Crime Family children here to be trained so that it wouldn't cause such an uproar at the Academy, which the Noble Witches kept a close eye on.
It was a possibility, and it would work, but the Headmistress and the other Witches, Reiko included, might have a thing or two to say about the Elders awakening their own Families' children and sending them away from the Coven.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmBut she didn't bring it up directly until the day before the Festival when the first of the locals from the Forest started arriving.
"It looks like you're planning to take in a lot of youngsters. I've heard that the Elders want to send the underage ones they awaken to you for training." She began.
"It was discussed. The Coven Nobles watch the Academy quite closely, and it would cause an uproar if there were suddenly a swarm of underage witches using magic." Wolfe agreed.
Headmistress Peach shook her head. "Let me take care of that. Now that I'm at the Second Rank, the Council can't really deny anything that I want unless Reiko doesn't like it. None of the others have the rank to question my decisions. It is how Coven law works.
If they're going to awaken children, have them inform me, and I will take them into the Academy immediately as freshmen. There are a lot of reforms coming to the school for next year, now that we have a chance to get an Elder on staff who can work with the Witches to improve their skills right from the beginning."
That would be a big change for the Council to accept, and it would put them in a tight spot once they realized that cleansing the girls early was a huge benefit to their growth.
One of the guards joined them with a polite nod for the Headmistress. "Wolfe, what are the plans for when you find a capable Witch among the locals? I was just down by the door, welcoming some of your guests while chatting with Ella, and there are a couple of girls who have come here to work who have enough Witch blood to be awakened."
"Do they know?" Wolfe asked.
"I don't think so. I think it's one of those legacy mixes, where there was a Witch in their family many generations ago, but the genes lined up again and made another capable witch."
Wolfe nodded in understanding. "Have someone talk to them and make sure they don't leave. If they're working here, it's not a big deal, we can awaken them and teach them after work, but if they're just visiting, this might be the only chance we get to actually talk to them."