Chapter 197 197 Living Like Royalty



Wolfe moved on to Mio's room first since it was at the closest end of the hall to the main corridor. Once the others noticed what was going on, it would be more convenient for people to come to look at that room without getting in the way while he worked on the other rooms in the area.

He decorated it the same way as he did his own room, except that there were three small beds, as she had chosen to share the space with Nia and Alice while the twins, Jenna and Molly, were in the next room down.

It turned out remarkably well and didn't look at all like a dorm room, despite the higher occupancy than would be normal for a Witch's bedroom. The marble tile floor really seemed to set the room off, and Wolfe decided to continue it through the hallway and into the next bedroom.

The change of scenery brought every witch who passed by into the normally quiet corridor to see what was going on and to beg for their own rooms to have this sort of illusion granted to them.

"It doesn't even matter that it's fake, and we're sleeping on a slab of rock that we carved with magic. With those spells in place, it's better than any mattress I've ever felt, and I come from one of the Myrrh Council Families." One of the witches was raving after getting a chance to sample the new beds.

"No kidding, it's incredible. My brain knows that it's all just an illusion, a thin magical barrier cast over everything, but my eyes say that it's a palace on par with the Royal Home.

Hey Wolfe, is it possible to do the entire Den like this and keep it active? How much mana does this spell require to stay in effect?" Another of the witches asked.

"Not much. There is a mana-gathering element in all of the items that I have made permanent, so it will pull mana from the area to keep itself active. Only if it is damaged will we need to put any effort into the upkeep.

So, likely the floors, beds and tables will need an infusion now and then, but the rest of the building should pretty much maintain its own illusions. You all recall how intense the [Mana Array] was when you first arrived. There is plenty of magic in the area to work with." Wolfe explained.

Wolfe ignored the excited chatter while he finished the two bedrooms and the short hallways that their rooms were down before he had to meet the expectant looks of all of the witches who had gathered to ogle the improvements to their home.

"Are you doing common areas next? Or are you going to do the bedrooms first?" Cassie asked while doing her best not to get trampled by the number of witches who had gathered in such a small space.

Nearly every one of the hundred and sixty-some residents of the Den was here now, and they were all after the same thing, so Wolfe planned out how to do this in the most efficient manner.

"I will start from the junction of this hallway and work inward. The storage areas and front entrance can remain as natural stone, and this is the first residential hallway in the Den, so from here, it will be another wing of rooms, then the kitchens and dining room, then I will work my way down the residential hallways and leave the workspaces for last."

That was enough to assure them that he had the plan to get it all done, and doing the open hallways was a simple matter for Wolfe since he could just expand the existing spells to cover a larger area.

At least in theory.

The spell on the hallways in his wing hadn't been made permanent yet, since it was so crowded that he wasn't sure if he had missed anything, but when he increased the output of [Detect Hidden] to the maximum, he could get a general sense of every main corridor in the Den.

That included the dining room, which was open to the tunnels, so Wolfe worked on getting them all included in one single spell instead of doing the same thing hundreds of times over.

His magic spread throughout the Den, and Wolfe sighed in relief. It looked like it was not a big problem for this array to increase in size, and the basic instructions for what design went where were somewhat intuitive.

Even the glowing balls of fire that worked as lightbulbs in the Den were easily copied to be encased in what appeared to be golden lanterns. If you tried to touch them, you would find that it was just air and fire magic and not a solid object at all, but it looked cool.

Doing that large of an area at once required him to pull a small amount of mana through all twenty of the witches who had sworn themselves to Servant Bonds with him. The overlay to complete the array had to be done in a single spell, and without their assistance, he couldn't channel enough mana all at once to make the illusions on the floor strong enough that stomping feet and dropped items wouldn't wear them away prematurely.

Wolfe was fairly certain that it would not be enough that it would be uncomfortable for any of them now that the bond had increased their power level, but he did keep a close eye on the twins, who were standing nearby, for signs of strain from the spell.

Having so much power at his fingertips was addictive. Even a trickle from twenty witches was enough to triple what he was capable of alone and make the process of enchanting the Den a moment's work instead of an all-day process.

Looking at the lantern floating above his head, Wolfe realized that he should likely have the witches make something to surround the lanterns since they were literally exposed balls of fire at roof level, but they could get at that later.

"Now, that's all the walls and floors of the common areas done. Follow me, and I will do the dining room tables before I start on the rest of the bedrooms. I know some of you aren't all that organized, so I will give you time to tidy up before I start casting spells on your personal space." Wolfe joked.

The witches began to disperse, eager to see what the common areas looked like now that Wolfe had cast his spell, so he headed for the dining room, ready to make the centrepiece of his grand design. The ruby dining room tables were going to be glorious.