While the Festival was in full swing for the next few days, that was not all that was going on in the Fae Forest. The next morning, the Witches sent out a Riverboat and loaded a number of returning groups with supplies for their villages and set up a second visitor's center at the downstream side of the river, where it exited the forest's southeast corner.
That completed their plans to welcome visitors and receive the scouts from outside the Forest the same as they had been all winter, and with the river as an access point, they could conveniently stock the shacks with loads of supplies for the villagers to take home with them.
Wolfe watched in satisfaction as new relationships formed among the villagers, and a few between them and the Witches, but the most amazing part of the festival was the number of new students that they found. The mutants couldn't talk to witches outside the Forest, and that was how they determined if one of their own had Witch blood.
But that standard was much higher than what was necessary to awaken a potential Witch using the skills of the Magi, and they had revealed nearly a dozen more over the course of the Festival who had agreed to be awakened and take training here in their fledgling Academy.
Headmistress Peach was currently standing behind Wolfe's shoulder as he negotiated with a Bunny family to awaken their daughter's potential and take her as a student.
This was the first chance she had to see him do it in person, other than when he had healed the damage to her entourage, and she had everything from a magical recording spell to a pencil and paper ready to take notes on the event.
Wolfe didn't have the heart to tell her that there wasn't much she could see other than the change in the girl's aura, but there was a chance that the Headmistress had a more advanced sensory spell which would let her track his mana flows through the young potential Witch's body.
The process was the same as always. Wolfe sat in a comfortable chair in one of the houses that were built into the trees on the upper level of the town, and the Bunny girl sat on his knee, swinging her legs happily as she daydreamed about all the cool things she would do once she became a witch.
"Are you sure it is wise to awaken the animal people?" Peach whispered as Wolfe prepared to begin the process.
"She's roughly one-quarter witch blooded, as far as I can tell. There are certainly witches at your Academy with less pedigree than that, and she's got the potential, so I don't see a reason not to.
Once she's fully trained, she can run the gardens in her hometown, raise barriers when they need them, provide healing services, or make potions. It's an excellent and in-demand career path." Wolfe disagreed.
Peach's primary concern was the reaction of the Covens when they found mutants, which they considered little more than humanoid monsters, using magic. They were unlikely to take it well, and learning that it was because a powerful Demon that the Morgana Coven had cast out had helped them was unlikely to improve the situation.
Peach relented and stepped away so Wolfe could work. "Alright, as long as you know what you're doing. I'm eager to see how the Familiar Summoning tonight turns out, though, with so many interesting sorts of Witches among the summoners."
Wolfe nodded in agreement. "We're also studying whether the Second Rank Familiar is more powerful than the first Rank Familiar, both in general and specifically to the Witch. Since you already have a powerful Fae as a Familiar, there is a lot of interest in what you will get next."
Wolfe began his work, and the Headmistress immediately began taking notes, detailing every part of the experience that she could detect, right up to the point where the girl's aura began to activate.
She wasn't going to be one of the strongest witches, not with that much mutation in her genetics, but she was a Witch, and she would be able to serve her village in only a few years' time.
Most of the witches, Wolfe expected to stay here since the quality of life was so high in the town, but the Bunnies were very family-focused, and the thought of being away from their people forever was incredibly stress-inducing, to the point where it seemed unlikely the girl would stay for training until they promised her that she was allowed to have visitors whenever they were able to make time to see her.
"And there we go. One more Witch, with fluffy bunny ears." Wolfe congratulated the girl with a hug before she ran back to her parents to show off the aura that they couldn't yet detect.
"Look at me, Mom, I'm a Witch. I will learn Magic and healing potions, and I am certain to get an extra fluffy familiar tonight. Who knows, maybe I will even find a friend who understands the joy that is cuddling." She exclaimed, making Peach burst into laughter.
"Does it seem that silly?" The girl asked sheepishly, thinking that the Headmistress was laughing at her.
Wolfe patted the girl's head with a smile on his face. "She isn't laughing at you. She is laughing because we know exactly the person that you're looking for. Let me call her over."
Wolfe focused on the Bonds and called out to Mary. [I have a young Bunny Kin Witch here, freshly awakened, who is looking forward to getting a fluffy Familiar, and a friend to cuddle with. Would you like to show her around the resident's areas?]
[Give me thirty, no, fifteen seconds. Where is my staff? It will be faster if I fly.]
ραndαsΝοvεl.cοm Wolfe turned to the girl's parents, who looked a bit concerned, not completely sure that their girl wasn't being made fun of.
But before he could speak, a huge white ball of fluff entered the room as Pup made it to them, followed closely by Mary, who had to fly up from the other side of town.
The girl threw herself at Pup with a squeal and wrapped her arms around his neck while Mary summoned a fur-trimmed cloak and snuck into the room to see who Wolfe was talking about.
"He is amazing. Could I really get a Familiar like this? He is a Familiar, right?" the girl asked.
"You can, and he is. This is Pup, and I am Mary, a lover of all things fluffy. How about I show you around the resident's areas of the Den underneath us?" Mary asked.
"Sure. See you tonight, Mom, Dad. Don't forget to cheer for me at the summoning." With that, they were gone back out of the room, and the adults were laughing.
"So, there are other girls like her." The girl's father sighed in relief.
"Of course there are. Some grow out of it to some degree, but not Mary. She was like that for her entire tenure at the Academy. Now, she's one of the teachers here, and I am certain they will get along splendidly." Peach laughed.
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