"Do you think that you have time to awaken a few of our soldiers with potential before the ceremony? You mentioned it earlier, and I would really like to see what a normal first-rank witch gets as a summoned creature here in the Fae Forest, with the insane mana density and all the magical creatures around." The team leader suggested.
"Oh, that's a great idea. Maybe we can have him do a bunch, so we have a sample size and not just one or two references?" Mary asked while Pup glared at her.
"Is he mad about you getting another Familiar?" Wolfe asked, indicating the huge white ball of canine fluff.
Mary's pink braids bobbed happily as she shrugged. "He will get over it. He's just worried that it's going to be another one as energetic as Ember, and he's already getting worn out trying to keep up with one other dog."
Pup gave a grunt of agreement, then looked around in annoyance as he heard the happy yipping of Ember as he played with the visiting witches.
"How did you manage to summon an old man when I am certain that he did actually start out as a Pup? I was there; I know he was a puppy then, but he's always been so lazy." Wolfe laughed while Pup flopped down on the ground to nap.
The witches were still giving Wolfe eager looks, so he sighed and gestured for them to bring the volunteers over to have their pathways cleared.
There was no shortage of witches willing to try once they heard that Wolfe could make it possible for them to awaken this late in life and even to have a productive future as a witch.
"You will want to have a seat. The experience can be a bit shocking, and it's not uncommon for witches to collapse during the process." Wolfe reminded the first one in line, who took a seat next to him in the grass and then held out her hands for him to do whatever it was that he needed to.
Wolfe identified all the blockages in her system and cleared them out in an instant, then pushed the dusty remains of the blockage in her mana gland back out before circulating a bit of mana to give her mana veins an initial stretch. That should be enough to have her set for the evening's summoning as soon as she woke up.
ƥαṇdαsηθνε|·ƈθm She wasn't quite out of it, but she was clearly in no shape to be getting up right now, and her face was flushed deep red as she panted and tried to catch her breath.
"Alright, next up. I will move if we need more space for everyone to rest. The process is pretty intensive, but you don't have much time before the summoning, so we need to get through it and get everyone ready before it starts." Wolfe explained.
The next witch took a seat next to the first with a mischievous look in her eyes.
"Does it really feel that good? That was quite a show that she put on."
Wolfe didn't bother to answer, he just went through the process again, but this time, he drew out the mana vein stretching, starting slow and increasing it over the course of a few seconds as the witch moaned and cursed his name.ραпdαs `nᴏνɐ| сom
"You did that on purpose." She complained from where she was lying in the grass when he finished.
"Yes. But you have your answer, don't you? Showing is much more pleasant than just telling you. But either way, the result is the same. Your potentials were close to the same, to begin with. Honestly, both of them could be rated as dismal, as expected of soldiers who didn't manage to awaken on their own. But you will both be reliable first-rank witches after you take an hour to adapt and stabilize your aura."
Wolfe gestured for the next witch in line, a tall woman with curse scars all over her arms, to join him, and she happily climbed into his lap.
"Alright, I'm ready. But I'm not falling in the grass like them. Set me down gently, will you?" She laughed.
"Got it."
One after another, Wolfe made his way through the ten volunteers, then Mary cast a healing spell on them to help them recover from any lingering damages and injuries so that they would be at peak performance for the summoning.
"I think we're all ready now, and I've brought a light snack so that nobody is hungry for the summoning. I think that should put everyone in the same spot as they would normally be for the summoning at the Academy, rested and fed but nervous." Cassie informed Wolfe, then offered a hand to help him to his feet.
"That's about the best that we can hope for, I guess. Now, let's get all these cute behinds up to the platform before the sun sets."
Wolfe led the way up to the elevator and took in the sight of the central altar where the majority of the Witches had gathered around the walls, and the remaining Second Rank witches were gathered in a circle, looking inward at the white marble platform that had been placed in a pool of water, surrounded by torches.
A gentle breeze blew into the room, thanks to the open archways that made up the walls of this level, and the summoning inscription appeared to have been created of actual gold and not just golden paint.
"It's beautiful. Excellent work, ladies." Wolfe greeted them, and the Witches in the circle briefly turned to wave at him.
"We will have one of the lucky Second Rank Witches go first to set the stage, and then we will have our ten volunteers go to see how their summoning goes. It's a good thing that we are headed straight home after this mission because the battlefield is no place for Familiars. If everyone understands, we will begin. We need to get everyone done in the next hour or wait until tomorrow for the right conditions again." Ella informed the room.
The spell would work just fine after sunset, but they were going for perfect conditions, and that only allowed for a short window.