Chapter 324 324 Startled Staff
Peach lay down on the grass, and Wolfe took a seat next to her, holding the Headmistress\'s hand to facilitate the Mana transfer. Without a bond, it was difficult to smoothly transfer Mana to someone else without contact, and the spell she was about to attempt was an incredibly difficult one by any standard.
It would have taken most of the staff to break all the curses after an attack, and the lingering energy would be chaotic in the same way that the Frozen Wastes were, but on a smaller scale than the broken spells which had corrupted the center of the Continent.
As soon as she started the spell, Wolfe began the mana transfer, giving her as much Mana as he could without depleting his storage, but Wolfe could sense that it wasn\'t going to be enough.
The cursed energy was faltering under the onslaught of her spell, but the attacking force must have been enormous to leave a lingering energy more potent than the regular strength of them both at once.
So, Wolfe began to empty his storage and fed that to Peach as well. That was enough to completely clear the area around them and begin pushing the curse out toward the walls.
As it was forced from the area where it had settled, the chaotic energy became unstable and began to collapse and swirl, filling the night sky with inky black clouds of cursed energy.
The Professors inside had noticed the strange occurrence immediately and were working to clear the clouds, thinking that it was another of the side effects of all the cursed energy. But as the Headmistress\'s spell expanded, the clouds were also forced away, as if by a strong wind, and the clear night sky returned.
The first to come out was Professor Ashcroft, who was in a nightgown with a sword in her hand that seemed entirely out of place when paired with the matronly Professor.
Wolfe waved to her as she came around the corner of the Academy, unsure if she could tell who was there or if she could even see him with a dozen guards and the four Elders surrounding the Headmistress on the hill.
As the last of the spell reached the wards along the walls of the Academy, the cursed energy gave off a surge of energy that pulsed through the area, then collapsed, blown away by the wind as the anchor which held it together was torn away.
Peach lifted her head and smiled at her old friend, who was charging across the Academy grounds with every intention of challenging whoever was out there.
"Oh, Ashcroft. It\'s good to see you so lively at this time of night. Come and have a seat. I have so many things to tell you." The Headmistress called to her.
"Peach? What are you doing lying in the grass in the middle of the night? Did you find anything amazing in the Frozen Wastes?" Professor Ashcroft asked.
Wolfe stood up so that she could see him more easily. "I would like to think that I\'m pretty amazing. But as the Headmistress said, there are a lot of things that she needs to go over with you."
Ashcroft smirked at Wolfe and took a seat next to the Headmistress under the light of the moon but turned to look at the Werewolf, who was staring longingly at the pale orb in the sky in his human form, basking in its light.
"Which one of you decided that we needed more muscular young men wandering around the Academy? You would have thought after Wolfe\'s time here. We would know that it\'s a double-edged blade." The Professor asked.
"That is the Headmistress\'s new Familiar. I\'m afraid that I didn\'t catch his name. But you will find that, unlike a cultured gentleman such as myself, he only has eyes for her." Wolfe joked.
"Two magical creatures as Familiars? There seems to be a lot more to this story than just good timing with a breakthrough." Ashcroft murmured.
Peach nodded. "Only one of the guards could use magic when we left because of the damage from the Nerve Gas. Now they all can, and the Noxus Elders are becoming somewhat capable Magi in their own rights.
I\'m sure that\'s going to come back to bite us later when others find out that we already knew that the Magi were beginning to return, but there are a lot of things going on in those Fae Woods that the rest of the world wouldn\'t believe without seeing them for themselves. But there are also some that are entirely predictable."
"Predictable about a Fae Forest? How so?" Ashcroft asked, confused.
"Well, for one, our local Noxus Incubus has formed a whole harem village of Witches whose powers he has awakened and enhanced." Peach laughed.
"Yes, I saw that one coming as soon as I learned what he had been doing for the students of the regular class." The Professor agreed with a smirk.
"The unexpected part is that Witches can talk to the mutants of the Wastes inside the Fae Forest, and they\'ve been hiring them to fill all the odd jobs and skilled trades.
But most importantly, they have found a way to cleanse the Bloodline Curse from underage Witches, allowing them to awaken once they start puberty.
They\'ve got fluffy-eared mutant witches in their village who are barely teenagers but more powerful than most of our second-year students." Peach added.
"Seriously?" Ashcroft asked, looking at Wolfe.
"It\'s true. I\'m not sure if the Elders can do it, but I think they will be able to. I showed them the basics of the process anyhow and the way to cleanse the damage from the Nerve Gas.
You should have seen how heartbroken Mary was when she came on too strong and scared away the first mutant Witch we got. The girl has the cutest black and white cat ears, and Mary was taken off guard."
Ashcroft looked at him strangely. "So the girl ran away from you? That could be dangerous, as I\'m assuming she\'s untrained."
Wolfe shook his head. "No, she just hides from Mary and takes lessons from the other skilled Witches. Speaking of which, we could use some more teachers, if you know any qualified students.
Most of our population is either local workers or Witches who were serving their time in the military during the winter and decided to stay. Needless to say, the number who finished their second or third year of school and chose the military as their career path is pretty low, so everyone is learning from the books that we traded the Myrrh Coven for."
That made Ashcroft laugh. "It must be like a Sorority house. Teenage witches everywhere with no real adults around to supervise."